Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Brussels hosted the third dialogue between the European Union and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding the human rights file in Brussels.
According to a statement issued by the European External Action Office, the dialogue that was held in the middle of last week touched on a wide range of human rights topics. Such as labor rights, the rights of women and vulnerable groups, the rule of law, fundamental freedoms, freedom of religion or belief, and human trafficking. The discussion also focused on cooperation in UN human rights forums, in particular the priorities of the Human Rights Council and the sessions of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly; universal periodic review; Ratifying international human rights treaties; Cooperation with United Nations special procedures.
The European Union recognized the progress made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the areas of labor rights, and welcomed the dismantling of the sponsorship system, the empowerment of women and youth, and the promotion of economic and social rights.
The European Union reaffirmed its strong and unequivocal opposition to the death penalty in all cases, at all times and in all circumstances, and expressed its concern about its continued application in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including for drug-related and non-lethal crimes. . The EU also stressed the importance of upholding the right to a fair trial and due process guarantees. In this context, the European Union asked its Saudi counterpart to facilitate monitoring of the trials by diplomatic staff of the European Union and its member states.
Furthermore, the parties discussed the need to support freedom of expression, both online and offline, in both Europe and Saudi Arabia. In this regard, the European Union expressed its concerns about the restrictive environment for civil and political rights in Saudi Arabia, and pointed to the issue of long prison sentences imposed due to activity on social media. The European Union also raised several individual cases of concern.
The two sides exchanged the issue of human trafficking, and touched on aspects of immigration and asylum policy in the European Union and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including the events that occurred on the Saudi-Yemeni border.
As one of the tangible outcomes of the dialogue, the European Union and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia agreed to further strengthen cooperation and exchange experiences and expertise in areas such as labor rights in cooperation with the International Labor Organization, human trafficking and migration.
The co-chairs, the European Union Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamonn Gilmore, and the President of the Human Rights Commission, Dr. Hala Al-Tuwaijri, agreed to hold the next human rights dialogue in Riyadh in 2024.