Canada asks Germany and Sweden for help resolving diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia

Canada is quietly nudging allies including Germany and Sweden for help with resolving its row with Saudi Arabia, a government source confirmed Thursday.

The senior official, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the diplomacy, said Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland had spoken with her counterparts in the two European nations.

Germany and Sweden previously were targets of Saudi backlashes for calling out the kingdom over human rights abuses.

Freeland sought to understand how they resolved those disputes, and asked for their support, the official said. Ottawa also planned to reach out to regional heavyweight the United Arab Emirates and Britain, which has strong historical ties to Saudi Arabia.

Women’s rights advocates, charitable organisations, and civil rights groups, meanwhile, urged the international community “to join Canada in calling for the unequivocal respect of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.”

They also called for Riyadh to “immediately release” women activists in detention, and commended Freeland “for her uncompromising stand for human rights, and for her bold leadership in walking the talk on women’s rights globally.”

“We join Canada in urging Saudi Arabia to release women’s rights activists Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sada,” said the statement signed by 22 non-governmental groups and individuals, including the Nobel Women’s Initiatve, Oxfam, and Lawyers without Borders.