The head of Saudi Arabia's official human rights commission, Hala Al-Tuwaijri, repeated the official promotional rhetoric in her speech during the opening of the 58th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on February 24, 2025.
In her intervention, Al-Tuwaijri emphasized that her country recognizes the importance of the role of the HRC, praising the hard work and efforts made to make its work a success. However, as the European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) has previously reported, the official Saudi delegation to the council and its bodies has used UN platforms to whitewash the government's image, particularly by blocking any effective role for local NGOs in the council, as well as promoting misleading information in some sessions.
Al-Tuwaijri spoke about the reforms and developments the country has witnessed in the field of human rights at various levels, referring to Saudi Vision 2030, which “is based on equality and non-discrimination, in addition to empowering women, youth, people with disabilities, the elderly and workers, and achieving an optimal quality of life.” This speech comes at a time when Saudi Arabia is facing heavy criticism for upholding laws that allow discrimination against women and perpetuate discriminatory rulings based on sectarian affiliations.
For example, while Al-Tuwaijri stated that Saudi Arabia is home to more than 15 million foreigners of 60 nationalities who enjoy “the highest levels of protection,” international reports have confirmed that discrimination against foreign workers in the kingdom continues on several levels, including abuses against them, which has contributed to an increase in the execution of death sentences.
Al-Tuwaijri also referred to the legislative amendments made by the Kingdom, including the modernization of the Labor Law and the Protection from Abuse Law, as well as the Child Protection Law. In this context, the European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) has shown in its reports that there are inadequate executive mechanisms to implement these laws, especially with regard to combating domestic violence against women, as well as the lack of accountability for torture in prisons against women in particular.
In addition, Al-Tuwaijri deliberately praised Saudi Arabia's assumption of the chairmanship of the UN Women's Committee, noting that her country seeks to share its experience with the world in supporting and empowering women. These statements reflect Saudi Arabia's constant endeavor to use these international platforms to improve its image to the world, while local laws and social practices continue to surround women in the kingdom with a harsh reality of restrictions and discrimination.
Al-Tuwaijri also did not miss the opportunity to talk about the global events that Saudi Arabia has hosted and is preparing to host, such as the Expo, the Asian Cup, and the World Cup. According to her, these events represent “a valuable opportunity for communication between nations and societies,” which appears to be understood as part of efforts to promote reform efforts and global appearances aimed at improving Saudi Arabia's external image.
The European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights believes that Al-Tuwaijri's speech represents a new episode in the series of attempts to “wash the image” through which the Saudi government seeks to divert attention from the reality of ongoing human rights violations. The speech emphasized the continued promotion of the rhetoric of “reforms” through global events without addressing the executions, arbitrary arrests, and lack of implementation of laws that are supposed to protect the most vulnerable groups in Saudi Arabia.