Saudi Arabia reiterated its claims regarding human rights and cooperation with its international mechanisms. In the words of its Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Arabia claimed that it pays special attention to all United Nations human rights mechanisms. Bin Farhan considered, during the high-level meeting of the 55th session of the Human Rights Council, which began in Geneva on February 26, 2024, that his country deals with human rights from a comprehensive perspective that focuses on protecting the individual and society and improving the quality of life.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights believes that talk about quality of life is taking place while the death penalty is still widely used as a political and retaliatory tool to deprive thousands of their right to life, as Saudi Arabia has killed more than 1,200 people since 2015, and is currently threatening the lives of hundreds, including minors and demonstrators and prisoners of conscience.
The organization notes that Bin Farhan once again used Saudi Arabia’s attempts to evade its international human rights obligations through vague and unclear talk about the importance of respecting different values and the right of countries to follow the value and legal system that suits them. Saudi Arabia uses the justification of privacy to continue its killing operations and prevent freedom of opinion and expression and other basic freedoms.
The speech indicated that Saudi Arabia is keen to strengthen its “comprehensive human rights” concept, through its development vision 2030. This comes as thousands of Saudi residents suffer from the effects of the economic plans included in the vision, including cases of forced displacement that affected a number of regions, including Jeddah and Awamiyah.
In addition, the intervention reiterated the talk about developing the legal and institutional environment for human rights through laws and legislation, although tracking the changes that have occurred in the laws in recent years shows their failure to protect victims of human rights violations, and the continued ability to manipulate them.
Bin Farhan also referred to the empowerment of women and the rights of expatriates and their development, while recent years have witnessed grave violations of women’s rights, including arrests, torture, unfair trials, and restrictions on female activists and human rights defenders, in addition to incidents of violence without any accountability for those responsible. This is in addition to reports of extrajudicial killings of workers at the border, and the continued sponsorship system, which the United Nations describes as a form of modern slavery, in many migrant professions.
The intervention talked about the universal periodic review, where the Foreign Minister said that his country considers it one of the Council's effective tools that aim to achieve progress in the field of human rights, and he claimed that his country has implemented 85% of the recommendations presented to it. ESOHR indicates that it had observed the official delegation tampering with the periodic review during the discussions, as the Human Rights Commission promoted incorrect information, especially with regard to the Juvenile Law and the cessation of torture.
Bin Farhan ended his speech by referring to the tragic situation in Palestine and called for dispelling any doubts about the rights of the Palestinian people. This comes in light of information about restrictions, persecution, and arrests targeting those in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Saudi Arabia, while the official contradiction in dealing with all issues appears.
ESOHR believes that the speech during the high-level meeting at the Human Rights Council is in addition to Saudi Arabia’s repeated attempts to wash its image and use human rights mechanisms to do so. The organization considers that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as the head of the Human Rights Commission, are working to promote an image of Saudi Arabia that is not similar to its reality, which is based on executions and deprivation of basic rights for citizens and expatriates.