Watchdogs skeptical of Mideast rights commissions

As human rights groups expressed skepticism that detainees recently transferred from the US prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba to Saudi Arabian custody could receive fair trials and escape torture, the oil-rich kingdom put the finishing touches on its new human rights commission. The new commission, which the government characterizes as an independent rights watchdog, came into existence last October, but the king has just gotten around to naming its board members so it can begin its work. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch warned that the 15 Saudi detainees transferred from Guantánamo Bay to Saudi custody on May 18 "are unlikely to receive a fair trial and are at risk of torture." "After being deprived of access to justice for years in US military detention, they may face continued incarceration with no legal process in Saudi Arabia," the group charged. The 15 will be jailed upon their return to Saudi Arabia. Some may eventually go on trial if there is evidence against them, or they could be released after a judicial review. An estimated 100 Saudis are still being held at Guantánamo, some of them for more than four years. Saudi Arabia recently freed three former Guantánamo Bay detainees after they completed their jail sentences, according to the state news agency, SPA. The three had been handed over by the US last year. At least five other Guantánamo detainees were freed by Saudi Arabia last year after completing jail sentences. The new Saudi human rights body is one of many similar groups organized by Middle East governments in the past few years. Egypt, Jordan and Morocco are among the countries that operate such groups. The new Saudi commission operates under the supervision of the king, and is mandated to "protect human rights and create awareness about them... in keeping with the provisions of Islamic law." The commission's board includes at least 18 full-time members and six part-time members. The king names the board members. The commission's chairman reported that his group has so far received 400 petitions from the public on various alleged rights violations. Like most of its counterparts in the Middle East, the commission serves in an advisory role and cannot initiate independent investigations of abuses on its own. The most recent human rights report on Saudi Arabia from the US State Department found that, "The government's human rights record remained poor overall with continuing serious problems, despite some progress." These included no right to change the government, infliction of severe pain by judicially sanctioned corporal punishments, arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, denial of fair public trials, exemption from the rule of law for some individuals and lack of judicial independence. The report also indicates an absence of freedoms of speech and the press, legal and societal discrimination against women, religious and other minorities, and strict limitations on worker rights. In Jordan, according to Amnesty International, "Scores of people were arrested for political reasons, including on suspicion of terrorism. Many were brought to trial before the State Security Court... and alleged that they had been tortured to confess." Jordan's government-funded National Center for Human Rights recently reported it had received 250 reports of torture between June 2003 and December 2004. It also pointed to the difficulties faced by defendants in proving torture allegations. The existence of government-sponsored human rights bodies may have helped focus more attention on the subject. But in most countries in the Middle East and North Africa, there appears to be little correlation between the existence of such agencies and the incidence of human rights abuses. The evidence suggests that private non-governmental organizations are largely responsible for human rights abuses being reported and corrected. Egypt's National Commission on Human Rights, which is chaired by former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, has been operating since 2003. It has been widely criticized by Egyptian and international human rights organizations for remaining largely silent in the face of the country's widespread and well documented human rights abuses, including torture and death in detention. Neil Hicks, director of International Programs for Human Rights First, told IPS he is "not surprised" that the commission has not been more visible. "They will choose their ground carefully when it comes to confronting the authorities," he said.