Saudi Arabia’s jailed trailblazers
DUBAI: Saudi authorities have in the past two months detained at least 16 people, including several identified as women’s rights activists, on accusations of treason. The crackdown comes even as the kingdom breaks with long-held restrictions on women’s lives, preparing to lift the world’s only ban on female motorists today.
That was a goal some of the detainees had championed for decades, but credit for the policy change has gone to young Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, architect of an aggressively marketed reform package. Some of those detained have since been released. But for Saudi activists, their arrests confirmed that even if the monarchy dictates the easing of some social restrictions, it will resist granting any modicum of democracy. Three of the most prominent figures who continue to languish in detention are Loujain al-Hathloul, Aziza alYousef, and Ibrahim al-Modaimegh.
Loujain al-Hathloul
Loujain al-Hathloul was among a group of women’s rights activists arrested in mid-May. The 28-year-old has long campaigned for women to be able to drive and an end to the kingdom’s notorious guardianship system, which requires women to get permission from male relatives for many decisions. This was not the first time Hathloul, from the conservative central region of AlQassim, has been behind bars.
Saudi authorities put her in juvenile detention in late 2014 when she tried to drive into the kingdom from the neighboring United Arab Emirates. Hathloul was freed 73 days later following an international campaign. Her most recent arrest triggered a smear campaign in the pro-government press, which printed her photo along with those of fellow feminists, branding them “traitors”. Another activist, who declined to be named over fears for her family’s safety, said that Hathloul represented Saudi Arabia’s modern feminists.
“Loujain is the young rebel woman from Al-Qassim who embodies global values... and calls out the (lies) of the state,” she said. On May 19, Hathloul’s face was printed on the cover of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Jazirah newspaper, alongside fellow activist Aziza al-Yousef, with the headline: “Your betrayal has failed”.
Aziza al-Yousef
If Loujain al-Hathloul represents Saudi Arabia’s young, outward-looking feminists, fellow activists say Aziza al-Yousef embodies an older generation of trailblazers. Yousef, 61, was one of a small number of women who responded to calls to defy the kingdom’s driving ban in 2013 and again in 2014. The retired university professor in 2016 attempted to deliver a petition to the Royal Court, signed by thousands of Saudis, demanding an end to the guardianship system that gives men control over their female relatives’ rights to study, marriage and travel.