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abia's de facto ban on women driving fear they are being followed and investigated by the country's secret police.
The women, who requested
anonymity due to their concerns for their safety, described to CNN
Monday how they'd been "followed by cars filled with men since
Saturday," when dozens of women across the kingdom participated in the
October 26 Women's Driving Campaign.
At least five women said vehicles had been parked outside their houses since Saturday.
"I don't know for sure if
it is secret police or just men trying to harass us because we want the
right to drive, but they are trying to intimidate us," said one woman.
Saudi women's driving protest kicks off
"I'm positive I'm being
followed by the secret police since Saturday," said another, who added
she'd gotten no official word she was being investigated.
Over the weekend, in
extraordinary act of civil disobedience, at least 41 women got behind
the wheel and drove on the streets of various Saudi cities. Many filmed
themselves and uploaded those videos to YouTube.
Now, several of them say
the euphoria of that moment has quickly turned to worry over what might
happen to them next. Many wonder if they'll be punished for hitting the
open road in such a closed society.
While no formal law
exists in Saudi Arabia specifically barring women from driving,
religious edicts are often interpreted there to mean it is illegal for
females to do so. Other Saudi women have been penalized in the past for
defying the ban.
In 1990, a group of 47
women protested the prohibition by driving through the streets of
Riyadh, the country's capital. After being arrested, many lost their
jobs and were placed under a travel ban.
In 2011, women's rights activist Manal Al-Sharif spent nine days in jail for posting online a video of herself driving.
Adding to their fears,
the women say, is the detention of a man who worked closely with the
campaign. They say Tariq Al-Mubarak, a columnist and teacher, was called
in for questioning by the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution in
Riyadh on Sunday and has not been released yet.
Saudi Arabia's Interior
Ministry would neither confirm nor deny if Al-Mubarak was being held.
Reached via text message, Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, the Interior
Ministry's spokesman, responded to CNN, saying, "as far as I know, the
Bureau of Investigation (BIP) doesn't detain anybody, but they could
call people for questioning or interrogation."
Despite repeated
attempts, CNN was unable to reach the BIP for comment and was told by
Al-Turki that the agency has no spokesperson.
When asked if Saudi
women who participated in or supported the women's driving campaign were
being targeted, followed or investigated, Al-Turki told CNN, "I don't
understand the reason to follow anybody. If we have anything against
anyone we would act according to the laws."
One woman, whose worry
is growing by the hour, said participants in the movement only wanted to
"emphasize to the Saudi government that this campaign is not a
challenge to the Saudi government."
She described the
campaign, which has gained serious momentum since it was first announced
in late September, as "just following up on King Abdullah and other
officials' words in the past that the women's driving issue is one for
society to decide."
"We just want to be allowed to drive our own cars," she said.
Saudi Arabia is still
very much split over the question of women driving, with many women
there supporting not just the driving ban, but also in favor of the
conservative kingdom's guardianship system, which mandates that Saudi
women cannot go to school, get a job or even travel without permission
from their male guardians.
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