What would you do if you were kept prisoner in your own house, with your own family being your captors?
What would you do if your own family turned against you, beating and torturing you without compunction?
Not much? Well. There won’t be much of a choice, would there? That’s why Hanan Howail needs all the help she can get.
Detained illegally in her own house in Saudi Arabia for three years,
Hanan Howail is a 28-year-old Tanzanian citizen. She has been kept from
returning to her country by her abusive father and family in Saudi
Arabia. According to her fiancé, Marcel Wright, her father has used the
guardianship system in Saudi Arabia to illegally hold Hanan Howail
prisoner inside his home in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It appears, from a
letter that Hanan has written to her fiancé, that she has been
physically beaten and tortured when she sought help from the government
of Tanzania. Efforts have been on in a bid to seek out the Tanzanian
Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation, though they haven’t responded with action
necessary for such a situation. Hanan’s enslavement and physical abuse
have been dismissed as a domestic dispute, and not the Human Rights
abuse case that it is. From being punched, kicked, strangled, slapped
and beaten with blunt objects, Hanan has been beaten unconscious,
suffered brain damage, and currently suffers from blurred vision in her
left eye.
Hanan’s fiancé has knocked on all doors possible, seeking the help of
the Saudi Police in Riyadh, U.S. State Department, U.S. Embassy in Saudi
Arabia, FBI, U.S. Congress, United Nation High Commission of Refugees,
The Tanzanian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and International Relations - Tanzania, The office of The President of
Tanzania, International Lawyers, International private investigators,
CNN, and numerous Human Rights NGO’s.
Hanan’s friend, April Jackson, is now a strong fighter for Hanan’s cause
alongside Marcel. “I know Hanan from college in Dover, Delaware. She
use to live in Dover, Delaware and take classes at Delaware State
University. We started as class mates and kept in touch. I have known
her since 2007. Hanan's life is in danger. Her fiancé Marcel has sent me
information of what's going on with Hanan which was so horrifying to
read and look at.” A petition that Marcel started for Hanan’s freedom
seeks to reach the President of the United Republic of Tanzania Office
of the President: H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, the Tanzanian Ambassador
to the United States: H.E. Mrs. Mwanaidi Sinare Maajar, the United
Republic of Tanzania Vice-President's Office: H.E Dr. Mohamed Gharib
Bilal, the United Republic of Tanzania Vice-President's Office: Hon.
Charles Muhangwa "Mawematatu" Kitwanga, the Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation Office headed by Mahadhi Juma Maalim, the
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs: Hon. Celina Ompeshi
Kombani, the Permanent Secretary to the office of Vice President, the
President of Human Rights Commission: Dr. Bandar muhammad 'Abdullah
al-‘Iiban and other government and non-government officials who are
willing to help Hanan.
What can you do to help Hanan?
• Sign a petition for her here: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-830531
• Show your support and share the petition online.
• Dedicate a tweet a day with the Hashtag “#FreeHananHowail” and a link to the petition.
