Support Saudi Women, a U.S.-based group that sympathizes with a movement pushing to overturn a ban on female drivers in Saudi Arabia, has launched a Change.org petition calling on the State Department to condemn the arrests. The petition was launched after Mark C. Toner, a department spokesperson, refused an opportunity to criticize the detentions, saying that they were an internal Saudi issue.
During the State Department’s Thursday press briefing, a reporter asked if the department could confirm that women had been arrested for driving around the coastal city of Jeddah on Tuesday.
“These women were detained but not ever charged, and later released,” ; Toner said. “This is something that was done by the Saudi religious police and not the regular or national police force.”
While reiterating that it was an internal matter for Saudi Arabia, Toner said the department expressed solidarity with the driving campaign, adding that “the Secretary's [Hillary Clinton] expressed solidarity with these women who are standing up for their rights.”
He was later asked if he thought it was a good thing that Saudi religious police were taking women out of their cars while they were driving and arresting them.
“It’s important to note that this is not about the U.S. or the West imposing their values on Saudi Arabia,” Toner responded. “This is about Saudi Arabian women … standing up for their rights, asking to be heard.”
“This isn’t necessarily going to be an easy process,” he added. “We’re supportive of this. But this is essenti ally a Saudi...
