Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to start by saying good evening, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee.
Good evening to my fellow activists.
Thank you very much for honouring Loujain as an international human rights champion.
My name is Walid al-Hathloul, and I am speaking on behalf of my younger sister, Loujain. Loujain was recently released after 34 months of unlawful imprisonment. Additionally, Loujain and my father, mother, brother and sister are unlawfully barred from travelling. Loujain should be the one delivering her own statement to this committee in commemoration of International Women's Day. However, she is barred from public speaking as part of the condition of her release from prison. As such, the onus falls on me to deliver this statement.
I would like to take a moment to recognize and acknowledge the work of the numerous activists, civil society and international organizations, which continue to fight for Loujain's unconditional freedom. From the bottom of my heart, I thank them so very much for their support in helping us create the grassroots movement that had a big role in Loujain's release from prison and continued protection from any further harm.
In a better world, my sister Loujain would have been filled with enthusiasm to deliver this statement. She would have delivered her statement and would have likely shared her experience in advocating for the creation of shelters for abused women in Saudi Arabia. She might have also shared a short clip of a video to explain and shed much-needed awareness on the unsufferable male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia.
Her initial crime was advocating and speaking publicly for women's rights in Saudi Arabia. Loujain was kidnapped from the United Arab Emirates. She was deprived from finishing her master's degree. Loujain was illegally imprisoned and was brutally tortured. She spent many consecutive months in solitary confinement. Loujain was declared to be a terrorist by the current Saudi government. Think about that: a terrorist! She was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison.
For years now, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, otherwise known as MBS, has been trying to defame Loujain. MBS tried to tarnish Loujain's image in a concerted effort to suffocate her spirit and to destroy any effort of support for her. In short, MBS wanted Loujain to be forgotten. However, the more time passed, the more Loujain proved to the world and our family how incredibly brave she is, how resilient and attached to her values she is, and the righteousness of her cause for women's rights and empowerment.
Loujain now has become a symbol of human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia, a symbol because the tragedy of what Loujain endured is only one story out of the thousands of unlawfully imprisoned Saudi citizens who have been through and continue to go through what she has endured. If you wonder why, it is only a reflection of how MBS has successfully managed to silence and scare the families of detainees from speaking up and advocating for their family members.
Silence has become the norm in our Saudi Arabia, a totalitarian police state that will imprison relatives trying to save their detained ones. Whole families are unlawfully banned from travelling and are forced into silence. Thankfully, some of us are out of the country and are free to speak—free to become Loujain's silenced voice. We are taking the role to fight for her until the very end and to expose this tyrannical injustice.
Respected members of the committee and members of the international community, our voice alone is not enough. The world needs to recognize Loujain's sacrifices, to know who she is and to help us escalate her case. Loujain is the symbol of the current abominable situation in Saudi Arabia. She represents one of thousands of women and men who have been imprisoned or silenced in different ways, either by the government because of their activism, or by the women's male guardians because they have spoken out against domestic violence.
We as a family are public and outspoken because we have no other choice.
We urge you to continue to stand your ground on what we all know to be morally right and consistent with universal human rights values.
We urge you to hold the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, MBS, accountable for his numerous injustices and human rights violations, by calling for nothing less than unconditional freedom for Loujain: lifting the illegal travel ban, dropping all charges against her, conducting an independent investigation into the torture she has endured and holding accountable those responsible for these crimes.
Finally, Mr. Chair, I wish to close by speaking directly to my sister Loujain.
Loujain, we are all so proud of you and we love you. You are a role model and my hero. The entire world knows you are not a terrorist but an activist. We are with you in this. The entire world is celebrating you for your tenacious work and your incredible resilience. On this International Women's Day, I reaffirm my pledge to you, Loujain. We will never stop fighting for you. We will not let you down.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.