RIYADH (Reuters) - Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on Friday called on Saudi Arabia to allow independent monitors to meet detainees, including women's rights activists who were allegedly tortured and prominent figures held in an anti-corruption campaign. A group of British lawmakers threatened to publish their own report detailing allegations of mistreatment unless Riyadh grants them access to the women detainees by next week, British media reported a day earlier. International scrutiny of Saudi Arabia's human rights record and its role in the Yemen war has intensified in the wake of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate last October. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has denied allegations that he ordered the hit, is pushing ambitious reforms in a bid to transform the Saudi economy and society. HRW said the kingdom's Human Rights Commission and public prosecutor, both government entities, lacked the independence to conduct a credible and transparent investigation.

Source: Ethiopian News January 25, 2019 00:00 UTC