Human rights activists criticize US praise for lack of Saudi Arabia protests

YemenExtra

The US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross’s praise for the lack of protests during Trump`s visit to Saudi  has been criticized by civil rights activists who pointed out that protesting in Saudi Arabia is illegal.

Ross travelled with the US president to Saudi Arabia in the first stage of his first international tour since taking office, Ross said there was “no sign of” protesters and seemed to suggest this was a sign of the country’s goodwill towards the US.

Adam Coogle, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch, said “anyone who follows the situation in Saudi Arabia will not be surprised at all” by the lack of protesters.

“There was not a single hint of a protester anywhere there during the whole time we were there,” Ross said. “Not one guy with a bad placard.”

Thousands of people are expected to protest Trump’s appearance in Brussels on Wednesday, but there was no sign of dissent in  Saudi

“There was not a single effort at any incursion, there wasn’t anything,” Ross said. “The mood was a genuinely good mood.”

“Protesting is a serious offence in Saudi Arabia. It’s been de facto criminalized for many, many years, and specifically criminalized since 2011,” Coogle said.

“The stakes for protesting are extremely high. No one wants to sit in jail for ten years because they protested Trump.”

In an October 2016 report,  the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner found that “children involved in demonstrations have been tried and sentenced, including to death, by the specialized criminal court” in Saudi Arabia.

source :Guardian