UK MoJ services to Saudis to be challenged in court
The [Persian] Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) is set to challenge the British Ministry of Justice (MoJ) services to Saudi prisons at the UK’s high court.
The group says MoJ services are based on profitable contracts and are not carried out for “governmental purposes.”
The contract, which is between the commercial arm of the MoJ, Just Solutions (JSI) and the government of Saudi Arabia was only recently revealed. However, the information surrounding the deal and its operations is very limited.
The group argues that the JSI does not work for the benefit of the general public despite gaining revenues for the Ministry of Justice. It is for this reason the GCHR is said to be taking court action against such schemes.
Saudi Arabia has frequently drawn criticisms from international human rights organizations over its rights violations and a raft of other issues such as public beheadings, political prisoners, women’s rights, etc.
Melanie Gingell of the GCHR believes, “By providing services to the Saudi prison and probation service, the UK is lending legitimacy and indirectly supporting such abuses.”
Adam Hundt, of the law firm, Deighton Pierce Glynn Solicitors, which acts on behalf of the GCHR, says, “It is surprising that JSI’s activities have taken place shrouded in secrecy, and without parliamentary debate or approval.”
“If the UK is to sell its public services to regimes that behead people for sorcery, stone women to death and flog people for expressing pro-democracy views, then one would expect parliament to be consulted and given the opportunity to impose appropriate parameters on such activities.”
The GCHR judicial review is currently raising funds to continue the legal challenge through online crowd-funding.
Meanwhile, an MoJ spokesperson has denied the existence of such a deal, saying: “We have not signed any contract with the Saudi government, or sold any services to them.”
SU/GHN
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