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Saudi Court Suspends Hearing for 11 Women’s Rights Activists Who’ve Faced Torture

HeadlineApr 19, 2019

A court In Saudi Arabia indefinitely postponed a hearing Wednesday for a group of 11 prominent women’s rights activists imprisoned on what human rights groups say are trumped-up charges. The women were arrested nearly one year ago as they campaigned against the kingdom’s male “guardianship” system and a ban on women drivers. Their arrests came just weeks before the kingdom lifted the ban. Among those arrested was 29-year-old Loujain Al-Hathloul. Her brother Walid told the BBC Wednesday that his sister has been severely abused in Saudi custody.

Walid Al-Hathloul: “All sorts of torture—electrocutions, waterboarding, sexual harassment. And this is actually done by Saud al-Qahtani, the top adviser of the crown prince. He was actually overseeing the torture at this secret facility, because when the torture was happening, that was happening at the secret facility outside Dhahban prison. And it was done in a basement. And that’s where he was laughing, he was threatening her with rape and murder.”

The latest reports of Saudi torture came after President Trump vetoed a War Powers Resolution calling on the U.S. to end military support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has sparked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

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