Child protection based on Shariah law: HRC chief

September 22, 2016

Jeddah, Sep 22: The Kingdom’s efforts to promote and protect children’s rights are based on its constitutional principles and stem from the principles of Islamic Shariah, asserted Human Rights Commission chief Bandar Al-Aiban.

His remarks came during the discussion of the Kingdom’s third and four reports on the Convention of the Rights of the Child at the headquarters of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva.

He said these efforts and the strong political will have contributed to moving from commitments to best practices in the field of protection of children’s rights, adding that a specialized center was set up to receive reports of domestic violence via a free 24-hour hotline service.

He added that the ongoing study of the juvenile project at the Shoura Council includes provisions to deal with juveniles to ensure that their rights are protected to the maximum in case of arrest, investigation, trial and penalties imposed.

He said the Kingdom, under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, has taken pioneering steps toward sustainable development, which holds human rights as a matter of priority.

The Kingdom’s 10th development plan includes strategic targets closely related to human rights.

As for building capacities and potential to achieve the ambitious targets for Saudi Vision 2030, Al-Aiban said the National Transformation Program 2020 includes targets and initiatives related to human rights, including initiatives related to children’s rights, development of nurseries and child-care programs, and expansion of such services in all regions of the Kingdom.

Targets to be achieved also include increasing the proportion of children enrolled in kindergartens, as well as increasing the number of students with disabilities benefiting from special programs tailored for them.

The program also aims to increase the percentage of students participating in extra-curricular activities.

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UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

News Network

November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

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