I am asking you for help and support on behalf of Suzanne Feimster, who is a resident of Jackson, NJ. Her estranged husband, Walid Bensayeh, abducted their two daughters during a recent trip to visit family in his home country of Tunisia. We have exhausted all the measures that were available to us; we contacted the local police, sought help from the US Embassy, retained a Tunisian lawyer, and she has been awarded custody from the Tunisian court. However, even with the court ruling in Suzanne’s favor, the father has disappeared with the children and is determined to keep them in Tunisia. Their whereabouts are unknown and search of his family member’s residences yielded no results. We desperately need help to raise awareness and gain support from the community and world leaders. With your assistance, we can influence the US and Tunisian Government to give this situation the priority it deserves and bring Suzanne’s children home.
International child abduction is a serious human rights violation in desperate need of your attention. All too often these international child abduction cases do not appear to be addressed aggressively because of the State Department’s effort to maintain harmonious, bilateral relations with other countries or to pursue other compelling foreign policy goals. The Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual on the issue of child abduction highlights this point by instructing OCI case workers to remain “neutral” when handling these abduction cases. This inherent conflict of interest cannot be ignored and we need to place a higher priority on the welfare of these children. We understand the necessity of maintaining strong relationships with other nations, but this should not come at the expense of our children.
We, the undersigned, appeal to you for help on behalf of Suzanne Feimster the left-behind parent of Sumyra and Rayhana who have been abducted and remain unlawfully retained in Tunisia.