父權丶女權丶人權丶公民權 / Father's Rights, Daughter-Woman's Rights, Human Rights, & Citizen's Rights

(以下不是官方檔案翻譯,請參閱後列的詳細新聞資料來源)

加拿大國家电臺 CBC / Current Review 節目在四月八日報導一段有關父權丶女權丶人權丶和公民權的事件。一個24歲持印度和加拿大双重國籍 (註一) 的少女墮入愛河,但遭家庭反对,住在沙地阿拉伯的父親遊說女兒倍伴他往「朝聖」,但在女兒到埗後立刻收藏了她的護照丶入境簽証和其它文件。少女往沙國加拿大領事館求助,但官員告訴她在沙地阿拉伯,結了婚的女人是丈夫擁有物,而未婚女子全屬父權管轄之下,再者她父親是用印度護照申請兩人入境,加拿大外交部愛莫難助。該少女在电話採訪中說被父親用父權「軟禁」在沒有女權的沙地阿拉伯已近兩年半,而且曾「恐嚇」她 honour killing 的可能性。加拿大外交部 Parliamentary Secretary 在 Calgary 对採訪記者說,父女不和事件,其中涉及別國法律和風俗,加國很難干預,只能「慫慂」沙國官員幫忙,希望那父親允許女兒出境回加云云。

大家都知道世界上不平等丶不公平的事情實在是不計其數,在很多以男系為主的社会,女性被封建陋俗蹂躪至死亦是日有所聞。沒有錯,不平則鳴,如果我們見死不救,持著『各家自掃門前雪,莫管他人瓦上霜』的態度去做人,在道德和公理方面都說不過去,人禍烈火亦会擴散漫燃。但在决斷插手執行這個拔刀相助的義務之前,做第三者的仍需要衡量利害,考慮有沒有過份侵犯了別個家庭或國家的父權丶女權丶人權丶或公民權。

支持父权的人会說,這是家庭私事,父親有权反对女兒与「不良」少年談婚論嫁。支持女权的人会反駁,24歲女人是成人,她有自主权,不是父親或任何男人擁有物。支持人权的会指出,男女是应該平等,少女是因沙國不平等法侓而被軟禁,她的人权是被侵犯了。而在加拿大支持憲法的人則說,持加籍護照的少女是擁有公民权,加拿大有義務幫助,要求政府官員透過外交關係,保謢她返回加國。

少女在沙地阿拉伯被「軟禁」已有兩年半,該地官員說未得她父親允許,沙國仍要依法例拒絕簽發出境証。在第三者或旁覌者眼中來看,究竟在父權丶女權丶人權丶和公民權之中,那一個是至尊或比較上重要呢?

(註一): 印度大使館官員告訴CBC訪問記者,持有加拿大公民護照的人,其原有的印度護照是自動作廢。

Photo Credit: CBC / Picture of Canadian Citizen Nazia Quazi

References:

* CBC Radio / "The Current" April 8, 2010 broadcast: "Canadian Stuck in Saudi Arabia - Nazia Quazi" On-line broadcast --> http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2010/04/april-08-2010.html

Part 1: Nazia Quazi is a dual Indian and Canadian citizen. But for the last two years, she has been stuck in Saudi Arabia. She says her father is holding her in the country against her will. And now she's worried she won't ever be able to leave. She says it all began when she fell in love with the wrong man. Nazia Quazi was in Riyadh. The CBC did get in touch with Nazia Quazi's father. He refused to speak with us on air and said that this is a purely personal problem. (... please listen to broadcast on-line)

Part 2: We started this segment with a clip of Nazia Quazi. She's a 24-year-old woman with dual Indian and Canadian citizenship. And in our first half-hour, she told us how she has been trapped in Saudi Arabia for the last two years. Under Saudi law, a woman needs her male guardian's permission to leave the country. In Nazia Quazi's case, her male guardian is her father. And he won't give his permission. Nazia Quazi alleges her father has abused her. She has approached the Canadian government for help. To find out what role Ottawa is playing in her case, we reached Deepak Obhrai. He's the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs responsible for consular services. He was in Calgary . (... on-line broadcast)

For some perspective on Nazia Quazi's case, we were joined by Gar Pardy. A long-time diplomat, he worked for the Canadian Foreign Service for nearly four decades. He led the Canadian Consular Service for 11 years. And he was closely involved in the case of William Sampson, the Canadian who was facing execution in Saudi Arabia until he was released seven years ago. Gar Pardy retired from the foreign service in 2003. He was in our Ottawa studio. (... on-line broadcast)

Leaving the country is hardly the only thing that women in Saudi Arabia cannot do without a man's permission. Among other things, women can't drive or vote or get married. And when Wajeha Al-Huwaider tried to change that by taking to the streets with a sign saying "Give Women Their Rights" ... she was arrested. That hasn't stopped her from speaking out. She's the co-founder of the Society for Defending Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia. She was in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. (... on-line broadcast)

We also requested an interview with the Saudi Ambassador to Canada. He was unavailable this morning. (... end of broadcast)

* CBC News Apr 20, 2010 "Ottawa vet to return Saudi medal in protest" (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/04/20/ottawa-saudi-medal-quazi-brousseau.html)

A Gulf War naval veteran was unsuccessful at returning a medal to the Saudi Arabian embassy to protest the treatment of an Ottawa woman. Mark Brousseau showed up at the embassy in Ottawa on Tuesday, but he couldn't get anyone to come to the locked gate to receive his Liberation of Kuwait medal. The award had been given to him by the Saudi government after the Gulf War in 1991. He said he now plans to mail the medal to the embassy. Brousseau was trying to protest Saudi Arabia's failure to allow Nazia Quazi, a 24-year-old Canadian citizen, to leave the country. She has been stranded in Saudi Arabia for the past three years after her father allegedly took away her travel documents to prevent her from returning to Canada. Saudi law prohibits an unmarried woman from leaving the country unless she obtains her male guardian's consent. Nazia Quazi, 24, has been stranded in Saudi Arabia since 2007.

"I was here to try and make a difference in one girl's life," Brousseau said. "I'm not trying to change Saudi Arabia's policy. I'm basically just trying to make them aware that there's other people in the world that don't condone it .… This woman is a Canadian citizen. Let's show her the respect she deserves." Brousseau said she heard Quazi describe her plight on the radio. "It really tugged at my heart strings," he said. He hopes his gesture will motivate others to let the Canadian and Saudi Arabian governments that the situation is "unsatisfactory."

Quazi entered Saudi Arabia in 2007 on a visitor's visa to see her family. She claims her father, an Indian national working in Saudi Arabia, sponsored her for a permanent visa without her knowledge, and took away her Canadian and Indian passports. She alleges that he has refused to let her leave because her family didn't approve of her boyfriend.

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Updated

May 10, 2010 National Post http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=3010760:
"After three years trapped in Saudi Arabia, Nazia Quazi can finally return to Canada ...."

May 10, 2010 CBC News "Free of father's control" http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/ID=1490294685: "Bjorn Singhal, boyfriend of an Ottawa woman who was held in Saudi Arabia for 3 years under the country's male guardianship system, talks with CBC's Carole MacNeil ...."