Issues Of The Middle East
- Thread starter LadyDeath
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I like what Emma Watson said at the end of her #HeForShe speech. "If not now, when? If not me, who?"
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19-Year-old Gang Rape Victim to Receive 200 Lashes and 6 Months in Jail in Saudi Arabia
[FONT=&]A Saudi Arabian woman must be accompanied by a male guardian ? typically relative ? at all times in public. The rape victim violated this law by meeting a friend to retrieve a picture.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]A 19-year-old gang rape victim was sentenced to 200 lashes and to six months in jail for the crime of indecency and speaking to the press.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&]Saudi Arabia defended a controversial verdict sentencing a 19-year-old gang rape victim to 200 lashes and six months in jail. The Shi?ite Muslim woman had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicted of violating Saudi Arabia?s rigid Islamic Sharia law on segregation of the sexes.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The decision handed down by the Saudi General Court more than doubled her sentence last week. The court also roughly doubled the prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping her, Saudi media said.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The upholding of a decision to punish the victim triggered international outcry.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Canada said it would complain to Saudi authorities about the sentence, described as ?barbaric?? by Jose Verger, the Canadian minister responsible for the status of women.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The New York based Human Rights Watch said the verdict ?not only sends victims of sexual violence the message that they should not press charges, but in effect offers protection and impunity to the perpetrators.?[/FONT]
[FONT=&]While not directly criticizing the Saudi Arabia?s judiciary, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, ?I think when you look at the crime and the fact that now the victim is punished, I think that causes a fair degree of surprise and astonishment. It is within the power of the Saudi government to take a look at the verdict and change it.?[/FONT]
[FONT=&]However, the Saudi judiciary stood by its decision. ?The Ministry of Justice welcomes constructive criticism, away from emotions,? it said in a statement.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The statement also said that the ?charges were proven? against the woman for having been in a car with a strange male, and repeated criticism of her lawyer for talking ?defiantly? about the judicial system, saying ?it has shown ignorance.?[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The woman?s lawyer, Abdul Rahman al-Lahem, reached out to the media. The court has since banned him from further defending the woman, confiscating his license and summoning him to a disciplinary hearing later this month.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The justice ministry implied the victim?s sentence was increased because she had spoken out to the press. ?For whoever has an objection on verdicts issued, the system allows to appeal without resorting to the media,? said the statement carried on the official Saudi Press Agency.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The rape took place in 2006. The victim said it occurred as she tried to retrieve her picture from a male high school student she used to know.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]While in a car with the student, two men got into the vehicle and drove them to a secluded area. She said she was raped there by seven men, three of whom also attacked her friend.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The case was referred back to the General Court by an appeals court last summer, after the woman?s lawyer contested the initial verdict, saying it was too lenient for the rapists and unjust for the victim.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Editorial Footnote: It was just brought to my attention that the male friend of the female in this occurrence was also raped and he received the same punishment as she did.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]A 19-year-old gang rape victim was sentenced to 200 lashes and to six months in jail for the crime of indecency and speaking to the press.[/FONT]
[FONT=&][/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Saudi Arabia defended a controversial verdict sentencing a 19-year-old gang rape victim to 200 lashes and six months in jail. The Shi?ite Muslim woman had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicted of violating Saudi Arabia?s rigid Islamic Sharia law on segregation of the sexes.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The decision handed down by the Saudi General Court more than doubled her sentence last week. The court also roughly doubled the prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping her, Saudi media said.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The upholding of a decision to punish the victim triggered international outcry.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Canada said it would complain to Saudi authorities about the sentence, described as ?barbaric?? by Jose Verger, the Canadian minister responsible for the status of women.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The New York based Human Rights Watch said the verdict ?not only sends victims of sexual violence the message that they should not press charges, but in effect offers protection and impunity to the perpetrators.?[/FONT]
[FONT=&]While not directly criticizing the Saudi Arabia?s judiciary, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, ?I think when you look at the crime and the fact that now the victim is punished, I think that causes a fair degree of surprise and astonishment. It is within the power of the Saudi government to take a look at the verdict and change it.?[/FONT]
[FONT=&]However, the Saudi judiciary stood by its decision. ?The Ministry of Justice welcomes constructive criticism, away from emotions,? it said in a statement.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The statement also said that the ?charges were proven? against the woman for having been in a car with a strange male, and repeated criticism of her lawyer for talking ?defiantly? about the judicial system, saying ?it has shown ignorance.?[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The woman?s lawyer, Abdul Rahman al-Lahem, reached out to the media. The court has since banned him from further defending the woman, confiscating his license and summoning him to a disciplinary hearing later this month.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The justice ministry implied the victim?s sentence was increased because she had spoken out to the press. ?For whoever has an objection on verdicts issued, the system allows to appeal without resorting to the media,? said the statement carried on the official Saudi Press Agency.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The rape took place in 2006. The victim said it occurred as she tried to retrieve her picture from a male high school student she used to know.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]While in a car with the student, two men got into the vehicle and drove them to a secluded area. She said she was raped there by seven men, three of whom also attacked her friend.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The case was referred back to the General Court by an appeals court last summer, after the woman?s lawyer contested the initial verdict, saying it was too lenient for the rapists and unjust for the victim.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Editorial Footnote: It was just brought to my attention that the male friend of the female in this occurrence was also raped and he received the same punishment as she did.[/FONT]
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This is so infuriating. No wonder so many people are trying to migrate away from that area. Then they deal with negative stereotypes just because of where they're from or what they look like when they are already victims in their country!
There is no way to bring these victims to justice unless organizations like Equality Now get involved. From what I know, in order for international human rights organizations to take action, all legal avenues in the country must be exhausted. The victim can file for intervention themselves, or have others file and petition on their behalf. Chances are, by the time both the girl and her friend go through the legal system they will be in critical condition and/or dead so I hope some organization somewhere has started looking at this to speed up the process. The law is kinda messed up sometimes, and in most cases, victims do not know how to work it.
There is no way to bring these victims to justice unless organizations like Equality Now get involved. From what I know, in order for international human rights organizations to take action, all legal avenues in the country must be exhausted. The victim can file for intervention themselves, or have others file and petition on their behalf. Chances are, by the time both the girl and her friend go through the legal system they will be in critical condition and/or dead so I hope some organization somewhere has started looking at this to speed up the process. The law is kinda messed up sometimes, and in most cases, victims do not know how to work it.
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Saudi Arabia do not welcome Human Rights Activist or International Organizations that deal with them. What they believe in is their law alone and they say nothing can change it !
I think that countries can change Saudi by cutting all ties with them and showing them how serious the issue is . By cutting all ties, they will be left to fend for themselves and their economy will spiral. I wonder what they will choose after? Can you imagine having ties with a country that treats their own people like this ! A man to abandon his wife if she is raped ? A man to watch his daughter get punished for being raped ? Lord Forbid, if i ever was in a country like that, i would of secretly done a Hysterectomy and wear a anti-rape condom when venturing into dangerous/ unknown areas. Sorry but hard times will call for serious survival measures.
I think that countries can change Saudi by cutting all ties with them and showing them how serious the issue is . By cutting all ties, they will be left to fend for themselves and their economy will spiral. I wonder what they will choose after? Can you imagine having ties with a country that treats their own people like this ! A man to abandon his wife if she is raped ? A man to watch his daughter get punished for being raped ? Lord Forbid, if i ever was in a country like that, i would of secretly done a Hysterectomy and wear a anti-rape condom when venturing into dangerous/ unknown areas. Sorry but hard times will call for serious survival measures.
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Chances are, if you lived in a country like that you would not be allowed to get a hysterectomy nor purchase an anti-rape condom. If you were fortunate enough to have a unique family dynamic that opposed the traditional misogynist views so prevalent there, you would have to be accompanied by male relatives everywhere you went and would require their knowledge and consent for any medical procedure. Providing things went that far, you'd be hard-pressed to find a doctor willing to do the surgery anyway as even women with life-threatening issues and chronic illnesses would most likely be denied such treatments. I've met sexist doctors right here in Trinidad and I'm pretty sure they're abundant in the Middle East. Secondly, if anti-rape condoms are available in the Middle East, I can't imagine they would be for long or at least would not be easily accessible, least of all to women.
I agree that cutting ties to the middle east would negatively affect the economy. However, while that would finally make the officials feel some pain, so too would the citizens there. Taxes would probably be raised to accommodate the authorities's lifestyles and it would probably become even more of a tyrannical dictatorship, ultimately leaving the citizens to suffer worse things.
I agree that cutting ties to the middle east would negatively affect the economy. However, while that would finally make the officials feel some pain, so too would the citizens there. Taxes would probably be raised to accommodate the authorities's lifestyles and it would probably become even more of a tyrannical dictatorship, ultimately leaving the citizens to suffer worse things.
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An Afghan woman who was raped by her cousin’s husband and subsequently jailed for adultery is now married to her attacker and pregnant with their third child.
The woman, identified only as Gulnaz, gave an interview to CNN about her harrowing situation with her rapist, Asadullah, and their young daughter sat beside her in Kabul, Afghanistan.
She was assaulted by Asadullah, who was married at the time, when she was just 16 and imprisoned for 'adultery by force' – a ‘crime’ that carried a 12-year jail sentence. She became pregnant from their rape and gave birth in prison.
She was eventually granted a presidential pardon, but believed her only chance of being able to integrate back into Afghanistan society was to marry her rapist.
"I didn't want to ruin the life of my daughter or leave myself helpless so I agreed to marry him," she told CNN. "We are traditional people. When we get a bad name, we prefer death to living with that name in society."
Their daughter, Smile Now, she maintains that she has “no problem” with Asadullah and, despite not looking at her husband once during the interview, insisted that she was happy.
"I don't have a problem with him now and I don't want to think about the past problems. My life is OK. I am happy with my life [...] it is going on,” she said.
“I cut relations with my family only to buy my daughter’s future.”
Kimberley Motley, her former lawyer, said this was because she was pressured by members of the government to marry him.
"Gulnaz was constantly told that neither she nor her daughter would be protected if she did not succumb to their pressure to marry... Gulnaz essentially became a prisoner of her environment,” she explained.
"As an uneducated, young, single mother with no family support, it would have been an uphill battle for Gulnaz and her daughter."
Speaking in camera, Asadullah insisted that he had helped her by marrying her.
"If I hadn't married her, (but) according to our traditions, she couldn't have lived back in society," he said. "Her brothers didn't want to accept her back. Now, she doesn't have any of those problems."
The woman, identified only as Gulnaz, gave an interview to CNN about her harrowing situation with her rapist, Asadullah, and their young daughter sat beside her in Kabul, Afghanistan.
She was assaulted by Asadullah, who was married at the time, when she was just 16 and imprisoned for 'adultery by force' – a ‘crime’ that carried a 12-year jail sentence. She became pregnant from their rape and gave birth in prison.
She was eventually granted a presidential pardon, but believed her only chance of being able to integrate back into Afghanistan society was to marry her rapist.
"I didn't want to ruin the life of my daughter or leave myself helpless so I agreed to marry him," she told CNN. "We are traditional people. When we get a bad name, we prefer death to living with that name in society."
"I don't have a problem with him now and I don't want to think about the past problems. My life is OK. I am happy with my life [...] it is going on,” she said.
“I cut relations with my family only to buy my daughter’s future.”
Kimberley Motley, her former lawyer, said this was because she was pressured by members of the government to marry him.
"Gulnaz was constantly told that neither she nor her daughter would be protected if she did not succumb to their pressure to marry... Gulnaz essentially became a prisoner of her environment,” she explained.
"As an uneducated, young, single mother with no family support, it would have been an uphill battle for Gulnaz and her daughter."
Speaking in camera, Asadullah insisted that he had helped her by marrying her.
"If I hadn't married her, (but) according to our traditions, she couldn't have lived back in society," he said. "Her brothers didn't want to accept her back. Now, she doesn't have any of those problems."
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This is very sad, but a very popular occurrence in other countries as well. Given her situation I wouldn't consider her "Agreement" to marry him as legit consent, but heavily imposed and forced on her by society, family, and the government. It's one thing for the country to have so many backwards minded people that think sex; even forced, violent, unwanted sex, is a contract for marriage. It's downright deplorable for the government to agree and enforce that mentality. She has no choice but to stay as she will likely be punished and targeted by the government and society if she leaves.