Saudi Arabia has released three women’s rights activists whose arrests along with others has deeply undermined the country’s claim to be reforming itself.

They were among at least a dozen women who had campaigned for greater freedoms for women in the deeply conservative country.

The arrests happened just as the Saudi government liberalised some of the laws they had campaigned about.

Eman al Nafjan blogged under the pseudonym Saudiwoman and took part in women’s driving campaigns, getting behind the wheel to break the law in 2011.

She was arrested in May last year along with a number of other women who had done the same. Ms al Nafjan has been let out of prison, on what officials have described as temporary release.

Academics Aziza al Yousef and Eman al Nafjian have also been released.

They both took part in driving protests and campaigned against the country’s repressive guardianship laws that bar women from travel and medical treatment without the approval of their male guardians.

The detention of the women has seen increasing protests and criticism.

Claims of torture, threatened rape and other abuses have compounded the damage done to Saudi Arabia’s image by the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The killing is widely believed to have been ordered by the country’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

An influential panel of British MPs and nine US senators have recently condemned the women’s treatment and demanded their release.

Three dozen countries have added their voice to calls to free the women.

The most high-profile detainee remains in custody.

Blogger and social media campaigner Louthain al Hajloul was arrested while allegedly trying to cross the border between UAE and Saudi Arabia, despite possessing an Emirati driving licence.

Her family claim she has been subjected to waterboarding, electric shock treatment and beatings while in jail.

Amnesty International welcomed the release of the three but demanded an independent investigation into their ordeal.

A spokesman said: “This is a long overdue step as these women should never have been jailed in the first place and their release should certainly not be on a ‘temporary’ basis.

“They have been locked up, separated from their loved ones, subjected to torture and threats for simply peacefully calling for women’s rights and expressing their views.”

Source: Read Full Article