Saudi Arabia: BHRLA responds to football, human rights & worker organisations’ "deep concern" at member Clifford Chance "flawed" 2034 World Cup assessment
As a former domestic worker in Saudi Arabia from Kenya, I know that women like me are often treated like slaves. Women especially face sexual and other gender abuse. I’m in regular contact with workers in horrific situations in Saudi Arabia. Now, the hundreds of thousands of people expected to arrive in Saudi Arabia to build stadiums and clean hotels ahead of the World Cup are at great risk of severe exploitation and even death. How can these realities have escaped AS&H Clifford Chance’s attention?Equidem investigator Martha Waithira
Eleven organisations - human rights groups, football supporters and worker organisations - have written to global law firm Clifford Chance over concerns AS&H Clifford Chance, which is based in Riyadh, has conducted and produced a "shockingly poor" human rights risk assessment published by FIFA and expected to provide the basis for awarding the hosting and staging of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia.
Three overarching concerns were identified:
- That AS&H Clifford Chance agreed to a decision by FIFA and the Saudi Arabia Football Federation to effectively exclude analysis of Saudi Arabia’s record on multiple critical human rights because Saudi Arabia has not ratified the relevant treaties or because SAFF did not accept them as “applying”
- That the assessment made highly selective use of the findings of UN bodies on Saudi Arabia, leaving out damaging judgements.
- That there is no evidence that AS&H Clifford Chance consulted external experts , such as people who might be affected by human rights abuses linked to the tournament, Saudi Arabian human rights experts or organisations, international human rights organisations, or trade unions.
It has been clear for more than a year now that FIFA is determined to remove all potential obstacles to make sure it can hand Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the 2034 World Cup. By producing a shockingly poor report, AS&H Clifford Chance, part of one of the world’s largest law firms that makes much of its human rights expertise, has helped to remove a key final stumbling block.James Lynch, co-director of FairSquare
FIFA did not respond to an invitation from Amnesty International to confirm on what basis the organisation agreed with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation to limit the scope of the rights assessment conducted by AS&H Clifford Chance. Clifford Chance said:
"Clifford Chance’s policies with respect to responsible business are available at https://www.cliffordchance.com/about_us/who-we-are-and-how-we-work/policies.html. While we appreciate your enquiry, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further on this specific engagement beyond the content contained in the published report."
AS&H Clifford Chance had the chance to write a credible assessment of risks that are relevant to the 2034 World Cup. Instead they have produced an artificially limited, misleading and overly positive perspective, that serves only to whitewash the reality of abuse and discrimination faced by Saudi Arabia’s citizens and residentsJulia Legner, Executive Director of ALQST for Human Rights, a Saudi Arabian diaspora organisation
Clifford Chance is a founding member and co-chair of the Business & Human Rights Lawyers Association. The Resource Centre invited BHRLA to respond to allegations that one of its members is “at risk of being linked to abuses which result from the tournament”, and asked it to provide information on:
- How it ensures standards are upheld among all members to adhere to internationally recognised human rights principles, including that rights are indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
- How it ensures its members undertake human rights risk assessments in line with the internationally-recognised standard contained in the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights (Principles 18) that companies:
- Draw on internal and/ or independent external human rights expertise; and,
- Involve meaningful consultation with potentially affected groups and other relevant stakeholders, as appropriate to the size of the business enterprise and the nature and context of the operation; and,
- What action BHRLA can and plans to take if it is found those standards are not met and if it establishes the publication does indeed link its member to abuses resulting from the tournament, as has been alleged.
BHRLA's responses can be read in full below.