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Riyadh: Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice will be trained on how to deal with diplomats and foreign non-Muslims in Saudi Arabia.
The training course will be organised by the Riyadh-based Institute of Diplomatic Studies, an affiliate to the Foreign Ministry, officials said on Thursday.
Dr Nasser Al Marzouqi Al Buqmi, supervisor of development programmes department at the institute, said on Thursday that the training programme for the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) members will be under the title ‘Skills of dealing with diplomats and other foreign non-Muslims in the Kingdom’. The course will be held on April 20.
“What distinguishes the training programmes organised by the institute is that they are short and focus on seminars rather than lectures and delivered by specialised experts from the institute and others from outside,” Al Buqmi said.
In the past few months, CPVPV, or the ‘religious police’, came under attack from the Saudi press and websites after several people died or were injured following raids by religious police members in some parts of the kingdom.
Some writers called for more training for CPVPV members on how to treat the public and address issues they encounter while on duty.
The religious body is often criticised by international human rights organisations.
The new training programme aims at enlightening the commission members on how to deal with diplomats and non Muslims working or coming to visit Saudi Arabia.
Last week, Saudi Arabia decided to establish ‘community police’ stations in the kingdom.
The move was regarded by some people as a step for containing the wide role of the religious police.
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