February 19, 2025
The PIF has facilitated and benefited from human rights abuses and the Saudi government regularly uses it to whitewash the Saudi government’s abuses. The PIF is the founding partner of the FII Institute, a nonprofit foundation whose board of trustees is appointed by the Saudi government and includes senior government officials. In 2023 and 2024, the US Senate opened a probe investigating Saudi influence in the United States via PIF investments and examining the risks of PIF investments in the US economy.
“Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has used his unchecked control over the country’s nearly trillion-dollar Public Investment Fund to downplay and whitewash his abuses for years,” said Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Hosting a glamourous investment conference in Miami is just the latest example of that kind of image laundering.”
The third edition of the institute’s Priority Miami will be held under the theme of “Invest with Purpose,” and the conference claims to be “a catalyst for creating visionary business models, bold public policies, and actionable frameworks.” The meeting provides a platform for high profile businessmen, investors, and celebrities to support the Saudi government while ignoring its rights record.
Businessmen, investors, and celebrities attending the FII’s meeting in Miami should not ignore abuses linked to the PIF when evaluating investments and should speak out publicly on Saudi government violations, the rights groups said.
“Businesses attending the Summit have a responsibility to ensure that their investments with the PIF do not contribute to human rights abuses, and that starts with serious due diligence about the PIF’s own record in human rights abuses against Saudi citizens,” said Sarah Leah Whitson. “From providing the planes that were used to transport Jamal Khashoggi’s murderers to torture and kill him, to arbitrarily confiscating the assets of 20 Saudi companies, the PIF is deeply intertwined with the Saudi government’s horrendous human rights record.”
Human Rights Watch has found that Saudi Arabia uses the PIF’s investments in the United States as a tool of Saudi Arabia’s soft power and influence. These investments contribute to building uncritical support for the crown prince’s agenda, obscure the country’s rights record, and undermine institutions seeking transparency and accountability over the PIF’s activiites. The PIF’s investments, such as the LIV golf tour, are a cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s attempts to build its profile and influence abroad.
The crown prince controls the PIF, which has facilitated and benefited from human rights abuses. The crown prince has used the fund’s economic power to commit serious human rights violations and investments in foreign sporting events to whitewash the country’s reputational harm. Human Rights Watch found that the crown prince wields this enormous economic power in a largely arbitrary and highly personalized manner rather than for the Saudi people’s benefit.
DAWN’s investigations have detailed how the crown prince has used the PIF to facilitate abuses against Saudi citizens, unlawfully and arbitrarily confiscating the assets of at least 20 Saudi businesses, torturing and imprisoning many of the business owners, and supplying the airplanes used to transport the murderers of Jamal Khashoggi to Istanbul, where they killed him in the Saudi consulate in 2018. DAWN has also revealed the PIF’s role in funneling billions in “investments” to President Trump’s golf resorts and former senior U.S. officials
An investigation published in January 2025 by the Miami Herald allegedthat Miami Mayor Francis Suarez used his office to host the FII Institute Priority Summit in Miami in March 2023. Human Rights Watch wrote Mayor Suarez’s office on February 5, 2025, asking about their relationship with the PIF and Saudi authorities but has not received a response.
According to the FII Institute, the meeting is an engine for action that will “shape humanity’s collective future.” It provides a platform for “global figures to convene to translate the pressing issues attracting global attention into concrete strategies” and “a place for transparent exchanges on the world’s most pressing issues.” There is no information to suggest that it includes an open or transparent discussion on the country’s rights record nor are any independent observers or critics of the country’s rights record scheduled to speak.
Human Rights Watch requested access to the summit, but organizers said that they were “not in a position to address your request at the moment.” DAWN’s request to attend the summit is still “pending” as of this writing.
As a state entity, the PIF has an obligation to uphold Saudi Arabia’s international human rights commitments. Businesses have a responsibility to avoid causing or contributing to human rights harm. In line with these responsibilities, businesses should conduct thorough and independent human rights due diligence prior to any engagement with the PIF and should refrain from activities that would bolster the reputation of government entities or officials recently and credibly accused of serious abuses. When serious adverse human rights impacts stemming from engagement with the PIF are unavoidable, businesses should suspend their engagement.
Signatories:
ALQST for Human Rights
DAWN
Human Rights Watch
MENA Rights Group
Middle East Democracy Center
