Prince Mohammed bin Nayef pictured on January 23, 2015 at the funeral of the late King Abdullah in ... [+]
A group of British members of parliament have called on the UK and other countries to halt extraditions to Saudi Arabia and impose Magnitsky-style sanctions on the country’s officials in response to “gravely concerning allegations” about human rights abuses.
The call comes in a report from a panel set up to look into the detention of former Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef (MBN) and Prince Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz, a brother of King Salman. The two men were detained in March 2020 and have been held in unknown locations since then, but have yet to be charged with anything.
The fact-finding panel was chaired by Crispin Blunt, a former chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, and also included fellow Troy MP Imran Ahmad Khan and Liberal Democrat foreign affairs and international development spokeswoman Layla Moran, as well as a number of lawyers.
In a report issued today, the panel said that it was “highly likely” the two men are being arbitrarily detained and have been denied access to their lawyers, doctors and family members. It also concludes that “on the balance of probabilities, the allegations made on behalf of the detainees are likely to be true and are consistent with the general treatment of prisoners, particularly human rights activists.”
MBN was held in solitary confinement for at least six months following his arrest. This appears to have ended, but the report said evidence submitted to the panel “suggests that he has been threatened with the return to solitary confinement should he not release funds to Saudi authorities.”
The report added that “There are real concerns that both detainees have been denied access to appropriate and adequate medical care leading to a deterioration in their health ... The detainees have been subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”
Path to disaster
Speaking to Forbes, Blunt said the purpose of the report was to be constructive and he wanted to see the Saudi authorities change their approach. “The further you go down that path [they’re on] the more difficult it is to retreat. But that path leads to disaster. So, they’ve got to change,” he said.
In light of its findings, the panel has recommended that other countries should consider imposing Magnitsky-style sanctions in response to Saudi Arabia’s failure to comply with its international human rights obligations.
It has also recommended that international cooperation in other areas should be scaled back and in particular that any attempt by Riyadh to use Interpol to target its own citizens “should be examined with pre-emptive scepticism” and that other governments should “suspend prisoner transfer agreements and extradition treaties” with Saudi Arabia.
A poster of King Salman (C), then Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) and then Crown Prince ... [+]
Governments should also pressure Riyadh to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the panel argues.
The report also suggests other governments should review their laws around social media by requiring such platforms “to try to prevent, help identify and at least not facilitate campaigns of public intimidation by state actors or unaccountable other groups or individuals who appear to be coordinated by state actors.”
The Saudi authorities did not cooperate with the enquiry. Although its ambassador to London Prince Khalid Bin Bandar Al-Saud met with the three MPs in October, the Saudi government did not give evidence to the panel, or allow panel members to travel to the kingdom to meet the two detainees. Despite this lack of official cooperation, Blunt said “I’m confident that we’ve got a sound analysis of what’s happening to the political detainees.”
Saudi hit squads
The report adds to the growing criticism coverage of Saudi Arabia and the approach taken towards political opponents by King Salman and his son Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
Following the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, there have been further accusations about hit squads sent from Riyadh to kill its oppoinents overseas. Saad Al-Jabri has filed a lawsuit in New York alleging that MBS sent a team to Canada to kill him.
Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet has uncovered unusual actions by the Saudi government in the summer of 2018, when Riyadh requested diplomatic cover be given to a ten-strong security team sent to the Scandinavian country. The Norwegian police security service informed exiled activist Iyad El-Baghdadi, who lives in Norway, about the incident.
Saudi Arabia has also been accused by human rights groups of mistreating large numbers of mainly Ethiopian migrants who are being detained in "squalid conditions."
