Brussels, November 9th 2018
Dear High Representative Mogherini,
Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered five weeks ago after entering the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul. Important questions, such as the whereabouts of Mr Khashoggi’s remains and the identity of those that ordered his murder remain unanswered.
Mr Khashoggi’s death comes on top of gross human rights violations committed both inside and outside Saudi Arabia as well as actions undertaken by the Saudi government to pressure both states and international organisations to remain silent about its appalling human rights record. In a new, extremely worrying development, twelve shia men, sentenced to death in what Amnesty International has described as a “grossly unfair mass trial” are in danger of imminent execution.
This weekend, the head of the EU delegation in Tanzania was recalled to Brussels for consultations following a ‘deterioration of the human rights and rule of law situation in the country’. The European External Action Service has announced it will be conducting a broader review of its relations with Tanzania.
While welcoming this move in response to the announced crackdown on the LGBTI community in Tanzania, we are interested in learning about the conditions and considerations that are taken prior to recalling of the head of an EU delegation. For our EU foreign policy to be credible, we should hold all countries to the same standard.
We therefor call on you to, in response to the ongoing human rights violations committed by Saudi Arabia, including the imminent execution of twelve men, the gruesome murder on Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia’s destructive role in Yemen, recall the head of the EU delegation in Riyadh until the government of Saudi Arabia seizes the bombarding of civilians in Yemen, takes positive steps in the field of human rights, including a moratorium on the death penalty and commits to an international investigation and fair prosecution of those responsible for Jamal Khashoggi’s death.
Kind regards,
- Marietje Schaake (ALDE)
- Pavel Telicka (ALDE)
- Georgi Pirinski (S&D)
- Pascal Durand (Greens)
- Jozo Rados (ALDE)
- Kateřina Konečná (GUE)
- Alessia Mosca (S&D)
- Merja Kyllönen (GUE)
- Vallina de la Noval (GUE)
- Hans-Olaf Henkel (ECR)
- Lola Sanchez-Caldentey (GUE)
- Zdzislaw Krasnodębski (ECR)
- Ana Maria Gomes (S&D)
- Patrick le Hyarick (GUE)
- Jose Inacio Faria (EPP)
- Theresa Griffin (ALDE)
- Ryszard Legutko (ECR)
- Boris Zala (S&D)
- Eva Kaili (S&D)
- Neena Gill (S&D)
- Edouard Martin (S&D)
- John Howarth (S&D)
- Mark Demesmaeker (ECR)
- Klaus Buchner (Greens)
- Richard Sulik (ECR)
- Izaskun Bilbao Barandica (ALDE)
- Tilly Metz (Greens)
- Julie Ward (S&D)
- Beatriz Becerra (ALDE)
- Patricia Lalonde (ALDE)
- Enrique Calvet Chambon (ALDE)
- Antanas Guoga (EPP)
- Anne-Marie Mineur (GUE)
- Catherine Stihler (S&D)
- Petras Austrevicius (ALDE)
- David Martin (S&D)
- Hilde Vautmans (ALDE)
- Ramon Tremosa (ALDE)
- Michel Rivasi (Greens)
- Claude Rolin (EPP)
- Yannick Jadot (Greens)
- Bernd Kolmel (ECR)
- Jasenko Selimovic (ALDE)
- Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner (ECR)
- Anna Maria Corazza Bildt (EPP)
- Ivo Vajgl (ALDE)
- Catherine Bearder (ALDE)
- Tania Gonzalez Penas (GUE)
- Barbara Spinelli (GUE)
- Bodil Valero (Greens)
- Max Andersson (Greens)
- Peter Niedermuller (S&D)
- Isabella Adinolfi (EFDD)
- Dimitrios Papadimoulis (GUE)
- Eric Andrieu (S&D)
- Eva Joly (Greens)
- Fredrick Federley (ALDE)
