European legislators want downgrade of EU presence at G20 Saudi-hosted summit

Dozens of lawmakers of the European Parliament have called on the European Union (EU) to downgrade its presence at the next month’s G20 summit in Saudi Arabia’s capital of Riyadh over human rights concerns, a document says.

Sixty-five European legislators, in a joint letter, asked Brussels on Monday to downgrade its attendance in the 2020 G20 Riyadh summit, which is set for November 21 and 22 and will be held virtually due to fears over the spreading coronavirus, a joint letter by the lawmakers seen by AFP said.

The letter came after a wide-ranging resolution passed earlier this month that also called for the downgrade to “avoid legitimizing impunity for human rights violations” in Saudi Arabia, which assumed the G20 Presidency late last year.

“We should not legitimize a government committing egregious human rights violations as host of one of the most important summit meetings in the world,” said the letter.

The letter called on Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, not to participate in the virtual summit.

“We ask you to re-evaluate your participation in this year’s G20 summit and consider not attending, but instead downgrading the level of the European Union participation to a senior official level.”

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The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives.

The Arab kingdom is particularly under fire for the full-fledged war on Yemen that since March 2015, according to some estimates, has killed 100,000 people.

Despite the flamboyant efforts made by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler, to apparently bring about social reforms to the highly-conservative kingdom, his international reputation was badly tarnished by the gruesome assassination of well-known Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul back in October 2018.

Turkish officials say his body was dismembered by the killers and his remains are yet to be found. In the aftermath of Khashoggi’s killing, a CIA report said that the Saudi crown prince had ordered the assassination of the journalist, who was an outspoken critic of bin Salman.

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The European lawmakers further demanded that the EU refrain from establishing closer economic relations with Saudi Arabia.

“Our strong view is that unless Saudi Arabia makes progress on (human rights) the EU should not consider formalizing deeper relations on trade, investment or foreign affairs with the kingdom,” the letter added.

EU urged to skip Saudi G20 summit over human rights violations

The European Parliament strongly urges the European Union to significantly downgrade its attendance at an upcoming Saudi-hosted G20 meeting in light of Riyadh’s human rights atrocities.

The European Parliament’s resolution listed human rights issues such as the incarceration of women’s rights campaigners, including Loujain al-Hathloul as well as other activists, journalists, and bloggers.

As a full member of the G20, the European bloc is a significant economic power at the table along with three of its member states - Germany, France, and Italy.

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