Nizar Obaid Madani, the Saudi Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs has affirmed that respect for human rights constituted a fundamental component of the policy of Saudi Arabia.
In an address at the 61st session of the International Commission on human rights, an affiliate of the United Nations, here Tuesday, he said "The (Kingdom's) National Human Rights Commission continued to play the role of helping to protect and to develop human rights concepts in a fully independent and transparent manner, and its activities to monitor conditions in prisons and reform institutions had recently been expanded to ensure that the rights of prisoners and accused persons were respected. Other initiatives included the promulgation of the "Basic Law", the institution of a national dialogue among all segments of society, and the broadening of membership in the Consultative Council, whose competence had been extended to include the review and development of laws and regulations."
A process of municipal elections had also begun, he added.
Madani drew attention to an official statement from the Government of Saudi Arabia affirming that there was nothing to prevent Saudi women from participating in future elections. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia's education reforms had produced a new generation of highly educated, trained and knowledgeable women, who were now taking their proper place in society.
The international community faced tremendous challenges in many fields linked to the relationship between the individual and society, and to the relationship between governments and the governed, Madani said. "The greatest challenge at the present time was that of terrorism, and combating that scourge had become a goal of the new international order. As a target of indiscriminate terrorism, Saudi Arabia had denounced, condemned and deplored terrorism in all its forms, and had affirmed its determination to eradicate the scourge. All States should work to deprive terrorists of safe refuge, and to emphasize that any attempt to associate terrorism with any religion would only strengthen the position of the extremists."
Madani also emphasized that the war against terrorism should not be used as a pretext for violations of the rights of individuals, groups, nations, or States. "No modernization or development programme could succeed in the absence of a suitable environment, including enjoyment of security, stability and peace, Madani added. "Of all the regions in the world, the Middle East suffered most from the lack of those characteristics, due to the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories. Saudi Arabia hoped that the recent efforts to revive the peace process would lead to the implementation of the Arab peace initiative - proposed by Saudi Arabia - and the reactivation of the Road Map peace plan."
He noted that Iraq still required international cooperation and support to establish security, achieve stability and consolidate its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
