Ex-wife of Saudi king pleads for her daughters

“The issue of the four Saudi princesses isn’t a violation of human rights, but a family matter that the media has dragged itself into.” This is the only negative response generated in reaction to the campaign of Alanoud al-Fayez, ex-wife of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz, to have her daughters released after 12 years of house arrest.

Despite the many doubts about the princesses’ story, one thing is for sure: These women do exist and they are suffering from the absence of their mother, who hasn’t been allowed to see them for over 10 years. Meanwhile, Saudi authorities are refusing to comment on the story, making it harder to get to the bottom of it.

Saudi princesses Sahar and Jawaher, daughters of King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz, have been in captivity and deprived of food and water for 25 days. They are trying to survive on only one meal a day to preserve the food left in the house for the longest time possible.

Nothing has changed in the lives of these princesses since their story was reported by UK Channel 4 last March. Over three years have passed and they are still restricted from going out with their guards to buy food and beverages like they used to do in the past ten years.

However, the two princesses are communicating with their followers on Twitter via their accounts: @Art_Moqawama and @Jawaher1776. They are posting photos and tweets stressing that they will keep speaking out against their abuse. Just yesterday, Sahar tweeted “Allah’s victory is approaching.”

Meanwhile, Alanound al-Fayez is supporting her daughters from her London home. She is coordinating with lawyers and human rights activists, protesting and making media appearances. In a phone interview with Al-Akhbar, al-Fayez said she was worried about her daughters who are denied access to food and water, while the food stored in the house was running out. She repeated her story and didn’t seem annoyed by some questions doubting her.

Alanound al-Fayez married King Abdullah in the early 1970s. He divorced her a number of times, with the final divorce being in 1985, “I don’t know why he divorced me, in Saudi Arabia we don’t ask such a question.” However, we may figure out the reason if we take into consideration that the king has about 20 wives, 14 of whom are divorced and 3 deceased.

Al-Fayez stayed in Saudi for a period of time after her divorce, along with her daughters Sahar, Hala, Maha and Jawaher. She made sure they can get as much of an education that a woman in Saudi can and then left to London in 2003. There was no particular reason behind her decision to leave, “There was no last straw between the king and I as you’d say, and it was mostly an accumulation of years of mistreatment. My daughters and I used to bear a lot and the more we bore, the more they abused us. I decided to leave in an attempt to speak out against abuse from abroad.”

Remembering the last chapter of her life in Saudi, she recalled how her small family started to fall apart. Her daughters were subjected to gradual abuse, “Other family members were plotting against them, maybe because of jealousy or envy.. . I don’t know.” Maha and Hala were the first affected, mainly after they fell ill. The mother noticed they were ill and suspected that someone was slipping them drugs to make their condition worse. She asked to oversee their treatment but her request was denied.

Today, Hala and Maha are living in a separate place while Sahar and Jawaher are staying at the villa from which they post their photos online. Al-Fayez only speaks to Hala and Maha once a month “because they are tired most of the time,” while she is in touch with Sahar and Jawaher daily.

But how come the king allows them to have Internet access? “I don’t know why they haven’t stopped them yet, maybe it’s a smart move, they want people to doubt us,” she said. “But why would I fabricate such a story? Where am I heading with this? What will I or my daughters gain from standing against such powerful people?” she asked.

Al-Fayez has been in a conflict with the king since she left Saudi Arabia and has fought her battle alone because her father was dead and she didn’t get any help from her brothers. Back then she appointed lawyers who failed to follow up on her case. “They bought them,” she said in her first interview with the Voice of Russia last November.

Le Figaro (in cooperation with AFP) quoted attorney Lord Antony Loster who handled the case eight years ago, saying that he couldn’t go forward with it because the king refused to cooperate.

Later, former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas took over the case but hasn’t reached a solution yet. He highlighted the issue in open letter to the UN Human Rights Council along lawyer Philippe Coupe published in Le Monde on November 28, 2013.

The letter revealed the story of the four captive princesses. It described their living conditions, how they were prevented from getting an education, marriage and travel, while two of them were being drugged.

But why would a father subject his own daughters to this kind of treatment? Al-Fayez couldn’t explain it. However, in one of her previous interviews she said that the king was trying to get back at her, “Why is he seeking revenge from you and your daughters? Isn’t he the one who decided to divorce you?” “I don’t know, you are asking me questions that I can’t answer, he is acting like this because he is an unjust and oppressive person,” she answered.

Al-Fayez said that the king wants her back in Saudi Arabia “so we can close this case,” but she is refusing because she doesn’t trust him.

Asked if she was worried they might come after her in London? She said “No, I am not, they can’t do anything here,” stressing that she only wants to see her daughters and to help them build a better future like all other girls because “they are slowly dying.”

The media as a last resort?

The media is Alanoud al-Faeyz’s last resort to help her daughters. She told Al-Akhbar that refraining from talking to the media since she first left Saudi Arabia allowed the ruling family to go very far. She said that the king met with his daughters two years ago and informed them that they will keep receiving this treatment until they convince their mother to come back to the country. Therefore, she had to do something.

She started with the open letter in Le Monde, then an interview with the Voice of Russia to discuss how her daughters were being “buried alive.” The subject received wider media coverage with US President’s Barak Obama visit to Saudi Arabia last March. Channel 4 reporter Fatima Manji interviewed al-Faez and then recorded an online interview with princesses Sahar and Jawhaer, which today is the channel’s most circulated video.

Western media highlighted the princesses’ story which was reported in newspaper articles and TV shows, however, they lacked a representative on the Saudi side.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.