TAIF, 22 September 2007 — A group of citizens in this highland Saudi city, a popular summertime retreat, have complained to the National Society of Human Rights (NSHR) about overcrowded conditions in the city detention center, according to a report in Al-Riyadh newspaper.
The center is where traffic violators spend at least 24 hours after being caught running red lights, speeding or committing other minor infractions. In addition to the detention, violators pay fines and the cost of getting their vehicles out of the impound lot.
Taif authorities recently boasted that they have caught approximately 5,000 traffic violators in a relatively short period of time (they didn’t provide a specific timeframe).
Violations tend to rise during the summer when young Saudi men are more likely to be out enjoying the summer school break. During Ramadan, most violations relate to the pre-iftar rush to pick up fast-breaking goodies and get home before sunset.
NSHR inspectors recently visited the Taif traffic department detention center to check the problem, but the newspaper report didn’t provide further details of the findings and it’s not clear if the NSHR has made public statements about the results of the inspection.
An angry father at the detention center said to the newspaper anonymously that he was trying to see his son who was detained for running a red light but that police have rejected his request.
“I am trying to see my son,” he said. “This looks like a prison and they’ve treated my son like a real criminal. Such punishments should be positive and teach a lesson, but not like this.”
Sanad Al-Otaibi, who was also allegedly held for running a red light, said that the police are disrespectful at the detention center. He said that when he complained that he suffered from asthma the police officer threatened to double his stay at the detention center if he didn’t shut up.
“The place they put us in can barely accommodate 15 people and there were 50 of us squeezed in there,” said Al-Otaibi. “The room is dirty. We couldn’t pray. There were insects inside. The ventilation system is awful. People with special connections to the local police spend less time inside. I wasn’t so fortunate as to have such contacts.”
Capt. Turki Al-Shehrim, the spokesman for Taif police, said that the current detention center is in a rented building. He said local authorities are working on the overcrowding situation, but also pointed out that these people have broken the law and endangered the lives of pedestrians and other drivers with their reckless behavior.
“The local police are obliged to respond to growing concerns over bad driving habits,” he added.
