US State Department: Saudi Arabia violated human rights, targeted opponents

SANAA, April 1 (YPA) – The US State Department said that Saudi Arabia has committed human rights violations, such as unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary detention of dissidents.

This was stated in the Human Rights Report for the year 2020 issued by the Ministry annually; To shed light on the human rights situation around the world.

The report said, “Riyadh has committed human rights violations, such as unlawful killings, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests.”

The report, which was released on Tuesday, and included nearly 200 countries around the world, added that “Riyadh used anti-corruption campaigns as a pretext to target political opponents.”

It is noteworthy that the report criticized the human rights situation in Egypt as well, and said that the Egyptian government committed acts of arbitrary and extrajudicial killings.

Earlier, on Tuesday, a US official revealed that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken canceled a plan to support his predecessor, Mike Pompeo, to restrict the US advancement of human rights abroad in order to support causes favored by conservatives.

The Associated Press quoted a US State Department official as saying, “Blinken intends to express our decisive rejection of a report prepared by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, which sought to reduce the number of freedoms that are a priority in US foreign policy.”

Since his arrival at the White House in January 2021, the administration of US President “Joe Biden” has taken a relatively clearer approach to the issue of human rights in the world.