The head of the Human Rights Division of the Kingdom's delegation to the United Nations, Meshaal Bin Ali Al-Balawi, affirmed that the Saudi judiciary has given all those accused of terrorism and its financing the rights falling under Sharia law and international human rights conventions.
Balawi delivered his country’s speech during the 43rd regular session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
He affirmed that the judicial system in Saudi Arabia gives defendants all the requirements of a fair trial.
Prisoners are tried before an independent court established in accordance with the judicial system in force and in public trials in which the accused has the right to appoint a lawyer, he explained.
Balawi further noted that lawyers have the right to attend the investigation and review all the documents and records of the accused, adding that the state pays for lawyers in case defendants can’t afford it.
The judicial system in the Kingdom has granted the accused the right to object to the rulings issued against them by the methods allowed by law.
Balawi also stressed his country’s keenness to apply tolerance, brotherhood, and justice in its trials while rejecting extremism and violence and fighting terrorism.
The Kingdom plays an effective and influential role to counter terrorism by taking necessary measures, including security and intellectual confrontation, with the importance of adherence to protect and promote human rights, the official said.
“Saudi Arabia has established the Ideological Warfare Center (IWC), which is concerned with confronting the roots of extremism and terrorism, consolidating Islam’s correct concepts and immunizing youth against extremism through preventive and curative programs,” he said.
“Among IWC’s goals are establishing deep and rooted understanding of extremism, acknowledging the tools and methodologies used by extremist groups and specifying the targeted groups, in order to cooperate effectively with national and global institutions.”
The Saudi delegate pointed out that the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology (Etidal), inaugurated by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in 2017, is one of the components of the institutional framework to combat terrorism.
Etidal monitors and analyzes extremist ideology to be able to confront and prevent it, in cooperation with relevant states and organizations.
Balawi affirmed the Kingdom’s determination to support, promote, and protect human rights, including the fight against terrorism.
