Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) criticised the arrests, saying it was an attempt by MBS to show he would not accept criticism of his rule. Several activists, mostly women but also several men, were arrested just weeks before the ban was officially lifted. MBS was generally seen as the main force behind the decision, but it was a group of Saudi human rights activists who first fought for the right to drive back in the 1990s and continued to publicly push for the right since then. In 2018, Saudi Arabia allowed women to drive, a move seen by many as a progressive step for women’s rights in the kingdom. He ultimately returned to Beirut weeks later after French President Emmanuel Macron’s successful mediation efforts and withdrew his resignation.ĭespite denying all allegations of forcing Hariri to resign or holding him captive in the country, MBS was seen as one of the key players behind the bizarre episode. Lebanese PM Saad Hariri, French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Bin Salman When Hariri travelled to the Saudi capital in November 2017, his phone was confiscated on arrival, and a day later he resigned his post live on a Saudi-owned television channel. What was supposed to be a regular visit to Saudi Arabia turned into a stunning episode of detainment by Saudi security forces for Saad Hariri, the former prime minister of Lebanon. “We don’t need to have a new Hezbollah in the Arabian peninsula,” referring to the Iran-backed Lebanese group.” This is a red line not only for Saudi Arabia but for the whole world.” Forcing the resignation of Lebanon’s PM Speaking to Time in April 2018, MBS defended the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, saying: “In any military operation mistakes happen … Of course, any mistakes made by Saudi Arabia or the coalition are unintended mistakes. The long-running war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions more and left much of the country on the brink to famine, with the United Nations describing Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Human rights groups have accused the Saudi-UAE-led coalition forces of indiscriminately bombing civilians and hospitals, schools and other infrastructure. With logistical support from the United States, the Saudi-UAE-led alliance have now carried out more than 20,000 raids on Houthi-held areas in an attempt to reverse their gains. In 2015, Saudi Arabia intervened in the civil war in neighbouring Yemen, launching an aerial campaign targeting the Houthi rebels, who were quickly gaining territory. Imprisoning woman human rights activists.This also includes thousands of civilian deaths in Yemen and a rapid rise of the number of executions since his ascent to power. However, previous arrests and an ongoing crackdown on dissent in the kingdom, as well as the gruesome murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has shifted the focus towards the darker side of MBS’s record.
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