UK Government urged to reveal its role in getting Saudi Arabia onto UN Human Rights Council

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Jouhina news,

The Government has been called upon to clarify the role it played in voting Saudi Arabia’s onto the UN Human Rights Council, after the kingdom executed 47 people in a single day sparking a backlash across the Middle East.

Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks last year purported to show that the UK was involved in a secret vote-trading deal to help ensure both countries a place on the influential panel.

The exchanges, related to the November 2013 vote in New York, were published by The Australian newspaper and have never been commented on by UK officials. Both Britain and Saudi Arabia were later named among the 47 member states of the UNHRC, following the secret ballot

David Cameron has been accused by human rights campaigners of “turning a blind eye” to Saudi abuses, particularly in light of the killings this weekend that included the prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr

And speaking to The Independent, there were cross-party calls for the Government to issue a full response to last year's alleged leak.

The Green Party leader, Natalie Bennett, said the Saudi kingdom’s role on the UN council was “one of many issued raised by the mass executions”.

She called for a public inquiry into the leaked diplomatic cables and the UK’s alleged decision to support Saudi Arabia in spite of its human rights record.

She said: “In light of the weekend's events, the government should be launching an inquiry to establish who made the decision to so abuse the UN process and the principle of universal human rights. The results of this inquiry must be published.

source Independent