RIYADH, 16 January 2008 — Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) is set to confront the Kingdom’s religious police, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, because of the alleged brutal beating of a 17-year-old Saudi in Najran.
“We consider this a violation of human rights in the Kingdom. It is an act that cannot be overlooked by HRC,” Dr. Zuhair Al-Harthi, an HRC spokesperson told Arab News.
Al-Harthi said the rights body would require the commission to provide an official explanation of how the boy ended up with injuries described as “serious.” “We have asked the concerned authority (the commission) to explain its actions,” Al-Harthi told Arab News. He noted that the HRC condemned all forms of violence used against civilians and expatriates in the Kingdom. “If the incident is true, HRC will request that the commission members be held accountable for their actions,” he said.
According to the victim, Ahmed Al-Mukhles, 17, four members of the commission insulted him and banged his head against a car until he became unconscious. Speaking to Arab News from his hospital bed, Al-Mukhles said that he was insulted, abused, and had his head banged against a car until he was unconscious. He said he had initially ignored the virtue officer after the man swore at him and that he had not stopped his car as he had done nothing wrong.
According to the medical report shown to Arab News, Al-Mukhles received injuries and bruises on his back, neck, arms and hands.
The young man said he was beaten in front of his younger brothers.
In the coastal city of Yanbu last week, commission members allegedly beat up a security officer who had asked them not to verbally abuse a young boy who was being held for abusing two girls in a shopping center. Members beat him up, tore his clothes, and ordered him to leave the shopping center.
Last year, in their first report on human rights in Saudi Arabia, the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) noted various rights violations by the commission. They included the confiscation of mobiles, body searches, detention at centers, not allowing detained people to contact lawyers or family members, and forcing arrested people to sign pre-written confessions.
The commission enjoys wide powers and deploys approximately 3,000 employees all over the Kingdom. Part of their job is to ensure that shops are closed during prayer times as well as that there is segregation of males and females in public places.
The president of the commission, Sheikh Suliaman Al-Ghaith, has stated publicly that commission members apply the rules and regulations which are set for them. Public perception, however, is that, when singling out individuals for punishment, the members often apply their own personal standards of what is wrong or improper.
