Activists are afraid that 10 Saudi women held for their campaigning, could face harsh sentences as U.N Rights boss sought their release.
The U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet called on Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to release the women activists allegedly tortured in detention after authorities accused them of harming the country’s interests.
Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor is preparing the trials of detainees, identified by watchdog groups as women’s rights activists, after completing its investigations, state news agency SPA said last Friday.
“Today, allow me to voice my concern at the apparently arbitrary arrest and detention, and alleged ill-treatment or torture, of several women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia,” Bachelet said in a speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
“The persecution of peaceful activists would clearly contradict the spirit of the country’s proclaimed new reforms,” she added.
The Saudi deputy public prosecutor told Saudi-owned newspaper Alsharq Alawsat last week that his office had looked into media reports that the women were tortured and found no evidence, calling the reports “false”.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has introduced reforms that have reduced discrimination, such as the lifting of the driving ban for women.
But activists say women who led such campaigns remain behind bars and that some have been tortured since their arrest in May.