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Executions in Saudi Arabia
14 March 2022
Lead MP
Amanda Milling
Debate Type
Ministerial Statement
Tags
Justice & Courts
Other Contributors: 31
At a Glance
Amanda Milling raised concerns about executions in saudi arabia in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Government Statement
The United Kingdom strongly opposes the death penalty in all countries and in all circumstances. The UK ambassador has raised concerns with Saudi authorities, including the national security adviser and vice-Foreign Minister. Despite our relationship with Saudi Arabia, we maintain frank dialogue about human rights issues such as the use of the death penalty, restrictions on women’s rights, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion or belief. We continuously engage through diplomatic channels to raise these concerns.
Crispin Blunt
Con
Wealden
Question
Does my right hon. Friend agree that this represents a new low for human rights and criminal justice in the kingdom, coming only a week after the Crown Prince promised to modernise the Saudi justice system?
Minister reply
The UK’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is of great importance, but we can speak frankly about human rights. We have raised concerns about the death penalty, including juvenile death penalties.
Southgate and Wood Green
Question
What steps are the Government taking to ensure that human rights are at the forefront of any future trade deals with Saudi Arabia?
Minister reply
We regularly raise concerns about human rights through diplomatic channels, including Ministers and our ambassador. We maintain a frank dialogue despite our relationship.
Question
Does not this bad news reinforce the urgency of the UK producing more of its own oil and gas to reduce dependence on these powers?
Minister reply
It is important for all partners to work together to ensure stability in energy markets, including OPEC’s role.
Alyn Smith
SNP
Ochil and South Perthshire
Question
Surely that has to end, or at least be suspended, given the deep concern of all in this House over each and every one of these cases?
Minister reply
I am not going to speculate about the Prime Minister’s visit. We can speak frankly about human rights matters.
Question
Does the Minister agree that no country found to be complicit in human rights abuses such as those we are currently seeing in Ukraine should receive a penny of UK taxpayers’ money in international aid?
Minister reply
Human rights violations are something we raise where they occur. We will not stand back from raising them.
Nadia Whittome
Lab
Nottingham East
Question
Will the Prime Minister cancel his planned visit, and will this Government do what they should have done long ago and end arms sales to the Saudi regime?
Minister reply
I am not going to pre-empt the Prime Minister’s travel plans. We examine every application for arms exports on a case-by-case basis.
Question
Can I ask the Minister if the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has any idea what percentage of the Saudi population is actually in favour of capital punishment?
Minister reply
I am afraid I do not have the answer to that specific question. The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all countries.
Hilary Benn
Lab
Leeds South
Question
In 2018, the Saudi Arabian Government promised to not execute minors for crimes committed when they were children but executed six young men in 2019. Will the Minister say that this promise was not made in good faith?
Minister reply
The Government have raised concerns with the Saudi authorities regarding the juvenile death penalty and monitor these cases closely.
Question
If the Prime Minister visits Saudi Arabia, should he say in strong terms that executions of minors are a human rights outrage?
Minister reply
Diplomats and Ministers have frank conversations with Saudi Arabia about human rights.
Alistair Carmichael
Lib Dem
Orkney and Shetland
Question
If the Prime Minister visits Saudi Arabia, will he send a signal that UK does not care about human rights issues? Will the Minister commit to publishing the judicial co-operation memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia?
Minister reply
We are able to have frank conversations with Saudi Arabia and oppose the death penalty. The Government have raised various cases with Saudi authorities.
Julian Lewis
Con
New Forest East
Question
In seeking to lessen our dependence on one source of oil, will we end up creating dependency on another unreliable regime?
Minister reply
It is important that all international partners work together to ensure the stability of energy markets.
Andrew Slaughter
Lab
Hammersmith and Chiswick
Question
Can the Minister confirm the case of Abdullah al-Huwaiti, a juvenile on death row? What representations has she made to Saudi authorities?
Minister reply
We have raised numerous cases with Saudi Arabia, including specific ones in writing.
Brendan O'Hara
SNP
Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber
Question
Does the UK feel that it can continue to trample over human rights with impunity when doing business with Saudi Arabia?
Minister reply
Given our relationship with Saudi Arabia, we are able to have frank conversations about human rights.
Andy McDonald
Lab
Middlesbrough and Thornaby East
Question
Is there a memorandum of understanding on judicial co-operation between the UK and Saudi Arabia? Will it be published?
Minister reply
We raise human rights concerns with the Saudi Arabian authorities.
Question
Does she not see any contradiction in ending dependence on Putin’s Russia for fossil fuels while seeking to replace them by going cap in hand to another murderous tyrant?
Minister reply
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are phasing out Russian oil and ensuring market stability.
Tan Dhesi
Lab
Slough
Question
Does the Minister agree that the Saudi monarchy sees this UK Government as a soft touch because Ministers do not stand up for British values?
Minister reply
We are able to have very frank conversations about human rights and raised concerns with the ambassador.
Question
Is the Saudi Arabian public investment fund a proper owner of Newcastle United?
Minister reply
The Saudi PIF is a significant investor in UK and other western markets, and we welcome their purchase of Newcastle United.
Debbie Abrahams
Lab
Oldham East and Saddleworth
Question
Does the Minister agree that it is arguably their absence from our current foreign policy that has led Putin to feel he can do what he wants in Ukraine?
Minister reply
The international community, including UK, have been clear about Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and will limit Putin’s ability to wage war.
Question
Why is the Minister so shifty about the existence of this memorandum of understanding on judicial co-operation?
Minister reply
We have been clear about raising human rights concerns with Saudi authorities and oppose the death penalty.
Clive Efford
Lab
Eltham and Chislehurst
Question
In response to this atrocity, can we expect any change in the relationship between UK and Saudi Arabia?
Minister reply
The relationship with Saudi Arabia is important for national security and economic interests; it allows us to have frank conversations about human rights.
Chi Onwurah
Lab
Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West
Question
Will the Minister make it clear that sportswashing is not an option?
Minister reply
With regard to Newcastle United, we never had a role at any point in the club’s takeover, which has been a commercial matter for the Premier League.
Kerry McCarthy
Lab
Bristol East
Question
This is all incredibly depressing. I remember trying to ask questions in 2012, when I was shadow Minister for international human rights, about David Cameron’s visit to Saudi Arabia. The responses were like something out of “Yes Minister”: I kept being told that nothing was off the table or that a wide range of issues were discussed. It went on and on and I never got an answer, but we now hear that two years ago he went camping with Lex Greensill and the Saudi crown prince, which says a lot about what was probably discussed then. If the Prime Minister does go to Saudi Arabia next week—I hope he does not—will he raise the case of Abdullah al-Huwaiti, as mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter)? He was 14 years old at the time of the crime and was sentenced to death last week.
Minister reply
I am trying to think of another way to suggest that I will not be speculating on the Prime Minister’s travel plans this week, next week or next month.
Question
Despite the Minister’s protestations, nobody in this Chamber believes that we would see the same weak response from the Government if the murders had taken place in, for example, Iran. Saudi Arabia is Britain’s single biggest weapons customer and Britain is Saudi Arabia’s second biggest arms supplier; is it not the case that, whether it is weapons for murderers in Saudi Arabia or peerages for Russian oligarchs in London, for this Tory Government money talks louder than human rights ever will?
Minister reply
I have been pretty clear that the Government were shocked by the execution of these 81 individuals at the weekend. I have also been clear that the UK opposes the death penalty in all countries and under all circumstances as a matter of principle, and Saudi Arabia is well aware of the UK’s opposition to the use of the death penalty.
Diana R. Johnson
Lab
Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham
Question
The Saudi authorities have said that these executions were carried out in compliance with Saudi law. Given that we know that the Saudi justice system falls far short of international standards, including obtaining confessions through torture and the use of the special criminal court for the prosecution of human rights defenders and political activists, what recent discussions have the Government actually had with the Saudi authorities about the failings of the Saudi justice system and about the cases of those who are in jail for trying to exercise their fundamental human rights?
Minister reply
As I have said, we regularly raise concerns about human rights, but, specifically, Lord Ahmad, the Minister responsible for human rights, raised them during his visit to Saudi Arabia earlier in February.
Mike Kane
Lab
Wythenshawe and Sale East
Question
Pope Francis recently said that the death penalty is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the human person, and is inadmissible in all cases. Following on from what the right hon. Member for Beckenham (Bob Stewart) said, 1.7 million Catholics live in Saudi Arabia—8% of the population. King Salman has a cordial relationship with the Church, and the Crown Prince recently visited the Archbishop of Canterbury to talk about inter-religious dialogue. What pressure can we put on civil society groups to explain to the royal family there that many of their people do not believe in the death penalty and give them an understanding as to why we do not believe in it?
Minister reply
The UK Government and partners do raise human rights issues and also our opposition to the death penalty. As I have said, the UK strongly opposes the death penalty. Saudi Arabia remains a human rights priority country, which is, in part, because of its use of the death penalty, but also because of its restrictions on women’s rights, freedom of expression and freedom of religion and belief.
Question
Last week, the Minister for Defence Procurement was in Riyadh at the World Defence Show, actively promoting UK arms exports to the Saudi regime. Does the Minister agree that, in light of the weekend’s mass executions, the UK Government should cease all arms trade with a regime that shows no sign of respecting human rights?
Minister reply
Regarding arms exports, as I have said in an earlier answer, we do have very strong criteria by which we examine every application, and we will not grant an export licence if it is inconsistent with the strategic export licensing criteria, including in respect of human rights and international humanitarian law.
Jeff Smith
Lab
Manchester Withington
Question
The Minister has said many times now that the Government make representations and have frank discussions. Can she point to a single example of any impact or effect of those representations?
Minister reply
Let me provide one example in terms of what happened this weekend: the UK ambassador has already raised our strong concerns with the Saudi national security adviser and the vice-Foreign Minister. We do raise our concerns with the Saudi authorities, and Lord Ahmad raised human rights concerns during his visit last month.
Question
To what extent does the Minister personally think that it is appropriate to continue to sell arms to the brutal Saudi regime, which has no regard for the human rights of even its own people, publicly crucifying men after beheading them for homosexuality and stoning to death any woman deemed to have committed adultery?
Minister reply
I think I have answered the question in relation to arms exports on a number of occasions, so I refer back to previous answers.
Question
The European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights said that, in the cases that it has been able to document, the charges involved “not a drop of blood”, even under Saudi rules used to establish criteria justifying executions. Opacity in the Saudi judicial system and witness intimidation lend further secrecy to the nature of the charges against the executed, many of whom are believed to be Shi’as. What material steps, not conversations, are the Government taking to show Saudi Arabia that they will not tolerate these barbaric abuses?
Minister reply
As I have said, we were shocked by the executions. We have raised our concerns and, through our ministerial and diplomatic channels, we will seek further clarification on the details of those cases.
Jim Shannon
DUP
Strangford
Question
May I thank the Minister for her reply, declare an interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for international freedom of religion or belief and express concern over the restrictions on religious beliefs in Saudi Arabia? These executions are deplorable and they shock the people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Has the Minister made any representations to her Saudi counterparts to review the rationale behind this mass execution? Can we apply any diplomatic pressure to urge a reconsideration of executions carried out in that way, which makes them appear as a spectacle rather than the murderous, sombre, sober and shocking events they truly are?
Minister reply
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question and I know how passionately he campaigns on all matters of freedom of religion or belief. As I have said, the UK ambassador has raised our strong concerns about the executions at the weekend; through ministerial and diplomatic channels, we will seek further clarification on the details of those cases.
Shadow Comment
Crispin Blunt
Shadow Comment
The shadow response critiques the UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia following the execution of 81 individuals, expressing concern about the lack of progress in human rights and questioning if this is the type of modernisation intended when supporting Saudi Arabia’s justice system. Blunt asks for assurances regarding human rights from the Prime Minister during her next visit to Saudi Arabia.
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