LONDON: Saudi Arabia said it attaches “great importance to the promotion and protection of human rights,” the Kingdom’s envoy said Wednesday.

Speaking during a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, Saudi deputy representative to the UN Mohammed Al-Ateeq said these rights were “surrounded by a fence of regulations and instructions that ensure the preservation of human dignity, protect rights and preserve freedom, on basis of the provisions of Islamic Sharia law, which are based on the principles of justice, freedom and equality.”

He said this approach had advanced the Kingdom’s rank globally, in return for the tangible achievements it has made and is still making in the field.

Al-Ateeq said that the system for combating human trafficking crimes, issued by a royal decree in 2009, is one of the most important regulations in the Kingdom to combat these crimes.

The system has specified the penalties for anyone who commits these crimes, but also has clarified the rights of victims of human trafficking and the care that should be provided to them during the stages of evidence, investigation and trial for those who committed these crimes against them, he said.

This was in line with the provisions of Islamic Sharia and the relevant international standards to which the Kingdom has become a party, he added.

He also said that to ensure coordination and integration of national efforts, a Cabinet decision was issued to form a committee to combat human trafficking in the Human Rights Commission, whose membership includes representatives from government agencies entrusted with combating these crimes.

He said authorities, in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, have drawn up a national plan to combat human trafficking crimes in Saudi Arabia to serve as a roadmap for national efforts to prevent and combat.

Al-Ateeq said the issue remains a top priority and concern for the Kingdom, which has doubled its efforts and attention locally and internationally, and welcomes “all aspects of cooperation with the international community to help combat this crime and ensure the dignity and freedom of all human beings.”