The main American comedians urged the performance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to not help cover up “repressive regime violations”

Some of the largest American names in the comedy participated in a festival at Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaAnd they are urged to speak against the country Human rights violations It is not to be “complicit in covering up the violations of a repressive system”, by Human Rights Watch, based in the United States.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host the RIYADH Festival, which the organizers say will be the “largest comedy festival in the world”, from September 26 to October. Dave Chapeland Kevin Hart and Bill Port.

It will be the latest festival in a series of sporting and cultural events hosted by the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which critics say to some extent An effort to hide the country’s reputation For human rights violations.

“The Saudi government has invested billions of dollars in prominent entertainment events like this in a deliberate effort to whiten the country’s human rights record and deviate from the terrible violations that are still taking place inside the country,” Joy Xia, a researcher at Hume Rights Watch, told CBS News. “These investments are part of the broadest strategy of … making people think about a comic event, for example, instead of The high number of executions Speaking inside the country. ”

I noticed HRW specifically the state Implementation of a Turkish journalistAnd who was killed in June seven years of detention after his identity was identified as an author of an unknown tweet criticizing the Saudi royal family.

The association was convicted of terrorism and high treachery on the basis of the jobs accused of being composed, according to UNESCO Director Audrey Azoulay. Reporters Without Borders, an organization that works to protect journalists, The fees were described Against him as “liar.”

“This implementation has submitted to a journalist to very few international criticisms, and this is clear that this is the result of these billions that have been invested in the bleaching strategy in the country.”

When they were asked if they believed that the comedian actors would be able to inform jokes freely at the festival, HRW researcher expected that there would be clear red lines drawn by the organizers to prevent any criticism of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has already assumed as a court of the very conservative Islamic kingdom, as well as his policies and the broader royal family.

Xia called on prominent artists who attended this event-the financing that comes from the public entertainment authority of the Saudi government-to alleviate the positive impact that may have their presence on the country’s reputation due to human rights violations, including “talking about violations.”

Tom Delon, one of the comedians to perform at the Rayada Festival, claimed that he was paying 315,000 dollars for one offer, and that some of his most famous colleagues will get about $ 1.6 million for their manifestations.

CBS News contacted the propaganda that represents the attendees who were released by Bill Poor, Mark Normand, Kevin Hart, Sebastian Maniscalo, Dave Chapel and Louis CK. , Whitney Camings, Tom Sigura, Andrew Schulz and Jim Jeffrez, but he did not receive any comment from any of them regarding their expected appearance in the fighter.

CBS News asked the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to comment on HRW assurances, but it did not receive a response.

One of the highest prominent cases in the Saudi alleged efforts to change their image in 2021, with the launch of LIV GOLF, the Golf League, which witnessed veteran professionals defect from the famous PGA round for very high contracts.

Critics accused golf players of helping the Saudi government on “Sportors” heard it, just three years after the Washington Post, Jamal Khashogji, a frank critic of the boycott leadership, brutally inside a Saudi diplomatic office in Istanbul, Turkey.

A The CIA report concluded With a medium degree to a high degree of confidence that is likely to be killed by Bin Salman’s orders.

In 2019 Interview with CBS 60 minutesBin Salman denied the assassination of Khashogi, but he said he took responsibility for that.