Women’s Rights Activist Released From Saudi Prison

Prior to her arrest in 2018, Loujain al-Halthloul was known as a champion of women’s rights in  Saudi Arabia (Wikimedia Commons)

Prominent Saudi Arabian women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was released from her 1001 day detainment in Saudi prison on February 10. Al-Hathloul, known for her outspoken criticism of Saudi Arabia’s gender laws, such as guardianship and a ban on female drivers, was incarcerated following a peaceful protest in May 2018. Her arrest came just weeks before the government moved to lift the ban. 

Al-Hathloul’s case was reopened on December 10, 2020. The international community widely deemed her retrial, in which she was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison, unfair. The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner responded to the trial and the international outcry by releasing a statement calling for the immediate release of al-Hathloul.

Even as the Saudi government moved to reverse some of the kingdom’s most stringent restrictions on women’s mobility in 2020, women’s rights activists like al-Hathloul continued to face strict oppression from the government. Despite denial from Saudi government officials, imprisoned activists like al-Hathloul have reportedly been subjected to methods of torture such as electrocution, whippings, and waterboarding.

Al-Hathloul’s release comes amid a wave of apparent progressivism in Saudi Arabia. Just over a week ago, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman announced sweeping legal reforms that would pave the way for a formal legal code, with specific mention of the damage dealt to women by the current system. In addition, eleven other women’s rights activists, such as Nassima al-Sada and Maya'a al-Zahrani, were released from Saudi prisons this week. 

According to Adam Coogle, the Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director at Human Rights Watch, these releases come with strings attached. Coogle claims, “With al-Hathloul banned from travel and threatened with more prison time if she does not stay silent, her ordeal remains a flagrant miscarriage of justice.” 

Notably, these reforms followed renewed calls from the Biden administration to “recalibrate” the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Biden additionally alluded to a “reassessment” of the U.S.-Saudi relationship by giving specific mention to the kingdom’s lackluster human rights record.