Saudi Arabian prisoners complain of abuse News
Saudi Arabian prisoners complain of abuse

[JURIST] The Executive Director of Saudi Arabia's recently-formed [press release] National Human Rights Association (NHRA) said Thursday that the commission has received over 2000 valid complaints, roughly a third of which concerned prison abuse in the country. Dr. Lubna al-Ansari said most "have been processed and resolved, either through letters to officials or some sort of action." An Amnesty International report released last month said torture and brutality are common in Saudi prisons. Also last month, three Westerners said that they had confessed to planning a stream of bomb attacks only because of the severe torture they received [JURIST report] while being held for two years in a Saudi prison. Since 9/11, US authorities are said to have flown some 100 terror suspects to facilities in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other countries whose prison practices are problematic; human rights groups have condemned such "renditions" for exposing prisoners to torture and abuse abroad. Aljazeera has local coverage.