Mr David Davis (Haltemprice and Howden) (Con) (Urgent Question): To
ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Affairs if he will make a statement on Saudi Arabia’s
use of the death penalty and the recent spike in the number of
executions taking place. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (David Rutley) I
congratulate my right hon. Friend on securing the urgent question.
Saudi...Request free trial
(Haltemprice and Howden)
(Con)
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign,
Commonwealth and Development Affairs if he will make a statement
on Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty and the recent spike
in the number of executions taking place.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign,
Commonwealth and Development Affairs ()
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on securing the urgent
question.
Saudi Arabia remains a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development
Office human rights priority country, particularly because of the
use of the death penalty and restrictions on freedom of
expression. We seek to engage the kingdom and support positive
reform, and Lord Ahmad, the Minister responsible for our middle
east and north Africa policy, visited the kingdom in February to
advance UK strategic engagement on human rights specifically. Key
areas included promoting freedom of religious belief, lobbying on
individual human rights cases of concern and encouraging justice
reforms. Saudi Arabia is committed to an ambitious programme of
economic and social reform through Vision 2030, which has already
delivered significant change, including increased freedoms and
economic opportunity for women. However, the human rights
situation is likely to remain a key issue in our engagement for
the foreseeable future.
It is a long-standing UK policy to oppose the death penalty in
all circumstances in all countries as a matter of principle. The
Saudi Government are well aware of the UK’s opposition to the use
of the death penalty. The Saudi authorities have executed around
150 individuals in 2022, a marked increase on the 67 executions
last year. On 12 March 2022 Saudi Arabia executed 81 people in a
single day, and the British ambassador raised UK concerns with
Saudi authorities at both ministerial and senior official level
in Riyadh on 14 March. The then Middle East Minister, my right
hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (), also raised concern over
the 81 executions with the Saudi ambassador to the UK. More
recently, Saudi Arabia has executed 20 individuals for
drugs-related offences since 10 November despite Saudi Arabia’s
moratorium on the death penalty for drugs-related offences
announced in January 2021.
Lord Ahmad, the Minister responsible for the middle east and
human rights, requested a meeting and spoke to the Saudi
ambassador last week, on 24 November. He raised UK concern over
the recent executions and pushed for the 2021 moratorium for
drugs-related offences to remain in place. During the meeting
Lord Ahmad also raised an important case for my right hon.
Friend, that of Hussein Abo al-Kheir, who is assessed by
respected international non-governmental organisations to be at
risk of imminent execution. There are allegations of torture and
forced confession in this case, and the Minister reiterated His
Majesty’s Government’s long-standing position on the death
penalty and the importance of ensuring the 2021 moratorium was
upheld.
Through Ministers and our embassy in Riyadh we regularly raise
the death penalty as a key issue of concern with Saudi Arabia. We
will continue to do so, and no aspect of our relationship with
Saudi Arabia prevents us from speaking frankly about human
rights.
Mr Davis
I thank the Minister for his description of Lord Ahmad’s work so
far, which is welcome, but I have to say that in the context of
the current circumstances we may have to step this up
somewhat.
As the Minister said, despite assurances of a moratorium on the
death penalty for non-violent drug offences, announced by Saudi
Arabia’s own Human Rights Commission, Saudi Arabia has executed
20 people for drugs-related offences in just two weeks. We
believe there are 55 other people currently at risk of the death
penalty.
I wish to raise in particular the case of Hussein Abo al-Kheir.
Mr al-Kheir is a poor Jordanian national, who is elderly and in
poor health. He was arrested in 2014 for, supposedly, drug
offences. He was tortured into a false confession, including
being hung upside down from the ceiling and beaten. He has served
seven years on death row and was told just days ago that he will
be moved to a condemned cell. The UN working group on arbitrary
detention has found his detention to be without legal basis and
called for his release. He is clearly at risk of imminent
execution, possibly with the Saudis thinking that the world’s
attention is distracted by the World cup or something else.
Al-Kheir’s case demonstrates the unabashed brutality of the
regime: 147 people have been executed this year alone, including
81 on one day.
We know already that being too soft with totalitarian states
comes back to bite us. We were too soft over Litvinenko’s murder,
and we ended up with the Skripal poisonings. We have seen how
Saudi Arabia behaves abroad, with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi;
it is time to make it clear in no uncertain terms to it that it
must abide by international civilised standards. If the Foreign
Secretary—and I do say the Foreign Secretary—does so firmly
enough, he will almost certainly save 55 further lives.
I thank my right hon. Friend for raising these issues and for
doing so with his characteristic passion and conviction. His
record on civil liberties and human rights is well known, and I
want to reassure him once again that Lord Ahmad raised the case
of the Jordanian national Mr al-Kheir with the Saudi ambassador
on 24 November—so just last week he requested that meeting and
had the conversation—and earlier in the year, on 25 January, Lord
Ahmad raised the same case with the Saudi Justice Minister during
the Minister’s visit to the UK. Our embassy in Riyadh has raised
this case with relevant authorities and we will continue to
monitor it and raise it at the highest levels.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Enfield, Southgate)
(Lab)
Labour unequivocally condemns the recent executions in Saudi
Arabia and the use of the death penalty anywhere in the world. In
the last two weeks, executions have been taking place on almost a
daily basis in Saudi Arabia. In total, according to the UN, 144
people have been executed in Saudi Arabia this year alone, which
is a record high for the kingdom, and more than double the number
last year. The recent executions have been for alleged drugs and
contraband offences following the Saudi authorities ending a
21-month moratorium on the use of the death penalty for
drug-related offences. That is deeply concerning, especially
after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s public assurances that
the kingdom would minimise use of the death penalty
altogether.
The UK should join the international community in condemning
these executions in the strongest terms. What steps have the UK
Government taken to raise our concerns about the resumption of
executions and the wider crackdown on freedom of expression and
activism with the Minister’s Saudi counterparts? I note the
Minister’s comments about the meeting with Lord Ahmad, but this
needs to be an ongoing process. How do the Government intend to
use the close relationship between our countries to press for a
change in Saudi Arabia’s approach? I join my right hon. Friend
the Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) and the right hon. Member for
Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis) in calling on the Government to
do everything in their power to prevent the imminent execution of
Hussein Abo al-Kheir. What steps have they taken so far to secure
that goal?
We must oppose the death penalty in all countries and in all
circumstances. Will the Minister confirm whether the Prime
Minister raised the importance of standing up for human rights,
which should be at the heart of British diplomacy, when he met
the Crown Prince earlier this month at the G20?
It speaks volumes when we have condemnation coming from both
sides of the House. I am grateful to the hon. Member for his
contribution and for joining us in condemning this spike in use
of the death penalty. We are seeking further clarification of its
cause at the highest level. That was part of the conversation
that Lord Ahmad had, because, as the hon. Member said, that does
not sit comfortably with what was previously said by the Saudi
Government. We are seeking that clarification as a key priority.
As I said, we are raising this matter at the highest possible
levels.
Mr Speaker
I call the Father of the House.
(Worthing West) (Con)
It would be good for the House to know whether the Crown
Prince—the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia—thinks that he is
personally involved or uninvolved in what is going on. It is now
four years and seven weeks since Jamal Khashoggi was murdered. I
think it is time that our friend—our ally—Saudi Arabia got to
know that whenever a senior member of its country comes abroad,
unless such executions stop, they will be associated with
them.
May I also make the point that any suggestion that a confession
was gained by torture makes it invalid? We know from our past
that seven times a year, people convicted of a capital offence
were innocent or should not have been convicted. I suspect that
the same applies in Saudi Arabia.
The Father of the House makes important points. As he is aware,
the UK has always been clear that Khashoggi’s murder was a
terrible crime. We called for a thorough, credible and
transparent investigation to hold those responsible to account
and imposed sanctions against 20 Saudis involved. I cannot
speculate about future designations or sanctions as that would
reduce their impact, but he can be assured that we will speak up
clearly and call out any confessions secured under torture, which
are abhorrent and against all that we stand for.
Mr Speaker
I call the SNP spokesperson.
(Stirling) (SNP)
The SNP is a party of international law, and we condemn the death
penalty wherever it occurs. We think it is a barbaric punishment
that never fits the crime. I must say to the House that, in
Saudi’s case, it is personal for me: I grew up in Riyadh in the
late ’70s and ’80s and know the Saudis well, so forgive me, but I
am immune to the flannel and hypocrisy that we are used to
hearing when talking about Saudi in this place.
We are united in our condemnation of the spike in judicial
murder. I think we need to see some consequence to what is
happening. We have seen 138 individuals executed this year, which
must be sending a signal internally on the part of the regime to
potential dissidents or somebody else. What is causing the spike
now? I would be curious to hear the Minister’s assessment of
that. If there have been this many judicial murders in a key
partner of the UK, does he really think that it is a suitable
partner to be receiving billions in arms exports from this
country?
I thank the hon. Member for his comments, which are always well
grounded, particularly when we talk about the middle east and
north Africa—I remember our recent debate on Yemen. He asked a
very good question about the spike in executions, on which we are
seeking further clarification. As I said, that does not sit
easily with what the Saudi Government have said, so we are
seeking further clarification—[Interruption.] I am grateful for
the mobile phone notification that things are happening on the
Opposition Benches. That has distracted me from the other points
that the hon. Member made. He mentioned his concerns about arms
sales. I reiterate that the UK operates one of the most
comprehensive export control regimes in the world and that every
licence application is vigorously and rigorously assessed against
strategic export licensing criteria. Risks around human rights
abuses are a key part of our assessment.
(Reigate) (Con)
I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice
and Howden (Mr Davis) on asking this urgent question, and thank
you for granting it, Mr Speaker. The fact that the fate of an
elderly impoverished Jordanian in a Saudi jail who has had his
confession extracted under torture still matters to the House,
and that you are prepared to bring it immediately to our
attention as the hook on which to discuss this wider issue in
Saudi Arabia, reflects huge credit on the House of Commons
collectively under your leadership.
Those of us who count ourselves as friends of Saudi Arabia and
who want Britain to have a friendly, close relationship with
Saudi Arabia find it astonishingly frustrating that Vision 2030,
under the leadership of the Crown Prince as the executive leader
of the Government—that was a great visionary statement, including
on the delivery of religious freedoms and the delivery of more
freedoms for women—is accompanied by the kind of appalling
barbarity that is formally being meted out, allegedly in the
judicial system. I want to reinforce the question that the
Minister has been asked: what is the explanation for the
astonishing schizophrenia in the presentation of Saudi
Arabia?
I thank my hon. Friend for his contribution and question. We
welcome the socioeconomic reforms in Vision 2030, but as I said,
we continue to have concerns about human rights and we are
particularly concerned about the spike. As I said, Lord Ahmad is
seeking to understand how that fits with previous statements by
the Saudi Government. He will continue to ask those questions,
and we will continue to seek answers to them at the highest
level.
(Hammersmith) (Lab)
I echo what the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr
Davis) said about the case of Hussein Abo al-Kheir, and I pay
tribute to the work that Reprieve has done to raise this and
other cases. How much can we rely on the Government to do that
when the Foreign Office has just doubled the amount of taxpayers’
money handed to the Saudis under the Gulf strategy fund? That was
after the Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister told the BBC:
“What you…call a dissident, we call a terrorist.”
Some of that money is going into counter-terrorism, so are the
Government not sending out, at best, mixed messages? Do we not
need a much clearer line if we are going to stop further
executions?
Our long-standing relationship with Saudi Arabia is underpinned
by very frank engagement, as the hon. Member can see from points
that I and others in the Chamber have raised. We regularly raise
concerns when our values differ, as they do on these matters, and
no aspect of our relationship prevents us from speaking candidly
about human rights.
(North West Leicestershire)
(Con)
Will the Minister make a commitment that he and his fellow
Ministers will continue to push for progress in Saudi Arabia on
all areas of human rights, not exclusively, but including on the
death penalty, women’s rights and freedom of religion or
belief?
My hon. Friend makes a very good point. It is not just about the
very sad spikes in executions; we seek to engage on a much wider
agenda on human rights, not least on the freedom of religion or
belief. We will continue in the grown-up relationship that we
have, in which we can confront values that we do not think sit
with ours and help to move that agenda further forward.
(Orkney and Shetland)
(LD)
I have lost track of how many times we have been round this
course with regard to Saudi Arabia in recent years. Every time,
we get the same formulations from those on the Treasury Bench.
They are the right things to hear, delivered in the right earnest
tone, about raising things at the highest possible level and
monitoring the situation, but still the situation keeps getting
worse. Surely it is apparent that whatever we are doing, it is
not working. Now is the time, before Hussein Abo al-Kheir is
executed, to take a different approach and work with other
countries, especially in the region, to ensure that there are not
just words but consequences for Saudi Arabia if it continues to
act as a rogue state.
We continue to raise concerns, as the right hon. Gentleman says.
I am pleased that the country is making some progress on economic
engagement for women; that is not something that is always talked
about, because obviously there are other, wider concerns about
human rights, but there is progress there. As I said to the hon.
Members for Stirling () and for Enfield, Southgate
(), we now need to
understand why we have seen this spike in executions,
unfortunately, when there is progress elsewhere. There is much
more work to be done, for sure, but we do not understand yet the
reasons why we have seen this particular spike.
(Leeds Central) (Lab)
The Minister says that we are trying to understand what is going
on and that Saudi Arabia is committed to reform. It is pretty
clear what is going on: Mr al-Kheir was hung upside down and
beaten on his hands, his stomach, his head and his face in order
to extract a confession for which he is now at risk of execution.
The Minister also knows that we have repeatedly heard how the
Saudi authorities use torture in order to prove guilt. I have a
very simple question that does not require the Minister to
understand further what is going on: do the Government accept
that Saudi Arabia uses torture, as all the international
non-governmental organisations that have reported on the matter
have said? If so, what do they propose to say about that?
We have already expressed our concerns, particularly about Mr
al-Kheir’s case, in which clearly torture was used. We find that
abhorrent. We have raised that issue at the highest level and
will continue to do so, not just in his case but in other cases
in which that might be happening as well.
(Edinburgh South West)
(SNP)
I add my voice to those calling for a halt to the execution of
Hussein Abo al-Kheir and others who are facing execution for drug
offences. I would also like to mention the excellent work that
Reprieve does in this area.
May I raise another case with the Minister? The UN working group
on arbitrary detention has determined that a child defendant,
Abdullah al-Howaiti, who was arrested and tortured into providing
a false confession at the age of just 14, is being held without
legal basis and should be released immediately. Has his case been
raised with the Saudi Government? Will the Minister and the
Foreign Office put their support behind the determination of the
United Nations?
If the hon. and learned Lady is happy to meet me after this
urgent question, I will gladly follow up on that particular case.
On the broader point about death penalties for juveniles, the
Government raise concerns regarding juvenile death penalty
defendants as a matter of priority with the Saudi authorities.
The British embassy in Riyadh closely monitors the cases of all
known juvenile death penalty defendants and regularly attempts to
attend their trials. If the hon. and learned Lady has a minute
after this, I will gladly follow up directly with her.
(Rutherglen and Hamilton
West) (Ind)
I am afraid that Saudi Arabia has form in carrying out executions
when it thinks that the world is distracted and is not looking,
as it did in 2016 with the mass executions early in the new year.
Past Prime Ministers and Foreign Secretaries have publicly raised
the cases of those facing execution in Saudi Arabia and have
helped to save lives, as I did in the cases of Ali al-Nimr,
Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher. Will the Minister do the
same today and call for Saudi Arabia to halt the execution of
Hussein Abo al-Kheir and others who are facing execution for drug
offences?
We join in that call. We abhor the use of the death penalty, and
we speak out against it not just in the case of Saudi Arabia, but
in the case of all countries that continue to use it,
particularly in situations relating to drug penalties and drug
crimes. We will continue to speak out: we need to call this out.
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