The NSHR made the comments in a report prepared after visiting 16 jails across the Kingdom. “The number of wardens were not enough for the large number of inmates and the ones who were on duty were poorly trained. Some inmates complained that they were not being taken to hospital for treatment,” the report said.
One of the most common violations seen in jails is a lack of sufficient space and other utilities. “Most jails are overcrowded and are operating at double their capacities, something that denies inmates many of their basic rights,” the report said.
It added that there have been many instances of inmates going on hunger strike to seek their rights.
Another common violation is the practice of keeping prisoners in jails even after their time has ended. Expatriates are mostly victims of this kind of violation. “There are cases in which expatriate inmates had to remain more than nine months in jail after their prison terms ended,” the report said.
Such delays have been attributed to the difficulty in locating a prisoner’s sponsor, refusal of the sponsor to buy an airline ticket to repatriate the worker, or the noncooperation on the part of the responsible embassy in processing documents, the report noted.
The NSHR also received complaints from prisoners that the officials of the Prosecution and Investigations Board do not visit jails frequently to speed up the release of detained prisoners and investigate complaints against prison officials.
Some prisoners who are on remand complain that they are often not informed about court hearings and that jail officials fail to take them to court, something that prolongs their stay in jail.
The absence of a data center for prisoners is another factor that has led to the delay in the timely release of prisoners. Only a data center can supply officials of the jail directorate with the required information about the time when each inmate is to be released, the report said.
Some prisoners said that they were sent to jails in locations far away from their native towns, which makes it hard for their relatives to visit them. Another thing noted by the NSHR was that jail buildings are poorly maintained or repaired.
Insufficient numbers of jail officials was another problem identified in the report. The report said many prisoners were not aware of their rights such as their eligibility to access lawyers.
