On 2 September 2020, ALQST held a shadow G20 workshop bringing together Saudi activists with Members of the European Parliament to discuss issues of women’s and human rights in Saudi Arabia, formulating recommendations (see below) for the Saudi authorities to implement to improve its human rights record ahead of the G20 summit.
The event was held in the context of the G20, which Saudi Arabia currently holds the rotating presidency of. While in the lead up to this year’s G20 summit in November, the Saudi kingdom is seeking to maximise the PR opportunities and to portray the country as striving for reform, genuine effort to reform would incorporate the ethical dimension of human development and a commitment to basic rights and freedoms.
The workshop involved two thematic discussions. The first session, featuring Marc Tarabella (MEP of the S&D Group and Vice Chair of DARP), Abdullah Al Odah (professor at George Washington University and son of prisoner of conscience Salman Al Odah), Yahya Assiri (human rights defender and director of ALQST), and Taha Al Hajji (lawyer and human rights defender), moderated by Julia Legner (Head of Advocacy at ALQST) covered human rights issues in Saudi Arabia.
The session explored how the Saudi authorities continue to violate many of the most basic human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and how peaceful dissent is criminalised by domestic legislation. It emphasised the importance of the role of a free and independent civil society in Saudi Arabia, which is currently totally absent, and made several recommendations including for the meaningful participation of Saudi citizens in the political decision-making process.
“Civil society has a primary and fundamental role for the growth of the respect of human rights in every country. There is a link and a precious parallel between the level and presence of civil society and independent and non-governmental groups and the respect of and implementation of fundamental freedoms and human rights in the country”, Marc Tarabella (MEP of the S&D Group and Vice Chair of DARP)
The second session, featuring Alessandra Moretti (MEP of the S&D Group and member of FEMM), Hala Al Dosari (human rights activist, scholar, and writer), Lina Al Hathloul (sister of imprisoned Saudi WHRD Loujain Al Hathloul) and Omaima Al Najjar (physician, activist and campaigns officer, ALQST), moderated by Josh Cooper (Deputy Director at ALQST) focused on women’s rights in particular.
“Saudi Arabia sold the world a fairy tale full of progress and innovation but actually we are all witnesses of a horror movie”, Alessandra Moretti (MEP of the S&D Group and member of FEMM)
While in the run up to Saudi Arabia’s G20 summit and related W20 (“Women 20”), Saudi Arabia has been emphasising themes like “women’s inclusion”, the session highlighted how women’s rights continue to be severely impeded, and called on the male guardianship system to be fully dismantled. The session highlighted the role of women human rights defenders (WHRDs), who for many years have been at the forefront of the fight for gender equality and have been detained and tortured and still face ongoing and unfair trial proceedings, and called for their immediate and unconditional release.
The workshop formulated concrete recommendations (see below) for the Saudi authorities to implement to improve its human rights record. These recommendations have been circulated among MEPs, who will then pass on these suggestions to their national representatives to be raised during the Civil Society (C20) and Women (W20) summits.
In the lead up to the G20, ALQST is campaigning to mobilise people to urge governments and businesses not to turn a blind eye to the Saudi authorities’ egregious human rights violations, and to urge G20 participants and governments to place human rights at the centre of all G20 discussions.
Recommendations produced during the virtual workshop
Representatives of the EU and other G20 member states should urge the Saudi authorities to implement the following measures:
- Allow for inclusion and meaningful participation of Saudi citizens in the political decision-making process;
- Immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, and prisoners of conscience currently detained in Saudi Arabia;
- Abstain from prosecuting individuals for making use of their fundamental rights, in particular the right to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association and ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
- Amend the laws used to crack down on peaceful dissent, including the Counter-Terrorism Law, the Cybercrime Law, the Juvenile Law and the Law on Associations to bring them in line with international standards;
- Promulgate a Criminal Code to guarantee legal certainty and ensure that all laws are put into practice;
- Establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolish the death penalty;
- Immediately end the war in Yemen and abstain from any further violations of international humanitarian and human rights law;
- Pursue meaningful steps towards accountability for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi;
- Commit to real human rights reform instead of investing in human rights PR;
- Implement the recommendations set out in previous resolutions passed by the EU parliament, in particular resolution (2018/2885(RSP) and (2019/2564(RSP);
- Fully dismantle the male guardianship system, repealing laws and ending practices that discriminate against women, in practise and not just rhetoric;
- Conduct prompt, effective and credible investigations into all allegations of torture, including the torture of women human rights defenders, and hold perpetrators accountable;
- Grant UN Special Rapporteurs and international human rights organisations access to visit Saudi Arabia, including prisons and detention centres where women are being held;
- End the abuse of migrant workers, including female and domestic workers, and protect the rights and healthcare of those held in detention centres.
