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Saudi backpedals on video labelling feminism ‘extremism’
RIYADH, Nov 13, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Saudi authorities have distanced
themselves from an official video that sparked controversy after it branded
feminism, homosexuality and atheism as extremist ideas.
Saudi Arabia’s state security agency posted the animated video on Twitter
last weekend at a time when de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
is seeking to open up the austere kingdom to foreign tourists and overhaul
its ultra-conservative image.
The tweet has since been taken down.
The security agency said the video contained “many mistakes” and suggested
that those behind it would face a formal investigation, according to a
statement posted late Tuesday by the official Saudi Press Agency.
It also rejected a report in Al-Watan, a local daily, that said feminists
will be jailed and subject to flogging.
In a separate statement, the kingdom’s Human Rights Commission stressed
that “feminism is not criminalised” and that it accords “the utmost
importance to women’s rights”.
The two statements made no mention of homosexuality or atheism, which are
both illegal and punishable by death in the Muslim kingdom.
The video had sparked criticism from campaigners, with Amnesty
International saying it was “extremely dangerous” and had “serious
implications for the rights to freedom of expression and life, liberty and
security in the country”.
Saudi Arabia has long faced international criticism over its treatment of
women.
Prince Mohammed has sought to ease restrictions on women with multiple
reforms including a historic decree that ended a decades-old ban on female
motorists.
In August, Saudi Arabia also allowed women to obtain passports without
seeking the approval of their “guardians” — fathers, husbands or other male
relatives.
The move, part of Prince Mohammed’s plan to revamp the national image,
ended a longstanding rule that prompted some extreme attempts by women to
flee the kingdom.
But observers say loopholes still allow male relatives to curtail their
movements and, in the worst cases, leave them marooned in prison-like
shelters.
Alongside a string of pro-women reforms, Saudi authorities have also
cracked down on female activists.
Nearly a dozen women campaigners, arrested just before the ban on women
driving ended last year, are currently facing trial that has drawn criticism
from Western governments.
BSS/AFP/RY/1545 hrs