One-way ticket to scaffold<\/p>\n
Minister of Manpower Bomer Pasaribu's statement (The Jakarta
\nPost, June 20, 2000) that \"... the government did all it could to
\nsave the life of Indonesian maid Warni ...\" who was recently
\n\"secretly\" beheaded in Saudi Arabia, raises some questions and
\nbegs for some comments.<\/p>\n
First, the unfortunate maid was sentenced to death three years
\nago; why did it take the ministry so long to make the verdict
\nknown to the Indonesian people? Public pressure from Indonesia
\nmight have saved her from the death sentence like it spared the
\nlife of the Indonesian maid Nasiroh who was sentenced to death in
\n1994 but freed in 1997. Nasiroh revealed that at that time 16
\nother Indonesians were facing death sentences in Saudi Arabia.
\nWhen then Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief was confronted with
\nher disclosure he replied: \"If you want to know the truth, ask
\nGod. We don't know.\"<\/p>\n
Second, keeping in mind Abdul Latief's remarkably cynical
\nanswer, the question must be asked whether Warni did really get
\nproper legal protection and assistance three years ago. Did she
\nhave a defense lawyer who could plead for possible self-defense
\nwhen the maid killed her employer's wife in a quarrel? Did she
\nhave a credible interpreter in court, as we can assume that the
\nmaid and the judge couldn't communicate in each other's language?
\nI doubt it.<\/p>\n
Third, it seems that the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh as well
\nas the Ministry of Manpower in Jakarta prefer -- for whatever
\nreason -- to keep silent about the number of those unlucky
\nprisoners who are awaiting execution. Why don't the responsible
\ninstitutions consider the possibility that some of those convicts
\nmight be innocent, because putting the blame on a poorly educated
\nand often simple-minded Indonesian maid is all too easy?<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman Wahid stated recently that \"... Jakarta
\nremained committed to an independent foreign policy and was
\nunwilling to prostrate to the West...\" (the Post, June 17, 2000).
\nThe President is right, Indonesia should not prostrate to any
\ncountry in the world. But why do Indonesian authorities make an
\nexception in the cases of Saudi Arabia or the United Arab
\nEmirates? I wonder whether those countries would dare to execute
\ncitizens from the United States or Europe, even if the charge was
\nmurder.<\/p>\n
Another question is, why are there no protests from the
\nstudents who demonstrate for and against each and everything
\nthese days, for example by burning national flags of other
\ncountries if they think it to be in the \"interest\" of Indonesia
\n(an action which I consider as one of the most stupid responses
\nto a political quarrel). My guess is that those students might
\nthink that the unfortunate women are \"only\" maids, and therefore
\nthere is no need to get excited.<\/p>\n
Indonesian women are worldwide liked and respected for their
\nextraordinary gentle and friendly nature; they do not tend to
\nturn violent, let alone kill. Therefore the question arises of
\nwhat went wrong with those Indonesian girls and women working in
\nArabian countries who all of a sudden turned into \"murderers\". I
\nhave only one answer: Those Indonesian maids killed in self-
\ndefense. One should imagine, a maid working in a foreign country
\nfar away from her home and family, not knowing the language,
\nbeing simple-minded and poorly educated, experiencing torture,
\nrape and other humiliating mistreatment from her employers over a
\nlong period of time. Believing that they cannot expect any help
\nfrom their embassy or from the respective recruitment agencies,
\nthey sink into a nameless despair and kill their tormentor in the
\nnaive hope that they can escape their unbearable fate. The maid
\nWarni was probably one of those cases. Was she guilty of first-
\ndegree murder? Maybe she was not. Was she guilty at all? She is
\ndead now, so we will never know for sure.<\/p>\n
MRS. HILDE MAY<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/one-way-ticket-to-scaffold-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }