Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Saudi counterpart on the cases of (a) Samar Badawi, (b) Nassima al-Sadah and (c) other women's rights activists detained in Saudi Arabia; and if he will call for their immediate and unconditional release.

In September 2020, the UK signed a UN Human Rights Council statement calling for the release of all political detainees. On 29 November 2020, the UK Ambassador for Human Rights and six European counterparts released a joint statement reiterating our call for the release of all political detainees, including women's rights defenders. Our position on this is well known within the Saudi system. In February and March 2021, the Foreign Secretary and Lord Ahmed raised the continued detention the women's rights defenders with the Saudi Foreign Minister and the Human Rights Commission respectively.