8-year-old boy hospitalized in Abha with torture injuries
"Ziyad had to be taken to hospital because he suffered from festering wounds caused by burns and severe beatings," Supervisor General of the Human Rights Commission's Asir branch Hadi bin Ali Al-Yami told Arab News on Monday.
The medical examination showed that the boy carried fresh and old burns on his face, damage to his jawbone, chest, feet, right leg, hands and forearms, as well as head injuries and cuts on his left leg, according to the medical report issued by Asir Central Hospital.
"The Red Crescent brought the boy to the hospital. The boy has been admitted to the children's surgery section and will have to be examined by neurosurgeons and plastic surgeons to correct the damage to his face and jaws," the report said.
Al-Yami said the commission's research wing was studying all aspects of the case.
He added that Ziyad would be returned to his family only after his safety is ensured. The commission did not want to separate a child from his family, he said.
The boy's father confessed to police investigators that he used to punish his son severely, according to media reports.
Chairman of the Asir branch of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) Ali Al-Shaabi told Arab News that the medical report revealed that the boy was tortured repeatedly for eight years. He said the NSHR wanted to ensure that police officers were handling a case where a child's human rights had been grossly violated with the seriousness it deserved.
He said the boy should not be sent back to his family until investigations and all legal actions in the case were completed.
"The NSHR will also ascertain if Ziyad's father is qualified to look after his other five children. It would also instruct the health directorate to find out if the other children have been tortured by their parents," he said.
Spokesman of the heath directorate in Asir Saeed Al-Naqir said the boy is in a stable condition and will be discharged from hospital when the medical team treating him decides to.