UK pressed for UNHRC vote to Saudis
UK’s political parties are increasing pressures on the government of Prime Minister David Cameron to clarify its role in Saudi Arabia's membership in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
The leaders of the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to come clean on the issue.
The two party leaders want a full response to last year's leak of diplomatic cables which revealed a secret vote-trading deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia to make sure both got a place on the UN Human Rights Council.
This also comes after Saudi Arabia announced that it had executed dozens on a single day over charges of terrorism. Among them was the senior Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr whose execution has already sparked angry criticisms in several Muslim countries.
Greens' leader Natalie Bennett has told The Independent that the Saudi kingdom's role on the UN council was "one of many issues raised by the mass executions".
Bennett has emphasized that the government should investigate who made the decision to “abuse the UN process and the principle of universal human rights”.
There has been growing criticism over the response of David Cameron to the weekend's executions and the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom has been a controversial one.
"The government must immediately suspend exports of arms to Saudi Arabia, and strengthen its currently extremely weak diplomatic response," Bennett added.
Britain and Saudi Arabia, which are close allies, are among the 47 member states of the UNHRC. Saudi Arabia has one of the worst human rights records in the world.
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