Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking in response to reports of the detention and ill-treatment by Saudi authorities of people accused of cooperating or seeking to cooperate with the United Nations.

We are monitoring the situation closely. We have expressed concern about reports of continuing arrests and arbitrary detentions of human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia. In July, I met with the Head of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, Dr Awwad al-Awwad, to discuss our human rights concerns. Lord Ahmad also discussed our concerns with Dr al-Awwad in June. The Foreign Secretary raised human rights during his visit in March this year. The UK signed a statement at the UN Human Rights Council on 15 September. It called for the release of all political detainees, and noted concern over reports of torture and arbitrary detention. Saudi Arabia remains a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office human rights priority country.