Several top US lawmakers have signed a letter urging President Joe Biden to rework Washington's relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and to place human rights “at the centre of his meetings” in the kingdom on July 15-16.
The senators also likened Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to Russian President Vladimir Putin for “ignoring basic human rights and American interests.”
We cannot allow MBS to believe he can rule with impunity, the letter reads, urging Biden to pursue the following eight demands:
1- Releasing from prison, or at the very least presenting irrefutable evidence of wrong-doing by the dissidents listed in the State Department’s Saudi Arabia Country Report on Human Rights Practices.
2- Bringing to justice perpetrators of torture against prisoners.
3- Lifting arbitrary travel bans on human rights defenders and others, including those imposed on U.S. citizens.
4- Ending illegal surveillance, state hostage-taking, and other forms of transnational repression, particularly on U.S. soil.
5- Not assisting Saudi citizens who face criminal charges abroad from evading justice.
6- Ending male guardianship over women.
7- Imposing a moratorium on executions.
8- Maintaining the ceasefire in Yemen.
According to CNN, the signatories included senator Jeffrey A. Merkley, senator Patrick Leahy, senator Ron Wyden, and senator Richard Blumenthal.
The letter further included several human rights violations carried out by Saudi government, including Khashuggi's murder.
“The gruesome killing of Jamal Khashoggi, which, according to U.S. intelligence agencies, MBS himself ordered, is only the most high profile and egregious manifestation of a regime that routinely intimidates, surveys, and harasses dissidents at home and abroad.”
“In January 2022, the FBI highlighted how Saudi Arabia is even targeting exiles within the United States, a flagrant violation of our national sovereignty.”
In a recent Freedom House report, Saudi dissidents in the United States noted that the decision to not sanction MBS for his role in the Khashoggi murder had a chilling effect.
