Exclusive: Billions deployed since early 2021 in a move critics say is an attempt to distract from human rights record
Saudi Arabia has spent at least $6.3bn (£4.9bn) in sports deals since early 2021, more than quadruple the previous amount spent over a six-year period, in what critics have labelled an effort to distract from its human rights record.
Saudi Arabia has deployed billions from its Public Investment Fund over the last two-and-a-half years according to analysis by the Guardian, spending on sports at a scale that has completely changed professional golf and transformed the international transfer market for football.
The UK has invited Mohammed bin Salman for an official visit. Relying on the kingdom for energy or regional stability is a grave error
Five years ago, Jeremy Hunt, then foreign secretary, echoed the widely voiced horror at the murder of the Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. He promised that Britain’s response would depend upon “our confidence that such an appalling episode cannot – and will not – be repeated”.
The UK has now invited Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, whom the CIA believe approved the murder despite his denials, for an official visit. His rehabilitation was already under way when Joe Biden fistbumped him a year ago, and Britain, which has profited richly from Saudi arms sales, is hungrier than ever for trade and investment.
Saudi Arabia is pouring a fortune into soccer, including £180m a year for Cristiano Ronaldo. But while the counterfeiters see a chance to make money, the fans won’t forget human rights
I saw something to make me scoff with amused despair, a thing embodying many a madness and badness of our age. It was a child-sized replica football shirt, swinging gently on its hanger, at a seaside market stall on the Adriatic coast. It’s a noticeably well-appointed retail operation, this stall. Beach towels, Bluetooth speakers, snorkels, fridge magnets, swimwear, pouches of lavender, imitation handguns … you know the kind of thing.
In his latest monologue, Edge of Sports host Dave Zirin takes PGA to task for its planned merger with LIV Golf, a former competitor funded by the Saudi Arabian monarchy.
Studio Production: David Hebden, Cameron Granadino Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Dave Zirin: And now I’ve got some choice words about Saudi Arabia chowing down and digesting the willing meal that is the Professional Golfers Association Tour.
Okay, look, there was a time in the way distant past; let’s call it May; when the official position of the PGA Tour was that its competitor, the Saudi-backed golf tour known as LIV, was a scandalous, even-odious operation.
Referring to Saudi Arabia’s horrific human rights record, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said just last year, “You’d have to be living under a rock to not understand the implications of involving yourself with the Saudis.” But Monahan’s strong comment is now just a reminder that pencils have erasers.
In news that was initially shocking; but upon reflection, really isn’t show shocking at all; the PGA Tour announced that it will permanently merge with the LIV Tour. As Monahan said, “The game of golf is better for what we’ve done today.”
Gee, does this mean that Monahan is now living under a rock? If anything, he has come out into the sunlight from beneath his rock, to say that he does understand the implications of involving himself with the Saudis. And those implications are wealth beyond his wildest dreams.
The Saudi Crown Prince, known as MBS, is promising to invest billions of petro dollars in this merger. In return, the PGA Tour is dropping all litigation against LIV for raiding its talent. And the PGA Tour will get a new name that is at least jointly approved by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has spearheaded a massive crackdown on dissent in the kingdom, and pursued a war in Yemen that has resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
Now way, way back, when the PGA Tour was still protesting LIV’s existence, its leaders claimed to be standing beside 9/11 Families United, which continues to demand, among other things, information about all the nations, especially Saudi Arabia, that helped the hijackers who flew the planes into the towers and Pentagon.
9/11 Families United’s response to the news of the PGA Tour-LIV merger is scathing. It reads in part: “Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA, as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window dressing in their quest for money.”
ESPN quoted an anonymous PGA Tour player who said of the day’s news, “It’s insanity. The LIV Tour was dead in the water. It wasn’t working. Now you’re throwing them a life jacket? Is the moral of the story to always take the money?”
Well, yeah. The moral reminds what Danny DeVito said in the movie Heist: “Everybody needs money. That’s why they call it money.”
This announcement, I would argue, is best understood as the latest win in the Saudi kingdom’s game of sports-washing, that is using sports as a shiny bauble to legitimize authoritarian regimes, and distract from the regime’s human rights abuses.
And we got to say, it isn’t surprising that Saudi Arabia would find a willing participant in the PGA Tour: a right-wing, good-old-boy organization, steeped in a good-old-boy brand of racism, sexism, and plantation nostalgia.
Now it will happily re-embrace golfers it branded as traitors, literally, for leaving for LIV, such as Phil Mickelson, who took $200 million of Saudi money to leave the PGA Tour. At the time he took that nine-figure check, Mickelson said, and I quote, “The Saudis are scary mother bleepers to get involved with.”
Referring to Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen; who wasn’t just killed, but beheaded and dismembered with a bone saw; Mickelson said, “We know they killed Khashoggi, and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”
Now, Mickelson later apologized for these comments: not to the Khashoggi family, and not to LGBTQ people. He apologized to the Saud Royal Family.
The PGA Tour’s lack of human rights principles should surprise only the most naive among us. This is an organization that of course had a soft spot for Donald Trump. But then, of course, Trump also threw his lot in with the LIV Tour as part of his greasy charm offensive towards the Saudi Royal Family.
Part of the price for getting close to the family was ignoring the murder of Khashoggi. And in return, LIV sent several tournaments to Trump-owned clubs. And a Saudi sovereign wealth fund, led by the crown prince, invested 2 billion in Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s new private equity firm just six months after Trump left office. Disgusting.
What’s particularly depressing about this episode is that last year Trump presciently, it must be said, mocked to the golfers who stayed with the PGA Tour and got on their high horses about Saudi human rights abuses. I want to read Trump’s words, painful though it may be.
He wrote on Truth Social, his idiotic social media page, “All those golfers who remain loyal to the very disloyal PGA in all its different forms will pay a big price when the inevitable merger with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big thank you from PGA officials who are making millions of dollars a year. If you don’t take the money now, you’ll get nothing after the merger takes place, and only say how smart the original signees were.”
Now, that unnamed PGA Tour player we quoted earlier … who asked whether the moral of this story is to always just take the money … In Trump’s view, clearly that answer is “Yes.” Only suckers look past the money to focus on the blood on the floor.
That thinking has now won the day among the PGA Tour brass. These are the politics of golf, writ clear and writ large. Authoritarian, angered at the thought of social responsibility, hostile to progress, and always looking for some big whale to suck up to, with no regard to nationality or body count.
Shame on any of us who thought this could have ended up in any way other than the Saudi Arabian Royal Family gobbling up professional men’s golf, while the ham-faced PGA Tour fat cats look away from Saudi atrocities, and count the cash. Unreal, except all too real.
The year 1968 was a time of rebellion across the US and the wider world. Tremendous demonstrations and rebellions shook American cities in opposition to the Vietnam War, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and demands to free Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party. Amidst this tumult, two athletes, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, captured the spirit of the times by raising their fists at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics after placing first and third in the 200-meter dash. 45 years later, Dr. John Carlos is still with us—but many of his contemporaries have passed on. Dr. John Carlos joins Edge of Sports for a look back on the lives of Jimmy Hines, Ralph Boston, Herb Douglas, Harry Belafonte, Tina Turner, and Jim Brown.
Elsewhere in this episode of Edge of Sports, Dr. Maria Veri, co-author of Gridiron Gourmet: Gender and Food at the Football Tailgate, joins for a discussion on the gender politics of tailgating culture. Dave Zirin also dives into the recently leaked details of a Professional Golfers’ Association merger with the Saudi Arabian LIV Golf tour.
Studio Production: David Hebden, Cameron Granadino Post-Production: Cameron Granadino Opening Sequence: Cameron Granadino Music by: Eze Jackson & Carlos Guillen
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Dave Zirin:
Welcome to Edge of Sports, the TV show only on The Real News Network. I’m Dave Zirin, and this week we are talking to a legend: 1968 Olympic medalist. One of the two men who raised their black-gloved fists on the medal stand in Mexico City in a moment for the ages. The fastest humanitarian alive, Dr. John Carlos.
Also, I’ve got some choice words about the Professional Golfers Association Tour joyously selling out to its Saudi Arabia-run competitor, the LIV Tour.
And in our Ask a Sports Scholar segment, we talk to Dr. Maria Veri about a book she co-wrote with Rita Liberti called Gridiron Gourmet: Gender and Food at the Football Tailgate.
But first: a word of caution, if you will.
With Dr. John Carlos, we are going to be discussing loss. You see, Dr. Carlos was part of a generation that self-identified as being part of a Black athlete’s revolt. And in just the last several months, a heartbreaking number of the people who made up this revolt, people who were either athletes or artists that contributed to the struggle, have left us.
Maybe you’ve heard of all the people we’re going to discuss … Or maybe you haven’t. But they all meant something to Dr. John Carlos, and they all meant something to the history of sports. And we’re going to speak to him about all of these folks by phone right now.
Dr. Carlos, how are you?
John Carlos:
Real fine, David. It’s an honor and a pleasure to be talking to you today.
Dave Zirin:
Yeah, this is a special show, because we’re about to pay tribute to some folks who’ve passed away. But first and foremost, how are you in this trying time?
John Carlos:
Oh, man. It is a sad situation for me, because so many of my friends in the work that I do in my social life and my sports life have moved on. So it’s a trying time for me right now.
Dave Zirin:
Well, let’s talk about some of the people who’ve passed. I just want to get your thoughts: maybe something about them that maybe we don’t know, and maybe raise up their names as they transition.
Let’s start with your fellow 1968 Olympian: the first person to run the 100 meters in under 10 seconds, the great Jimmy Hines. What can you tell us about Jimmy Hines?
John Carlos:
Well, I met Jimmy Hines. I was young, 21 year old. Jimmy was a young 20-year-old individual. We went to school in Texas. I went to East Texas State, he went to Texas Southern.
Jimmy was a very formidable young athlete. He had a tremendous amount of confidence in his ability. I didn’t know of Jimmy’s record back in high school. I found out later that he was undefeated all through his high school years, and just added on to his determination to be a winner.
Aside from that, he was always a nice guy, methodical about his competition. Aggressive, I might say; always wanted to be the head of the pack, so to speak. I enjoyed being with Jimmy. I enjoyed traveling with him. I enjoyed his competition.
And most of all, man, I enjoyed the fact that we were in the greatest Olympics of all time together.
Dave Zirin:
No doubt, no doubt. We also lost the oldest-living US Olympic medalist, a man who medaled at the 1948 Olympics. He just passed at the age of 101. What can you tell us about Mr. Herbert Douglas?
John Carlos:
Well, the great Herb Douglas; well, Mr. Douglas was a formidable young man, I might say, in his demise.
Mr. Douglas was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father was a blind individual. I think his father was the first one to have the guide dog. So Herb came up under the tutelage of individuals that couldn’t see him, but taught him so much. They taught him about character, taught him about responsibility, taught him about being aggressive towards learning as much as you can and solving the issues of society.
When I met Herb, Herb thought I was just a young, loud-mouth individual kid. And one day he had an opportunity to observe my loudness. I was stepping up for those individuals at the Olympic trials that were senior citizens such as Herb and Stan Wright and all the seniors that was involved in track and field … Dr. LeRoy Walker. They were all being disrespected, and I wouldn’t allow that to happen. So I turned up the volume to make sure that they showed and gave respect to those individuals.
Mr. Douglas took a note of that, and he got in touch with some people and said, “I’ve been looking all through the bushes for the diamond in the rough, or the needle in the haystack. And here he’s been before me all this time: in the eyes of John Carlos.”
From that point on, when we got together, we were good buddies. But even more, he was like a father figure and a mentor to me. I had a lot of time to sit back and observe Herb and get the knowledge from Herb. And at the same time, have an opportunity to see a man of his age and his stature to have such a physical element about them.
I remember one time Herb hit me in my gut. And at that time, he must’ve been about 95 years old. And a man that hits you that hard, with that much vigor at that age, you knew he was a special individual.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. Well, you and I are going to toast Herb when you hit your 101.
John Carlos:
Absolutely.
Dave Zirin:
Yeah. That moment, we’re going to pay some special tribute to Herb.
Also someone who passed away was someone who was a legend at three separate Olympics: 1960, 1964, and of course the greatest Olympics of all time, 1968 in Mexico City. I’m talking about Ralph Boston. What can you tell us about the late Ralph Boston?
John Carlos:
Well, before I get into Mr. Boston, you hit the word “legend.” I want you to know, and everyone out there’s listening, that each individual that we mentioned today is a living legend. And in my 78 years, I don’t recall any time we had a cluster of legends to die in such a short span of time.
Dave Zirin:
Never.
John Carlos:
So whoever the [inaudible 00:07:10] is, He must have a master plan to put all of them on the bus to come to Him at this particular time.
Ralph Boston: I met Ralph when I was a young kid in high school. I was working for the Puma Shoe Company. Ralph was up at Fordham University, getting ready to go to the Olympic trials over at Randall’s Island, New York. I didn’t know who he was; but I observed him, and he was looking in his bag for something. And I saw this disgust on his face, because whatever he was looking for wasn’t there.
So I took the initiative to approach him and asked him; I said, “Hey man, you lose something? You need something.”
He said to me, he said, “Man, I need a tape. I left my measuring tape.”
And I said to him, I said, “What do you need?”
He said, “Well, I need a hundred-foot tape.”
So we had a steel hundred-foot tape with the Puma Company. And I went to the Puma people and told them, I said, “I need a hundred-foot tape.”
They said, “Who?”
I said, “For that guy over there.”
“Oh, we can’t give him a tape, man. He’s Adidas.”
And I had to make them understand, at my young age, that it doesn’t matter the fact that he’s Adidas. It doesn’t matter the fact that he’s a Puma. What matters is that he’s one of the greatest athletes in our era. And if we can do anything to help him today in the long run, regardless which shoe it is; Puma, Adidas, whatever; he’s going to be in our corner to support us as we support him now.
That’s how Ralph and I became very good friends from that point on. It just grew, grew, and grew. When Ralph went down to the University of Tennessee and became the dean down there, he brought me and others down there to speak to the students down there to try and give them some insight as to what was going on in social life, what was going on in the athletic world. Ralph was just a wide-open guy to try and help society in any way he felt that he could.
Dave Zirin:
The next person is somebody who could have been a decathlete at the 1956 Olympics if he’d made that choice, but he chose otherwise. I’m of course talking about Jim Brown, someone we’ve spoken about on this show.
Now, before I ask you some of your reflections about Jim Brown, when I think of you and Jim Brown, I think of two people who really don’t like taking shit from other people. You and Jim, how was your relationship? Did you guys clash? Did you guys get along? What was it like with you and Jim Brown?
John Carlos:
No, we gelled. I understood Jim Brown. Like that guy wrote me one time when I told him about I love Jim Brown on the internet. And he brought up Jim Brown’s negative part of his life with this woman where he throw this woman off the balcony, this, that and the other.
I had to explain to the individual that Jim Brown is not a lone grain of sand. And the sport in which he participated in, banging their head, someone banging your head, you banging your head constantly, you become a very aggressive person.
And when you apply that aggressiveness, it doesn’t channel into saying, “Well, I can be aggressive because this is a man, or I can be aggressive because this is a child,” you’re just aggressive. And until you can learn to make that adjustment and hold back, you have to understand that these individuals are in a psychological realm. And at that particular time, people didn’t understand about the mental trauma or the head trauma that these individuals in that sport has taken.
So I told the guy, “Don’t ridicule Mr. Brown, because he’s done far better things than he’s did for this negative incident that you trying to put out today.”
Jim was always straightforward. He had his own mindset. Once he had his mind made, no one was going to change his mind, because he felt that he was right. And I find that Jim has always had a tendency to evaluate things that he did before he did it. I have respect for Jim of the utmost, because he never backed down from who he was. He never backed down in terms of speaking on the issues when it was necessary to speak.
When most individuals talked about gangs, in terms of gang activity, Jim was one of those individuals that rolled up his sleeves and went into the hood, went into the neighborhood to try and reach these young kids to make them see a better day. I always had respect for that, because many individuals sat back and talked the game, but never played the game.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. Exactly. And we spoke about Jim Brown, all facets and dimensions of his life on a previous episode here at Edge of Sports, but your words really do round it out for us.
Just a couple more names for you. And it really is staggering: the amount of talent, cultural talent we’ve lost recently. The next name is Harry Belafonte. I would love your thoughts about Harry Belafonte, his connection to the movement, and what he meant to you.
John Carlos:
Well, first of all, Harry Belafonte was built so magnificently, physically structured. Harry Belafonte could have been an athlete himself. He could have been a high jumper, he could have ran the 200, he could have ran the quarter.
Dave Zirin:
Wow.
John Carlos:
Or he could have been a boxer. But he chose to be in the entertainment field. He chose to commemorate his legacy, his history relative to him being Jamaican. So as a young individual growing up in Brooklyn, he decided that he would sing Calypso songs to bring Jamaica up to the forefront.
But yet still with all of that, he didn’t choose to be an individual that would point to himself and talk about what his accomplishments were. He was more concerned about the downtrodden individuals, those individuals that had so much to give to society, that never had the opportunity.
He fought for equality and justice and love and honor and respect for all individuals, particularly for Black people: because he was a Black man and he knew the plight of Black people. So you have to always give the respect to Harry Belafonte because he didn’t just talk the game, he walked the game. He didn’t just throw his messes out there.
When Harry was making money, he took his money and supported Dr. King in his civil rights activities as well. He marched with Martin Luther King. So it wasn’t about him being a star, as much as it was about us being stars as human beings.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. You just described Dr. John Carlos.
The last name; then I have one last question, and I’ll let you go. You’ve been so generous with your time. But I have to ask you about the person I think you and I would agree was Simply the Best: talking about Tina Turner. Your thoughts about the passing of the great Miss Tina Turner.
John Carlos:
Well, I know Tina had a rough life coming up, getting into show business. Show business in itself is a rough life. But then when you hook up with a guy that is like a chameleon, has changed through the beginning of her career with him until the time she was there to break away and become free. She’d get to use that metaphor: “Thank God, thank God, thank God. At last, I’m free at last.”
I remember one time my wife and I were down in South Carolina, and we were staying at a hotel. And this particular hotel, Tina was staying at the hotel too. I was always fascinated about Tina in terms of the message that she gave in her music. But I was even more fascinated about how active and how physical she was within her oratory relative to her music, the physical energy that she put into it. So I really wanted to meet her on a personal level.
I remember sitting in the lobby waiting for her, waiting for her to come down or come back from where she was. They snuck her in the back door. And I was so disappointed there. I sat there all that time and never really got a chance to have an opportunity to take a minute with her.
I remember going up to my room. And my wife looked at me and she said, “You look so dejected, you must have missed Tina. Tina must not have come in.”
And it’s funny, because my wife, in her young years, she almost became one of the Ikettes.
Dave Zirin:
[inaudible 00:15:12]
John Carlos:
So she knew Tina on a personal level as well.
But I always admired Tina Turner in terms of someone that say, so to speak, “I’m going to take chicken shit and turn it into chicken salad.” And that’s exactly what she did.
Dave Zirin:
A lesson for all of us.
John Carlos:
Right.
Dave Zirin:
So just to wrap up, just to wrap up, looking at the history you just laid out so clearly, from Herb Douglas in ’48 to yourself in ’68 to Colin Kaepernick today: as you reflect on this history, what do you think athletic protest accomplishes?
John Carlos:
Well, I think protest period accomplishes much. But the difference with athletics and just the standard protest and the fact that we are universal. When I say “we are universal,” whoever can you say is universal other than the President of the United States? They know him worldwide.
While athletics, those individuals that we mentioned are icons of a sport, and they’re recognized as well as that president on a level ground, on a worldwide level. So when they step up to speak on issues, people take note. They stop and listen to what these individuals have to say. And it gives them an opportunity to weigh things in their mind as to whether it’s right or whether it’s wrong; whether it should move forward or whether it should move back. But many individuals don’t realize that.
I always use the metaphor that there’s man-made icons and there’s God-given icons. The God-given icons is the ones that step forward and make the necessary statements that needs to be made, regardless of reprisal or fear or anything. They’re just going to do what they feel is the right thing to do to help this world in which we live.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. Well, they accomplished so much. You are accomplishing, and have accomplished so much. Dr. Carlos, thank you so much for joining us here on Edge of Sports.
John Carlos:
Well, Dave, on the way out, man, let me just say, when individuals such as those leave, it pushes you up closer to the front pew. I think right now myself, as well as a few others, we’re in that front pew now. We are the seniors. We are the ones that’s going to lead the wagon train, so to speak.
And I would just hope that everybody would realize their responsibility, not merely to themselves, but to society as a whole to make this a better world. And right now, the situation that we in in society, with all the division going on from the ex-president on down, we have to do what we can do as athletes to bring some sort of clarity to what’s going on in our lives. Because so many people are taking their lives right now, killing other individuals right now, based on mental issues that they have, frustration that they have, confusion that they have.
And all individuals have gone on to music and have gone to sports to try and take the pressure off of them, to relieve them, to give them the opportunity to be free again. So as athletes, we have to be the spokesperson for society. Turn up the volume, I say.
Dave Zirin:
Well, I look forward to the decades that I certainly expect you to spend at the front of this wagon train. Dr. Carlos, thanks so much for joining us.
John Carlos:
Thank you for having me, Dave.
Dave Zirin:
All right. You’re the best.
John Carlos:
Much love to you and the family.
Dave Zirin:
Yeah, much love to you and yours. You’re the best.
And now I’ve got some choice words about Saudi Arabia chowing down and digesting the willing meal that is the Professional Golfers Association Tour.
Okay, look, there was a time in the way distant past; let’s call it May; when the official position of the PGA Tour was that its competitor, the Saudi-backed golf tour known as LIV, was a scandalous, even-odious operation.
Referring to Saudi Arabia’s horrific human rights record, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said just last year, “You’d have to be living under a rock to not understand the implications of involving yourself with the Saudis.” But Monahan’s strong comment is now just a reminder that pencils have erasers.
In news that was initially shocking; but upon reflection, really isn’t show shocking at all; the PGA Tour announced that it will permanently merge with the LIV Tour. As Monahan said, “The game of golf is better for what we’ve done today.”
Gee, does this mean that Monahan is now living under a rock? If anything, he has come out into the sunlight from beneath his rock, to say that he does understand the implications of involving himself with the Saudis. And those implications are wealth beyond his wildest dreams.
The Saudi Crown Prince, known as MBS, is promising to invest billions of petro dollars in this merger. In return, the PGA Tour is dropping all litigation against LIV for raiding its talent. And the PGA Tour will get a new name that is at least jointly approved by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has spearheaded a massive crackdown on dissent in the kingdom, and pursued a war in Yemen that has resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
Now way, way back, when the PGA Tour was still protesting LIV’s existence, its leaders claimed to be standing beside 9/11 Families United, which continues to demand, among other things, information about all the nations, especially Saudi Arabia, that helped the hijackers who flew the planes into the towers and Pentagon.
9/11 Families United’s response to the news of the PGA Tour-LIV merger is scathing. It reads in part: “Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA, as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window dressing in their quest for money.”
ESPN quoted an anonymous PGA Tour player who said of the day’s news, “It’s insanity. The LIV Tour was dead in the water. It wasn’t working. Now you’re throwing them a life jacket? Is the moral of the story to always take the money?”
Well, yeah. The moral reminds what Danny DeVito said in the movie Heist: “Everybody needs money. That’s why they call it money.”
This announcement, I would argue, is best understood as the latest win in the Saudi kingdom’s game of sports-washing, that is using sports as a shiny bauble to legitimize authoritarian regimes, and distract from the regime’s human rights abuses.
And we got to say, it isn’t surprising that Saudi Arabia would find a willing participant in the PGA Tour: a right-wing, good-old-boy organization, steeped in a good-old-boy brand of racism, sexism, and plantation nostalgia.
Now it will happily re-embrace golfers it branded as traitors, literally, for leaving for LIV, such as Phil Mickelson, who took $200 million of Saudi money to leave the PGA Tour. At the time he took that nine-figure check, Mickelson said, and I quote, “The Saudis are scary mother bleepers to get involved with.”
Referring to Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen; who wasn’t just killed, but beheaded and dismembered with a bone saw; Mickelson said, “We know they killed Khashoggi, and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”
Now, Mickelson later apologized for these comments: not to the Khashoggi family, and not to LGBTQ people. He apologized to the Saud Royal Family.
The PGA Tour’s lack of human rights principles should surprise only the most naive among us. This is an organization that of course had a soft spot for Donald Trump. But then, of course, Trump also threw his lot in with the LIV Tour as part of his greasy charm offensive towards the Saudi Royal Family.
Part of the price for getting close to the family was ignoring the murder of Khashoggi. And in return, LIV sent several tournaments to Trump-owned clubs. And a Saudi sovereign wealth fund, led by the crown prince, invested 2 billion in Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s new private equity firm just six months after Trump left office. Disgusting.
What’s particularly depressing about this episode is that last year Trump presciently, it must be said, mocked to the golfers who stayed with the PGA Tour and got on their high horses about Saudi human rights abuses. I want to read Trump’s words, painful though it may be.
He wrote on Truth Social, his idiotic social media page, “All those golfers who remain loyal to the very disloyal PGA in all its different forms will pay a big price when the inevitable merger with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big thank you from PGA officials who are making millions of dollars a year. If you don’t take the money now, you’ll get nothing after the merger takes place, and only say how smart the original signees were.”
Now, that unnamed PGA Tour player we quoted earlier … who asked whether the moral of this story is to always just take the money … In Trump’s view, clearly that answer is “Yes.” Only suckers look past the money to focus on the blood on the floor.
That thinking has now won the day among the PGA Tour brass. These are the politics of golf, writ clear and writ large. Authoritarian, angered at the thought of social responsibility, hostile to progress, and always looking for some big whale to suck up to, with no regard to nationality or body count.
Shame on any of us who thought this could have ended up in any way other than the Saudi Arabian Royal Family gobbling up professional men’s golf, while the ham-faced PGA Tour fat cats look away from Saudi atrocities, and count the cash. Unreal, except all too real.
Now we have Dr. Maria Veri; so thrilled to have her on the show for our segment, Ask a Sports Scholar. She’s the co-author along with Dr. Rita Liberti of Gridiron Gourmet: Gender and Food and the Football Tailgate. Dr. Veri, how are you?
Maria Veri:
I’m good, Dave. Thanks for having me.
Dave Zirin:
What an incredibly enticing and mouth-watering title. Can you explain this book to our viewers, please?
Maria Veri:
Oh, wow. Sure. We decided we wanted to learn more about the spectacle that is tailgating. And in that spectacle, we wanted to understand how gender plays out, and especially masculinity.
We have mostly men who are cooking, who are shopping for food, and that’s counter to the typical stereotype and historical understandings of food and cooking labor. But it happens all under the cover of the football stadium, right? So it’s okay. So we wanted to explore all of those dynamics.
Dave Zirin:
Did either you or Dr. Liberti have an aha moment where you said, “We need to write about tailgating,” or “I need to write about this guy cooking something on the radiator of his car”? What was your aha moment?
Maria Veri:
I think it started with Guy Fieri’s show on The Food Network: Tailgate Warriors. We read about it, and we went to a taping of one of the episodes at the Oakland Coliseum when the Raiders were still playing in Oakland. And it was fascinating to watch this made-for-TV cooking competition come to life.
And while we were there to observe that, we also took time to walk around the parking lot and see what the other tailgaters were doing. This is a preseason game, mind you. And we have one group who had a fully roasted pig going on a rotisserie. They had gotten there, if not the night before, at the crack of dawn that day.
And we thought, “This is some kind of commitment to lay all that out and put all that labor into it.” So we wanted to know more. Because within that aha moment was also a, “Oh wow, this is so much more spectacle than we even thought,” and we thought we knew.
Dave Zirin:
Following your argument here, Dr. Veri, what I’m hearing is that football provides almost a cover for men, for heterosexual men to practice the art of cooking in a way that maybe they feel like they can’t in other spheres. Am I following that correctly?
Maria Veri:
Yeah, I think so. That culinary cover makes it okay for them to be cooking. They’re under the shadow of the football stadium, on the blacktop, outdoors, over fire grills.
Traditionally, historically, cooking and food labor have been considered women’s work, non-professionalized women’s work. Women are caretaking, cooking for the family, for their husbands in this, again, heteronormative context on a daily basis.
And if men are doing the cooking there, it’s either special occasion; Dad makes breakfast pancakes on the weekend, or it’s when Dad is outdoors barbecuing. That becomes his world: outdoor over fire. Some of those masculine signifiers of cooking; throw in red meat, and then you’ve got the more complete picture.
So that is happening at the football stadium, yet there’s more to it. It’s more nuanced than that, because men are also taking responsibility for the menu creation, for creating the shopping list, for doing the shopping. And they’re planning a week ahead of time their menus and the logistics of their cooking setup on the blacktop.
They’re also looking a whole season ahead sometimes to thinking about what they’re going to be creating for the eight home games of the next season. Are their menus going to have a theme? Are they going to try out a different dish at that point?
Dave Zirin:
Well, what does tailgating tell us about America?
Maria Veri:
Oh, wow.
Dave Zirin:
I ask that because I don’t think it exists in other countries in the same way.
Maria Veri:
No, it doesn’t. And yeah, that’s a good point. Because when I talk to people in other countries, they usually need an explanation for folks who have come to the US from different places.
Yeah, it is certainly uniquely American, from what we’ve found. It certainly tells us how deeply entrenched sport is in our culture, how pervasive of a cultural practice it is. And how, when it has that kind of popularity, it also becomes the focal point around which other social festivities happen. It is a way to also, I think, extend the celebration of sport and the opportunities to spectate, and maybe even have an escape from daily life.
It also indicates … I don’t know … It tells us that there are still gender flexes perhaps in the US; that football has a lot to do with our understandings of gender, and in particular, masculinity. And so we see that thread that runs from the gridiron out to the blacktop. It’s a performance.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. That’s a great point. And it’s maybe not so much in our circles, but gender flexing is still so much a part of the United States. And we’re probably in inning one of trying to change that more broadly to something, what I would argue, would be less toxic.
Maria Veri:
Yes.
Dave Zirin:
Look, I got to tell you, the thing I loved, loved, loved about your book, Gridiron Gourmet, is that it wasn’t just you and Dr. Liberti, you and Rita sitting and coming up with these ideas in a vacuum. You were out there talking to people who are tailgating.
Maria Veri:
Yes.
Dave Zirin:
It’s so interesting, that kind of field work. It’s also very macho terrain. You are two women coming from a college campus-type environment.
Maria Veri:
Yeah, that’s right.
Dave Zirin:
How difficult was it to make those connections and get people to talk? Or maybe it wasn’t difficult at all.
Maria Veri:
I have to say it wasn’t too difficult. We were struck by the generosity of a number of the tailgaters we spoke to. And I think here, a distinction is important that you can go to the blacktop of any professional and most big-time college football games for tailgating, and you can easily find the groups that are just there for the drinking before they go into the game. They just want to get amped up and socialize and hang out, and they’re boisterous.
There’s a lot of toxicity often in those groups, and they’re not so much concerned about the food. It’s like, okay, maybe some hot dogs, bag of chips. Those weren’t the folks we were interested in talking to.
We wanted to find the folks who were seemingly being thoughtful about the food that they were eating and in cooking. That was usually a different section of the blacktop.
For them, I would say maybe the biggest challenge was just breaking into their constrained time allotment, as they were trying to prepare things before they had to not only eat them themselves, but sometimes feed 20 to 30 people; and then pack up to go in to watch the game. Because the fans we talked to were very much into being able to watch the game.
Dave Zirin:
What was the most interesting thing you saw cooked? And did any of these folks feed you? That’s my last question.
Maria Veri:
Oh, they did. Well, I can tell you about some of the groups that we encountered. In San Francisco; Santa Clara, technically with the 49ers; there’s one tailgate group called the 3rdRail9ers. These guys come in and they set up what looks like a professional catering situation in their section of the blacktop.
They’ve got a smoker, they’ve got a grill, they’ve got a hot table. They’re doing smoked chicken, they’re doing bacon-infused mac and cheese, sesame chicken, grilled tri tip; I mean, there aren’t too many restaurant meals I’ve had that were better what they very generously offered us. And that was pretty common. We’d walk around; that group in particular really stood out for us.
Rita was able to visit LSU before a Saturday football game, and she met the Black Pot Mafia Tailgating Group. So we have this very communal groups that the men who are part of them strongly identify with. Then that group is in turn strongly identified with the team they’re following.
And they had varieties of gumbo going, a 40-gallon gumbo pot. She saw groups there also doing the full-on alligator.
Dave Zirin:
Wow.
Maria Veri:
We see a lot of regional representation as well in tailgating.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. How many books are this incisive about gender, about race, which you deal with in the book? About the question of heteronormativity? Yet at the same time really makes me hungry.
Maria Veri:
Yeah, right.
Dave Zirin:
It’s a very potent combination.
Maria Veri:
Thank you.
Dave Zirin:
Very last question. I think everybody should read Gridiron Gourmet. But what’s a book you’ve read recently that you want to recommend?
Maria Veri:
Oh gosh. Let me think. I’ve been reading more fiction lately, and this is pretty far afield from what we’re talking about.
Dave Zirin:
That’s fine.
Maria Veri:
There’s a tiny thread, though. Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel.
Dave Zirin:
Oh.
Maria Veri:
Human Copperhead. She’s exploring what’s been happening in Appalachia, and how Big Pharma has really exploited that group of people, with getting so many addicted on opioids.
And the main character, at one point in his life, is a high school football star until his knee is blown out in a game. And then you can imagine what ensues, giving the topic, the subject of the book. So that was really powerful.
Dave Zirin:
Wow.
Maria Veri:
I enjoyed that. Yeah.
Dave Zirin:
Yeah. Someday the Sackler family will be beneath hell, looking up and waving.
Maria Veri:
Right.
Dave Zirin:
Dr. Veri, I thank you so much for joining us on our segment, Ask a Sports Scholar.
Maria Veri:
Dave, it’s my pleasure. Thank you.
Dave Zirin:
Well, that’s all the time we have for this week. Thank you, Dr. John Carlos. Thank you, Dr. Maria Veri. For The Real News Network, I’m Dave Zirin. You stay frosty out there. We are out of here. Peace.
At events such as Riyadh’s Soundstorm festival, pop music is the new frontier in reputation-laundering for repressive regimes
You might believe we’re fresh from the biggest music festival in the world, what with more than 200,000 people having assembled in some fields in Somerset. We’re not.
Actually, Glastonbury is pretty much a minnow compared with the biggest music festival in the world. Soundstorm, held each December, attracts more than triple the Glastonbury crowd, but you don’t hear the headliners wanging on about what a life-changing experience it was. You don’t hear them mention it at all, to be honest. I only heard of it earlier this year, when the CEO of a big production company talked about his firm’s work on the event. The reason you don’t hear about it is that Soundstorm is held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Michael Hann is a freelance writer, and former music editor of the Guardian
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Deaths and alleged abuse of Kenyan women in Saudi Arabia fuels demands for Nairobi to act on human rights
Rights groups have expressed concern that not enough has been done to address thealleged mistreatment of domestic workers in Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia, after the Kenyan government moved to secure work opportunities abroad for its citizens.
“This is a matter of grave public interest,” said John Mwariri, a lawyer at Kituo cha Sheria, a legal aid organisation. “Many of our Kenyan citizens have been abused and are dying there. There is an urgent need for protections.”
The 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council started 19 June (to end on 14 July 2023). Thanks to the – as usual – excellent documentation prepared by the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) I will highlight the themes mostly affecting HRDs.
To stay up-to-date you can follow @ISHRglobal and #HRC53 on Twitter, and look out for its Human Rights Council Monitor. During the session, follow the live-updated programme of work on Sched.
Here are some highlights of the session’s thematic discussions
Human rights of migrants
The Council will consider a resolution on the human rights of migrants this session, where a big problem is the criminalisation of the provision of solidarity and support, including rescues at sea, by migrant rights defenders.
Reprisals
..States raising cases is an important aspect of seeking accountability and ending impunity for acts of reprisal and intimidation against defenders engaging with the UN. It can also send a powerful message of solidarity to defenders, supporting and sustaining their work in repressive environments.
Anexa Alfred Cunningham (Nicaragua), a Miskitu Indigenous leader, woman human rights defender, lawyer and expert on Indigenous peoples rights from Nicaragua, who has been denied entry back into her country since July 2022, when she participated in a session of a group of United Nations experts on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. States should demand that Anexa be permitted to return to her country, community and family and enabled to continue her work safely and without restriction.
Vanessa Mendoza (Andorra), a psychologist and the president of Associació Stop Violències, which focuses on gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive rights, and advocates for safe and legal abortion in Andorra. After engaging with CEDAW in 2019, Vanessa was charged with ‘slander with publicity’, ‘slander against the co-princes’ and ‘crimes against the prestige of the institutions’. She has been indicted for the alleged “crimes against the prestige of the institutions” involving a potentially heavy fine (up to 30,000 euros) and a criminal record if convicted. States should demand that the authorities in Andorra unconditionally drop all charges against Vanessa and amend laws which violate the rights to freedom of expression and association.
Kadar Abdi Ibrahim (Djibouti) is a human rights defender and journalist from Djibouti. He is also the Secretary-General of the political party Movement for Democracy and Freedom (MoDEL). Days after returning from Geneva, where Kadar carried out advocacy activities ahead of Djibouti’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR), intelligence service agents raided his house and confiscated his passport. He has thus been banned from travel for five years. States should call on the authorities in Djibouti to lift the travel ban and return Kadar’s passport immediately and unconditionally.
Hong Kong civil society (Hong Kong): Until 2020, civil society in Hong Kong was vibrant and had engaged consistently and constructively with the UN. This engagement came to a screeching halt after the imposition by Beijing of the National Security Law for Hong Kong (NSL), which entered into force on 1 July 2020. States should urge the Hong Kong authorities to repeal the offensive National Security Law and desist from criminalizing cooperation with the UN and other work to defend human rights.
Maryam al-Balushi and Amina al-Abduli (United Arab Emirates), Amina Al-Abdouli used to work as a school teacher. She was advocating for the Arab Spring and the Syrian uprising. She is a mother of five. Maryam Al Balushi was a student at the College of Technology. They were arrested for their human rights work, and held in incommunicado detention, tortured and forced into self-incriminatory confessions. After the UN Special Procedures mandate holders sent a letter to the UAE authorities raising concerns about their torture and ill treatment in detention in 2019, the UAE charged Amina and Maryam with three additional crimes. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found their detention arbitrary and a clear case of reprisals for communicating with Special Procedures. In April 2021, a court sentenced them to three additional years of prison for “publishing false information that disturbs the public order”. States should demand that authorities in the UAE immediately and unconditionally release Maryam and Amina and provide them with reparations for their arbitrary detention and ill-treatment.
Other thematic reports
At this 53rd session, the Council will discuss a range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights through dedicated debates with the mandate holders and the High Commissioner, including:
The Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
The Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
The Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression
The Special Rapporteur on the right to health
The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary of arbitrary executions
The Special Rapporteur on promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change
The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
The Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises
The High Commissioner on the importance of casualty recording for the promotion and protection of human rights
The Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide
In addition, the Council will hold dedicated debates on the rights of specific groups including:
The Working Group on discrimination against women and girls
The Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences
The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
The Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children
The Special Rapporteur on independence of judges and lawyers
#HRC53 | Country-specific developments
Afghanistan
The Human Rights Council will hold its Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on Afghanistan, with the Special Rapporteur on the situation in Afghanistan and the Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Law and Practice. The joint report of the two mandates follows up from an urgent debate held last year on the situation of women and girls in the country. Their visit to the country concluded that there exist manifestations of systemic discrimination violating human rights and fundamental freedoms in both public and private lives. ISHR has joined many around the world to argue that the situation amounts to gender apartheid, and welcomes the call of the two mandate holders to develop normative standards and tools to address this as “an institutionalised system of discrimination, segregation, humiliation and exclusion of women and girls”. The gravity and severity is urgent, and requires that States act on the ongoing calls by Afghan civil society to establish an accountability mechanism for crimes against humanity.
Algeria
On 15 June, fifteen activists and peaceful protesters will face trial in Algiers on the basis of unfounded charges which include ‘enrolment in a terrorist or subversive organisation active abroad or in Algeria’ and ‘propaganda likely to harm the national interest, of foreign origin or inspiration’. The activists were arrested between 23 and 27 April 2021, and arbitrarily prosecuted within one criminal case. If convicted of these charges, they face a prison sentence of up to twenty years. This case includes HRDs Kaddour Chouicha, Jamila Loukil and Said Boudour who were members of the LADDH before its dissolution by the Administrative Court of Algiers following a complaint filed by the Interior Ministry on 29 June 2022. We urge States to monitor the prosecution closely, including by attending the trial. We also urge States to demand that Algeria, a HRC member, end its crackdown on human rights defenders and civil society organisations, amend laws used to silence peaceful dissent and stifle civil society, and immediately and unconditionally release arbitrarily detained human rights defenders.
China
The recent findings of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in March, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in May, and the seven key benchmarks on Xinjiang by 15 Special Rapporteurs add up to wide range of UN expert voices that have collectively raised profound concern at the Chinese government’s treatment of Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers and HRDs in mainland China. Seldom has the gap between the breadth of UN documentation on crimes against humanity and other grave violations and the lack of action by the Human Rights Council in response to such overwhelming evidence been so flagrant: the Council’s credibility is at stake. ISHR calls on the Council to promptly adopt a resolution requesting updated information on the human rights situation in Xinjiang, and a dialogue among all stakeholders on the matter. Governments from all regions should avoid selectivity, put an end to China’s exceptionalism, and provide a meaningful response to atrocity crimes on the basis of impartial UN-corroborated information.
The recent convictions of prominent rights defenders Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong to 12 and 14 years in jail respectively, and the recent detention of 2022 Martin Ennals awardee Yu Wensheng and his wife Xu Yan for ‘subversion of State power’ a year after his release, point to the need for sustained attention to the fate of HRDs in China. States should address in a joint statement the abuse of national security and other root causes of violations that commonly affect Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers and mainland Chinese HRDs. States should also ask for the prompt release of human rights defenders, including human rights lawyers Chang Weiping, Yu Wensheng and Ding Jiaxi, legal scholar Xu Zhiyong, feminist activists Huang Xueqin and Li Qiaochu, Uyghur doctor Gulshan Abbas, Hong Kong lawyer Chow Hang-tung, and Tibetan climate activist A-nya Sengdra.
Egypt
Since the joint statement delivered by States in March 2021 at the HRC, there has been no significant improvement in the human rights situation in Egypt despite the launching of the national human rights strategy and the national dialogue. The Egyptian government has failed to address, adequately or at all, the repeated serious concerns expressed by several UN Special Procedures over the broad and expansive definition of “terrorism”, which enables the conflation of civil disobedience and peaceful criticism with “terrorism”. The Human Rights Committee raised its concerns “that these laws are used, in combination with restrictive legislation on fundamental freedoms, to silence actual or perceived critics of the Government, including peaceful protesters, lawyers, journalists, political opponents and human rights defenders”. Egyptian and international civil society organisations have been calling on the HRC to establish a monitoring and reporting mechanism on the human rights situation in Egypt, applying objective criteria and in light of the Egyptian government’s absolute lack of genuine will to acknowledge, let alone address, the country’s deep-rooted human rights crisis.
Israel and OPT
Civil society continues to call on the OHCHR to implement, in full, the mandate provided by HRC resolution 31/36 of March 2016 with regards to the UN database of businesses involved in Israel’s illegal settlement industry. The resolution mandated the release of a report containing the names of the companies involved in Israel’s settlement enterprise, to be annually updated. The initial report containing a list of 112 companies was released by the OHCHR in February 2020, three years after the mandated release date and despite undue political pressure. Since then, the UN database has not been updated. UN member states should continue to call on the OHCHR to implement the mandate in full and publish an annual update, as this represents a question of credibility of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Council.
The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel will present its second report to the Council on 20 June. Member states should continue to support the work of the CoI to investigate the root causes of the situation in line with its mandate with a view to putting an end to 75 years of denial of the Palestinian’s people inalienable rights to self-determination and return. As the Palestinian people commemorate 75 years of Nakba (the destruction of Palestinian homeland and society), the CoI needs to address the root causes of the situation, including by investigating the ongoing denial of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the return of refugees, as well as the ongoing forcible displacement of Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line in the context of Israel’s imposition of a system of colonial apartheid.
In addition, on 10 July, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
Saudi Arabia
In light of the ongoing diplomatic rehabilitation of crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi authorities’ brazen repression continues to intensify, as ALQST has documented. Some notable recent trends include, but are not limited to: the further harsh sentencing of activists for peaceful social media use, such as women activists Salma al-Shehab (27 years), Fatima al-Shawarbi (30 years and six months) and Sukaynah al-Aithan (40 years); the ongoing detention of prisoners of conscience beyond the expiry of their sentences, some of whom continue to be held incommunicado such as human rights defenders Mohammed al-Qahtani and Essa al-Nukheifi, and; regressive developments in relation to the death penalty, including a wave of new death sentences passed and a surge in executions (47 individuals were executed from March-May 2023), raising concerns for those currently on death row, including several young men at risk for crimes they allegedly committed as minors. We call on the HRC to respond to the calls of NGOs from around the world to create a monitoring and reporting mechanism on the ever-deteriorating human rights situation in Saudi Arabia.
Nicaragua
Continued attention should be paid by States at the HRC to the steadily worsening situation in Nicaragua. On 2 June, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights raised ‘growing concerns that the authorities in Nicaragua are actively silencing any critical or dissenting voices in the country and are using the justice system to this end’. The OHCHR reports 63 individuals arbitrarily detained in May alone, with 55 charged with ‘conspiracy to undermine national integrity’ and ‘spreading false news’ within one single night, without access to a lawyer of their choosing. States should express support for the monitoring and investigation work of the OHCHR and the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN), and call on the Nicaraguan government to release the remaining 46 political prisoners, revoke its decision to strip deported political prisoners off their nationality, and take meaningful measures to prevent, address and investigate violence by armed settlers against Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendants.
Russia
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has also been accompanied by a domestic war of repression against human rights defenders, independent journalists and political dissent. Most recently, Russia has adopted a sweeping new law criminalising assistance to or cooperation with a range of international bodies, including the International Criminal Court, ad hoc tribunals, foreign courts and arguably even the UN Human Rights Council itself. This law is manifestly incompatible with the right to communicate and cooperate with international bodies, and a flagrant and institutionalised case of reprisal. With Russian authorities having been found by a UN-mandated Commission of Inquiry to be possibly responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes, and having a closed and highly repressive environment for civil society (ranking 17/100 in the CIVICUS Monitor), Russia is plainly unfit to be elected to the UN Human Rights Council and should be regarded as an illegitimate candidate. States should support and cooperate with the mandate of the new Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Russia, as well as with the Commission of Inquiry into human rights violations and abuses associated with Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.
Sudan
Since the beginning of the war in Sudan on 15 April 2023, increasing numbers of Sudanese WHRDs are receiving threats and subject to grave danger. WHRDs are facing challenges in evacuating from Sudan and face further protection risks in neighboring countries. Sudanese women groups and WHRDs are risking their lives to provide support, solidarity, and report on the rising numbers of sexual and gender-based violence crimes. Many survivors are trapped in fighting areas unable to access support, and the occupation of hospitals by RSF is hindering women’s access to health services. The Council must urgently establish an international investigation in Sudan with sufficient resources, including to investigate the threats and reprisals against WHRDs for their work, and to document sexual and gender-based violence. During the debate with the High Commissioner and designated expert on Sudan on 19 June, we urge States to condemn sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). States should highlight the impacts of the war on women and girls, including sexual and reproductive health as well as lack of support services for survivors of SGBV. States should reaffirm the importance of participation of women and their demands, and amplify the critical work of WHRDs on the ground despite the imminent risks to their lives and safety. States should also condemn the increasing threats against WHRDs and demand their effective protection.
Venezuela
On 5 July, the High Commissioner will present his report on the human rights situation in Venezuela, which will include an assessment of the level of implementation of UN recommendations already made to the State. The Council focus on Venezuela remains critical at a time when some States’ efforts to normalize relations with Venezuela risk erasing human rights from key agendas. Council members and observers should actively engage in the interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner to make evident that the human rights situation in the country remains at the heart of their concerns. The human rights and humanitarian situation in the country remains grave. Human rights defenders face ongoing and potentially increasing restrictions. We urge States to:
Express concern about the NGO bill, sitting with the Venezuelan National Assembly, and call for it to be withdrawn. The potential implications of this bill are to drastically shrink civic space, including by criminalising the work of human rights defenders;
Call for the release of all those detained arbitrarily – including defender Javier Tarazona who has been held since July 2021 and whose state of health is deteriorating;
Call for the rights of human rights defenders and journalists to be respected including during electoral periods, with a mind to Presidential elections next year; and
Call on Venezuela to engage fully with all UN agencies and mechanisms, including OHCHR, and develop a clear plan for the implementation of UN human rights recommendations made to it.
Tunisia
Civil society organisations have raised alarm at the escalating pattern of human rights violations and the rapidly worsening situation in Tunisia following President Kais Saied’s power grab on 25 July 2021 leading to the erosion of the rule of law, attacks on the independence of the judiciary, a crackdown on peaceful political opposition and abusive use of “counter-terrorism” law, as well as attacks on freedom of expression. The High Commissioner has addressed the deteriorating situation in the three latest global updates to the HRC. Special Procedures issued at least 8 communications in less than one year addressing attacks against the independence of the judiciary, as well as attacks against freedom of expression and assembly. Despite the fact that in 2011 Tunisia extended a standing invitation to all UN Special Procedures, and received 16 visits by UN Special Procedures since, Tunisia’s recent postponement of the visit of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, is another sign of Tunisia disengaging from international human rights mechanisms and declining levels of cooperation. The upcoming session provides a window of opportunity for the Council to exercise its prevention mandate and address the situation before the imminent risk of closure of civic space in Tunisia and regress in Tunisia’s engagement with the HRC and its mechanisms is complete.
Syria
On 5 July, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on Syria. In a report to the Human Rights Council in 2021, the Commission of Inquiry on Syria called for the establishment of a mechanism to reveal the fate of the missing and disappeared. On 28 March 2023, during the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, the Secretary-General and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights briefed UN Member States on the situation of the missing in Syria, and the findings of the study conducted by the Secretary-General as mandated by Resolution UNGA 76/228. The study concluded that in order to address the situation of the missing in Syria and its impact on families’ lives, it is necessary to create an institution to reveal the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared and to provide support to their families. As discussions are taking place in the UNGA to adopt a resolution establishing a humanitarian institution to reveal the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared, civil society, led by the Truth and Justice Charter, urges States to support the families of the missing to know the truth about the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones by voting in favour of the resolution at the UNGA.
Other country situations
The High Commissioner will present the annual report on 19 June. The Council will hold an interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s annual report on 20 June 2023. The Council will hold debates on and is expected to consider resolutions addressing a range of country situations, in some instances involving the renewal of the relevant expert mandates. These include:
Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea
Interactive Dialogues with the High Commissioner and the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar
Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Burundi
Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner on Ukraine
Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Belarus
Interactive Dialogue with the Fact-Finding Mission on Iran
Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on Central African Republic
Appointment of mandate holders
The President of the Human Rights Council has proposed candidates for the following mandates:
Special Rapporteur on minority issues (Mr Nicolas Levrat, Switzerland)
Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants (Ms Anna Triandafyllidou, Greece)
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism (Mr Ben Saul, Australia).
Resolutions to be presented to the Council’s 53rd session
At the organisational meeting on 5 June the following resolutions (selected) were announced (States leading the resolution in brackets):
Human rights situation in Syria (Germany, France, Italy, Jordan, Netherlands, Qatar, Turkey, USA, UK)
New and emerging digital technologies and human rights (Austria, Brazil, Denmark, South Korea, Morocco, Singapore)
Civil society space (Chile, Ireland, Japan, Sierra Leone, Tunisia)
Independence and impartiality of the judiciary, jurors and assessors, and the independence of lawyers – mandate renewal (Australia, Botswana, Hungary, Maldives, Mexico, Thailand)
Human rights of migrants (Mexico)
Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus – mandate renewal (EU)
Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea – mandate renewal (EU)
Business and human rights – mandate renewal (Russian Federation, Ghana, Argentina and Switzerland)
Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions – mandate renewal (Finland, Sweden)
Situation of human rights of Rohiynga muslims and other minorities in Myanmar (Pakistan on behalf of OIC)
Adoption of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) reports
During this session, the Council will adopt the UPR working group reports on Argentina, Benin, Czechia, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Japan, Pakistan, Peru, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and Zambia.
Panel discussions
During each Council session, panel discussions are held to provide member States and NGOs with opportunities to hear from subject-matter experts and raise questions. 5 panel discussions are scheduled for this upcoming session:
Panel discussion on the measures necessary to find durable solutions to the Rohingya crisis and to end all forms of human rights violations and abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar
Annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women [accessible panel]. Theme: Gender-based violence against women and girls in public and political life
Annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women [accessible panel]. Theme: Social protection: women’s participation and leadership
Annual panel discussion on the adverse impacts of climate change on human rights [accessible panel]. Theme: Adverse impact of climate change on the full realisation of the right to food
Panel discussion on the role of digital, media and information literacy in the promotion and enjoyment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression [accessible panel]
The purchase of professional golf by a brutal regime has exposed yet again the lack of moral sanctities on the global free market
Brace for another season of upheaval in the sports world. The Arabs are coming. Again. After the Qatar World Cup raised misgivings about sportswashing, that charge is now being levelled at Saudi Arabia. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF has essentially bought professional golf, taking over the PGA Tour by merging it with LIV, a new, smaller competition golf series that Saudi Arabia launched in 2021. Last year’s World Cup taught the Saudis a very important lesson. Oil is temporary; sport is for ever.
The move has triggered outrage. Human Rights Watch declared that Saudi Arabia “is attempting to ‘sportswash’ its egregious record of human rights violations”. US media channels have numerous segments discussing the ethics of accepting money from a notoriously brutal regime. These are justified concerns: Saudi Arabia’s image problem has intensified under its leader, Mohammed bin Salman, who brought the nation into global disrepute with the grisly murder of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a crackdown on political opposition and the ramping up of capital punishment. Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 81 people in 24 hours for crimes that included witchcraft and drug smuggling.
Col Rabih Alenezi received advice after reporting death threats, of which he says he receives 50 a week
A Saudi Arabian dissident living in London was told to “emulate” the life of the US whistleblower Edward Snowden by a Metropolitan police officer, amid death threats he received after fleeing his country.
Col Rabih Alenezi, 44, had been a senior official in Saudi Arabia’s security service for two decades, but sought asylum in the UK after he claimed to have been ordered to carry out human rights violations. His life was threatened for criticising the regime of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
London’s High Court has rejected a bid for a judicial review of the UK government’s decision to renew arms sales to Saudi Arabia that could be used in the war in Yemen. A pair of judges dismissed the case brought by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).
CAAT accused the government of contributing to breaches of international law and the world’s largest humanitarian disaster in Yemen. The bombing of Yemen has killed thousands of people in recent years. However, the judges sided with the government. They concluded that there had been “continuing rationality” in a risk assessment performed by officials before restarting arms sales to Saudi Arabia in 2020.
Defiant on arms sales
CAAT remained defiant after the ruling. Their spokesperson Emily Apple said:
While we are obviously disappointed with the verdict, we are particularly disappointed for the Yemeni people whose lives have been devastated by UK licensed bombs.
Apple also argued that the ruling is an effect of lax laws:
The court’s ruling, much of which was based on closed evidence that we were not allowed to hear, exposes the low threshold the government has to reach in order to sell weapons to regimes committing human rights violations.
Saudi Arabia has intervened militarily in Yemen since 2015, leading a regional coalition supporting pro-Yemeni government forces against Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Since 2015, according to CAAT, the UK government has licensed sales of weaponry to Saudi Arabia – including combat aircraft, guided bombs, and missiles – with a published value of £7.9 billion.
In fact, Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institute wrote in 2018:
The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) is entirely dependent on American and British support for its air fleet of F15 fighter jets, Apache helicopters, and Tornado aircraft. If either Washington or London halts the flow of logistics, the RSAF will be grounded.
Focus on Yemen
The Yemen Data Project, as of 7 June 2023, has found that there have been 25,054 coalition air raids in Yemen. 10,243 people have been injured, while 8983 people have died. The human cost of today’s legal ruling will no doubt be devastating for people in Yemen.
Yemeni human rights organisation Mwatana was involved in the case. Their lawyers from Global Legal Action Network stated:
Our clients, Mwatana, provided the government with first-hand evidence of airstrikes that killed scores of civilians. Instead of listening to them, the government went ahead and licensed yet more weapons to Saudi Arabia.
Late last year, Mwatana co-authored a report with Dutch peace organisation PAX. They looked at civilian harm from explosive weapons. This involved field research in Yemen and detailed incidents of harm to locals. They concluded:
This report documents ten incidents of harm resulting from attacks by the Saudi and United Arab Emirates led Coalition and the Ansar Allah armed group ( Houthis). In all the incidents explosive weapons were used in populated areas, most notably unguided shells and air-launched missiles
They also noted that:
The incidents demonstrate the urgent need for all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and better protect civilians, including by avoiding the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
The neocolonialism of the arms trade
However, this latest ruling shows that international human rights guidelines and laws are no marker for morality or ethics. As the Canary reported last year:
One understanding of whether a country is at war might be a physical presence in an outside nation. That is an outdated and ineffective understanding. Modern warfare and the global market means that the UK is indeed at war, not just with Yemen, but also with other countries the UK is selling arms exports to.
The ruling from the high court judges, however correct it is legally, is terrible morally. Britain has chosen to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia knowing full well that those same weapons will be used to devastate people in Yemen.
As ever, colonialism simply adapts to modern politics and technology. Britain’s choice to continue to facilitate the bombing of Yemen is entirely in step with its aggressive, violent, and ever-colonial attitude towards the Global South.
Martin Butcher, a policy advisor for Oxfam, said:
Today’s judgment from the High Court is terrible news. More than four armed attacks on civilians were carried out daily during 14 months of the war in Yemen. British arms sales have fuelled a war that has left more than two thirds of the population in need of humanitarian assistance.
Britain has a moral responsibility to the people being injured and killed in Yemen. Characteristically for Britain, however, neither the law nor any other type of formal recourse is going to right this terrible wrong.
Instead, it’s up to organisations like CAAT, Mwatana, and ordinary people to step forward and resist this latest iteration of neocolonialism.
Users of the social media app have faced legal consequences for posts – some private – that are critical of Saudi authorities
Saudi state media issued an explicit warning that it is a criminal offense to “insult” authorities using social media apps like Snapchat, the California-based messaging app whose chief executive officer recently forged a new “cooperation” deal with the kingdom’s culture ministry.
The threat – which was originally televised in April and then deleted – has gained new resonance as more cases emerge in which Snapchat users and influencers in the kingdom have been arrested by authorities and, in some cases, sentenced to decades-long prison sentences.
30 May 2023 – On Monday, Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia continued its bloody streak by executing two young Bahraini men convicted through confessions derived by torture. Sadiq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan were killed following Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s signature on their execution orders. The men had been the subject of an international human rights campaign demanding their extradition to Bahrain to face a lighter punishment.
Thamer and Sultan had been previously tried in the Bahraini court system, where they had been sentenced to life imprisonment on charges relating to joining a terrorist group and manufacturing explosives. Their trials in Bahrain were marred with due process violations, including the introduction of confessions obtained by means of torture – confessions that ultimately proved dispositive in securing their convictions.
However, shortly after their convictions in Bahrain, the two were transferred to Saudi Arabia, where they were tried again for the same alleged offenses. The trial in Saudi Arabia ran similarly to that which occurred in Bahrain, and the pair suffered from due process violations including lack of access to counsel, cruel and inhumane treatment during their trial, and the use of evidence including confessions derived by means of torture. Under international law, these due process violations would have resulted in a mistrial – instead, Saudi Arabia convicted them and sentenced them to death.
Thamer and Sultan were the subject of a long international human rights campaign towards their retrial, on the grounds that they had been tortured into confessing and that their trials had been illegal. Instead, Mohammed bin Salman – MbS, for short – signed their execution orders, and they were killed on Monday.
Since being welcomed back to the international spotlight following his involvement in the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, MbS has signed a total of 185 execution orders – he is responsible for an average of 12 executions per week in that time, believed to potentially be the most in the world over a similar timespan.
“185. That’s the number of lives that MbS has extinguished since the international community gave him a pass for his involvement in assassination,” said ADHRB Executive Director Husain Abdulla. “The cost of doing business with Saudi Arabia can’t just be measured in dollars, but also in human life.”
ADHRB condemns the execution of Sadiq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan in the strongest of terms, as we condemn the use of the death penalty in all of its forms.
There’s a lot of Trump legal news these days, what with the E. Jean Carroll verdict, the Manhattan hush money indictment, the news that Fulton County, Georgia, D.A. Fani Willis has put local authorities on notice to anticipate “something” coming in August, and a cascade of reporting on special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case…
Not long after the start of the war in Yemen, the southern port city of Aden, where artist Alaa Rubil lives, became the scene of brutal fighting.
For several months in 2015, artillery rained down on Aden. According to Human Rights Watch, Huthi rockets and mortars fired into densely populated areas killed dozens of civilians. Rubil, now 30, has been painting murals since he was a teenager, but found his voice in the aftermath of that round of violence.
He told Agence France-Presse (AFP):
I saw that the government was not aware of the people who were displaced. I wanted to communicate my message to the world by drawing people who lost their homes and families.
He continued:
By using the walls, I could reach the world.
Today, the rubble-strewn streets of Aden double as a semi-permanent exhibition of Alaa’s work – and a testament to what the city’s inhabitants have lived through.
AFP tweeted this video interview with Alaa:
VIDEO: Alaa Rubil has turned the rubble-strewn streets of the war-torn city into a semi-permanent exhibition of his work and a testament to what he and his neighbours have lived through. pic.twitter.com/CiRv3OJNod
On the wall of one shop in a particularly hard-hit area, Alaa painted a large outline of a man’s face but obscured the eyes, nose and mouth with a cupped palm holding up three sticks of dynamite. Across the street, on the interior wall of a bombed-out apartment building, a piece he calls ‘Silent Suffering’ depicts a skeleton playing the violin as peace signs float around its skull. In another work, a girl in a red dress sits on the ground with her head resting in her left hand, next to a black crow perched on a missile.
Behind her, the girl’s deceased relatives, rendered in black and white, peer down from an open window. The image is based on the true story of a girl who lived in the area and lost her family in the fighting, Alaa said:
She thinks that war is a game. She thinks that her family is returning, So she is waiting for them.
Amr Abu Bakr Saeed, who lives nearby, told AFP that the paintings were a dark but necessary tribute to the dead. He said:
When we pass through this place, we feel pain, we feel the people who were here. These paintings express the tragedies of the people whose homes were destroyed and who were displaced, and prove that war really took place in Yemen.
‘No one cares’
A little more than eight years ago, the Saudi-led coalition attacked Yemen, aiming to topple the Huthis, who had seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014. The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people either through combat or knock-on effects such as hunger and disease. Millions remain displaced, their homes and communities destroyed.
A truce that went into effect in April 2022 officially expired in October, but has still significantly reduced fighting across the country, raising hopes for a durable peace. Riyadh sent a delegation to Sanaa last month to meet with the Huthis, and the kingdom’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, told AFP this month he believed all parties were “serious” about bringing an end to the war.
Walking through the ramshackle streets of Aden, carrying his paint and brushes in a small basket so he could touch up several pieces, Alaa said he, too, was trying to be optimistic. He said:
I love the idea that this place could turn from a centre of destruction to a centre of peace.
He added that he hoped art could help the city rebuild. But he acknowledged that many Aden residents were still waiting to see tangible progress.
Local Yasmin Anwar Abdel Shakur said, as she passed by on her way home from work in a government health office, that:
For me, nothing has changed.
She described how most buildings that were heavily damaged during the war remain unrepaired, saying that locals “are threatened by buildings falling over on us at any time”. And she concluded:
Many people have died here, their lives are gone. No one knows and no one cares.
We, the undersigned human rights organisations, call on Saudi authorities to reveal the health condition of and immediately and unconditionally release prominent Saudi human rights defender and co-founder of the now dissolved Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA)*, Dr. Mohammed al-Qahtani, who has been detained incommunicado for six months. We also call for the immediate and unconditional release of four ACPRA members who remain in arbitrary detention.
Today, 24 April 2023, marks six months since prominent Saudi human rights defender and co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA)* Mohammed al-Qahtani last contacted his family. Since then, the authorities have subjected him to incommunicado detention. Al-Qahtani served his full sentence in November 2022. Five ACPRA members remain imprisoned in reprisal for their peaceful human rights activism: Mohammed al-Qahtani, Essa al-Hamid, Mohammed al-Bajadi, Fawzan al-Harbi, and Abdulaziz al-Shubaili.
Mohammed al-Qahtani was arbitrarily arrested in March 2012 and interrogated regarding his work with ACPRA and his peaceful activism. On 9 March 2013, the Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced him to 10 years in prison to be followed by a travel ban of equal length on charges including “breaking allegiance to the ruler”, “questioning the integrity of officials”, “seeking to disrupt security and inciting disorder by calling for demonstrations”, and “instigating international organizations against the Kingdom.” The authorities failed to release Al-Qahtani on 22 November 2022, when he finished serving his prison sentence. However, since 24 October 2022, Saudi authorities have denied him any contact with his family and continue to keep him in incommunicado detention.
Despite al-Qahtani’s wife making several inquiries about him to al-Ha’ir prison, where al-Qahtani was serving his sentence, prison officers continue to refuse to disclose any information about him. His family has reasons to believe that he has entered into a hunger strike and his health has considerably deteriorated, putting his life at imminent risk. This is not the first time Mohammed al-Qahtani was denied contact with his family. In April 2021, he was held incommunicado after testing positive for Covid-19, raising fears regarding his health and well-being for the duration of his illness. For the past 10 years of imprisonment, security forces subjected al-Qahtani to inhumane and degrading conditions of detention, and they have also subjected him to torture and ill-treatment, including beatings.
We are all the more concerned about -al-Qahtani’s well-being considering the death of ACPRA co-founder Abdullah al-Hamid in detention on 23 April 2020. Abdullah al-Hamid suffered from hypertension, and his doctor told him three months before he passed away that he needed to undergo heart surgery. He was threatened by prison authorities that if he told his family about his health condition, they would cut his communication with his family. Dr Abdullah al-Hamid had suffered a stroke on 9 April 2020 and remained in detention, despite being in a coma in the intensive care unit at al-Shumaisi Hospital in Riyadh.
Following al-Hamid’s death, the Saudi authorities carried out a wave of arrests against several individuals who expressed sympathy over his passing.
Created in 2009 by 11 human rights defenders and academics, ACPRA was established to promote and protect fundamental rights and freedoms in Saudi Arabia, including through promoting constitutional reforms. While ACPRA was never officially registered by the government, it was formally banned as an organization and dissolved by court order in 2013. As of May 2016, all of its 11 members had been sentenced by the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) to lengthy prison sentences ranging between seven and 15 years for their human rights activism and cooperation with the United Nations human rights mechanisms.
In light of the above, we, the undersigned organisations, reiterate our call on the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mohammed al-Qahtani and other imprisoned members of ACPRA who are arbitrarily detained solely for their peaceful activism. In the interim, we call on the authorities to disclose the fate and whereabouts of Mohammed al-Qahtani, ensure immediate contact with his family, and provide him with any medical care he may need. Saudi Arabia should ensure a free and enabling environment for all human rights defenders, in order for them to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals and without undue restrictions.See also: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/78383825-0b3f-4bca-883a-b81e1baecd09
Among the co-founding members of ACPRA, five remain imprisoned today: Dr Mohammed al-Qahtani (sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by a 10-year travel ban. He completed his sentence in November 2022, yet remains in detention incommunicado); Mohammed al-Bajadi (sentenced to four years in prison, four years of suspension followed by a 10-year travel ban, and currently detained since May 2018); Abdulaziz al-Shubaili (sentenced to eight years in prison followed by an eight-year travel ban); Fowzan al-Harbi (sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by a 10-year travel ban); Essa al-Hamid (sentenced to 11 years in prison, followed by an 11-year travel ban). Sheikh Sulaiman al-Rashudi (sentenced to 15 years in prison and a 15-year travel ban. He was released in April 2018 for medical reasons; Abdulkarim al-Khodr (sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by a 10-year travel ban. He was released in January 2023 upon the completion of his sentence but remains subject to the travel ban); Abdulrahman al-Hamid sentenced to 9 years in prison, followed by a 9-year travel ban. He was released in January 2023 upon the completion of his sentence but remains subject to a travel ban); Dr Abdullah al-Hamid (sentenced to 11 years in prison followed by an 11-year travel ban), passed away on 23 April 2020 in custody. Abdullah al-Hamid and Mohammed al-Qahtani, alongside Waleed Abu al-Khair, have received the Right Livelihood Award in November 2018.
Signatories:
MENA Rights Group
Right Livelihood
ALQST
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
European Center for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR)
European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR)
Freedom Initiative
Human Rights Foundation (HRF)
HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
Amnesty International
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
Human Rights First
Action des Chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture (ACAT France)
24 MAY 2023 – On the signature of Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia executed between 22 and 23 May 2023 four young men from Al Qatif, three on Monday 22 May and one on Tuesday 23 May for exercising their freedom of expression. Hassan Issa al Muhanna, Haidar Hassan Mowes, Mohammed Ibrahim Mowes , and Ahmed bin Ali bin Mutoq Al Badr , were subjected to excruciating acts of torture in order to coerce confessions. They were convicted on charges that would ordinarily not be considered death-eligible under international law, including training in the use of weapons, intent to smuggle, and association with a terrorist organization. This latest execution brings the total number of persons killed to 36 this year alone.
Hassan AlMahanna and Haidar Al-Muwees were both arrested in 2013 and were brutally tortured, physically and mentally, until they were forced to sign a confession. They were executed without notice. Similarly, Mohamed Al-Muwees: was arrested by Saudi security forces, after they set a trap and was sentenced to death but was later replaced. However, he was then executed on terrorism charges. Ahmed Al Badr was also executed on terrorism charges after he was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. His sentence was replaced with the death sentence.
The move comes as the latest in a long string of executions dating back to last year. Prior to these executions, Saudi Arabia had promised to end the execution of children and persons who were convicted for offenses they allegedly committed as minors, and had also placed a moratorium on executions for the death penalty – a practice which disproportionately affects immigrant men, who often perform services as drug mules for criminal organizations led by Saudi citizens.
Executions in the Kingdom cannot occur without permission from the King or, in his absence, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – known internationally by his acronym, MbS. The Crown Prince has been leading the country for over half a decade on behalf of his ailing father, King Salman al-Saud.
MbS was cast out by the international community in the wake of his alleged involvement in the murder of the Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. President Biden went as far as to pledge to treat Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” during his campaign. Yet after the onset of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Western Europe and the United States allowed Mohammed bin Salman back onto the world stage. MbS responded by immediately executing 81 people, going on to murder a further 115 over the course of the remaining year – and even re-sentencing another child to death.
“This latest mass execution leaves no doubt, if any remains at all – this is MbS’s Saudi Arabia,” said ADHRB Executive Director Husain Abdulla. “Far from the promises of reform designed to draw in international investment, or the bright and shiny mirror cities that make up his fever dreams, the Crown Prince’s vision for his Kingdom is far more brutal. His Saudi Arabia kills old men for confessing to smuggling drugs under excruciating acts of torture. His Saudi Arabia murders journalists that he personally doesn’t like. His Saudi Arabia executes children by firing squad.”
ADHRB condemns the death penalty in all forms, as well as the recent monumental increase in the number of executions taking place in Saudi Arabia. We call on the Government of Saudi Arabia to place a general moratorium on the death penalty with a view towards eventual abolition, in line with its commitments under the Convention against Torture and evolving international law.
#EndTheDeathSentence is a slogan launched by Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain in its campaign to demand the commutation of the death sentences against the two Bahraini young men, Sadeq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan, who are sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia. The campaign also demands their immediate release, as they are at risk of imminent execution at any moment after exhausting all legal remedies. ADHRB also urges pressure on Bahrain to demand the return of Sadeq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan and to overturn the sentences issued against them.
In the spirit of these demands, the organization has sent letters to the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Chairperson, and members of the Joint Committee on Human Rights in the US Congress, the British Parliament, the Swiss Parliament, the Norwegian Parliament, and the Icelandic Parliament, as well as to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urging those bodies to take actions:
. Expressing deep concern about the conditions of detention of Sadeq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan and their imminent risk of execution;
. Exerting pressure through relevant diplomatic channels to demand that Saudi Arabia and Bahrain put an end to human rights violations and reduce the use of the death penalty with the goal of abolishing it; and
. Raising the issue in all international forums and on social media platforms to halt the executions of Sadeq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan and secure their immediate release.
The campaign will continue on social media for a week, with a number of posts being released under the hashtag #EndTheDeathSentence on the organization’s accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, along with a number of infographics that document the case of the two young men. The spotlight will be on the main demands outlined in the message.
About the case
On 7 October 2021, after multiple human rights violations that affected Sadeq and Jaafar since their arrest, including torture, disappearance, and forced confessions, followed by a trial marred by substantial due process violations, the Specialized Criminal Court in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sentenced both Jaafar Mohammed Sultan and Sadeq Majid Thamer to death on charges of transporting and possessing explosive materials. The verdict was based on coerced confessions obtained under torture. Despite their appeal, the Saudi Supreme Court upheld their death sentences on 6 April 2022. The verdict is final and may be executed at any moment upon the King’s signature.
The Bahraini Fourth Criminal Court previously ruled on 31 May 2016 to sentence Sadeq and Jaafar to life imprisonment in Bahrain with a fine of 200,000 Bahraini dinars for the same incident for which they were convicted in Saudi Arabia. They were forced under torture to confess to charges of forming a terrorist group and joining it, possession and manufacturing of explosives, and training on the use of weapons and explosives.
Despite this, the Saudi and Bahraini authorities did not respond to requests to coordinate between the relevant authorities to return Sadeq and Jaafar to Bahrain to serve their life sentences.
On 26 January 2022, four UN special rapporteurs, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur on protecting human rights while countering terrorism, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, expressed their concern about the death sentences handed down to the young men, Sadeq Thamer and Jaafar Sultan, in a letter addressed to the Saudi government. The UN Procedures called on Saudi Arabia to immediately commute the death sentences and reiterated their call for Saudi Arabia to impose an official moratorium on all executions as a first step towards the complete abolition of the death penalty in the country.
On 1 June 2022, two Irish deputies drew the attention of the Irish Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney, to the urgent case of Jaafar Mohamed Sultan and Sadeq Majid Thamer, who have been sentenced to death. They urged him to issue a statement on the matter and to urge Saudi Arabia to immediately halt the executions and abolish the death penalty in the kingdom.
In addition, several international organizations have issued statements to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia calling for the commutation of the death sentences against Sultan and Thamer. Their case has not been absent from the sessions of the Human Rights Council, especially in the last two sessions of the Council, the fifty-first and fifty-second.
The arrest of Sadeq and Jaafar by the Saudi authorities without a warrant, as well as their subjugation to torture to coerce confessions and conviction on charges they had previously been tried for in Bahrain, constitutes a violation of international standards regarding legal procedures and guaranteed fair trial in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The death sentences imposed on them contradict the fundamental principles of human rights and violate their right to a fair trial.
Hypocrisy and humanity’s failure to “unite around consistently applied human rights and universal values” expose a system unfit to tackle global crises, according to a report published by Amnesty International on Monday, the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“The West’s robust response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine contrasts sharply with a deplorable lack of meaningful action on grave violations by some of their allies including Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt,” Amnesty said in an introduction to its annual global human rights report.
“As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights turns 75, Amnesty International insists that a rules-based international system must be founded on human rights and applied to everyone, everywhere,” the group asserted.
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Amnesty continued:
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 unleashed numerous war
crimes, generated a global energy and food crisis, and sought to further
disrupt a weak multilateral system. It also laid bare the hypocrisy of
Western states that reacted forcefully to the Kremlin’s aggression but
condoned or were complicit in grave violations committed elsewhere…
Double standards and inadequate responses to human rights abuses taking place around the world fuelled impunity and instability, including deafening silence on Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, inaction on Egypt, and the refusal to confront Israel’s system of apartheid against Palestinians.
The report also highlights China’s use of strong-arm tactics to suppress international action on crimes against humanity it has committed, as well as the failure of global and regional institutions—hamstrung by the self-interest of their members—to respond adequately to conflicts killing thousands of people including in Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Yemen.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a chilling example of what can happen when states think they can flout international law and violate human rights without consequences,” Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard said in a statement.
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created 75 years ago, out of the ashes of the Second World War. At its core is the universal recognition that all people have rights and fundamental freedoms,” she added. “While global power dynamics are in chaos, human rights cannot be lost in the fray. They should guide the world as it navigates an increasingly volatile and dangerous environment. We must not wait for the world to burn again.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib on Monday led two dozen House Democrats in urging Congress to allocate at least $1.2 billion in humanitarian aid for Yemen—whose people have suffered eight years of U.S.-backed Saudi war—in next year’s budget.
“As we approach the 8th anniversary of the Yemen war, the country remains stuck in a devastating cycle of conflict and humanitarian crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives,” Tlaib (D-Mich.) and 23 other lawmakers wrote in a letter to House Subcommittee on State and Foreign Relations Chair Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Ranking Member Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).
“Yemen has the grim title of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with over 4 million Yemenis displaced and an estimated 80% of the country’s 30 million people reliant upon some form of assistance for their survival,” the letter, which was first sent last week, asserts.
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The letter’s authors lament that “international appeals for assistance for Yemen have consistently [fallen] short of their goals by large margins” and that “the continuous reduction in funding has greatly exacerbated the humanitarian suffering.”
The United Nations “has had to close over 75% of its lifesaving programs, and the World Food Program has been forced to cut or reduce food distribution to 8 million people, increasing the number of areas at risk of famine,” the letter notes.
“Without a significant increase in American assistance (which we believe would incentivize foreign nations to increase their support in turn), we fear that 2023 will be a heartbreakingly deadly year for everyday Yemenis,” the signers assert.
The lawmakers urge Congress to include at least $1.2 billion “for humanitarian relief and reconstruction efforts in Yemen” in the budget for fiscal year 2024. They also ask the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development “to develop programming that directly invests in sustainably developing long-term economic opportunities for Yemenis.”
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Tlaib is one of four dozen bipartisan House lawmakers who last June introduced a War Powers Resolution to end “unauthorized” United States military involvement in the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen’s civil war.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), along with Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), introduced a similar measure in the Senate. Last December, Sanders withdrew the resolution just before it was slated for a floor vote, while vowing to work with the Biden administration on ending U.S. involvement in the war.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams.
On 23 March, ADHRB has delivered an oral intervention at the United Nation Human Rights Council session 52 under item 4 during the General debate. ADHRB calls on Saudi Arabia to release all Human rights defenders and Activists.
Mr. president.
We would like to call the council’s attention to Saudi Arabia’s escalating utilization of anti-terrorism and cybercrime laws in 2022 as a form of intimidation and reprisal against human rights defenders and opposition activists, some of whom are from other nationalities. Many activists who published or shared tweets expressing their opinion received long prison sentences and fines, as well as travel bans. Salma Al-Shehab, Mahdia Marzouki, Noura Al Qahtani, Saad Almadi and others were sentenced to years in prison or even life imprisonment in entirely unfair trials after being charged with disturbing public order, destabilizing the society’s security and stability and other ambiguous charges. These are profound violations of international standards and Saudi Arabia’s human rights obligations. In this regard, we reiterate the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ serious concerns about the mass arrests and called on Saudi Arabia to establish strong legislative frameworks that are compatible with international human rights law in order to support the rights of freedom of expression, freedom of association and the right to peaceful assembly. We call on the council to pressure Saudi Arabia to abolish or amend its anti-terrorism and cybercrime systems and to release all imprisoned activists and human rights defenders.
Saudi Aramco, an oil giant almost entirely owned by the government of Saudi Arabia, announced Sunday that it brought in a staggering $161.1 billion in profits last year as it joined other fossil fuel companies in capitalizing on energy market turmoil sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The company’s profit figure for 2022 is the largest ever recorded by an oil corporation. Amin Nasser, Aramco’s CEO, declared on an earnings call that “this is probably the highest net income ever recorded in the corporate world.”
For comparison, ExxonMobil—the second-largest oil company in the world behind Aramco—reported $56 billion in net income last year, a record for the U.S. firm but nowhere close to the Saudi corporation’s haul.
“It is shocking for a company to make a profit of more than $161.1 billion in a single year through the sale of fossil fuel—the single largest driver of the climate crisis,” Agnès Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, said in a statement. “It is all the more shocking because this surplus was amassed during a global cost-of-living crisis and aided by the increase in energy prices resulting from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Aramco said its banner profits—driven by “stronger crude oil prices, higher volumes sold, and improved margins for refined products”—were up nearly 47% compared to 2021, a windfall the company has used to reward investors.
“Aramco declared a dividend of $19.5 billion for the fourth quarter, to be paid in Q1 2023,” the oil firm said in a press release. “This represents a 4.0% increase compared to the previous quarter, aligned with the company’s dividend policy aiming to deliver a sustainable and progressive dividend. Additionally, the Board of Directors also recommended the distribution of bonus shares to eligible shareholders in the amount of one share for every 10 shares held.”
While Aramco said it intends to devote resources to “lower-carbon technologies” and carbon-capture initiatives that climate campaigners have dismissed as false solutions, the company made clear that it has no intention of shifting aggressively away from fossil fuel production—a transition scientists say is necessary to avert climate catastrophe.
In its earnings announcement, Aramco said it is committed to “expanding oil, gas, and chemicals production.”
Saudi Arabia is the second-largest oil producer in the world behind the United States. Late last year, the Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to slash oil production by 2 million barrels a day in a bid to keep prices high—benefiting companies like Aramco, Exxon, and other fossil fuel majors that have posted record-shattering 2022 profits as households struggle to heat their homes.
“It is past time that Saudi Arabia acted in humanity’s interest and supported the phasing out of the fossil fuel industry, which is essential for preventing further climate harm,” Callamard said Sunday. “These extraordinary profits, and any future income derived from Aramco, should not be deployed to finance human rights abuses, cover them up, or try and gloss over them.”
While advocates of peace and a multipolar world order welcomed Friday’s China-brokered agreement reestablishing diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, U.S. press, pundits, and politicians expressed what one observer called “imperial anxieties” over the deal and growing Chinese influence in a region dominated by the United States for decades. The deal struck between the two countries…
We have seen much recently about the Ukraine war anniversary. But this is also the anniversary of other wars: March marks the 8th anniversary of the war on Yemen and the 20th on Iraq. Members of Congress, including Senator Bernie Sanders, should introduce a Yemen War Powers Resolution before this war enters a 9th year.
On March 1st activists in 10 cities across the United States protested at congressional offices and beyond, calling on their lawmakers to bring the harmful U.S. role in the Yemen war to a rapid and final end. Over 70 organizations called for and supported the protests.
During Wednesday’s protests, activists called on Sanders and other federal lawmakers to introduce a new Yemen War Powers Resolution this month. If brought to the floor for a vote, Congress could order the president to end U.S. participation in the catastrophic conflict, which the U.S. has enabled for eight years. Sanders sponsored last year’s bill, but when he moved to bring the resolution to a floor vote in December, he was shut down by the Biden administration.
In December, Sanders pledged to return to the Senate floor with a new Yemen War Powers Resolution if he and the administration were unable to agree to “strong and effective” action that would achieve his goals.
Without meaningful public action from Biden at this point, the time is now for Sen. Sanders to make good on his pledge. For over 10 months, Saudi Arabia has not dropped any bombs on Yemen. However, this could change anytime. If the United States continues to support the war, it will be implicated in Saudi aggression if, and likely when, the conflict escalates.
Without meaningful public action from Biden at this point, the time is now for Sen. Sanders to make good on his pledge.
Approximately two–thirds of the Royal Saudi Air Force receive direct support from U.S. military contracts in the form of spare parts and maintenance. TheSaudi-led coalition has relied on this support to carry out these offensive strikes in Yemen. The United States has no sufficient compelling interest in Yemen that justifies implication in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Since March 2015, the Saudi Arabia and /UAE)-led bombing and blockade of Yemen have killed hundreds of thousands of people and wreaked havoc on the country, creating one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. 17 million people in Yemen are food insecure and 500,000 children are experiencing severe wasting, also known as severe acute malnutrition.
For years virtually no containerized goods have been allowed to enter Hodeida, Yemen’s principal Red Sea port Hodeida. Containerized goods include essentially everything other than food and fuel. This has helped cripple the economy and prevented critical life-saving medicine and medical equipment from reaching people in need.
This humanitarian crisis has worsened since President Biden took office. Admittedly this is not entirely his fault. The Biden administration took some initial good steps forward, including reversing the Trump administration’s policy to designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and reversing an arms transfer in the works when Biden took office. The war in Ukraine and global wheat shortage have hit Yemen hard; the country relies heavily on imports. Climate disasters have also exacerbated the effects of the conflict in Yemen. But the Biden administration does bear partial responsibility for the continued suffering in Yemen.
Despite President Biden’s February 2021 commitment to end participation in Saudi offensive operations in Yemen, the U.S. has continued support for the war. The U.S. has continued to provide spare parts and maintenance for the Saudi air force, which increased the frequency of airstrikes on Yemen in 2021 and early 2022 – after Biden took office.
Without a negotiated settlement, nothing prevents Saudi Arabia from restarting airstrikes in Yemen. With apparent never-ending and unconditional U.S. military support, Saudi Arabia lacks an incentive to once and for all completely lift its blockade of Yemen and withdraw from Yemen.
In 2018 Saudi dictator Mohammed Bin Salman ordered the murder of a U.S. journalist and then lied about it. Just last year Saudi Arabia manipulated global energy markets to raise fuel prices and empower Russia in its immoral and illegal invasion of Ukraine. These are just a couple recent demonstrations of a history of destructive activity by Saudi Arabia that is harmful to the United States and its allies. The Biden administration was correct in October when it called for a re-evaluation of the US-Saudi relationship, urging Congress to propose measures to hold Saudi Arabia accountable. Passing the Yemen War Powers Resolution is a chance to do exactly that.
Organizations that signed the call to protest the war March 1st included the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, the Yemeni Alliance Committee, About Face: Veterans Against War, Veterans for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America, the Libertarian Institute, Avaaz, CODEPINK, Peace Action, United for Peace and Justice, Democratic Socialists of America International Committee, Women’s League for International Peace and Freedom – US Section, among over 70 organizations. Over 100 national organizations – humanitarian, veterans’, libertarian, and others – wrote to Congress as recently as December urging their passage of the Yemen War Powers Resolution. Bernie Sanders should re-introduce his resolution.
Under Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, the power to raise and support armies is reserved for Congress. No Congressional authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) has been issued for Yemen. The War Powers Resolution empowers Congress to invoke its constitutional war powers authority to end unconstitutional U.S. participation in wars like the war in Yemen.
The bill prevents a resumption of offensive Saudi airstrikes in Yemen by prohibiting U.S. involvement in them. This legislation can promote a negotiated settlement and long-term, lasting peace between the warring parties.
Saturday, March 25 will mark the eighth anniversary of the beginning of the Saudi-led coalition’s bombing of Yemen. To mark the occasion, US and international groups will hold an online rally to inspire and enhance education and activism to end the war in Yemen. Join grassroots organizers on March 25th at 12pm Eastern. Register now.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams.
Ministers from 35 countries recently met to discuss a proposed ban on Russian athletes in the 2024 Olympic games. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined the meeting and dramatically stated, “If there’s an Olympic sport with killings and missile strikes, you know which team would take first place.” The Russian military has indeed inflicted tragedy on Ukraine. However, Zelensky’s remarks also…
Last six years among bloodiest in kingdom’s modern history despite push to modernise
The rate of executions carried out by Saudi Arabia has almost doubled under the rule of the de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, with the past six years being among the bloodiest in the Kingdom’s modern history, a report has found.
Rates of capital punishment are at historically high levels, despite a push to modernise with widespread reforms and a semblance of individual liberties. Activist groups say the price of change has been high, with a total crackdown on the crown prince’s political opponents and zero tolerance for dissent.
Human rights advocates have condemned the decision to allow Saudi Arabia’s tourism authority to sponsor the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, calling it a “textbook case of sportswashing”.
Visit Saudi is set to join international brands such as Adidas, Coca-Cola and Visa in attaching their names to the 32-team tournament that is due to kick off on 20 July at Auckland’s Eden Park.
On Tuesday 31 January, London’s High Court will examine the legality of a UK government decision to renew selling arms to Saudi Arabia that could be used in the war in Yemen.
Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has brought the legal action. It’s accusing the government of contributing to breaches of international law and the world’s largest humanitarian disaster, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. While many have been killed by the conflict itself, hundreds of thousands of others have died from disease and hunger caused by Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. Millions are living in extreme poverty, and a United Nations 2021 report stated that 1.3 million people would die by 2030.
The judicial review is expected to last until the end of the week. CAAT brought the legal challenge after Britain announced in summer 2020 that it was resuming arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Profit over lives
Ahead of the hearing, CAAT’s media coordinator Emily Apple accused London of being a
government that cares more about profit than war crimes and the deaths of civilians.
CAAT initially won its case against the government in 2019, when the Court of Appeal ruled that the UK’s licensing of arms sales was unlawful. The court said the government had failed to assess properly whether the arms sales violated its human rights commitments and ordered it to “reconsider the matter”.
While serving as international trade minister, Liz Truss then conducted a review and announced in 2020 that export licences would restart. She insisted Riyadh “has a genuine intent” to comply with international humanitarian law, despite “isolated incidents”.
CAAT accused Truss of “paying lip service” to the need to review sales. It condemned Truss’s reference to “isolated incidents”, saying it was:
total nonsense and deeply offensive to all the Yemeni people who’ve had their lives destroyed by UK weapons.
The UK has supplied billions of pounds worth of fighter jets, bombs and missiles to the Saudi-led coalition for use in Yemen. At least 8,983 civilians have been killed in attacks by the coalition, which has targeted homes and farms, schools and hospitals, weddings and funerals.
There is plentiful evidence that the Saudi-led coalition has broken humanitarian law. CAAT argues that UK rules ban arms sales:
where there is a “clear risk” that a weapon “might” be used in a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law.
The widow of murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Monday denounced former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his comments about her husband in Pompeo’s upcoming memoir, in which he questions Khashoggi’s journalism credentials and his allegiances.
As excerpts from Pompeo’s book, Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, became public a day before its publication date, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi told NBC News she wishes she were able “to silence all of these people who publish books, disparage my husband, and collect money from it.”
Elatr Khashoggi fired back after NBC News reported that in Pompeo’s book, he writes of Jamal Khashoggi, “He didn’t deserve to die, but we need to be clear about who he was—and too many in the media were not.”
\u201c\u201cHe didn\u2019t deserve to die, but we need to be clear about who he was,” writes Mike Pompeo about Jamal Khashoggi.\n\nAstonishing use of “but” that enables the efforts of the Saudi regime to blame Khashoggi for his own murder\nhttps://t.co/gX72GEIN8H\u201d
The book contains accusations that Khashoggi “was cozy with the terrorist-supporting Muslim Brotherhood,” alludes to his coverage of and friendship with Osama bin Laden when both were young, and says he was an “activist” rather than a journalist.
Elatr Khashoggi, whom the Saudi national married in 2018 in an Islamic ceremony, told NBC that “Jamal Kashoggi is not part of the Muslim Brotherhood” and that he “always condemned” the September 11, 2001 attacks masterminded by bin Laden.
“Whatever Mike Pompeo mentions about my husband Jamal Khashoggi, he doesn’t know my husband,” Elatr Khashoggi tweeted.
\u201c@_DanMangan @NBCNews Whatever @mikepompeo mentions about my husband @JKhashoggi he doesn\u2019t know my husband. He should be silent and shut up the lies about my husband. It is such bad information and the wrong information. This is not acceptable. #justiceforjamal\u201d
Khashoggi, who wrote critically of the Saudi government, was killed in October 2018 by a group of assassins in Istanbul. Khashoggi’s family sued Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and accused him of personally ordering the execution in 2020, and a United Nations report found that “high-level officials” in Saudi Arabia were responsible for the murder, but last year the Biden administration recommended that bin Salman, as prime minister, be shielded from U.S. lawsuits regarding the case.
While attacking Khashoggi for his loyalties, Pompeo, a Republican who has said he is considering a 2024 presidential run, notes in the book that the U.S. has a “strategic” relationship with the Saudis to consider.
“Shame on you, Mike Pompeo, HarperCollins, and Broadside Books for publishing these lies about my husband,” tweeted Elatr Khashoggi.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams.
