A year ago, I signed a petition on ‘We the People‘, a White House website, requesting President Obama to intercede on behalf of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national currently detained at Carswell prison in Texas, with an 86 year sentence. The petition asks that she be repatriated to Pakistan.
It has, to date, received 110,407 signatures, including my own. Yesterday, I received an email response to the petition, which says, in part:
Thank you for signing this petition concerning Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, who in September 2010 was sentenced to 86 years in prison for attempted murder and other crimes
As the We the People Terms of Participation explain, to “avoid the appearance of improper influence, the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government.”
That’s why we’re declining to comment on the specific request raised in this petition.
