Aziza al-Yousef
Detained: May 17, 2018.
Charges: Coordinated activity to undermine the security, stability and social peace of the kingdom. Contacting international organizations, foreign media and other activists. 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.
Sentence: Not yet sentenced.
Biography: Aziza al-Yousef is a woman human rights defender, retired professor, mother of five and grandmother of eight. She is a prominent women's rights activist who has been working on women's rights in Saudi Arabia for over two decades. She has repeatedly participated in defying the driving ban and has been harassed and interrogated for her human rights work. In 2016, she delivered a petition signed by 15,000 people to the Royal Court, demanding an end to the male guardianship system.
She has also been a key organizer of the women driving campaign, notably in 2013, when she helped share videos of women defying the ban. She has a teleconference with the Interior Minister, which was publicized, where she emphasized the desire of both men and women to end the driving ban. In December of that year, she was arrested for driving, and was released to the custody of her husband who was forced to sign a statement that swore him to preventing his wife to drive.
In May 17, 2018, al-Yousef was one of the several women's rights defenders who was arrested and has since been held without charge. According to testimonies obtained by Amnesty International, a total of ten human rights defenders were tortured, sexually abused, and subjected to other forms of ill-treatment during their first three months of detention, when they were held in an informal detention facility in an unknown location.
She is one of many formerly Detained Women's Rights Activists in Saudi Arabia.
Aziza al-Yousef has been granted TEMPORARY RELEASE.
Advocate:Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)
Advocacy Partner:Amnesty International
Updates:
UN human rights experts are urging Saudi Arabia to immediately and unconditionally release all women human rights defenders. These women include Dr. Hatoon al-Fassi and Samar Badawi (October 12, 2018, OHCHR).
The U.S. Senate passed S.J.Res.69, which calls on the government of Saudi Arabia to release Samar Badawi and other detained women's rights activists. (December 13, 2018, Congress.gov)
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called on Saudi Arabia to allow independent monitors to meet detainees, including women's rights activists who were allegedly tortured (January 25, 2019, Al Jazeera).
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced a resolution Wednesday calling on Saudi Arabia to “immediately and unconditionally” release detained women's rights activists including Aziza al-Yousef and Dr. Hatoon al-Fassi (February 13, 2019, Washington Post).
Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Representative Gerald Connolly (D-VA) sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging him to call for the immediate release of Aziza al-Yousef. They also requested Secretary Pompeo seek an update on Ms. al-Youssef's condition and whether she has access to appropriate legal consul (March 1, 2019, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA)).
Thirty-six states at the UN Human Rights Council have criticized Saudi Arabia for detaining women's rights activists, and demanded their release (March 7, 2019, BBC).
Aziza al-Yousef and Eman al-Nafjan, and Loujain al-Hathloul, will face their first hearings on March 13, 2019 before the Specialized Criminal Court (March 12, 2019, Gulf Centre for Human Rights).
Ten Saudi Arabian women stood trial on Wednesday, March 13 for the first time since they were detained last year. The group included Aziza al-Yousef, Eman al-Nafjan and Dr. Hatoon Al-Fassi (March 13, 2019, Al Jazeera).
Nine Senators wrote a letter to Saudi King Salman, calling on him to release detained women's rights defenders including Aziza al-Yousef, Eman al-Nafjan, Nouf Abdelaziz al-Jerawi, and Dr. Hatoon Al-Fassi (March 17, 2019, Office of Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)).
German journalist Suzanne Koelbl profiled Eman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Yousef, and fellow detained women's rights defender Loujain Al-Hathloul in Der Spiegel. (March 25, 2019, Der Spiegel)
The trial of Dr. Hatoon Al-Fassi, Eman al-Nafjan, Nouf Abdelaziz Al Jerawi, and Aziza al-Yousef resumed on Wednesday, March 27. Once again, diplomats and media were not permitted to attend (March 27, 2019, Reuters).
Eman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Yousef, and fellow detained women's rights defender Ruqayya al-Mohareb were granted temporary release. However, their charges have not been dropped and their release is conditional on their attendance at their trials until a final decision is reached (March 28, 2019, Reuters).
Aziza al-Yousef and Eman al-Najfan were told in their court appearance on April 3 their next court date would take place after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which coincides with early June. Dr. Hatoon Al-Fassi and Nouf Abdelaziz al-Jerawi were also present in court (April 3, 2019, Washington Post).
Salah al-Haidar, a dual U.S.-Saudi citizen and the son of Aziza al-Yousef was detained in recent days alongside at least six other writers and activists. (April 5, 2019, Washington Post)
The April 17th hearing in the trial of 11 Saudi women's rights activists including Dr. Hatoon Al-Fassi, Eman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Youssef, and Nouf Abdelaziz al-Jerawi was postponed to an unspecified date for "private reasons" (April 17, 2019, The Guardian).
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to approve and send to the House floor for consideration House Resolution 129 condemning Saudi imprisonment and abuse of female activists. Loujain al-Hathloul, Aziza al-Yousef, and Dr. Hatoon al-Fassi were referenced in the Resolution (May 22, 2019, Al Jazeera).
On July 15, 2019 the House of Representatives passed H. Res. 129 Condemning the Government of Saudi Arabia's continued detention and alleged abuse of women's rights activists.
A group of states criticized Saudi Arabia's human rights record during the 29th meeting of the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (September 23, 2019, Item 8 - General Debate, Chapter 2, Australia).
During the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council, US Ambassador to the UNHRC Michèle Taylor called on Saudi Arabia to release all prisoners of conscience and remove travel bans and other restrictions imposed on those who have been released (March 8, 2022, U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Geneva).
Prior to President Biden's July 2022 visit to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, U.S. citizens who are relatives of prisoners of conscience detained in the countries sent a letter to President Biden requesting that he raise the cases of their relatives to help secure their release. The son of Aziza al-Yousef was one of the letter's signatories. Additionally, it is stated that Ms. al-Yousef is a lawful permanent resident of the United States (July 6, 2022, Wall Street Journal).