During the 54th regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) that took place in Geneva between 11 September and 13 October 2023, several states once again drew attention to ongoing human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. The UN Secretary-General also highlighted a consistent pattern of reprisals by the Saudi state against individuals engaging with the UN, in his annual report on reprisals.
On 26 September, during the HRC’s Item 4 General Debate on human rights situations requiring the Council’s attention, three states – Finland, Switzerland and Denmark – delivered oral statements in which they condemned human rights violations in Saudi Arabia. Finland and Denmark spoke against the kingdom’s egregious use of the death penalty, with Finland stressing that “imposing the death penalty for expressing critical views online violates international law”, and calling on the Saudi authorities to ensure due process of law in applying the death penalty. Denmark expressed concern about the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia as a whole. Switzerland, meanwhile, raised concerns over Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations against migrants, in light of reported mass killings of migrants at the Yemen border.
Saudi Arabia has for many years been among the countries carrying out the highest numbers of executions in the world. In 2022 it executed 196 people, and at least 110 have been executed so far in 2023 (as of 10 October). Nine young men are currently at risk of execution for crimes committed as minors, in direct contradiction of claims by the authorities to have ended this practice. Furthermore, the recent sentencing to death of Mohammed al-Ghamdi marked the first known death sentence issued in Saudi Arabia solely for social media activity, reflecting an intensified crackdown on online expression more broadly.
Also during this 54th HRC session, on 29 September the UN Secretary-General presented his annual report on intimidation and reprisals against those cooperating with the UN, its representatives and mechanisms. The report identified Saudi Arabia as a country of concern, and highlighted continuing allegations of acts of reprisals against peaceful activists Mohammed al-Qahtani, Essa al-Nukheifi and Fawzan al-Harbi for having cooperated with UN human rights mechanisms. All three of these men have suffered arbitrary detention and/or enforced disappearance despite the expiry of their prison terms.
ALQST welcomes these interventions from member states, as well as the Secretary-General’s report, which help to bring much-needed international attention back to Saudi Arabia’s dire human rights record. In view of the worsening situation in the kingdom it is vital that the UN Human Rights Council enhances its scrutiny of Saudi Arabia. We therefore reiterate our call on all member states for action to create a UN monitoring and reporting mechanism on human rights violations in Saudi Arabia.
Finland: “Also, imposing the death penalty for expressing critical views online violates international law. In this regard, we call on Saudi Arabian authorities to ensure due process of law as recently called by several special procedures mandate holders.”
Switzerland: “Saudi Arabia: Switzerland is concerned at the allegations of violations of humaon rights committed against migrants. We call on the authorities to carry out an independent inquiry to shed light on the facts, cooperating with the relevant UN bodies.”
Denmark: “We remain concerned about the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia and reiterate our strong opposition to the use of the death penalty.”
