Leaked images expose overcrowding in Saudi prisons

A video filmed inside a crowded Saudi Arabian jail has surfaced on the Internet, angering activists who decry prisoners’ living conditions. Our Observer, an activist who has spent time in Saudi jails, says the situation has been getting worse.

In Saudi Arabia, many prisoners have access to mobile phones via the black market. Some use them to film their experiences (This is not unheard of – French prisoners have denounced their living conditions by leaking videos, too).

The latest video to surface from Saudi Arabia was filmed in Braiman prison, in the city of Jeddah. It shows men sitting or sleeping on thin mats over nearly every inch of a hallway. The situation is the same throughout the prison, according to a source who has visited the facility.

The National Society for Human Rights, a government-sanctioned organisation, has repeatedly said that most prisons in the country are overcrowded, mainly due to the lengthy confinement of prisoners awaiting trial. Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, has pointed to reports of inhumane conditions in Saudi prisons, including a case in which five Ethiopian detainees allegedly suffocated to death last August due to overcrowding. The government appears to be trying to reduce the number of people it incarcerates, notably by creating community service programmes as an alternative to jail time.

“My cell was 5 metres by 6 metres, and I had 23 cellmates”

Hussain is a Saudi activist who has made several trips to prison due to his frequent participation in anti-government protests. His latest stint was at Khobar Prison, in the eastern part of the kingdom, where he spent three and a half months last spring.

Recently, prisons have been getting more and more crowded, and the conditions are getting more and more difficult. The last prison I went to was the worst one I have seen yet – just as bad if not worse as in Jeddah, from what I can see in leaked videos. My cell was 5 metres by 6 metres, and I had 23 cellmates. We had to take turns sleeping – some of the men even slept in the toilet stalls. It could get very cold at night, and we didn’t have enough blankets.

The prison’s hygiene was terrible. The food was barely cooked. When we were served pieces of chicken, there would still be feathers on it.

Of course, in these conditions, people would get sick very easily, and because we lived in such close quarters, illness would spread very rapidly. On top of that, it was very hard to see a doctor.

My back was injured during a brutal interrogation after my arrest. In prison, my injury only got worse, because I had to sleep on the floor. I asked to see a doctor – two weeks later, I finally saw one. All he would give me was acetaminophen, which didn’t work. That’s all the doctors would give anyone, no matter what the problem was. My doctor told me that was all they had to give, anyway. My back finally got so bad that they finally had to let me out so I could get real treatment in a hospital.

The strange thing is, in the news, you read lots of stories about how Saudi prisons are getting more money, about how they’re making living conditions better for prisoners… but we don’t see this in prison. The money doesn’t seem to get to where it needs to go.”

Comments

Crazy Things happening in all

Submitted by Carrol Collett (not verified) on Wed, 08/02/2012 - 03:39.

Crazy Things happening in all prisons around the World.
I think human rights have to be protected in prisons too.
So sad to see all these people in such conditions.

Absolutely agree with you my

Submitted by TomRostov (not verified) on Sat, 03/03/2012 - 05:10.

Absolutely agree with you my friend.

Prison in Saudi

Submitted by AnonymeLarry (not verified) on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 13:28.

The easiest way to keep this from happening to you is.....obey the law and stay out of the prison. One comment in the article by one prisoner described the conditions of several prisons he had been in.....SEVERAL? .... He, most of all, should want to stay out, not continue a life of crime. Its called CHOICE.

I'd bet any one of them would

Submitted by k2433e2 (not verified) on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 13:22.

I'd bet any one of them would cut off a finger to swap place with the living conditions in Guantanamo Bay.

Better than Guntinoma bay

Submitted by Mark Reiber (not verified) on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 15:57.

atleast they are not tourchered by dogs , pee on them , electric shocks on their private and public parts not blinded no acid thrown not raped by gays authorities which openly happens in US maitained Gutinoma bay jail and as well all jail run by US authorities in IRAQ and AFGANISTAN and other secret placed cells of US troops shame on USA which is biggest terrorist on this earth curse to them

Better Than Guantanamo Bay

Submitted by Bill Russell (not verified) on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 12:15.

Sir, you are repeating lies. The biggest problem for the prisoners in Guantanamo is obesity. They are getting fat because they are fed so well. Other than their repeated riots, and attempts to take a guard hostage, there are no threats of violence. The only rapes are being perpetrated by prisoners on prisoners. I suggest to anyone reading this post to google the AL-Qaeda torture manual (available on TMZ.Com) and Inside Guantanamo by Gordon Cucullu. If you are a journalist, you can even schedule a visit to Guantanamo and see for yourself. The prisoners have better living conditions and much less crowding than I had as a Captain in the United States Army during my first deployment to the Balkans.--- Also, I have seen the conditions in Saudi prisons first hand -- while visiting a friend who did something terrible (he sold wine to a Muslim) for which he spent six weeks in Saudi prisons. His last 10 days before he was deported, he spent in Malaise Prison in Riyadh. He was housed with murders, thieves, and rapists. As a non Muslim, he was locked in the latrine five times a day during prayer calls...(look at the pictures above and picture what happens when the water flow gets interrupted and the toilets back up).

There is no difference in

Submitted by Leo199 (not verified) on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 03:15.

There is no difference in prison in Brazil, Saudi, or anywhere in the third world.

Good point

Submitted by Kürtiro (not verified) on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 12:30.

I wasn't aware Saudi Arabia was a third world country, thank you for pointing that out.

les prisons

Submitted by hha (not verified) on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 12:02.

dans quelques pays de la region de moyen orient,où actuellement l'un d'eux est dans un conflict contre un mouvement populaire qui demade plus de democracy,les autorités de prisons changent les noms des prisonniers donc lors la famille ou l'avocat veut les chercher il serait impossible de les trouver parece que ils seraient comme d'autres personnes.

prisons in 3rd world

Submitted by hha (not verified) on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 11:44.

in some countries, at least in the middle east region( one of them is now in a struggle against a popular movement which demands democracy ), the prison authorities change the name of the prisoned person so if the family or a lawyer wants to ask about him/her it could be impossible to find him/her because he / she could be another person's name.