PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
Tell the State Department to Condemn the Detention of Women Drivers
  1. Signatures
    4,513 out of 5,000
    Petitioning
    1. Director, Office of Press Relations (+ 27 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Director, Office of Press Relations (Mark Toner)
      • Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (Michael Hoffman Posner)
      • Near East Specialist and Senior Policy Advisor, State Department GWI Office (Diane E. Kelly)
      • Public Affairs Advisor, State Department GWI Office (Nicole R Conn)
      • Chief of Staff, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Cheryl Mills)
      • Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues (Melanne Verveer)
      • Personal Assistant, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Claire Coleman)
      • Deputy Secretary of State (James Braidy Steinberg)
      • Senior Advisor on Development, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Steve Radelet)
      • Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs (Jeffrey T Feltman)
      • White House Liason, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Steven Diminuco)
      • Senior Advisor, State Department Office of Global Women's Issues (Steven Steiner)
      • Deputy Director, State Department Office of Human Rights (Cari Enav)
      • Director, Office of Policy Planning (Anne-Marie Slaughter)
      • Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs (Philippe I. Reines)
      • Press Officer, Department of State (Andrew J Laine)
      • International Officer, State Department Office of Human Rights (Dara Duncan-Lira)
      • Country Officer, State Department Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs (Josh Harris)
      • Deputy Director, Office of Policy Planning (Edward Lacey)
      • Womens Affairs Officer, State Department Office of Human Rights (Linda Lum)
      • Chief of Staff, Office of Policy Planning (Janey Wright)
      • Director, State Department Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs (Andrew Steinfeld)
      • Deputy Director, Office of Press Relations (Julie Reside)
      • Executive Assistant, State Department Office of Global Women's Issues (Valerie Patricia Keitt)
      • Chief Speechwriter and Policy Advisor, Office of Policy Planning (Josh Daniel)
      • Deputy Director, State Department Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs (Linda Specht)
      • Principal Deputy Director, Office of Policy Planning (Derek Chollet)
      • Deputy Assistant Secretary, State Department (Janet Ann Sanderson)
  2. Created By
    Support Saudi Women
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

It seems the United States has no problem with Saudi Arabian women being arrested for driving a car.

Come again?

On Thursday, June 30, State Department spokesperson Mark C. Toner was grilled about the United States’ position on the arrest and detention of a number of Saudi women for driving during a State Department briefing.

But get this: the United States' representative to the outside world refused to condemn the arrests of women for simply driving a car!  

When a reporter asked “What do you make of the fact that the Saudi religious police are running around, plucking women out of cars?” the State Department spokesperson replied by framing the issue as “an internal matter for Saudi Arabia.”

When a reporter asked “Do you think that it’s a good thing that the Saudi religious police are taking women out of cars when they’re driving and arresting them?” the State Department spokesperson replied “This is an issue that Saudi Arabians are grappling with.”
 
Finally, when a reporter asked “You won’t come out and say that it’s a bad thing for the religious police to be detaining women who are driving?” the spokesperson replied. “I’ve given you the details as I know them.”

Does it make sense to anyone that the representatives of the United States to the outside world have nothing to say when asked if arresting women for driving is wrong?

This is an embarrassment to our country and an offense to women. It needs to be corrected immediately.

 

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Mark Toner: Condemn the Detention of Women Drivers

Greetings,

I write to express my deep concern over statements made by State Department spokesperson Mark C. Toner at a State Department briefing on Thursday, June 30, in which Mr Toner refused to condemn the detention of Saudi women for simply driving a car.

When a reporter asked “What do you make of the fact that the Saudi religious police are running around, plucking women out of cars?” the State Department spokesperson replied by framing the issue as “an internal matter for Saudi Arabia.”

When a reporter asked “Do you think that it’s a good thing that the Saudi religious police are taking women out of cars when they’re driving and arresting them?” the State Department spokesperson replied “This is an issue that Saudi Arabians are grappling with.”

Finally, when a reporter asked “You won’t come out and say that it’s a bad thing for the religious police to be detaining women who are driving?” the spokesperson replied. “I’ve given you the details as I know them.”

As an American, it makes very little sense to me that the representatives of the United States to the outside world have nothing to say when asked if arresting women for driving is wrong.

This is an embarrassment to our country and an offense to women. It needs to be corrected immediately.

[Your name]

Press Inquiries