1st women drivers get Saudi licenses
But kingdom keeping nine campaigners for equal rights under arrest
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia on Monday issued its first driver’s licenses to women as the kingdom prepares to lift the world’s only ban on female drivers, but some who campaigned for the right to drive remain under arrest.
A government statement said the 10 women who were issued licenses already held driver’s licenses from other countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Lebanon and Canada. They took brief driving tests and eye exams before being issued the licenses at the General Department of Traffic in the capital, Riyadh. International media were not present for the event.
The country plans to fully lift the ban June 24, and women across the country have been preparing by taking driving courses on female-only college campuses. Some are even training to become drivers for ride-hailing companies like Uber.
Saudi women long complained of having to hire costly male drivers, use taxis or rely on male relatives to get to work and run errands.
The surprise move to issue licenses early came as activists who had campaigned for the right to drive remain under arrest, facing possible trial.
Saudi Arabia’s prosecutor said Sunday that 17 people have been detained in recent weeks on suspicion of trying to undermine security and stability, a case that activists said targeted prominent women’s-rights campaigners.
The prosecutor’s statement said eight have been temporarily released, while five men and four women remain under arrest. Among the women held since May 15 are Loujain al-Hathloul, Aziza al-Yousef and Eman alNafjan, according to people with knowledge of the arrests who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions.
The three are among the most outspoken and wellknown women’s-rights activists in Saudi Arabia. They not only risked arrest by pushing for the right to drive for years, but they also called for an end to guardianship laws that give male relatives final say over women marrying or traveling abroad.
Their activism was seen as part of a larger democratic and civil-rights push in the kingdom.
They now face a variety of charges, including communicating with people and organizations hostile to the kingdom and providing financial and moral support to hostile elements abroad. State-linked media have referred to the activists as “foreign embassy agents” and branded them traitors.
Three other veteran women’s-rights activists were briefly detained at the onset of the sweep. They had taken part in the first protest in 1990 against the kingdom’s ban on women driving.
Nearly 50 women took part in that protest 28 years ago. The women were arrested, lost their jobs and had their passports confiscated for a year.
Others were detained over the years during various efforts by women’s-rights activists to drive. While Saudi law has never explicitly banned women from driving, women were not issued driving licenses. Often, police would detain a female driver until a male relative could pick her up and sign a pledge on her behalf that she would not drive again.
Ultraconservatives considered it immoral to let women drive and warned them that they would be subject to sexual harassment if they drove. Four years ago, the country’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, said barring women from driving “was in the best interest of society” because it protected them from having to deal with accidents.
These days, the kingdom faces economic challenges and has a young population that can access the world through the Internet and see women in neighboring Muslim countries driving freely.
To boost the economy and ease international criticism, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been promoting changes, including the decision to allow women to drive, while risking backlash from clerics and others who adhere to the ultraconservative Wahhabi interpretation of Islam.
The crown prince has also attempted to appeal to young Saudis by opening the country to more entertainment, allowing musical concerts and drawing the first commercial movie theater to Saudi Arabia.
However, rights groups say the arrest of activists by the crown prince’s security forces are an attempt to silence dissent as women prepare to drive for the first time, adding that the tactic might be a way to stifle calls for greater changes.
The spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Liz Throssell, has described the crackdown as “perplexing.”
“If, as it appears, their detention is related solely to their work as human-rights defenders and activists on women’s issues, they should be released immediately,” she said.