So Just How Long Do We Have to Continue Our Charade with Saudi Arabia?

Saudi 'justice' has a strange and exotic flavor. It must be an acquired taste.

A month ago, an Indonesian maid was left at the hospital by her employer. She had been beaten, tied up for long periods of time in the bathroom, not permitted to sleep in the house, and not given sufficient food.

A 25-year-old maid who came to Saudi Arabia as a guest worker will leave behind most of her fingers and toes and part of her right foot when she is repatriated to Indonesia. In addition to the amputations, necessitated by gangrene, several teeth had been knocked out and she is in danger of losing an eye as a result of severe beatings.

The doctor who treated her on arrival described her condition as "critical." Her employer was charged and arrested, his wife was interrogated and released.

Her case was so outrageously criminal that even Crown Prince Abdullah intervened, sending his Minister of Health to investigate, and having her transferred to King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center. Both the Prince and the Minister declared the situation "disgusting."

That was then. This is now. Here is the latest report:

All the principals in the case of an Indonesian guest worker who was believed to have been tortured have been charged in the case. Indonesian maid Nour Miyati who accused her Saudi employers of torture has been charged with making false allegations; the sponsor and his wife face charges of neglect, with the husband also charged with residence permit violations and the wife charged with assaulting the maid. [emphasis added]

Brutalization is not just a family affair in Saudi Arabia. The state is a willing and eager partner. And it can twist arms with a mighty force, especially arms with hands whose fingers are missing. On the one hand, there is the medical committee's report:

A medical committee set up by Riyadh Governor from a number of specialists from the Ministry of Health concluded that the maid suffered wounds and bruises to her body, "suggesting she has been the victim of violence and that the gangrene could not have been caused as a direct result of beating and that it probably was caused by an inherent disease suffered by the patient."

On the other hand is the reality. Here is the new story:

The maid denied she had been beaten by her sponsor and said the injuries to her hands and feet were because she felt pain and sickness and that the itching in her hands and feet was because of her excessive use of chemical detergents. She also said she did not ask her sponsor to take her to hospital until after her condition worsened. She also denied she has been tortured or tied or denied food," the statement said.

And here is the outcome of this charade:

	As a result, the couple has been charged with neglect. The employer also was charged with violating the rules governing issuing residence permits for domestic helpers, and his wife was charged with assaulting the maid.
	Miyati, for her part, was charged with making false allegations that misled the inquiry and led to the detention of the sponsor throughout the investigation before he was released on bail.

There has been no trial date set, though all three will appear in court as defendants.

Whatever.




Here’s what you’ll look like if you use those dangerous chemical detergents. Maybe she could sue Procter and Gamble?