Additional Name(s): مناهل العتيبي

Gender: Female

Current Location: al-Malaz Prison

Perpetrator: Saudi Arabia

Religion or Belief: Unspecified

Health Concerns: Broken leg

Reports of Torture: Yes

Reports of Medical Neglect: Yes

Sentence: 11 Years' Imprisonment

Date of Detainment: November//2022

Date of Sentencing: January//2024

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Criticizing Religious Freedom Conditions Online Activity Religious Appearance Resisting State-Imposed Religious Systems Women’s Rights

Nature of Charges: Immorality Terrorism

Manahel al-Otaibi

Extra Bio Info:

Manahel al-Otaibi is imprisoned for her women's rights activism critical of state imposed religious systems.

In November 2022, authorities arrested al-Otaibi, an online fitness influencer, for reportedly not wearing "decent" clothing and for promoting female empowerment on her social media, which included calls for an end to male guardianship rules. 

In January 2023, al-Otaibi appeared in front of judges who referred her case to the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC).

On July 26, 2023, the SCC postponed al-Otaibi's hearing without scheduling a new date.

In December 2023, human rights organizations reported that al-Otaibi has been forcibly disappeared for over a month. 

In April 2024, five months after Saudi authorities forcibly disappeared al-Otaibi, she contacted her family for the first time and told them she was being held in solitary confinement in al-Malaz Prison with a broken leg after being brutally beaten in detention, and without access to medical care.

Soon after, also in April 2024, it was reported that al-Otaibi was sentenced to 11 years in January 2024 on multiple charges under Saudi Arabia's social media, counter terror, and male guardianship laws. The charges include calling on social media for an end to the country's male guardianship system, posting videos of herself wearing “indecent clothes”, “going to the shops without wearing an abaya” (a traditional dress), using digital technology "used in terrorist crimes," and broadcasting "false or malicious rumors, or the like for committing a terrorist crime."

Sources:

Jun 28

WHEN:

Jun 28th 10:30am - Jun 28th 12:00pm

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing

Deteriorating Religious Freedom Conditions in Cuba

Wednesday, June 28, 2023
10:30 AM to 12:00 PM ET

American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora
1200 Coral Way, Miami, FL 33145

Hearing Transcript

Hearing Summary

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) hosted a hearing that examined religious freedom conditions in Cuba from the perspective of diverse religious denominations. The Cuban government’s increasingly hostile tactics against religious communities in 2022 led USCIRF to recommend for the first time that the U.S. Department of State designate Cuba as a Country of Particular Concern.

The Cuban government tightly controls religious activity through surveillance, harassment of religious leaders and laypeople, forced exile, fines, and ill treatment of religious prisoners of conscience. Religious leaders and groups that are unregistered or who conduct unsanctioned religious activity—as well as journalistic reporting on religious freedom conditions—face relentless oppression from the Cuban government’s Office of Religious Affairs (ORA) and state security forces. Authorities often subject religious leaders to detention, interrogation, threats of prison sentences on false charges, confiscation of property, and travel bans. This environment of persecution has caused several religious leaders to leave Cuba and seek asylum in other countries.

Witnesses gave an overview of the Cuban government’s repression of religious freedom and other related rights and also provided first-hand accounts of the repressive tactics used by the Cuban government to stifle independent religious communities.

Opening Remarks

Recorded Remarks

Panel I

Panel II

  • Alain Toledano, Pastor and Faith-Based Dissident, Emmanuel Church of the Apostolic Ministry
    Written Testimony
  • Jorge Luis "Antúnez" Garcia Perez, Afro-Cuban Human Rights Activist and Yoruba Advocate
    Written Testimony
  • Rolando Montes de Oca, Catholic Priest, Camagüey, Cuba
    Written Testimony

This hearing is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the public, and the media. Members of the media should register online and can email [email protected] for any questions or to schedule an interview. The video recording of the hearing will be posted on the Commission website. For any additional questions, please email Veronica McCarthy at [email protected] or (202) 355-8026.
 

May 24, 2023

USCIRF Calls for the Release of Mubarak Bala and Yahaya Sharif Aminu

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today reiterated its calls for the release of Nigerian religious prisoners of conscience Mubarak Bala and Yahaya Sharif Aminu. Both men have been imprisoned on charges of blasphemy since 2020, in violation of international law protecting freedom of religion or belief.

“Both Mubarak Bala and Yahaya Sharif Aminua have been unjustly imprisoned for more than three years,” said USCIRF Commissioner Frederick A. Davie. “U.S. officials in Nigeria must urge the government to release them and work towards repealing blasphemy laws and enacting interim policies to protect religious freedom as outlined in our 2022 policy update.”

In April 2020, authorities arrested humanist leader and activist Mubarak Bala and transferred him to Kano State, where he was charged a year later with blasphemy for posting comments on social media that some considered insulting to Islam. In 2022, Bala pled guilty to all charges under duress from government officials and was sentenced to 24 years in prison. USCIRF has urged the U.S. government to call on the Kano State governor to pardon Bala, free him, and ensure his and his family’s safety.

In September 2020, authorities charged Tijaniyya Muslim musician Yahaya Sharif Aminu with blasphemy under Shari’a legal codes for disseminating a song that some considered insulting to the Prophet. Last month, the European Parliament overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning Nigeria’s blasphemy laws and calling for Sharif Aminu’s release. USCIRF has urged the U.S. government to encourage Nigerian authorities to release Sharif Aminu and drop the charges against him.

“The Nigerian government must focus on prosecuting violent offenders targeting religious communities, not individuals peacefully expressing minority beliefs and interpretations,” said USCIRF Commissioner Frank Wolf. “The U.S. government must properly incentivize Nigeria to do so, including by designating Nigeria a country of particular concern and appointing a Special Envoy for Nigeria and the Great Lakes Region."

In its 2023 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief. Last year, USCIRF held a hearing on U.S. policy in Nigeria and produced analyses on Nigeria’s blasphemy laws and on violence impacting religious freedom in Nigeria.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected] or Danielle Ashbahian at [email protected].

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