The European Union has raised concerns regarding the detention of female human rights advocates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In a statement delivered on behalf of the EU countries at the UN Human Rights Council, on 15 September 2020, the German representative in Geneva, Mr. Michael Ungern-Sternberg, noted the ongoing detention of activist Loujain al-Hathloul.
In her update on global human rights during the opening of the session, High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet had already called on Saudi Arabia to release all women detainees.
In his statement, the German representative also called for transparency and total accountability for all those involved in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Saudi Arabia had previously handed down prison sentences for those it said were involved in Khashoggi’s killing, prompting rejections of the verdicts, especially from the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnès Callamard, who called them illegitimate.