Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement made by the Saudi Arabia Human Rights Commission on 27 August that the public prosecutor has referred the death sentences of child defendants Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher for review; what steps they intend to take to ensure that the review is carried out effectively and expediently; and what representations they intend to make to the government of Saudi Arabia about (1) the speedy release of those defendants, and (2) the abolition of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia for all individuals charged with crimes committed as children, including Mohammed al-Faraj.

We welcome the recent announcement from the Saudi Public Prosecutor that Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher will have their cases reviewed. The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all countries and in all circumstances, as a matter of principle. This is especially the case for juveniles and for crimes other than the most serious. This is in line with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Arab Charter on Human Rights. In August, our Chargé d'affaires in Riyadh raised the issue of the death penalty with Minister of State Al Jubeir, including Mohammad al-Faraj's case. We will continue to monitor and raise concerns about the cases of al-Nimr, al-Marhoon, al-Zaher and al-Faraj. We regularly raise our concerns about the use of the death penalty with the Saudi Arabian authorities. The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa raised the death penalty with Dr Awwad al Awwad, President of Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Commission during his virtual visit in July. I raised the death penalty in a call with Dr Awwad in June and raised a range of human rights concerns during my visit last September. The Foreign Secretary raised human rights during his visit in March this year.