West ignoring Saudi human rights abuse: Pundit

Press TV has interviewed Hazem Salem, activist and commentator from Cairo, and Mohammed Shafiq, with the Ramadan Foundation from Manchester, to discuss Iran’s criticism of the Western states’ silence on the Hajj stampede in Mina, a city near the holy Mecca. The tragedy left thousands of Muslim pilgrims dead and wounded.

Salem said that the issue of human rights is a "European manufactured" factor for the West to ramp up pressure on every country they are opposed to, noting that the Western powers refuse to criticize their allies for violation of human rights or other crimes.

The Western governments do not care for human rights in countries like Saudi Arabia and Palestine, he said.

Referring to the Mina stampede in this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, the political commentator says as long as Saudi Arabia pumps oil into the West, the Western states do not pay attention to the Saudis’ crimes.

He also calls for an investigation into the stampede by an impartial party such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Saudi Arabia is delaying a probe into the mishap in a bid to conceal its mismanagement of the Hajj rituals, said Salem.

He also said that the Saudi regime is not respecting human rights as required by Islam, adding that the Saudis must be urged to “be Muslims enough to recognize what happened” during the Hajj.

Shafiq, for his part, believes that the Saudi authorities have failed to shoulder their responsibility toward the Hajj pilgrims and their respected countries. He added that Iran has the right to shed light on Hajj stampede and its causes.

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