Arrest of Eight Women's Rights Activists in Saudi Arabia

A human rights group has reported the arrest of eight more individuals in connection with the case of women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia. Reuters reported on Friday, April 5, citing the British-based human rights group 'Alqst', that among those arrested, seven are men, and two of them hold dual American-Saudi citizenship. The news agency considers the new arrests as a clear indication of the tightening of the space for supporters of those women activists currently undergoing trial. Eleven women activists on trial have been working to gain the right for women to drive in Saudi Arabia and to end the male guardianship system over women. This case has led to widespread criticism of the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, a country that has also been under global media scrutiny due to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an opponent of the current Saudi rulers. According to the Alqst human rights group, one of the arrested American citizens is a journalist named Salah al-Haidar, the son of Aziza al-Yusuf, a women's rights activist currently on trial. The second arrested American citizen is Badr al-Ibrahim, a doctor and author of a book on politics in the Shia world. Reuters emphasizes that these two and others who have been recently arrested are not prominent figures but have called for reforms in Saudi Arabia and have expressed their support for the women's rights movement in the country. The arrests occurred on Wednesday night and Thursday. The Riyadh court temporarily released three of the women on trial last week, raising hopes that months of lobbying by Western countries may have yielded some results. However, Reuters notes that these new arrests indicate the Saudi government's resistance to international pressures and create the belief that the authorities intend to take a hard stance against women's rights activists. The eleven women on trial were arrested about a year ago and labeled as 'traitors'. At least one of the charges against one of them is defined under cybercrime law and could lead to five years in prison.