On Sunday, 29/1/1438 AH, the French Ambassador to the Kingdom Mr.Francois Goyet accompanied by the Political Adviser at the French Embassy Mr.Munir Soleimani, have visited the National Society for Human Rights. The delegation was received by HE the Chairman of the Society, Dr. Mufleh RabieanAl- Qahtani and the Secretary General of the Society Mr. Khaled Abdulrahman Al-Fakhiri and Secretary of the Chairman of the Society Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Al-Mahmoud.

At the beginning of the meeting, HE the chairman of the Society has given the delegation a brief explanation regarding the Society’s activities and its contribution in spreading the human rights culture as well as the human rights’ remarkable progress in the Kingdom and the efforts exerted for its enhancement. Besides, the Ambassador has congratulated the Chairman of the Society and the Kingdom on the re-election of the Kingdom for membership of the Human Rights Council and the Chairman has thanked him and clarified that the Kingdom is exerting a great efforts in the humanitarian fields at the international level which have important implications for the protection and promotion of human rights. The two sides have also discussed the human rights situation in the region and the position of the French government of the Syrian crisis and the situation in Yemen as well as the negative interference of Iran in the internal affairs of the countries of the region and the impact of this on human rights in these countries. To illustrate, the Iranian government is determining to destabilize in more than one Arab country and the consequences of such thing on the protection of human rights in the absence of security and stability for the peoples of the region.

Moreover, the French Ambassador has stressed that the French government’s position is matched with the Saudi perspective on these issues. They have also discussed other issues including the death penalty especially for those who are under the age of eighteen. His Excellency the Chairman of the Society has clarified to the visiting delegation that this penalty, in the Kingdom, is based on the provisions of Al Shariah and that the final judgment is issued only after being considered by a large number of judges to ensure the achievement of justice and that the state is seeking with the parents in such cases to provide amnesty to the execution of the sentence.