Saudi 'beating' video sparks human rights probe

Tuesday, 29 October 2013 2:40 PM

A still from the YouTube video which appears to show a Saudi man, right, beating an Asian expatriate.

Human rights campaigners have reportedly launched an investigation into a YouTube video which appears to show a Saudi man beating an Asian expatriate.

According to Saudi media, the Saudi Human Rights Commission has initiated an investigation into the video, which was posted on YouTube on Friday and has gone viral.

It shows a Saudi man yelling at the expat, who is wearing orange overalls. The Saudi then beats the man with what appears to be a belt as the alleged victim screams.

Ibrahim Al-Shadi, a spokesman for the Human Rights Commission, told Arab News that the attack is clearly an abuse of the man’s rights under Islamic law regardless of his motive.

“The video clip shows a horrendous violation of this worker’s dignity and safety, which is in contravention to the Islamic moral code of conduct and Saudi laws inspired by the Islamic Shariah,” Al-Shadi told the paper.

“This goes against the grain of the rule of the law in Saudi Arabia regardless of what the worker might have done.”

Al-Shadi said the commission is now following up on this case with authorities to apply the rule of law and uphold the rights of the individuals involved.

Neither the Saudi nor the expat is identified in the video, which lasts just under two minutes.

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Posted by: mohammed Friday, 1 November 2013 6:33 PM[UAE] - Saudi Arabia

One such incident in Saudi and you see Saudi bashers spitting venom. They do not know that such incidents are the order of the day in many countries.

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Posted by: Mohammed MH Friday, 1 November 2013 11:08 AM[UAE] - Qatar

I spent twenty years of my life in Saudi Arabia. This thing is not an uncommon phenomenon in Saudi Arabia. That country has a long way to go on the road to civilization.

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Posted by: Ahmed Thursday, 31 October 2013 8:22 AM[UAE] - UAE

I grew up in Saudi, this happens almost on a routine basis there, what's the big deal now that it's on youtube? Have we all not looked at cases where maids are beaten to death? Did the "human rights" guy from Saudi finally wake up after their western friends watch a worker being beaten by a Saudi? It's shameful that they can even talk about Islam in the same sentence! In my opinion Islam is only a tool in the hands of everyone in Saudi, only to be used for their own benefit and to give justifications for their wrong doings.

Posted by: Abdullah Friday, 1 November 2013 11:09 AM[UAE] - UK

@Khaled: Not all but 99% of all Saudi have been using Islam to justify their wrongdoings...Enough is enough, Saudis along with other Khaleejis must stop this non-sense or it will only bring bad name to Islam...

Posted by: Khaled Alnahedh Friday, 1 November 2013 2:40 AM[UAE] - saudi arabia

At first I understood and agreed with what you were saying, until you reached the part of generalising the entire population that lives in Saudi, as people who use Islam as a tool.
Yes there are people like that. Many. But not all. And you have failed to make a solid point by doing this.

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Posted by: Karim Thursday, 31 October 2013 8:20 AM[UAE] - England

Clearly the person who videotaped this thought it was wrong so why didn't he or she stop it instead of videotaping it?

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Posted by: A Moshaikah Thursday, 31 October 2013 8:20 AM[UAE] - Saudi

It is easy to find the man if they are serious about it.The labour's face is shown and his uniform indicates he is a labour of a contractor to the municibality.I would suspect bangldish community will know who he is.

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