The European Parliament calls on the Saudi regime to allow its ambassadors to stop executions and inspect prisons
The European Parliament called on the Saudi regime to allow European ambassadors and missions to visit its prisons and inspect the conditions of political detainees and stop the death sentences.
The European Parliament, in a statement after a session in Brussels, strongly condemned the continued execution of children by the Saudi regime despite its claims that it had abolished such executions.
The EU expressed outrage at the execution of the Saudi regime to Mustafa Hashim Al Darwish and the fact that there are currently at least 40 detainees at risk of execution.
It called on the Saudi regime to review the cases of all prisoners currently under sentence of death to commute their sentences or provide a new and fair trial where the death penalty will not be imposed.
It urged that the EU delegation and the diplomatic missions of EU member states should be allowed to agree to an urgent request to visit child offenders on death row.
It stressed the importance of suspending all EU exports of mass surveillance technology and other dual-use items to the Kingdom that could be used to facilitate internal repression and silence civil society.
The European Parliament called for the immediate and unconditional release of all human rights defenders, women’s rights defenders, peaceful critics and activists, including Abdul Rahman Al-Sadhan, Muhammad Al-Otaibi, Khaled Al-Omair, Muhammad Al-Rabiah, Isra Al-Ghomgham and Musa Al-Rabiah.
As well as Hashem, Ahmed Al-Matrood, Khaled Al-Ghanim, Ali Al-Awesher, Mujtaba Al-Muzain, Walid Abu Al-Khair, Abdul Aziz Al-Shubaili, Issa Al-Nukhaifi and Nazir Al-Majed.
The EU called for full freedoms to be given to human rights defenders who are temporarily released but still face restrictions like Loujain Al-Hathloul, including lifting the travel ban on them and their families and lifting work bans and limiting online surveillance and restoring their full rights as citizens.
The European Parliament urged the Saudi regime to fully cooperate with United Nations bodies and extend a standing invitation to visit all special procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council and cooperate proactively.
It expressed concern about the vague definition of terrorism in the country’s counter-terrorism law. It condemned the use of the Specialized Criminal Court, a court designed to deal with terrorism cases, as a tool to punish human rights defenders.
It said that the reality of the Saudi political system remains undemocratic mainly and continues to severely suppress dissenting voices despite the announcement of ambitious human rights reforms.
It urged the European Union and the representations of member states in the Kingdom to enhance their support for civil society in their dealings with the Saudi regime and use all available tools to increase their support for the work of human rights defenders.
