NSHR Calls for More Shelters to House Domestic Abuse Victims

MAKKAH, 18 May 2008 — The Makkah area is in need of shelters to house victims of domestic violence, said Hussein Al-Sharif, head of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) in the Makkah region.

Al-Sharif made the comments during a meeting with Gen. Turki Al-Quinawy, head of the Makkah police. Speaking about existing shelters in Taif and Jeddah, Al-Quinawy said, “Even the few in Taif and Jeddah need a lot of maintenance and improvements.”

Al-Quinawy told Al-Sharif that the police face difficulties, as there are only a few women’s shelters in Makkah. “We face a problem accommodating victims of domestic violence. Sometimes we leave them in the juvenile detention centers,” he said. He further suggested two ways of dealing with domestic violence.

“We need to increase people’s awareness about the problem and find official bodies — such as police centers, the Investigation and Prosecution Board, and the Ministry of Social Affairs — that could deal with the matter,” he said.

Al-Sharif said that people blame the NSHR when children are abused. “People mistakenly think that the NSHR is an executive body. We are only tasked with monitoring and informing. Our role is to watch over governmental bodies and observe whether they respect human rights according to ratified international conventions and Shariah,” he said.

“When we receive a complaint about child abuse we inform the concerned bodies, such as police and the Ministry of Social Affairs, so they can take action. Then we monitor... this is the role of a human rights organization, not only here but all over the world,” he said.

“Soon there will be new regulations to protect women and children from domestic violence. There will be severe punishment for abusers and a new system to rehabilitate victims into society,” Al-Sharif said.

When asked whether during visits to the Kingdom’s prisons, the NSHR has found people illegally imprisoned, A-Sharif said the NSHR has not detected any cases like this, but he added that “sometimes papers are issued late.”

“Through our periodic field investigations, we make reports that include positive and negative observations. We sustain the positive ones and try to offer suggestions to solve the negative ones,” Al-Sharif said.