Pressure is growing on the Prime Minister to condemn the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia\u2019s flagrant disregard for international law and call for a halt to executions in the country, following yesterday\u2019s mass execution of 37 people.<\/p>\n
Three of those killed were juveniles when the crimes they were accused of committing took place. Many more were tortured into \u2018confessing\u2019 to acts of terrorism, when their true \u2018crime\u2019 was nothing more than sharing information about peaceful protests on social media.<\/p>\n
In the House of Commons, MPs from across the political spectrum called on the Government to act to ensure that no more people are executed in Saudi Arabia for exercising their right to freedom of expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we must condemn in the strongest possible terms, including some kind of action,\u201d said Labour\u2019s Ann Clywd. \u201cWords are easy, but let\u2019s have some kind of direct indication from the UK, we will not put up with this kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conservative Crispin Blunt warned that \u201cthe accelerating pace of executions in Saudi Arabia cannot be seen in isolation from the wider criminal justice policy\u201d and noted that \u201cif Saudi Arabian civil society space is closed down\u2026 the security and stability of Saudi Arabia, our ally, in the end, will be the victim.\u201d<\/p>\n
Labour foreign policy spokesperson Fabian Hamilton MP asked questions of Alan Duncan, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office: \u201cWill the Government condemn the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia today? Will the Government call for an immediate end to executions in Saudi Arabia? And finally, what plans does the Government have to tackle the use of violence against human rights activists in Saudi Arabia?\u201d<\/p>\n
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable noted that \u201cwe are in urgent need of a reappraisal of our relationship with Saudi Arabia, given the fact that the continued medieval barbarism of this regime does not constitute the basis for a friendly alliance, and indeed makes it an enemy of our values and our human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
The SNP\u2019s Stephen Gethins echoed his call. \u201cWe\u2019ve been here rather frequently to discuss human rights violations\u2026 and we\u2019re told that we have influence. It\u2019s difficult to see that influence at the moment\u2026 Will [the minister] commit to come back to this House and tell us what\u2019s been done about that relationship with Saudi Arabia?<\/p>\n