ALQST and 12 human rights organisations have sent a letter urging mayors to withdraw from Saudi Arabia’s upcoming Urban 20 (U20) summit and to publicly call on the Saudi authorities to take immediate and clear steps to end their human rights abuses. 

The letter has been sent to eight mayors of major cities (Berlin, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York, Paris and Rome) who are expected to participate in Saudi Arabia’s U20 mayors summit from 30 September - 2 October, part of the G20 which Saudi Arabia is hosting this year. 

Citing the Saudi authorities’ brutal record of human rights violations, it calls on the mayors to withdraw from the summit, and to publicly urge the Saudi authorities to take clear and immediate steps to end their human rights abuses, including releasing prisoners of conscience, taking meaningful steps towards accountability for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, and ending the war in Yemen.

In the lead up to the G20, ALQST is campaigning to mobilise people around the people to urge governments and businesses not to turn a blind eye to the Saudi authorities’ egregious human rights violations, and to urge G20 participants and governments to place human rights at the centre.