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Summer 2017
DEFENDERS
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especially from the 9/11 attacks onward, have been either nationals of Saudi
Arabia or trained at schools, which were funded and ideologically fed by this
government. This issue had been covered in a recent report by US Congress on
the role of Saudi Arabia in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
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Human rights violations by the Saudi government
Not only in foreign relations, but also on domestic level, the government of
Saudi Arabia has been facing crisis and has been involved in serious violations
of basic human rights. One of the most important rights, of which governments
have consistently tried to deny their citizens, is the right to determination,
which reflects the natural dignity of humans as creatures with willpower.
Freedoms of conviction and expression have been among other major human
rights denied by governments.
When it comes to observing the democratic process and showing respect for
human rights, the government of Saudi
Arabia has been always challenged
by and been a source of concern for
international bodies, because there have
been many times that Riyadh has moved
in the opposite direction of these values,
including by torturing and execution of
opposition figures. In its latest annual
report for the period of 2016-2017,
the prominent rights group, Amnesty
International, had covered a wide range
of Saudi government’s measures that
violated the norms of human rights
from imposing restrictions on the
country’s Shia minority, which were at
odds with human rights norms, to extrajudicial detentions, administration of
unjust punishments, torture, depriving people of the right to life, and denying
women’s rights.
In terms of foreign relations, the records of the Saudi government teem with
many cases of denying most values cherished by the global human rights
system. In its latest annual report for the period of 2016-2017, Amnesty
International has mentioned various cases of human rights violations by Saudi
Arabia outside the country’s borders with special emphasis on Saudi invasion
of Yemen and committing war crimes there by conducting extensive and
bloody air raids on the country's schools, hospitals and civilian buildings. The
government of Saudi Arabia, which has obviously turned a blind eye to all
international and human rights standards and is now a member of the group of
so-called friends of Syria, has been known for supporting Takfiri and terrorist
groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. In addition, it has been a major
purchaser of both conventional and unconventional arms in the region.
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In terms of foreign relations, the
records of the Saudi government
teem with many cases of denying
most values cherished by the
global human rights system