Kartini Saved From Being Stoned
'The most happy one for me is my husband (Warsin) and two sons, who have accepted me again after we have been separated for 18 months. I never thought that I could go back to Indonesia. I got the good news on Monday [1st of May]' Karteen Karikander, pictured with Warsin on her return.

What do you do when you hear that someone has been unjustly, and undefended, sentenced to death by stoning?

You could either:
(1) do nothing, because you think 'That's the sort of thing they do in those countries, and there's nothing you can do about it', or 
(2) decide to write to the people responsible and tell them it is unacceptable, and urge other people to do the same

Fortunately for Kartini, a 36 year-old Indonesian woman working as a domestic helper in the United Arab Emirates, a lot of people decided on Option (2).

Kartini's story: Kartini fell pregnant, and was taken to the police by her employer and charged with the 'crime' of adultery. She delivered her child while in prison and the police took custody of the child. After a long time she was produced before a local court, without any legal assistance nor even a translator (she doesn't speak the local language), and was sentenced to death by stoning in a trial where she could not follow the proceedings at all. It was only after this that the Indonesian embassy found out about her situation, and sponsored her appeal process The Indonesian Labour Minister together with a representative of a women's NGO visited Kartini in prison.

It was revealed that Kartini had actually been raped, but the perpetrator could not be found. Women's and migrant's groups rallied to her support, offering legal help, visiting her in prison and following the progress of her appeal.. After more diplomatic advocacy work her sentence was overturned and she was set free.

Meanwhile, hundreds of letters had been sent to the President and the Minister of Justice of the UAE, demanding her release. .........

Thousands of other migrant women domestic workers find their basic human rights abused by their employers, agents, governments or even the legal system. Many human rights advocates, migrant workers' organisations and women's organisations are working hard to achieve better working conditions and respect for the human rights of migrant workers all over the world. But real and lasting changes take time.

An 'Urgent Appeals' system can support actions to help individuals or groups of persons in any situation or country, who find themselves in acute situations of abuse, torture, imprisonment, which are immediately, or can turn into life-threatening situations, if action is not undertaken quickly. 

AHRC's Urgent Appeal Programme. AHRC receives about 3 urgent action requests per day, over the email. Once the basic facts have been verified through our vast email network, an 'Urgent Appeal' is sent out reaching around 200,000 individuals and organisations around the world, including advocates, activists, professionals, politicians, women's networks. We shall never know how many letters are actually sent each time, but we do know that an Urgent Appeal has a snowballing effect, with people sending them on to more people. 

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF WRITING A LETTER!! 

With AHRC's e-network, we can disseminate information and get action going within hours of verifying the information. When a government receives even a hundred letters about a particular person being tortured, or a group of people whose safety is in danger, they realise they are in the international spotlight, and often they will do exactly what you ask them to in your letter.

You can be one of the hundreds of thousands around the world choosing to stand up for the victims of terrible human rights abuses by putting yourself on our mailing list. Simply send an email to: ua@ahrchk.org and put the word 'SUBSCRIBE' in the subject line, and we'll send you (absolutely free) accurate information and practical actions you can take even before the story becomes big news. 

You really can make a big difference - you can help save someone's life or put a stop to the violations of their basic rights. 

Email ua@ahrchk.org to subscribe to Urgent Appeals.