African American woman abused just like in the days of slavery
Details emerge in W. Va. torture case
12 September 2007
By JOHN RABY, AP
BIG CREEK, W.Va. - Inside a shed on a remote hillside of this coalfield community, authorities say a young black woman was tortured for days, sexually assaulted, beaten and forced to eat rat droppings.
If she wanted water, she had to drink from the toilet.
Her captors, all of them white, choked her with a cable cord, poured hot water over her and stabbed her in the leg while calling her a racial slur, according to criminal complaints. It wasn't until an anonymous tip led Logan County Sheriff's deputies to the property on Saturday that her ordeal ended and she was able to limp to safety, arms outstretched as she cried "help me!" "I don't understand such a horrific crime being committed here," said Johnny Meade, pastor of the community's Apostolic Church of God in the Name of Christ Jesus.The motive for such brutality still wasn't clear Wednesday, but authorities said they were investigating the case as a possible hate crime.
At one point, an assailant cut the woman's ankle with a knife and used the N-word in telling her she was victimized because she is black, authorities said. The FBI is looking into possible civil rights violations, agency spokesman Bill Crowley said.Investigators are still trying to determine how the woman ended up at the property and whether she knew any of the six people arrested or the two others, suspected of driving her to the home, who are being sought, said Logan County Chief Sheriff's Deputy V.K. Dingess.Police tape now surrounds the entrances to the beige-and-brown mobile home where Megan Williams, 20, was found. An extension cord runs from the home to the cramped shed, which authorities say she was held in with a portable stereo, a locker and a power saw.
The Associated Press generally does not identify suspected victims of sexual assault, but Williams and her mother agreed to release her name. Carmen Williams said she wanted people to know what her daughter endured."I don't understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter," Carmen Williams said Tuesday from her daughter's hospital room. "I didn't know there were people like that out here."The suspects in the case have prior arrest records going back several years, according to records from Logan County Magistrate Court. Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham said, "I have some familiarity with all those individuals."
The owner of the mobile home, Frankie Brewster, 49, was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and giving false information during a felony investigation in connection with Williams' case.She had been released from prison in September 2000 after serving five years for manslaughter and wanton endangerment in the death of 84-year-old Polly Ferrell, according to court records.Brewster's son, Bobby R. Brewster, 24, also of Big Creek, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault,malicious wounding and assault during the commission of a felony.
Danny J. Combs, 20, of Harts, is charged with sexual assault and malicious wounding. Karen Burton, 46, of Chapmanville, is charged with malicious wounding, battery and assault during the commission of a felony. Her daughter, Alisha Burton, 23, of Chapmanville, and George A. Messer, 27, of Chapmanville, are charged with assault during the commission of a felony and battery.
In May, Alisha Burton was accused of striking Messer with a shovel and smashing the window of another woman's car. Burton was charged with domestic assault and battery and destruction of property, court records showed. Those charges are pending. All six remained in custody Tuesday in lieu of $100,000 bail each, and all have asked for court-appointed attorneys.
The home is now quiet. Newborn pups sleep in the entryway to the small shed, their mother protectively barking at approaching strangers. The puppies have a blanket. Megan Williams apparently never did. Megan Williams' right arm is now in a cast, but she may be well enough to leave the hospital within a few days, her mother said. "I just want my daughter to be well and recover," Carmen Williams said. "I know the Lord can do anything."
By JOHN RABY, AP
BIG CREEK, W.Va. - Inside a shed on a remote hillside of this coalfield community, authorities say a young black woman was tortured for days, sexually assaulted, beaten and forced to eat rat droppings.
If she wanted water, she had to drink from the toilet.
Her captors, all of them white, choked her with a cable cord, poured hot water over her and stabbed her in the leg while calling her a racial slur, according to criminal complaints. It wasn't until an anonymous tip led Logan County Sheriff's deputies to the property on Saturday that her ordeal ended and she was able to limp to safety, arms outstretched as she cried "help me!" "I don't understand such a horrific crime being committed here," said Johnny Meade, pastor of the community's Apostolic Church of God in the Name of Christ Jesus.The motive for such brutality still wasn't clear Wednesday, but authorities said they were investigating the case as a possible hate crime.
At one point, an assailant cut the woman's ankle with a knife and used the N-word in telling her she was victimized because she is black, authorities said. The FBI is looking into possible civil rights violations, agency spokesman Bill Crowley said.Investigators are still trying to determine how the woman ended up at the property and whether she knew any of the six people arrested or the two others, suspected of driving her to the home, who are being sought, said Logan County Chief Sheriff's Deputy V.K. Dingess.Police tape now surrounds the entrances to the beige-and-brown mobile home where Megan Williams, 20, was found. An extension cord runs from the home to the cramped shed, which authorities say she was held in with a portable stereo, a locker and a power saw.
The Associated Press generally does not identify suspected victims of sexual assault, but Williams and her mother agreed to release her name. Carmen Williams said she wanted people to know what her daughter endured."I don't understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter," Carmen Williams said Tuesday from her daughter's hospital room. "I didn't know there were people like that out here."The suspects in the case have prior arrest records going back several years, according to records from Logan County Magistrate Court. Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham said, "I have some familiarity with all those individuals."
The owner of the mobile home, Frankie Brewster, 49, was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and giving false information during a felony investigation in connection with Williams' case.She had been released from prison in September 2000 after serving five years for manslaughter and wanton endangerment in the death of 84-year-old Polly Ferrell, according to court records.Brewster's son, Bobby R. Brewster, 24, also of Big Creek, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault,malicious wounding and assault during the commission of a felony.
Danny J. Combs, 20, of Harts, is charged with sexual assault and malicious wounding. Karen Burton, 46, of Chapmanville, is charged with malicious wounding, battery and assault during the commission of a felony. Her daughter, Alisha Burton, 23, of Chapmanville, and George A. Messer, 27, of Chapmanville, are charged with assault during the commission of a felony and battery.
In May, Alisha Burton was accused of striking Messer with a shovel and smashing the window of another woman's car. Burton was charged with domestic assault and battery and destruction of property, court records showed. Those charges are pending. All six remained in custody Tuesday in lieu of $100,000 bail each, and all have asked for court-appointed attorneys.
The home is now quiet. Newborn pups sleep in the entryway to the small shed, their mother protectively barking at approaching strangers. The puppies have a blanket. Megan Williams apparently never did. Megan Williams' right arm is now in a cast, but she may be well enough to leave the hospital within a few days, her mother said. "I just want my daughter to be well and recover," Carmen Williams said. "I know the Lord can do anything."
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RIGHTS: African Maids Face Abuse in Lebanon
Simba Russeau
BEIRUT, Sep 13 (IPS) - Driven by poverty and conflict in their home countries, women from Africa travel to Lebanon only to find themselves hungry, abused, raped and subjected to conditions akin to slavery. Amira is 25 years old. She comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. "One time, Madame found dust on the furniture. She told me that the house was dirty like my skin." For four years Amira has been confined to the apartment of her employers -- only leaving to take outthe trash. She came to Lebanon as a domestic worker on a six-year contract due to ongoing conflict in her country. Awakened daily at 5.30 am, she is subjected to 18 hours of back-breaking labour without time off. "Even the dogs are allowed to go out, but we're stuck," she says from across the balcony. "We're like slaves here."
Amira is among the over 30,000 African domestic workers in Lebanon. Mainly from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Nigeria and Sudan, they provide the bulk of household and cleaning services in Lebanon. Traditionally, households would employ young Lebanese women, mainly from poor rural areas, Palestinians, Syrians or Egyptians as domestic workers. These days, Arab women rarely do such work in Lebanon – viewing it as degrading or unacceptable -- leaving it instead to migrant workers who take on poor working and living conditions and low wages.
"Sometimes they don't feed me. If they provide lunch then it is only bread and cheese," says 19-year old Aisha from Nigeria. "If I run away and the police catch me without papers, then I will be arrested." The employer confiscates the maid's passport and other identity papers, which are returned when the employee is "released" at the end of the contract. "Confiscating passports is seen as securing their investments," says Najla Chada, director of the Caritas Migrant Centre. "Domestic workers are not under the categories of workers, so they are not covered under Lebanese labour laws. They are considered servants."
Migrant domestic workers in Lebanon are covered under the Kafala or sponsorship system, which states thatwomen must attain a legal sponsor for the duration of their contracts, forcing migrants to be dependent on their employers, and vulnerable to abuse. Sixteen-year old Elisa is from Ethiopia. Her mother died last year, and six months ago she came to Lebanon to work and send money home to her family. For 100 dollars per month she maintains five houses a day. "When I started work with this family I was sexually abused all the time by the father of my employer. The kids would beat me everyday and I would try to explain to Madame but she wouldn't do anything. Sometimes the father would come to sleep with me and threaten thatif I refused he would beat me. So I left the house."
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there are currently over 20,000 Ethiopian women working as maids in Lebanon. Before leaving Ethiopia the agency told Elisa that if the employers beat her then she would need to call the Ethiopian embassy in Beirut. Ethiopia has yet to establish an embassy in Lebanon due to political relations between the two countries, which leaves an understaffed consulate with the overwhelming task of protecting the interest of Ethiopian migrants. Many women enter into debt to pay the agency fee in their home countries for sponsorship abroad. Although Elisa fears taking on a new employer, she says she still wishes to stay in Lebanon to work. "Maybe I will have the same problems with my new employer but because I have problems to take care of in Ethiopia I will have to take a chance."
Although Lebanon is a member of the advisory committee to the UNHCR, it has not signed the 1951 Geneva Convention dealing with migrant workers. Lacking the normal rights of citizens to access public forms of assistance, migrants are faced with the option of running away and becoming illegal, or coping with the daily abuse. Despite pressure from labour organisations, the Lebanese government has done nothing to address the issue.
RIGHTS: African Maids Face Abuse in Lebanon
Simba Russeau
BEIRUT, Sep 13 (IPS) - Driven by poverty and conflict in their home countries, women from Africa travel to Lebanon only to find themselves hungry, abused, raped and subjected to conditions akin to slavery. Amira is 25 years old. She comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. "One time, Madame found dust on the furniture. She told me that the house was dirty like my skin." For four years Amira has been confined to the apartment of her employers -- only leaving to take outthe trash. She came to Lebanon as a domestic worker on a six-year contract due to ongoing conflict in her country. Awakened daily at 5.30 am, she is subjected to 18 hours of back-breaking labour without time off. "Even the dogs are allowed to go out, but we're stuck," she says from across the balcony. "We're like slaves here."
Amira is among the over 30,000 African domestic workers in Lebanon. Mainly from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Nigeria and Sudan, they provide the bulk of household and cleaning services in Lebanon. Traditionally, households would employ young Lebanese women, mainly from poor rural areas, Palestinians, Syrians or Egyptians as domestic workers. These days, Arab women rarely do such work in Lebanon – viewing it as degrading or unacceptable -- leaving it instead to migrant workers who take on poor working and living conditions and low wages.
"Sometimes they don't feed me. If they provide lunch then it is only bread and cheese," says 19-year old Aisha from Nigeria. "If I run away and the police catch me without papers, then I will be arrested." The employer confiscates the maid's passport and other identity papers, which are returned when the employee is "released" at the end of the contract. "Confiscating passports is seen as securing their investments," says Najla Chada, director of the Caritas Migrant Centre. "Domestic workers are not under the categories of workers, so they are not covered under Lebanese labour laws. They are considered servants."
Migrant domestic workers in Lebanon are covered under the Kafala or sponsorship system, which states thatwomen must attain a legal sponsor for the duration of their contracts, forcing migrants to be dependent on their employers, and vulnerable to abuse. Sixteen-year old Elisa is from Ethiopia. Her mother died last year, and six months ago she came to Lebanon to work and send money home to her family. For 100 dollars per month she maintains five houses a day. "When I started work with this family I was sexually abused all the time by the father of my employer. The kids would beat me everyday and I would try to explain to Madame but she wouldn't do anything. Sometimes the father would come to sleep with me and threaten thatif I refused he would beat me. So I left the house."
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there are currently over 20,000 Ethiopian women working as maids in Lebanon. Before leaving Ethiopia the agency told Elisa that if the employers beat her then she would need to call the Ethiopian embassy in Beirut. Ethiopia has yet to establish an embassy in Lebanon due to political relations between the two countries, which leaves an understaffed consulate with the overwhelming task of protecting the interest of Ethiopian migrants. Many women enter into debt to pay the agency fee in their home countries for sponsorship abroad. Although Elisa fears taking on a new employer, she says she still wishes to stay in Lebanon to work. "Maybe I will have the same problems with my new employer but because I have problems to take care of in Ethiopia I will have to take a chance."
Although Lebanon is a member of the advisory committee to the UNHCR, it has not signed the 1951 Geneva Convention dealing with migrant workers. Lacking the normal rights of citizens to access public forms of assistance, migrants are faced with the option of running away and becoming illegal, or coping with the daily abuse. Despite pressure from labour organisations, the Lebanese government has done nothing to address the issue.
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