The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced on Saturday that it is forming a department whose function will be to defend commission employees in legal cases. The report carried in a local paper added that the commission is also appointing, in its main office, a spokesperson who will deal with the media. These decisions coincide with almost daily news coverage of the commission’s actions over the past few months when several lawsuits have been filed against the body.
There has also been increased interest and strong criticism of the commission’s public behavior and conduct.
In an article published in Al-Riyadh newspaper, a columnist launched an attack against those who criticize the commission and stated that even if mistakes happen, that is no reason to condemn the entire commission. The writer admitted that mistakes indeed occur but said that the public should look upon them as individual errors. She then goes on to make the same mistake she condemns others for by saying, “Commission members make mistakes. However, they seldom abuse their authority except in some rare incidents.” Judging by the number of news stories about those “rare incidents,” this is itself surely exactly the sort of generalization the writer cautions her readers against.
One must say that the commission seems at last to be looking at itself and trying to understand the increased public concern; even so, what it does and says is steeped in a great deal of allegedly innocent self-pity and denial.
The commission which has been — and still is — an integral part of the Saudi establishment with its history and roots in Saudi tradition, and which has the support of many people, seems to be in need of a reshuffle and even a restructuring. Things have gotten so out of hand that the commission has taken on the roles of policeman, judge and jury. Its employees exercise the right to suspect, accuse, detain and punish on the spot while they also enjoy immunity from any kind of accountability or questioning. There is a famous fatwa (religious edict) that allows commission members a wide range of rights and gives them legal immunity as well; that particular fatwa has been used and abused although the present head of the commission has gone out of his way to say that the fatwa has been misunderstood and that commission employees are not above the law at any time or in any way.
The recent death of a detainee in a commission center provoked a number of questions though the death was finally blamed on a heart attack resulting from stress — which means the commission employees were not responsible. One must surely ask, however, what kind of stress the man was under and what caused it. Another report of a young man being beaten to death in a commission center is yet another example of how commission employees carry out what they see as their duties. However we choose to look at things, the unexpected death of a man or woman in a commission center is a very serious matter and should attract attention, questions and media inquiries. The columnist in Al-Riyadh said that press probing into these deaths was “needless” and she hinted at hidden agendas. What, I wonder, does she think the press should do? Ignore such deaths?
The mere suggestion that people will not behave unless forced to is ridiculous. There are laws and rules and there is a law enforcement unit — the police. The police must not neglect their duties, though if their duties are encroached upon by another government body, confusion and uncertainty are bound to result.
The reality is that Saudi Arabia is changing, and that with the changes, people are being given more freedom to express their concerns. This means a greater freedom is being given to the press, which is a very positive and desirable sign of change.
Maybe it is time that the commission was merged with an existing body which has both an investigative and a judicial role. If that were done, it would be part of an understood and accepted system with its powers and rights clearly delineated and well known. That would ensure the consistent enforcement of laws, the respect of individuals’ rights and also that personal whims do not wreak unnecessary and pointless havoc in people’s lives.
— Abeer Mishkhas is an editor at Alsharq Al-Awsat in London.
