Urgent Petition to Review the Perspective Visit of the Head of the European Council to Saudi Arabia.
We, the undersigned members of the European Parliament, call on the Head of European Council, Charles Michel, to cancel his upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia and to pressure Saudi Arabia to stop violations against human rights and human rights defenders.
Most Saudi human rights defenders, including Loujain Alhathloul, are threatened with silence, imprisonment, and/or forced to flee the region, and many have faced arbitrary travel bans, intimidation, and harassment by the Saudi authorities.
Loujain Alhathloul was conditionally released in February after 5 years in prison after she was kidnapped from the UAE for campaigning for Women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. Alhathloul is still under an arbitrary travel ban imposed on her by the Saudi authorities. Other Human Rights activists such as Samar Badawi, Nassima Alsadah, Eman Alnafijan and Aziza Alyousefas as well as journalists, writers and academics are still in prison.
Other human rights in Saudi Arabia have been sentenced without admittance to their lawyers. The Supreme Court has prisoned human right defenders on unclear charges such as such as disturbing security, spreading chaos, inciting public opinion and the lack of loyalty to the ruler.
A number of activists were brought to the Criminal Court in Riyadh charged with activism as well as reaching to international organizations and foreign media outlets, and calling for an end to the guardianship system. Capital trials continued against detainees on charges that related to nothing more than peaceful activism and dissent.
The European Union doesn’t have a clear strategy regarding the crackdown on civil society in Saudi Arabia without any plans to hold dialogues with the Saudi authorities.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had earlier expressed its concern about the continued arbitrary detention of human rights activists in Saudi Arabia and considered what is happening as evidence that there are no real reforms in the Kingdom when it comes to civil and political rights.
A report issued by Amnesty International has clarified that Saudi Arabia is punishing human rights defenders with fines and imprisonment, after it systematically resorted to the anti-terrorism law and used the anti-cybercrime law against many.
The systematic suppression of human rights in Saudi Arabia has intensified since the appointment of Prince Muhammed bin Salman as crown prince in June 2017.
The failure of the European Union and member states in their commitment to support and protect human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia is worrying, and the strict crackdown on civil society in the Kingdom was not faced by a clear or resolute strategy by the European Union to ensure support and protect human rights defenders.
We hereby call on:
- The Head of the European Council to cancel his planned Saudi visit to pressure Saudi authorities to release all human rights defenders in the Kingdom, especially women activists.
- The European Union to engage in constructive dialogue with Saudi Arabia to end human rights abuses against human rights defenders.
- The EU should make sure civil society organizations work to highlight abuses of human rights in the Kingdom.
- The EU should coordinate with relevant parties including the UN to end these abuses.
- The EU should provide protection for Saudi human rights defenders living on its soil.
