Another haze

Another haze

This nation owes a debt of gratitude to Agence France Press, a
French international news agency, for its report last week about
an Indonesian citizen who had been executed in Saudi Arabia for
murder. Soleha Anam -- not Sulaita as earlier reported -- died a
tragically lonely and neglected death at the hands of Saudi
executioners in Mecca on Tuesday of last week. Not a single word
about the heartbreaking fate of this poor domestic helper and the
fact that she had been jailed for three years had leaked from the
desert kingdom before AFP reported the execution on Oct. 1.

How could it be that an Indonesian, working in a foreign
country, had died without due attention from our embassy in
Riyadh or from the Ministry of Manpower?

Soleha was an Indonesian citizen and a taxpayer. She deserved
recognition that she was not a nonperson and her case should not
have been buried in a haze. Soleha went to Saudi Arabia because
she had a dream for a better future and a decent life. She was
not someone who never existed. She deserved better attention from
the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh, which is responsible for the
safety and well-being of Indonesians living in the kingdom.

But we are completely in the dark about how much the embassy
and the ministry which supervises the sending of Indonesian
workers abroad knew about her tragedy and whether they tried to
help her. We have the impression that they did very little to
defend the woman since she was charged by the local Islamic
court.

This greatly contrasts with the case of a British nurse who
has been accused of murdering an Australian colleague in Dhahran,
Saudi Arabia, last year. Unlike Soleha, the nurse's case has
drawn international public attention.

Similarly, when a Filipino worker in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) town of Al Ain was convicted of murder in September 1996,
Filipinos and people throughout the world sympathized with the
underaged girl.

It was no less than Philippine President Fidel Ramos who
appealed to the UAE ruler for the safety of Sarah Balabagan. Even
French President Jacques Chirac kept his eye on the case and
promised to intervene in a manner that would not disregard the
UAE's sovereignty.

But Soleha's case seemed to have been regarded differently.
Instead it seems that our embassy in Riyadh, the Ministry of
Manpower and the Association of Labor Export Companies neglected
to inform the nation about the woman's tragic death. Soleha
deserved attention. Although she may have pleaded guilty to
murder, judging by the educational background of most Indonesian
women working abroad, she must not have been very aware of her
legal rights or of the rigidly applied Islamic laws in Saudi
Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has publicly beheaded 115 people this year,
provoking a New York-based human rights organization to appeal to
Saudi authorities to halt all executions immediately. Human
Rights Watch has said that the kingdom's legal system has failed
to provide basic fair trial guarantees, which allows the
judiciary, the royal family and other well-connected individuals
to manipulate the system to their personal advantage.

In Indonesia, calls have been made by various circles for the
end of the exportation of Indonesian women to the Middle East
because it tarnishes Indonesia's good image. Such calls started
six years ago and intensified after it was learned that many
migrant workers experienced abuse at the hands of their
employers. However, Indonesian authorities have persistently
defended the policy of sending women workers abroad because they
say it is a good way to improve the lives of many Indonesian
women.

And throughout the implementation of the policy, Indonesian
authorities have tried to hide any reports about the dark side of
women's working conditions there.

Now it is high time the government put an end to the operation
of sending female domestic helpers abroad and instead send
skilled workers. If this cannot be done, attention and protection
for Indonesian domestic workers abroad should be significantly
increased in response to the many reports of intolerable
conditions they face. They are often exploited from the time of
their recruitment from Indonesian rural areas up to the time they
return home with what little money they have saved from the
experience.

We urge the authorities to explain the case of Soleha as soon
as possible for the sake of other Indonesian workers abroad, and
in order to respect the nation's right to know.