RIYADH, Oct 20: The Special UN Rapporteur on the independence of judiciary Dato Param Coomarasawamy is in the kingdom on an unprecedented visit.

This is the first time the kingdom has allowed the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judiciary to enter the kingdom. According to senior Saudi officials the UN envoy would be allowed to go anywhere he wants to go. He would be closely monitoring the working of the Saudi judicial system and interact with senior Saudi judges.

Western media has long singled out Saudi Arabia for not complying with global human right conventions. Charges of human rights violations in the Saudi legal system have long plagued the kingdom’s international image. The western press has been pointing out that the authorities in the kingdom resort to arbitrary arrests, corporal punishments such as flogging and the use of death penalty, which at times goes against the Geneva Conventions for human rights.

The kingdom has however, been stressing that it sincerely applies Islamic Shariah and being the citadel of Islam cannot accept anything contravening Islamic jurisprudence. The low incidence of crime in the kingdom is often portrayed as the positive consequence of applying Shariah in the kingdom.

After 9/11, tremendous pressure however, has apparently been applied on Saudi Arabia on many fronts including opening up its legal system.

In recent days the US media had been highlighting the case of children born to Western mothers divorced by their Saudi husbands. Senior US Congressmen are reported to be taking keen interest in the subject. Some senior US law makers have been urging the Bush government to apply much greater pressure on the Saudi government to resolve this and other human rights-related issues.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Naif has however, been openly saying that Saudi Arabia has nothing to hide from the world and that its judicial system is very much in accordance with Islamic tenets.

Riyadh in recent months has announced plans to reform part of its judicial system. Saudi officials have been saying that they would be ready to incorporate any positive changes in the system, as and when required, and that they are open to ideas.

The visit of Mr Coomarasawamy is thus being regarded as an epoch making event, which ultimately may result not only in improvements in the overall system but also in removing the misconceptions about the Saudi judicial system.