Twelve human rights organizations have urged the organizers of “Expo2030” to not allow Saudi Arabia to host this world event, noting that Saudi Arabia’s poor record on human rights will mire the event.
Four countries have submitted competing candidatures to organise World Expo 2030: the Republic of Korea (Busan), Italy (Rome), Ukraine (Odesa) and Saudi Arabia (Riyadh).
The organizations, on top of which is “MENA RIGHTS GROUP”, sent a letter on Tuesday to the Paris-based International Bureau of Expositions (BIE), calling on them to eliminate Saudi Arabia from this competition due to, “its ongoing violations of human rights, such as death penalties, silencing champions of women’s rights and targetsgovernment critics and opponents”.
Zainab Fayad, official of communications at MENA RIGHTS GROUP, said in the letter that, “If Saudi Arabia’s candidature is passed, and more worse if it is allowed to host the “Expo2030″, this will simply mean that the world is in complicity with it in its violations of human rights.”
