“Save the Life of Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso”. End human trafficking! Appeal from NCCI – AICCW.

All India Council of Christian Women (AICCW), Women’s Wing of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) has sent an appeal to the Respected President of Indonesia Joko Widodo to save the life of Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso.

The 30-year-old Filipina is on death row in Indonesia. This Filipino woman, convicted of alleged drug trafficking, has been transferred to a detention center on Indonesia’s Nusakambangan Island, where she awaits execution by firing squad on 28th April 2015, Tuesday.

Veleso was subject to sexual abuse and ‘almost raped’ as she says by her employer when she was working as domestic worker in Dubai and she came to Philippines. When she was looking for job again she was tricked by her neighbour/family friend and her boyfriend.

Veloso, in her hand written statement, mentions that a neighbor and family friend in the Philippines asked if she would like to work as a domestic servant in Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur. According to the statement, the friend offered to pay for Veloso’s airplane ticket in exchange for two months’ salary once Veloso started her new job. As per her statement, she was later tricked by her friend and her boyfriend to go to Indonesia and was given a suitcase for clothes. Drugs were discovered in the lining of the suitcase by airport security staff in Indonesia.(Source: /www.abc.net.au/news/)

We pray to the Government of Indonesia to understand the plight of women migrant workers who leave their motherland, family and loved ones to be domestic slaves.

We are all aware of the plight of these migrant workers working as domestic workers.

Many of migrant women workers are tricked or trafficked to be drug mules by traffickers and mafias.  Many others face injustice and sexual abuse at the hands of the employers and are exploited by agents.

We know that Indonesia has very progressive laws to protect victims of human trafficking and we want to save the life of this woman.

We appeal to the Indonesian government to understand that death penalty and capital punishment cannot solve drug-related crimes.

Even Secretary-General of UN  Ban Ki-Moon, on 25 April 2015, appealed to the Government of Indonesia to refrain from carrying out the execution as announced, of ten prisoners on death row for alleged drug-related crimes, and Mary JaneFiesta Veloso is one of them.

According to a statement released  by his Spokesperson, the Secretary-General of UN recalled that under international law, if the death penalty is to be used at all, it should only be imposed for the most serious crimes, namely those involving intentional killing, and only with appropriate safeguards.  “Drug-related offenses generally are not considered to fall under the category of “most serious crimes,” said the Spokesperson’s statement adding that theUnited Nations opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and he concluded with a call by the Secretary-General on President Joko Widodo of Indonesia to urgently consider declaring a moratorium on capital punishment in Indonesia, with a view toward abolition. (Source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story)

AICCW prays to President of Indonesia “humanitarian consideration” in the case of this migrant domestic worker.

AICCW appeals to the Churches in Indonesia and Indonesian Church leaders even in last few hours to engage in advocacy and persuade the government to save the life of Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso and halt her execution. AICCW is praying for God of Life ‘El Roi’ to see the pain of this woman and give her life. ForGod is God of life and this young Filipina mother also have the ‘Right to Life in its Fullness’.

Dr. Saramma Varghese

President – AICCW

Moumita Biswas

Executive Secretary-AICCW