Police (saudi arabia)
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| Supervisory authority (s) | Home Office |
| founding | 1930 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Riad |
| Authority management | Mohammed ibn Naif |
| Website | www.moi.gov.sa |
The police force in Saudi Arabia is officially called the Public Security Authority ( Arabic مديرية الأمن العام, DMG Mudiriyyat al-amn al-ʿāmm , English general directorate of public security ; colloquially asch-Schurta /الشرطة / aš-Šurṭa ). It is an executive body of the state in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . However, they are not a completely independent state authority . In Article 44 of the basic order (constitution) of the country it says: The authorities of the state are composed as follows: the judicial authorities, the executive (executive) authorities, the regulatory authorities. These authorities cooperate with each other in performing their duties in accordance with the law. The ruling king is the point of reference and the highest authority for the authorities. The police can be reached via the emergency number with extension 999.
Responsibilities and administration
The police authority is responsible for the prosecution of criminal offenses. It is managed centrally. Police departments and guards are spread across the provinces. The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for management via the General Directorate for the Police Authorities . The powers of the police apparatus are of a sovereign nature ( monopoly on force ) within the framework of the constitution (service instructions). There is no codified police law . According to Articles 49 and 53 of the constitution, the police are obliged to investigate every criminal offense (see principle of legality ). As trade unions and strikes are banned nationwide, the Saudi police do not have a police union.
Police officers are only allowed to interview women in pairs and are not allowed to keep them in custody during or during the night. Since there are no women's shelters in Saudi Arabia, this can lead to dramatic situations.
Nationwide radio coverage was introduced in 1975, and a digital radio system is now used. A central police computer stores data on previous convictions, police summons, stolen vehicles or the like, which can be called up in the respective patrol car. In the case of foreigners, this data also includes the length and reason of stay in the country. The corruption within the police force is compared to the corruption in the public administration, compared to other countries in the region to be low.
At the beginning of 2013, an impending collaboration between the Saudi police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the field of investigative technology was announced.
The administration of the police is organized centrally and is divided into:
Police administration
- Assistant for Training
- Assistant for Procurement and Supplies
- Assistant for Security Affairs
- Assistant for Planning and Development
- Assistant for Administrative Affairs
Budget management
- Management of Hajj and Umrah
- Documentation and archive center
- Financial management
- Study and research center
- Press briefing
- Office of PS Director
- Pension administration
- Medical affairs
- General
- Communication systems
- traffic
- Strip planning
- Purchases and tenders
- Preservation of evidence
- Projects and maintenance
- Legal Committee
- Security and Protection
tasks
The police authority summarizes some of its tasks on its website as follows:
- Investigate criminal offenses.
- The implementation of arrest warrants and the transferring of those arrested to justice.
- Working with international bodies to stem the flow of criminals.
- Stand up for the protection of visitors to the land and visitors to the Holy Cities.
- Carry out traffic controls. The prosecution of criminal offenses, administrative offenses and other traffic offenses such as speed and distance measurements.
- Enforce data protection laws.
- Border Guard
- Maintaining order and security in general.
The police also issue permits for fireworks and firearms as well as for the opening of weapon workshops, which are ministerially examined. Complaints about preliminary investigations can also be submitted to the police.
The police also issue passports and identity cards for Saudi citizens and residence permits for foreigners and check their visas. An approved invitation is mandatory for foreign tourists and guest workers.
The police also support the Mabahith , a secret police for internal security and counter-espionage under the responsibility of the Interior Ministry, as well as the so-called religious police . Following reforms in recent years, the regular police have been given religious police rights. Since then, the religious policemen have usually been on the road with an officer from the regular police, who is authorized to determine the identity of passers-by and to record personal details. Complaints by citizens against religious police officers for the use of violence and harassment are also submitted to the police. After the reforms, the Grand Mufti and chairman of the religious police, Abd al-Aziz al-Sheikh , advised women to report intrusive religious police officers.
Only the regular police have the authority to take legal action against citizens.
construction
The structure of the police corresponds to the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia . The police are divided into three different divisions, the protection police, the investigative police (criminal police) and the traffic police. The office of Interpol in the country is divided into five directorates. The three divisions operate independently of each other, the investigative police usually operate closely with the public prosecutor and also take affidavits with them. The transport of witnesses is taken over by the security police, the traffic police are responsible for road surveillance and the issuing of driving licenses.
The border guard department of the police works together with EADS and has been trained in the operation of the devices by the German federal police since 2007 . Currently (2012) officers of the German Federal Police, the Saudi officers and team ranks are teaching in the areas of border police, operational and leadership training and first aid. The police union criticized the operation and called for an immediate end. The tasks and financial matters of the order in Saudi Arabia are not transparent. In February 2013 it was announced that police cooperation between the two countries would be further expanded. Due to ongoing criticism, the Federal Police declared: "Human rights and the rule of law are part of the course content". By May 2011, at least 35 members of the federal police were involved in the training of 1,685 Saudi Arabians.
In addition to uniformed patrol officers, plainclothes officers also operate. The police have 13 police offices across the country, which are divided into various directorates and guards in the respective areas.
Special forces
The police have five special units that have their own departments. The most important of these is the Special Emergency Forces.
The Special Emergency Forces are an anti-terrorist unit founded in 1972 with the help of the GIGN and the FBI . It currently has 13 official operations bases in the country. She had performed over 200 successful operations by September 1, 2006. For example, one of these operations took place in Riyadh on June 23, 2006 , killing six al-Qaeda terrorists . In 2003 and 2004, clashes with the security forces in the kingdom reportedly killed 92 extremists and thwarted 52 terrorist attacks. The unit also received its advice on development and training from GSG 9 of the Federal Police, among others .
Despite the ongoing expansion of the unit, the police repeatedly complained of injured and killed officers during operations against suspected terrorists.
criticism
In the conservative sections of the population, the police come under criticism because they prosecute far fewer crimes than the religious police. For example, they ignore women who violate the driving ban, or violations of dress codes, moral laws, too “western demeanor” and witchcraft (fortune tellers, mystics and astrologers). There is no law that specifically prohibits women from driving. The Deputy Minister of the Interior said in May 2011 that he expected his officials to enforce the driving ban, even though it was only based on a fatwa and not enshrined in law. In the port city of Jeddah in particular , the police do not pursue any moral violations and do not pay attention to compliance with the dress code for women . Individual police officers in leading positions described the prosecution of such matters as "out of date" and "minor offenses"
Human rights organizations also criticize the Saudi police. The deprivation of liberty is often cited as an example, in accordance with Article 36 of the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia: The state ensures the security of all citizens and residents. Nobody has the right to restrict anyone's freedom, arrest or imprison them except in accordance with the rules of the system. Police officers also have extensive powers in the case of arrests, temporary imprisonment and protective custody (Statute of Principles of Arrest, Temporary Confinement and Preventive Detention / SPAD).
According to Amnesty International reports , mostly foreign nationals from poorer countries, who often hardly speak Arabic, repeatedly complain about ill-treatment, torture and excessive use of force by police officers. If necessary, such suspects have to sign confessions in Arabic without knowing what has been written.
Another accusation is that despite legal regulations, the police look the other way and offer no protection in the event of domestic violence as well as sexual abuse against foreign women who work as domestic workers (mostly Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand).
The police are also accused by human rights organizations of violent enforcement of the current ban on assembly during protests. During the protests from 2011 onwards, 18 demonstrators died in clashes with the security forces, most of them were gunshot wounds with live ammunition. A police officer who was shot at from a passing motorcycle also died. The police said that the criticism was inappropriate and that the violence emanated from the demonstrators themselves. It was unclear whether the security forces used live ammunition or rubber bullets against the Shiite demonstrators, the international media said. Marches and sit-ins are against the law and the values and traditions of Saudi Arabian society, the Interior Ministry said. The police are entitled to "take all necessary measures" to take action against "lawbreakers". The police were able to prevent further demonstrations and gatherings through a massive nationwide contingent of emergency services.
Furthermore, the police as well as the public prosecutor's office and other law enforcement authorities are accused of incorrectly applying the Code of Criminal Procedure, which was introduced in 2001 and expanded since then, or of ignoring it completely.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e General Public Security Organization
- ↑ a b Dammer, Harry R .; Albanese, Jay S. (2010). Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-495-80989-0 .
- ↑ tagesspiegel.de:Wowereit and the Saudis: Open your hands, close your eyes
- ↑ saudi-gazette.com:A night in the police car ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ gtai.de:Vergaberecht in Saudi Arabia
- ↑ http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/cps/rde/xchg/bst/hs.xsl/nachrichten_116248.htm [Bertelmann Foundation: anti-corruption authority of Saudi Arabia finds out about BTI]
- ↑ nationalpost.com: 'Hard to imagine they'll do anything good': RCMP may train Saudi Arabia's 'cruel' police
- ↑ travel.state.gov USA: KSA Crime ( Memento of the original from February 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Saudi Arabia religious police chief announces new curbs
- ↑ Saudi Arabia Crawls Forward: Women Can Now Serve On Religious Police Force Saudi Arabia religious police chief announces new curbs
- ↑ interpol.int:Saudi-Arabia
- ↑ moi.gov.sa Trafic Police of KSA (Arabic)
- ↑ sueddeutsche.de: Federal Police in Saudi Arabia - Hard on the border
- ^ Zeit-Online: The German police help potentates
- ↑ Union of Police ABT Federal Police: GdP calls for the immediate withdrawal of German federal police officers from Saudi Arabia ( memento of the original from July 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ handelsblatt.com:Germany is negotiating a security agreement with Saudi Arabia
- ↑ ftd.de:Polizeiausbildung:Exportschlager Sicherheit ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ saudigazette.com:Patrol police arrest car thief in Riyadh ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ kjaleehtimes.com: Saudi Special Emergency Forces are bane of terrorists ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Spiegel Online: Security forces kill Islamist terrorists
- ^ Riyadh - Saudi Arabia opens
- ^ Zeit-Online: Doubtful use of the federal police
- ↑ Spiegel-Online: Shooting in Riyadh: Saudi police arrest terror suspects
- ↑ rp-online: Saudi police kill suspected extremists
- ↑ saudigazette.com:Hai'a in combat with sorcerers, magicians ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ taz.de: The fare dodgers
- ↑ welt.de:Travel Jeddah KSA
- ↑ badische-zeitung.de:Saudi- Arabia's women begin to fight back
- ↑ Amnesty International: SAUDI ARABIA: A KINGDOM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ( Memento of the original from April 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Amnesty-International: "Gross Human Rights Abuses Against Women" AI Index: MDE 23/57/00 ( Memento of the original from April 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Saudi forces crackdown protests in Qatif and kill a protester - Rasid News Network . Rasid.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
- ↑ awamia.net: السلطات تمنع تشييع عقيلة آية الله النمر والآلاف يخرجون في مسيرة غاضبة
- ↑ welt.de: Police shoot demonstrators in Saudi Arabia
- ^ Abendblatt.com : Ban on demonstrations in Saudi Arabia
- ↑ wsws.org: Massive mobilization of the police stifles protests on the "Day of Anger" in Saudi Arabia
- ↑ Amnesty International: Country Report 2013
