27 human rights organization called on 11 Arab countries who are members of the General Assembly of the United Nations, not to vote again for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the elections of the Human Rights of the United Nations, to be held today at the headquarters of the General Assembly in New York. They accused Saudi Arabia, of serious violations in Human Rights, which - according to the organizations - continue to impede the development and reform in Saudi Arabia. The organizations affirmed - in a letter addressed to the United Nations - that they have resorted to this appeal after the failure of Saudi Arabia to meet its obligations to uphold human rights, pointing out that Saudi Arabia is still far off from the right of citizens to form political parties or associations, or the establishment of peaceful assembly. Moreover, religious minorities come up against clear violations and women are still deprived of many basic rights not for any other reason but for them being female, in addition to the excessive use of police authority according to the letter.
The letter - which was signed by organizations from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Yemen and Iraq – pointed out that Saudi Arabia "did not show willingness to reform" as it is not a party to a number of critical conventions of international human rights. At the forefront of these is the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, in addition to the Kingdom's ratification of a number of International Conventions on Human Rights. The letter stressed the importance of the elections, and the results of which would be necessary for the promotion of human rights through the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, warning that support for the re-election of Saudi Arabia - despite the inevitable election, because of the presence of competition for nominations for the seat - will be a disturbing and dangerous reality to the membership of the Council. It would also substantially undermine the legitimacy of both the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly in the defense of human rights.
