The Kingdom's regulations make provision for special educative measures for male juveniles under 18 and young women under 30 years of age, as well as special therapeutic measures for mentally disturbed offenders. In accordance with the directives, young women who commit certain offences must be handed over to their guardians after the latter have given an undertaking to look after them. If it is deemed necessary to place a male juvenile or a young woman in a social surveillance center or a welfare institution, approval must be obtained from the judge.
These centers and institutions are of a social nature and their aims are educative.
The therapeutic measures that are taken in respect of mentally disturbed offenders consist in their confinement in a hospital for mental illnesses. Article 28 of the Prison Medical Services Directive stipulates that any detainee or convicted person who is afflicted with a mental disorder must be transferred to a hospital for mental illnesses: Any prisoner suffering from mental illness must also be confined in a psychiatric hospital if he cannot be treated at a psychiatric clinic in the prison. In accordance with the provisions of the Islamic Shariah, which are applied in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a person who was insane at the time of his commission of an offence cannot be held criminally responsible. However, if he becomes mentally disturbed after committing the offence, he receives treatment and the trial proceedings are completed after his recovery. An insane person who commits an offence must be handed over to his country's embassy if he is a foreigner.
The Kingdom's regulations show due regard for the after-care of former prisoners in view of its importance for their ongoing rehabilitation and the continuation of the positive results achieved while they were serving their custodial sentence. Far from confining itself to the rehabilitation of convicted persons within penal institutions, the Kingdom's penal policy seeks to help them, following their release, to overcome their problems and adapt to social life since, after their departure from prison, they might find themselves in a state of semi-isolation and society's view of them as hardened criminals might increase their isolation and alienation. Accordingly, the Kingdom, wishing to ensure the welfare of former prisoners, has established an After-care Directorate at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs which functions in accordance with a directive containing the rules for the aftercare of former prisoners. The aim of this Directorate is to provide former prisoners with stability, wipe out the effects of their criminal past and enable them to find honest work or to be reinstated in their former posts if they were civil servants. Their situation is monitored and they are provided with guidance and advice concerning problems that they are facing and any obstacles that are impeding their social rehabilitation. The Social Security Agency at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs also provides former prisoners with financial assistance so that they can engage in production or investment projects. In addition, former prisoners benefit from health and psychological care and undergo periodic medical examinations, if their state of health so requires, throughout this follow-up period. After-care continues until their situation becomes stable and they no longer require it (the Social Care Directive promulgated in Ministerial Ordinance No. 4308 of 1/11/1398 H, corresponding to AD 3/10/1978).
The Kingdom's penal institutions are subject' to judicial inspection in order to ensure the achievement of the basic purpose of penalties, namely rehabilitation. The judiciary supervises the enforcement of penalties through a committee chaired by the adjudicating judge, or another judge of the court delegated by him, and comprising-other members representing the executive authority and the health supervisory authorities. Article 5 of the Prison and Detention Regulations stipulates that prisons and places of detention are subject to administrative, health and social inspection by the judiciary in accordance with the provisions of the Implementing Directive. Paragraph 1 of the Prison Inspection Directive promulgated in Ministerial Ordinance No. 3917 of 22/9/1398 H, corresponding to AD August 26, 1978, stipulates that the President of the Shariah Court, or any other judge delegated by him, shall conduct prison inspections in order to ensure that:
Paragraph 2 of the Directive stipulates that the person conducting the inspection must send a written report concerning any violations that he observes to the Directorate-General of Prisons, so that it can rectify the errors or ensure that the persons responsible therefor are called to account, and must order any measures that fall within his sphere of jurisdiction.
This judicial supervision is not restricted solely to prisons; it also extends to the social surveillance centers for juveniles since, by law, the juvenile judge is empowered to supervise the enforcement of the penalties and measures ordered by the judiciary.
Under the terms of its Statutes, the Public Investigation and Prosecution Department is empowered to supervise the enforcement of criminal judgements, control and inspect prisons, detention centers and any places in which criminal penalties are enforced, hear the complaints of prisoners and detainees, verify the legality of their imprisonment or detention and the legality of their retention in the prison or detention center after they have completed their sentence, take the necessary measures to secure the release of anyone who is imprisoned or detained without a valid reason, and institute the legally stipulated proceedings against the persons responsible therefor. The Minister of the Interior must be informed of any observations made in this regard and a report on the situation of prisoners and detainees must be submitted to him every six months.
(a) Social welfare from the standpoint of conjugal rights
In keeping with the provisions of the Islamic Shariah concerning a prisoner's legitimate right to spend time alone with his wife in an appropriate place, the Kingdom's regulations stipulate that prisons must provide a suitable place in which male prisoners can spend time alone with their wives, and female prisoners with their husbands, in a private family atmosphere. The Implementing Directive Concerning Visits, and Correspondence stipulates that: "Convicts and detainees who have spent three months or more in the prison shall be given an opportunity to spend three hours alone with their wives once a month". The prison administrations provide furnished rooms for this purpose far from the cell blocks and the administrative offices. In order to strengthen family bonds, the wife is permitted to bring food., drink and gifts. This system helps to maintain social and sexual relation's between the spouses and mitigates the effects of sexual deprivation on the prisoners.
In order to encourage prisoners to enroll in the prison's reform and good conduct and behavior programs, a prisoner who is well behaved and who has served half of his sentence, amounting to a period of not less than one year, is granted 24 hours' leave of absence from the prison once a month in order to spend time alone with his wife.
(b) Prisoners' family visits outside the prison
The Kingdom's regulations show humanitarian concern for the circumstances in which convicted prisoners might be in dire need of someone to support and assist them. Accordingly, in keeping with the Islamic principles of compassion, the directives permit a prisoner to be granted leave of absence from the prison on the following humanitarian grounds:
(i) To attend the funeral of one of his parents or accept condolences.
(ii) To visit his parents, his children or his wife at home or in hospital.
(iii) To seek in-patient treatment at a private hospital.
(iv) To visit a hospital in order to sign a consent form for any of his dependents to undergo a surgical operation, etc.
(v) To attend the betrothal or marriage celebrations of any of his children.
(vi) To enroll at a university or attend an interview or sit a test for admission thereto.
(vii) In the event of a fire, God forbid, at his home or place of business.
(viii) To visit a notary or a Shariah court in order to draw up his will or legal documents in connection with probate or the sale of property.
(ix) To remove, or draw up an inventory of, the contents of his commercial premises or evacuate a dwelling at the request of its owner.
(x) To settle debts or receive entitlements-, in the case of a foreign prisoner who is to be deported.
(c) Welfare of prisoners' families
The Kingdom's regulations make provision for the welfare not only of prisoners but also of their families in view of the difficult circumstance's that the latter might face while their breadwinner is in prison. Article 19 of the Prison and Detention Regulations stipulates that: "The Ministry of the Interior, in collaboration with the competent authorities, shall formulate social service programs in prisons and detention centers and for the families of prisoners and detainees. Under the social security regulations applicable to the families of prisoners, security benefits are payable to prisoners' families entitled thereto without the need for observance of the payment procedures provided for in the Social Security Statutes. Payment is made to needy families within one month from the date of the prisoner's admission to a reform institution.
The above review clearly shows that the Kingdom's concern for human rights stems from its Islamic faith, which vests those rights with a sacrosanct and mandatory nature, thereby endowing them with sufficient standing and esteem to ensure that they are not violated.
The Kingdom, guided by the provisions of the Shariah, has established bodies for the administration of criminal justice and has promulgated rules and directives that regulate all stages of criminal procedure and constitute the cornerstone for the legislative protection of human rights in the Kingdom. In order to ensure that these texts do not provide only theoretical protection, lacking in essence and devoid of substance, the judicial authority in the Kingdom acts as the natural guardian of rights and freedoms and ensures strict compliance with those rules and directives by monitoring the legality of all stages of criminal procedure, thereby ensuring that those texts, far from being regarded as mere provisions on paper, are actually put into practice.
The Kingdom, which is committed to the ongoing protection of human rights, believes that this is a noble aim for the achievement of which, all States, peoples and organizations have a duty to assume the heavy responsibilities that it entails. Cooperation based on respect for the beliefs and particularities of civilizations is one of the best ways to highlight concern for the protection of human rights and to help to enrich their noble concepts and lofty principles and values.
God is the arbiter of our success.
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