Thirteen non-governmental organizations today called on US President Joe Biden not to go to Saudi Arabia before withdrawing human rights commitments from the Saudi authorities, as the visit risks “encouraging” repression in the kingdom.
“We call on your government to assure you of real progress on human rights before acting in a way that could strengthen the regime of the Crown Prince and his government,” wrote 13 human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, the Freedom House, the Gulf Human Rights Center (GCHR), in a letter to President Biden.
“The crown prince and his government regularly and ruthlessly violate the rights of their own citizens, as well as those of Americans and other citizens around the world,” the NGOs added.
Joe Biden said last Friday that he was considering moving to the oil-rich Gulf kingdom, but had no “immediate plans at the moment”.
He had promised, however, that he would treat Saudi Arabia as a rogue state after the assassination of dissident journalist Jamal Kasogi. However, Biden said it was too early to talk about a meeting with Crown Prince and de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman.
The war in Ukraine and rising crude oil prices seem to have convinced him of the need to step up dialogue with his strategic partner in the Middle East, despite criticism of the change.
These “efforts without a real commitment to human rights will likely encourage the Crown Prince to commit new violations,” the NGOs said.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
Source: Capital
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