Saudi women's rights activists languish in jail as driving ban ends

Several Saudi women's rights advocates still remain imprisoned as the kingdom lifts its decades-long ban on women driving, with analysts viewing the move as a PR stunt. 

The controversial ban formally ended at midnight on Saturday, with women hitting the roads to celebrate the historic event.

The change was ordered by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud last September as part of sweeping reforms pushed by his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi Arabia also issued the first driving licenses to women earlier this month.

However, the lifting of the driving ban comes amid an intensified crackdown on the activists who have campaigned for women's right to drive.

The crackdown is believed to be a warning from the Riyadh regime that the reforms are a gift to Saudi citizens rather than their basic rights, the Washington Post wrote on Sunday.

A number of women have been arrested for supporting women's rights and posting videos of themselves at the wheel.

Saudi blogger and activist Eman al-Nafjan published articles on her blog entitled "Saudiwoman" in support of women's rights. She was detained in May.

After the order was issued to lift the driving ban, she wrote, "The way in which the ban was lifted seemed too simple to be real."

"At first I was overwhelmed by my own powerlessness as a woman in a patriarchal absolute monarchy," she said. "Were our efforts the reason the ban was lifted or was it a decision made independently of our struggles?"

Another activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who was also arrested recently for a second time, defended her 2014 attempt to drive into Saudi Arabia from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Some people "blamed me, claiming that what I did was delaying the official decision to lift the ban on women in Saudi Arabia, especially as my attempt was seen as a direct challenge to the government, ignoring the fact that their silence for 22 years also had no positive result," she told the Financial Times.

Activist Nouf Abdulaziz,  who was taken into custody earlier this month, left a letter to be released in case of her arrest.

"I am not a provoker, inciter nor a wrecker, nor a terrorist, nor a criminal or a traitor ... I was never but only a good citizen that loved my country and wished the best for it," she wrote.

PressTV-Riyadh arrests two more female rights activists: HRW

HRW says Saudi Arabia has recently arrested two more women's rights advocates as part a clampdown on those calling for an end to the denial of their basic rights.

Easing driving ban major PR stunt

Analyst Hana al-Khamri wrote on the Al Jazeera website on Sunday that Riyadh "has rather pragmatic reasons to allow women to drive."

She stressed that the lifting of the driving ban is part of a plan to boost the economy and legitimize dramatic changes within the House of Saud.

"After isolating and oppressing opponents and critics, he (bin Salma) worked on constructing an image of himself as a charismatic popular leader within Saudi Arabia and abroad. He decided to use the women's rights issue as a tool to win over the hearts and minds of young Saudis, as well as the kingdom's foreign allies," Khamri said.

"In other words, the lifting of the driving ban is nothing more than a PR stunt and an economic policy. This is why the leaders of Saudi Arabia refuse to involve women's rights activists in this process," she added.

She also noted that Saudi authorities "have no tolerance for courageous women with free and intellectual integrity who want genuine change and gender equality. This is why they are still silencing, harassing and detaining women's rights activists."

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