Members of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) delegation listening to complaints from a patient at Al-Leeth General Hospital Monday. (Okaz photo) Slams excessive force used to lash prisonersJEDDAH: In its tour of the Al-Leeth Governorate Monday, a delegation of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) criticized the use of surveillance cameras at the women's Emergency Room section at Al-Leeth General Hospital. The committee also lambasted the poor conditions at a detention facility here, including excessive force used to lash prisoners. Regarding the cameras, the delegation ordered that it be removed immediately from the corridor of the hospital. The HRC also called on the Shariah Committee concerned to be less harsh when lashing prisoners with the whip at the facility. This came after prisoners complained. The commission was headed by Yasser Al-Ghamdi, Supervisor of the Monitoring Administration in Makkah Region and included two researchers Husam Aal Mohsin and Fawaz Al-Muttairi. The delegation started its tour at Al-Leeth General Hospital prison and inspected its wards, and the detention facilities at the governorate's police and the Drug Combat Administration. The delegation met with the inmates and listened to their complaints and observations. At the prison, the HRC delegation discovered that there were no isolation rooms, overcrowding, delays in carrying out verdicts, expensive but poor quality food, delays in paying food allowances by up to seven months, the existence of only one telephone cabin, and a lack of sports and cultural activities. During the visit to the detention facilities at the police station, the HRC delegation demanded that a Saudi man suffering from a psychiatric disorder be released. He was arrested several weeks ago in the northern parts of the Kingdom and was transferred to Al-Leeth Police, which in turn transferred him to the Mental Health Hospital which refused to receive him because they claimed there was no bed for him. In addition, the Makkah Region Passports Department in turn has refused to accept him, claiming they have no jurisdiction. The man's file consists of 50 pages. At the conclusion of the tour, Al-Ghamdi said the commission will study all the complaints received.
