The UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) expressed its concern over the status of female human rights advocates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The committee issued a statement on 28 February 2020, on the second anniversary of activist Loujain al-Hathloul’s participation in the Saudi review before CEDAW, which it is required to undergo periodically by virtue of its ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in the year 2000. In its statement, CEDAW urged the Saudi government to release human rights advocate Loujain al-Hathloul from her prolonged pre-trial detention and guarantee her right to a fair trial without further delay.
The statement made clear that in February 2018, al-Hathloul participated in a general meeting in Geneva in which members of the committee were briefed on the status of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. Al-Hathloul attended this session and covered the proceedings on her Twitter account.
On 15 May 2018, a few weeks after the abovementioned meeting, Loujain al-Hathloul was arrested, and Saudi Arabia claimed the arrest was related to “national security.” Loujain has been imprisoned since then, and the charges against her, according to the statement, indicate that her arrest was based in part on her communication with CEDAW.
Nahla Haidar, a member of CEDAW and its Rapporteur on Reprisals, called on Saudi Arabia to release al-Hathloul and protect her right to freedom and personal security at all times.
Haidar noted that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and other UN treaty-monitoring bodies have clearly stressed that no one should face any retaliation or intimidation due to his or her cooperation with the UN. They emphasized that al-Hathloul should be released immediately and Saudi Arabia should guarantee her right to a fair trial with full respect for the procedural guarantees stipulated in international human rights law and with no form of sexual discrimination.
The statement also explained that Loujain al-Hathloul played an active role in the movement in Saudi Arabia demanding women be allowed to drive and the elimination of the male guardianship laws. CEDAW had already intervened more than once in al-Hathloul’s case by virtue of its mandate to combat acts of reprisal.
ESOHR welcomes CEDAW’s statement and stresses that public statements are an important form of public pressure on Saudi Arabia to carry out its commitments, but they should not be the only means. ESOHR believes that the HRC must take more serious steps to guarantee the punishment of violators, including the appointment of a Special Rapporteur for Saudi Arabia, especially given the succession of reports on its violations against human rights advocates who work with the UN.