Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Mufleh Al-Qahtani, chairman of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), has urged concerned authorities to take urgent steps to enact laws to avoid delays in repatriation or burial of dead bodies. “It is quite unacceptable to keep bodies for several years or months in mortuaries due to delay in completing necessary procedures. There should be strict and specific provisions in the law that are binding on the concerned departments to expedite the procedures within a stipulated period of time,” said Al-Qahtani, while stressing the need for setting up of a committee to examine the current situation of hospital morgues throughout the Kingdom. He made the comments after reports surfaced about hundreds of dead bodies, mainly of expatriate workers, lying in hospital morgues across the Kingdom for various reasons, including ongoing criminal investigations. Speaking to Al-Riyadh newspaper, Al-Qahtani said he was disappointed over the current situation. “The human rights of the dead should be safeguarded at any cost. A human being's dignity and honor must be protected even after his or her death. The hospital authorities must be given the right to take steps to start procedures either for repatriation or burial at the end of a specific period of time,” he said. The NSHR chief's comments came at a time when authorities have instructed the concerned agencies to expedite steps to dispose of dead bodies lying in hospital morgues. There are 169 bodies lying in the morgue of Riyadh's King Saud Medical City (Shumaisy Hospital) alone. Speaking to Al-Riyadh, Dr. Abdullah Al-Dosary, director of the forensic medicine department at the hospital, said the situation puts extreme pressure on the morgue. “Because of this, we won't be in a position to cope with possible tragedies arising out of either natural calamities or major accidents,” he said. “Our duty is only to find place to keep the bodies until completion of the procedures by the concerned agencies,” he said, adding that the order for burial of these dead bodies must come from the authorities, such as the Ministry of Interior, the governorate, police or the Prosecution and Investigation Commission. According to Al-Dosary, the morgue has 300 drawers, of which 200 are occupied. Thirty-one bodies were taken for burial following an order issued by the Riyadh governorate a few days ago. “As of now there are 169 bodies lying in the morgue, of which 56 belonged to foreigners with unknown identities. The morgue has the capacity to accommodate 131 more bodies,” he said. Al-Dosary recalled that the Ministry of Interior issued an order a few years ago that forbade hospitals from keeping dead bodies in morgues beyond two months. “According to the order, if the dead body was not identified within this period, a DNA sample must be collected and the body must be buried. The two-month deadline was given to allow the concerned diplomatic missions adequate time to complete certain procedures for their nationals.” Al-Dosary said there are rare cases in which bodies of Saudi citizens lay unclaimed in morgues but an overwhelming majority of the dead bodies belong to foreigners. “Our department could not identify bodies of 56 people. None of their relatives came forward to receive them. Expediting burial procedures depends on the fast action on the part of the concerned diplomatic missions,” he said while noting that the Pakistani Embassy was ahead of other embassies in extending the best possible cooperation in this respect. Referring to the handling procedures at the morgue, Al-Dosary said: “We put the bodies in coolers for one week. In case of a delay in completion of procedures, we move the body to the freezers. Once the procedures are completed, we take out the bodies from freezers 48 hours before handing over either for repatriation or burial. We then carry out autopsy and wash the body for burial, and then embalm it in case of repatriation.” Al-Dosary said majority of the morgue staff at Shumaisy hospital are foreigners while doctors include five Saudi women. “We handled more than 5,000 bodies, including 675 bodies linked to criminal cases, in one year. The morgue carries out an average 120 autopsies a month,” he added.
