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Question for Written Answer E-003552/20 to the Vice-President

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Question for Written Answer E-003552/20 to the Vice-President (English version) Question for written answer E-003552/20 to the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Brando Benifei (S&D), Evin Incir (S&D), Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D), Aurore Lalucq (S&D), Tanja Fajon (S&D), Elisabetta Gualmini (S&D), Marc Angel (S&D), Nora Mebarek (S&D), Pina Picierno (S&D), Evelyn Regner (S&D), Alex Agius Saliba (S&D), Eva Kaili (S&D), Milan Brglez (S&D), Patrizia Toia (S&D), Giuliano Pisapia (S&D), Dietmar Köster (S&D), Andrea Cozzolino (S&D), Sara Cerdas (S&D), Margarida Marques (S&D), Isabel Carvalhais (S&D), Robert Hajšel (S&D), Heléne Fritzon (S&D) (12 June 2020) Subject: Situation of women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia In Saudi Arabia, in spite of some minor cosmetic improvements, women’s rights are still severely restricted. Women’s rights activists often face arrest and detention without charges. While the Saudi Government has lifted the ban on women driving, since 2018 more than 30 activists, both men and women, have been arrested and often tortured, often without any formal charges. Among them, Samar Badawi, Nassima Al-Sada and Loujain Al-Hathloul, women who fought against the male guardianship system or even dared to run for office. Saudi Arabia is a member of the UN Human Rights Council, 36 of whose member countries publicly criticised it for its human rights records in March 2019. Against this backdrop: 1. Is the VP/HR committed to calling, at all diplomatic levels, for the Saudi authorities to release women’s rights activists, withdraw the charges against them and end all human rights violations, arbitrary detentions and torture? 2. Is the VP/HR ready to put pressure on the Saudi authorities to end the male guardianship system and discrimination against women in Saudi society? Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell on behalf of the European Commission (10 August 2020) The EU has voiced its concern about the prolonged detention of women activists in Saudi Arabia on several occasions, both as part of its regular dialogue with Saudi counterparts and in multilateral fora, including at the March 2020 session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva (1). In parallel and in close coordination with EU Member States, the European External Action Service (EEAS) is seeking to strengthen the dialogue with Saudi Arabia on human rights. Within this context, the EEAS has been engaging in recent months with the Chairman of the Saudi Human Rights Commission and the Saudi State Minister, including on the fate of the detained women activists and trial monitoring. The overall objective is to continue such exchanges with the Saudi authorities to improve civil and political rights in the country, to mirror progress achieved in the socioeconomic rights domain. The European Parliament’s strong involvement in this endeavour, as proven by the visit of the European Parliament's Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula to Riyadh in February 2020, is instrumental in raising again the case of the women’s rights activists at an appropriate level. The protection, promotion and fulfilment of human rights are at the core of EU’s engagement with Saudi Arabia. The EU will continue to follow the situation closely and use all the diplomatic tools at its disposal to voice concern when necessary. |(⋅1∙|) https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-geneva/75884/hrc43-item-4-human-rights-situations-require-councils-attention-eu- statement_en .
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