Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
3 Saudi Women Activists Receive PEN Freedom to Write Award
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
March 14, 2019

Share

NEW YORK — Three Saudi women’s rights activists whose arrests last year have been condemned worldwide are being honored by PEN America.

Nouf Abdulaziz, Loujain al-Hathloul and Eman al-Nafjan have won the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, the literary and human rights organization announced Thursday. The award was established in 1987 and is given to writers imprisoned for their work, with previous recipients coming from Ukraine, Egypt and Ethiopia among other countries.

In custody for working to “undermine the security” of the kingdom, Abdulaziz, Al-Hathloul and Al-Nafjan have openly opposed such government policies as a ban on women driving and the restriction of women’s travel, education and other rights without approval from a male guardian. On Wednesday, al-Hathloul and al-Nafjan were among those at a closed-door hearing in Riyadh, according to Amnesty International. Reporters were not allowed in.

The PEN award comes at a time of international outrage at Saudi Arabia and at Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, especially after the Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in October 2018 by Saudi agents at the country’s consulate in Istanbul. Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council denounced Saudi Arabia’s “continuing arrests and arbitrary detentions of human rights defenders”

Activists have alleged that the PEN winners have been subjected to torture, including flogging and sexual assault. Saudi officials have denied the allegations.

A Way of Turning Advocacy Into Concrete Action

“The fleeting hope that generational transition in the Saudi leadership would open the door toward greater respect for individual rights and international law has collapsed entirely, with individuals paying the highest price as the government resorts to rank barbarism as a blunt means to suppress and deter dissent,” PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement. “These gutsy women have challenged one of the world’s most notoriously misogynist governments, inspiring the world with their demand to drive, to govern their own lives, and to liberate all Saudi women from a form of medieval bondage that has no place in the 21st century.”

“The fleeting hope that generational transition in the Saudi leadership would open the door toward greater respect for individual rights and international law has collapsed entirely, with individuals paying the highest price as the government resorts to rank barbarism as a blunt means to suppress and deter dissent.” — PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel

PEN officials have not determined who will accept the Freedom to Write Award on behalf of the three winners at the annual PEN gala, being held in Manhattan on May 21. Others receiving prizes — and able to collect them in person — include Bob Woodward of Watergate fame and the CEO of Scholastic, Richard Robinson.

PEN has long highlighted the Freedom to Write Award as a way of turning advocacy into concrete action, noting that 37 of the 43 previous winners have since been freed, at least in part because of the attention raised by the prize.

“It helped me to survive while I was in prison,” said the 2016 winner, Ahmed Naji, an author and journalist who had been imprisoned in Egypt and now lives in Washington, D.C. “When you’re in prison, they want to isolate you from society and make you think what you wrote is worth nothing. So such awards give hope to the writer.”

Winners Are Among More Than a Dozen Activists Arrested a Year Ago

Naji was initially freed in December 2016 and his sentence, for “violating public modesty” in his novel “The Use of Life,” was overturned in 2018. During a recent telephone interview with The Associated Press, he recalled how prison authorities tried to keep him from learning about his award. Inmates usually were allowed to read a daily newspaper, but one day no one received it. He later learned from a guard that the paper had been banned because there was news about him in it.

“I usually sum up myself with a few characteristics: a writer, a reading addict since I was six years old, my father tells me that I am intelligent; I am a quiet girl except for the questions that storm my mind.” — Nouf Abdulaziz

“After another week, I had a family visit and they told me about the award,” Naji said.

This year’s Freedom to Write winners are among more than a dozen activists arrested a year ago. Al-Nafjan is a blogger and linguistics professor who has written for The Guardian and CNN among other publications. Al-Hathloul is a prominent opponent of the driving ban, lifted shortly after her arrest last year, and was arrested in 2014 and detained for 73 days. Abdulaziz is a journalist and blogger who has written for years about human rights violations. After her arrest, fellow women’s rights activist Mayya al-Zahrani posted online a letter Abdulaziz had written in case she was captured.

“I usually sum up myself with a few characteristics: a writer, a reading addict since I was six years old, my father tells me that I am intelligent; I am a quiet girl except for the questions that storm my mind,” Abdulaziz wrote. “I will talk to you and share some of the questions that overcome my mind: Why is our homeland so small and tight, and why am I considered a criminal or an enemy that threatens it! I was never but a good citizen that loved her country and wished the best for it, a loving daughter and a hardworking student and a devoted worker, who never demeaned hated or envied anyone.”

DON'T MISS

Augillard, Douglas Lead the Way as Bulldogs Rally Past Long Beach State

DON'T MISS

Israel Strikes Without Warning in Beirut, Kills at Least 15 as Cease-Fire Sought

DON'T MISS

Trump Taps Rollins as Ag Chief in Final Cabinet Pick

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Becomes Bowl Eligible, Defeats Colorado State on Senior Night

DON'T MISS

After Fresno Visit, Newsom Announces $24.7M Taxpayer-Funded Apprenticeship Program

DON'T MISS

How Will Merced County Fund Public Safety After Measure R’s Failure?

DON'T MISS

As Atmospheric River Soaks California, Farmworkers Await Flood Aid Promised in 2023

DON'T MISS

Sacramento Region Gained People but Flubbed Economic Opportunities Over 50 Years

DON'T MISS

Nations at UN Climate Talks Agree on $300B a Year for Poor Countries in a Compromise Deal

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s Pick for Labor Secretary

UP NEXT

Nations at UN Climate Talks Agree on $300B a Year for Poor Countries in a Compromise Deal

UP NEXT

NATO Head and Trump Meet in Florida for Talks on Global Security

UP NEXT

Tulare County Man Arrested After Allegedly Threatening to Kill Middle School Girls, Staff

UP NEXT

UN Expert: Myanmar’s Desperate Military Ramps Up Attacks Including Beheadings, Rapes and Torture

UP NEXT

NATO and Ukraine to Hold Emergency Talks After Russia’s Attack With New Hypersonic Missile

UP NEXT

Many in Gaza Are Eating Just Once a Day, as Hunger Spreads Amid Aid Issues

UP NEXT

Norwegian Student Arrested on Charges of Spying on US for Russia

UP NEXT

A Proposed Deal on Climate Cash at UN Summit Highlights Split Between Rich and Poor Nations

UP NEXT

Northern California Gets Record Rain and Heavy Snow. Many Have Been in the Dark for Days in Seattle

UP NEXT

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

Fresno State Becomes Bowl Eligible, Defeats Colorado State on Senior Night

3 hours ago

After Fresno Visit, Newsom Announces $24.7M Taxpayer-Funded Apprenticeship Program

6 hours ago

How Will Merced County Fund Public Safety After Measure R’s Failure?

6 hours ago

As Atmospheric River Soaks California, Farmworkers Await Flood Aid Promised in 2023

7 hours ago

Sacramento Region Gained People but Flubbed Economic Opportunities Over 50 Years

8 hours ago

Nations at UN Climate Talks Agree on $300B a Year for Poor Countries in a Compromise Deal

20 hours ago

What to Know About Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s Pick for Labor Secretary

22 hours ago

What to Know About Scott Turner, Trump’s Pick for Housing Secretary

1 day ago

Trump Taps Investor Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary

1 day ago

NATO Head and Trump Meet in Florida for Talks on Global Security

1 day ago

Augillard, Douglas Lead the Way as Bulldogs Rally Past Long Beach State

LONG BEACH — Amar Augillard led Fresno State with 25 points and David Douglas Jr. made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 42 seconds left as the Bull...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

Augillard, Douglas Lead the Way as Bulldogs Rally Past Long Beach State

3 hours ago

Israel Strikes Without Warning in Beirut, Kills at Least 15 as Cease-Fire Sought

3 hours ago

Trump Taps Rollins as Ag Chief in Final Cabinet Pick

3 hours ago

Fresno State Becomes Bowl Eligible, Defeats Colorado State on Senior Night

6 hours ago

After Fresno Visit, Newsom Announces $24.7M Taxpayer-Funded Apprenticeship Program

6 hours ago

How Will Merced County Fund Public Safety After Measure R’s Failure?

7 hours ago

As Atmospheric River Soaks California, Farmworkers Await Flood Aid Promised in 2023

8 hours ago

Sacramento Region Gained People but Flubbed Economic Opportunities Over 50 Years

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend