PROVINCES June 01. 2023 (Saba)- It seems strange in our world today that there are war crimes of the magnitude, gross violations of human rights, and slavery practices that are unparalleled anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, these practices still exist and are entrenched in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, where new data and reports show that the two countries (Saudi Arabia and the UAE) occupy advanced ranks. In committing war crimes, human rights violations, and practicing slavery.
A detailed report recently published by the non-governmental organization Walk Free in Australia on the modern slavery phenomenon in the world in 2023 revealed that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the top ten countries in the world for the slavery index.
The "Global Slavery" Index for 2023, published by the organization, also revealed that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are at the forefront of the classification because these two countries follow the "sponsorship system" that restricts the freedoms of foreign workers and domestic maids.
The report indicated that about 50 million people suffered from what is called "modern slavery" around the world in 2021, an increase estimated at about ten million people compared to the statistics conducted by the same organization in 2016.
The report also revealed that 28 million people suffer from forced labor and 22 million from the forced marriage phenomenon, pointing out that the situation has deteriorated as a result of "increasing armed conflicts, which have become more complex, and widespread environmental deterioration" that some regions of the world know, as well as the repercussions of the "Covid-19" epidemic. 19" and other factors.
According to the data collected by the same organization, it indicated that modern slavery includes "debt slavery, exploitation for commercial purposes, human trafficking, slavery-like practices, and the sale and exploitation of children."
The sponsorship system encourages slavery.
The report states that the "sponsorship" system used in Saudi Arabia in particular keeps foreign workers at the disposal of the companies' owners, factories and exposes them to "slavery", whether at the level of construction companies or inside homes, where some foreign maids who came from African or Asian countries suffer from domestic violence and repressive practices by the people.
According to the same report, about 1.7 million people suffered from modern slavery in the Arab countries in 2021, or about 101 people out of a thousand, while about 4.8 percent of the population of the region were subjected to forced marriage.
Although forced labor is becoming more common in low-income countries, it is mainly related to demand from higher-income countries, according to the report, which indicated that two-thirds of all forced labor cases are linked to global supply chains.
The report stated that the G20 countries, which include the European Union, along with the 19 largest economies in the world, are currently importing products worth $468 billion that are likely to be produced using forced labour, compared to $354 billion in the previous report.
Walk Free is a global organization that fights modern slavery and defends human rights. It includes statisticians and criminal lawyers who work to uproot modern slavery.
In the same context, Amnesty International revealed in its annual report, which monitors the death penalty around the world during the year 2022, recently that Saudi Arabia executed 81 people in just one day, which is a shocking number.
The highest number in five years, as the notorious capital punishment countries in the Middle East and North Africa relentlessly carried out killing spree.
International Secretary-General, Agnès Callamard, said: "The countries of the Middle East and Africa have violated the international law by escalating the death penalty during the year 2022, which shows a blatant disregard for human life; the number of individuals whose lives were lost has increased dramatically across the region."
Executions tripled in Saudi Arabia, from 65 in 2021 to 196 in 2022, the highest number monitored by Amnesty International in this country in 30 years.
Also in the context, the United Nations says from time to time that there is evidence of Saudi and Emirati war crimes in Yemen.
The third report of the United Nations Human Rights Council committee revealed the existence of "reasonable evidence" that Saudi Arabia and the UAE committed war crimes in Yemen.
The 55-page report was prepared for submission to the 45th session of the Human Rights Council on September 29, 2020.
According to the UN report, there is reasonable evidence that Saudi Arabia and the UAE committed war crimes in Yemen, as this report sheds light on the war crimes committed by individuals (officers or soldiers) of the two countries, which constitute the main structure of the aggression coalition against Yemen.
The UN report stated at the time that the UAE still has a military presence in Yemen, and that its air force attacks are still continuing.
The report indicated that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are responsible for gross human rights violations, including crimes of depriving the right to life, arbitrary detention, violence and torture.
The report mentioned, in particular, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which violated human rights, stressing the existence of "reasonable evidence" that they committed war crimes in Yemen.
J.A
resource : saba
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