UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations has called upon Saudi Arabia to provide information about women’s rights activists arrested ahead of the lifting of a ban on women driving that is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reform programme.

The UN human rights office said on Tuesday the Saudi government should ensure the women and other campaigners in custody have due process.

The crackdown on women’s rights activists, just weeks before a much-hyped lifting of the has revived doubts about Prince Mohammed approach to reforms in the kingdom.

Nearly a dozen prominent activists, mostly women who for years urged reforms that are now being implemented, were arrested this month.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2018