Human rights organization calls for the release of political prisoners and human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia

The American for Democracy and Human Rights Organization in Bahrain delivered an oral intervention at the 45th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva during the interactive debate under the item 4, calling for the immediate release of political prisoners and human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia.
The organization’s intervention stated, “We would like to express our grave concern about the brutal repression and systematic violations of human rights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, of fundamental freedoms and the culture of impunity prevalent in the country.”
The organization added, “In May 2018, the Saudi authorities arrested a number of women’s rights activists, which marked the beginning of a brutal crackdown on the women’s rights movement in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and claimed many activists, who were detained incommunicado, without being allowed to meet their families or their lawyers. They suffer from psychological and physical pressures, including torture, sexual assault, long periods of solitary confinement and other forms of ill-treatment. However, none of the perpetrators has been held accountable and five human rights activists are still in detention.”
It continued, “The basic pattern of systematic repression and violations continues unabated in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and will not improve unless accountability for human rights violators is ensured. The Saudi culture of impunity has been clearly exemplified in the case of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, despite the government’s allegations. The Saudi judiciary continues to implement what the UN Special Rapporteur, Ms. Callamard, recently described as “a parody of justice, in which the rulings were neither fair nor transparent.”
The intervention concluded, “While we urge the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to immediately release all political prisoners and human rights defenders and end impunity, we call on the Council to urgently engage with the Kingdom to urge effective reforms that enhance all human rights and ensure accountability.”