“We won’t rest until Manahel is free”

Amnesty campaigner writes about her efforts to free Manahel Al-Otaibi

Amnesty International campaigner Bissan Fakih writes about her tireless efforts to free Manahel Al-Otaibi, a women’s rights activist in Saudi Arabia who is serving an 11-year prison sentence.

Bissan Fakih was inspired to become an activist following the Arab Uprisings in 2011. She’s always cared deeply about injustice, and her passion for human rights led to her role at Amnesty International.

Now, Bissan is part of a team campaigning for the release of Manahel al-Otaibi – a young woman from Saudi Arabia who is serving an 11-year prison sentence for promoting women’s rights and expressing her views on social media. In this essay, Bissan shares the shock she felt when she first read about Manahel’s case and her casefiles, how Amnesty is supporting her family and what it’s like to continue working from Amnesty International’s office in Beirut, a city that was being bombed.

“I remember sitting down with Manahel al-Otaibi’s court documents, unable to believe what I was reading. The charges against her included “sharing several hashtags opposed to [government] regulations”, like #DownWithMaleGuardianship, and posting photos and videos in “immodest” clothing on social media. I kept going up to my colleague Dana’s desk, a much more seasoned researcher on Saudi Arabia, to make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding.

Was this really what they were charging her for? A fitness influencer and instructor, Manahel had built her online presence around positivity—using fitness to manage a chronic muscular condition, travelling, and connecting with people across cultures. But she’d also written from the heart about women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. 

Manahel had been an early optimist about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s promises of reform. In a 2019 TV interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, she described the “radical changes” taking place in the Saudi kingdom, including the dress code reforms, and said she felt free to express her views and wear what she liked. Yet she was arrested on 16 November 2022 for exercising these freedoms. Her social media posts defending women’s rights, including posts of photos of her walking through a shopping centre in a T-shirt and overalls, turned her into a target for the Saudi authorities.

When Amnesty International started working on the case in February this year, Manahel had already been forcibly disappeared for over three months. Her sister Foz was distraught. She told us the family had called the prison and every government office they could think of, but no one would tell them where Manahel was. She told us she just wanted someone to check if her sister was alive. Just weeks after Amnesty International’s campaign began, Manahel was finally able to contact her family. She told them she had been beaten in detention and held in solitary confinement.

This contact with her was modest progress, it was something to build on. Along with her sister Foz and Saudi activists, Amnesty International believes that highlighting Manahel’s case around the world might pressure the Saudi authorities into releasing her. This year she’s part of Amnesty International’s annual campaign, Write for Rights, so we know her story will reach millions of people around the world.

We have been working closely with Foz to prepare the campaign. Foz carries a burden no one should have to bear. Not only is her sister serving an unjust 11-year prison sentence, but her other sister, Mariam – a well-known women’s rights defender – is under a travel ban and has been subjected to trumped-up charges. Foz fears Mariam could be arrested at any moment. Further, Foz herself has also been pursued by the Saudi judiciary and risks arrest if she returns to Saudi Arabia from abroad where she lives. In the court documents I reviewed for Manahel, the prosecutor accuses Foz of “leading a propaganda campaign to incite Saudi girls to denounce religious principles and rebel against customs and traditions”, stating that she used hashtags like #Society_Is_Ready to “promote liberation and the fall of male guardianship”.

Every time Saudi Arabia hosts an event, be it a major sporting competition or a celebrity-studded concert, I think of the al-Otaibi sisters. These events contribute to deliberate efforts by Saudi authorities to distract the world from human rights abuses, a practice often referred to as “sportswashing” or “entertainment washing”. For families of the many people unjustly detained in Saudi Arabia, these events sweep human rights abuses under the rug and lift the international pressure off of Saudi authorities to release their loved ones and adopt real reforms.

But I believe in the power of collective action to challenge that. I think of how international pressure led to the release of activists like Loujain al-Hathloul and others, who received shorter prison sentences or were spared a death sentence because of the relentless campaigning around the world, including from Amnesty International members. Amnesty International members worldwide have rallied in incredible ways to draw attention to Manahel’s case. In Austria, Amnesty International activists held a “fitness for freedom” protest, with fitness instructors offering classes outside the Saudi embassy. In Oslo, students ran from their law faculty to the Saudi embassy with banners and photos of Manahel before gathering to discuss her case and sign petitions. In the US, colleagues have successfully lobbied Congress members to speak out for Manahel’s case.

The Saudi Arabia team at Amnesty International acts as a bridge between Foz and the wider Amnesty International movement. We’re based in Beirut, in one of Amnesty International’s regional offices. Since late September, when the war between Hezbollah and Israel escalated, we’ve had to work through near-constant Israeli airstrikes on our city. It’s been a devastating and terrifying time. On many days, I’ve been at my desk as a bomb whizzes past, bracing myself for the impact. For weeks now, the bombs have shaken my building and my insides. Colleagues from abroad are often surprised that our team is still working. But we’ve had to take a deep breath and keep going. We’re committed to campaigning with people like Foz. I’ve often found solace in knowing that I’m serving a movement larger than myself.

On a recent call with Amnesty International colleagues from around the world, including Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Taiwan and the US, colleagues briefed Foz on their planned actions for her sister. They shared creative tactics —murals, fitness protests, public meet-ups. Foz told them that it had made her feel like she had a global family supporting her.

Slowly but surely, Manahel’s case is receiving attention worldwide, and we hope this will lead to her release. Women footballers have written to FIFA, calling on them to break ties with Saudi Aramco (largely owned by the Saudi state), while highlighting Manahel’s story among the many others unjustly detained in Saudi Arabia for promoting women’s rights. Manahel’s story is also gaining global media attention, with The New York Times and The Guardian highlighting how Saudi authorities are punishing women like Manahel for speaking out about women’s rights.

Our team speaks to Foz almost every day. I have thanked her for placing her trust in us and I have promised her we won’t rest until Manahel is free. If you’re reading this, you can be part of that promise. Join a letter-writing campaign, attend an event, or simply share Manahel’s story. Every action helps amplify our voices and ensures that we don’t let the world forget her name. We won’t stop until Manahel al-Otaibi walks free.”

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