Human rights organizations call for immediate, unconditional release of women detained in Saudi Arabia

Coinciding with the International Women’s Day 2024, 10 human rights organizations emphasized that Saudi Arabia should release all women human rights defenders and activists who are currently detained, as well as lift the travel ban imposed on some of them and their relatives.

In a joint statement circulated by media outlets, the organizations stated that Saudi authorities should release all women human rights defenders and activists who are detained in violation of international human rights standards, and lift the travel ban imposed on some of them and their relatives.

The organizations pointed out that Saudi Arabia continues to arbitrarily detain and impose travel bans on many women who have advocated for women’s rights, such as Salma Al-Shahab, Noura Al-Qahtani, blogger Manahel Al-Otaibi, and many others, due to their tweets criticizing human rights violations and calling for the release of political prisoners.

The organizations who signed the statement are the Justice Organization for Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch in the Middle East and North Africa, the European Saudi Organization, Peace Organization, and other human rights groups.