I often imagine Raif Badawi in Solitary Confinement. In my head, he paces the floor. He tears at his hair. He naps on the thin mat without a blanket or pillow. He refuses to eat what little food he's been given as a peaceful protest. He withers away night by night, day by day, getting thinner and thinner with the changing shapes of the moon.
Today, what does Raif look like? I would imagine that he is almost unrecognizable.
"A new study shows that stress really can give you gray hair. Researchers found that the body's fight-or-flight response plays a key role in turning hair gray."
Today, his dark brown hair could be completely grey, and I imagine dark shadows resting beneath his eyes. At age 38, Raif may look more like the grandfather of his teenaged children. Given all that he's been through, fifty lashes, two assassination attempts, countless stays in Solitary Confinement, and eleven years of separation from his family? If Raif is still able to smile his crooked, brilliant smile then he has achieved something to truly admire.
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Today, Raif is free from imprisonment, able to live outside the walls which confined him for ten years, but he is not truly free. Like thousands of others who dared to speak out in Saudi Arabia, Raif is under an unjust travel ban, preventing him from visiting and receiving visits from his wife and three children.
For the past three years, the Kingdom has worked to "restore its international image" but the hypocrisy behind that effort is truly appalling. Yes, they now allow women to drive. Yes, they've abolished flogging as a method of punishment. But they still do their best to silence activists like Raif.
This is why "#LetThemFly", a new campaign launched by Amnesty International, is so important. I urge you, my dear readers, to share this post with everyone you know. I want to think I speak for everyone when I say that the words of a nine year old Miriyam Badawi represents all children of Saudi activists who are currently facing unjust travel bans.
