RIYADH: The president of the Saudi Human Rights Commission (HRC), Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad, on Friday met with the vice chairman of the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula (DARP), Mark Tarabella.
The meeting in Brussels was attended by the head of the Saudi mission to the EU, Ambassador Saad bin Mohammed Al-Arifi.
Discussions highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts to support human rights, the reforms taking place in the field, and the issue of 60 directives related to human rights matters.
Al-Awwad said that the Kingdom looked forward to achieving even more progress under the leadership of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The HRC chief said during earlier talks with EU officials that Saudi Arabia has been an international leader in human rights obligations.
He met with 17 members of the EU’s Political and Security Committee in the presence of the head of the Saudi mission to the EU, Ambassador Saad bin Mohammed Al-Arifi, on Thursday in Brussels.
“The Kingdom sought to protect and promote human rights and fulfilled its international obligations by submitting all its international reports. This made it one of the 36 countries to do so out of 197 state parties. This was due to the support provided by King Salman to human rights,” Al-Awwad said.
He said Saudi Arabia “is open to the world and still looks forward to achieve more under its wise leadership. It seeks to achieve the principles and values of human rights and hopes they will become universal, which would promote the achievement of sustainable development and the promotion of human rights.”
“Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has made a qualitative leap and has led a reform, development, change and modernization movement in all of the state’s facilities and human rights in particular. The three past years have seen the taking of around 60 human rights-related decisions, with 22 of those aimed at empowering women.
“The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 is at the forefront of these reforms intended to focus on humans, the central element of development,” he added, noting that “the vision included objectives related to human rights,” said Al-Awwad.
He stressed the Kingdom’s interest in fighting terrorism.
“The Kingdom has fought extremism in cooperation with other countries by launching several centers and projects to promote the values of moderation and tolerance.”
