Amnesty International has called on Saudi Arabia to release a 29-year-old fitness instructor it says has been sentenced to 11 years in prison over her choice of clothing and social media posts calling for an end to the kingdom’s male guardianship system.
Amnesty claimed that a fitness instructor from Saudi Arabia was also accused of videos of her shopping without an abaya, a long robe. (Usplash/yejinghan)
Manahel Al-Otaibi was convicted in January and details of her case emerged in Saudi Arabia’s official response to a request by the United Nations Human Rights Office, London-based Amnesty said on Tuesday.
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Amnesty and London-based Al-Qst, a Saudi group that focuses on human rights in the kingdom, said Al-Otaibi was accused of posting on social media the hashtag “Abolish male guardianship” and videos of her wearing what is believed to be ” indecent clothes” and shopping without an abaya, a long robe.
Saudi Arabia’s international media office did not respond to questions from Reuters about the information provided by Amnesty.
In an official response to the UN rights office, Saudi Arabia denied that Al-Otaibi was convicted for postings on social networks. It said she was “convicted of terrorist offenses that have no bearing on her exercise of freedom of thought and expression or her postings on social media”.
The Saudi response, seen by Reuters, did not provide further details.
Saudi Arabia’s anti-terrorism law, under which Al-Otaibi was convicted, has been criticized by the United Nations as being too broad a tool to stifle dissent.
The UN human rights office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment or to confirm details of the case.
Amnesty said Al-Otaibi’s sister, Fawzia, faced similar charges but fled Saudi Arabia after being summoned for questioning in 2022.
“With this sentence, the Saudi authorities have exposed the hollowness of their much-vaunted women’s rights reforms in recent years and demonstrated their chilling commitment to silencing peaceful dissent,” Bissan Fakih, Amnesty’s campaigner for Saudi Arabia, said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, came to power in 2017 promising sweeping social and economic reforms and loosening some restrictions on male guardianship laws.
Since then, Saudi women have been able to drive cars, get a passport and travel alone, register births and deaths, and get divorced. Laws, however, still make it harder for women to get divorced than for men.
The kingdom still faces scrutiny over its human rights record, including a 2022 personal status law that codified many aspects of male custody, including male custody of children and allowing a woman to marry. Some provisions could make domestic abuse easier, according to Amnesty.
Saudi Arabia relaxed its dress code for foreign women in 2019, but rights activists say Saudi women still face restrictions.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn