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#SaudiArabia will host the virtual #G20 
summit from Nov 21-22, bringing together leaders of the worlds largest 19 economies + the EU to discuss global issues. Here's a thread on why @hrw and other human rights groups are speaking out https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/11/09/g20-hold-saudi-arabia-accountable-abuses
summit from Nov 21-22, bringing together leaders of the worlds largest 19 economies + the EU to discuss global issues. Here's a thread on why @hrw and other human rights groups are speaking out https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/11/09/g20-hold-saudi-arabia-accountable-abuses
Choosing Saudi Arabia to host the the #G20 confers an underserved mark of legitimacy on MBS and his govt despite ongoing abuses, so @HRW is calling on #G20 leaders like #Merkel @RegSprecher @JustinTrudeau @BorisJohnson @EmmanuelMacron to speak out! https://www.hrw.org/G20SaudiArabia
confers an underserved mark of legitimacy on MBS and his govt despite ongoing abuses, so @HRW is calling on #G20 leaders like #Merkel @RegSprecher @JustinTrudeau @BorisJohnson @EmmanuelMacron to speak out! https://www.hrw.org/G20SaudiArabia
Hosting the #G20 plays into Saudi Arabia's stated strategy of laundering its reputation through hosting important diplomatic and sporting events as well as concerts and high-profile events with major artists and celebrities https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/02/saudi-arabia-image-laundering-conceals-abuses
plays into Saudi Arabia's stated strategy of laundering its reputation through hosting important diplomatic and sporting events as well as concerts and high-profile events with major artists and celebrities https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/02/saudi-arabia-image-laundering-conceals-abuses
It's important to remember that while #MBS has allowed some reforms, including allowing women to drive and removing travel restictions on women, he has also presided over the worst period of repression in modern Saudi history https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/11/04/high-cost-change/repression-under-saudi-crown-prince-tarnishes-reforms
When #MBS became crown prince in mid-2017, he immediately moved to concentrate power and sideline opponents, eventually overhauling the entire security structure
Once #MBS held the reigns of power, his security agencies launched a reign of terror against independent Saudi voices, detaining intellectuals, clerics, rights activists, businesspeople, royal family members, and anyone else who might oppose him or criticize the state
While Saudi Arabia hosts the #G20 summit this weekend, prominent victims of this repression who remain in detention include @LoujainHathloul, whose sole "crime" was calling for women's rights
summit this weekend, prominent victims of this repression who remain in detention include @LoujainHathloul, whose sole "crime" was calling for women's rights
+ @samarbadawi15, a leading Saudi human rights activist and one of the first women to petition her government for the right to drive as well as vote and run in local elections
+Salah al-Haidar, the son of prominent women's rights advocate Aziza Yousef, detained in 2019 immediately after her release, currently on trial for social media criticism of Saudi human rights abuses
+ @nasema33, a fierce human rights activist from Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province who called for an end to discrimination against women and Saudi Shia
+Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, a Saudi Red Crescent employee detained in March 2018 after his anonymous twitter account is believed to have been illegally breached by the Saudi state
And my friend @WaleedAbulkhair, who was detained before the de facto rule of MBS but remains in prison solely for his human rights work.
In addition, #G20 leaders should also note new abusive Saudi practices since 2017, including holding detainees at unofficial places of detention where there were numerous allegations of rampant torture. See latest from story by @martinchulov here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/19/saudi-accounts-emerge-of-ritz-carlton-night-of-the-beating?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
leaders should also note new abusive Saudi practices since 2017, including holding detainees at unofficial places of detention where there were numerous allegations of rampant torture. See latest from story by @martinchulov here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/19/saudi-accounts-emerge-of-ritz-carlton-night-of-the-beating?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Saudi authorities have also held numerous detainees arbitrarily, with no charges or legal process whatsoever, some for going on three years or more, including former officials Turki bin Abdullah and Adel al-Fakeih https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/06/saudi-arabia-thousands-held-arbitrarily
Saudi prosecutors have sought the death penalty against prominent critics merely for alleged political affiliation and crticism, including Sheikh Salman al-Awda and religious reformism Hassan Farhan al-Maliki https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/06/23/saudi-arabia-religious-thinker-trial-his-life
Authorities have allegedly used commercially available surveillance technologies to hack into the online accounts of critics of the government and dissidents, including @oamaz7 https://citizenlab.ca/2018/10/the-kingdom-came-to-canada-how-saudi-linked-digital-espionage-reached-canadian-soil/
Others Saudi Arabia has attempted to intimidate on social social media via troll armies and harrassment, see latest from @afp on Saudi Arabia's "digital authoritarianism" https://asiatimes.com/2020/11/saudi-twitter-users-face-digital-authoritarianism/
And of course, we won't forget about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by govt agents in Istanbul, nor the allegation that Saudi authorities attempted to murder former official Saad al-Jabri in Canada shortly thereafter https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/world/middleeast/saudi-prince-mohammed-lawsuit-aljabri.html
Finally, Saudi Arabia continues to lead a coalition in #Yemen that has conducted apparently unlawful airstrikes which have hit homes, markets, hospitals, schools, mosques, and detention centers, all of which has exacerbated a humanitarian catastrophe https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/yemen
#G20 leaders must not let Saudi authorities off the hook for these abuses! It's time for Saudi Arabia to free the human rights defenders and end this era of repression https://www.hrw.org/G20SaudiArabia
leaders must not let Saudi authorities off the hook for these abuses! It's time for Saudi Arabia to free the human rights defenders and end this era of repression https://www.hrw.org/G20SaudiArabia
