In honour of International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, marked every year on 29 November 2024, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) would like to highlight the cases of women unjustly imprisoned for their activism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

As part of a campaign during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, GCHR is participating in the “SPREADING THE ECHO” campaign launched by the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRDIC), of which GCHR is a member. For 16 days, the campaign features the profiles of 30 women human rights defenders imprisoned for their human rights work and activism around the world. Join the campaign by following the hashtag #SpreadingTheEcho

The co-sponsors of this campaign are WHRDIC members and allies who provided information on the cases: Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), Femena, FORUM-ASIA, Front Line Defenders, GCHR, IM-Defensoras, Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), Karapatan, OMCT, Tanggol Bayi – Philippines, and the WHRDMENA Coalition.

WHRDIC first launched the #SpreadingTheEcho campaign last year in solidarity with WHRDs and feminist movements worldwide. The goal is to raise the voices of imprisoned WHRDs to help set them free.

GCHR provided case information about imprisoned WHRDs from Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen.

Hiba Abu Taha, a Palestinian-Jordanian journalist, was arbitrarily arrested on 13 May 2024 in connection with her April 2024 article on the Lebanese Annasher website titled “Partners in Genocide… Jordanian Capital Involved in Genocide in the Gaza Strip.” On 11 June 2024, a court in Amman sentenced Abu Taha to one year in prison, convicting her of violating the Cybercrimes Law.

Fatima Saleh Al-Arwali is a Yemeni human rights defender and head of the Al-Habitat Organisation for Human Rights Development. On 14 August 2022, she was arrested by Houthi authorities, an act that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called “apparent retaliation for her promotion and protection of human rights.” In December 2023, a court in Sana’a issued a discretionary death penalty against her on arbitrary charges related to her work on defending the rights of women and children.

Intisar Abdulrahman Al-Hammadi is a Yemeni actress and model of Yemeni and Ethiopian descent, who has faced both racism and condemnation for her profession, which many believe influenced her arrest. In November 2021, Al-Hammadi was sentenced to five years in prison by a Sana’a court on unproven charges of alleged prostitution and drug use, despite lacking evidence. The Court of Appeal upheld her sentence in February 2023, and in January 2024, her appeal was rejected by the High Court.

Dr. Lina Al-Sharif has been arbitrarily detained in Saudi Arabia since May 2021, facing terrorism charges linked to her peaceful social media activities advocating for human rights, including women’s rights. She was arrested in May 2021, and is currently held in Al-Ha’ir Prison in Riyadh. Dr. Al-Sharif faces charges under Article 2 and Article 19 of the 2017 Law of Combating Crimes of Terrorism and its Financing.

Manahel Al-Otaibi is a fitness instructor and feminist currently detained in Saudi Arabia. She was arrested on 16 November 2022, and sentenced on 09 January 2024 to 11 years in prison for peacefully promoting women’s rights, wearing “indecent” clothing, and tweeting with feminist hashtags. While imprisoned, Al-Otaibi has been held in solitary confinement, suffered physical abuse that resulted in a broken leg, and has been denied proper medical care. Her 11-year sentence was upheld in November 2024.

On 15 January 2021, Salma Al-Shehab was arrested while visiting Saudi Arabia for the holidays. A mother of two and a PhD student at the University of Leeds in the UK, she was initially sentenced to six years in prison in 2021 for social media activity. On 25 January 2023, she was re-sentenced to 27 years in prison followed by a 27-year travel ban.

Maryam Al-Balushi, a student, was arrested by UAE security forces for donating $600 to a Syrian family. She suffered enforced disappearance, torture, and arbitrary detention without trial. Al-Balushi was arrested in November 2015, and sentenced to five years in prison, which ended on 20 November 2020. Amina Al-Abdouli was prosecuted because of her sympathy with the Syrian revolution, leading her to cease social media activity in 2013. She was arrested in 2015, and sentenced to five years in prison, expiring on 20 November 2020. However, in July 2019, both women faced new charges under the 2012 cybercrime law for each “raising awareness about her case,” resulting in an additional three-year sentence.

Narges Mohammadi, a Nobel Peace Prize and Sakharov Prize winner, is currently imprisoned in Iran, where she has been in and out of prison since 2015. Mohammadi has been sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes for her activism. Mohammadi was sentenced to an additional year in prison for supporting the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests. She has had repeated health crises in prison. Her family and supporters, including the international #FreeNarges coalition, are advocating for her release.

Femena also provided the case information about imprisoned poet and Baha’i leader Mahvash Shahriari Sabet. Sabet was detained on 31 July 2022, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Previously, in March 2008, she was sentenced to 20 years but her sentence was reduced to 10 years, and she was released in 2017. Mahvash will have served a total of 20 years by the end of her current sentence.

Sabet, along with Saudi human rights defenders Salma Al-Shehab and Manahel Al-Otaibi, were all featured at the Alternative Human Rights Expo III on 27 November 2024, organised by GCHR with over two dozen partners including FEMENA and the WHRDIC. You can watch the video here.