IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 129 
Condemning the Government of Saudi Arabia’s continued detention and 
alleged abuse of women’s rights activists. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 13, 2019 
Ms. FRANKEL (for herself, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. CICILLINE, and Ms. WILD) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning the Government of Saudi Arabia’s continued 
detention and alleged abuse of women’s rights activists. 
Whereas the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been an impor-
tant strategic partner of the United States, and the 
United States and Saudi Arabia share broad interests, 
including defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria 
(ISIS), regional stability, and countering Iran’s malign 
activities in the Middle East; 
Whereas, in June 2018, the Government of Saudi Arabia re-
versed the longstanding ban on women driving; 
Whereas Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system requires 
women to attain the permission of their male guardian 
for a vast array of decisions, including health care, em-
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•HRES 129 IH 
ployment, applying for a passport, international travel, 
getting married, or even leaving prison; 
Whereas, since May 2018, the Government of Saudi Arabia 
has arrested prominent women’s rights advocates and im-
posed travel bans on numerous others, many of them 
longtime supporters of ending the ban on women driving 
and abolishing the male guardianship system; 
Whereas none of the jailed activists has been convicted of any 
crimes, and many reportedly have been held in solitary 
confinement for prolonged periods; 
Whereas Aziza al-Yousef, a United States resident who 
helped lead a campaign against the male guardianship 
system in Saudi Arabia, was imprisoned in May 2018; 
Whereas at least 10 women’s rights activists have been sub-
jected to psychological and physical abuse, including sex-
ual violence, beatings, electric shocks, and sleep depriva-
tion; 
Whereas one of the detained activists, Loujain al-Hathloul, 
was reportedly beaten, waterboarded, given electric 
shocks, sexually harassed, and threatened with rape and 
murder; 
Whereas the Department of State has undertaken some diplo-
matic measures to bring concerns about the detention of 
these women’s rights activists to the attention of the 
Government of Saudi Arabia; 
Whereas, on January 14, 2019, Secretary of State Mike 
Pompeo said he had raised the case of the imprisoned ac-
tivists with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; 
Whereas the 2017 Department of State Country Report on 
Human Rights Practices for Saudi Arabia stated that, 
‘‘Women continued to face significant discrimination 
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•HRES 129 IH 
under law and custom, and many remained uninformed 
about their rights’’, and ‘‘women also faced discrimina-
tion in courts, where in most cases the testimony of one 
man equals that of two women’’; 
Whereas serious impediments to women’s freedoms in Saudi 
Arabia remain, including a high prevalence of forced 
marriages, inequality in marriage, divorce, child custody 
and inheritance, laws that prevents women from directly 
transmitting citizenship to their children, and the male 
guardianship system; 
Whereas, on April 21, 2005, Dr. Hatoon al-Fassi, an asso-
ciate professor of history at King Saud University and 
prominent women’s rights activist currently detained by 
Saudi Arabia, testified before Congress that a Saudi 
woman ‘‘is considered legally and socially a minor; she is 
confined to limited areas of educational opportunities; she 
is restricted in employment opportunities; there are no 
legal bodies where women could seek support; and finally, 
she is distanced from any decisionmaking position’’; and 
Whereas the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability 
Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114–328) au-
thorizes the President to deny travel visas and freeze the 
United States-based assets of foreign government officials 
responsible for ‘‘extrajudicial killings, torture, or other 
gross violations of internationally recognized human 
rights’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) reaffirms that promoting human rights and 
democracy has long been a bedrock of United States 
foreign policy, including advancing the rights and 
empowerment of women and girls; 
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•HRES 129 IH 
(2) condemns the Government of Saudi Ara-
bia’s continued detention and alleged abuse of wom-
en’s rights advocates jailed for peacefully exercising 
their human rights; 
(3) urges Government of Saudi Arabia officials 
to immediately and unconditionally release the im-
prisoned women’s rights advocates and other polit-
ical prisoners, and hold accountable those involved in 
perpetrating abuses; 
(4) urges Government of Saudi Arabia officials 
to end the male guardianship system that restricts 
the ability of Saudi women to make decisions about 
their lives; and 
(5) calls on the United States Government to— 
(A) continue publicly and privately de-
manding the release of individuals wrongfully 
detained; 
(B) use the Global Magnitsky Human 
Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title 
XII of Public Law 114–328) to identify and im-
pose travel and financial restrictions on all Gov-
ernment of Saudi Arabia officials responsible 
for gross violations of internationally recognized 
human rights; 
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(C) document relevant details of alleged 
torture and abuse in future annual Country Re-
ports on Human Rights Practices; and 
(D) prioritize human rights, including 
women’s rights, as a key component of the rela-
tionship between the United States and Saudi 
Arabia. 
Æ 
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