Two women rights activists arrested in Saudi Arabia 10A55.2-H

(41.04) Two women rights activists arrested in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has arrested two prominent women rights activists in the country. International human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has claimed that they have been arrested as part of the ongoing detention campaign against protesters, academicians and journalists. Qatar-based news al-Jazeera news has reported.

HRW on Wednesday said Saudi authorities have arrested two women rights activists Samar Badawi and Nasima al-Saadah in the past two days. These two women were campaigning to drive and to abolish the guardianship law on women.

In a statement, the human rights organization said that the incident of the arrest of Samar and al-Sa'dah proves that the Saudi authorities consider any kind of peaceful movement as a threat to autocratic rule.

Samara received the US International Brave Women's Award in 2012. He challenged the guardianship system. The applicant was the first member of the signatory to apply for driving, voting and local elections. He is also the sister of noted renowned human rights activist Raf Badawi. In 2014, he was given a 10-year sentence for contempt of Islam.

Nasima al-Sadah is a resident of Shi'ite majority Qatif province. He is also against the guardianship system. In 2015 he was elected in the local election. At that time women were candidates for the first time in the local elections. However, the authority excluded his name.

Saudi authorities have arrested a number of women rights activists since May of this year. Most of them were involved in campaign against women's driving and male guardianship laws. In May, authorities arrested women rights activist Eman al-Nafazan, Luzin al-Handlul, Aziza al-Youssef, Ayesha al-Maniay, Ibrahim Modayemah and Mohammad al-Rabeya. Authorities said seven people have been arrested for suspicious activity involving collusion with foreign forces and financial assistance to foreign enemies. More arrests may occur during the investigation.