Time to comment on some of the latest news in Kuwait and the Gulf.
Today's Arab Times brings the latest news on a case which shocked many last year, with 3 policemen getting off after raping a Filipino maid on a technicality... she was only sodomised, so she's still a virgin. Sick...
Court hears 3 policemen's petition against rape case
KUWAIT CITY: The Court of Cassation Tuesday looked into a petition filed by
three Kuwaiti securitymen who have been charged with raping a Filipina housemaid
at the Sabah Al-Salem Police Station. The court then adjourned the hearing to
April 19, 2005 to give chance for the defense to prepare its argument. Case
papers indicate, the housemaid was raped while in detention by the three men
after she had escaped from her sponsor's house. The three men have denied the
accusation before the Public Prosecution and the Detention Renewal Judge.
However, the Criminal Evidences Department report showed the woman was raped on the day of the incident. On June 20, 2004, the Criminal Court had sentenced one
of the men to 15 years in jail and the other two to ten years each. On Nov 30,
2004, the Court of Appeals overturned the verdict of the Criminal Court and set
free all the men.
Then the same article gives another case which sounds a bit fishy...
Murder verdict May 31:
The Court of Cassation Tuesday set May 31, 2005 to issue a verdict in a petition filed by a Kuwaiti man, identified as Y.S. Al-Rashidi, who was sentenced to death by the Criminal Court for murdering a Filipina woman, identified as Waida D.B. in 1999. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the Court of Appeals, after the lawyer for Rashidi, attorney Dukhi Al-Hasban, submitted to the court a letter of forgiveness issued by the victim's legal heirs - absolving the man from legal responsibility towards them. During the session, attorney Hasban told the court his client did not intend to murder the victim because the knife used in the crime belonged to the victim. He added the victim had planned to murder his client by using the same knife. However, defending himself he took the knife from her and stabbed her. Attorney Hasban also said the witness who claimed he had seen the incident should be considered a defence witness because his client had called him to accompany him while the victim was with him in the car. "Is it logical that a person who plans to murder brings a witness along?" wondered Hasban.
The letter of forgiveness, a copy of which was obtained by the Arab Times, shows the three relatives of the victim - her brother Nasser and two sisters Mama and Suraida - have forgiven the accused and prayed that he should not be sentenced to death. The purported letter said the victims' kin are no longer interested in pursuing the Case No. 561/99 against the man who murdered their sister on June 29, 1999. They also waived their right to compensation resulting from the death of their sister. The letter states, "We are all Muslims, wherein forgiveness is preferable and our agreement to accept compensation from the accused and have received the same in full as per our agreement with him. "Likewise, we hereby clear him from whatsoever charge now and in future," added the document. They added, they are executing
the affidavit to attest the veracity of all foregoing facts and support the
immediate release of the accused.
On May 10, 2004, the Philippines Embassy attorney Mashael Bouriky presented a letter to the court saying that victim's only heir was another woman and not those three mentioned in the letter submitted by the suspect's attorney to the court. The case papers show Rashidi had an affair with the victim. On the day of the incident he drove her and his friend J.R. Mohamed to the desert in Salmi. On the way the victim asked Rashidi to marry her because she was pregnant and the man refused. At driving some distance in the desert, Rashidi drove to an isolated place, about 500 meters from the main road and ordered the victim to get out of the car. He led her away from the car and subsequently stabbed her several times. When Mohamed saw his friend stabbing the victim, he rushed to the spot to help the victim but the
accused prevented him and stabbed the victim until she dropped dead. Rashidi
admitted in court that he killed the victim. Mohamed also testified in court
saying Rashidi stabbed Waida to death.
Rashidi must have made the pay-off to the wrong relatives! We'll wait with baited breath for the conclusion of this case on May 31.
Yesterday's Arab Times has the latest news about the trial of a man that murdered his daughter to “rid his shame” after completing the Haj.
Judge renews killer's detention until April 18
KUWAIT CITY: The Detention Renewal
Judge Monday renewed the detention of a Kuwaiti man, identified as A.K.
Al-Enezi, who has been charged with murdering his 11-year-old daughter, Asmaa,
on Jan 25, 2005 until April 18, 2005. Case papers indicate on the day of the
incident, Enezi had just returned from the Holy City of Makkah after performing
the hajj pilgrimage. The man then, suspecting his daughter's behaviour, is said
to have tied her hands behind her back and slit her throat as she begged for her
life. It is believed the victim was a clever student and excelled in reciting
the Holy Qur'an. During initial investigations, the man appeared embarrassed and
kept saying 'I don't know.' Sometimes he also cried while replying to
investigators' questions as if feeling sorry for what he had done.However, at a
later time, he admitted to committing the crime and said, "Yes, I killed her and
now my conscience is clear." He added he had washed the shame she had caused him
and his family. A reliable source told the Arab Times the man's Kuwaiti wife has
filed a case against the man, who had divorced her 50 days before committing the
crime, demanding alimony for her and their three children - Mohamed,
Ibrahim and Fatima. The 'wife' has also requested for custody of her three
children saying their father can no longer be considered trustworthy, after
committing the ghastly crime.
Mercy killings as they’re known are still prevalent in the Gulf as in other parts of the muslim world. And if the upsetting horrific details of this case aren’t enough, what about the last sentence in the article.
I’m probably talking out of my a*** here, but from what I understand, a woman can’t easily divorce her husband – he has too divorce her – and then he always gets the kids. So even if he in this case has already cut the throat of one of the kids, the estranged wife still has to go through the legal system to get custody of the other children. I wonder how the 3 remaining kids are getting on… just think what they’re going through… when Dad gets off through some technicality we could be next!
Thanks to a link from
eMoodz I picked up on this
story where a Saudi princess has been charged with forcing her Indonesian maids to be slaves… no, not in Saudi itself where it’s common practice, but in the good ol’ USA. It seems that it’s illegal to treat people as slaves in the West – novel concept. I wonder who got the biggest shock - the Saudi princess, or the USA media and public.
This got me thinking about the domestic problems in Kuwait and the Gulf, and a timely
article in the GDN discusses the problem in Bahrain. Now the Philippines is studying the possibility of banning the deployment of housemaids to Bahrain and other Gulf countries, after Bangladesh and Indonesia have already imposed a ban on housemaids in Bahrain. By all accounts, the situation is worse in Kuwait – with hundreds of runaway maids being housed in the Sri Lankan, Filipino and Indonesian embassies at any one time, waiting for their paperwork to be processed so they can leave. This was also the situation at the Indian embassy until the Indian Government imposed a ban on housemaids coming to Kuwait. This raises the question – when will the Indonesian, Sri Lankan and Filipino governments ban housemaids coming to Kuwait? Presumably the Indonesians have banned them going to Bahrain already, as there is no embassy there (consular matters are handled from Kuwait).
Without addressing the fundamental issues of slavery, physical & verbal abuse, rape and non-payment of wages - which are the major reasons for maids running away from their employers/sponsors - when countries start banning workers coming here, the problem will just shift to other countries. So expect sometime soon we will have the Kuwaiti Government announce that citizens are allowed to employ housemaids from Sudan or Ethiopia… if it hasn’t done so already! And then there’s the issue of many so-called “housemaids” effectively being trafficked to supply the prostitution rings.
So, apart from educating locals on how to treat other people with respect… (this is rather reminiscent of one of the issues in my workplace!), why isn’t more being done to crack down on the intermediaries, the firms that deal with this international trafficking of housemaids/prostitutes to the Gulf? Not really in the Government’s interests I suggest. (And limited interest being shown by developing world countries that let the workers come here as they’re an important source of income back home).
Like the booze black market, it’s probably controlled, if not by the Royal families (as rumoured) which are beyond the law, by influential businessmen. No one is going to take on this establishment. Therefore, the only action we will see is the odd Employment Agency having its license revoked. It’s like the drug runners being paraded in the daily media after being caught trafficking their contraband. Their masters/clients are never caught, there’s no resolve to go after the big guns. They accept the odd arrest & eventual hanging of some poor Pakistanis as the cost of doing business, at virtually no risk, as these poor guys won’t know who their end-employers were anyway.
