Coinciding with the intensification of repression and the consolidation of authoritarian rule in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the “European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights published a report on the increasing attempts to whitewashing violations in Saudi Arabia in 2021, which were accompanied by human rights violations, repression and the imposition of silence on civil society and its activists at home.
“These campaigns did not affect the lives of individuals in Saudi Arabia, but rather intensified the severity of the repression.”, the organisation stated.
Adding, “the era of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his son Mohamed has surpassed its predecessors with the ferocity of repression, as the policy of undermining independent civil society is a top priority for the ruler, and the noise of entertainment and investment in sports, and hosting international events in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was a prominent and apparent feature in 2021, but what about what’s going on in the dark?
Through this policy, the government works to find alternatives to present them as the voice of civil society in order to help them present a false image of reality.
The organisation stated that “the year 2021 was a renewed station to watch the promises of the Crown Prince through which he tried to create a new image through public and closed speeches and statements.
The organisation stated that MBS seeks to pretend idealism and perfection in the Saudi community, and became involved in entertainment, sports and culture sectors in the government in order “to whitewash Saudi Arabia’s image stained with the blood of Yemen, the oppression of women, and the execution of minors.
The year ended with relative liberation from the isolation in which it had fallen; As a result of its heinous crime of killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, France threw Saudi Arabia the first lifeline with a visit that renewed Saudi morale for an initial move to attend commercial deals, and reduced taxes for its crimes and human rights violations.
Corona pandemic:
In 2021, the world continued to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, and while some countries were trying to limit the challenges this posed to human rights, other governments took advantage of the pandemic to impose more restrictions and violations.
According to the European Saudi Organisation, “Saudi Arabia did not adhere to many international recommendations regarding human rights and the pandemic. Rather, the government took advantage of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic to increase or justify violations, at a time when Saudi Arabia confirmed the vaccination of 68% of state security prison inmates until April 2021, strict measures were imposed against prisoners and their families, in addition to applying other arbitrary measures.
The information indicated that the prison administration dealt with the “quarantine” procedure without regard for the rights of the detainees, as it prevented them from communicating with the outside world, and also holding them in cells with no TV, and depriving them of their most basic rights such as obtaining additional clothes, which violates the basic safety conditions on the hygiene measures to face the pandemic, one of the prisoners described it as “another solitary confinement.”
The organisation also monitored deaths with the pandemic inside prisons. On May 8, 2021, the prisoner of conscience, “Zuhair Ali Sherida Al-Mohammed Ali”, died in Al-Hail prison in Riyadh after contracting corona.
ALQST organisation confirmed that Mohamed Ali had been deliberately detained with others in the same ward of prisoners who were infected with the Coronavirus. This led to the infection of other prisoners of conscience, including human rights defender Mohammed Al-Qahtani.
It also stated that “Mohammed Ali and more than 30 detainees announced a hunger strike in March 2021, in protest of these violations.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Rapporteurs said in October 2021 in a letter to the Saudi government, that the Saudi government is in the list of governments that have not fulfilled their duties before the world, and have contributed to the inequality of distributing COVID-19 vaccines, health technology, diagnostics and treatments within countries, which negatively impacted many human rights, especially individuals living in low- and middle-income countries.
