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Riyadh pressured on death penalty

Saturday, Feb 07, 2009

Gulf News

Geneva:  Western countries Friday called on Saudi Arabia to halt floggings and amputations, allow religious freedom and abolish a system of male guardianship sharply limiting women's rights.

Britain, Canada, Switzerland and Israel challenged Riyadh on its high number of executions. Saudi Arabia executes murderers, rapists and drug traffickers, usually by public beheading, and judges sometimes give the death sentence to armed robbers and those convicted of "sorcery" or desecrating the Quran.

A Saudi delegation defended its record at the United Nations Human Rights Council, saying the country was cracking down on domestic violence by men who abused their roles as guardians and beat their wives and children.

Zaid Al Hussain, vice-president of the state-affiliated Saudi Human Rights Commission, told the forum much remained to be done to ensure that individual followers of Islam upheld human rights standards, as required by Sharia law.

"Consequently, we do not claim to be perfect, nor do we reject criticism, which is welcome provided it is objective and intended to preserve human rights and dignity," he said.

The 47-member Council began regular reviews of all UN members last June in a bid to avoid charges of selectivity.

Al Hussain said non-Muslims could follow their faiths in private in the kingdom, but it would be difficult to allow non-Muslim houses of worship as "Islam is the final religion".

The oil-exporting Gulf country, a major US ally, has paid $100 million (Dh367 million) in compensation to people detained in terrorist cases who were later found to be innocent, he said.

Israel accused Saudi Arabia of "severe discrimination against women and minorities, corporal punishment, torture, forced labour, and the sexual exploitation of children".

It should "abolish corporal punishment, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment in general, and public floggings, eye-gouging, flogging of schoolchildren, and amputation of limbs in particular", Israeli ambassador Aharon Leshno Yaar said.

British envoy Peter Gooderham urged Riyadh to "abolish the guardianship system which severely limits the rights of women to act as autonomous and equal members of Saudi society".

Canada recommended that Saudi Arabia "cease application of torture" and other cruel treatment.

The United States did not take the floor in the three-hour debate. The Obama administration is reviewing its policy towards the Council, which the Bush administration had essentially boycotted since last June citing its "rather pathetic record".

Riyadh Despite stringent measures being taken by Saudi authorities against domestic violence and child abuse, official figures continue to reflect an alarming rise in such incidents in the country.

Hospitals in Riyadh alone received more than 50 cases of domestic violence last year, most of the victims being women and children, according to a source.

"The actual figure of such cases could be many times higher than the reported ones. This is because in most cases the victims were afraid of informing others about such incidents," said Dr Saeed Gharamullah Al Ghamdi, head of the Family Protection Team at the Health Department in Riyadh.

Speaking to Gulf News, Al Ghamdi said sexual assault figured in quite a few cases of domestic violence. Seven cases of sexual assault by a father had come to light, he said, adding that another five cases involved culprits from outside the family circle.

Some 15 women had been subjected to violence at the hands of their husbands, the official said. There were also 11 cases involving non-Saudis.

The Ministry of Health has constituted a special family protection team comprising consultants and specialists to supervise the formation of committees at almost all the hospitals in the Riyadh region, Al Ghamdi said.

A total of 35 panels have been formed so far.

"Domestic violence cases against women and children are on the rise day by the day in various parts of the kingdom. This prompted the concerned authorities to form such specialised committees besides holding seminars and campaigns to create awareness in a bid to fight domestic violence and child abuse," he said.

Several Saudi newspapers carry reports about domestic violence against women and children on a daily basis. One such report recounted the tragic story of a Saudi girl aged 12 who succumbed to her injuries after being tortured by her father.

The girl, with serious burns on her face and bruises to various parts of the body, died before being brought to the emergency unit of Al Iman Hospital in Riyadh last week.

Her younger sister, aged 9, had also been taken to the hospital with serious injuries caused by her father. A source at the hospital told Gulf News that the medical team at the hospital found several scars, old and new, on the dead girl's body.

There were also horrific burns on her face and several bones had been exposed after the man poured boiling water over her head, the source said, adding that it was the hospital staff who had informed the police and later shifted the body to the morgue.

A source at Riyadh Police said that the girls' father had been taken into custody for interrogation, and that they were awaiting the post-mortem report to ascertain the real cause of death.

"Immediately after the incident, a team of investigative officers and experts reached the home of the girls, where they found the two younger brothers (aged 7 and 8) and sister (aged 9) of the dead girl.

The younger siblings had also been subjected to beating and torture. The boys were allowed to leave with their paternal uncle after receiving primary treatment from the Riyadh Medical Complex.

The other injured girl, who was still in Al Iman Hospital, told police that she and her siblings had been mistreated by their father.

Police informed the Department for Preventing Domestic Violence at the Ministry of Social Affairs about the incident and the case was transferred to the Investigation and Public Prosecution Commission for further action.

The case of Zahra, a girl aged 8, who was subjected to domestic violence also received widespread attention. According to press reports, she was subjected to incessant torture, both physical and mental, by her parents, who forced her to go out and seek alms.

Zahra was forced against her will to beg on pavements and in front of commercial centres. Whenever she refused, the girl was tortured with a vengeance and she eventually fled her home to escape from her parents.

Warning against the rising cases of domestic violence in the kingdom, Dr Mufleh Al Qahtani, president of the Saudi National Human Rights Society, said the watchdog would soon release its new statistical report about domestic violence cases.

There were several cases of domestic violence that never came to light, Al Qahtani said. "These include sexual abuse of girls by their fathers, reckless divorce, girls being prevented from continuing their education, and inhuman torture," he said.

Dr Rashoud Al Kharif, professor of social science at King Saud University, said there were very few studies about cases of domestic violence in the Kingdom.

"Some of the studies showed that about 90 per cent of the culprits in such cases were men, and most of the cases happening against wives," he said adding that generally women were the first victims in all such cases.

© Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.