Rare, heartening move

In a rare move, the police director met with representatives of some 150 civil society and human rights institutions on Tuesday to discuss the status of human rights in the country and the conduct of the police.

The talks were also meant to strengthen cooperation between police and civil society to ensure the application of the highest standards of human rights in the country and to fight extremism.

Responding to different queries regarding safety, security and human rights, the head of police said several measures were taken as “we at the PSD work hard to safeguard human dignity and the rights of our citizens and of any individual living in the Kingdom”.

Collaboration with citizens, particularly civil society groups, is bound to further strengthen “the sense of security and stability among the public”, said the police chief who, through his statements, underlined the link between the protection and promotion of human rights, on the one hand, and safeguarding the security and stability of the country, especially by combating extremism, on the other.

This is absolutely correct and necessary.

The police, whose members are an integral part of society, have an interest in upholding human rights.

“We have enrolled many of our officers in human rights courses to ensure that they respect and understand their principles and apply them” in the conduct of their functions.

It is heartening to see the head of police seriously involved in the routine work of his personnel, to hear that he made incognito visits to police stations to check on the state of affairs there, and to hear him talk candidly about concerns regarding abuse and torture, treatment of journalists covering public events or overcrowded prisons.

He reassured all those expressing such concerns, revealing plans to deal with them, and that shows genuine desire to better work with the public to ensure that “the highest standards” are adopted when dealing with citizens.

It might be a good idea to hold such meetings periodically, to both ensure that the standards are maintained by the police and to have the public understand that the safety and security of the country is a common interest, and it has a role in preserving them.