On the twelfth of March this year, Saudi Arabia carried out a mass execution of eighty-one men, to be one of the bloodiest days in the Kingdom. Most of the people who were executed on this bloody day were from the eastern region who participated in the popular movement against the royal family.
A few days after this black day, the British Prime Minister visited Saudi Arabia, despite the pressures exerted on him to back down from the visit from both the British media and Parliament.
Johnson's visit delivered very important alliance messages to the ruling family, headed by the Crown Prince, confirming Britain's ability to turn a blind eye to horrific human rights violations, regardless of their atrocities and ugliness.
The Ukrainian war, the rise in oil prices, and fears of a harsh European winter were the most prominent international circumstances that conspired to prevent Johnson from backing down from his visit. In light of the fuel queues and high prices, human rights issues and violations of the regimes have receded to the last priority of the Prime Minister.
The acquiescence of the former British prime minister to the oil base and the hierarchy of priorities is reminiscent of previous incidents that further illustrate the extent of influence that Saudi Arabia can gain with money.
For example, the former Minister of Finance in Theresa May's government, Philip Hammond, was appointed an official advisor to the Saudi government less than two years after he left the ministerial position, in an incident that illustrates the ability of money to turn the equations around. Saudi Arabia bought the expertise of the second man in Britain for a few million, not billions, after he was given the green light by the British oversight authority to carry out his work for the benefit of the Kingdom after he finished his parliamentary work. Today, Hammond is a member of the British House of Lords only without being a member of the House of Commons. This is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has hired politicians who worked for the benefit of their countries to work for it, paid by the government.
In a similar incident, the investigation into the financial disclosure of the US ambassador to Bahrain showed that he worked with the Saudi government and received a salary from it, after he sought to form a pressure group in its favor.
Saudi Arabia’s efforts to wash the image appear in the field of sports as well. On March 27, two weeks after Saudi Arabia’s Black Day, the second race of the new season of the Formula One World Championship kicked off, amid explicit calls for the organizers to back down the decision to hold the race in these embarrassing circumstances.
Formula One management's responses to journalists' questions were very meager and unconvincing. Stefano Domencalli, CEO, told Sky Sports ahead of the event that reports of 81 men being executed in one day were very worrying, but said he saw no reason not to hold the races there.
The attempts of the ruling family in Saudi Arabia to consolidate its legitimacy and whitewash its crimes and human rights violations by establishing itself as a more open, diverse and accepting country by hosting the most important car race in the world failed. What happened was completely different, when Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, criticized Saudi Arabia. During the sporting event, when a journalist asked him about his opinion of the Formula's decision to hold the race in Saudi Arabia, he replied that he “did not feel comfortable, but the decision is not up to me, but those responsible for organizing took the decision on behalf of everyone."
Saudi Arabia has been subjected to a fierce media campaign by the authorities concerned with covering the sporting event. In addition to its record of persecuting political activists, the Kingdom continues its war on Yemen, which flagrantly tarnishes its image.
Even if the Formula 1 administration was subjected to a similar campaign, the duplicity in approaching human rights files internationally has become remarkably ironic. Although Formula has stopped racing with Russia and canceled its contracts permanently because of its war against Ukraine, at a time when it is defending the decision to hold races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, its ally in this war.
Strong slaps were dealt to Formula One this year. Activists in Bahrain also tried to contact the administration before the start of the season in Bahrain, and asked them about the reason for canceling the race in Russia and not in Saudi Arabia or Bahrain. Although the activists did not get answers, there is a legal complaint filed against the Formula One administration by the victims today.
In addition, political prisoners obtained the support of world champion Lewis Hamilton. After the most famous champion in this sport showed solidarity with prisoners of conscience, one of the detainees sent him a letter telling him about the prisoners' attachment to this sport as a result of his statements, and about writing his name and number on the prisoners' clothes.
Hamilton, who was spoken to exclusively by The Guardian when it broke the news, said he was deeply proud and grateful to be able to influence these people in this way.
Saudi Arabia's attempts to influence decision-making and control the joints of public life also appear in the case of buying Newcastle United for 300 million pounds sterling, equivalent to one billion seven hundred million Saudi riyals. Saudi Arabia is looking for influence through its access to the English Premier League, which is the most important sporting event in Britain, and one of the most important in the world at all, as millions of fans follow this event continuously. This confirms the high ability of the regimes to influence the decisions of countries claiming to be democratic through the weapons of oil and money.
Moodiness is evident in dealing with human rights issues and the ability of international politics to dilute human rights files and to make discretion in their approach. This is not a new matter, but the most frustrating thing is the sports hypocrisy and the ability of regimes to buy off people to polish their image through funds and alliances.
Despite all this, local human rights organizations have a duty to document and seek in all possible ways to communicate the voice of the victims to the international community. Execution file, counting numbers and identifying cases, activating the mechanisms of the Human Rights Council and influencing the decisions of parliaments works directly to refute Saudi Arabia's efforts to obscure and disable its ability to buy people's debts and reduce the intensity of repression and violations.
Just as the mighty regime of Mohammed bin Salman fell and was shaken by his assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and just as it was forced to release Loujain al-Hathloul after the bill for keeping her in prison rose, it will be shaken every day that one of the detainees is released, death sentences are stopped, and a new victory for human rights issues is recorded.
—
*كلمة أحمد الوداعي في المؤتمر السنوي الثالث لضحايا الانتهاكات في المملكة العربية السعودية الذي عقد بتاريخ 9و 10 ديسمبر 2022.