Liz Truss accused of 'lying' to parliament about meeting with Gulf autocrats

Liz Truss was accused of "lying" to a parliamentary committee on what was said in a meeting with the leaders of the autocratic Gulf states.

The prime minister, who previously served as foreign minister, told the foreign affairs committee that she had used the meeting to raise awareness of human rights issues with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and other countries.

But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FCDO) has repeatedly refused to give details, or even say which countries or issues Ms. Truss asked about.

Earlier this year, the FCDO rejected a freedom of information request by thousands Gulf rights activists asking for details of Ms Truss' comments.

He said substantiating his claims could harm "the relationship between the UK and other states" and "UK overseas interests",

And he also dismissed two parliamentary questions on the issue, with FCDO junior ministers Amanda Milling saying only that "a wide array of issues were discussed during meetings with representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council at Chevening House on December 20, 2021, including human rights."

Chris Bryant, chairman of the commission standards of Parliament, compared Ms Truss' approach to the truth on Monday to that of ousted Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"I think Liz Truss is not going to be better than Boris Johnson on the front untrue," he said at an event hosted by the Institute for Government think tank.

" She sat in front of the Foreign Affairs Committee and said, "I personally raised human rights issues...when I was in the Gulf".

"Last Foreign Affairs Committee week published the response from the Foreign Office, which was supposed to clarify what she had said, and there is not a single instance where she did - personally or impersonally."< /p>

In a letter sent to the Prime Minister on September 20, 2022, Mr Bryant said it was "hard not to conclude that you deliberately misled the committee".

Human rights organizations have criticized the government's refusal to justify the prime minister's remarks and accused his former department of a cover-up.

Soraya Bauwens, deputy director of Reprieve, which campaigns against the death penalty, torture and detention without charge, said he "challenged to believe that Liz Truss can meet the leaders of some of the world's most repressive regimes without discussing their horrific human rights abuses."

“Children accused in Saudi Arabia continue to face the death penalty. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain crush dissent by torturing and executing pro-democracy protesters and punishing people for their tweets or for the 'crime' of owning books," she said.

"The Foreign Office must make it clear to the public whether the current prime minister misled a parliamentary committee over his apparent failure to hold these governments accountable for their atrocities, especially as the UK government recently more than doubled its funding to public bodies in these countries."

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at the Institute Bahrain Rights and Democracy (BIRD), which submitted the Freedom of Information request to the FCO, commented: "This shocking cover-up shows how far the government has gone to cover up the content of its conversations with repressive Gulf states.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs has bent over backwards to block democratic attempts by MPs and the public through freedom of information requests to verify which human rights topics rights were discussed at this meeting last year.

"If human rights were credibly discussed as Liz Truss claims, why would the government refuse to disclose the information, as he has done in other ministerial meetings?"

And Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director of Human Rights Watch said the government's "categorical refusal" to explaining the Prime Minister's actions "says a lot".

"What we have seen time and time again is a government and now a Prime Minister who put profits before people", she added.

"Rather than promoting human rights...