This is one of the recommendations made at a workshop sponsored by the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR). The society, the kingdom’s unofficial human rights watchdog, said that the recommendations would be sent to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz for approval.
More than 40 participants from 16 higher educational institutions in the kingdom met to discuss the matter recently. Dr Bandar Al Hajjar, President of NSHR, told a discussion panel during his opening speech that the initiative was part of the society’s efforts to create awareness among Saudis about human rights in the kingdom. “The society works to spread the culture of human rights. We also have established a web site and we publish a weekly and monthly newsletter about human rights,” he said.
Dr Bandar added that in the near future the rights body would establish an information centre where statistics and data would be collected on different sorts of human rights violations in the kingdom. The centre will also include data on complaints from members of the public.
He said that since its establishment in 2004, the NSHR has received 12,000 complaints from locals and expatriates concerning alleged violations of human rights. In addition, the NSHR has made random visits to hospitals, prisons and public and private institutions to monitor conditions there.
Many participants at the workshop in Riyadh argued that the introduction of human rights into the Saudi school curriculum was due to the influence upon its officials of ‘Western ideas of human rights’. One Saudi academic asked: “Where were we before the issue of human rights was brought up by the West?”
Other participants, however, pointed out that Saudi society should not think of progress in the kingdom as being due to Western influences. According to them such moves had a positive impact upon the country’s welfare and progress. “Our work stems from the principles of Islamic Shariah and international laws and regulations signed by the kingdom,” Dr Bandar said.
Earlier, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Guidance, Endowments agreed with the Human Rights Commission (HRC), Saudi Arabia’s governmental human rights body, to begin an awareness campaign in the kingdom to promote the ideals of human rights in the teachings of Islam.
Turki Al Sudairi, chairman of the HRC, noted the importance of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Guidance, Endowment’s strategic partnership with the rights body in spreading the culture of human rights in Saudi Arabia. According to the HRC, Minister of Islamic Affairs Shaikh Saleh Al Asheikh, agreed to the proposal made by HRC in a letter sent to the ministry.
The campaign will focus on creating awareness among Saudis and residents in the kingdom about the teachings of human rights in Islam through Islamic propagation (dawa) symposiums, training courses, as well as publishing brochures on human rights in Islam and distributing them in the kingdom.
The awareness campaign will also include Juma sermons, as imams will take part in spreading the culture of human rights when they address faithful on Fridays in mosques.
