Did British Police help Saudi Arabia crush its Arab Spring uprising?

UK complicit in Saudi protestor executions — A new report from Reprieve suggests British College of Policing training helped Saudi Arabia violently repress pro-democracy protests in 2012.

Britain’s major role in the global arms trade is well known: weapons manufacturers’ wares end up in the hands of unsavoury regimes and rebel forces alike. But a growing share of Britain’s international trade is made up of “technical training”, such as teaching foreign police forces how to deal with unrest, analyse CCTV footage or monitor online activity.

Human rights charity Reprieve have released a new report which claims the British College of Policing offered specialised intelligence training to Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry, which may have been used in their repression of the Arab Spring uprising in 2012. The information was obtained through a freedom of information request and suggests the Saudis received training in online supervision and call-tracking, alongside other counter-intelligence techniques.

Reprieve, who work in countries where the death penalty is still in effect, argue this makes the British College of Policing complicit in torture, executions and beheadings meted out to Saudi citizens for their involvement in the Arab Spring.

Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al Marhoon and Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher, pictured above, all suffered at the hands of the Saudi government. Ali was sentenced to death after attending a number of non-violent protests in 2012, while Dawood and Abdullah were tortured at the time and are now on trial and could face beheading.

The British College of Policing claims to have developed a “trusted and professional partnership” with the Saudi Interior Ministry. Many human rights campaigners believe otherwise.

Reprieve’s report is critical of the role played by the UK Foreign Office. After possible risks of sale to the Saudi forces were highlighted, training continued. “The skills being trained are used to identify individuals who later go on to be tortured or subjected to other human rights abuses,” says the report.

A follow up programme offered by the College of Policing included a top-up, which included cyber-policing techniques such as decrypting hard drives, voice recognition technology and CCTV investigation tactics.

The training programmes offered are part of ongoing attempts to monetise British policing and export the skills acquired in policing the UK to foreign governments – for a fee.

The courses highlighted in Reprieve’s report were given to up to 300,000 members of the Saudi Interior Ministry, including policemen, prison guards and national security staff.

“The training Britain delivered included hi-tech skills that could easily have been used to target pro-democracy activists in Saudi Arabia,” says Maya Foa, Director of the death penalty team at Reprieve. “Let’s not forget that while this was going on, teenage protesters like Ali al-Ribh, Abdullah al-Zaher, Ali al-Nimr, and Dawood al-Marhoon were rounded up and sentenced to death.”

Reprieve’s report comes at a time when Britain’s involvement in the oil, arms and fracking industries (and the passionate support these industries often receive from government) is increasingly being called into question for coming into conflict with Britain’s stated goal of defend human rights worldwide and its obligations under international law.

Find out more about Reprieve’s report.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.


Ad

Latest on Huck

Elderly man with glasses, white hair, and suit; young woman with long brown hair playing electric guitar on stage in green jacket.
Activism

Bernie Sanders introduces Clairo at Coachella, urging young Americans to “stand up for justice”

Coachella charmed — The Vermont Senator praised the singer-songwriter for her efforts in raising awareness of women’s rights issues and Gaza.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Vans

The Changing Face Of Brooklyn, New York’s Most Colourful Borough

After three decades spent capturing stories around the world, Magnum Photographer Alex Webb finally decided to return home to Brooklyn – a place that champions chaos, diversity and community spirit.

Written by: Alex Webb / Magnum Photos

Black and white image of subway carriage interior with sleeping man seated on bench
Culture

The mundane bliss of New York’s subways in the ’70s

NYC Passengers 1976-1981 — During a very different decade in NYC, which bounced between rich creativity and sketchiness, photographer Joni Sternbach captured the idiosyncratic isolation found on its rail networks.

Written by: Miss Rosen

A man playing a guitar whilst a horse stands beside him in a rocky, moonlit landscape.
Music

Analogue Appreciation: lullahush

Ithaca — In an ever more digital, online world, we ask our favourite artists about their most cherished pieces of physical culture. Today, it’s Irish retro-futurist lullahush.

Written by: lullahush

Two people of unidentified gender intimately embracing and kissing on a bed.
Culture

Spyros Rennt captures connection and tenderness among Berlin’s queer youth

Intertwined — In the Greek photographer’s fourth photobook, he lays out spreads of togetherness among his friends and the German capital’s LGBTQ+ party scene.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Surfers against sewage protest box floating in water with people swimming around it.
© Alex Brown / Surfers Against Sewage
Sport

The rebellious roots of Cornwall’s surfing scene

100 years of waveriding — Despite past attempts to ban the sport from beaches, surfers have remained as integral, conservationist presences in England’s southwestern tip. A new exhibition in Falmouth traces its long history in the area.

Written by: Ella Glossop

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to stay informed from the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, with personal takes on the state of media and pop culture in your inbox every month from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.