Early in his leadership tenure, bin Salman sought to cultivate an image of Saudi Arabia as implementing various reforms to make the country more repressive. Human rights groups say that repression has worsened under his tenure.[1][2] According to human rights groups, arrests of human rights activists have risen under bin Salman.[121] He has reportedly created the Tiger Squad, a team of assassins that act as a death squad, to target Saudi critics inside and outside Saudi Arabia.[122][123] Among those detained in a wave of arrests in September 2017 were Abdulaziz al-Shubaily, a founding member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA); Mustafa al-Hassan, an academic and novelist; and Essam al-Zamel, an entrepreneur.[124][125] Ahead of the lifting of the ban on women driving in June 2018, 17 women's rights activists were arrested, including the women to drive and anti-male guardianship campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul.[126][127] Eight of the 17 were subsequently released.[128] Hatoon al-Fassi, an associate professor of women's history at King Saud University,[129] was arrested shortly afterwards.[130][131]