Not only are these women activists facing prosecution without due process, they've also subjected them to severe torture, including by sexual violence and electrocution.

This statement was originally published on cihrs.org on 8 March 2019.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, CIHRS would like to call attention to detained female human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia, who have peacefully campaigned against gender discrimination in their country, focusing on issues such as women’s right to drive and ending the male guardianship system. Not only are these women activists facing prosecution without basic due process protections, the state of Saudi Arabia has also subjected them to severe torture, including by sexual violence and electrocution.

It is imperative that UN Member States no longer accept this appalling disparity between Saudi Arabia’s obligation, as a member of the Council, to uphold the highest human rights standards; and the actual practices of Saudi Arabia, a state that systematically and brutally prosecutes any of its citizens who advocate for human rights.

In this regard, the letter below was sent by fifty-four rights organizations to over thirty foreign affairs ministers of UN Member States. The letter calls on UN Member States to explicitly demand the immediate and unconditional release of detained Saudi women human rights defenders, and to establish a monitoring mechanism over the human rights violations in the country. These demands would be made in the form of a resolution adopted at the ongoing 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Saudi Arabia: Over 50 human rights groups call for immediate release of rights defenders

Stand up for human rights in Saudi Arabia and demand the immediate and unconditional release of Saudi human rights defenders.

19 February 2019

Your Excellency,[1]

The extrajudicial execution of the Saudi Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi, has increased public scrutiny of the repressive environment that exists for human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia. These defenders have bravely denounced human rights violations, including gender discrimination, for years and have paid a hefty personal price.

We welcome the decision by some countries, including Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, to halt arms deals with Saudi Arabia. Some of our organisations have been calling for the halting of arms sales as there is a real risk that they will be used in the perpetration of crimes under international law or other serious human rights violations in Yemen. We call on all other countries to end all such arms deals and exports to Saudi Arabia.

We are gravely concerned by the reports of torture and ill-treatment of detained women’s rights defenders in Saudi Arabia. They have been imprisoned since mid-2018 solely for peacefully campaigning for the protection and promotion of human rights, including women’s rights, in the Kingdom. Some were detained incommunicado with no access to their families or lawyers during the first three months of their detention and subjected to chilling smear campaigns by State media. They all remain without access to legal representation.

Recent reports have emerged that some of the detained women activists were subjected to electric shocks, flogging, sexual threats and other forms of torture. Testimonies recount that this abuse has left some of the women unable to walk or stand properly with uncontrolled shaking and marks on their bodies. At least one of them has attempted suicide multiple times.

Detained women’s rights defenders include Loujain Al-Hathloul, Aziza Al-Yousef, Eman Al-Nafjan, Nouf Abdelaziz, Dr. Hatoon Al-Fassi, Samar Badawi, Nassima Al-Sadah, Mohammed Al-Bajadi, Amal Al-Harbi[2], and Shadan Al-Anezi. They have been long advocating for Saudi women’s right to drive, have called for an end to the discriminatory male guardianship system and have peacefully campaigned for greater respect for human rights. For this, they risk being tried and sentenced before the Specialised Criminal Court, the country’s counter-terrorism court.

In 2016, the United Nations Committee Against Torture, in its second periodic report of Saudi Arabia, expressed concern at the application of terrorism legislation, through the Specialized Criminal Court, which enables the criminalisation of acts of peaceful expression considered as “endangering national unity” or “undermining the reputation or position of the State.”[3] These regulations, which violate international standards for the right to a fair trial, have been used to try human rights defenders for exercising their fundamental rights. They further enable the authorities to detain individuals without providing them with access to legal representation during the investigation phase. As further recommended by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in March 2018, the Saudi State should facilitate women’s access to justice and institutionalise legal aid that is accessible, sustainable and responsive to the needs of women.[4]

Saudi Arabia, as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, is obligated to uphold the highest standards for the promotion and protection of human rights and to cooperate fully with the Council’s mechanisms. However, the Saudi government has been largely uncooperative with the Council and continues to exhibit a flagrant disregard for fundamental freedoms. Despite critical engagement from the Council’s mechanisms[5], Saudi Arabia continues to implement its systematic policy of reprisal and intimidation against those engaging or seeking to engage with the UN,[6] and has imprisoned human rights defenders, women’s rights activists and dissidents. While Saudi Arabia has been scrutinized by the Council’s mechanisms, it has become evident that further action must be taken by the world’s top human rights body for any meaningful reform to occur.

We therefore urge you to take advantage of this moment, and take action at the upcoming session of the Human Rights Council, to convey to Saudi Arabia that business as usual will no longer be the rule. We urge you to initiate Council action by presenting a resolution at the 40th session of the Council establishing a monitoring mechanism over the human rights violations in the country and calling explicitly for the immediate and unconditional release of the detained Saudi human rights defenders and to drop all charges against them.

The undersigned organizations call on UN Member States to adopt a resolution at the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council explicitly demanding the immediate and unconditional release of detained Saudi human rights defenders and the establishment of a monitoring mechanism over the human rights violations in the country.

Please rest assured, your Excellency, of our highest consideration

Sincerely,

Access Now

Association Marocaine de lutte contre la Violence à L’égard des Femmes (AMVEF)

Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain

Amnesty International

ALQST

Arab Institute for Human Rights

Arab Women Organisation of Jordan

Arabic Network for Human Rights Information

ARTICLE 19

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID)

Beity Association

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

Committee for Justice

Committee for the Respect of Liberties and Human Rights in Tunisia

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)

English PEN

Equality Now

European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights

Euromed Feminist Initiative

Fédération de la Ligue Démocratique des Droits des Femmes

FIDH, under the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Front Line Defenders

Global Fund for Women

Gulf Centre for Human Rights

Human Rights Law Center

Human Rights Watch

International Service for Human Rights

Iraqi Women League

Jossour Forum des Femmes Marocaines

Lawyer’s Rights Watch Canada

Lebanese Council to Resist Violence Against Women

MENA Rights Group

MENA Women Human Rights Defenders Coalition

Mwatana Organization for Human Rights

Najdah Lebanon

PEN International

Scholars at Risk

The Legal Agenda-Tunis

The Right Livelihood Award Foundation

Tunis Center for Press Freedom

Tunisian Association for Democratic Women (ATFD)

Tunisian Association for Individual Liberties

Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES)

Union de l’action Féministe (UFA)

Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights

Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State

Women’s March Global

Women’s Study Center

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), under the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

The Tunisian League for Human Rights

L’Association Tunisienne de Soutien des Minorités

[1] The letter above was sent to over thirty foreign affairs ministers of UN Member States.

[2] Amal Harbi is also the wife of founding member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA) Fawzan Harbi.

[3] CAT Concluding Observations on the second periodic report of Saudi Arabia, 8 June 2016

[4] CEDAW Concluding observations on the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Saudi Arabia, 9 March 2018

[5] Nine communications have been made public from 1 June 2018 to 30 November 2018, and it has also come under scrutiny during the UPR in November 2018. See for example Urgent Appeal sent from Special Procedures in October (SAU 11/2018) specifically concerning the widespread and systematic arrest and detention of women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia. In addition, the High Commissioner also released several statements calling for the release of the defenders.

[6] Saudi Arabia has been consistently cited in the Secretary General’s annual reprisals report since 2013.