UBC president urges Ottawa to help jailed Saudi alumna
28-year-old women’s rights activist being detained in solitary confinement
The president of the University of B.C. has written a letter to the federal government asking for help for alumna Loujain Al-Hathloul, a women’s rights activist jailed in Saudi Arabia.
Santa Ono wrote to Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland asking that the Canadian government work with its Saudi Arabian counterparts to ensure AlHathloul’s release and to encourage Saudi Arabia to recognize the rights of Saudi Arabian women.
Al-Hathloul, a 28-year-old woman who attended UBC from 200914, was arrested two weeks ago with other women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia and continues to be detained in solitary confinement.
“I am deeply concerned to receive reports that authorities in Saudi Arabia have detained a recent graduate of the University of British Columbia,” Ono wrote in the letter shared on the UBC website Wednesday.
“At UBC, we seek to foster global citizenship and advance a just and sustainable society. Core to that vision is a commitment to international human rights. By all accounts, Ms. Al-Hathloul embodies and inspires this vision and is seeking to activate important changes in her home country.”
Ono said he was “deeply moved” by the former student’s commitment to justice and human rights within an environment where those actions come with significant threats to personal safety and security.
He said he agreed with Ottawa’s view that her arrest is inconsistent with the Saudi Arabian government’s stated commitment to create a more tolerant and open society.
Friends and supporters of AlHathloul rallied in support of her at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Wednesday.
Alqst, a London-based Saudi human rights group, says she is being held in solitary confinement and has been denied access to a lawyer or family members.
Shortly after graduating from UBC with a degree in French, AlHathloul tried to drive across the border into Saudi Arabia from United Arab Emirates and was detained for more than 70 days. She was detained for a few days again in March.