Around 18 per cent of Saudi Arabia’s adult people have suffered from human rights abuses this year but most of them have no idea about their rights, according to the human rights group in the Gulf Kingdom.
Nearly 14 per cent of the victims sought assistance at institutions which they mistakenly thought are specialized in human rights protection, said the study by the National Human Rights Society in Saudi Arabia.
“Around 18 per cent of the Kingdom’s community were subject to human rights violations this year and 14 per cent of them resorted to establishments which they thought are specialized in human rights,” it said in a document published by the Saudi Arabic language daily Almadina on Tuesday.
“More than 54 per cent of the Saudi society believes that they know about human rights…but our survey showed the opposite as the ratio is only about 30 per cent…nearly 94 per cent of the society also does not know which laws in the Kingdom pertain to human rights,” the document said.
It said the main source of human rights information for the Saudi society include newspapers and television, and to a lesser extent periodical bulletins.
The study showed there is a large gap in public confidence in local human rights organizations in various regions of the Kingdom.
“This confidence is low in the eastern, southern and northern provinces…in general, the Saudi community in these areas do not have enough knowledge about human rights issues…there is a general lack of awareness and culture about human rights in the Kingdom,” the study said.
“There is a need for intensive efforts to create this awareness, mainly among females and young people.”