Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 03/10/2008 1:25 PM | National
A lack of knowledge about Saudi Arabia's legal system and culture is partly to blame for the imprisonment of many Indonesians working in the Islamic state, a non-governmental organization says.
Providing better education and information on this matter would help prevent Indonesian migrant workers from committing criminal offenses in Saudi Arabia, Women's Solidarity for Human Rights say.
In many cases, female Indonesians working in Saudi Arabia have been punished for crimes committed without realizing what they were doing was against the law. The case of an Indonesian maid, Jul, was cited by the organization as an example.
Jul was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and to be flogged 2,000 times, on charges of using magic on her employer, because she had an habit of collecting her hair and had made jamu (traditional herbal medicine) for her sick employer.
"Collecting hair was a tradition in her village, but this is regarded differently in Saudi Arabia," organization head Salma Safitri Rahayaan told The Jakarta Post after a discussion here last week.
"Jul's effort to help her sick employer by serving her a herbal drink was also misinterpreted," Salma said. The drink Jul served was in fact a mixture of tea, brown sugar and ginger, according to a report from the organization made available at the discussion.
A similar case also happened to an unnamed worker who was also accused of using magic after she was found keeping a picture of her sick employer.
"She actually wanted to send the photograph to her parents in Indonesia to ask them to take it to a kyai (Islamic cleric) for a blessing prayer so her employer would get better soon," Salma said.
Salma said cultural differences were not the only issue Indonesian migrant workers needed to beware of, but also the Saudi legal system.
Salma said as Saudi Arabia does not recognize the concept of rape, victims would be accused of committing sexual adultery or zina with their rapists.
"This can cause an extra burden for victims as they will also be sentenced to be flogged or imprisoned after they are raped," she said.
One rape victim was Wen, an Indonesian maid who was jailed for one year and flogged 100 strokes after she was raped by her employer--who got only three years in prison.
Wen became pregnant after the incident and ironically was jailed during her pregnancy.
"I didn't understand anything they (judges) said during court sessions, and my lawyer didn't defend me. He only translated the court verdict for me and asked whether I would accept or refuse it and request an appeal," 33-year-old Wen told the Post.
"I decided to accept the verdict because I wanted everything to be finished, and others had said they got heavier penalties after appealing," she added.
Wen said she was whipped at least 50 times a week, six months after she gave birth to her baby.
The rights group said there were at least 500 Indonesian female workers sent to Saudi's Al-Malash prison each month.
It demanded that the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, the Home Ministry and the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, take joint measures to prevent Indonesian maids from being imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.
"The most effective way is to send trainers to villages to educate villagers intending to work in Saudi Arabia about its culture and legal system," Salma said.
Trainers could be former migrant workers, she added.
"They know better than others, so they could share their experiences."
Saudi Arabia was employing some 186,715 migrant workers from Indonesia, 92 percent of which were female, according to data from the Migrant Worker Placement and Protection Agency (BP2TKI) recorded between January and August 2007.
A lack of knowledge about Saudi Arabia's legal system and culture is partly to blame for the imprisonment of many Indonesians working in the Islamic state, a non-governmental organization says.
Providing better education and information on this matter would help prevent Indonesian migrant workers from committing criminal offenses in Saudi Arabia, Women's Solidarity for Human Rights say.
In many cases, female Indonesians working in Saudi Arabia have been punished for crimes committed without realizing what they were doing was against the law. The case of an Indonesian maid, Jul, was cited by the organization as an example.
Jul was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and to be flogged 2,000 times, on charges of using magic on her employer, because she had an habit of collecting her hair and had made jamu (traditional herbal medicine) for her sick employer.
"Collecting hair was a tradition in her village, but this is regarded differently in Saudi Arabia," organization head Salma Safitri Rahayaan told The Jakarta Post after a discussion here last week.
"Jul's effort to help her sick employer by serving her a herbal drink was also misinterpreted," Salma said. The drink Jul served was in fact a mixture of tea, brown sugar and ginger, according to a report from the organization made available at the discussion.
A similar case also happened to an unnamed worker who was also accused of using magic after she was found keeping a picture of her sick employer.
"She actually wanted to send the photograph to her parents in Indonesia to ask them to take it to a kyai (Islamic cleric) for a blessing prayer so her employer would get better soon," Salma said.
Salma said cultural differences were not the only issue Indonesian migrant workers needed to beware of, but also the Saudi legal system.
Salma said as Saudi Arabia does not recognize the concept of rape, victims would be accused of committing sexual adultery or zina with their rapists.
"This can cause an extra burden for victims as they will also be sentenced to be flogged or imprisoned after they are raped," she said.
One rape victim was Wen, an Indonesian maid who was jailed for one year and flogged 100 strokes after she was raped by her employer--who got only three years in prison.
Wen became pregnant after the incident and ironically was jailed during her pregnancy.
"I didn't understand anything they (judges) said during court sessions, and my lawyer didn't defend me. He only translated the court verdict for me and asked whether I would accept or refuse it and request an appeal," 33-year-old Wen told the Post.
"I decided to accept the verdict because I wanted everything to be finished, and others had said they got heavier penalties after appealing," she added.
Wen said she was whipped at least 50 times a week, six months after she gave birth to her baby.
The rights group said there were at least 500 Indonesian female workers sent to Saudi's Al-Malash prison each month.
It demanded that the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, the Home Ministry and the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, take joint measures to prevent Indonesian maids from being imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.
"The most effective way is to send trainers to villages to educate villagers intending to work in Saudi Arabia about its culture and legal system," Salma said.
Trainers could be former migrant workers, she added.
"They know better than others, so they could share their experiences."
Saudi Arabia was employing some 186,715 migrant workers from Indonesia, 92 percent of which were female, according to data from the Migrant Worker Placement and Protection Agency (BP2TKI) recorded between January and August 2007.