Saudi Arabia: Human Rights Groups Emerging
Human
Rights Watch, May 9, 2003
New York—The royal decree
approving the establishment of Saudi Arabia’s first nongovernmental human
rights organization is a welcome initiative that holds a promise of greater
freedom of association, Human Rights Watch said today. In addition, the
government plans to launch its own national human rights body.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal announced on May 6
that the private rights group will be “completely independent,” although
its founders and proposed activities have yet to be disclosed. Prince Saud
also reported that the government was moving ahead with the creation of its
own national human rights institution. He said that this entity would be
responsible for “implementing government decisions” regarding human
rights, and “reformulating local laws so they are consistent with the basic
system of governance, which is primarily based on human rights.”
“A state-sponsored human rights group needs teeth to do
effective work,” said Hanny Megally, executive director of the Middle East
and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. “We are hopeful that this
new organization will have real influence, but only time will tell.”
A Human Rights Watch delegation learned from Prince Saud
during a visit to the kingdom in January 2003 that a national human rights
institution was in the process of being formed. The delegation discussed with
the foreign minister the importance of such a body having the ability to
operate independently and the authority to carry out its mandate effectively.
Human rights groups in Saudi Arabia should be permitted
to determine their own structure, mandate and membership; investigate human
rights abuses without government interference; disseminate information freely
inside the country and abroad; and communicate and cooperate with regional and
international human rights organizations.
The United Nations Declaration on human rights defenders
of 1999 should guide the government’s policies toward nongovernmental rights
groups, and Saudi rights activists should be able to exercise all the rights
in it, Human Rights Watch said.
Article 5 of the declaration guarantees to everyone the
right, individually and in association with others, to meet and assemble
peacefully; to form, join and participate in non-governmental organizations,
associations or groups; and to communicate with non-governmental or
intergovernmental organizations. Article 12(1) provides for the right of
everyone “to participate in peaceful activities against violations of human
rights and fundamental freedoms,” and article 12(2) requires the state to
protect human rights defenders from “any violence, threats, retaliation, de
facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary
action” resulting from the exercise of the rights guaranteed in the
declaration.
The government’s planned national human rights
institution should be developed in accordance with internationally recognized
standards embodied in the U.N. Principles relating to the status and
functioning of national institutions for protection and promotion of human
rights (the Paris Principles). These were endorsed by the U.N. General
Assembly in 1993. The national group should have as broad a mandate as
possible; a representative and pluralistic membership with specified terms;
and the power to examine any human rights violation, propose remedies, and
respond to government positions and reactions. It should also have the right
to communicate its opinions and recommendations directly to the public.
To read more on human rights in Saudi Arabia, please see:
http://www.hrw.org/mideast/saudiarabia.php
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