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.
A Saudi diplomat denounced the use of such statements "for political causes".
"Interference in domestic affairs under the guise of defending human rights is in fact an attack on our sovereignty," said Abdul Aziz Alwasil, the kingdom's permanent representative in Geneva.
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. [BBC] Read more
