Posted on 06/16/2005 11:49:37 AM PDT by yoe
Homaidan Ali Al-Turki, 36, and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, 35, appear to be a model immigrant couple. They arrived in America in 2000 and now live with their four children in an upscale Denver suburb. Mr. Al-Turki is a graduate student in linguistics at the University of Colorado, specializing in Arabic intonation and focus prosody. He donates money to the Linguistic Society of America and is chief executive of Al-Basheer Publications and Translations, a bookstore specializing in titles about Islam.
Last week, however, the FBI accused the couple of enslaving an Indonesian woman who is in her early 20s. For four years, reads the indictment, they created "a climate of fear and intimidation through rape and other means." The slave woman cooked, cleaned, took care of the children, and performed other tasks for little or no pay, fearing that if she did not obey, "she would suffer serious harm."
The two Saudis face charges of forced labor, aggravated sexual abuse, document servitude, and harboring an alien. If found guilty, they could spend the rest of their lives in prison. The government also wants to seize the couple's Al-Basheer bank account to pay their former slave $92,700 in back wages.
It's shocking, especially for a graduate student and owner of a religious bookstore - but not particularly rare. Here are other examples of enslavement, all involving Saudi royals or diplomats living in America.
In 1982, a Miami judge issued a warrant to search Prince Turki Bin Abdul Aziz's 24th-floor penthouse to determine if he was holding an Egyptian woman, Nadia Lutefi Mustafa, against her will. Mr. Turki and his French bodyguards prevented a search from taking place, then won retroactive diplomatic immunity to forestall any legal unpleasantness.
In 1988, the Saudi defense attaché in Washington, Colonel Abdulrahman S. Al-Banyan, employed a Thai domestic worker, Mariam Roungprach, until she escaped his house by crawling out a window. She later said that she had been imprisoned there, did not get enough food, and was not paid. Interestingly, her work contract specified that she could not leave the house or make telephone calls without her employer's permission.
In 1991, Prince Saad Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud and his wife, Princess Noora, lived on two floors of the Ritz-Carlton in Houston. Two of their servants, Josephine Alicog of the Philippines and Sriyani Marian Fernando of Sri Lanka, filed a lawsuit against the prince, alleging they were held for five months against their will, "by means of unlawful threats, intimidation and physical force." They say they were only partially paid, were denied medical treatment, and suffered mental and physical abuse.
In March 2005, a wife of Saudi Prince Mohamed Bin Turki Alsaud, Hana Al Jader, 39, was arrested at her home near Boston on charges of forced labor, domestic servitude, falsifying records, visa fraud, and harboring aliens. Ms. Al Jader stands accused of forcing two Indonesian women to work for her by making them believe "that if they did not perform such labor, they would suffer serious harm." If convicted, Ms. Al Jader faces up to 140 years in jail and $2.5 million in fines.
There are many other similar instances, for example, the Orlando escapades of Saudi princesses Maha al-Sudairi and Buniah al-Saud. The writer Joel Mowbray tells of twelve female domestics "trapped and abused" in the households of Saudi dignitaries or diplomats.
Why is this problem so acute for affluent Saudis? Four reasons come to mind. Although slavery was abolished in the kingdom in 1962, the practice still flourishes there. Ranking Saudi religious authorities endorse slavery; for example, Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan recently that "Slavery is a part of Islam" and whoever wants it abolished is "an infidel."
The U.S. State Department knows about the forced servitude in Saudi households and laws exist to combat this scourge but, as Mr. Mowbray argues, it "refuses to take measures to combat it." Finally, Saudis know they can get away with nearly any misbehavior. Their embassy provides funds, letters of support, lawyers, retroactive diplomatic immunity, former U.S. ambassadors as troubleshooters, and even aircraft out of the country; it also keeps pesky witnesses away.
Given the American government's lax attitude toward the Saudis, slavery in Denver, Miami, Washington, Houston, Boston, and Orlando hardly comes as a surprise. Only when Washington more robustly represents American interests will Saudi behavior improve.
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Having nothing to offer, the Democrat's most recent decision was, "Shall it be cigars today?"
This account has been banned or suspended.
You either "Import From" or "Export To".
Uhhhhhhhh Someone get your tidy whities in a wad? Perhaps Yul Gibbons gave you a used and smelly pine cone?
My perceptiosn and assumptions are very different from yours. Clearly very different. Thankfully.
Ever hear of paragraphs?
.......You control both houses of congress and the white house.....
I try. I really try. When I run in to a ranting nut case like this, I really try to find a bit of something in their rant that I can say Hey, you know what, you're right about that. The above is the only thing I can find. I also agree with his implication that we (the Reps) aren't being agressive enough about our agenda.
This very new faux-Freeper is right about our lack of aggression and we should fix that. In his honor.
In a country where the "right to die," and assisted suicide are becoming acceptable, this should be no big deal. If she "chooses" slavery, let her be one! /s
Start with Grover Norquist Jr, a major Saudi sychophant and embarassment.
You hit the nail on the head, Lunkster! Saudi Arabia is full of Filipina maids who are treated as slaves by their Saudi masters. I suspect that the Sri Lankan woman is a Christian as well. As I've said before, my loathing of all things Saudi is deep and abiding.
Not to put too fine a point on the particulars, but what, I wonder, is document servitude?
The Sheikh's theology would change in a nanosecond if his allah granted him the religious privilege of being the slave.
In before the ZOT! Bless your heart, honey.
Met a guy like this in my area, he was at the park with his wife, 4 children and his concubine...The 4 children did not look like the wife...
My niece was friends (briefly) with a Saudi couple, the husband of which was a graduate student at Penn State. They brought their Indonesian maid with them from S.A. to serve them in their small State College apartment--my niece said they treated her like dirt and wouldn't allow her to look at or speak to visitors.
Thanks for the reminder*~*
Yul Gibbons?????????????????
what a flash back. didn't he die from a bowel obstruction after ingesting a healthy repast of tree bark?
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