Saudi Manahel al-Otaibi, a 25-year-old activist, walks in western clothes in the Saudi capital Riyadh on September 2, 2019. | Photo Credit: AFP
A 29-year-old Saudi Arabian woman activist who was sentenced to 11 years in prison for supporting women’s rights in the country and for the way she dressed has been called for release by human rights groups.
Manahel Al-Otaibi, a fitness instructor and women’s rights activist was sentenced during a “secret hearing” before the kingdom’s Specialized Criminal Court on January 9, 2024, Amnesty International and the London-based Saudi rights organization ALQST said in a joint statement Tuesday.
However, the decision to imprison al-Otaibi only surfaced weeks later, after the Saudi government replied to a request by United Nations Special Rapporteurs for information about the case, the watchdogs say.
Al-Otaibi “stands accused of terrorist offences and was arrested in accordance with the law under a legally valid warrant,” Saudi Arabia’s mission to Geneva said in a letter in January, in response to the UN request.
Amnesty and ALQST allege Al-Otaibi’s charges are related “solely to her choice of clothing and expression of her views online, including calling on social media for an end to Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system, publishing videos of herself wearing ‘indecent clothes,’ and ‘going to the shops without wearing an abaya’.”
Her sister, Fawzia al-Otaibi, faces similar charges but was able to flee Saudi Arabia after she was summoned for questioning in 2022, they said.
Saudi Arabia’s authorities “must immediately and unconditionally” release Manahel al-Otaibi, as the decision to imprison her “directly contradicts the authorities’ narrative of reform and women’s empowerment,” Amnesty and ALQST said.
“Manahel’s conviction and 11-year sentence is an appalling and cruel injustice,” said Bissan Fakih, Amnesty International’s Campaigner in Saudi Arabia. “With this sentence, the Saudi authorities have exposed the hollowness of their much-touted women’s rights reforms in recent years and demonstrated their chilling commitment to silencing peaceful dissent.”
Following her arrest, al-Otaibi was subjected “to physical and psychological abuse” in the Malaz Prison in Riyadh, the groups said. She told her family in April that she was being held in solitary confinement and had a broken leg as a result of physical abuse, Amnesty and ALQST said. CNN is unable to independently verify these claims.
CNN has reached out to the Saudi government for comment on the accusations.
In its letter to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the kingdom’s mission to Geneva said that “no person is held in detention in Saudi Arabia for exercising their rights and freedoms,” and that “state institutions have a legal obligation to ensure that all individuals are treated fairly irrespective of their religion, race, sex or nationality.”
While Saudi authorities have removed some of the restrictions on women under the male guardianship system, “many discriminatory features remain in place,” the watchdogs said.
“The long-awaited 2022 Personal Status Law, which was supposed to be a major reform, in fact, serves to codify rather than abolish many restrictive elements of the system, including matters of marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance,” Amnesty and ALQST said.
Al-Otaibi “ironically” believed in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s pledge for reforms, “yet she was arrested on 16 November 2022 for exercising exactly these freedoms,” Amnesty and ALQST said.
Al-Otaibi’s sentencing comes “amid an intensified crackdown on free speech in Saudi Arabia, including online expression,” the groups said. Over the last two years, Saudi courts have “handed down lengthy prison terms on dozens of individuals for their expression on social media, including many women,” they said.
Source: CNN
人權組織稱，沙烏地阿拉伯女權運動者被判處 11 年監禁
一名 29 歲的沙烏地阿拉伯女性活動家因支持該國婦女權利和她的著裝方式而被判處 11 年監禁，人權組織呼籲釋放她。
國際特赦組織和總部位於倫敦的沙烏地阿拉伯人權組織ALQST 週二在一份聯合聲明中表示，健身教練兼女權運動家馬納赫爾·阿爾-奧泰比(Manahel Al-Otaibi) 於2024 年1 月9 日在沙烏地阿拉伯特別刑事法院的「秘密聽證會」中被判刑。
然而，監管機構稱，在沙烏地阿拉伯政府答覆聯合國特別報告員索取有關此案資訊的請求後，幾週後，監禁奧泰比的決定才浮出水面。
沙烏地阿拉伯駐日內瓦代表團一月份在回應聯合國要求的一封信中表示，奧泰比「被指控犯有恐怖主義罪行，並根據合法有效的逮捕令依法被捕」。
國際特赦組織和 ALQST 聲稱，Al-Otaibi 的指控「僅與她選擇的服裝和在網上表達觀點有關，包括呼籲社交媒體結束沙烏地阿拉伯的男性監護制度、發布自己穿著『不雅衣服』的視頻，以及'不穿長袍去商店'。
他們說，她的妹妹 Fawzia al-Otaibi 面臨類似的指控，但在 2022 年被傳喚接受審訊後得以逃離沙烏地阿拉伯。
國際特赦組織和 ALQST 表示，沙烏地阿拉伯當局「必須立即無條件」釋放馬納赫爾·奧泰比，因為監禁她的決定「直接違背了當局關於改革和婦女賦權的說法」。
國際特赦組織沙烏地阿拉伯問題活動家比桑·法基 (Bissan Fakih) 表示：“馬納赫爾的定罪和 11 年徒刑是令人震驚和殘酷的不公正。” “沙烏地當局的這句話暴露了近年來大肆吹捧的婦女權利改革的空洞性，並展示了他們壓制和平異議的令人心寒的承諾。”
這些組織表示，被捕後，奧泰比在利雅德馬拉茲監獄遭受「身體和心理虐待」。 國際特赦組織和 ALQST 表示，她在 4 月告訴家人，她被單獨監禁，並因身體虐待而骨折。 CNN 無法獨立核實這些說法。
美國有線電視新聞網（CNN）已聯繫沙烏地阿拉伯政府，請其對這些指控發表評論。
沙烏地阿拉伯駐日內瓦代表團在致聯合國人權事務高級專員辦事處的信中表示，“沙烏地阿拉伯沒有任何人因行使其權利和自由而被拘留”，並且“國家機構有法律義務確保所有人受到公平對待，無論其宗教、種族、性別或國籍為何。
監管機構表示，雖然沙烏地當局取消了男性監護制度下對女性的一些限制，但「許多歧視性特徵仍然存在」。
國際特赦組織和ALQST 表示：「期待已久的2022 年《個人身分法》本應是一項重大改革，但實際上是為了編纂而不是廢除該制度中的許多限制性要素，包括結婚、離婚、子女監護和繼承問題。
國際特赦組織和 ALQST 表示，奧泰比「諷刺地」相信王儲穆罕默德·本·薩勒曼的改革承諾，「但她卻因行使這些自由而於 2022 年 11 月 16 日被捕」。
這些組織表示，奧泰比的判決是「在沙烏地阿拉伯加大對言論自由（包括網路言論自由）打壓之際」進行的。 他們說，過去兩年，沙烏地法院「對數十名在社群媒體上發表言論的人判處長期監禁，其中包括許多女性」。
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