RIYADH – They arrive in the early morning, with heavy hearts from many years of incessant pain and hardship. Over time the female compatriots become acquainted with each other. The women find much-needed solace by sharing their harrowing experiences with each other. The deathly routine is broken by arrival of the female Implementation Office staff who call their names as part of the roll call.

These are divorcees with lawful rulings from judicial authorities. However their plight is due to the inability of the authorities to implement the will of the courts.

Al-Riyadh newspaper visited the female section of Riyadh Police’s Implementation Office to see how they follow through on the rulings of family courts. They oversee all matters pertaining to marriage, divorce, repudiation, kinship, alimony, housing rent, nanny wages and visitation rights. The newspaper’s findings are a shocking revelation of the Implementation Office’s inability to protect and preserve the rights of the women under their watch.

A.N., one of the women there, has been deprived of seeing her two sons for more than a year. Even though she was assured that her children will remain with her as long as she did not marry, her husband has flouted all the court rulings against him. “I could not imagine even for a moment that he would hide them from me. Life is pointless without them. With pale eyes and a sad voice she spoke of her run-around in the courts. My ex-husband believes that he is not obliged to attend any legal proceedings, and keeps moving from one city to another every few months.”

Awaatif, another woman, disclosed that she turned to court for divorce from her abusive husband. She could not bear the insults, the accusations and unjustified doubts any longer. A year later Awaatif confided her sad story to her neighbour Fawzia.

Fawzia was greatly moved by the story and suggested that she marry her brother. Upon careful consideration, she decided to accept the proposal, especially since the groom was described as well-off and polite.

After after three months, her husband announced they would have to move to Jeddah for good. The thought of being far from her family concerned her greatly but she decided to move in deference to her husband’s desire to further his career. Her dreams of a better future turned sour soon after the move. Her husband started mixing with bad friends and came home at dawn in a miserable state. The situation degenerated progressively leaving her with no option but leave to protect her own sanity. She is now in the midst of another round of court hearings as her divorce proceedings are still under process with the female staff of the Implementation Office.

N.R. said her life with her husband turned upside down after 15 years of marriage. Having been expelled from the family home with her two daughters in the middle of the night without her belongings, she lives off social security and does not have sufficient resources to support her daughters properly. Her misery was compounded when her husband informed her that he had divorced her and remarried. She has resorted to the courts for maintenance and alimony but he refuses to pay.

The story of Norah Ali is a tragedy in itself. When she was six years old, she was rescued by neighbors from the brutality of her father and his wife. She spent all her life in the care of Social Welfare Housing.

When she grew up, she married and gave birth to five children. Her ex-husband constantly beat her. After 18 long years of suffering she decided to separate from him and asked for repudiation.

However, she was shocked with the judge’s demand that she return her dowry even though he had already taken her life savings of SR70,000.

Sawsan explained that she was divorced eight months ago, and is still visiting the courts regularly for the implementation of the rulings in her favour. The system requires her personal appearance at her own expense.

The Implementation Office hands her a piece of paper to summon her opponent, and she takes it to the police station where there is no female section. After waiting a week, she has to return to the ruling Implementation Office again to confirm the lack of her husband’s appearance. She is then given another piece of paper to take to the police station again, and repeat the whole process. This cycle must be repeated three consecutive times by law. In the event that she misses an appointment she has to start all over again.

“Now the case is back with the court for review. However, when I attended the court the judge insisted my ex-husband be forcibly brought before him. When I asked a court employee how much time it takes to implement this, he said, ‘The case will be delayed until the messenger boy returns from his vacation in a fortnight to take the case file from the upper floor to the ground floor in the same building’.”

She volunteered to deliver the file herself to speed up the process. However, she is still waiting for her case to be resolved.

The tragic experience of all these women is the same. They are in dire need of financial and psychological support. In the meantime, they are held hostage to their situation whilst they attend multiple court hearings. The female staff of the ruling implementation office are cooperative, but they do not have any authority. — SG