Iceland said that the world is witnessing continuous restrictions on freedom of expression and the press, and on peaceful demonstration, which is a legitimate right.
In a speech during the discussions of the second item of the work of the Human Rights Council at its 49th session on March 8, 2022, the Ambassador of Iceland in Geneva, Mr. Harald Aspelund, said that women and girls in Saudi Arabia are still subject to discriminatory laws.
The speech indicated that the the noose tightening on women activists and human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia is still continuing.
Iceland criticizes Saudi Arabia's violations continuously before the Human Rights Council, where it criticized the mass executions more than once and called for the release of female detainees. In March 2019, Iceland led 36 member states of the United Nations to a statement condemning Saudi Arabia's violations.