On June 21, 2017, Mohammed bin Salman became Crown Prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia on behalf of his father, King Salman. In contrast to his claims of liberal reform, his highly centralised and dictatorial reign has been distinguished by ruthless repression and significant human rights violations.
Since King Salman took the throne in January 2015, his son Mohammed bin Salman has grown in authority and influence. He was appointed Defence Minister, Deputy Crown Prince, and Chair of the kingdom’s huge sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), in 2015, before being named Crown Prince on 21 June 2017 and becoming the country’s de facto ruler.
Saudi Arabia has been an absolute monarchy for over 100 years, but authority has become even more concentrated under the leadership of Salman and Mohammed bin Salman. For example, in July 2017, the king issued a decree creating the State Security Presidency (SSP), an all-encompassing security organization that combines counterterrorism and domestic intelligence services under one command, reporting directly to the monarch and bypassing the Ministry of Interior.
And, while Saudi Arabia was always a restrictive regime, MbS’s ascension to power has ushered in an era of unparalleled repression, with authorities mercilessly clamping down on free expression and any whiff of criticism. The SSP has arbitrarily detained hundreds of human rights activists, religious figures, professors, authors, and anybody who expresses dissent or does not follow the official line. The authorities have also targeted government officials, businesses, and even members of the royal family.
This repression has been bolstered by additional regressive legal changes, including a 2017 revision of the Counter-Terrorism Law, an even more draconian version of its predecessor, which punishes anyone who “directly or indirectly” describes the king or crown prince as “harming religion or justice.”
Many of those targeted are still being held and silenced in a horribly complicated jail system with little independent oversight. Since Mohammed bin Salman took control, there has been a surge in breaches of inmates’ rights, including harsh torture in unofficial detention facilities such as the basement of a royal castle and an undisclosed location dubbed “the hotel.” High-ranking officials have overseen such operations, including Saud al-Qahtani, a close advisor to Mohammed bin Salman who has also coordinated diabolical measures to repress opposition both inside and outside the nation.
The gruesome murder of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 showed MbS’s personal involvement in certain cases. Agnès Callamard, the then-UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary killings, found “credible evidence” of the Crown Prince’s individual involvement in the murder, and a US intelligence analysis concluded that Mohammed bin Salman ordered the operation.
Amid international condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record, particularly in the aftermath of the Khashoggi murder, MbS has attempted to whitewash the kingdom’s image, citing his “Vision 2030” economic plan and grandiose projects like the Neom megacity, while also announcing limited social reforms that fall far short of what is required and, in any case, have been accompanied by new abuses.
Claims that the kingdom has abolished the death penalty for juveniles, for example, have been contradicted by large legal loopholes and at least one further execution of a young man caught as a kid. Saudi Arabia continues to be one of the countries with the largest number of executions in the world, including the mass execution of 81 men earlier this year.
Despite modest revisions, the extremely restricted kafala (sponsorship) system, which requires foreigners working in the kingdom to rely on an individual citizen who acts as their sponsor, has yet to be completely abolished.
Despite Mohammed bin Salman’s boasts that he favors women’s equality, repressive male guardianship continues to impede many elements of women’s life in Saudi Arabia.
And Saudi Arabia’s participation in Yemen’s horrific conflict, which Mohammed bin Salman initiated as defense minister in 2015, is now in its ninth year.
Only sustained international pressure on Saudi authorities will result in meaningful progress toward full respect for human rights and freedoms in Saudi Arabia, and WCHR once again urges the international community not to rehabilitate the Saudi pariah state, but to put pressure on its leaders to rein in their widespread violations.