RIYADH (Dispatches) – More than 40 organizations have called on Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton to address a number of human rights concerns with the president of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, ahead of the kingdom’s first race this month.
In a letter, the groups thanked Hamilton for his remarks in November, when he said that as the auto racing sport comes to countries such as Saudi Arabia or Qatar, Formula One is “duty-bound” to raise awareness over human rights issues.
“We hope you choose to continue your brave advocacy in Formula 1 and speak out on the human rights issues taking place in the countries where the sport decides to go,” the letter said.
The letter’s signatories include ALQST; the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy; Code Pink; Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN); Freedom First; Persian Gulf Center for Human Rights; and #FreeLoujain campaign group.
Danaka Katovich, a national organizer with Code Pink, said that “Lewis Hamilton has a unique opportunity” in Saudi Arabia.
“This event is intended to be a distraction from the Saudi government’s war crimes, but if the star of the sport is calling direct attention to it, people won’t be able to look away,” she said in a statement shared with MEE.
Under Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom has brought global entertainment and sporting events to the kingdom for the first time in its history, a part of a stated plan to transition Saudi society away from its ultra-conservative roots.
Meanwhile, more than 120 members of the European Parliament have denounced the “ongoing persecution” of Saudi women human rights defenders by the Riyadh regime, saying the activists freed from prison still face rights violations and harsh restrictions in the kingdom.
The legislators, in a joint letter signed on the occasion of the International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, reiterated their call for Saudi authorities “to immediately and unconditionally free all women targeted for their human rights activism.”
While all of the women activists arrested during a sweeping crackdown in 2018 have now been released from prison, the campaigners, including prominent figures Samar Badawi, Nassima al-Sadah and Loujain al-Hathloul, have been subjected to heavy restrictions and curtailment of basic rights since their release, the letter said.
“These measures constitute further violations of their fundamental rights, including free movement and association and free speech, and ostracize activists at the critical threshold of starting a new life after release from prison,” the legislators said.
Hathloul, known for defying the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia and for opposing the Saudi male guardianship system, currently still faces three years of probation and a five-year travel ban.
Some of the women had to sign pledges that they would not disclose details of their detention, while several of their family members are also under travel bans, as a form of collective punishment and general harassment.