(Cairo, Feb 21st, 2024) The kidnapping of children by parents in cases of divorce is considered one of the severe and devastating crimes for them. It has become increasingly common in society in recent times. Children are used as tools to force mothers to relinquish their marital rights or to punish them for daring to seek separation or refusing violence. This greatly affects the lives of children and mothers.
In some cases of divorce or family problems, some fathers or their family members resort to kidnapping their children and taking them abroad or hiding them within Egypt as a revenge against their wives. They do so without considering the impact on the children’s well-being, educational future, or psychological stability, and ignoring the rights of the children and mothers.
The crime of kidnapping is considered a major offense in Egyptian law (a felony), according to Article 290 of the Penal Code, which states: “Anyone who kidnaps a person through deceit or coercion shall be punished with a minimum of ten years of imprisonment.”
If the kidnapper is the father or a family member, the law assumes good intentions and the absence of harm to the children. Therefore, the familial relationship is considered a mitigating factor in reducing the punishment. However, state institutions facilitate the recourse to leniency regardless of the extent of harm inflicted on the children.
As a result, kidnapping crimes have become largely unpunished due to the broad interpretation and application of Article 292 of the Penal Code in referring kidnapping cases.
Article 292 of the Penal Code states: “Parents or grandparents who fail to deliver their minor child or their grandchild to the person who has the right to request custody based on a judicial decision regarding custody or guardianship shall be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding five hundred Egyptian pounds. Similarly, parents or grandparents who personally or through others, authorized by a judicial decision, kidnap the child, even if it is without deceit or coercion.”
As a result, the crime is converted from a felony to a misdemeanor, which happened in the case of the kidnapping of the child “Hanin”. Her father formed a criminal gang to kidnap her and her sister and escape to Saudi Arabia. Despite the physical abuse, drugging, binding, stripping, and beating of the two girls, and the successful kidnapping of Hanin and her escape, the prosecution classified the case as a misdemeanor of kidnapping Hanin, completely disregarding the investigation into what happened to the other child, Jana. The forensic examination confirmed the presence of traces of drugs and bruises on her body, as if what happened to her did not matter, overlooking the extent of the psychological and physical harm that the child endured, which will undoubtedly affect her future.
The case of Hanin is a model for hundreds of children kidnapped by their fathers. The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights has dozens of court orders for delivering children to their mothers as custodial parents. However, due to the simplicity of these judgments, which do not provide any deterrence or protection for children, most of these children are either smuggled out of Egypt or remain missing within Egypt, with no legal obligation to enforce the orders for their delivery to their mothers.
Furthermore, the state institutions did not take serious action following the case of Hanin. The Ministry of Immigration did not make any significant efforts to repatriate the abducted child for more than 70 days. Additionally, the Egyptian authorities did not officially engage with the Saudi authorities to facilitate the return of the child.
Hence, the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights has launched an online campaign titled “Child Abduction: A Crime Without Punishment.“
Objectives of the campaign:
- To shed light on the phenomenon of child kidnapping after divorce and highlight its impact on children and their mothers.
- To advocate for the abolition of Article 292 of the Penal Code, which is used in child kidnapping cases.
- To demand the development and application of effective mechanisms to protect children from abduction during the implementation of the visitation order.
- To call for serious measures to protect children in cases of family disputes, including putting the names of children on the lists of those prohibited from traveling without the permission of the custodian in case of divorce, without resorting to the family court to demand a travel ban.
Campaign activities:
- Share testimonies of affected mothers and fathers on social media platforms to raise awareness about child kidnapping and highlight the stories of mothers who have fallen victim to this crime.
- Collect signatures on an online petition calling for the abolition of Article 292 of the Penal Code.
Call for participation:
- The campaign invites all citizens and organizations concerned with women’s and children’s rights to participate by sharing campaign content on social media platforms and signing the online petition to abolish Article 292 of the Penal Code. This is done to safeguard children’s rights, using the hashtag #How_were_your_children_kidnapped?!
