Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations (a) he has and (b) officials of his Department have made to the Government of Saudi Arabia on abolishing the death penalty in that country in the last 12 months.

The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all countries and in all circumstances, as a matter of principle. This is especially the case for juveniles and for crimes other than the most serious. This is in line with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Arab Charter on Human Rights. We regularly raise our concerns about use of the death penalty with the Saudi Arabian authorities. We utilise a range of Ministerial and diplomatic channels, including our Ambassador and British Embassy officials in Riyadh. I raised the death penalty with Dr Awwad al Awwad, President of Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Commission during my virtual visit in July. The Minister for human rights, Lord Ahmad, raised the death penalty in a call with Dr Awwad in June and raised a range of human rights concerns during his visit last September. The Foreign Secretary raised human rights during his visit in March this year. In February, the Saudi Deputy Justice Minister, HE Abdullah Al Sulaimi, visited the UK. My predecessor raised the death penalty with him, as did our officials. The UK Ambassador to Saudi Arabia raised the death penalty with Dr Awwad al Awwad in February.