The National Society for Human Rights has released its 10^th annual report (1434 AH-2013 AD) so as to document all its activities and efforts and to become a reference for the researchers and those who are interested in human rights field. It also aims to be an indicator for the Society and the governmental and non-governmental agencies to learn more about the problems faced by the community’s members in dealing with them and what should be done to develop and improve their performance. In addition, the report will enable the Society to compare between the performance of the current year and the past years and it will help to know and determine what can be considered as a problem or a phenomenon that will require deep and comprehensive studies in order to find solutions to them in accordance with the world methodology issued by the “the Global Reporting Initiative”. Besides, the report includes the cases’ statistics which amounted to 3303 cases during the year 1434 AH , with (510) cases which represents 1%  decline compared to the last year and 9% of the total cases received by the Society since its inception. Some attribute this decline to the increase in the human rights awareness. The report includes several statistics that highlight the Society’s activities regarding the various cases received via fax, post, e- mail, or the personal presence of the complainants. The cases are classified as follows :

1 – Administrative Cases :

They are the complaints against the governmental agencies. There are (794) cases this year, including ( 692 for Saudis ), with 3% decline compared to the last year, out of 11,333 cases received by the Society since its inception. The Society’s  headquarters in Riyadh has received the greatest percentage as it has received (350) cases while Al-Jouf branch has received the least percentage as it has received only (21) cases. Moreover, the “objection to the decision” cases are the most administrative cases that have been received as they have reached (286) cases. The number of the administrative cases can be classified as follows: resolution reconsideration requests (139), bypass or encroachment of administrative bodies (74), amnesty requests (6), compensation requests (47), demanding the implementation of a court ruling (15), an assault on the property (25), medical errors (26), unemployment (17), mandatory deportation (8 ), career status modification (12), harm from environmental pollution (6) , job retrieval request (5), deportation request (1), transfer request (11), violence or neglect (13), unfair dismissal (8), financial benefits claim from the administration (34), irregular prosecution (12), length of the proceedings (41), unfair transfer (1), travel ban because of administrative decision (2), flood damage (2), stumbled on the debt repayment ( 3) .

2-  Prisoners’ Cases:

They are the complaints received by the Society related to the prisoners such as amnesty requests for the rest of the period , release requests and some other cases. They have reached (770) cases for the year 1434 AH , including ( 632 cases for the Saudis ), with 1% decline compared to the last year, out of 6631 cases received by the Society since its inception. The Society’s  headquarters in Riyadh has received the greatest percentage as it has received (474 ) cases while Al-Jouf branch has received the least percentage as it has received only (7) cases. The number of the prisoner’s cases can be classified as follows:  the “release requests” cases are the most prisoners’ cases received as they have reached (592) cases, amnesty requests for the rest of the period (16), objection to the deportation of a prisoner (11), the prisoner’s poor health care (25),  the end of the sentence while  not being released (23) the appeal of non-trial (36), request to be moved to another prison (4), maltreatment and infringement and bypass systems inside the prison (27), preventing the visit (13) , moral pressure on the prisoner (6) objection to a decision (7) , stumbled on the debt repayment (10). These prisoners’ cases have included cases inside and outside the Kingdom. For more illustration, in the prisons of Iraq, there are 5 cases , and one case in the prison of the following countries: United Arab Emirates , Lebanon, and two cases in the State of Kuwait .

 3 – Domestic Violence Cases :

They are the complaints received by the Society concerning violence within the family. They have reached (360) cases during the year 1434 AH , including ( 307 for the Saudis ), with 4% increase compared to last year, out of 2813 cases received by the Society since its inception. The Society’s  headquarters in Riyadh has received the greatest percentage which was (133 ) cases while Al-Jouf branch has received the least percentage which was only (1) case. Besides, (312) cases were provided by females while (48) cases by males. Regarding the number of the cases, it can be classified as follows: physical and psychological violence (274) , education deprivation 20), violence as a result of addiction (5), marriage deprivation (22), sexual harassment (9), shelter requests (3), charge and extrusion (4), mother deprivation (10), salary deprivation or infringement of the property (5), deprivation of work (1), escape (7) .

4 – Labor Cases :

They are the complaints received by the Society regarding individuals under the work system. They have reached (269) cases during the year 1434 AH,  with 1% decline compared to last year. The greatest percentage of these cases were from the Egyptians, followed by the Saudis while the least percentage was from the Somali, Canadian, British, Nepalese, Iraqi, Ethiopian and New Zealand nationalities which was (1) case for each of them. Most of the cases were against sponsors (individuals) (179) while (65) were against  the private companies. Regarding the number of the cases, it can be classified as follows: requests concerning the workers’ financial rights ( 119 ), sponsorship transfer requests (56), unfair dismissal (9) , preventing the worker from traveling to his country (21), moral pressure on the worker (12), depriving the worker of his identification papers (4) objection to the resolution (18), forced to work (2) , failure to complete the recruitment procedures (1), mandatory deportation (6), re-joining work request (1), preventing from promotion (1), forced to end the termination of the contract (1), dismissed due to charge (2), re-examination request (6), length of the proceedings (10). The  headquarters in Riyadh has received the greatest percentage which was (129) cases .

5 – Judicial Cases :

They are the complaints received by the Society regarding the cases that have taken long time before the judicial authorities, or not getting a fair trial, in addition to complaints received against some judges because of their ill-treatment, or their unwillingness to consider the cases. There are also cases received  including objections regarding the rule , compensation demands , and travel bans due to court ruling. They have reached (81) cases during the year 1434 AH, including ( 72 cases for the Saudis ), with 1% decline compared to last year, out of 1572 cases received by the Society since its inception. The Society’s  branch in Jeddah has received the greatest percentage which was (20 ) cases, and those cases in which the owners complaint against the judiciary ( 65), against the judge (15), and one case against the Board of Grievances . Regarding the number of the cases, it can be classified as follows: objection to the rule (43), a reconsideration request (10) , compensation request (4) , length of the proceedings (23), judge’s ill-treatment (1) .

6-  Personal Status Cases :

They are the complaints received by the Society regarding the cases related to  the personal rights to one of the family members or that dealing with divorce , Khula, custody, adequate support of the wife, conditional repudiation and abandonment, withdrawing guardianship, deprived of seeing the children, deprivation of inheritance, lack of marriage recognition. They have reached (233) cases during the year 1434 AH , including ( 193 for the Saudis ) , with 4% decline compared to the last year. Besides,  (193) cases were provided by females while (40) cases by males. The Society’s  headquarters in Riyadh has received the greatest percentage which was (102). Regarding the number of the cases, it can be classified as follows:  divorce (31), custody (48), adequate support of the wife (59), conditional repudiation and abandonment (5) , withdrawing guardianship (3) , deprived of seeing the children (67), deprivation of inheritance (12) , lack of marriage recognition and divorce demands (8) .

 7 – Civil Status Cases :

They are the complaints or requests received by the Society regarding the withdrawal of nationality, recovery of nationality requests, withdrawal of the identification papers. They also include complaints concerning not adding children or not documenting some of the facts of the civil status. They have reached (294) cases during the year 1434 AH, with 1% increase compared to the last year. They include (147) cases for the Saudis, (96 cases) from non-specific nationalities, then the Yemeni nationality (20) cases.  Most of the cases, after the classification, were complaints about the civil status, which was addressed by (250) letters. The greatest percentage of the cases was in the Riyadh region (146) , then Al Jazan (50) and they are classified as follows : citizenship requests (103), retrieval of nationality requests (21), identification papers (142 , objection to a decision (6),  re-examination  requests (6), length of the proceedings (16) .

8 – Violence against Children Cases :

 They are the complaints received by the Society regarding the types of violence against children (18 years and below) such as the physical, psychological or sexual  abuse, the children who have been deprived of education and of their identification papers, and also those who have been deprived of their mother or father. Besides, they include cases regarding child marriage. Those who report these cases often be (a family member, a child relatives, the school, and  neighbors). They have reached (112) cases during the year 1434 AH , including (92 cases for the Saudis ), with (33) cases increase compared to the last year, out of 440 cases have been monitored and verified by the Society since it has added the violence against children cases to the classification in 1430 AH. The Society has added this classification in order to shed light on the violence that is directed against this class since being a thorny issue affecting the most vulnerable category in the community. These cases actually need special focus and attention that is why they have been separated from the domestic violence cases. Besides, Al-Asir region has received the greatest percentage which was (38 cases) compared to the other branches. Regarding the number of the cases, it can be classified as follows: the physical abuse (47 cases), the psychological abuse (4), sexual abuse  (6),  depriving the children of education (11) and of their identification papers (19), depriving the child from seeing his mother (11), depriving from seeing his father (3), negligence (8), in addition to child marriage cases (3) .

9 – Other Cases :

 They include complaints of individuals or companies such as the disagreement  between individuals, companies or the service providers of the private sector. For more illustration, they include reconsideration requests, objection to the decision, demanding the implementation of the court ruling, the overtaking and encroachment of some administrative authorities, the length of the proceedings, unemployment, an assault on the property, compensation requests, medical errors, environmental pollution, and irregular prosecution. In addition,  there are complaints concerning financial assistance requests and claims regarding adopting some of the proposals and providing legal and legitimacy advice .

 They have reached (390) cases during the year 1434 AH , including ( 336 cases for the Saudis ), out of 4805 cases have been monitored and verified by the Society since its inception. The Society’s headquarters in Riyadh has received the greatest percentage which was (222) cases and (7)cases from outside the Kingdom. Besides, the appeals that were  between individuals have reached (95), companies (38), Saudi banks (29), hospitals (14) ,charitable organizations (59) and they were classified as follows : reconsideration requests (13), objection to the resolution (44), compensation requests (19), medical errors (6). In addition, the complaints concerning financial assistance requests (147 cases) , the adoption of some of the proposals’ claims (15), providing legal and legitimacy advice (29), disputes between individuals or companies ( 111 ), length of the proceedings (6).

Moreover, the report has also included all the Society’s activities in terms of: field visits which amounted to about (43) visits such as visits to: public and detective prisons, some of the observation homes and orphanages, some schools in all the Kingdom’s regions,  many hospitals in some cities and provinces, many police stations, charitable organizations, and a number of government agencies such as the Ministries of Justice, Interior, and Health and social Affairs. These visits are to follow up the complaints and grievances received by the Society with the aim of spreading the culture of human rights among all segments of society . Besides, the report has included the meetings of the Society’s officials with a number of regional governors, ministers and public bodies’ heads. The Society has also received several ambassadors, ministers and foreign delegations such as the delegation of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, European and Arabic  parliaments, and the High Commissioner of the United Nations which amounted to (28) delegations in addition to its (3) visits to a number of governmental and foreign agencies.

Furthermore, it has also participated in the activities and campaigns organized by the relevant authorities. The Society has also organized (48) suitable and effective events that aim to spread  the human rights culture including forums, exhibitions, seminars, lectures and workshops.

The  Society has also signed memoranda of understanding during the year 1434 AH with both the Ministry of Social Affairs and the United Nations Country Team, in addition to the continuation of the Society at receiving cases and addressing the relevant authorities to remove the causes of the complaints and grievances.

 Concerning the Society’s incoming and outgoing letters during the year 1434 AH, the headquarter in Riyadh has issued about (1529) letters for many entities such as the King, the Royal Court, the Council of Ministers and its affiliates, the ministries, the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution and its affiliates, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Monetary Institution and its affiliates, the General Organization for Social Insurance, the Public Pension Agency (PPA) , and other entities.  On the other hand, it has received (536) responses regarding the Society’s inquiries and claims. Moreover, the Jeddah Branch has issued (164) letters and received (75) responses, the Eastern Region Branch has issued about (57) letters and received (44) responses, the Jazan branch has issued (32) letters and received (5) responses,  the Sacred Capital Office has issued (40) letters and received (24) responses, Makkah Al Mokaramah Office has issued (326) letters and received (203) responses, and Al Madinah Almenorah Branch has issued (283) letters and received (182) responses. The Society has also issued a number of publications, brochures regarding human rights and a number of statements throughout the year .