GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council urged Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to lift travel bans and other restrictions imposed on previously released women’s rights activists.
Michele Taylor, also called on the kingdom to resolve cases of ‘prisoners of conscience’ - a term commonly referring to political prisoners.
“We urge Saudi Arabia to fully resolve cases of prisoners of conscience and to lift travel bans and other restrictions on previously released women’s rights activists,” Taylor told the Geneva forum in a speech coinciding with International Women’s Day observed on March 8.
She did not name any political prisoners or recently released women activists subjected to restricted movement.
Meanwhile, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) says Saudi authorities have executed a dozen minor under the seven-year reign of King Salman.
The human rights organization stated that five people are currently at risk of execution in Saudi Arabia.
Ever since Mohammed bin Salman became Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader in 2017, the kingdom has arrested dozens of activists, bloggers, intellectuals and others perceived as political opponents, showing almost zero tolerance for dissent even in the face of international condemnations of the crackdown.
Muslim scholars have been executed and women’s rights campaigners have been put behind bars and tortured as freedoms of expression, association, and belief continue to be denied.
Over the past years, Riyadh has also redefined its anti-terrorism laws to target activism.