CAT/C/SAU/CO/2
24.
The State party should adopt effective measures to ensure that coerced
confessions are inadmissible in law and in practice, except when invoked as evidence
against a person accused of torture.
Ministry of the Interior General Investigation Directorate (Al-Mabahith)
25.
The Committee remains concerned at the absence of information on the authority in
charge of monitoring Al-Mabahith detention facilities and the time elapsed between the
deprivation of liberty of a detainee and his presentation before a judge. It regrets the
absence of data on the number of Al-Mabahith officers who have been disciplined or
prosecuted for torture or ill-treatment or for failing to guarantee legal safeguards against
torture.
26.
The Committee is concerned at reports that the majority of persons deprived of their
liberty by Al-Mabahith are held in pretrial detention for prolonged periods of time and that
their fundamental legal safeguards, including access to legal counsel of their choice and to
habeas corpus, are frequently violated. In this regard, the Committee regrets that the State
party did not reply to its question about Saud Mukhtar al-Hashimi, a medical doctor, and
Sulaiman al-Rashoudi, a former judge, who were found by the Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention to have been arbitrarily detained from the outset of their arrest in February 2007
(arts. 2, 12-13 and 16).
27.
The State party should take the following measures:
(a)
Provide detailed data on the number of persons detained by AlMabahith officers, their whereabouts and the amount of time elapsed before their
presentation before a court;
(b)
Ensure that an independent entity is authorized to undertake monitoring
visits to all Al-Mabahith detention facilities;
(c)
Immediately put an end to the arbitrary detention of Saud Mukhtar alHashimi and Sulaiman al-Rashoudi and provide updated information on
investigations into the allegations that they are being denied access to legal counsel
and family visits.
Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice
28.
While noting that the members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and
the Prevention of Vice are subjected to judicial review and to the supervision by the Bureau
of Investigation and Public Prosecution (see CAT/C/SAU/2, paras. 173-174) and
welcoming the oral announcement by the delegation that a new statute on the organization
of the Commission has been adopted with a view to further narrowing its jurisdiction, the
Committee remains concerned about:
(a)
The fact that the text of the new statute on the Commission has not been
made available to the Committee, which curtails its ability to ascertain whether the
Commission has a clear and precise jurisdiction and is subject to an ordinary judicial
authority;
(b)
The absence of specific data on the number of arrests, complaints of torture
or ill-treatment or on any investigations, prosecutions, sentences and sanctions imposed on
members of the Commission who engaged in conduct in violation of the Convention;
(c)
Reports indicating that complaints of torture and ill-treatment by members of
the Commission are rarely investigated, which allegedly create a climate of impunity;
(d)
The absence of information about any investigations into allegations that
officers of the Commission deliberately caused fatal vehicle accidents in Riyadh in
6