A human rights organization reveals new shocking details about the reality of prisons in Saudi Arabia
A human rights organization revealed new shocking facts about the reality of prisons in Saudi Arabia, in light of the grave violations, torture and enforced disappearances it witnesses.
Sanad, a human rights organization, said that the Saudi authorities, with their institutions and media, sought to spread a cheerful, bright image of Saudi prisons, to appear as luxury hotels and places for recreation and rest.
The organization stated that the facts are contrary to what the Saudi authorities propagate about their prisons. Numerous human rights reports and testimonies of Saudi citizens have shown facts that show the horrific and deteriorating conditions in which prisoners live in Saudi Arabia.
Human Rights Watch said that it visited Dhahban prison and met detainees who witnessed the death of prisoners due to torture and poor medical care, as well as the overcrowding of some wards in excess of their capacity and the presence of many detainees in conditions that violate the international system for the treatment of prisoners.
International human rights organizations say that the prison system in Saudi Arabia is never in conformity with the United Nations system for the treatment of prisoners, as the authorities prevent independent bodies from inspection visits to prisons.
International reports also indicated that detainees were subjected to torture and solitary confinement, and some were killed due to torture inside prisons. Some prisoners were released having severe mental illnesses due to the abuse they were subjected to in prisons.
Violations expose the reality of prisons in Saudi Arabia
In the notorious al-Ha’ir prison, his detainees are subjected to all kinds of insults, humiliation, and torture, including being electrocuted, drowning, and being prevented from sleeping for long hours.
Many human rights reports stated that many inmates went on strike due to the ill-treatment they were subjected to.
Sanad affirmed that one of the ugliest practices of the Saudi authorities against the detainees is their detention in unknown places, where it is not known where they are being held, and their families do not know anything about them.
In addition, some of these places are not official prisons, and they are considered prisons outside the law and are more like places of kidnapping and enforced disappearance, just like what the gangs practice.
The organization stressed that no matter how much the Saudi authorities try to polish the prisons’ image, it remains a stigma that distinguishes them and a curse that persecutes them before the international community and its human rights institutions.
It warned that human rights, dignity, and humanity are violated in the ugliest form in Saudi prisons. The Saudi regime has no choice but to seriously and urgently improve it and allow international and human rights inspection committees.
