CAT/C/SAU/CO/2
(c)
The establishment of the Human Rights Commission and the National
Society for Human Rights, whose activities include monitoring conditions in places of
detention;
(d)
The establishment of the National Family Safety Programme;
(e)
The establishment of the Nafethah website (www.nafethah.gov.sa), which
contains information on detained persons;
(f)
The creation, in 2016, of a hotline for victims of domestic violence,
accessible 24 hours a day to receive complaints and make referrals to the social protection
units, and the establishment of shelters across the country.
C.
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Definition and criminalization of torture
5.
The Committee welcomes: (a) the ongoing reform of the penal laws (see
CAT/C/SAU/Q/2/Add.2, para. 3); (b) the delegation’s explanation that the provisions of the
Convention may be invoked before any domestic court; and (c) the State party’s willingness
to seek legal assistance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR). While noting with interest that the 2013 Code of Criminal
Procedure prohibits subjecting a person under arrest to torture and degrading treatment
(ibid, para. 2), the Committee is concerned that current legal provisions do not define the
crime of torture as required by the Convention. The Committee also regrets the absence of
clear legal provisions in the State party’s Basic Law to ensure the absolute and nonderogable prohibition of torture and ill-treatment (arts. 1, 2 and 4).
6.
The State party should revise its national legislation to ensure that the crime of
torture, as defined in article 1 of the Convention, is incorporated and made nonderogable in its penal law.
Prosecution of perpetrators of torture
7.
The Committee is deeply concerned at the numerous reports brought to its attention
that torture and other ill-treatment are commonly practised in prisons and detention centres
in the State party, in particular in branches of the Criminal Investigation Department of the
Ministry of the Interior and in Al-Mabahith detention centres. The Committee welcomes
the State party’s effort to install closed-circuit television cameras in all places of detention,
but regrets that the State party did not provide the Committee with the information
requested as to whether it ensures that all allegations of torture are promptly, impartially
and effectively investigated and that perpetrators are punished. Although the State party
provided data indicating that 1,533 public officials were sentenced for abuse of authority
and related offences in the period 2002-2011, it did not provide the specific data requested
on cases in which officials were sanctioned for engaging in conduct that is prohibited by the
Convention. The State party also did not indicate whether any officials have been
prosecuted for the reported torture and ill-treatment in detention of human rights lawyer
Waleed Abu al-Khair, in 2014. The Committee also regrets that the State party did not
provide the information requested about measures taken to ensure that nationals accused of
committing violations of the Convention outside the territory of the State party are held
accountable, including the diplomat who was based in India and alleged to have committed
violations of the Convention against Nepalese nationals in 2015.
8.
The State party should ensure that all instances and allegations of torture and
ill-treatment, including those raised in the case of Waleed Abu al-Khair, are
promptly, effectively and impartially investigated and that perpetrators are
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