Forwarded: from Solidaritas Perempuan (Women's Solidarity), Jakarta A CALL FOR JOINT ACTION ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY SOLIDARITY TO SAVE KARTINI FROM BEING STONED TO DEATH To our sisters all over the world: Kartini is a typical portrait of many Indonesian women today. Married and a mother of two, Kartini has chosen to fight her way out of perennial poverty by working overseas. One of the 25,000 legal Indonesian migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates, Kartini took a job as a domestic helper in the city of Fujairah since February 1998. The following year, she became pregnant and her employers accused her of adultery. She was handed over to the local authorities and delivered her baby while in detention. Earlier this year, alone and equipped with barely any word of the local language, she was summoned to face trial at the Syariah Fujairah Municipal Court without any legal assistance whatsoever and went through the local proceedings unattended by any translator/interpreter. The court found her guilty of adultery and sentenced her to death by stoning. According to reports that reached Indonesia after the death sentence, the Indonesian embassy for the United Arab Emirates had never been notified about the trial and only became aware of the case when the local mass media announced the death penalty nationwide. According to the reports, the man responsible for the pregnancy was an Indian citizen who had disappeared without a trace. Although Indonesian government and non-government envoys, including Kartini's husband and teenage son, are rushing to the scene to assist Kartini in her appeal to a higher court in Fujairah, we still urgently need the support of our sisters all over the world to call for United Arab Emirates' transparency in Kartini's case and the nullification of her death penalty. If you do care about Kartini's basic human rights, let's act together in showing it. We urge you to take a simultaneous action on the International Women's Day - 8 March 2000 by approaching your local United Arab Emirates embassy/representative office and pass on one crucial message SET KARTINI FREE. Please distribute this urgent message as widely as possible. Kartini needs us now. We thank you in all our solidarity. Perserikatan Solidaritas Perempuan (Indonesian Women's Solidarity for Human Rights) Jl. Rawajati Timur X - Kompleks Kalibata Baru Blok-B No.6 Jakarta 12750 Tel/Fax: +62-21-7971849. Tel: +62-21-79198275 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ************ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
