The fathers' right crowd complains bitterly and unrelentlessly about Japan, one of the few countries that still favors mothers. But they are utterly silent about the countries of the mideast, where fathers rights are completely and totally institutionalized. Countries that are typically authoritarian regimes where mothers have virtually no rights. Countries where torturous abuse by violent, controlling custodial fathers is rampant.
My heart goes out to this mom. How horrible that so-called progressive countries in the west buy into and support this total lack of justice. In reality, we see that so-called progressive countries in the west are nearly as invested in fathers' rights as the middle eastern countries.
This is typical of how these things play out. Fathers of children "abducted" by their mothers get government officials and the media behind them. In the U.S., MARK GOLDMAN had his congressman and the State Department aggressively taking up his case. He had the U.S. media paying for a chartered plane trip to Brazil.
But mothers get squat. Just a lot of official hand-wringing and excuses.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Ottawa+mother+fights+children+legally+abducted+husband/7287340/story.html
Ottawa mother fights for children legally ‘abducted’ by husband in Kuwait
BY KAREN CHEN, OTTAWA CITIZEN
SEPTEMBER 23, 2012
OTTAWA — Zinab Alfawzi had prepared the perfect party for her son’s eighth birthday on Aug. 16. She specially ordered a cake featuring her son’s favourite superhero, Spiderman. She strung up streamers and balloons, lit all the candles and gathered friends to sing Happy Birthday.
The only thing missing was her son, Ahmad, who was nearly 10,000 kilometres away in Kuwait with his father. He wasn’t answering the phone.
“Happy Birthday son. I wish next year we could be together. I love you,” she says in Arabic in a cellphone recording of the celebration, the phone in Kuwait ringing and ringing as the candles grow shorter and shorter. A few months ago, the same thing happened except with a Dora the Explorer themed cake for her nine-year-old daughter, Rawan.
Alfawzi hasn’t seen her children for three years. They live in Kuwait with her husband, Salem Khalef Rashid and his new wife. Kuwaiti courts granted him a divorce and awarded him full custody of the children without ever giving Alfawzi a say in the matter.
The divorce is recognized by Canada, even though she never signed her name agreeing to it.
Cases like Alfawzi’s fall between the cracks of international customs and the courts of different countries, said Mona Pare, a civil law professor at the University of Ottawa with a background in human rights and child rights. There simply does not exist any agreement or legal process that could force the father to bring the children back to Canada, even though Alfawzi never had a say in their custody.
“In cases that are related to immigration and family and religion ... there are so many different combinations possible that make it really complex,” said Pare.
Weeks after her son’s birthday, Alfawzi sits in her east end apartment, deflated balloons scattered on the floor and tears in her eyes. Because the divorce and custody orders occurred under Islamic law in Kuwaiti courts, Alfawzi has no legal claim to her children in that country, and unless her Rashid decides to set foot in Canada, Alfawzi has no opportunity to argue for the custody of her children in Canada. She is stuck, without her children and without viable options.
Alfawzi arrived in Ottawa as an Iraqi refugee in 2002 and moved in with Rashid’s family. Their families were acquaintances in Iraq and the Rashids agreed to house her. She and Rashid fell in love and married under Islamic Sharia law and registered to have it recognized in Ontario.
In the following years, she gave birth to her daughter and son, seldom leaving the house and never learning English.
In 2006, her husband announced they would visit Kuwait for a family vacation. When they arrived, he told her they were moving there permanently.
Rashid waited for Alfawzi’s Kuwaiti visa and Canadian permanent resident documents to expire and then kicked her out of the house in 2009, announcing he had divorced her and that he was keeping the kids.
It might sound like a case of international child abduction, but it wasn’t. It is completely legal. With Islamic law, the husband rarely needs the wife’s permission for a divorce and the divorce can be instant.
Shocked and eventually destitute, Alfawzi had no choice but to return to her native Iraq, leaving her children behind. The Canadian consulate could offer no help.
In Canada, those custody orders would never be recognized, Pare said, because Alfawzi had not participated in them. The divorce can be carried over legally, even though she could probably fight them. Custody, however, is a separate issue and undecided in Canada. But, even if she were to pursue justice here where courts would likely award different custody arrangements, she cannot get her children back unless her ex-husband and children, who are Canadian citizens, enter Canada.
That would seem unlikely. They can easily renew their passports at the Canadian consulate in Kuwait and notice of an Ontario custody proceeding may further discourage Rashid from coming back to Canada.
“Now she’s faced with, ‘Well there’s a legal system that can be used, but of course what she cares about are her kids, not just getting a paper from the courts that says ‘you’re right’,” Pare said.
Alfawzi could use the Canadian legal system, but it would not help her be reunited with her children. International agreements like The Hague Convention don’t apply because the case is not considered an abduction and even if it were, Kuwait hasn’t signed the agreement.
Pare said it can be difficult to generalize on trends or numbers for how common cases like Alfawzi’s are because each case is so different.
“Imagine how vulnerable you are as a woman refugee and you don’t speak the language and how somebody can just take advantage of you,” Pare said.
Alfawzi eventually was able to return to Canada. She had to learn English before she could ask for help.
She is now a permanent resident and has a file of spouse harassment with the Ottawa police. She also has a separate fraud case against Rashid, who allegedly forged her signature to take money from her account. Police connected with the Canadian consulate in Kuwait to arrange phone calls between Alfawzi and her children and once visited the children to write a report. The report noted the kids were healthy and treated well, but calls are often difficult, Alfawzi said.
“I say ‘Hi son,’ and he says ‘Hi Zinab,” she said. The children no longer call her ‘mom’ and often ask if she loves them, telling her their father said she hated them. “Of course I love them, I am the mother,” she said.
Alfawzi last spoke with her children on July 5. Alfawzi likes dates, memorizing each day, month and year she interacts with her children and using them as passwords. Alfawzi said she feels physically ill when she thinks about her children, seldom eating when she returns to her small apartment where she is surrounded by their pictures, but completely alone. A physician said her diet has caused stomach and nutrition problems, but Alfawzi remains energetic, running between the kitchen and the couch, making dolmah — stuffed grape seed leaves — for the first time in months while organizing stacks of court documents and police reports.
“I don’t want to stop my life: I grow up, I work, I speak English, I write English, I have a home. When my children come back to me I want them to see I have things for them,” she said.
Alfawzi worked at a restaurant for several months, but was forced to quit when her stomach condition worsened.
She loves Ottawa. She loves the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill where she made a wish after copying others tossing coins.
After consulting with Pare, Alfawzi has been in touch with a human rights attorney in Kuwait who said he would start to work on her case there while she tried her best in Canada. No Ottawa attorneys have taken her case, but legal action is not what she needs. She needs her children back.
“My friends say I am strong woman, I don’t cry when I’m with people,” she said. “But when I go home and listen to (my children’s) call and look at their picture, I cry, cry, cry, cry.”
Showing posts with label Kuwait. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kuwait. Show all posts
Monday, September 24, 2012
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Despite court order, mother still unable to reunite with daughter (Bahrain)
Initially, UNNAMED DAD fled with the child to Bahrain, and then divorced the mother by text message. Now Dad is in jail on drug dealing charges, and Mom still can't get Dad's family to return the child to her despite being granted custody two years ago. It appears that the police--and the Bahrain government in general--are doing nothing to help this mother. We've posted on this case before. Go to the Bahrain tab for additional information.
By the way, the dad has been identified elsewhere as MOHAMMED AL MUTAWA.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=274078
Mum is left heartbroken
By Begena p Pradeep, Posted on » Thursday, March 25, 2010
A BAHRAINI family again ignored a court order instructing it to hand a seven-year-old girl over to her mother yesterday - two years after it ignored the first order.
Lecita Flores waited six hours for the family of her ex-husband - a convicted drug dealer currently behind bars - to bring her daughter Sarah to a police station, but still went home alone and heartbroken.
Her lawyer Mohammed Al Mutawa accused police of not doing their job, saying he was becoming increasingly frustrated at the "absurd" lack of action from the Interior Ministry.
The GDN reported yesterday that a court had once again ruled Ms Flores should be reunited with Sarah after a draining six-year custody battle.
However, the family repeatedly delayed the handover of the child yesterday and even stopped answering phone calls from police.
Ms Flores had been accompanied to the Naim Police Station by Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society workers rights and monitoring director Ateyatala Rowhani and a Philippine Embassy official.
"I was at the station since 9am with the court order and since then the police were in contact (by phone) with Sarah's three aunts and an uncle," a devastated Ms Flores told the GDN.
"They said they were going to collect Sarah from her school and come straight to the station.
"Until Mr Rowhani and the Embassy official came at 11am, Sarah had not reached and police called again.
"They again said they were on their way with Sarah and we kept waiting. Then at 1pm all their phones were switched off. So I and Mr Rowhani went to Sarah's father's house in Mahooz followed by the police.
"We waited outside the house for the police to arrive, but we got a call from the station saying they were able to get Sarah's relatives on the phone again and that they had said they were on their way to the station.
"So we went back to the station and waited, but they never came and their phones were switched off again."
Ms Flores has been instructed to go back to the police station again today.
"The police asked us to come back and said they would try them (the relatives) again.
"I just don't know what else to do. I am trying to get my child the proper way through the judiciary and police, but it seems no-one cares.
"But I cannot give up, can I? I will try until my last to get my child back from these people, who do not even care for the law."
A frustrated Mr Al Mutawa said he could not understand why police were dragging their heels over the case, especially since the court order grants them power to take the child by force if necessary.
Action
"The court order says the police may use force if needed if the other party does not co-operate and I don't know why the police did not even try.
"All of us have waited for so long for the ex-husband's family to hand over the child, but they don't.
"That is why we got the special court order, but why are the police not honouring it? This is just not fair and very bad if you ask me.
"When the relatives, who said they were on their way, did not reach the police station after two hours and later switched off their phones, it was clear they were trying to break the law.
"But the police, who are authorised to take action, are not doing it. What should we understand from this?
"If a man kills another man would the police phone the murderer asking him to present himself at the station, but stop chasing the case if the murderer switches off his phone?
"All this is too absurd."
However, police sources confirmed last night that they would resort to using force to get Sarah for Ms Flores if the ex-husband's family refused to co-operate.
They said they chose to give the family a chance to hand over the child in an amicable way.
"Now since the police have a court order which says if the family refuses to hand over the child even after asking them to do so, we should forcefully get her," they said.
"We also have the authority to arrest anyone who tries to hinder us in performing our duty.
The latest court order also includes instructions for Sarah to undergo counselling if necessary, since she barely knows her own mother anymore.
Ms Flores met Sarah briefly in court in January for the first time in six months, when the child was asked to choose who she preferred to live with.
Sarah told the judge that she did not love her mother anymore and was afraid of her, but Ms Flores claimed she had been brainwashed by the father's family.
Ms Flores was first granted custody of Sarah by a Sharia Court in March 2008 and again by the Execution Court last July. Ms Flores, who has also been awarded custody of Sarah by a Kuwaiti court, began her custody battle in 2004 after her husband fled to Bahrain with their child and divorced her by text message.
By the way, the dad has been identified elsewhere as MOHAMMED AL MUTAWA.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=274078
Mum is left heartbroken
By Begena p Pradeep, Posted on » Thursday, March 25, 2010
A BAHRAINI family again ignored a court order instructing it to hand a seven-year-old girl over to her mother yesterday - two years after it ignored the first order.
Lecita Flores waited six hours for the family of her ex-husband - a convicted drug dealer currently behind bars - to bring her daughter Sarah to a police station, but still went home alone and heartbroken.
Her lawyer Mohammed Al Mutawa accused police of not doing their job, saying he was becoming increasingly frustrated at the "absurd" lack of action from the Interior Ministry.
The GDN reported yesterday that a court had once again ruled Ms Flores should be reunited with Sarah after a draining six-year custody battle.
However, the family repeatedly delayed the handover of the child yesterday and even stopped answering phone calls from police.
Ms Flores had been accompanied to the Naim Police Station by Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society workers rights and monitoring director Ateyatala Rowhani and a Philippine Embassy official.
"I was at the station since 9am with the court order and since then the police were in contact (by phone) with Sarah's three aunts and an uncle," a devastated Ms Flores told the GDN.
"They said they were going to collect Sarah from her school and come straight to the station.
"Until Mr Rowhani and the Embassy official came at 11am, Sarah had not reached and police called again.
"They again said they were on their way with Sarah and we kept waiting. Then at 1pm all their phones were switched off. So I and Mr Rowhani went to Sarah's father's house in Mahooz followed by the police.
"We waited outside the house for the police to arrive, but we got a call from the station saying they were able to get Sarah's relatives on the phone again and that they had said they were on their way to the station.
"So we went back to the station and waited, but they never came and their phones were switched off again."
Ms Flores has been instructed to go back to the police station again today.
"The police asked us to come back and said they would try them (the relatives) again.
"I just don't know what else to do. I am trying to get my child the proper way through the judiciary and police, but it seems no-one cares.
"But I cannot give up, can I? I will try until my last to get my child back from these people, who do not even care for the law."
A frustrated Mr Al Mutawa said he could not understand why police were dragging their heels over the case, especially since the court order grants them power to take the child by force if necessary.
Action
"The court order says the police may use force if needed if the other party does not co-operate and I don't know why the police did not even try.
"All of us have waited for so long for the ex-husband's family to hand over the child, but they don't.
"That is why we got the special court order, but why are the police not honouring it? This is just not fair and very bad if you ask me.
"When the relatives, who said they were on their way, did not reach the police station after two hours and later switched off their phones, it was clear they were trying to break the law.
"But the police, who are authorised to take action, are not doing it. What should we understand from this?
"If a man kills another man would the police phone the murderer asking him to present himself at the station, but stop chasing the case if the murderer switches off his phone?
"All this is too absurd."
However, police sources confirmed last night that they would resort to using force to get Sarah for Ms Flores if the ex-husband's family refused to co-operate.
They said they chose to give the family a chance to hand over the child in an amicable way.
"Now since the police have a court order which says if the family refuses to hand over the child even after asking them to do so, we should forcefully get her," they said.
"We also have the authority to arrest anyone who tries to hinder us in performing our duty.
The latest court order also includes instructions for Sarah to undergo counselling if necessary, since she barely knows her own mother anymore.
Ms Flores met Sarah briefly in court in January for the first time in six months, when the child was asked to choose who she preferred to live with.
Sarah told the judge that she did not love her mother anymore and was afraid of her, but Ms Flores claimed she had been brainwashed by the father's family.
Ms Flores was first granted custody of Sarah by a Sharia Court in March 2008 and again by the Execution Court last July. Ms Flores, who has also been awarded custody of Sarah by a Kuwaiti court, began her custody battle in 2004 after her husband fled to Bahrain with their child and divorced her by text message.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Dad takes off with child; even though he's now in prison, mom still can't get child back from his relatives (Bahrain)
Father MOHAMMED AL MUTAWA took off to Bahrain with his six-year-old daughter last year and never returned her, although the Filipina mother had been granted custody by a Sharia Court in Kuwait. Now Dad is in prison for ten years for some other matter, and the mom still can't get the child back from his relatives. This custody case has been a disaster for this poor mother for years, and the authorities in all the various country involved in this mess have done virtually nothing to help her. The take-no-prisoners tactics of the father and his family are very typical of abusers everywhere.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=256901
Crunch hearing for tug-of-love mum
Posted on » Tuesday, August 04, 2009
A FILIPINA mother who was granted custody of her daughter more than a year ago will plead before a court tomorrow hoping to be reunited with the six-year-old.
A Sharia Court judge granted Lecita Flores, 43, custody of Sarah in March last year, but her father allegedly failed to return her after a visit.
Since then Ms Flores has been in and out of courts in an effort to get her daughter back.
Sarah is thought to be living with her three aunts because, according to Ms Flores, her ex-
husband is now serving a 10-year jail sentence.
A lawyer acting on behalf of Ms Flores, Mohammed Al Mutawa, earlier said he had asked the Execution Court to investigate suggestions that her ex-husband was in prison, but could not confirm the claim.
Ms Flores claims the Execution Court issued an order at the beginning of last month stating that her ex-husband's family should hand Sarah over to her.
However, she alleged that an hour later the same judge issued a court order reversing the decision.
Ms Flores said the judge told her that under a new law, children could not be forced into living with a parent if they refused.
"The judge said all he could do was give a court order to the Social Development Ministry to give me visitation rights," Ms Flores told the GDN.
"They gave me two hours of visiting rights on Friday and Saturday every week.
"But when I saw my daughter, she said: 'You are not my mother'."
Ms Flores now fears that she has been apart from her daughter for so long that Sarah has turned against her.
"I last saw my daughter on July 25 for a few minutes and when we met she said: 'I don't love you'," she said.
On July 30, Ms Flores said she received a call from the Juffair Social Centre, which was overseeing visitations, and told her that she would not be able to see her daughter.
The centre reportedly told Ms Flores that her daughter refused to see her and it was not obliged to force the child.
Since then Ms Flores has been back to the Execution Court to find out how she can be reunited with her daughter.
She is now planning to return to the courts tomorrow and hopes to persuade a different judge to issue another court order demanding that Sarah's aunts return the six-year-old.
"I feel very bad, I miss my daughter," said a tearful Ms Flores yesterday.
"For a long time I didn't see my daughter. Her aunts switched her mobile off, so I can't even talk to her.
"How can the court decide on something and then reverse it an hour later?"
Ms Flores' battle to be reunited with her daughter has been in the Kuwaiti and Bahraini courts since 2004.
She first filed a case against her ex-husband in Kuwait, where the couple met and married.
The Kuwait Sharia Court granted her full custody of Sarah after her ex-husband allegedly fled to Bahrain, telling Ms Flores he had divorced her and was keeping their daughter.
When she followed him to Bahrain in November 2004, she was told she had to file a case here as the Kuwaiti ruling did not apply.
Ms Flores was first granted custody of the child during a Sharia Court hearing in March 2008, but her ex-husband refused to hand the child over - despite four court orders obliging him to do so.
He eventually did and was granted visitation rights, but allegedly failed to return Sarah after taking her out during a visit.
In July last year the Execution Court ordered Sarah be returned to Ms Flores after the girl's father was arrested for breaching his visitation rights.
However, he was freed following a Sharia Court hearing at the Justice Ministry in Manama a week later, despite refusing to reveal his daughter's whereabouts.
The judge said he was powerless to keep the girl's father locked up and told Ms Flores she would have to file another criminal case against him.
Sarah's father and his five sisters then filed a civil case against the Filipina seeking BD12,750 in damages for the emotional stress they claimed she put the family through by initiating legal action against him, but it was thrown out.
Ms Flores' ex-husband broke a court order in 2005 and fled with the child to Qatar, where he has relatives.
But he was persuaded to return several months later after being threatened with a kidnapping charge.
Juffair Social Centre officials were unavailable for comment last night.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=256901
Crunch hearing for tug-of-love mum
Posted on » Tuesday, August 04, 2009
A FILIPINA mother who was granted custody of her daughter more than a year ago will plead before a court tomorrow hoping to be reunited with the six-year-old.
A Sharia Court judge granted Lecita Flores, 43, custody of Sarah in March last year, but her father allegedly failed to return her after a visit.
Since then Ms Flores has been in and out of courts in an effort to get her daughter back.
Sarah is thought to be living with her three aunts because, according to Ms Flores, her ex-
husband is now serving a 10-year jail sentence.
A lawyer acting on behalf of Ms Flores, Mohammed Al Mutawa, earlier said he had asked the Execution Court to investigate suggestions that her ex-husband was in prison, but could not confirm the claim.
Ms Flores claims the Execution Court issued an order at the beginning of last month stating that her ex-husband's family should hand Sarah over to her.
However, she alleged that an hour later the same judge issued a court order reversing the decision.
Ms Flores said the judge told her that under a new law, children could not be forced into living with a parent if they refused.
"The judge said all he could do was give a court order to the Social Development Ministry to give me visitation rights," Ms Flores told the GDN.
"They gave me two hours of visiting rights on Friday and Saturday every week.
"But when I saw my daughter, she said: 'You are not my mother'."
Ms Flores now fears that she has been apart from her daughter for so long that Sarah has turned against her.
"I last saw my daughter on July 25 for a few minutes and when we met she said: 'I don't love you'," she said.
On July 30, Ms Flores said she received a call from the Juffair Social Centre, which was overseeing visitations, and told her that she would not be able to see her daughter.
The centre reportedly told Ms Flores that her daughter refused to see her and it was not obliged to force the child.
Since then Ms Flores has been back to the Execution Court to find out how she can be reunited with her daughter.
She is now planning to return to the courts tomorrow and hopes to persuade a different judge to issue another court order demanding that Sarah's aunts return the six-year-old.
"I feel very bad, I miss my daughter," said a tearful Ms Flores yesterday.
"For a long time I didn't see my daughter. Her aunts switched her mobile off, so I can't even talk to her.
"How can the court decide on something and then reverse it an hour later?"
Ms Flores' battle to be reunited with her daughter has been in the Kuwaiti and Bahraini courts since 2004.
She first filed a case against her ex-husband in Kuwait, where the couple met and married.
The Kuwait Sharia Court granted her full custody of Sarah after her ex-husband allegedly fled to Bahrain, telling Ms Flores he had divorced her and was keeping their daughter.
When she followed him to Bahrain in November 2004, she was told she had to file a case here as the Kuwaiti ruling did not apply.
Ms Flores was first granted custody of the child during a Sharia Court hearing in March 2008, but her ex-husband refused to hand the child over - despite four court orders obliging him to do so.
He eventually did and was granted visitation rights, but allegedly failed to return Sarah after taking her out during a visit.
In July last year the Execution Court ordered Sarah be returned to Ms Flores after the girl's father was arrested for breaching his visitation rights.
However, he was freed following a Sharia Court hearing at the Justice Ministry in Manama a week later, despite refusing to reveal his daughter's whereabouts.
The judge said he was powerless to keep the girl's father locked up and told Ms Flores she would have to file another criminal case against him.
Sarah's father and his five sisters then filed a civil case against the Filipina seeking BD12,750 in damages for the emotional stress they claimed she put the family through by initiating legal action against him, but it was thrown out.
Ms Flores' ex-husband broke a court order in 2005 and fled with the child to Qatar, where he has relatives.
But he was persuaded to return several months later after being threatened with a kidnapping charge.
Juffair Social Centre officials were unavailable for comment last night.
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