Saudi rights record under fire at UN

President of the Human Rights Commission of Saudi Arabia, Bandar bin Mohammed Al-Aiban delivers a speech before the UN Human Rights Council during the Universal Periodic Review on November 5, 2018 in Geneva. AFP

GENEVA, Switzerland — Saudi Arabia insisted at the UN Monday that its investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi would be “fair”, amid a barrage of criticism from countries over the brutal murder.

The half-day public debate at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva comes just over a month after the royal insider-turned-critic was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Turkey confirmed last week that Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the consulate on October 2 as part of a planned hit, and his body was then dismembered and destroyed.

The so-called Universal Periodic Review — which all 193 UN countries must undergo approximately every four years — came as a Turkish official charged Monday that Saudi Arabia had sent experts to Turkey to cover up the journalist’s murder before allowing Turkish police in to search the consulate.

The murder has placed huge strains on Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the United States and other western countries and has tarnished the image of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

During Monday’s review, Western countries especially voiced outrage at the killing, with many calling for a “credible” and “transparent” investigation, and some, like Iceland and Costa Rica, going further and demanding an international probe.

‘Gravely concerned’
British Ambassador Julien Braithwaite told the council his country was “gravely concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in Saudi Arabia,” pointing to women’s rights, mass arrests of rights defenders and extensive use of the death penalty.

“But most concerning is the murder of Jamal Khashoggi,” he said, urging Saudi Arabia to “ensure comprehensive and transparent investigations into the murder” and to make sure “those responsible are held to account, and that measures are put in place to prevent any possibility of recurrence.”

The US representative, Mark Cassayre, meanwhile said his country strongly condemned “this premeditated killing.”

“A thorough, conclusive and transparent investigation carried out in accordance with due process with results made public is essential,” he insisted.

The Saudi delegation meanwhile barely mentioned the case, choosing instead to highlight the “progress made towards the protection and promotion of human rights”, including reforms that among other things have allowed women to drive in the ultra-conservative country.

But the delegation chief and head of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, Bandar Al Aiban, did touch on the case briefly, stressing at the end of the review that “our country is committed to carry out a fair investigation.”

“All persons involved in that crime will be prosecuted,” he said, stressing that “the investigation is continuing in line with our domestic laws.”

Diplomats urged Saudi Arabia Monday to take concrete steps to promote freedom of expression and protect human rights defenders and journalists.

Death penalty 
The review also focused heavily on the use of the death penalty in the country, especially for alleged crimes committed when the perpetrator was under the age of 18.

The kingdom has one of the world’s highest rates of execution, with suspects convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking facing the death penalty.

Many countries urged Saudi Arabia to introduce a moratorium on the death penalty or to abolish it altogether, and to explicitly ban its use for juvenile offenders.

Women’s rights were also high on the agenda. While many countries hailed some progress in this area, including the fact that the country now permits women to drive, they warned that much more reform was needed.

The country especially faced criticism over its male guardianship system which allows men to exercise arbitrary authority to make decisions on behalf of their female relatives.

Saudi Arabia’s role in Yemen’s brutal civil war also faced criticism, with a number of countries urging it to halt the devastating bombing campaign there.

The Saudi delegation meanwhile highlighted that it has provided more than $11 billion in aid to Yemen since it and its allies  intervened in the war in 2015 to bolster Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after Iran-backed Huthi rebels took over the capital Sanaa.

According to the UN, nearly 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has also created the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis and left millions of people on the brink of famine. /ee