UN rights experts denounce planned Saudi executions of megacity opponents

UN rights experts have denounced the pending execution of three members of a Saudi tribe, reportedly in connection with their opposition to a planned Red Sea megacity.

According to their statement, three other members of the Huwaitat tribe were also sentenced to between 27 and 50 years in prison.

They also demanded that Saudi authorities investigate allegations that some of the detainees had been tortured to extract confessions, and review their sentences.

The experts also raised concerns about the Neom project as a whole, amid accusations from rights groups of serious abuses being committed.

Saudi authorities are allegedly illegally displacing Huwaitat tribe members from their homes in three villages, often without adequate compensation, and violently cracking down on those who peacefully oppose or resist eviction.

In 2020, a Huwaitat tribe member was shot dead after he refused to give up his land for the project.