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'Monumental failure': Captive Saudi dissident's son says Carney let down human rights during visit
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney missed a huge opportunity in Saudi Arabia last week to advocate for human rights, said the son of a Saudi dissident unable to leave the country to join his family in Canada.
Carney would not reveal if he raised the case of Raif Badawi in his meetings, adding that “one of the advantages of private meetings is that they remain confidential.” He acknowledged that this particular case is “very difficult” for the man and his family in Canada (he did not mention Badawi by name) and said “this is one an example of a case where, as time goes by, we can try and improve the situation gradually.”
“I was very disappointed,” said Raif’s son, Tirad Badawi, of Carney’s answer. “In all honesty, I think everyone was expecting more — not just us, our family, but everyone. Canadians want their prime minister to raise the issue of human rights even more.”
“So, I think it’s a monumental failure for the Carney government.”
Tirad Badawi was only nine years old when he relocated to Canada with his mother Ensaf Haidar and his two sisters, following the arrest of his father for criticizing Saudi religious authorities via his political blog Free Saudi Liberal.
Tirad Badawi, now 21 years old and a Canadian citizen living in Sherbrooke, Que., is losing hope of reuniting with his father.
“I often describe him as being in an open-air prison,” said Tirad Badawi in an interview. “Nothing has changed. He might not be on prison grounds, but he is still living in one.”
Badawi was sentenced in 2014 to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes, receiving the first 50 lashes in a public flogging that sparked international condemnation. The other 950 were delayed because he could not physically endure more, and were cancelled entirely when lashing ceased to be used as punishment in 2020.
He was released from prison in 2022 and now lives in Jeddah, but still remains under a 10-year travel ban, a media ban and is subject to a one million riyal fine, the equivalent of $375,000 Canadian dollars.
Even though the travel ban is set to expire in 2032, Tirad said his family is unable to pay the hefty fine that Saudi authorities are asking before he can be free.
Jeddah, where Badawi is living, is where Carney travelled last week to meet the crown prince and de facto ruler of the country, Mohammed bin Salman, and endorse the signing of multiple commercial agreements with the country. It was the first trip to the country by a prime minister in 26 years, and after a falling out under the previous prime minister, and some criticized the Carney government for glossing over the kingdom’s human rights abuses for the sake of trade .
The fact that Carney did not say Badawi’s name out loud when asked about him in Jeddah did not sit quite right with Tirad Badawi, who said he would have liked to see the prime minister give the impression “that he at least is concerned by my dad’s case.”
The Carney Liberals have repeatedly said it is more constructive to engage directly with countries that do not have a stellar human rights record than wagging fingers at them.
“Lecturing countries from afar is an ineffective strategy,” Carney reiterated last week. “It’s satisfying, but it’s ineffective. Engagement can be effective.”
His comments were seen as criticism of the Trudeau Liberals which indeed lectured from afar, such as when former foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland caused a diplomatic incident when she spoke up about the Badawi family in 2018.
Tirad Badawi said that diplomatic back channels have been used repeatedly to try to help his father under the Harper and Trudeau governments. Even King Charles and former U.S. vice-president Mike Pence have intervened on behalf of Raif Badawi, he said.
“We’ve tried everything, whether it is diplomacy or the media… Nothing has changed.”
On the other hand, Tirad Badawi said that Freeland’s social media post at least led to some positive impacts on his father’s well-being while he was detained.
After that tweet, he said, prison guards tread more carefully and would give his father access to his radio, his medication or his books in his prison cell, for instance.
Even though Raif Badawi is out of prison, he is still forbidden from having social media accounts and even less from sharing his thoughts on a blog. He is also forbidden from being in contact with people outside of Saudi Arabia that are not his family.
He has access to a phone and is able to speak to his family every day.
Tirad Badawi said his father remains careful with what he can and cannot say.
“So, he doesn’t say much. He lives under an enormous amount of pressure.”
At a time when Saudi Arabia has been opening up to the world and trying to attract more tourists and trying to diversify its revenues away from oil, Tirad Badawi said there remains many more free-thinkers like his father who are imprisoned for criticizing the regime.
“I commend that openness even if it’s hypocritical,” he said, adding that it is only, in his view, an openness that is mostly for economic reasons.
National Post calevesque@postmedia.com
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