Saudi Arabia: Human Rights

Baroness Anelay of St Johns Excerpts

Wednesday 4th September 2019 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made on human rights issues working together with the Human Rights Commission of Saudi Arabia.

[The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon) (Con)]

My Lords, the United Kingdom regularly engages with the Saudi Human Rights Commission. In July, I met the then president of the commission, Bandar Al-Aiban, and raised human rights concerns, including the detention of women’s rights activists. The commission played a key role in drafting the new regulation allowing women to apply for a passport and to travel without a guardian’s permission. This development followed sustained engagement by the United Kingdom and other countries.

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the work that my noble friend is doing on human rights generally, and particularly with Saudi Arabia. I also welcome the fact that the Government were prepared to make a public statement at the Human Rights Council criticising Saudi Arabia for arbitrarily arresting and detaining human rights defenders such as Loujain al-Hathloul, who campaigned to allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia. She was arrested over a year ago for her peaceful campaign and is still in prison. Translating words into deeds, how will my noble friend ensure that Loujain al-Hathloul, who suffered torture in prison, can be freed, and that others do not suffer her fate?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My Lords, first, I pay tribute to my noble friend’s exemplary work in this area when she served as Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. On the specific issue that she rightly raises, between May and August 2018 the Saudi authorities arrested a number of women’s rights defenders as part of a wider clampdown on political opposition. Currently, 12 women’s rights defenders are on trial, 10 at Riyadh Criminal Court and two at the Specialized Criminal Court. Two of the 12 have been held in solitary confinement since their arrest in August 2018. We continue to make representations. I recently held a bilateral meeting, and I plan to visit Saudi Arabia soon, where human rights, and specifically, human rights defenders, will be on my agenda.