Geneva, Jumada II 06, 1437, March 15, 2016, SPA -- The delegate of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Ambassador Faisal Trad stressed the fundamentals of the kingdom as being proud in applying the provisions of the tolerant Islamic Sharia which ensures justice, rights and duties for all equally without any discrimination, adding that the best proof of that is the level of growth, prosperity and progress experienced by the kingdom and the Saudi society of all sects and individuals of both sexes compared with many countries of the world. Ambassador Faisal Trad made the remarks as he delivered the kingdom's reply to what was stated by a number of European countries especially Germany, Iceland and Ireland on human rights in the kingdom before the Human Rights Council held in Geneva. He said that the provisions of Islamic law, Saudi applicable regulations and the kingdom's international obligations ensure non-violation of the right of any human being and therefore any penalty applied to anyone in the kingdom is the result of his acts and an offense that is punishable by law and that levels of litigation are met and all guarantees are provided for a fair, open and transparent trial that is open to the public, including representatives of the missions of the above mentioned countries. Trad said that not under any circumstances, privileges or immunities can be granted to a class of people without others under any name or any capacity. All are equal before the judiciary, he stated. He indicated that the death penalty is provided for by the laws of the kingdom and that there are dozens of countries around the world that still apply the death penalty for the most serious crimes, such as terrorism and drug trafficking. He stressed the strong rejection of the kingdom for any statement by any country against the independent and fair judiciary in the Kingdom and its demand for everyone to respect the judiciary and its rulings, and not interfere with it in any way. He also demanded that these countries verify their sources of information before directing any criticism against the kingdom where there is no respect for the cultural and religious special nature of a country that represents the heart of the Islamic world, and asked them to refrain from double standards and trying to exploit the Human Rights Council for political purposes or to accomplish electoral achievements and to address real human rights violations without any political, cultural or ideological motives. --SPA 22:31 LOCAL TIME 19:31 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w