Rights group says Saudi blocking access to prisons

RIYADH, Dec 19 (Reuters) Saudi authorities are preventing a Human Rights Watch (HRW) team from visiting prisons in the conservative kingdom, the US-based rights group said.

HRW said it sent a team to Saudi Arabia last month on the first extensive fact-finding mission by such a group to the Gulf Arab state, an absolute monarchy, but was not given full access.

''Senior Saudi officials have been generous with their time. But the true measure of transparency is a willingness to grant independent investigators full and confidential access to detainees in a range of facilities,'' HRW executive director Kenneth Roth said in a statement obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.

The group called for full access to prisons, women's and juvenile detention facilities, and shelters for foreign women in Buraida, Dammam, Jeddah, Najran and Riyadh.

Saudi officials were not immediately available for comment.

Saudi Arabia, a key US ally, has embarked on a cautious reform programme under King Abdullah who came to power last year. He set up a Human Rights Commission in September 2005.

HRW, which made a first exploratory visit to Saudi Arabia in 2003, is focusing on Saudi Arabia's criminal justice system, political rights, the status of women and foreign worker rights.

The New York-based group said authorities had allowed access to a small number of prisoners at a correctional facility south of the capital Riyadh on November 30, but that they ''blocked'' the delegation's attempt to return to the facility on December 2.

The United States and rights groups have often criticised Saudi Arabia over issues including religious freedom, freedom of expression, the use of the death penalty and public beheading.

Saudi Arabia says its system of Islamic laws ensure full rights for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Nearly one-third of the country's 24 million population are foreigners, mainly blue-collar workers from Asian countries.

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