Saudi Arabia: Video shows police chasing and beating women at orphanage

Activists on Tuesday, August 29, circulated a video showing Saudi security men brutally assaulting a group of women at an orphanage in Saudi Arabia’s southwest.

The video, first posted on Twitter, shows dozens of men dressed in security uniform and others in Saudi national dress chasing women, beating them with wooden sticks and lashing them with leather belts. The video then shows a man dragging one of the women by her hair as she screams, while another beats her with a belt.

Saudi human rights advocates denounced the video as more evidence of the Saudi government’s suppression of women rights in the kingdom under the rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Since becoming the kingdom’s de-facto ruler in 2017, the crown prince has overseen a widespread crackdown on dissent, despite promoting himself as a leader of liberal reforms.

The crackdown has targeted members of the political opposition, Shia Muslims, as well as female activists who called for an end to discriminatory policies and social practices against women.