Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire
Promoting human rights from Salisbury UK
June 2025
We are pleased to attach the report for the period mid-May to mid-June thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. It is longer than usual reflecting the increasing activity in the US following President Trump’s actions on the use of the penalty. As ever, we must point out that the world’s biggest user of the penalty – China – who is believed to execute thousands of its citizens, is not present in the report because details are a state secret.
November 2024
The 2034 World Cup is to take place in Saudi Arabia a country with a huge range of human rights issues. Women have restricted rights both in law and in practice. They are prevented from participation in sporting activities. Human Rights defenders are routinely intimidated or arrested on spurious charges. There is no religious freedom. There is a heavy toll of death sentences usually by beheading in public. By September 2024, 198 had been executed. Torture is common and suspects are kept for long periods often in solitary confinement without legal representation. Altogether a Kingdom where few freedoms or human rights exist.
FIFA, the world governing body, has been racked by years of controversy and corruption allegations. It would hardly be surprising therefore if the decision to host the 2034 competition in Saudi – following the massive scandal of the Qatar competition – was not accompanied by some corruption or other shady activities.
Enter Clifford Chance, a major London law firm with apparently a good reputation. They have produced a 39 page report in support of the Kingdom which somehow misses the key issues and the multiple human rights infringements. Clifford Chance, along with many other organisations, has a range of fine words praising their high principles. ‘[We] are committed to the highest ethical and professional standards’ they claim. ‘[We act] with integrity, professionalism and fairness.‘ As a firm ‘we have agreed to support and respect internationally recognised human rights both as part of our own commitment to the UN Global Compact and consistent with the UN Guiding Principles.’
So how, it might be asked, does a law firm with such principles and policy statements come to write a report which seems to overlook the massive infringements taking place in the Kingdom? It helps if you do not ask those in a position to know such as the many human rights organisations who have produced report after report detailing the dreadful state of human rights. Instead, you ask the Saudi sports authority itself, SAFF, who helpfully identified the five human rights ‘focal points’ for the (allegedly) ‘independent’ assessment. Reading the 39 pages there is no mention of the multiple human rights infringements which regularly take place in the Kingdom.
The report is nothing short of a disgrace. It is reported that it has produced an ‘internal shitstorm’ in the London headquarters. Eleven human rights organisations have condemned it. A common response to criticisms such as these is that sport enable a better understanding of human rights through sport. Global Citizen is a champion of this view. The difficulty with this idea, noble though it is, is that sport is being used by the likes of Saudi to promote – not human rights and brotherhood – but its own interests.
Another issue is the kafala system which immigrant labour works in desperate conditions for 16 hours a day sometimes in searing heat. The death toll is enormous and it is reported that 21,000 Nepali, Bangladeshi and Indian workers who have died in Saudi since the Vision 30 plan was launched in 2016. The Clifford Chance report dances around this issue with a host of weasel words.
And we must not forget the murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi almost certainly on MBS’s orders.
But should we be surprised? The Kingdom has enormous wealth and company after company is happy to do business there and hold their noses whilst doing so. Why should Clifford Chance be any different? It is alleged that the firm facilitated the removal of fortunes from 400 citizens who were locked in a hotel by Mohammed bin Salman. It is claimed £100bn was removed from them. The enormous wealth of the Gulf states has profited many European and American corporations eager to benefit from the largesse. Any moral scruples seem all too easily to be set aside. That a major law firms should join this jamboree is deeply disappointing. Thousands will die during the course of construction. Hundreds more will be detained without trial. Hundreds will continue to be beheaded. Whatever happened to those ‘highest ethical and professional standards?’
All this in aid of football. The ‘beautiful game’ has become mired in sleaze, corruption and graft. It has now dragged down a respected law firm in its quest to earn big fees.
[UPDATE: 15 November. Inside World Football reports that FIFA deliberately agreed with Saudi to limit the scope of the report into human rights.]
Sources: Amnesty, FIFA, Clifford Chance, The Guardian, New York Times, The Observer, Inside World Football.
September 2024
We are pleased to attach the latest death penalty report covering the period mid-August to mid-September thanks to group member Lesley for the work in preparing it. Note as ever that China does not appear in the report despite being the world’s largest executioner as details of executions are a state secret.
The human rights activist, Loujain al-Hathloul, faces a lengthy jail term in Saudi Arabia for advocating the right of women to drive a car and for campaigning for the end of the male guardianship system.
In 2018, she was abducted and arrested for defying the ban on women driving and for her campaigning against the male guardianship system. She was held for many months incommunicado, and in prison was beaten, sexually assaulted, tortured with electric shocks and waterboarded. Human rights groups, including Amnesty, and the UN Human Rights Committee, have urged for her to be released.
The latest news is that at a hearing in a terrorism court, the judge said the sentence would be announced on Monday.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman claimed when he first assumed power, that he would reform the justice system in that country. There has been little sign of that since with arrests of opponents, routine use of torture, harsh crackdowns on anyone opposing the monarchy and widespread use of the death penalty. He faces little pressure to change however, with the UK and other western countries all too ready to fawn over the prince in their desire to secure lucrative arms deals. Astonishingly, the UK government was active behind the scenes in securing a place for Saudi on the UN’s Human Rights Council.
See also the Grant Liberty website.
ACTION TODAY WEDNESDAY 24 JUNE
Next week marks two years since women in Saudi Arabia were finally granted the right to drive.
As part of his Vision 2030, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is working hard to be seen as the moderniser of Saudi Arabia, introducing a number of social reforms.
Meanwhile, thirteen Saudi women’s rights activists remain on trial for peacefully campaigning for the same reforms, including the right to drive. Five of them are still behind bars – including Loujain al-Hathloul, Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sada.
We’re asking our supporters to take action together this Wednesday 24 June – the day women were granted the right to drive in Saudi Arabia in 2018, while these women’s rights defenders were locked up in prison charged with, among other things, “promoting women’s rights”.
Please share this horn graphic on social media with the following message:
I stand with #Saudi women rights activists who fought for the right to drive. It’s shameful they were locked up for demanding equality. Join me & @AmnestyUK calling on @KingSalman to release them & drop all charges: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/beepforfreedom #BeepForFreedom CC @SaudiEmbassyUK
Thank you!
WTO ruling puts sale of the club to a Saudi backed investment vehicle in doubt.
In a previous post we discussed the possible purchase of Newcastle United Football club by a consortium using Saudi funds. The consortium wishing to purchase the Newcastle Football club using Saudi money from their sovereign wealth fund is receiving strong local support. The local newspaper the Newcastle Chronicle has run several pieces discussing the various moves and bidding in the saga. A poll shows overwhelming support for the purchase:
The Newcastle United Supporters Trust has thrown its weight behind the potential takeover of the club after publishing a survey of members which showed overwhelming support for the buy out.
A Trust survey has found 96.7% of their members are in favour of the proposed takeover by Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners, along with the Reuben Brothers and the Saudi Arabian PiF. Mark Douglas, Chronicle, 25 April 2020
It is the comments pieces which are most revealing however. Supporters are passionate about their club and want it to do well, understandably so. They do not take kindly to doubts expressed by Amnesty or others about the wisdom of the take over. One writer sums up the situation well;
It would be hugely hypocritical and financially damaging if the government (which deals in billions of pound worth of arms with the Saudi’s) were to step in and put a stop to this deal going through. Why should NUFC be forced to act as a deterrent to the Saudi human rights. Organisations such as amnesty international (sic) and the UN have been unable to enforce any legal obligation on the Saudi’s so why should a football club be expected to do so. Both Amnesty and the UN should be able to enforce a political solution, and not try to use NUFC as leverage. We won’t be the first Premiership club to be owned by Saudi’s or another middle eastern domain, non (sic) of whom have good Human Rights reputations. I cannot believe for one minute that the government would have any legal right to block this deal and the FA have allowed other clubs to be purchased by Saudi’s previously so they have already set a precedence. NEWCASTLE500
He or she has a point. Saudi is the largest purchaser of arms from the UK. Royalty and a succession of ministers and prime ministers have paid court to the Saudis so why should NUFC forego a huge injection of cash when the government is obviously keen to do so? On 26 April 2020 it was revealed that the UK government has increased arms sales to regimes with a poor human rights record. Two wrongs do not make a right however. The British government is so ensnared in arms sales to Saudi that to stop would cause enormous damage to our arms industry and to our balance of payments. Small wonder the minister, Oliver Dowden, wants to keep well away from the problem. They Work for You reveals he generally votes against human rights and has voted for the abolition of the Human Rights Act.
If the Chronicle’s survey results reflect what people in Newcastle think, it is truly depressing. Is the only consideration the success or otherwise of their football club? The coverage also sought the opinions of past players who were also said to be enthusiastic.
Reading the Newcastle Chronicle pieces one would gain only small hints of the human rights situation in Saudi or what they are doing in Yemen. The pieces discuss the ins and outs of the deal largely to the exclusion of all else. If supporters read more of the nature of the money they are so keen to get their hands on, would they react differently?
Football has become enmeshed in money. Without huge budgets, no team can hope to win titles or afford to buy the best players. Has the desire for success and prestige corrupted the game? As Kate Allen, director of Amnesty put it:
The Premier League is putting itself at risk of becoming a patsy of those who want to use the Premier League to cover up actions that are deeply immoral, in breach of international law and at odds with the values of the global footballing community.
A classic example of sports wash.
Attached is the death penalty report for December – January compiled by group member Lesley.
In a previous post we mentioned the case of Anthony Joshua, the boxer and the fight which took place in Saudi Arabia for which he received a multi-million pound purse.
Human rights groups were critical of his decision to fight there and said it was an example of Sportswash: using sport to try and sanitise a dubious regime. In the case of Saudi this involves executions by beheading; floggings; imprisoning opposition people, lawyers and human rights workers as well as their appalling bombing activities in Yemen.
Lo and behold, within days of this happening and the criticism which it produced, Joshua turns up on the Graham Norton Show on the BBC. This is a show which features actors and celebrities of various kinds who come on to promote their activities and seemingly have a good time. Joshua came on to great acclaim and was variously embraced and fawned over by the other guests. Joshua himself said at the time of the fight that he did not know about Amnesty as he was too busy training but one suspects that Graham Norton, his producers and production team know and must have been aware of the furore surrounding his fight in Saudi. Not a word was said about this.
So what do we call this? Is it Sportswash? The BBC has come in for an increasing amount of criticism for bias and to some extent this is understandable during an election. This is not bias however, it is simply not wanting to see. No doubt his promoters or PR people want to rehabilitate Joshua’s reputation – which took a knock – and what better than to parade him on a lightweight entertainment show like Graham Norton where no awkward questions were asked. But why did the BBC agree to this? Did the other guests know he was coming on and were they not concerned? If they were they did not show it with lots of kisses, backslapping and embracing – typical activity when celebs come together. We do not know of course if other potential guests were sickened by his presence and declined the gig.
So have the BBC been used as part of a plan to rehabilitate Anthony Joshua’s reputation? Is what is happening in Yemen and Saudi of so little interest to the BBC that inviting this man on for our entertainment matters more than the suffering of people in those two countries?
We are pleased to attach our latest monthly death penalty report compiled by group member Lesley. In addition to matters around the world, we mention worries about the Conservative 
government, if, as expected, they assume power on Friday after the election. The present Home Secretary, Priti Patel is committed to toughening sentencing and has said she wishes to see the reintroduction of the penalty in the UK. She denies that this is the case. We quote survey statistics to show that it is still a desired outcome for many people, especially for those who voted leave in the EU Referendum.
Note as ever that China is the world’s largest executioner of its citizens but the data is a state secret.
The latest example is the heavyweight fight in Saudi Arabia involving Anthony Joshua. The fight was approved by the WBA, the World Boxing Organisation and International Boxing Federation.
Readers of this site need no introduction into the unpleasantness of the Saudi Regime. Its activities in Yemen we have featured many times on these pages. With British and American support
and armaments, it has carried out a bombing campaign in that country with little regard to international human rights law. Schools, hospitals, wedding ceremonies and civilian areas generally have been bombed sometimes using what is called ‘double tap’ that is, going in for a second time when the aid workers arrive causing extra mayhem.
Human rights are low on the agenda with floggings, torture, amputations and executions the norm. There have been 148 executions so far this year. Women’s rights activists, lawyers and members of the Shia minority have all been targeted. But never mind, there’s money to be made in them there dunes so lets go for it.
There has been a wide range of criticism of the boxer himself and the promoters, Matchroom Sport for taking the Saudi shilling for this event thus taking part in an attempt to sanitise the regime. They denied the charge that they were sportswashing.
Daily Telegraph, 16 August (Eddie Hearn is Joshua’s promoter)
What does Anthony Joshua himself say? He is reported not to have known who Amnesty International was saying in a BBC interview that he spent most of his time in Finchley training.
I appreciate them [Amnesty] voicing an opinion. And it’s good to talk about issues in the world. But I’m there to fight. If I want to put on my cape where I’m going to save the world, we all have to do it together. The questions and the things that are happening in the world in general can’t be left to one man to solve. We all have to make a difference.”
I’ve actually been to Saudi Arabia and I’m building a relationship, Some of the questions that the world has to ask, maybe I could be a spokesman? It’s a blessing and they can speak back. And that’s relationship building, rather than just accusing, pointing fingers and shouting from Great Britain. In order to ask questions, and people that may want to make change, you have to go and get involved. Daily Telegraph 6 September 2019
Matchroom’s site makes only scant mention of the human rights aspect. “We are an independent company of passionate individuals” it tells us on its site: presumably the passion is confined to sport.
Of course, Joshua is not the first and certainly not the last to be involved in the process of sportwashing regimes such as Saudi Arabia. His ‘crime’ of agreeing to fight in the kingdom does not compare with the UK government’s support and agreeing to the supply of arms to this regime over many years. Members of the Royal Family have been happy to get engaged with a fellow royal family.
The difference is that this fight will have been seen by millions hence the purse of £40 million that Joshua will earn (there are other higher figures). Those millions of viewers are likely to be left with an impression that it is all right to engage with such a regime. But they have been willing stooges in the process of trying to sanitise them and its attempts to make a comeback after the murder of Khashoggi.
Sport has had its fair share of scandals. Doping, cheating, bribery: a seemingly endless stream of less than salubrious behaviour. FIFA and the Olympics are replete with corruption. To many, Joshua is a hero and on the sporting front he no doubt is. But as a hero he has a responsibility, as do those behind him, to recognise the influence he has on followers. Some day, the sporting fraternity are going to have to recognise the role they play in shaping people’s – particularly young people’s – minds and the influence they have. And that may mean saying ‘no’ to performing in a country where women have few rights and are imprisoned for seeking them, where torture is a way of life, and hacking off heads and limbs part of the legal system. Good way to earn £40 million.
Last word to Matchroom:
We got criticized for coming here but these people have been amazing. The vision they have for boxing in this region is incredible and they delivered. [Accessed 8 December]
Sources: Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Amnesty
Amnesty in Salisbury & South Wiltshire 