UN finally breaks silence on Saudi razing of Shia town

The UN has reacted to media reports about a deadly and destructive Saudi military crackdown against an eastern Shia town, urging the regime in Riyadh to respect human rights.

The UN has reacted to media reports about a deadly and destructive Saudi military crackdown against an eastern Shia town, urging the regime in Riyadh to respect human rights.

Speaking at a press conference in New York, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said the world body could not independently verify the reports coming out of Awamiyah, but that all Riyadh’s actions should be in line with its commitments to human rights.

The UN wants Saudi Arabia to take human rights and international regulations into consideration before taking any action, the official was quoted as saying by the London-based New Arab media outlet.

Awamiyah is located in the Qatif region of Saudi Arabia’s Shia-populated Eastern Province. The small town of 30,000 that has, since 2011, been the center of anti-regime rallies, with the protesters calling for end to the kingdom’s discriminatory policies against the Shia minority.