News - Middle East: Saudi security forces stormed an orphanage in Khamis Mushait, Asir, and brutally assaulted orphans, video clips circulated by activists on social media showed the incident.

The circulating videos showed a number of men in military and civilian uniforms chasing the girls inside the orphanage, taking their phones and beating them with sticks and electric handles.

According to the leaked footage from the orphanage storming incident, the Saudi security services arrested a number of girls, while the Saudi authorities did not announce the reason or the destination for the arrest.

Activists reported that all the girls of the orphanage are now in danger from the security forces, the administration of the orphanage and the employees, and there is a threat to all those who documented, calling for intervention to protect orphans there.

It was not clear why the Saudi soldiers stormed the orphanage and assaulted the girls. However, activists explained that the storming came after orphans demanded some of their rights, and complained about the mistreatment of the center's management.

In an attempt to absorb anger among the people after the spread of videos that showed atrocities and brutality against the girls, the Saudi Press Agency claimed that the Prince of Asir directed the formation of a committee to investigate the incident.

The Saudi regime has a well-established record of mistreating women and repressing human rights.

Saudi Arabia has toughened its crackdown on opponents and activists since MBS became the country's de facto leader in 2017.

As global calls to hold Saudi Arabia’s leaders accountable – notably over the state-sponsored murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 – have become more muted, the authorities have reverted to their habitual pattern of repression.

In 2018, this repression extended to the country’s leading women’s rights advocates who have advocated ending the male guardianship system. 

On May 15, just weeks before the Saudi authorities lifted the ban on women driving on June 24, authorities began arrests of prominent women’s rights activists and accused several of them of grave crimes like treason that appear to be directly related to their activism.

Human rights groups expressed concern that governments such as the US Biden administration and the government of President Emmanuel Macron in France have given Saudi Arabia a blank check to repress human rights. Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom tweeted in condemnation of the ruling and criticized the lack of UK government action to hold a “friend and ally” accountable on human rights.

The US State Department spokesperson said that it is “studying” the case and commented in a news conference that “exercising the freedom of expression to advocate for rights of women should not be criminalized.” However, President Joe Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia in July was seen by many as a victory for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a failure to secure a commitment to halt the clampdown on freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.

In late July, President Macron hosted Mohammed bin Salman for a meeting at the Elysée Palace in Paris, another indication of the end of Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic isolation for human rights violations.