NGO coalition says Saudi Arabia must be held to account
A coalition of more than 160 NGOs, including Reporters Without Borders (RSF), is demanding concrete measures to end the impunity that Saudi Arabia has until now enjoyed for its many human rights violations, of which journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder on 2 October is just one.
The more than 160 NGOs are relaying the joint request that RSF, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists sent to the United Nations secretary-general requesting an independent international enquiry into Khashoggi’s murder.
The NGO coalition is also asking the UN General Assembly to suspend Saudi Arabia from the UN Human Rights Council because the Khashoggi murder is just the latest in a series of systematic human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and death sentences, of which journalists are often the targets.
The coalition calls on Saudi Arabia to immediately release all political prisoners – including 28 arbitrarily detained journalists and bloggers, portraits of whom RSF has just unveiled – and to respect its international obligations. More details are available in the text of the declaration below.
