JEDDAH, 1 June 2007 — The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) is planning to release five new reports in a month, said NSHR chief Bandar Al-Hajjar. The reports, which follow a detailed report that was released last week, will tackle specific issues concerning human rights in the Kingdom.
Reports detailing the municipal elections in 2005, Saudi Guantanamo detainees, complaints and cases handled by the NSHR, the accomplishments of NSHR members, and a report on general NSHR statistics will be published.
Al-Hajjar refused to discuss the contents. “The election report is currently being printed. The others will follow and will be released to the public in a month,” he said.
Al-Hajjar, who is also a member of the Shoura Council, said that last Sunday, Shoura members asked for the previous NSHR report so they could discuss it. “I’ll send the report officially to council members and the president next week,” he said.
A meeting of NSHR executive board members, which was scheduled to take place next Sunday to discuss and approve several activities, has been postponed to June 10.
“We will set the date and time for the opening of the NSHR’s first branch in the Al-Jouf region. We will also discuss the opening of the first public human rights library in Riyadh and other issues including the making of two TV programs to create awareness about human rights,” Al-Hajjar said about the meeting’s agenda.
The meeting was postponed as members are currently busy preparing for an upcoming human rights lecture in Riyadh, which is open to members of the public — both men and women, who will seat in separate halls.
Ahmad Al-Khamlishi, president of the Dar Al-Hadith Al-Husneyah in Rabat, Morocco, who is also a former judge and law professor in Morocco, has been invited by the NSHR to deliver a lecture entitled “Human Rights in Islamic Shariah.”
“We have officially invited representatives of several government establishments to attend the lecture next Monday.
“These include the General Presidency of Prisons, the Investigation and Prosecution Board, the Court of Grievance, the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Justice,” said Abdul Aziz Al-Shalhoub, spokesman from the NSHR’s Public Affairs Department in Riyadh.
The lecture begins at 7 p.m. and will take place at the Al-Babtin Cultural Center.
