Haj missions shut in holy cities: Bid to curb illegal offices

February 3, 2015

Riyadh, Feb 3: Saudi Arabia has asked several countries to shut down their Haj missions in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah in the off-season, in a renewed bid to curb the mushrooming of illegal offices in these cities.

The Haj missions would be allowed to operate during the Haj season for four months from Shawwal to Muharram every year.

“A circular has been received by the Pakistani mission in this regard,” said Khayyam Akbar, deputy chief of mission at the Pakistani Embassy, Monday. Akbar said the Ministry of Haj had instructed the embassy to open its offices only during the four months stipulated.

An official source said that “several offices, neither allowed by the Saudi government nor associated with foreign diplomatic missions, have sprung up illegally in the three cities, making money through unscrupulous agents.” The move is to close down these operators, he added.

Asked about the status of Indian Haj missions in the two holy cities, B.S. Mubarak, consul general at the Indian Consulate, said that “a circular from the Saudi side has been received.” He said India would comply with the decision.

“We have already removed the signboards from our Makkah mission, while our Haj office in Madinah has fallen under the Madinah demolition zone.” Mubarak said that India would limit the operation of its Haj missions to four months as per the provisions.

Indonesia, which operates its Haj mission in Jeddah, has two offices in Makkah and Madinah, said Ahmed Dumyati, Indonesian Haj consul.

Dumyati said “the Indonesian Haj mission in Jeddah is part of its Jeddah Consulate.”

“We have posted a caretaker to look after our office in Makkah, which is currently closed; while our building in Madinah is also not occupied,” said the Indonesian official.

Several other diplomats contacted by Arab News said they also received the circular. Pakistan, India and Indonesia are among the five countries that send the most pilgrims and workers to Saudi Arabia.

These countries together with several other Muslim states maintain and operate dozens of Haj offices in Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah. Most of these offices also offer residential facilities for diplomats and foreign guests, who fly to the Kingdom throughout year, especially during the Haj season.

Saudi diplomatic missions abroad issue about 8 to 9 million Haj and Umrah visas every year.

Umrah visas represent 55 percent of the total visas issued by the 112 Saudi diplomatic missions and 12 temporary Saudi Haj missions abroad. The ministry of Haj currently deals with about 5,000 private companies including diplomatic missions for Haj and Umrah.

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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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