​MoJ profiting from ‘notorious’ Saudi prison contracts challenged in High Court

Reuters / James Boardman

Reuters / James Boardman

Revelations that the secretive commercial wing of the UK’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is providing services to Saudi Arabia’s prisons have led to a High Court challenge.

Lawyers acting for the
Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) say the shadowy commercial
body Just Solutions International (JSI), the existence of which
was only revealed this year, is exceeding its legal remit by
servicing Saudi prisons.

They claim the competitive pursuit of profit-making consultancy
contracts goes beyond the role of government and is not in the
public interest.

READ MORE: Saudi interior minister visits UK,
govt to raise Raif Badawi flogging case

One key issue is the UK government’s apparent double standard in
condemning the flogging and detention of liberal blogger Raif
Badawi, while apparently pursuing contracts with prisons such as
the one his is being detained in.

“By providing services to the Saudi prison and
probation service the UK is lending legitimacy and indirectly
supporting such abuses,
GCHR advisory board member Melanie
Gingell said in a statement.

It is hypocritical of the government to publicly condemn
barbarity such as is meted out to Raif Badawi, while at the same
time implicitly condoning such activities by bidding to provide
services on a commercial basis to those who perpetrate the
abuses.

It is known that the government department submitted a proposal
worth around £6 million (US$9.42 million) to provide services to
the Saudi regime, to operate in jails in which they argue
notorious abuses are being carried out.

The government has yet to reveal the precise nature of the
services being provided, but GCHR says it fears “the driving
motivation behind these bids is purely commercial, and the veil
of secrecy that has been drawn over them simply serves to deepen
our concerns that the UK is making money out of the worst aspects
of these states, that it condemns in public, but is happy to give
support to in private.

READ
MORE: Prince Charles meets new Saudi king amid pressure to raise
human rights abuses

Law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn Solicitors (DPG) have taken up the
case, which GCHR plans to crowdfund.

It is surprising that JSi’s activities have taken place
shrouded in secrecy, and without parliamentary debate or
approval,
” DPG Partner Adam Hundt said.

If the UK is to sell its public services to states that
behead people for sorcery, stone women to death and flog people
for expressing pro-democracy views, then one would expect our
Parliament to be consulted and given the opportunity to impose
appropriate parameters on such activities.

Leave a comment