ISSUE #29 CONTENTS:
- “Domestic” Violence: Maid Abuse in the Gulf Continues
- Native Son?: Pop Star Denied Lebanese Citizenship
- Wanted for Free Speech: Ali Abdulemam Profiled
- QUIZ: Where is walking your dog a crime?
- Become a Partner in CRIME
SPOTLIGHT CASES:
“Domestic” Violence: Maid Abuse in the Gulf Continues
Beatings, verbal abuse, only a few hours of sleep, and scraps of food - this was the daily routine for Nour Miyati, an Indonesian maid beaten so badly by her Saudi employers that her toes and fingers had to be amputated. Despite a confession from one of the employers and compelling evidence of abuse, the judge found both employers not guilty and - after initially sentencing Miyati to 79 lashes for false accusations - awarded her 2,500 riyals ($670).
Miyati is one of thousands of foreign maids working in the Gulf who have faced terrible abuse and received no justice from local courts. According to the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh, a record 3,428 complaints have been lodged by domestics against their employers during the first half of 2008. Last month, Human Rights Watch released a new report highlighting the plight of abused domestics and the legal obstacles to protecting their most basic rights.
The prevalence of abuse is largely a result of a legal environment that offers little to no protection for migrant workers. Workers have to be sponsored by an employer and work at the whim of that employer without any labor protections for humane working hours, regular salary payments, and basic living conditions. Many employers confiscate workers’ passports upon arrival, meaning workers cannot even leave the country without their employers’ consent. Yet as the Human Rights Watch report makes clear, all Saudi Arabia needs to do to remedy the situation is institute basic reforms and end distinctions between local and foreign workers. Until that happens, the estimated one million Indonesian maids in Saudi Arabia remain at risk.
Native Son?: Pop Star Denied Lebanese Citizenship
Two weeks ago, Beirut-native and international pop star Mika returned home to a sold-out outdoor concert in downtown Beirut. A crowd of 15,000 turned out for a venue that was only intended to hold 10,000, with audience members hoping to see one of Lebanon’s most prominent musicians on his home turf. Only, as some bloggers pointed out, Mika is not technically Lebanese.
While Mika’s mother is Lebanese, his father is American - and thus he cannot obtain Lebanese citizenship. In Lebanon, as in several other countries in the region, citizenship is passed down through the father, excluding Lebanese women from passing down their nationality. Due to Mika's performance, the topic was widely discussed in the Lebanese blogosphere, where one blogger complained: "So the brilliant artist who should be (and would like to be) representing our country abroad, cannot."
Another Lebanese who shares Mika’s plight, Youssef Taht-qayd-Eldar, explained the pain of being denied citizenship in an article for the daily newspaper L'Orient le Jour: "I met a girl whom I fell in love [with] and we decided to marry. Everything was going well until the day when her brothers realized that having a father with a card "taht qayd al dars" [no nationality], our children may find themselves without a nationality, cursed by birth, because a Lebanese woman cannot give her nationality to her children, whatever the circumstances. My fiancée decided to break her commitment to marriage."
Wanted for Free Speech: Ali Abdulemam Profiled
In 2005, Bahraini security forces swooped in on the home of Ali Abdulemam, the young blogger behind the popular web forum Bahrain Online. Abdulemam was detained for two weeks, while an international campaign mobilized on his behalf and successfully pressured for his release. A few weeks ago, Abdulemam spoke with HAMSA’s Nasser Weddady at the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Budapest. (Future editions of the CRIME Report will feature additional profiles from the conference.) In the video interview below, he describes his arrest, the police interrogation, and his hope for the future.
QUIZ: Where is going out for a stroll with your dog a crime?
ANSWER: In Iran - and now in Saudi 
Arabia, where a new regulation enforced by religious police criminalizes not just walking a dog or cat, but even simply buying one. The head of Saudi religious police said that the ban was enacted because of "men using cats and dogs to make passes at women and pester families" as well as "violating proper behavior in public squares and malls." If caught committing this crime, perpetrators will be forced to hand over the offending animals and sign a pledge not to repeat the act. This curtailing of cat owner’s basic rights also seems to run counter to Islamic tradition, as Muhammad himself encouraged people to treat cats with respect.
BECOME A PARTNER IN CRIME:
Here is a list of four quick ways you contribute to the Middle East civil rights movement:
- Forward this update to friends & encourage them to subscribe
- Send a letter demanding freedom for Yemeni editor Al-Khaiwani
- Write a letter to imprisoned Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer
- Apply to participate in HAMSA’s civil rights fellowship program.