No Justice for Abused House-Maid

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No Justice for Abused House-Maid

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I just came across this extraordinary story and can't believe that it hasn't been bigger news. The Saudis should really be ashamed of themselves over this.

In Saudi Arabia it would seem that physical abuse of your domestic staff is perfectly acceptable; a couple who kept their maid tied up for a month and severely beat her walked free.

Nour Miyati was treated in a Riyadh hospital in March 2005 for gangrene, malnourishment and other injuries. She said that her employers (who had not paid her for over a year) had kept her tied up in a bathroom with little food for a period of a month and beat her severely as punishment for not finishing her housework completely.

Her injuries are so bad that they required the amputation of her fingers, toes and part of her right foot.

Even more extraordinarily Ms Miyati was arrested when she go out of hospital hospital and charged with making false accusations against the sponsor and his wife. She was imprisoned and sentenced to 79 lashes.

Thankfully the sentence was later overturned and Ms Miyati freed although she has not yet been allowed to go home.

Speaking about the ruling, her lawyer (appointed by the Indonesian Embassy) said, "The judge did not consider the injuries and amputations had been caused by the sponsor and his wife despite the medical report… He did not take into consideration that she had not been paid her salary for 18 months, that she was in good health when she came to work there and that when her toes and fingers turned gangrenous she was not taken to hospital soon enough. "Even her broken teeth, her injured eye, which doesn’t function properly, and hearing loss were not considered proof of abuse."

Her sponsor has never been charged due to a "lack of evidence" although his wife (who admitted abusing Ms Miyati) was initially sentenced to 39 lashes, this has now been overturned by a reviewing judge and all the charges against the couple have been dropped.

"According to the judge, there was not enough evidence," said her lawyer despite the fact that according to the preliminary medical report, "there were strong marks, almost burns, on her ankles and wrists, severe contusion and bleeding in one eye, broken teeth and evidence of being severely beaten on various parts of her body".

On Monday (5/21/08) Ms Miyati was awarded the insultingly small sum SR2,500 (about $670 USD) in compensation for her Ordeal.

M. Sukiarto of the Indonesian Embassy noted earlier this year that a total of 2,000 housemaids have been repatriated to Indonesia so far this year, with many alleging maltreatment, non-payment of wages or physical abuse by their sponsors.

Human Rights Watch said the latest ruling "sends a dangerous message to Saudi employers that they can beat domestic workers with impunity and that victims have little hope of justice".