http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=61162&d=28&m=3&y=2005
Monday, 28, March, 2005 (17, Safar, 1426)
Human Rights Group Probes Maid Torture Case
Hassan Adawi, Arab News
Nour Miyati
JEDDAH, 28 March 2005 - As the Indonesian government awaits the
application of Saudi justice, the National Society for Human Rights has
intervened on behalf of a guest worker who was brutalized and tortured by her
employer.
Indonesian maid Nour Miyati is currently undergoing intensive medical
treatment to prepare her for multiple amputations of gangrenous fingers and
toes after being tied up, beaten and imprisoned in a bathroom for a month.
Dr. Lubna Al-Ansari, a member of the human rights society, told Arab News
that fellow members, Suraya Abid Sheikh and Noura Al-Jumaih, had visited Miyati
at the hospital and were following up on her case. They submitted a report to
Dr. Rashed Al-Mubarak, the society's president in Riyadh, yesterday morning.
The report included inquiries about the status of the accused - whether he was
imprisoned - and the woman's fate after the surgeries.
Suraya Abid Sheikh said they contacted police investigating the case. The
accused, the sponsor, has denied any connection with what had happened to
Miyati, claiming the maid was bitten by an insect.
"It seems he's naive because forensic specialists have proven that she's
been subjected to torture," said Suraya Abid Sheikh. She confirmed that it is
the woman's right to be compensated for the damages inflicted upon her and that
the sponsor would not escape punishment.
The 25-year-old woman will be returning to her country with permanent
disabilities.
Suraya Abid Sheikh said all observations related to laborers will be
submitted to appropriate government sectors, adding that a large number of
maids contact the society after running away from their sponsors. She added
that this was the first "maid case" the society is dealing with in the Kingdom.
She said the society is not dealing with the case as an individual
(personal) case but that it is an issue that concerns and affects the entire
community. The society's tenets hold that no person, native or foreign, should
be subjected to torture whatsoever.
The human rights society members have requested Miyati's medical file to
follow up the case. The association is ready to provide cooperating lawyers to
pursue the case if the police do not follow through.
M. Sukiarto, labor attache at the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh, told Arab
News that his nation's diplomatic mission is following the case as closely as
Saudi police.
"After the hospital report, she will undergo operations. Then the case
will be looked into," Sukiarto said. "If there is no development in the case,
the embassy will appoint a lawyer to represent the maid so that she may receive
her financial rights and dues as well as her moral rights."
The Indonesian government remains concerned by this horrific incident.
"Over the past years, sponsor problems had lessened; however, during the last
three years, the problems have begun to increase with maids," Sukiarto said.
"This incident is the first of its kind in the Kingdom with a sponsor so
cruelly inflicting punishment."
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