{"id":1109,"date":"2018-07-03T13:37:31","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T10:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/whrdmena.org\/?p=1109"},"modified":"2023-04-12T04:01:04","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T01:01:04","slug":"ongoing-crackdown-in-saudi-arabia-with-new-arrests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wh.whrdmena.org\/en\/2018\/07\/03\/ongoing-crackdown-in-saudi-arabia-with-new-arrests\/","title":{"rendered":"Ongoing Crackdown in Saudi Arabia with New Arrests"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Ongoing Crackdown in Saudi Arabia with New Arrests<\/h1>\n

Saudi Arabia has continued its crackdown against women human rights defenders, with reports of \"\"another leading WHRD and academic arrested.<\/p>\n

Hatoon Ajwad al-Fassi, a prominent woman human rights defender, a professor of women\u2019s history at King Saud Univerity, & a writer at the\u00a0Riyadh<\/em>\u00a0paper was arrested on Wednesday according to several reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since 15 May 2018<\/a>, Saudi authorities arrested at least 7 women human rights defenders whose work was prominently focused on reclaiming women\u2019s right to drive, just few weeks before lifting the long-standing ban on women.\u00a0The WHRDs have been identified as:\u00a0Eman al-Nafjan, Loujain al-Hathloul, and Aziza al-Yousef. Nouf Abdelaziz and\u00a0Mayaa al-Zahrani\u00a0were arrested following the detention of at least 14 other women’s rights campaigners and supporters. Authorities also arrested and then released WHRDs: \u00a0\u00a0Hessah Al-Sheikh, Madeha Al-Ajroush, and\u00a0<\/a>Walaa Al-Shubbar who released on the 24th of May.<\/p>\n

The imprisonment comes in response to their involvement in advocacy both within and outside of the kingdom. One of the detained WHRDs, Loujain participated in Saudi Arabia\u2019s CEDAW review in Geneva in Feburary 2018, when she returned to Saudi Arabia she was detained and placed under a travel ban. Then, in May 2018, she was detained again alongside fellow WHRDs.<\/p>\n

The arrests were accompanied by\u00a0a public defamation campaign<\/a>\u00a0by the Saudi authorities and\u00a0\u00a0pro-government<\/a>\u00a0media to undermine the work of women human rights defenders. Under the hashtag “embassy agents”, at least 500 troll accounts on Twitter praised the arrest of the WHRDs.<\/p>\n

The world celebrates lifting the ban on\u00a0Saudi\u00a0women drivers & that<\/em><\/strong> women are reclaiming the right to drive in\u00a0Saudi\u00a0Arabia, while the\u00a0Saudi\u00a0government has been arresting the\u00a0WHRDs who were the ones who lobbied so hard for this change.\u00a0 The crown prince is making it abundantly clear that he will brook no dissent. These \u2018reforms\u2019 are aimed at improving the country\u2019s international image without substantively giving WHRDs more of a voice in Saudi society. \u00a0In arresting women who challenged the driving ban just a few weeks before it\u2019s officially lifted,\u00a0Saudi\u00a0authorities made clear the limits of how much women can push. Reforms that are tightly managed and limited from the top \u2014 from the heights of power \u2014 are hardly reforms at all. The kingdom is still a deeply authoritarian and repressive place.<\/p>\n

The ongoing crackdown has been condemned by the regional and international community:<\/p>\n

On May 31, the\u00a0European Parliament\u00a0 adopted a resolution which condemned the ongoing repression of human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia \u2018which undermines the credibility of the reform process in the country\u2019.\u00a0The adopted resolution called on the Saudi authorities to put an end to all forms of harassment, including at judicial level against human rights defenders, including WHRDs Eman alNafjan, Aziza al Youssef and Loujain al-Hathloul and to immediately and unconditionally\u00a0release all human rights defenders. Read it\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On June 14, 6 senators including Bernie Sanders & Dick Durbin urged<\/a> Secretary Pompeo to condemn the crackdown on women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia and to raise these concerns directly with Saudi authorities.<\/p>\n

On June 10, the Regional Coalition, sent and\u00a0submitted at least 700 signatures from at least 25 countries to several UN\u00a0Special Rapporteurs<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Working Groups\u00a0<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On June 27, UN experts, including those we have mailed and contacted, have released a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0demanding Saudi Arabia to immediately free women human rights defenders held in crackdown.<\/p>\n

We at the Regional Coalition of Women Human Rights Defenders in the Middle East and North Africa stand in solidarity with women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

We demand the Saudi authorities to:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Release all women human rights defenders immediately and unconditionally, and drop all charges against them;<\/li>\n
  2. Ensure in all circumstances the physical and psychological safety and integrity of all women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia<\/li>\n
  3. End the harassment and persecution of women human rights defenders.<\/li>\n
  4. Ensure in all circumstances that all human rights defenders, including women\u2019s rights defenders, are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisal.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Take action and support Saudi WHRDs.<\/p>\n

    Let the WHRDs know that they are not alone \u2013 by adding your voice to this\u00a0petition\u00a0<\/a>asking Saudi Arabian Authorities to #ReleaseSaudiWHRDs.<\/p>\n

    Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet using the hashtag\u00a0#ReleaseSaudiWHRDs\u00a0urging the Saudi authorities to act on the above recommendations.<\/p>\n

    Contact the following officials:<\/p>\n

    King and Prime Minister
    \nHis Majesty King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
    \nThe Custodian of the two Holy Mosques
    \nOffice of His Majesty the King
    \nRoyal Court, Riyadh
    \nKingdom of Saudi Arabia
    \nFax: (via Ministry of Interior)
    \n+966 11 403 3125 (please keep trying)
    \nTwitter:\u00a0    @KingSalman<\/a><\/p>\n

    Ambassador\u00a0Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz,
    \nRoyal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
    \n601 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington DC 20037
    \nPhone: (202) 342-3800 I Fax: 202 295 3625
    \nEmail:\u00a0    info@saudiembassy.net<\/a>
    \nContact Form:\u00a0    https:\/\/www.saudiembassy.net\/contact<\/a>
    \nTwitter:\u00a0    @SaudiEmbassyUSA<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ongoing Crackdown in Saudi Arabia with New Arrests Saudi Arabia has continued its crackdown against women human rights defenders, with reports of another leading WHRD and academic arrested. Hatoon Ajwad al-Fassi, a prominent woman human rights defender, a professor of women\u2019s history at King Saud Univerity, & a writer at the\u00a0Riyadh\u00a0paper was arrested on Wednesday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[414],"tags":[435,144,476],"class_list":["post-1109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy-work","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-statement","tag-west-asia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wh.whrdmena.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wh.whrdmena.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wh.whrdmena.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wh.whrdmena.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wh.whrdmena.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1109"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wh.whrdmena.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6550,"href":"https:\/\/wh.whrdmena.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions\/6550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wh.whrdmena.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wh.whrdmena.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wh.whrdmena.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wh.whrdmena.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}