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<\/a>CCSS external executive Quinn Cunningham says the CCSS is \u201cone-hundred percent\u201d in support of urging the Canadian government to take action to help free al-Hathloul.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe signed onto, in solidarity, in a campaign… where we\u2019re asking [Champagne] to, essentially, put in the advocacy work and the international-relations work to, in a sense, ensure that al-Hathloul\u2019s being treated with human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
al-Hathloul could have faced a maximum of 20 years behind bars.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all very upsetting to see, frankly,\u201d says Cunningham. \u201cal-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\u2019s been doing in the field of trying to expand rights for women, and that sort of equitable work in Saudi Arabia.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re a student and you\u2019ve got the time on your hands since we\u2019re 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,\u201d he says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be a long letter, but just speak about how this makes you feel. This sort of thing, I can\u2019t see any MP or MLA feeling pressure to not support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cunningham says the situation \u201cstrikes to the core\u201d of human-rights issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel great empathy for this individual who has put in so much work to advance human rights in this sense, and then has\u2014and has continued to have\u2014these rights taken from her; and treated not as human, but as\u2026 an object rather than a human.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cunningham says it\u2019s also import to have this conversation\u2014with friends or family\u2014so that people know what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt 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,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n