Whom to blame?

Monday, 01 May 2006
By Sabria S. Jawhar
The Saudi Gazette

LATE last year, Saudis were all shocked and frustrated when the US Department of States report for the year 2005 classified Saudi Arabia, among other GCC countries like Kuwait, UAE and Qatar, at “rank 3,” indicating their failure to meet the international standard of human rights.
Regardless of my reservation about the credibility of the report and the way the information was gathered and analyzed, the questions that come to my mind and confuse me are: why did our status drop from rank 2 to rank 3? What have we done to change that situation?
The other question is: where are the extremely hard efforts exerted by the ministries of interior and that of foreign affairs to fight all kinds of human rights violation?
It has been only when I visited Briman prison in Jeddah last week that I found out what seemed to be reasonable answers to my questions. But those answers made me more confused as they generated many more questions.
Everyday the Saudi newspapers carry stories about raids that targeted illegal workers as well as hidden brothels in what gives an indication that the situation is getting worse. However, there is still no official statistics about the total number of those who are arrested or involved in such illegal activities.
Anyway, during that visit to the over-crowded prison in Briman, I appreciated some of the individual efforts by the administration to make a good environment in that aging building. It is considered to be the biggest prison in the region because it receives thousands of prisoners everyday from different government agencies, like passports offices and immigration department. Those who are involved in immoral acts are also sent here.
During my short and well-monitored tour among the prison’s different cells and the individual interviews at the director’s office, I noticed certain common things among the prisoners’ stories, especially those related to immoral issues like prostitution and drugs.
Those observations of mine have made me wonder why do not we take advantage of those stories by studying and analyzing them? Why do not we put the results of those studies in the form of regulations that can be distributed among our government’s establishments inside and outside the country to prevent recurrence of such practices? Why do not we trace those methods of trafficking to reach the criminals and bring them to justice?
I believe that some of those stories might be twisted due to the pressure of being imprisoned and talking to the media. Yet I noticed similarity in their details. For instance, there was similarity in the way prostitutes were smuggled into the country and the way brothels were running.
The most obvious thing, however, was that prostitutes were all brought into the country either on an Umrah or a housemaid visa. Most of them were also brought to the country in cahoots with special agents who, in most of the cases, choose them from rural areas and take advantage of their poverty, promising them beds of roses.
If we assume that those stories are even 10 percent close to the truth, another set of questions pops up: what is the reason behind the reluctance in the implementation of the iris scan system in the Saudi embassies abroad and the country’s entry points? If it has been implemented, which I doubt, why the result has not been seen nor announced yet? Whose interest does this reluctance serve? What is going on in our embassies overseas?
Who is to be blamed for the trafficking and smuggling of those poor girls? How can such a trade flourish and find its customers in such a holy land? Has the time come for us to review the regulations on issuing Umrah visas?
In conclusion, no offense is meant by raising these questions. Just some loud thoughts by an ignorant reporter. Till I hear answers from you, send me flowers to Briman.