There is a huge amount of pressure on the world leaders to boycott the upcoming G20 Summit that is going to be held later this month in Saudi Arabia due to the alleged torture of women activists in the kingdom, as per reports. The fate of the women activists who get detained has become a big source of concern for the human rights groups and the members of parliaments, after a series of reports on the bad treatment by the officials many of whom are said to be close to the Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman was released.
The latest reports were made by the Baroness Helena Kennedy of The Shaws, OC. The human rights lawyer stated that the women's rights activists were forced to kiss and also perform sexual activities during their interrogation, in a 40-page dossier that called the countries to boycott the summit.
The report named 'A Stain on World Leaders and the G20 Summit in Saudi Arabia', had Kennedy mentioning that many of the women's rights activists were subjected to torture including by individuals like Saud Al Qahtani and Khalid Bin Salman who serves as the country's defense minister.
Women Rights Activists Allegedly Tortured in Saudi
The report by Kennedy stated that the women were forced to "perform sexual acts on the interrogators, and other forms of sexual harassment such as forcing them to watch pornography," as reported. Kennedy cited one source which reported that Aida Al Ghamdi was forced to watch pornography and many other sources confirmed Loujain Al Hathloul and Eman Al Nafjan were forced to kiss and have sex with the interrogators.
The report stated Al Hathloul's interrogation was overseen by Al Qahtani, who is a member of the inner circle of the crown prince. Kennedy asked the UK government along with other governments that uphold the human rights standards to publicly condemn the treatment of the activists by Saudi Arabia and call for their immediate release. "If Saudi Arabia should fail to do so, the UK government should give serious consideration to the use of targeted sanctions, including the suspension of diplomatic and economic ties, and holding those responsible to account and sanctioning them," Kennedy called for.
Kennedy also urged the world leaders and the G20 states not to take part in the summit that starts this weekend unless the detainees get released. "Those allegedly responsible for these detentions and gross violations, as named in this report, should be held accountable and sanctions imposed on them including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Khalid bin Salman, and Saud Al-Qahtani," Kennedy said as reported by Middleeastmonitor.
