Riyadh, August 07: Under international pressure, the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia has announced that it might revise a proposed anti-terrorist law that was heavily criticized by the international community.
A leaked version of the law was published in Amnesty International’s website last month, prompting condemnation by several countries and human rights groups.
“The draft that was published is not the final one,” said Mohammed Almohanna, a spokesman for the assembly.
“It was discussed in a Shura Council (Consultative Assembly) session. It was a draft and some changes were made to it to ensure that the law is compatible with Sharia (Islamic law) and does not violate citizens’ rights or the country’s existing laws,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
The leaked version explained that the Saudi Arabian interior ministry would be given extensive powers as it would allow prisoners to be held either without trials or with trials and appeals that are held secretly.
It would also allow the interior ministry to tap phones or conduct house searches without permission from the judiciary.
Some human rights activists say the definitions of terrorism-related crimes in the proposed law are vague.
“Ninety-nine percent of the law has nothing to do with terrorism, it has to do with political dissent,” said defense lawyer Bassem Alim.
Due to the criticism it received, the council made some changes to the proposed law.
Further changes to the law will be made in mid-September before it is sent to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah for approval.
Human activists have also explained that the law was first proposed in 2003, but was put on hold, and has now been revived due to the sweeping anti-regime rallies across the region.
Princess Basma Bint Saud, a niece of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and a social activist and prominent supporter of women’s issues in the kingdom, had last month called on the Saudi rulers to be more open to changes, stressing that no Arab country is immune to the wave of popular movements.
“No one is immune from the seasonal geographical winds of change that are sweeping our Arab homeland. Those who say we are immune are wrong,” she said.
Several right groups and international bodies including the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have frequently condemned the Saudi regime for their widespread violation of human rights.
——Agencies