HRW urges G20 member states to pressure Saudi Arabia to free illegally detained dissidents

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the G20 member states to pressure Saudi Arabia to free all activists and dissidents detained unlawfully and to provide accountability for past abuses, less than two weeks before a virtual summit of the group in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

The US-based rights group is launching the #G20SaudiArabia campaign, urging leaders of the G20 major economies to hold their Saudi hosts accountable for the human rights abuses the Arab kingdom has so far committed.

The HRW had written to the G20 governments in July and August with the same request.

The G20 presidency conferred an “undeserved mark of international prestige” on the government of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, heir to the throne and de facto ruler, despite its “unrelenting assault on freedoms,” said HRW in a statement on Monday.

“Instead of signaling its concern for Saudi Arabia’s serious abuses, the G20 is bolstering the Saudi government’s well-funded publicity efforts to portray the country as ‘reforming’ despite a significant increase in repression since 2017,” said Michael Page, HRW deputy Middle East director.

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The Arab kingdom is particularly under fire for the full-fledged war on Yemen that since March 2015, according to some estimates, has killed 100,000 people.

Despite the flamboyant efforts made by the Saudi crown prince to apparently bring about social reforms to the highly-conservative kingdom, his international reputation was badly tarnished by the gruesome assassination of well-known Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul back in October 2018.

Turkish officials say his body was dismembered by the killers and his remains are yet to be found. In the aftermath of Khashoggi’s killing, a CIA report said that the Saudi crown prince had ordered the assassination of the journalist, who was an outspoken critic of bin Salman.

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Bin Salman’s tenure since 2017 has witnessed sweeping arrest campaigns, including against activists, dissidents, and clerics.

The HRW, through its #G20SaudiArabia campaign, called for the unconditional release of Saudi human rights activists, including female activists Loujain al-Hathloul, Nassima al-Sadah and Nouf Abdulaziz as well as blogger Raif Badawi, journalist Salah Haidar and rights lawyer Walid Abu al-Khair.

According to the rights group, some of the women, including Hathloul, were kept in solitary confinement for months and subjected to abuse and torture, including electric shocks, flogging and sexual assault.

Saudi officials have denied torture allegations, saying the arrests were made on suspicion of “harming Saudi interests and offering support to hostile elements abroad.”

The US-based rights group also stressed that the G20 countries “should help prevent Saudi Arabia’s attempts to whitewash its abuses through hosting the G20.”

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Apart from the unconditional release of all Saudi human rights activists accused of “vague offenses” based on their activism, the HRW also called on the G20 members to press Riyadh to allow the UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen “to carry out its mandate by facilitating access” to the Arab kingdom.

It also said that Riyadh must allow “an independent, international body” to probe Khashoggi’s assassination and review all court documents from the trial of those allegedly held responsible by Riyadh for the gruesome murder.

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“G20 countries can make a difference and play a significant role in convincing Saudi Arabia to halt its human rights abuses,” Page added.

The 2020 G20 Riyadh summit is scheduled to be held on 21–22 November in Riyadh.

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