‘Saudi provides equal opportunities for men and women’

March 16, 2015

Riyadh, Mar 16: The Kingdom’s regulations aim to provide equal opportunities for men and women, observed a Shoura Council member at a women’s day event in Riyadh on Sunday.

Lubna A. Al-Ansary, a professor of family medicine and member of the Shoura Council, delivered a lecture at a function held at the French Embassy to mark International Women’s Day.

Hosted at the French ambassador’s residence by Maud Besancenot, wife of Ambassador Bertrand Besancenot, the event was organized by the wives of heads of mission in Saudi Arabia, led by Sabine Farra, wife of the Argentinian ambassador.

As many as 40 wives of heads of mission, in addition to around 80 Saudi women were present to celebrate the day.

Al-Ansary talked about challenges women face in accessing health care in Saudi Arabia, underscoring efforts made by women members of the Shoura Council to strengthen legislation related to the wide definition of women’s health.

She joined the Shoura Council in January 2013 as one of the first women members and is the current deputy chairperson of the Health Affairs and Environment Committee. She recalled that health legislation in the Kingdom is based on the premise of equal provisions for men and women.

Al-Ansary’s speech was followed by an open discussion with the members of the audience, where participants shared their views and experiences in various aspects of women’s life in the Kingdom.

Among other issues, Besancenot underscored the significance of the role of women in tackling pressing environmental issues.

She highlighted the importance of climate change as France is organizing the 21st world climate summit, in December this year, and urged everyone to help raise awareness on this issue.

France was officially appointed host country to hold the conference (Paris Climate Conference – COP21) during the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Warsaw (COP19).

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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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