To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he raised the (a) assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and (b) the cases of detained Saudi activists (i) Abdulkarim Al-Khoder, (ii) Fowzan Al-Harbi, (iii) Dr. Mohammad Al-Qahtani, (iv) Mohamed Al-Otaibi, (v) Raif Badawi, (vi) Samar Badawi and (vii) Nassima al-Sadah, when he met Saudi officials during his visit to Saudi Arabia on 7 June 2021.
Answered on
22 June 2021
The Foreign Secretary raised a number of human rights issues during his visit to Saudi Arabia on 7 June 2021, including judicial reform and the cases of the women's rights defenders. During my visit to Riyadh in May 2021, I [Minister Cleverly] also raised issues including women's rights, the death penalty and freedom of religion or belief. In March 2021, Lord Ahmad discussed human rights with the President of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, including individual cases.
The British Embassy Riyadh also raises cases on a regular basis.