RIYADH, March 19 — Amnesty International criticised a leaked draft of Saudi Arabia’s first penal code on Tuesday, saying it would codify practices ranging from flogging to...
Amnesty said the draft was first leaked in 2022 and that its authenticity had been confirmed by Saudi legal experts. — Reuters picRIYADH, March 19 — Amnesty International criticised a leaked draft of Saudi Arabia’s first penal code on Tuesday, saying it would codify practices ranging from flogging to gender discrimination and urging changes to align it with international standards.
Amnesty said the Saudi Human Rights Commission had denied the document’s authenticity after it wrote to the commission and the Saudi government to share its analysis. The Commission told Amnesty a draft code was now undergoing legislative review.The Saudi government media communications office and the Saudi Human Rights Commission did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters about the Amnesty report.
“A first written penal code could be a crucial opportunity for Saudi Arabia’s authorities to transform their abusive criminal justice system into one that respects human rights,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary general. But Riyadh also drew international censure over the killing of journalist Jamal al-Khashoggi in 2018, the jailing of female activists who campaigned for women’s right to drive, and issuing death sentences or decades-long sentences for social media posts.
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