Al-Watan Arabic newspaper recently published the statute of the newly-founded National Human Rights Association (NHRA). After the setting up of the association, reactions began to appear in the local press. Most of them were in favor of the association.
The existence of a human rights body is an important event in itself as our society is in real need of it. It is, at the same time, unfortunate that the first positive reactions will fade away unless necessary measures are taken to ensure the survival of the association.
I propose that those who are in charge of it make efforts to discover the ideas of a range of people about how to make the association effective. The ideas should be considered and evaluated in any future plans since the association will ultimately deal with the people themselves.
After reading the statute of the body, I found there are some points which need clarification. First of all, the association is called “national” though its members affirm that the initiative to form it was their own. This point is in need of clarification because many people believe that the members are government appointees. This means that the foundation of the association has not happened as a result of their own initiative. The clarification should tell whether another human rights body is to be formed or not and why.
The second point is that the statute stipulates that the new body will work on protecting human rights in line with Shariah and international laws which do not contradict the teachings of Shariah. My question is: What is the difference between the work of this body and that of the Shariah courts? Those courts work in accordance with Shariah and anybody can file a lawsuit with them. Will the new body be simply a copy of these older courts? And what about some old fatwas saying that the formation of such associations constitutes a flagrant violation of Shariah? Are these fatwas still in effect or have they been rescinded and, if so, by whom? I hope that people will not conclude that I want this association to violate Shariah. I only want those in charge to tell us clearly what activities the association will undertake so that there is no overlap with the Shariah courts.
The third point relates to Article 3 which reads as follows: “The objectives of the association are to stand against oppression, tyranny, violence, torture and intolerance.” The article does not specify whether these practices are inside or outside the Kingdom. Does this mean that the activities of the association will extend to the outside world? If so, are the members of the association qualified to undertake such a task which needs highly experienced lawyers and judges? These points are in need of clarification to have people understand everything about the association and consequently cooperate with it. In addition, Article 3 says that the association will receive complaints about human rights violations and follow them up with the relevant authorities. What kinds of complaints and violations is the article talking about?
The fourth point comes from Article 5 which says that the association’s general assembly is composed of all members of the associations mentioned in Article 1. Does this mean that the membership will be confined to these members or that new members may be allowed to join? What are the requirements for membership? We know that many similar associations allow any interested person fulfilling certain conditions to join. Why we have not heard anything in this regard about the new association?
Article 14 outlines that the association’s revenues include returns on investments, grants and donations. My comment here is that such associations should not accept donations because this will inevitably put them under pressure from donors. The association has said that it will invest its assets without saying where the assets come from. I know that members of such associations are volunteers and do not receive payments. Is this true of the members of this association?
Despite everything, the existence of an association concerned with human rights is warmly welcomed provided it can play the role our citizens require of it. We hope that the foundation of this association will be a step to the setting up of similar bodies.
