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UN Delegation Describes Situation in Saudi Prisons as Positive | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Artwork painted by Islamic militants at the Mohammed bin Nayef Center for Advice, Counseling and Care, as the rehab center is formally known, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on April 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)


Riyadh – A delegation from the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the Saudi government was assuming a positive role in penitentiaries and prisons, stressing that the Saudi authorities did not reject the Commissioner’s demand to visit the prisons.

The Special Envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Middle East and North Africa, Mohammed al-Nasour, said that Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Committee has invited the Commissioner to visit the Kingdom within the framework of a memorandum of accord for technical cooperation between the UN High Commissioner and the Saudi committee.

Nasour said that the delegation visited the penitentiary in the region of al-Hair and checked the prison facilities, as well as the adopted procedures and mechanisms.

He added that the visit was aimed at “benefiting from the Saudi experience and the progress achieved by the Kingdom” in this regard.

The UN envoy praised the facilities provided by the Saudi authorities to beneficiaries, noting that the measures taken by Saudi Arabia were on the “right track”.

As for attempts to distort the image of Saudi prisons and falsify facts about the authorities’ dealing with inmates, Nasour highlighted positive cooperation between the UN High Commissioner and Saudi Arabia, adding that the Kingdom has never rejected any request sent by the Commissioner.

Officials from Mohammed bin Nayef Center for Care and Rehabilitation gave a presentation on the rehabilitation of people who were influenced by terrorist and extremist ideologies, noting that around 3181 persons have so far benefitted from the center’s programs.