Increasing international pressure on Saudi Arabia due to its human rights...

Doha – “Al-Quds Al-Arabi”:

International pressure is increasing on Saudi Arabia and it is facing embarrassment, due to the scandals of its regime and its violations of human rights, which have prompted international institutions and personalities to boycott its activities and push without attempts to polish its tarnished image.

Riyadh has come under the microscope of UN human rights organizations, and a number of bodies that look with suspicion at Riyadh’s attempts to locate externally.

International human rights organizations say that the human rights conditions and freedom of opinion and expression are extremely poor in Saudi Arabia.

These criticisms have escalated since the assassination of the Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in his country’s consulate in Istanbul, on October 2, 2018.

And US intelligence announced that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is directly responsible for this crime. Riyadh usually denies this, but without the conviction of international actors.

US intelligence announced that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is directly responsible for the Khashoggi crime

The Kingdom’s setback in its attempt to occupy a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council came to reinforce this situation facing Riyadh’s politicians.

Human rights organizations welcomed the setback in Saudi Arabia, and its attempts to improve its image before the international community.

“The Human Rights Council today addressed a major reprimand to Saudi Arabia under the leadership of Mohammed bin Salman,” the deputy executive director of the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch, Bruno Stagno, wrote on Twitter, referring to the kingdom’s crown prince.

He added, “It is the only country that has not been elected, and the majority of the United Nations members have shunned it. The Kingdom reaps what it deserves due to its gross violations of human rights and war crimes committed abroad ”(an indication of its war in Yemen).

Saudi Arabia was the only country that ran for a seat and was not elected, with only 90 votes cast.

“Unless Saudi Arabia adopts sweeping, sweeping reforms to release political detainees, end its terrible war in Yemen, and allow its citizens to truly participate in politics, it will remain a pariah from the world,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now.

The organization it represents – founded by Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two years ago – welcomed the outcome.

The exclusion of Muhammad al-Tuwaijri, an advisor to the Saudi royal court, from the World Trade Organization presidency race after he was unable to win sufficient support from the organization’s 164 members, was one of the manifestations of pressure exerted against Riyadh.

Prior to that, Siddiq Khan, mayor of London, joined the mayors of New York, Los Angeles and Paris in boycotting an international summit held in Saudi Arabia.

The boycotts came amid calls from international organizations to boycott the event that coincides with the killing of Khashoggi in his country’s consulate in Istanbul, in solidarity with him and rejecting human rights violations.

According to sources, Khan initially responded to the boycott campaign by saying he would not attend personally, attributing this to daily commitments, but as pressure mounts, he has revealed that he is seeking to remove any ambiguities by instructing his officials not to join the event.

In turn, “France 24” reported that the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, boycotted the G20 cities summit organized by Riyadh via video technology.

A source close to Hidalgo said that the Mayor’s refusal to participate was an expression of her support for activist Loujain Al-Hathloul, imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.

Before that, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his withdrawal from the summit, coinciding with the anniversary of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi was killed on October 2, 2018, inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, in a case that shook international public opinion, with accusations that Riyadh denied that Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman issued the order to assassinate him.

On September 7, a Saudi court finally retracted the death sentences imposed on those convicted of Khashoggi’s murder, contenting it with imprisonment of 8, with sentences ranging from 20 to 7 years, and the closure of the case.

It is expected that the pressure on the bin Salman regime will increase due to these abuses, the violations committed against activists, the imprisonment of opinion leaders, and a number of scholars.