Al-Fakhri has asserted on the importance of understanding the Kingdom’s legal environment which bases on Al- Sharia

The Secretary General of the National Society for Human Rights, Mr. Khalid bin Abdul Rahman Al Fakhri, has demanded the human rights organizations, that have recently issued the International reports, to get along with the United Nations’ aims for writing reports and to seek better guarantees for human rights situation in the world and consider it a main goal that they should achieve in their reports. To illustrate, this should be done by monitoring the human rights situation and indicating the extent of improvement or decline concerning the protection of human rights as well as reflecting the reality as it is with all objectivity and impartiality through shedding light on the negatives and clarifying the positives in a balanced manner. Hence, these reports will have a literary credibility and realistic value to the recipient and also avoiding the external influences that may result in the politicization of the report or not examining the credibility of the information contained therein.

Besides, he has pointed out that the problem sometimes lies when some people prepared the reports without being familiar with the regulations of the countries included in their reports, without being aware that the states’ laws vary and that each state has its independent legal system as well as that each country has space to run its own affairs in accordance with the universal principles of human rights as the case in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  As a result of this confusion, we see reports which show that those who have prepared them do not take into account the legal differences between the countries. Hence, the human rights organizations, that prepare reports regarding the human rights situation, have to develop and rehabilitate the ability of those who are working on these reports by informing them of the states’ regulations in general and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in particular, with the importance of understanding the legal environment in the Kingdom, which bases on Sharia.  In fact, we do not find that in some of the reports that I have read about the KSA and in which we notice the permanent ignorance and how they reduce the importance of the positive changes and the efforts undertaken by the government of Saudi Arabia which aimed to achieve the human rights principles and that is why these reports lose their credibility.  Besides, we cannot deny that there are some transgressions; however they do not live up to the case of amplification by which the issued reports, concerning the human rights situation in the Kingdom in particular, are formulated. For more illustration, the government is keen and takes into account such transgressions so as to treat them and that what has not been clarified in the reports.

Furthermore, Al-Fakhri has stressed that the observers of human rights in Saudi Arabia would notice the human rights mobility and the attention of the highest authorities in the country which  resulted in the positive changes which the government was keen to happen in order to provide more guarantees to ensure the preservation of human rights, which, among them:

– The Basic Law of the Governance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was published in 1412 AH, and which is considered the constitution of the Kingdom, has stated in Article “26” the following: ” The State shall protect human rights in accordance with the Sharia,” which means that the Kingdom knows and is keen with the human rights principles twenty years ago, and this is important and has not been highlighted in the reports.

– The development of the judicial facility. To illustrate, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has ordered to develop and restructure the judicial facility including all its courts and committees so as to establish justice and truth, to save the private and public rights, and to take care of the interests. Hence, they can establish justice, protect the stability of the society through the existence of judicial guarantees which apply Sharia and state’s law and monitor the application of the Islamic Sharia. In addition, they can be sure that the systems that have been decreed by the ruler do not contradict with the Sharia in order to achieve greater justice for the litigants, help settling disputes quickly and achieve the principles of independent fair trial. Besides, defining the terms of reference for the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Judicial Council and the Board of Grievances as well as establishing the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, defining and establishing them highlight the keen of the orientation leadership to ensure the strengthening of the independence of the judiciary, which is considered a main principle of the intrinsic principles of human rights.

–  The Kingdom’s accession to a number of international human rights conventions.

–  Issuing regulations that provide guarantees for the accused in the stage of arrest, investigation and prosecution.

–  The permanent confirmation from the government regarding the right of citizenship to all citizens on an equal footing.

At the end, it is clear from what has mentioned above that the leadership is keen to protect the citizens and residents rights and this has resulted in the re-election of the Kingdom in the Human Rights Council and has highlighted the remarkable progress in the field of human rights in our country and we are confident of the continuity of these reforms.

Resource: Al-Riyadh newspaper, 22-5-1436 AH