Int'l rights groups urge BIE to vote against Saudi Arabia's 2030 World Expo bid

▲ This image captured from the website of the Bureau International des Expositions shows schedule details of its general assembly to decide the host city of the 2030 World Expo. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

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Int'l rights groups urge BIE to vote against Saudi Arabia's 2030 World Expo bid

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- A group of more than a dozen international human rights groups has sent an open letter to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the body in charge of overseeing the World Expo, urging it to vote against Saudi Arabia's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, citing the Middle Eastern country's poor human rights record.

In the letter, 15 rights groups, including Democracy for the Arab World Now, European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, Freedom House and the Human Rights Foundation, said BIE member states should vote against Saudi Arabia's candidacy to host the World Expo 2030 during the BIE General Assembly next week.

"In the last few years, freedom of expression and civic space have shrunk to nonexistence, torture and enforced disappearance are routinely used as punishment, and executions have skyrocketed to an all-time high in the Kingdom," the groups said.

The groups argued that Saudi authorities "routinely commit human rights abuses such as arbitrary detention, target women's rights activists and human rights defenders and violate the rights to due process, fair trial and freedom of expression."

They added that "hosting events of this magnitude in Saudi Arabia may inadvertently serve as a cover-up for systemic human rights abuses, diverting attention away from the harsh realities faced by Saudi citizens."

Saudi Arabia is in a three-way race against Busan, South Korea and Rome, Italy, with the host set to be decided during a BIE general assembly in Paris next Tuesday (local time).

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