On Wednesday evening, in a speech delivered at the 60th session of the Human Rights Committee, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reaffirmed that it's desire to continue reforms has emerged from the necessities of its society and not in response to theories enforced from abroad.
Prince Dr. Turki bin Mohammad bin Saud Al-kabeer, the Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs and Head of the International Organization Department went on to say: "Despite international concerns about human rights, there are still some who try to feed extremism, racism, discrimination and who ignore the positive contributions of others in their efforts to secure human rights," he said. "They continue to publish misinformation about others and attack their history and culture; such people set out to create distorted images through all available media," he added.
Prince Dr. Turki bin Mohammad noted that the Kingdom's desire to continue the reforms and development process is arises from the needs of Saudi Arabian society: "The reform process cannot be dictated by the outlook of others. Moreover, reforms are not ready-made prescriptions that the people can take. The reforms are the fruit of development and ambitions resulting from the internal needs through the process of growth and progress," he added.
He noted that there will not be any harm in getting benefit from others' experiences, as long as these experiences do not contravene the values and principles to which the people are committed and do not threaten their national interests and goals.
"Just as it is our ambition to seek to achieve the best in all fields, so the reforms are not only limited to one aspect of life. The reform process covers all aspects of life and will continue according to the needs and the requirements of the society and its internal and foreign commitments," he said.
He stressed that the reform process is based on developing human resources including the resource that women represent. This commitment has been in evidence since the 1960s. "Nowadays, the figures speak for themselves - 49 percent of the 4.3 million students in the general education are females. The number of female students in the secondary schools and universities is more than male students. More than a third of the government jobs are occupied by females. These figures are no different from those in the advanced countries," he added.
Prince Turki stressed that the Kingdom's interest in the human rights is not solely an internal concern, but it is also extended to the international level. In this respect, he pointed out to the Kingdom's voluntarily contributions to the Commission of the Human Rights and other related bodies.
"At a time when the UN called for the allocation of 0.7 percent of each country's Gross National Product (GNP) for foreign assistances, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has offered 4 percent of its GNP or $ 76 billion during the last 20 years or $3.7 billion annually - which is the highest rate in the world at the level of GNP," Prince Dr. Turki bin Mohammad said.
He stressed that reform and development cannot be brought about unless there is an environment of stability, security and peace. "Today, the Middle East lacks all these elements. Therefore priority should be given to solving the problems that are causing instability so that there can be progress in achieving reforms in the region. In this way, it will be possible to avoid an absolute mandatory policy and, instead, to focus on cooperation to achieve the hopes of the region."
He pointed out that the region is witnessing the continuous Israeli occupation of Palestinan and Syrian land and the violation of the Palestinian and Syrian human rights, noting that the Israeli violations of human rights have been on the agenda of the conference since the previous meeting. Prince Dr. Turki bin Mohammad said "We should not be [allow] all these problems [prevent us from achieving] the noble goals of this committee and the Commission in a way that ensures human rights and justice and avoids double-standards and the politicizing this important issue."
Source: SPA
