The London-based rights group said in a statement on Thursday that the Saudi image is tarnished by "a ruthless crackdown on freedom of expression and a bombing offensive in Yemen" and that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's recent visits to the UK and US are futile to mask the kingdom's crackdown against dissent.
Samah Hadid, director of campaigns for Amnesty International in the Middle East, Said: “The best PR machine in the world cannot gloss over Saudi Arabia’s dismal human rights record. The Crown Prince has been cast as a reformer but the crackdown against dissenting voices in his country has only intensified since his appointment last June".
Mohammed Bin Salman was appointed the first in line to the Saudi throne by his father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in June 2017. Since then, he has engaged in a string of radical economic and social projects in a bid to portray himself as “reformist." But those projects have been widely seen to be more about consolidating his personal power and less about bringing about real change to Saudi Arabia.
