Why Is Saudi Arabia Angry at Canada? | Inside Story

Saudi Arabia considers Canada's comments on human rights in the Kingdom as an interference in its affairs that require what it calls a "sharp response". So it has expelled the Canadian ambassador and recalled its envoy from Ottawa. Its state-owned airline has suspended direct flights to Toronto; and the government says it will end trade and investment ties.

It all began with a tweet from Canada's Foreign Affairs ministry, stating concerns over Saudi Arabia's arrest of rights activists and demanding their immediate release. One of those activists mentioned in that tweet is Samar Badawi, a relative of Canadian citizens.

Badawi and fellow activist Nassima al-Sadah were arrested last month. Badawi is the recipient of the 2012 International Women of Courage Award, who is known for challenging Saudi Arabia's male guardianship system.

But is international criticism enough to improve human rights in the Kingdom?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom | Guests Rothna Begum - Senior researcher at Human Rights Watch; Sultan Barakat - Director of the Centre for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies at the Doha Institute; Imad Harb - Director of research and analysis at the Arab Centre Washington DC

Saudi Arabia Is Pulling Students from Canada in Escalating Dispute over Human Rights | TIME

The feud between Canada and Saudi Arabia reaches a new level.Government Officials in Saudi Arabia announced they will transfer students on scholarships in Canada to other countries.

A Challenge to Saudi's War on Yemen?

The United Nations has overcome Saudi Arabian opposition to establish a human rights probe of the war on Yemen, just as Congressmembers seek a debate over the critical US military role

To Trump, Human Rights Concerns Are Often a Barrier to Trade

THE NEW YORK TIMES: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson had some advice on Saturday for Iran’s newly re-elected president. The Trump administration, he said, hopes Tehran “restores the rights of Iranians to freedom of speech, to freedom of organization, so that Iranians can live the life that they deserve.”

As he said that at a news conference, Mr. Tillerson was standing next to the Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, who represents a government that does not guarantee free speech or many other rights. When Mr. Tillerson turned to leave, a reporter asked if he had anything to say about human rights in Saudi Arabia. The secretary departed without answering.

President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia underscored the calculation he and his foreign policy advisers have made when it comes to questions of human rights around the world.

Mr. Trump and his team made clear they are willing to publicly overlook repression in places like Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states whose leaders are meeting here this weekend — as long as they are allies in areas the president considers more important, namely security and economics. » | Peter Baker and Michael D. Shear | Saturday, May 20, 2017

Amnesty Report Slams Trump, Other Leaders

Kristie Lu Stout speaks with Amnesty Intl's Salil Shetty, after its latest report criticizes President Trump's immigration policies

Amnesty Chief Urges France to 'Stay True to Its Values'

Duterte to Obama: Don’t Lecture Me on Rights, Philippines Not a US Colony

President Duterte said any lecture about human rights and extra-judicial killings during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Vientiane, Laos, would be a disrespect to him and the Filipino people.

No Mention of Religious Freedom in Trudeau's Mandate Letters

Belgium: EU Slams Turkey’s Human Rights Record in Accession Report

“Turkey needs to commit to renewed reforms in the areas of the rule of law and fundamental human rights,” stated European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn during a press briefing at the European Commission in Brussels, Tuesday. Hahn’s comments follow the release of a report on Tuesday, assessing the country's potential candidacy to join the EU, while highlighting Ankara’s alleged crackdown on media outlets and potential human rights abuses.

Revealed: How UK Targets Saudis for Top Contracts

Prince Khalid bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz welcomes David Cameron
as he arrives in Jeddah in 2012 to push for more arms sales.

THE GUARDIAN: Documents show that the controversial kingdom is seen as a ‘priority market’ for British companies

Government departments are intensifying efforts to win lucrative public contracts in Saudi Arabia, despite a growing human rights row that led the ministry of justice to pull out of a £6m prison contract in the kingdom last week.

Documents seen by the Observer show the government identifying Saudi Arabia as a “priority market” and encouraging UK businesses to bid for contracts in health, security, defence and justice.

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that ministers are bent on ever-closer ties with the world’s most notorious human rights abusers,” said Maya Foa, director of Reprieve’s death penalty team. “Ministers must urgently come clean about the true extent of our agreements with Saudi Arabia and other repressive regimes.”

The UK’s increasingly close relationship with Saudi Arabia – which observes sharia law, under which capital and corporal punishment are common – is under scrutiny because of the imminent beheading of two young Saudis. Ali al-Nimr and Dawoud al-Marhoon were both 17 when they were arrested at protests in 2012 and tortured into confessions, their lawyers say. France, Germany, the US and the UK have raised concerns about the sentences but this has not stopped Whitehall officials from quietly promoting UK interests in the kingdom – while refusing to make public the human rights concerns they have to consider before approving more controversial business deals there. Several of the most important Saudi contracts were concluded under the obscurely named Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) policy, which is meant to ensure that the UK’s security and justice activities are “consistent with a foreign policy based on British values, including human rights”. Foreign Office lawyers have gone to court to prevent the policy being made public. Read on and comment » | Jamie Doward | Saturday, October 17, 2015

Amnesty International: 'West Deeply Hypocritical Over Saudi'

BBC AMERICA: The funeral of King Abdullah is taking place in Saudi Arabia after his death overnight at the age of 90. His 79-year-old half-brother, Salman, has been confirmed as his successor.

The state of human rights and women's rights and the turbulent state of the region make the king's death and the succession particularly sensitive.

Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's secretary general, said "Saudi has got away with much more than any other state" in term of human rights abuses.

He said that the West was hypocritical to support such a state. (+BBC video) » | Friday, January 23, 2015

Violation Kingdom: US, Saudi Ties Tighten Amidst Human Rights Outcry

The US President is on his way to Saudi Arabia to meet King Abdullah. The countries enjoy a close relationship, and the talks are unlikely to touch on human rights violations in the Arab nation. One such case is that of a former Saudi diplomat - seeking asylum in the US, after coming out as gay. RT has been closely following his story, and Gayane Chichakyan now brings us the latest. It's easy to understand why returning home is not an option for the former diplomat. Being gay in Saudi Arabia leads to capital punishment. You can also find yourself on the wrong side of the law in the kingdom by posting on Twitter. Earlier this month, two Saudis received lengthy prison sentences for their activity on the microblogging site. Saudi Arabia enforces rigid rules of conduct for women - who are banned from travelling alone, driving, or talking to male non-relatives and are often subjected to domestic violence. Daoud Khairallah, international law professor at Georgetown University, believes the dire rights situation in Saudi Arabia is there to stay...

'We Are Cut Off, Isolated and Alone': Imprisoned Saudi Princesses Blame Their Father King Abdullah As Their Mother Calls On Obama To Help Free Them

Speaking out: Sahar is the eldest daughter and has somehow
remained able to convey to the world the depraved state of
human rights, especially against women, in Saudi Arabia

MAIL ONLINE: Alanoud AlFayez, 57, appealed to Obama on Thursday as he prepares to visit Saudi Arabia and King Abdullah / AlFayez was once married to the king but fled to London after he divorced her in 2003 / The women and their mother say they're being starved and physically and psychologically abused

Two Saudi Princesses who claim to have been imprisoned by their father for 13 years have told how they are 'cut off, isolated and alone' after their mother called on President Obama to help set them free.

Princesses Sahar, 42, and Jawaher, 38, whose mother is divorced from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, say they are effectively being held under house arrest in the royal compound in Jeddah.

They claim they are not allowed to travel or even leave their home and that the internet is their only window onto the world.


In an exclusive interview with Channel 4 News, the princesses told how security has been tightened since they went public with their story two weeks ago and they are no longer even allowed to make trips with armed guards for food, as they had been previously.

Speaking to Channel 4 via Skype, they blamed the King for their situation and even claimed to be running out of food.

Princess Sahar says: 'This is a risk we're taking, we're happy to do it, we understand full well the repercussions, but we don't know what's going to happen.'

The Princesses say their sisters Maha and Hala are also being held in the Royal compound in separate villas. » | Joshua Gardner and Daniel Miller | Friday, March 28, 2014


CHANNEL 4 NEWS: Exclusive: 'locked-up' Saudi princesses' message for Obama: "He should be ashamed to meet a leader that has four grown women locked up" - the message from two Saudi princesses to President Obama as he meets with their father, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. » | Fatima Manji, Reporter | Friday, March 28, 2014


CHANNEL 4 NEWS: 'They are hanging to life' - Saudi king's ex-wife speaks out » | Fatima Manji, Reporter | Monday, March 10, 2014


CHANNEL 4 NEWS: New footage emerges of 'trapped' Saudi princesses » | Fatima Manji, Reporter | Monday, March 24, 2014

UK Must Do More to Explain Stance on Saudi Arabia, Say MPs

David Cameroon with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia last year

THE GUARDIAN: Campaigners claim whitewash after committee says there would be no advantage in stopping UK arms sales to kingdom

Britain is suffering from a "credibility problem" in claiming to be backing reform in Saudi Arabia, which is described by MPs as "one of the least democratic states in the world with a notoriously poor human rights record" in a report published on Friday.

MPs on the foreign affairs committee are also asking the government to "assess" the supply of weapons by Saudi Arabia to Syrian rebels seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. But they said there would be no advantage in stopping lucrative UK arms sales to the conservative kingdom – triggering immediate condemnation of a "whitewash" by campaigners.

After a year-long investigation into Britain's relations with Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Bahrain, the all-party body says it is concerned about "limited but worrying evidence of a poor public perception of the UK in Saudi Arabia."

The report will be closely scrutinized in both Gulf countries, but especially in oil-rich Saudi Arabia, whose ambassador to the UK warned of negative consequences for bilateral relations when the parliamentary enquiry was announced last year.

The inquiry was launched against the background of the Arab Spring uprisings, the rise of Islamist forces and nervousness in the Gulf monarchies that the unrest would affect them. It took evidence from academics, businessmen, diplomats and defence sales officials. Read on and comment » | Ian Black, Middle East editor | Friday, November 22, 2013

My comment:

Human rights are always going to take a back seat for the UK government, whatever the hue, as long as such big contracts for arms sales are on offer. It is simply pie-in-the-sky to think otherwise. Hypocrisy rules the day. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

Saudi Arabia Human Rights Record Criticised at UN Meeting

THE GUARDIAN: Countries at human rights council accuse kingdom of abusing rights of women and foreign workers

Saudi Arabia's human rights record has come under fire at the United Nations, with critics accusing the kingdom of jailing activists without due process and abusing the basic rights of Saudi women and foreign workers.

At the UN human rights council on Monday, Britain called for the abolition of the Saudi system of male guardianship for women and was joined by the US in raising cases of forced labour imposed on migrant workers. The US delegation also voiced concern at Saudi restrictions on freedoms of religion and association, while Germany called for a moratorium on its use of the death penalty.

"Many countries have problematic records, but Saudi Arabia stands out for its extraordinarily high levels of repression and its failure to carry out its promises to the human rights council," Joe Stork, the deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement to the meeting. » | Reuters in Geneva | Monday, October 21, 2013

Syria: Is It Worth Risking Human Lives for the Sake of Human Rights?

Chemical weapons have horrified mankind since their first widespread use almost a century ago. The world has come to recognize their use as a flagrant violation of international law. As the US once again beats the drums of war towards Syria, we ask how justified such an intervention is, given the conflicting evidence and the widespread opposition to it. Will a strike help stop the war, or will it drag the whole region into a more brutal and protracted conflict? To wrestle over these issues, Oksana is joined by Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch.

British Islamist Anjem Choudary: As Muslims We Reject Human Rights | The Internet, Press TV (Iran) - April 11, 2013

Saudis Slammed for Usual Rights Abuses, Never for Exporting Revolution (March 2012)

As the Smoke Clears after Saudi Arabia's Latest Mass Execution by Firing Squad... Charles and Camilla Fly In
THE INDEPENDENT: The Prince isn't expected to raise the issue of human rights with his hosts. Perhaps he should, wonders Jerome Taylor

They were led out at dawn today, one by one, to the public killing grounds. The Seven Saudi Arabian men had been sentenced to death following what human rights groups and the UN said were deeply flawed trials conducted under Sharia law. Some of them were juveniles when they were charged with being part of a gang of thieves in the Saudi town of Abha. But that didn’t save them from the firing squad.

A few hours later, just over 1,000 miles to the north, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were visiting the victims of another brutal Middle Eastern dictatorship. At a refugee camp in northern Jordan they met some of the one million people who have had to flee the death and destruction now enveloping Bashar al-Assad’s Syria. Charles described the scene he saw as an “unbelievable and heartbreaking situation” while Camilla hailed the “strength of spirit” shown by the women she encountered.

But anyone expecting the Royal couple to show equivalent sympathy for the victims of Saudi Arabia’s authoritarianism when they visit the Kingdom on Friday as part of their Middle Eastern tour will be disappointed. Human rights are off the agenda. Instead, according to the press release put out by Clarence House, the themes of the visit are “military collaboration, opportunities for women in society, inter-faith dialogue, education and environmental sustainability”.

For the struggling human rights activists and reformists in the Kingdom, visits from the US and Britain are a consistent source of disappointment. While London and Washington berate Moscow for its ongoing support of the Assad regime, they rarely if ever go public with criticisms of the Al Sauds – their closest ally in the Gulf. Last week, both the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and the Attorney General, Eric Holder, returned from separate trips to the Kingdom. Between their visits, the Saudi regime was emboldened enough to press ahead with the jailing of Mohammed Fahd al-Qahtani and Abdullah al-Hamed – two of the country’s most prominent non-violent reform advocates. In the few days between the US delegations and Prince Charles’ arrival, the King also found time to reject clemency for the Abha Seven, despite documented evidence that confessions were extracted under torture, that the men were not appointed adequate legal representation and that most of them were juveniles when they committed their alleged crimes.

Although the Prince is officially apolitical, human rights advocates have expressed dismay that while he is happy to talk about Britain’s military and commercial links to Saudi Arabia, he avoids topics such as the highest execution rates per capita in the world or something as fundamental as a woman’s right to drive. » | Jerome Taylor | Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Saudi Arabia Condemns Russian Comments On Human Rights
REUTERS.COM: Saudi Arabia on Saturday condemned comments by Russia's human rights envoy on the situation in the kingdom as "hostile" and an unjustified interference in the kingdom's internal affairs, the Saudi state news agency (SPA) reported.

The rare public exchange appeared to reflect tensions over the 16-month-old uprising in Syria where Russia has resisted introduction of Western- and Arab-backed sanction against President Bashar al-Assad.

Russian Human Rights envoy Konstantin Dolgov had expressed "great concern" about the situation in eastern Saudi Arabia following what he described as clashes between law enforcement and peaceful demonstrators in which two people were killed and more than 20 were wounded, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry website.

The Saudi interior ministry has said there were no clashes but that two people were killed by unknown assailants last Sunday in the east, where the country's minority Muslim Shi'ite population is concentrated. » | DUBAI | Sunday, July 15, 2012