Biden administration prepares to corner Saudi Arabia over human rights;

Washington: The US state department remarked that there is trampling of Human rights in Saudi Arabia, and many members of the Saudi Arabian Royal family have disappeared suspiciously. The US state department expressed concerns over Saudi Arabia’s situation, making this claim in one of its reports. In the past, the US intelligence agencies had claimed that the orders for killing Journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey were given by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This clarifies that the United States is preparing to corner Saudi Arabia on the human rights issue.

Two days ago, the US state department published a report related to human rights. The report says that there has been a violation of human rights more than a thousand times in Saudi Arabia alone. Without making a direct comment on the Saudi Arabian Royal family’s internal politics, the report raises the issue of the rights of the members of the royal family. A year ago, four senior members of the Saudi Arabian family, namely Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, Prince Nayef bin Ahmed, Prince Mohammad bin Nayef and Prince Nawwaf bin Nayef, were taken into custody. The report of the US state department criticises this action.

Out of these, Prince Ahmed is King Salman’s younger brother, and Prince Nayef is his nephew. At the same time, Prince Mohammed bin Ahmed was the Crown Prince and Internal Security Minister during King Salman’s rule. Two years ago, Prince Ahmed had taken a stand against King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Protests had been organised in London against the military action initiated by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. At this time, Prince Ahmed blamed his brother, King Salman, and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was responsible for this conflict.

Around the same time, Prince Khalid Bin Farhan, a Saudi Arabian Royal family member residing in Germany, met Prince Ahmed and incited him for a rebellion. It had been exposed that Prince Murkin and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef also had joined Prince Ahmed in the uprising against the Saudi Arabian Royal family. At that time, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had arrested his uncle and his brothers. The report mentions that the location where Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was detained for five months after his arrest by the bodyguards of the royal family was never known.

The US state department report criticises the human rights violation in Saudi Arabia and expresses concerns over it. But the name of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman appears only once in the report. Therefore, the report is consciously avoiding targeting the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince. Despite this, the indications are clear that the Biden administration in the United States is trying to build pressure on Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi Arabia is not mainly known as a country to respect human rights. The United States has ignored it time and again. But now, the Biden administration is preparing to corner Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the issues of the Yemen conflict, the Khashoggi killing, and the missing members of the Saudi Arabian Royal family. Before this, the Biden administration refused to supply advanced weapons to Saudi Arabia, a part of the Yemen conflict. The Biden administration also took a courageous decision of removing the Houthi rebels, who are in control in Yemen, from the list of terrorist organisations.

The attacks by the Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia have intensified after Biden took over as the President of the United States. Talks are rife that this is not a mere coincidence. Therefore, the US state department seems to have taken one more step, by raising the human rights issue, to target Saudi Arabia yet again.