October 21, 2022, in light of the issuance and approval of death sentences against dozens, including minors, and unprecedented arbitrary sentences that amounted to 9 decades against male and female activists, Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, opens its third season of entertainment.
Riyadh's seasons came in new directions after the launch of Vision 2030. They are a kind of economic investment in the non-oil fields, and it is an attempt by the Saudi government to make the country a tourist destination for the world. The seasons host celebrities from different countries and are distributed over 15 regions, each of which has a special entertainment character, most notably Boulevard World, which includes the cultures and atmospheres of several countries around the world.
The European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights believes that Saudi Arabia's attempts to shed light on the entertainment seasons and the various events that it has received and organised since 2017, comes in light of an unprecedented deterioration in the human rights situation inside of the country. Despite the Saudi government's attempt to bury the consequences of deterioration, by imposing silence on civil society, preventing any role for organisations and intimidating families, the facts about the violations are still emerging.
ESOHR notes that during the month of October 2022, in which the activities of Riyadh will start, the Saudi government has decided to issue death sentences against at least 12 people, bringing the number of detainees at risk of death, and whose cases ESOHR was able to track 40 people. Among them are at least 8 minors, they are Abdullah Al-Dirazi, Jalal Al-Labad, Youssef Al-Manasif, Hassan Zaki Al-Faraj, Abdullah Al-Huwaiti, Jawad Qureiris, Mahdi Al-Mohsen, Ali Al-Sbaiti. The ESOHR's documentation confirms that most of the detainees, who are threatened with execution, were deprived of the conditions for fair trials and were subjected to severe violations, including various types of torture and ill-treatment, and the denial of the right to self-defence, and most of them did not face serious charges.
While the Entertainment Authority says that the seasons bearing the slogan: Beyond Imagination, For All, the Saudi government deprives hundreds of individuals of their right to freedom and the exercise of a normal life, on charges related to their legitimate rights such as expressing an opinion or going out in demonstrations. In addition, the judiciary in Saudi Arabia issues death sentences and decades of imprisonment for minors.
Saudi Arabia has confirmed that the entertainment seasons announced within Vision 2030 aim to promote a culture of joy and create sustainable investment opportunities. In stark contrast to the fact that Saudi Arabia is still among the top 5 countries that carry out the death penalty in the world, having carried out 124 death sentences since the beginning of 2022 and currently threatening the lives of at least 40 detainees.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights confirms that the seasons of entertainment and the sports whitening campaigns, on which Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars over the past years, come as part of its attempts to paint a new image for the world that hides the violations and oppression that people are subjected to at home. The organization believes that promoting these seasons, hosting celebrities from around the world, and opening the doors of Saudi Arabia to tourists and foreigners, while the lives of minors, demonstrators and prisoners of conscience are still threatened with execution is a stark contradiction.