Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with US counterpart on encouraging Saudi Arabia to (a) release and lift restrictions on Loujain Alhathloul and other women's rights activists and (b) release Prince Turki Bin Abdullah and other political detainees.

The Foreign Secretary raised a number of human rights issues including the detention of women's rights defenders, during his visit to Saudi Arabia in March 2020. FCDO Ministers and senior officials also regularly raise human rights with the Saudi authorities. We continue to monitor the cases of Women's rights defenders; and Prince Turki bin Abdullah and Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef. We have consistently pressed for due process and raised concerns about the use of solitary confinement, lack of family contact and allegations of torture, and were pleased to see Loujain Al Hathloul reunited with her family on 10 February.

The UK regularly engages international partners on human rights. For example, in September, the UK, alongside international partners, signed a statement at the UN Human Rights Council expressing concern over the use of arbitrary detention and calling for the release of all political detainees. In November, the UK Ambassador for Human Rights and six European counterparts released a joint statement reiterating our call for the release of all political detainees.