Police Procedures in Saudi Arabia - Case Study Example

Saudi Police Saudi Police Introduction Every nation suffers from numerous kinds of challenges and problems that include poverty, epidemics (diseases), war, internal riots, corruption, and crimes. Out of all these problems, criminal activities are considered as one of the most important challenges as it can damage the country’s infrastructure indirectly. Criminal activities and crime is a global term and has bagged attention and concern worldwide. While it is known to be one of the most dangerous terms, criminal activities are often associated with the social, political and economic conditions of the nation. Since, crime is a serious problem and an increase is observed in the criminal activities in the modern era (because of numerous reasons), nations have focused hard and tried their best to overcome this challenge. In order to counter this issue, every nation of the world has formed a separate law enforcement and police (crime) departments whose purpose is to end these criminal activities and to observe peace in the society. The police or the concerned department has restricted certain actions that are considered as a crime. However, every country has its own list of criminal activities while there are numerous internationally recognized crimes. On one hand, the police and judicial proceedings in the world are carried on the newly formed principles and ethics. While on the other hand, laws and code of ethics followed by the police and criminal justice system in Saudi Arabia are based on the guidelines laid by Holy Quran and Sharia (Dammer & Albanese, 2013). According to Sharia, there are certain things that are focused by the Saudi Police regarding criminal activities and justice. They have specific policies and code of conduct that are derived from Sharia and Holy Quran. Although the policies and the regulations in Saudi Police are strict and stringing, there are a few changes that I would like to mention for the better functioning of the agency. This paper is aimed to present the background of the Saudi Police, their regulations, procedures, clientele, function, and code of conduct. Furthermore, the paper will include policy reform that will be presented in order to improve the functioning of Saudi Police and better to serve its purpose. Saudi Police I recently got the opportunity to do an internship in the Al Hufof Police Department (part of the Saudi Police) KSA. Al Hufof is amongst the major urban centers of Saudi Arabia located in the Eastern Province. The internship was a part of my course requirements in order to get firsthand knowledge regarding the criminology. During the internship period in the Al Hufof Police, I got to learn important things related to their functioning and operations and my course. Since Al Hufof Police is part of the Saudi Police System therefore it also follows the same fundamentals and code of ethics as of the Saudi Police. The major tasks and duties of the Al Hufof Police included protecting citizens from various dangerous elements, protecting the state prisons, avoiding criminal events such as robberies, kidnapping, rape, etc. All the police personnel in the Al Hufof Police station conduct their duties and observe proper implementation of Sharia laws and that no criminal activity is being conducted in their vicinity (Cordesman, 2003). As an intern in the Al Hufof Police, my duties were not on the operational level. I was assigned with a few administrative level roles, which I found very interesting. I was asked to maintain the daily record of the criminal cases that happened in the town while I was also supposed to enter the data regarding daily crimes and criminal activity (Raphael, 2009). I was taught about a few basic crimes that were very common and the policies to counter / address them. I also accompanied the police personnel of Al Hufof Police in a few court hearings. It was after through these court sessions that I learnt that these laws and their punishment are too intense and need several changes (Zuhur, 2011). It should be noted that in Saudi Arabia, the Criminal Justice couldn’t be separated from Islam and its teachings. In Saudi Arabia, the Holy Quran is their constitution, and they seek all information and guidelines from it. The Sharia is their law formed from some general and particular rules and regulations of the Islamic body. In the same manner, all actions of the Al Hufof police are based on these regulations. The police individuals follow every defined regulation in the Sharia to counter robberies, kidnapping, rapes, and criminal justice. They ensure that all the criminals are punished for their crimes on the basis of Sharia (Dammer & Albanese, 2013). According to Dammer & Albanese (2013), the Criminal Justice System of Saudi Arabia has its ground on a forceful as well as honest form of Sharia law through which the specific state-sanctioned explanation of Islam is powerfully reflected. As it has been aforementioned that the same practices and laws are followed and implemented by the Al Hufof Police, the criminal justice system practiced here has also had the same roots and grounds. For some crimes, capital punishment is also utilized. The capital punishment practiced is again on the Sharia law and can be executed / utilized for numerous crimes that result in death penalty. The capital punishment practiced by Al Hufof Police and other State Police is famous across the globe because of the public executions. Public beheading is one of the many policies followed by the Saudi police (Raphael, 2009). As it has been studied, crime in Saudi Arabia falls into three different categories; namely Hudud, Tazir, and Qisas. These three types of punishment are segmented for different crimes. The Hudud is specifically formulated for punishments that are stated in the Quran and Sunnah. These crimes as stated in Hudud are the ‘crimes against God. No authority, judicial power or leader has any right to change this law. The punishments of these crimes are very intense (Dammer & Albanese, 2013). The common crimes that are included under Hudud are stated as follows: · Hirabah: Hirabah is the term used for armed robbery, a bodily harm /injury, rape, or physical attack. The punishment of such crime is death. It is sometimes followed by the crucifixion only if the property of the person (victim) killed has been stolen / taken. · Syrub: Syrub is another kind of crime that falls under Hudud. It is the consumption or selling of liquor. It is not important whether it is intoxicated or not, the punishment is imprisonment with no less than 40 lashes for those offenders who commit the crime first time. For those offenders who repeat the mistake the punishment doubles to 80 lashes followed by imprisonment. · Sariqah: it is known to the crime of theft. Sariqah according to Hudud is punishable by amputating the right hand of the offender. However, if the offender repeats the same mistake then his left hand is also amputated and if he commits it for the third time then he or she is imprisoned as found suitable by the court. · Zina: Zina is the illicit intercourse between individuals of the opposite sex. For unmarried individuals, the punishment is known to be 100 lashes along with a year imprisonment while for the married ones it is stoning to death. · Liwat: Just like Zina, Liwat is also the same but in same sex, i.e. sodomy or homosexuality. The punishment of Liwat is similar to that of Zina. · Qadhf: Qadhf in English is called as Slander. It is accusing someone falsely of Zina. The punishment is 80 lashes. Similarly, if someone tries to accuse someone of Rape falsely then again the punishment is same. · Riddah or Irtidad: In English, it is known as blasphemy or apostasy. For Riddah or Irtidad, the punishment for unrepentant accused is capital punishment (Cordesman, 2003). Qisas, on the other hand, is known as the retaliation or payback of the personal crimes such as murder and physical attack that can cause bodily harms. As it has been stated that all laws and policies in Saudi Arabia are according to the instructions and guidelines of Sharia. Therefore, Qisas is also based on Sharia and is a part of it. The victim’s family / relatives may ask the accused of Retaliation, which in Arabic is known as diya (blood money). The role of the court is not as prominent as it does not have any initial sentencing role; however, it plays a vital residual role in specific scenarios (Dammer & Albanese, 2013). The punishments that come under Qisas are mentioned as follows: · It is important to note that Qisas is divided into two major aspects, and the punishments are given accordingly. · The first one is the Public Action according to which the trial and the punishment of the accused are made as per the offenses / crimes committed against society and Sharia. The punishments in such case are imprisonment and lashes, and are mandatory (these punishments cannot be exempted at any cost or in any case). · The other one is the Public Right of Action. In such a scenario, the family always has the right to decide whether they want to punish the accused with that of Qisas, or they can forgive them. However, the standard punishments are imprisonment and lashes and can sometimes death (Raphael, 2009). Qisas punishments for few other crimes are as follows. · Qatl: Qatl is an Arabic term which means murder. There are four common types of Qatl in the Islamic Sharia. These are Qatl Al-Amd, Qatl Al-Shabih Al-Amd, Qatl Al-Khata, and Qatl al-Nafs. These terms refer to the intentional murder, non-intentional murder, accident and suicide or self-murder respectively. The punishments for these offenses are imprisonment, lashes and death; however, the accused can only be forgiven through Tanazul. In the case of Qatl Al-Khata, the diya can be presented to the victim’s family only if the victim’s family agrees with it. · Real Rape: although the offense is termed as Hudud but when the victim calls for his / her rights then it can be categorized as Qisas (Zuhur, 2011). The third type is Tazir, which is equal to the practices of common law sentencing. All individuals that are accused of crimes are judged on an individual basis. The judgments are made on the seriousness of the crime and the frequency of the crime. Alike the other two laws, Tazir also has a list of crimes that falls under it and have the respective punishments (Cordesman, 2003). It should be noted that Tazir could be executed to offenses that fall under Hudud. It happens when there is a lack of evidence or proof for the punishments defined by Hudud. Furthermore, it should also be noted that the punishments of Tazir couldn’t exceed those of Hudud (Dammer & Albanese, 2013). Tazir can be implemented for the following crimes: · Theft. · Selling of liquor and its consumption. · Prostitution, adultery, and corruption. · Sodomy and homosexuality. · Possession or use of drugs (the punishment for transporting drugs is death while for selling and consuming it is defined as imprisonment and lashes. · Embezzlement. · Forgery (Raphael, 2009). · The Islamic Law, which is being exercised within the police agencies, has been subject to scrutiny because the crude attitude of these police officials has restrained freedom of speech and freedom of movement. Proposed Changes The criminal justice of Saudi Arabia requires changes in their laws and policies because they have a very orthodox system of government where it is compulsory for every individual to adhere to the policies of Hudud, Tazir, and Qisas. In this regard, it can be said that almost all of the police agencies of Saudi Arabia are working with strictness, and every person has to comply with the rules of the authorities. Thus, I feel that it is for me essential to propose some changes to the criminal system. Recommendations Police investigation into criminal activities There are some Hudud that entitles police agencies to take strict actions against theft, fornication, consumption of alcohol or drugs, and apostasy. In regard to the Islamic policies, the police should investigate into the matters more proficiently before drawing into conclusions and arresting the concerned persons for those crimes. These people should not be detained for an indefinite period unless they have proven bad record or proven guilty (Vogel, 2000). Murder In the case of murder, as per Qisas instead of asking for Retaliation or blood money it is normally seen that the murderer is given death sentence. Though, one cannot challenge the judicial authority but it would be appropriate to make the sentence smaller, he should be imprisoned, and the purpose of the murder is investigated in order to reduce the cases. In my opinion, if there are intentional murders then there should be no forgiveness at all but in non-intentional murders the accused should be fined, imprisoned for less period and forgiveness should be granted as it was not his intent to commit this crime (Ramady, 2010). Alcohol Consumption In the legal system of Saudi Arabia, liquor selling or consumption is a crime, and the accused are punished in jails. A Non-Muslim is also not allowed to carry out these practices. In this regard, the 40 lashes should be reduced to less and the same for repeat offenders. As the policies are strict, and no compromises are made, it would be appropriate to make the system compromising (Ramady, 2010). Drugs In the case of drugs possession or distribution, the police authorities exhibit the same crude behaviors, and there are death sentences even if the police agencies failed to identify causes of this activity. Thus, instead of punishing the accused, there should be proper procedures that should associate the drug user or the trafficker to the drug gang, track their operations in order to eliminate drug smuggling permanently (Alshamsi, 2010). Adultery, Fornication & Homosexuality As far as adultery, fornication and homosexuality is concerned, I have seen that police judges the person at the individual level but it is a serious crime and police treats them harshly and they are given 20 lashes for the first offenders and repeaters are given up-to 80 lashes. In this regard, it is proposed that if the accused person repents he should not be subjected to such harsh treatment and he should be jailed for few months (Alshamsi, 2010). Stoning and Beheading The stoning and beheading policies should be removed. Though, stoning is not recently seen but beheading in a public place has been an ongoing practice, which needs to be addressed. Theft Theft includes armed robbery and the primary punishment for this is punishment to death or amputation of a hand. Thus, the proposed changes are life imprisonment or fine in place of death sentence and amputation of the hand. Qadhf If there are false accusations made about zina so the punishments of 80 lashes should be reduced to few number of years of imprisonment. The recommendation in the Criminal Case Procedure in given below; Investigation in Jail Previously, I saw that if the accused person is not familiar with the Arabic language they are not given the right to sign a non-Arabic document; instead they are asked to request a translator from embassy. It makes the system complicated as it takes a long time to find and locate the translator at the jail. Thus, it is proposed that the non-Saudi should have the option of giving his statement in written English form and he should have the option of signing a translated version of Arabic document. Kafala As far as Kafala is concerned, it would be appropriate to make a modification in this approach because the system entitles the Saudi National to favor the release option. In this case, the system should be less biased, and the persons should not be detained till the hearing is carried out, or the order has been issued by the court. Prison The accused person have to stay in prison till their Kafala gives them the permission to get released which is 30 days maximum till he is proven wrong, and his transferred to a bigger prison. Thus, the number of days should be reduced, and there should be some policies proposed which make it easier for a non-Saudi criminal to fight for his own life. Visitation Rights Visitation rights are only granted o persons who have valid Iqama. The process is lengthy as it involves getting an authorization card with specifications of inmate. The process should be revised, and the visitor should be able to have easy access until and unless they are proven guilty by court. Court Hearings Court Hearings that are carried out in Arabic should be Non-Arabic for people who are foreigners. Though, the court provides an interpreter and translator but it is difficult to understand most of the conversations that are being carried out cannot be understood. In my opinion, this is one of the issues faced by the foreigners who are interacting through court procedures. Categories of Courts There are three main categories of court that are working proactively. The Hudud, Tazir and Qisas that are divided into Ordinary Courts, High Courts of Sharia Kaw and Court of Causation or Appeals. In all these courts, the accusers have the right to hire an interpreter and a lawyer. I have however witnessed that the judges abide by the strict rules that are conservative and contemptuous to the rest of the world. Thus, it is proposed that the current system should consist of new Judges who should have knowledge and expertise in dealing with the modern issues. One example of the minor issues brought up by the old nature of judges is that they raise the question and give rulings to ban children’s games like Pokémon. In the same way, they give rulings against recorded music or sending flowers or gifts items to any affected person in Jail. Due to these issues, the police itself was given a hard training session on the same ground and are seen reacting very harshly when any minor issue occurs. Thus, the modern police and the judge should be discouraged to give such rulings and to remove such personnel who give such rigid and conservative judgments based on Sharia. Among all these above proposed change, I feel it is important to state the current reforms of police and legal systems have been subjected to change in the modern era. For example, the Board of Grievance’s was established, and there were commercial and labor courts established. Though, it is important to codify Sharia and incorporate judicial precedent but it is still important to have modern law enforcement force in Saudi Arabia (Human Rights Watch (Organization), 2008). Family Law The family law that allows men to commit polygamy should be amended. Once, a grand Mufti gave a fatwa that in order to remove spinsterhood it was necessary to permit men but at the same time I propose that the law should make men accountable if they are not able to treat their wives equally. To reduce conflicts, I still feel that this fatwa should be amended. Conclusion In order to conclude the paper, it can be said that the laws and policies for criminal justice in Saudi Arabia are very strict and harsh while they are implemented and practiced strictly. During my entire internship at Al Hufof Police, I came across various criminal cases and how they were dealt as per Sharia and Islamic Laws. It was during the course of the internship that I was able to understand the various kinds of laws and policies for criminal justice in Saudi Arabia. As per my knowledge there are three types of criminal activities known as Hudud, Qisas and Tazir. The punishment for these categorized crimes depends upon the Islamic law while in some cases (common law sentencing) it depends upon the seriousness of the crime. There are some crimes that have death punishment while there are some crimes that have imprisonment and lashes as punishment. As it has been already discussed that these laws and policies are too strict, and the punishment defined under these laws are also very harsh, there should be some improvisations and changes in order to make the criminal justice system balanced. These policies and reforms have been mentioned in the paper. References Alshamsi, M. J. (2010). Islam and Political Reform in Saudi Arabia: The Quest for Political Change and Reform. London: Routledge. Cordesman, A. H. (2003). Saudi Arabia enters the twenty-first century. Westport: Praeger. Dammer, H., & Albanese, J. (2013). Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. Mason: Cengage Learning. Human Rights Watch (Organization). (2008). Precarious Justice: Arbitrary Detention and Unfair Trials in the Deficient Criminal Justice System of Saudi Arabia, Volume 20. Washington: Human Rights Watch. Ramady, M. A. (2010). The Saudi Arabian Economy: Policies, Achievements, and Challenges. New York: Springer Science & Business Media. Raphael, J. C. (2009). Mutawas: Saudi Arabias Dreaded Religious Police. New York: Turtle Books. Vogel, F. E. (2000). Islamic Law and the Legal System of Saudí: Studies of Saudi Arabia. Danvers: BRILL. Zuhur, S. (2011). Saudi Arabia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. Read More