Saudi Arabia reiterated its claims regarding reforms and changes in handling women's rights issues before the Human Rights Council.
During the interactive dialogue on the report of the Working Group on Discrimination against Women at the 56th session of the Human Rights Council, a member of the official delegation in Geneva, Motab al-Khalafi, claimed that his country has witnessed extensive reforms over the past few years, with the field of women's rights receiving the largest share.
The intervention discussed the issuance and amendment of numerous laws and regulations to ensure that women enjoy their rights on an equal footing with men. The speech did not address the extent and manner of the application of these laws and changes, nor the possibility for all women to benefit from them, given the widespread violations against women that have become more prominent in recent years, including arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment in prisons.
Additionally, al-Khalafi spoke about the establishment of institutions and associations concerned with women's rights and measures that have contributed to enhancing some of these rights. The discussion about specialized institutions comes while the establishment of any independent civil society organization concerned with women's rights has been banned, and the most prominent defenders who tried to establish and register such organizations have been detained.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights believes that Saudi Arabia's continued use of the Human Rights Council platform and UN mechanisms to promote its image should not be given a receptive audience, while activists and defenders who have tried to speak about the reality before these mechanisms remain detained or banned from traveling and engaging in activities.