Summit puts spotlight on Saudi rights abuses
AS Saudi Arabia prepares to virtually host the annual Group of 20 summit meeting in Riyadh today, human rights groups and the families of jailed Saudi dissidents are mounting an unusually vigorous campaign aimed at highlighting the kingdom’s abuses and the plight of political prisoners.
Saudi Arabia announced in September that the annual, typically lavish gathering of the world’s largest economies would be held online because of the coronavirus pandemic – a setback for the modernising country, which had envisioned the event as a chance to showcase its successes.
But Riyadh is also facing a wave of calls urging world leaders to boycott or downgrade their attendance if demands for the release of Saudi female activists and other conditions are not met.
The calls – from Saudi and international human rights groups, but also US and European lawmakers – have confronted the kingdom with a barrage of criticism unlike any since the killing of journalist and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents two years ago, while forcing normally circumspect Saudi leaders to publicly defend their policies.
‘‘Saudi Arabia seeks to have a leading role, but the leaders from other countries have a moral obligation to ask Saudi Arabia to improve its record on human rights,’’ said Alia alHathloul, the sister of jailed women’s rights activist Loujain alHathloul, whose plight has become a rallying cry for the kingdom’s critics.
Loujain was among a group of Saudi feminists arrested two years ago after advocating for reforms, including the right to drive and the repeal of male ‘‘guardianship’’ laws.
Saudi Arabia is the first Arabmajority nation to assume the year-long presidency of the G20. It was a diplomatic coup for the country’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has quickly risen to global prominence with an agenda to overhaul the oil-rich kingdom’s economy and conservative society.
But rights groups are focusing on Mohammed’s darker legacy: the silencing, harassment, arbitrary jailing, disappearance and torture of his opponents.
Although pressure in some circles has been building, no G20 members have yet announced plans to withdraw from the summit.
Even so, the criticism has prompted an unusual public airing of grievances between the kingdom’s leaders and its opponents. The crown prince, in a lengthy and rare public statement earlier this month, defended his stewardship of the Saudi economy while touting progress on promoting women’s rights.
‘‘The G20 presidency has conferred an undeserved mark of international prestige on the government of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,’’ said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director of Human Rights Watch.
Saudi dissidents and human rights groups have organised a virtual ‘‘Alt G20’’ to coincide with the Riyadh summit and protest the crown prince’s crushing of dissent.
Last month, London Mayor Sadiq Khan joined the mayors of other major cities, including New York and Los Angeles, in boycotting a G20-linked event in a show of support for Saudi political prisoners.