Kaine Statement On Arrest Of Women's Rights Activists In Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism, released the following statement concerning Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on women’s rights activists:

“I am deeply concerned by the detention of women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia over the past three months, including the recent arrests of Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sada.  Many of these advocates have been imprisoned without charge and smeared as traitors. There is a common factor among them – all have been outspoken about the long-overdue need for Saudi Arabia to provide full civil and human rights to women and in particular to end its draconian guardianship regulations.  These arrests run counter to the small but important reforms the government of Saudi Arabia has begun to take to modernize and to better integrate women into the workforce and society. These peaceful activists should be released immediately and any limitations on their travel and work lifted. Otherwise these actions and Saudi Arabia’s continued restrictions on women will erode support for our bilateral partnership in Congress.”

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