Al-Aiban said that the “Kingdom has gone an extra mile” in setting up human rights records straight and untainted, while promoting the rights of women in particular. He said that Pillay’s visit would be “an opportunity for her to learn more about the achievements of the Kingdom on the scores of human rights under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.”

Pillay, who is seeking more information about the Kingdom’s human rights situation, will hold talks with high-ranking Saudi officials during her three-day stay in Saudi Arabia. The UN rights chief is visiting the Kingdom and the Gulf states for the first time since assuming office.

Al-Aiban said that progress on several fronts in the Kingdom is slow but consistent, mainly because the country does not promote the mixing of the opposite sexes, requires women to get a male relative’s permission to work and prohibits them from driving.

However, much substantial progress has been made of late on several fronts, said the Saudi official, adding that King Abdullah appointed a woman, Nora bint Abdullah Al-Fayez, to the Cabinet for the first time. As deputy education minister, she is in charge of girls’ schooling.

King Abdullah also set up the country’s first coeducational university last September. A women’s university in Riyadh that can house 26,000 students is also under construction, explained Al-Aiban, adding that law and engineering degrees are now available for women who were previously mostly restricted to studying medicine or education. Not only this, the king has also named 12 women advisers to the Shoura Council, a royal consultative body composed of 150 male members.

Referring to the Kingdom’s progress, Al-Aiban also noted the efforts of King Abdullah who has exerted substantial efforts to achieve just peace in the region as a whole and promoted interfaith dialogue. Pillay’s visit will open several new areas of cooperation, said Al-Aiban, adding that the UN agency can especially help in the field of technical cooperation and training. “Pillay, during her stay in Riyadh, will also seek information on some reported cases of human rights violations,” said a UN official who preferred not to be named.

He also said that a large number of countries commit human rights violations today and that there have been “reports of maltreatment of domestic helpers in Saudi Arabia.”

A statement released on this occasion said that the UN body takes care of religious faiths and protects them whenever necessary. It said that the UN Human Rights Council has already adopted a resolution denouncing religious defamation. Twenty countries, including China, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, voted in favor; while 17 countries voted against, including the US, the UK and France.