Saudi women to appeal to king to stop forced divorces


dpa German Press Agency
Published: Monday February 5, 2007

Riyadh- A group of Saudi women activists have launched a
petition to be presented to Saudi King Abdullah to put an end to
forced divorces, reports said Monday.
The petition urges the king to allow the case of Fatima, which
caused a public outcry in early January when a Saudi court forcibly
separated the 34-year-old woman from her husband, to be disregarded
and the family be reunited.

According to the petition, Fatima's case is not unique.

Arab News reported that the petition also calls on the king to
intervene in the case of Rania Abou Al-Enin, whose father filed a
lawsuit to divorce her from her husband.

Human rights activist Fawzeya Al-Ouyoni, one of the women behind
the petition, said: "When the divorce is carried out with the
couple's approval then this is just the way it happens all over the
world. But when it is forced on the couple with an order from a high
court, then that is a massive disaster which threatens the safety of
the Saudi family."

Fatima has been seeking refuge in prison along with her one-year-
old son Suleiman since October 2006 to escape the compulsory divorce.
The couple's other child, two-year-old Noha, is in her father's
custody.

Fatima's brothers filed a lawsuit demanding that her three-year
marriage be annulled "on the grounds that [the married couple] were
tribally incompatible."

This is not a prerequisite for legitimate marriage under Sharia
(Islamic law), said her husband Mansour Al-Timani. He also argued
that an appeals court in Riyadh revoked the divorce ruling in a
similar case in the city of Unaizah in Qasim a year ago and
questioned why this case was not taken as a legal precedent.

The couple's lawyer, Abdel Rahman Al-Lahem said that the only way
out was to appeal directly to the king: "He may transfer the case to
the Higher Court Council which has the right to revoke or uphold an
appeals court decision."

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency