The Washington Post reports:

Saudi Arabia released Loujain al-Hathloul, one of the country’s most prominent women’s rights activists, from prison on Wednesday in the clearest sign yet that the kingdom’s leaders were taking steps to assuage President Biden’s complaints about human rights violations.

Hathloul, 31, has been among the most visible faces of an unrelenting Saudi crackdown on human rights advocates, dissidents and civil society activists. Her imprisonment, which lasted 1,001 days, and her allegations that she had been tortured, sparked an international outcry.

Her release from prison comes at a time when Saudi Arabia faces increased skepticism, if not hostility, in Washington after the election of a new president and after the Democrats won control of the Senate.

In recent weeks, the kingdom has taken several steps that could enhance its brand, including a reconciliation with its neighbor Qatar and the release of activists jailed on what human rights groups say were bogus terrorism-related charges. The most prominent of these is Hathloul, who is well known for campaigning for women’s right to drive and for the abolition of Saudi guardianship laws, which require women to obtain a male relative’s consent for major decisions, including education and travel. [Continue reading…]