Abeer Mishkhas, abeermishkhas@arabnews.com
The latest ruling in the Noor Miyati case is a renewal of the profound shock and disappointment we all felt when we heard the story the first time.
Having been tortured by her employer and denied her wages, Noor, the Indonesian maid, not only has to suffer the loss of her fingers and toes due to a lack of medical attention but also the blame at first for allegedly changing her statement — although her employer initially confessed and then retracted the confession. No one criticized the employer for changing the statement; after all, the employer is Saudi and Noor isn’t.
But without falling prey to emotions here, let us first look at the facts. The Miyati case has been going on for three years or more, the woman was taken to a hospital by her employer and was found to be suffering from malnourishment, gangrene and facial injuries. The employer confessed to maltreating Miyati and then changed the statement. The judge sentenced Miyati to prison for changing her statement and then later, she was sentenced to 73 lashes for fabricating the allegations against her employer. That ruling was later reversed.
The case continued, and last week a new ruling was issued; it cleared the employer of any wrongdoing and offered Miyati SR2,500 as compensation (for all practical purposes, SR2,500 is $667.)
As the case drags on, we must ask the reasons for the changed verdict. Why did the court clear the employer of all charges? And if the employer is innocent, why is there any compensation, let alone such a pittance as SR2,500? If the amount of money is compensation to Miyati for the loss of her fingers and toes, may I suggest that the court do some realistic thinking — and compensate Miyati accordingly.
SR2,500 is a slap in the woman’s face and an insult. Dare I ask why we have not heard what the employer is saying? Why don’t we have more details of his and his wife’s explanations? And why is this case taking so much time? In the days when America was great, it was a given that justice delayed was in fact justice denied. Swift justice in such cases as Miyati’s calms people down and makes it clear that that kind of barbarity will not be tolerated in a society that prides itself on its Islamic values.
Arab News published the news of the latest verdict in Miyati’s case and there was an interesting section that once again raises many questions. “Reviewing a previous ruling, the judge also dropped charges against the wife of Miyati’s sponsor, who had admitted abusing the maid, and overturned the 35 lashes she was sentenced to. Meanwhile, the sponsor was found innocent due to a lack of evidence.”
Now the sponsor’s wife was cleared although she had confessed earlier and been sentenced to 35 lashes. If she had confessed, how could she then be cleared later? And if her being sentenced at the time was a good sign, only the small number of lashes seems ridiculous at a time when young men get more for harassing women on the street.
The story goes on to say that the sponsor was found innocent due to a lack of evidence. What sort of evidence is the court looking for? Surely missing fingers and toes are more than evidence of something being wrong! To say nothing of gangrene and facial injuries!
And what about the confession, withdrawn though it may have been? People are entitled to know the facts and the reasons behind the verdict. The information we have been given is simply not enough. What we have, it seems to me, is a severe case of human rights violations, and we need to see justice being done. Otherwise we will be sending the most negative possible signals to the outside world. We are also giving encouragement to those who believe that their employees are their property and can be treated or mistreated according to whatever whim happens to strike them at the moment.
