Hinaki, Director General of the Social Affairs Department in Makkah Region, has criticized a recent report by the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) on the situation in the juvenile correction house in Jeddah, deeming it “poisoned” and “full of lies.” He added that a committee that was formed by the Emir's Office and the governorate and was assigned to look into the human rights report concluded that it was not accurate. Regarding the report, Al-Hinaki said that he was out of Jeddah when the society visited the correction house accompanied by a number of journalists. “The visit was intended to do nothing more than create a fuss in the media,” he said. “One example is that the society members entered the library and checked the books there and started joking about them, despite the fact that the books were selected by specialists and their value with the other library equipment amounts to more than SR30,000.” Al-Hinaki said the 30,000 square meter building housing the correction facility is 40 years old. “We admit the building needs to be changed, but we feel that the society came just to find faults,” he said. He said the society “exaggerated” the description of the situation in the juvenile facility and released its report to the newspapers with undue haste as if it were only interested in creating a media sensation. Al-Hinaki also addressed the issue of overcrowding in juvenile correction houses, orphanages and rehabilitation houses for the disabled, revealing that some orphans were involved in immoral and criminal practices inside these establishments. “There may be orphans who committed crimes or were involved with drugs, and some of them were sent to court, but we should look at the glass as being half full, not half empty,” the director said, asserting that the Ministry of Social Affairs looks upon those orphans as citizens who know their rights and duties and have to bear the responsibility of their actions. “Here I laud the role of the Charitable Foundation for the Care of Orphans in serving orphans,” he said. “One example of its services is that it grants each adult orphan – who must have been raised in a shelter and have completed his studies – SR20,000 to buy a car in order to help him increase his income, and this of course is done only after confirming his need and sincerity.”
