The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has spent billions of dollars hosting major entertainment, cultural, and sporting events as a deliberate strategy to deflect from the country’s image as a pervasive human rights violator. However, these efforts won’t succeed to whitewash his dismal rights record including the arbitrary arrest of female activists, preachers, scholars, and academics.
In a new report release this week, The Guardian charged that the rebranding of Riyadh won’t wash the Saudi Arabia’s repression nature, pointing to the Leeds student Salma al-Shehab’s case, who was jailed for 34 years over following and retweeting activists on Twitter.
Saudi Sportwashing Policy
According to the report, initiatives such as the new LIV Series golf tour, Olympic plans and other sporting endeavors are evidence of progress rather than reputation laundering. But the crown prince’s changes are Potemkin reform, offering a shiny new city and dance festivals in place of basic rights. When the government lifted the driving ban for women, it arrested and jailed activists who had called for it. The message is clear: freedom is at the whim of the regime. The persecution of campaigners at home and pursuit of dissidents overseas is well-known. But Ms Shehab was not a well-known dissident, and not especially vocal. Her case seems designed to shock and chill.
The Saudi national and mother of two young sons was visiting relatives when she was arrested last year. She has described suffering abuse and harassment behind bars. She was initially jailed for three years, but the appeals court this month imposed the draconian new sentence and a 34-year travel ban to follow.
Urgent Action Is Needed
The Guardian stressed the urgent need for an international intervention in the case of a student at a British university whose only crime is to voice and share legitimate views. The paper specifically urged the UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, to intervene and to work on Shehab’s immediate release.
Despite pledging to build a “network of liberty”, Truss could not name a single time that she had challenged a Gulf state about human rights when questioned by MPs in June, the report reads.
The Guardian also called on US President Joe Biden, who supposedly “received commitments” that the kingdom had taken measures to prevent shocking human rights abuses in the future, to call for Shehab’s release.
Twitter, which has yet to comment on the case, should think again, the report stressed, saying that ‘Saudi Arabia has targeted the social media company’s users, while its sovereign wealth fund controls an indirect stake in it.’
“One of the crown prince’s senior aides still has a verified account despite US government allegations that he orchestrated an illegal infiltration of the company which led anonymous users to be identified and jailed.”
Outrage on Social Media
Shehab’s arrest and 34-year prison term sparked outrage among social media users, who condemned Saudi Arabia as an absolute monarchy where all political rights and civil liberties are violated.
Human rights activist and journalist Fifi Haroon called for raising more concern about Shehab’s case, tweeting:
Saudi Arabia is the land of the Prophet (PBUH). What would he say to such injustice for a peaceful activist, a PHD student, a mother of 2 being sentenced to 34 yrs for tweeting support to prisoners of conscience?
https://twitter.com/fifiharoon/status/1563869197825867776
For her part, British civil society activist Lucy Keaveney condemned the British week position towards Saudi human rights violations, saying:
Foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has been urged to intervene in “outrageous” case of Leeds University student jailed in Saudi Arabia for 34 years over her use of Twitter. I fear this plea will be ignored & Shehab may end up in same predicament as #Nazanin.
https://twitter.com/Luighseach/status/1561370092721827840
