HRW calls for clarity on ex-Saudi crown prince’s status

Saudi authorities should “immediately” clarify whether they have imposed movement restrictions on the former crown prince, Mohammad Bin Nayef, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has demanded in an official letter to the Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel Al-Jubeir.

In a report published on 28 June, the New York Times quoted former and current US officials as saying that the Saudi authorities have subjected Bin Nayef to house arrest and banned him from traveling following a coup which saw King Salman son, Mohammad Bin Salman, being named the new crown prince on 21 June.

“The Foreign Affairs Ministry should clarify whether authorities have restricted Prince Mohammad’s freedom of movement inside Saudi Arabia, and whether he is under a travel ban, and if so, clarify the legal basis for the restrictions,” the agency stressed.

The UN agency has also noted several violations carried out by the Saudi interior ministry, such as imposing arbitrary travel bans and detentions against Saudi citizens.

Read: Saudi denies that former crown prince is confined to palace

The agency’s Middle East Director, Sarah Leah Whitson, described the reports on Bin Nayef’s travel ban and home detention without due process as “bitterly ironic”, stressing “the Saudi government needs to call a halt to officials’ arbitrary abuses of power.”