Crown Prince Must Improve Saudi Human Rights Record to be a True Reformer

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will visit the White House on Tuesday to meet with President Trump. The prince has won praise from Western leaders for bold reform initiatives, including the expansion of women’s rights – especially the right to drive­ – as well as calls for religious tolerance. However, the kingdom’s detention and abuse of political prisoners stands in sharp contrast to this liberalizing picture.

Riyadh’s best-known political prisoner is perhaps Raif Badawi, winner of the EU’s top human rights prize in 2015. A blogger and activist, Badawi was arrested in 2012 for running a website that criticized the kingdom’s religious establishment and advocated greater rights for women. Badawi received a ten-year prison sentence and 1,000 lashes, the first 50 of which were administered publicly in 2015. Although he has not been flogged again, Badawi remains in jail. He is reportedly under consideration for a royal pardon, but earlier reports of an impending pardon proved premature.

The government has imprisoned several other activists for their human rights advocacy work, including Badawi’s lawyer, Waleed Abulkhair, as well as Mohammed al-Oteibi and Abdullah al-Attawi. Abulkhair founded a group called Monitor of Human Rights and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for “undermining the government,” while a court convicted al-Oteibi and al-Attawi, founders of the Union for Human Rights, to 14 and seven years in prison, respectively.

The crown prince also faces accusations of human rights abuses carried out during his surprise anti-graft crackdown. The campaign entailed the detention of over 200 businessmen, royals, and prominent figures. Authorities disclosed no specifics during or after the campaign about the charges levied against detainees or details of any settlements reached. The Saudi government must respond to the allegations of abuse and coercion that have emerged: 17 detainees were hospitalized for physical abuse, and one died in custody. Riyadh must explain what happened.

The increasing frequency of capital punishment is also a concern. The number of executions have sharply increased since bin Salman became crown prince last year. Although the kingdom does not release official statistics, independent human rights monitors found that between July 2017 and February 2018, Saudi Arabia carried out more than 130 executions, twice the amount reported during the eight-month period between October 2016 and May 2017.

The reasons people are executed in the kingdom are as troubling as the volume. Nearly 41 percent of executions in the first half of 2017 were for nonviolent drug offenses. There are also 18 young men currently on death row for protest-related offenses, including juveniles.

When the crown prince visits the White House, President Trump should ask him to pardon Raif Badawi. Congressional leaders should do the same. Indeed, Badawi’s pardon could be a litmus test of Mohammed bin Salman’s true commitment to reform. After all, Badawi went to jail for advocating precisely the kinds of reforms the crown prince has now implemented. From there, the president and leaders on the Hill should also press the crown prince on the death penalty for nonviolent offences, especially for juveniles. A positive response would be proof that Mohammed bin Salman is serious about reform.

Varsha Koduvayur is a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where she focuses on the Gulf. Follow her on Twitter @varshakoduvayur.

Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD. FDD is a Washington-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.