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Congress Examines American Children of Divorce in Saudi Arabia

Aired October 02, 2002 - 14:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And a congressional committee is also concerned about Saudi Arabia and what some have called the kidnapping of American citizens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOANNA TONETTI, MOTHER OF KIDNAPPED CHILD: Now, my arms are empty. No little boy counts my kisses or my love. No more Girl Scout meetings, no more tennis matches or softball games. Only memories of three lives lost behind a Saudi sword. The absence of my three children has left an incredible void in my heart and in my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Joining us to explain, CNN's Kathleen Koch.

Hi, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Let me tell you, as a mother of two, I found it very difficult to sit and listen to this hearing. These stories are truly heartbreaking, and most of them begin when an American woman divorces her Saudi husband here in the United States and wins sole custody of their children. And that, apparently, is when the wives say the husbands then take the children to Saudi Arabia, where they seem to be even beyond the U.S. Government's reach.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH (voice-over): They are American children kidnapped, say their families, by their Saudi fathers and held there against their will, some mothers also allegedly unable to leave. The State Department has documented 46 cases involving nearly 100 Americans.

Authorities say Pat Roush's daughters were kidnapped in 1986 from Chicago by her ex-husband and taken to Saudi Arabia.

PAT ROUSH, MOTHER: They never had a mom after they were kidnapped. And they have never been able to know their American family and to walk and talk in freedom.

KOCH: Dria Davis, on the right, says she escaped her Saudi father after being held there for two years.

DRIA DAVIS, ESCAPED SAUDI ARABIA: This man I knew as my father began beating me every time I begged to go home or begged to speak to my mother.

KOCH: Congressman Dan Burton has championed their cause. Still, a trip this summer to persuade the Saudi government to arrange the Americans' release failed.

REP. DAN BURTON (R), INDIANA: And you're talking about kids who have been kept for 16 years, women who have had them and their kids thrown out of our embassy over there because we have to be concerned about their law? That's ridiculous.

KOCH: The Saudi government denies any Americans are being held against their will and that, even if they were, the government couldn't dictate to its private citizens where to go.

Saudi law states that fathers or husbands decide whether or not a woman or child can travel, especially out of the country. Officials say that's why, despite the president himself raising the issue in meetings with the Saudi prince, there's been little progress.

RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: It's been a very difficult problem in Saudi Arabia, which has a completely different set of laws on this subject.

KOCH: Others, though, blame past U.S. inaction on self-interest.

DOUG BANDOW, CATO INSTITUTE: Well, it's obvious that underlying the Saudi-U.S. relationship is a three-letter word. It's oil. That's what really matters.

KOCH: Still, a former ambassador says more can be done.

RAYMOND MABUS, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SAUDI ARABIA: If a family member kidnaps a child and brings them to Saudi Arabia, the rest of that family is going to forfeit their right to travel to our country, that we're not going to grant them a visa to come here until those children are returned.

KOCH: Tougher measures to reunite families before they become strangers.

ROUSH: I have tremendous hope. I'm a devout Catholic. And I know that the Lord will bring my daughters home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH: Lawmakers at today's hearing also suggested holding up visas for Saudi students who want to study in the United States until the Saudi government cooperates. And lawmakers also want the Saudi government to drop its requirement that U.S. citizens surrender their passports when they enter the country and then get an exit visa from the government in order to leave. Congress believes knows those are both restrictions that can keep Americans prisoner there literally against their will -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: That brings up an interesting point because a number of segments have been done on this, Kathleen, and we've seen interviews with these kids that are now grown up and they have families in Saudi Arabia, and they're saying to the cameras, We don't want to leave. But how do we know they're not being pressured to say that?

KOCH: I think you're referring to the case of Pat Roush's two daughters, who were recently interviewed on another network. But the key here is that the Saudi families never let these young women be interviewed alone. And the young women in my story there, Dria Davis, after she escaped in 1999, she said, Yes, I did such an interview with U.S. officials there and told them, yes, I wanted to stay in Saudi Arabia. But she said, My father threatened me. He said he would kill me, he said he would beat me if I didn't say that. So really, unless they're interviewed alone, there's no way to tell whether or not they're being coerced or threatened.

PHILLIPS: Let's hope that policy can get changed.

Kathleen Koch, thank you so much.

KOCH: You bet.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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Aired October 2, 2002 - 14:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And a congressional committee is also concerned about Saudi Arabia and what some have called the kidnapping of American citizens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOANNA TONETTI, MOTHER OF KIDNAPPED CHILD: Now, my arms are empty. No little boy counts my kisses or my love. No more Girl Scout meetings, no more tennis matches or softball games. Only memories of three lives lost behind a Saudi sword. The absence of my three children has left an incredible void in my heart and in my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Joining us to explain, CNN's Kathleen Koch.

Hi, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Let me tell you, as a mother of two, I found it very difficult to sit and listen to this hearing. These stories are truly heartbreaking, and most of them begin when an American woman divorces her Saudi husband here in the United States and wins sole custody of their children. And that, apparently, is when the wives say the husbands then take the children to Saudi Arabia, where they seem to be even beyond the U.S. Government's reach.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH (voice-over): They are American children kidnapped, say their families, by their Saudi fathers and held there against their will, some mothers also allegedly unable to leave. The State Department has documented 46 cases involving nearly 100 Americans.

Authorities say Pat Roush's daughters were kidnapped in 1986 from Chicago by her ex-husband and taken to Saudi Arabia.

PAT ROUSH, MOTHER: They never had a mom after they were kidnapped. And they have never been able to know their American family and to walk and talk in freedom.

KOCH: Dria Davis, on the right, says she escaped her Saudi father after being held there for two years.

DRIA DAVIS, ESCAPED SAUDI ARABIA: This man I knew as my father began beating me every time I begged to go home or begged to speak to my mother.

KOCH: Congressman Dan Burton has championed their cause. Still, a trip this summer to persuade the Saudi government to arrange the Americans' release failed.

REP. DAN BURTON (R), INDIANA: And you're talking about kids who have been kept for 16 years, women who have had them and their kids thrown out of our embassy over there because we have to be concerned about their law? That's ridiculous.

KOCH: The Saudi government denies any Americans are being held against their will and that, even if they were, the government couldn't dictate to its private citizens where to go.

Saudi law states that fathers or husbands decide whether or not a woman or child can travel, especially out of the country. Officials say that's why, despite the president himself raising the issue in meetings with the Saudi prince, there's been little progress.

RICHARD BOUCHER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: It's been a very difficult problem in Saudi Arabia, which has a completely different set of laws on this subject.

KOCH: Others, though, blame past U.S. inaction on self-interest.

DOUG BANDOW, CATO INSTITUTE: Well, it's obvious that underlying the Saudi-U.S. relationship is a three-letter word. It's oil. That's what really matters.

KOCH: Still, a former ambassador says more can be done.

RAYMOND MABUS, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SAUDI ARABIA: If a family member kidnaps a child and brings them to Saudi Arabia, the rest of that family is going to forfeit their right to travel to our country, that we're not going to grant them a visa to come here until those children are returned.

KOCH: Tougher measures to reunite families before they become strangers.

ROUSH: I have tremendous hope. I'm a devout Catholic. And I know that the Lord will bring my daughters home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH: Lawmakers at today's hearing also suggested holding up visas for Saudi students who want to study in the United States until the Saudi government cooperates. And lawmakers also want the Saudi government to drop its requirement that U.S. citizens surrender their passports when they enter the country and then get an exit visa from the government in order to leave. Congress believes knows those are both restrictions that can keep Americans prisoner there literally against their will -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: That brings up an interesting point because a number of segments have been done on this, Kathleen, and we've seen interviews with these kids that are now grown up and they have families in Saudi Arabia, and they're saying to the cameras, We don't want to leave. But how do we know they're not being pressured to say that?

KOCH: I think you're referring to the case of Pat Roush's two daughters, who were recently interviewed on another network. But the key here is that the Saudi families never let these young women be interviewed alone. And the young women in my story there, Dria Davis, after she escaped in 1999, she said, Yes, I did such an interview with U.S. officials there and told them, yes, I wanted to stay in Saudi Arabia. But she said, My father threatened me. He said he would kill me, he said he would beat me if I didn't say that. So really, unless they're interviewed alone, there's no way to tell whether or not they're being coerced or threatened.

PHILLIPS: Let's hope that policy can get changed.

Kathleen Koch, thank you so much.

KOCH: You bet.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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