I'm just copy/pasting the overview from the petition here:

3 American girls, ages 15, 11, and 6 have been held hostage by their Islamic extremist American father for the past year after going for what was meant to be a 3 week visit to United Arab Emirate (UAE) May 2010. They are kept in a separate apartment as the father has remarried and started a "new" family, and the oldest girl is forced to care for the younger two: cooking and cleaning for them, putting them to bed, helping them with their homework.

According to UAE court order, the girls were to live with their mother and they had voiced that wish to the judge at the time of the custody hearing. The children had been happily living with their mother for the year previous to this in India, where the mother is currently working, and had overcome the abuse and trauma caused by their extremist father. In the words of the oldest daughter, "we felt normal again".

This ended when a scheduled 3 week visitation turned into a nightmare of "Not Without My Daughter". The father refused to return the children. It has now been a full year since they have seen their mother.

For the last year, their mother, also an American citizen, has been pleading with the US State Dept of Children's Affairs and US Embassy of UAE to intervene on their behalf, but they have been of very little help, and have stated there is nothing they can do. The mother has been desperately trying to find representation in UAE, as only that or sending a male relative to act as guardian would have effect there.

But the US could intervene. If this became a big enough issue, they would be forced to take action on the part of Ibti, Moza and ZamZam, the three little girls that are suffering the ultimate loss of a caring and loving parent. Up until this time, they had never been away from their mother for more than a 2 week visitation period. They were devastated when their own father confiscated their passports and told them they would never leave UAE.

Each of these three little girls has had a birthday now in captivity. Their passports are being held in a safe; they are unable to speak to their mother except sporadically. They are being forced into a life of slavery, and it is his plan to marry them off by force if necessary as they reach maturity. This is not the life their mother wants or plans for them. This is not the life they want for themselves. Ibti dreams of being a singer. Moza would like to be a cartoonist. ZamZam would like to be a teacher.

Please support these three little American girls. They deserve to have all the rights of other American citizens and their father's extremist Islamic militant views should not keep them away from their own mother, rightfully and legally their guardian.

Please sign our petition. We will be sending this directly to the US State Department of Children's Affairs. These children need your help!

The mum is a friend of mine, and I feel sort of crappy that the only thing I can do for her is sign the linked petition. How effective are petitions, really? Assuming she gets enough signatures, she still doesn't have much guarantee that something will be done.