The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) has joined a campaign to free University of British Columbia (UBC) alumnus and Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul. The #StudentsForLoujain campaign is being organized by three student groups at UBC; 23 student societies from across BC—as well as the British Columbia Federation of Students and the Alliance of BC Students—are involved. As part of the campaign, student groups are pressuring Canadian minister of foreign affairs François-Philippe Champagne through letters (the CCSS has written one) and social media posts to help free al-Hathloul.
al-Hathloul was arrested in May 2018; Saudi public prosecution said in a statement that al-Hathloul and others were arrested for being involved in “coordinated and organized activities… that aim to undermine the Kingdom’s security, stability and national unity.”
CCSS external executive Quinn Cunningham says the CCSS is “one-hundred percent” in support of urging the Canadian government to take action to help free al-Hathloul.
“We signed onto, in solidarity, in a campaign… where we’re asking [Champagne] to, essentially, put in the advocacy work and the international-relations work to, in a sense, ensure that al-Hathloul’s being treated with human rights.”
al-Hathloul could have faced a maximum of 20 years behind bars.
“It’s all very upsetting to see, frankly,” says Cunningham. “al-Hathloul is a BC student alumni and from an institution that we work closely with at the CCSS; seeing one of their former alumni treated this way is deeply concerning, not only from an empathetic perspective, but from a human-rights perspective, especially considering the work she’s been doing in the field of trying to expand rights for women, and that sort of equitable work in Saudi Arabia.”
Cunningham says there is concern that al-Hathloul’s not being treated as she should be, and says that now is the ideal time for students who want to make a difference to take action, pointing out that it doesn’t have to take a lot of time.
“If you’re a student and you’ve got the time on your hands since we’re early in the semester, an amazing thing you can do is send an email to your local member of parliament, even your member of legislative assembly,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be a long letter, but just speak about how this makes you feel. This sort of thing, I can’t see any MP or MLA feeling pressure to not support.”
Cunningham says the situation “strikes to the core” of human-rights issues.
“I feel great empathy for this individual who has put in so much work to advance human rights in this sense, and then has—and has continued to have—these rights taken from her; and treated not as human, but as… an object rather than a human.”
Cunningham says it’s also import to have this conversation—with friends or family—so that people know what’s going on.
“At the CCSS, we believe that this campaign echoes our desire for human rights to be respected, in this sense, and especially for this former alum,” he says.
When al-Hathloul was sentenced in December of 2020, it was for five years and eight months; the court suspended two years and 10 months of her sentence and backdated the start of her jail time to May 2018; if not released, she has three months left in her sentence.
According to the New York Times and other media outlets, al-Hathloul has said she has been subjected to torture, including beatings, sexual abuse, and electric shocks. In August 2019, according to The Guardian, she declined to release a video of herself denying the treatment in exchange for her release.
See studentsforloujain.ca for more information on the campaign.