Saudi activists urge action over child abuse

Saudi activists expressed disdain over a picture that showed a young child plastered against a wall with duct tape while an adult man slept on a couch underneath him “smiling.”

Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Commission has urged citizens to cooperate with their search for the those behind the incident. The commission said the perpetrators should be punished for violating the child’s human rights.

Maatouq Al-Sharif, member of the commission, told Al Arabiya that “what happened to the child is violation of his right, and this is a criminal offense.”

Sharif said people need to be “deterred” so scenarios like this won’t be repeated again.

“Such behavior has an impact on the child’s personality. This also promotes the culture of violence against children.”

While the child in the picture appeared to be happy, sharif said “the child has no power to defend himself, and there is a penalty for such acts even if it isn’t known to Saudis that such deeds are punishable.”

“Parents do not own their children. Children have human rights, ” he said as he stated that Saudi Arabia signed a treaty to protect the rights of children.