JEDDAH, 8 May 2005 — The inquiry report in the case of the Indonesian maid, Nour Miyati, who accused her sponsor and his wife of torture came as a surprise to everyone.

Quoting a statement by the Riyadh governorate, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday that during questioning by investigators Miyati herself retracted earlier charges that she was tied up and tortured by her employer. Miyati has now been charged with making false allegations against her employer.

“We were not involved with the investigation and did not attend the questioning of Nour Miyati. We only found out the result from the newspapers, so we don’t know yet why she changed her statement,” M. Sukiarto, labor attaché at the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh, told Arab News.

In March, Miyati in critical condition was taken to a Riyadh hospital by her sponsor; she had severe injuries causing gangrene to her fingers, toes and part of her right foot. Some of her fingers have been amputated.

She initially claimed that her sponsor had tied her up for a month in a bathroom and beat her severely, injuring her eyes and knocking out several of her teeth.

In the latest inquiry report, Miyati has retracted her accusations of being tied up and tortured. Sukiarto said he would visit her at the hospital today and get a clarification. He will also consult with the lawyer the embassy had assigned to her.

Sukiarto too was kept away from the latest investigation. “Our duty at the embassy is to protect the rights of our citizens and we will follow up on the case to make sure Nour Miyati is treated fairly and receives her rights,” he said.

He said that a diplomatic note had been sent from the Foreign Office in Jakarta to all Indonesian embassies and foreign ministries in the Gulf concerning the treatment of Indonesian workers. “The case of Nour Miyati is considered as a separate and single incident and does not affect the agreements for better treatment of workers, especially housemaids,” he said.

The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) intervened on behalf of Miyati as soon as they became aware of the case but they too were denied access to Miyati during the investigation. “The investigative committee did not want Miyati to be under any kind of pressure or influence; that is why they kept her out of reach of anyone including her embassy,” said Thuraya Abid Sheikh, a NSHR member who followed up on the case.

She said the society had received a copy of the investigative report the night before it was published in the papers and that it seemed to be thorough. “They have a medical report and took their time in investigating the case so I expect that it was a fair and accurate report,” she told Arab News.

She said that according to the medical report there were no physical injuries on Miyati’s body consistent with torture except those on her face which her sponsor and his wife admitted to. The report suggests that the gangrene was the result of other medical problems suffered by Miyati. Her sponsor and his wife are charged with negligence for not providing her with proper medical care as well as assault and mistreatment.

“Our role now is to follow up on what punishment the sponsor and his wife will get and to ensure that Miyati receives all her rights, whether financial or medical care, before she leaves the country,” Thuraya told Arab News.

Dr. Lubna Al-Ansari, a physician and a senior member of the NSHR, said that although she was not part of the team that followed up the case, as a physician she believes the medical report is not clear enough. “From the medical and psychological assessment of the patient, it is not clear to me what exactly she is suffering from that caused her gangrene and injuries,” she told Arab News. She expects the NSHR to meet Miyati to ensure that she has not been under any kind of pressure and that the investigation was valid.