The following is based on a communication sent by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of Saudi Arabia on 27 March 2024. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. The Government replied on 21 May 2024, which was recently translated and made available.
According to the State response (no. 21), Ms. Maryam al-Otaibi is entitled to contest the travel ban. Her attempts to do so have reportedly been unsuccessful. According to the State response, defendants have the right to a fair and public hearing (no.13). International monitors have allegedly been denied access to trials in question.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the respective judicial and administrative harassment and criminalisation of two women human rights defenders, Ms. Loujain al-Hathloul, placed under a travel ban, and Ms. Maryam Aloteebi (also known as Maryam al-Otaibi), charged and sentenced under Saudi Arabia’s Anti-Cybercrime Law in relation to the exercise of her right to freedom of opinion and expression.
Loujain al-Hathloul, 35, is a woman human rights defender and activist who is well known for her support of the ‘Women to Drive Movement’ and for opposing Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship laws. She was the subject of a joint urgent appeal sent by special procedures mandate holders to the Saudi Government on 31 December 2014, UA SAU 15/2014, as well as a joint communication sent on 14 June 2018, AL SAU 7/2018.
Maryam Aloteebi (also known as Maryam al-Otaibi), 36, is a woman human rights defender who has been prominent in the ‘I am my Own Guardian’ online campaign calling for an end to the male guardianship laws. She is the sister of Ms. Manahel al-Otaibi, who is currently in detention on charges under Saudi Arabia’s Anti-Cybercrime Law of 2007 and who has had no contact with her family since November 2023. She is also the sister of Ms. Fouz al-Otaibi who is in exile and faces charges under the same Anti-Cybercrime Law. They were both the subject of a communication sent to the Saudi Government on 1 December 2023, AL SAU 10/2023.
ALLEGATIONS
The case of Ms. Loujain al-Hathloul
On 28 December 2020, following over two years in pre-trial detention, Ms. Al-Hathloul was sentenced to two years and ten months in prison on charges of communicating with and providing financial support to foreign entities hostile to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She was released from prison on 10 February 2021. As part of her sentence, she was also placed under a travel ban after her release for two years and 10 months. According to this sentence, the travel ban against her should have ended on 12 November 2023. The dates in Saudi Arabia are set according to the Islamic Hejira calendar, which correspond to the Gregorian calendar as described.
On 14 November 2023, Ms. al-Hathloul visited the passport office in Riyadh to inquire about her travel status and to confirm that the travel ban had been lifted. The officer in charge said he did not have the required information.
On 16 November 2023, Ms. al-Hathloul attempted to cross the Saudi-Bahrain border but was stopped by Saudi border officers who informed her that she was under a travel ban with no expiry date. On 25 November 2023, Ms. al-Hathloul filed a complaint about the travel ban against her with the Saudi Human Rights Commission (SHRC), the national human rights institution.
On 2 December 2023, and on the recommendation of the SHRC, Ms. Al-Hathloul filed a complaint by email with the Presidency of State Security (PSS) through the Board of Grievances. She received no reply to date. Ms. Al-Hathloul also received a phone call from the SHRC on the same day asking her to send in the details of her case, including a copy of her email to the PSS and the file number of her case with the Board of Grievances. She has sent in the required information and has so far received no response.
On 21 February 2024, Ms. Al-Hathloul visited the passport office in Riyadh and was told there was an ongoing travel ban against her but no further information was provided.
The case of Ms. Maryam Aloteebi
On 17 April 2017, Ms. Aloteebi was arrested after her father complained that she had left home without permission. Ms Aloteebi had been prominent on social media in the #IAmMyOwnGuardian campaign and had left her home to lead an independent life and in an expression of defiance against the male guardianship system. On 31 July 2017, Ms. Aloteebi was released, reportedly without her father’s permission.
Ms. Aloteebi renewed her passport in 2019, following the amendment of the personal status law in Saudi Arabia in August of the same year, allowing for women over 21 years of age to obtain passports and travel abroad without prior guardian approval.
On 11 February 2022, Ms. Aloteebi posted a clip of herself on her Twitter account in which she described that she had bought her ticket for travel abroad and had cleared check-in at the airport. She said that she was stopped by airport staff before boarding her flight, who told her she was banned from travel under orders by the Presidency of State Security. The exact date of her attempted travel is not available. She posted the video clip after attempts she made to complain to the Crown Prince’s office, the Ministry of Interior, the State Security Agency, and the Ministry of Justice. She received no reply to these complaints.
On 31 May 2022, Ms. Aloteebi was summoned to appear before the Criminal Court of Riyadh, in the company of her lawyer to face charges under the Anti-Cybercrime Law in relation to her complaint on social media about the travel ban that she claimed was ordered by the State.
On 22 June 2022, Ms. Aloteebi was convicted by the District Court of Riyadh of the “preparation, storage and transmission of material impinging on public order,” under article 6 of the Anti-Cybercrime Law of 2007. She was sentenced to four months in prison and a fine of SAR 100,000 (USD 26,660), her mobile telephone was ordered confiscated, and her social media account on X/Twitter closed.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express our concern at the reported continued administrative harassment in the form of a travel ban imposed on Ms. al-Hathloul and Ms. Aloteebi in relation to their peaceful human rights work. We are also seriously concerned at the criminalisation of Ms. Aloteebi in relation to her peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression and movement.
We would also like to express our alarm that the criminal charges against Ms. Aloteebi have taken place in the context of a wider crackdown on human rights defenders and social media users, who have been targeted via state surveillance of their social media accounts. Women have been disproportionately targeted and impacted by this crackdown, mostly on the basis of public morals. Such a trend has regrettably been enabled by legislation such as the aforementioned Anti-Cybercrime Law of 2007, wherein article 6 criminalises the alleged offence of “producing something that harms public order, religious values, public morals, the sanctity of private life, or authoring, sending, or storing it via an information network,” imposing prison sentences of up to five years where these laws have been breached. The use of this law to stifle feminist or political dialogue online is a direct violation of the right to freedom of expression.
