10 non-governmental organizations considered that French President Emmanuel Macron's reception of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman conceals Saudi Arabia's bad record in the field of human rights over the past years and encourages bin Salman to commit more crimes.
The letter, signed by the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, indicated that since he came to power in 2017, bin Salman has established new offices for security and public prosecution and has centralized all powers under his control. He has used these offices to intimidate his opponents and perpetrate what can be described as unprecedented repression and gross human rights abuses, including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, particularly against individuals exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
The organizations indicated that Saudi Arabia continues to imprison defenders of civil and political rights and women's rights, and recalled the sentences against Salma Al-Shehab and Noura Al-Qahtani to 27 and 45 years, respectively, just for tweeting, as mentioned in the case of human rights defender Loujain Al-Hathloul, who was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison after being subjected to torture and sexual harassment.
The letter emphasized that during the reign of bin Salman, the Saudi authorities kept the prominent human rights defender and co-founder of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights (ACPRA), Muhammad al-Qahtani, in inhumane prison conditions after the end of his long and unjust 10-year rule. Despite the repeated calls of global civil society, the urgent appeals of the United Nations, and the expressions of concern by many countries. The Saudi authorities deliberately ignored the medical needs of Abdullah al-Hamid, a colleague of al-Qahtani and renowned Saudi thinker and peaceful activist, which led to his tragic death while in custody in April 2020..
The letter stressed that these cases are far from isolated, and they also prove that bin Salman has practically eliminated civic space in Saudi Arabia, where anyone who dares to engage in any form of opposition faces bin Salman's rage and increasing penalties. The letter referred to the case of fitness trainer Manahel Al-Otaibi, who was arrested in November 2022 due to publications that adopted recent social reforms that called for ending male guardianship.
The organizations indicated that during the reign of bin Salman, Saudi Arabia doubled the execution rate, despite the authorities’ repeated promises to reduce the scope of its use of the death penalty. The letter indicated that Saudi Arabia executed 81 people in one day in March 2022. This year, Saudi Arabia has so far announced the execution of 50 people, and there are at least nine young men sentenced to death on charges that occurred when they were minors.
The letter highlighted that credible evidence points to bin Salman's involvement in the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, according to US intelligence reports and the report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions, Agnes Callamard, published in June 2019.
The organizations considered that welcoming the Crown Prince to France is a clear disregard for his government's cruelty towards its citizens and anyone trying to hold him accountable or prevent his crimes..
The letter referred to information that the Crown Prince's visit to France is an effort to support Saudi Arabia's candidacy for Expo 2030. The organizations reiterated their collective call to exclude Saudi Arabia's candidacy as a potential host of the 2030 World Expo.
They also called on Macron to consider Saudi Arabia's continued use of the death penalty, its suppression of human rights activism, the silencing of women's rights advocates, and the targeting of dissidents outside its borders, in addition to its severe restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, and association..
Signing Organizations:
CIVICUS
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) (ESOHR)
HuMENA For Human Rights and Civic Engagement
Human Rights Foundation
World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) (OMCT)
ALQST
Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
MENA Rights Group
DAWN
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)