HRW criticises Saudi on maid abuse ruling

US-based Human Rights Watch has slammed a Saudi Arabian court decision to drop charges against an employer accused of abusing an Indonesian maid so severely she lost her fingers and toes.

HRW said Nour Miyati had been beaten daily and forced to work long hours without rest for her Saudi employers, knocking out a tooth and damaging one of her eyes.

A judge who reviewed the case in Riyadh on Monday awarded Miyati around $670 for her injuries but dropped charges against the wife of her employer, who had earlier confessed to abusing the maid and had been sentenced by a lower court to 35 lashes.

"This outrageous ruling sends a dangerous message to Saudi employers that they can beat domestic workers with impunity, and that victims have little hope of justice," said Nisha Varia, senior researcher in the women's rights division at HRW.

Saudi officials were unavailable for comment on the report.

Miyati had earlier had her fingers and toes amputated because of the delay in receiving care for gangrene and malnourishment, the group said.

There are over a million domestic maids working in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter where many families employ foreign home help.

Rights organisations say many domestic maids work in difficult circumstances, do not know Arabic and often suffer from abuse by their employers.

The Labour Ministry has acknowledged that there are problems with workers' rights, but the government also often says that Islamic law ensures protection for both Muslims and non-Muslims and reminds foreigners that they are guests in the country. (Reuters)

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