JEDDAH, 18 December 2002 — Efforts are under way to set up a society to protect the interests of Saudi detainees at the Guantanamo camp, Al-Watan reported yesterday.
A leading Saudi lawyer Abdul Aziz Al-Qasim, who is also a former judge, said a formal application will be submitted to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in two weeks for permission to set up the society. Al-Qasim hoped that the society will receive required legal support from the official quarters. The society will comprise 20 members including both Saudi lawyers and the kin of the prisoners, he added.
The lawyer explained that the society will follow up the interests of the prisoners as well as their kin with the help of lawyers inside and outside the Kingdom. It will also collect information about the prisoners and communicate with the authorities concerned. The lawyer also wants to know why the correspondence from the prisoners has stopped for the past six months particularly after rumors that some of them were dying of severe torture.
