Several prominent rights groups announced Monday that they would not be attending the C20 (Civil 20) civil rights assembly in Saudi Arabia because of the kingdom's alleged human rights violations
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th January, 2020) Several prominent rights groups announced Monday that they would not be attending the C20 (Civil 20) civil rights assembly in Saudi Arabia because of the kingdom's alleged human rights violations.
Saudi Arabia assumed rotating presidency of the G20 and this week hosts the kick-off meeting of the C20, an engagement group to ensure civil society representation during the annual congregation of world leaders.
Human rights group Amnesty International, along with anti-corruption organization Transparency International and activist alliance network CIVICUS, released statements denouncing the meeting as a "farcical attempt by the new G20 hosts to whitewash their dire human rights record."
"The C20 in Riyadh is a sham. We cannot participate in a process which is being abused by a state which censors all free speech, criminalizes activism for women's and minority rights, as well as homosexuality, and tortures and executes critics," Research and Advocacy Director at Amnesty International, Netsanet Belay, said in the statement.
Amnesty International went on to blast the kingdom's expensive PR campaign to improve its image as a "carefully cultivated façade" behind which systematic human rights remain rife, according to the statement.
Transparency International said that Saudi Arabia's strictly controlled media landscape would all but guarantee that C20 discussions would never reach the wider Saudi people, who would instead be restricted to a "state-sanctioned narrative."
All three organizations mentioned the 2018 killing of critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul as a manifestation of the kingdom's practices against critical voices.
Saudi Arabia under de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman has been on a liberalization trend aimed at diversifying the economy and weaning off dependence on oil revenue. Despite granting women the right to drive and limiting the power of religious police in society, Saudi Arabia remains a target for criticism for its jailing of intellectuals and feminist activists, high rates of executions, and suppression of civil society voices.
The G20 summit is set to be held in Riyadh in November.
