JEDDAH, 27 March 2005 — In the interests of equity and the integrity of its position on human rights, it is time for the Saudi authorities to address with the utmost vigor the continued abuse of domestic workers in the Kingdom.
It happens; there are published cases and they cannot be hidden under a cloak of secrecy any longer as the gruesome photographic evidence of the tortured — no other word comes close — still living body of Nour Miyati recently pictured in this newspaper shows. The picture and the story brought shudders of disgust to, and expressions of sympathy from, civilized people.
Bound so tightly that gangrene developed in her limbs and beaten to the extent that her teeth were knocked out, the 25-year-old maid was locked in a bathroom for a month. Now she will probably lose her fingers and toes and possibly half of one foot. What sort of money or punishment can possibly compensate her?
Quick and quite correct to comment volubly on “human rights abuses” against prisoners in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, that section of the Arab public which voices loud concerns about “human rights” and the “preservation of the dignity of humanity” must now manifest itself and shout about this injustice from the rooftops of the Arab world. No more finger pointing at wickedness abroad; it is alive and well right here in Saudi Arabia.
For years, maids have been burned with irons, beaten and abused in the Kingdom — all a matter of public record. Foreign workers go unpaid for months, even years — again a matter of public record. We here in the Kingdom know it and the rest of the world hears about it as well. It still occurs. Why?
If the being — I hesitate to grace it by the word “human” for humanity was demonstrably missing in this case — is punished, I want the punishment publicly demonstrated so that justice may be done and be seen to be done.
It is disingenuous to use the argument “Not all fingers are the same” in an attempt to sidle out from the collective responsibility of a society that exhibits this sort of cruelty by one or more of its members. Miss Nour no longer has fingers — or toes. Perhaps the “finger” that was responsible for this should be permanently removed from society and leave undisturbed the proper and generally reasonable conduct of the majority.
The signal marks of any civilized society are the ways it treats its weakest members and its responses to those who abuse them. The weakest always suffer in any society. The culture of ethical behavior and legal enforcement that societies espouse to regulate this kind of outrage is not perfect. It misses some cases.
When one as blatant as this arises, however, the system of justice must be seen to stamp hard on the perpetrator. Perhaps even more importantly, it must address both the underlying cause that has produced people who behave in this barbaric fashion as well as the clear lack of effective legal protection afforded to the weakest members in society, the low-paid foreign workers.
As is well-known, all it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to stand by and do nothing. For the sake of the people that this society is ethically and religiously obliged to protect — the weak — act now before we see more of this horror. The world stands by, is watching and will judge you.
