Thirty-six states at the UN Human Rights Council have criticised Saudi Arabia for detaining women’s rights activists, and demanded their release.
The joint statement was the first collective rebuke of the Gulf kingdom since the council was set up in 2006.
It reflects international concern at the detention of a number of activists in the past year and also at the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
There was no immediate response to the statement from the Saudi government.
The BBC’s Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says that for years the Human Rights Council has shied away from public criticism of Saudi Arabia.
Many European countries view Riyadh as an ally in a troubled part of the world, restricting their concerns over human rights to private informal chats, our correspondent adds.
On Thursday that changed. All 28 members of the European Union and eight other states – Australia, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand and Norway – “expressed significant concerns about reports of continuing arrests” of human rights defenders, including women’s rights activists.
“We are particularly concerned about the use of the counter-terrorism law and other national security provisions against individuals peacefully exercising their rights and freedoms,” said the joint statement, which was read out by Iceland’s permanent representative, Harald Aspelund.
“Human rights defenders and civil society groups can and should play a vital role in the process of reform which the kingdom is pursuing.”
The countries called on the Saudi authorities to release all the activists, including the nine women and one man whose names Mr Aspelund read out.
Saudi Arabia began detaining the activists in May, just weeks ahead of the liftining of women ban.
