15th May 2020
Over 240,00 people have signed our Change.org petition calling on the United Nations to demand the immediate and unconditional release of all activists being detained solely for their human rights work. The arrests involved approximately a dozen women human rights defenders (WHRDs), including Loujain Al-Hathloul, who remains in prison along with other activists. Reports suggest that these WHRDs have been subjected to multiple torture and human rights violations perpetrated by the Saudi authority, including electric shocks, flogging, and sexual assault, and have been deliberately denied due process.
Now more than ever, during the COVID-19 pandemic, those who are arbitrarily detained and at increased risk, must be released – including Saudi activists.