International
SAUDI: UN voice concerns over arrest of women rights activists
Concerns are being expressed in Saudi Arabia over the detention of a group of women rights activists, a month before the kingdom removes a ban on female drivers.
“It is shocking that Saudi Arabia is detaining prominent women’s rights defenders – the real champions behind the lifting of the driving ban – just before they allow all women the right to drive,” Human Rights Watch’s Rothna Begum told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.
Reports say the UN human rights office has also added it’s voice for the release of the rights activists after it told the government to ensure the women and other campaigners in custody receive due process.
Amnesty International voiced similar concerns.
Read also: US team in North Korea to prepare for proposed summit, Trump says
“We are extremely worried about the overall human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, despite the women’s driving ban being lifted in less than a month,” Kareem Chehayeb, the group’s Saudi Arabia researcher, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.
“The recent sweeping crackdown on human rights activists this month is sadly not an anomaly.
Amnesty International has documented continued arrests and harsh prison sentences of human rights activists for their peaceful activism.
“We fear these activists will be given trumped-up security-related charges.”
The arrests of the women activists was announced last week with Riyadh accusing them of “suspicious contact with foreign parties”, as well as providing financial support to hostile nations and attempting the undermine the kingdom’s “security and stability”.
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