Badea Abu Al-Naja | Arab News
JEDDAH: The sentencing of a 75-year-old Arab widow to 40 lashes and four months in prison for mingling with two young men, who were reportedly bringing her bread, has sparked fresh criticism of the Kingdom’s judiciary and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
Khamisa Sawadi, a Syrian who was married to a Saudi, was convicted and sentenced last week for meeting men who were not her immediate relatives. The two men, including one who was Sawadi’s late husband’s nephew, were also found guilty and sentenced to prison and lashes.
The woman’s lawyer, Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, said he plans to appeal the verdict, which also demands Sawadi be deported after serving her prison term. He said his client has not served her sentence yet.
Arab News tried to contact police and the commission officials in Hail, but both refused to give further details about the case.
Fariyal King, a legal specialist, said Hail police had a responsibility to explain the case as they detained the two men on the request of officials from the commission. “The Interior Ministry has appointed spokesmen to clarify matters to the media. The Hail police spokesman’s refusal to give a statement shows that there is some sort of obscurity,” she said.
The elderly woman met the men last June after she asked one of them to bring her five loaves of bread, Al-Watan reported. The men — identified by Al-Watan as the nephew, Fahd Al-Anzi, and his friend and business partner, Hadiyan bin Zein — went to Sawadi’s home in the town of Al-Shamli. As they came out after delivering the bread, the two men were arrested by commission officials, Al-Watan said on Monday.
The court said it based its March 3 ruling on information from citizens and the testimony of Al-Anzi’s father, who accused Sawadi of corruption.
Sawadi had told the court that she considered Al-Anzi as her son, because she breast-fed him when he was a baby. But the court denied her claim, saying she had no evidence. In Islamic tradition, breast-feeding establishes a degree of maternal relation.
Sawadi commonly asked her neighbors for help after her husband died, said Saudi journalist Bandar Al-Ammar, who reported the story for Al-Watan.
Suleiman Al-Radhiman, director of the Hail office of the commission, told Al-Watan that his officials detained the woman after receiving a written message that two men had entered her house. “When our patrol team arrived at the site, they found two men coming from the woman’s house. We detained the two and handed them over to police for investigation,” he said.
He pointed out that police had arrested the woman on two previous occasions and a judge in Al-Shamli had convicted her. “The woman asked me to bring bread for her. At that time, I contacted my friend Hadyan who was incidentally passing and he helped me buy bread, as I did not have a car.
“After I gave her the bread two commission officials came. They first said they belonged to a charity and wanted to know the living condition of the woman. While we were going out they caught us and handed over to the police,” said Al-Anzi.
Bin Zein said the commission officials arrested them about 200 meters from the woman’s house. “There were six commission members who all had their faces covered,” he said.
Commenting on the case, lawyer Ibrahim Zamzami said if it was proved that the old woman is Al-Anzi’s foster mother through breast-feeding, then the charge of khulwa (illegal seclusion) would be nullified. But if his relation to her is only as his uncle’s wife then the charge would stand as she is eligible to marry him.
Zamzami, however, warned that the matter of illegal seclusion with an unrelated woman was difficult to prove. “This depends on the circumstances, the time spent together and the way they looked when they come out. The shorter the time spent together, the more likelihood of illegal seclusion,” he said.
The lawyer said a 75-year-old woman is usually not considered seductive yet she is a woman and unrelated men should not remain alone with her. He said court rulings in such cases are based on Shariah, which did not differentiate between old and young. “Old age is not a sufficient ground for acquittal,” he said.
Mohammed Nahar, another lawyer, said the two men were arrested on suspicion of committing a sin. “But in law an accused will be innocent as long as the charge is not proved,” he said.
Showing posts with label arrest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label arrest. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Saudi Arabia: Critic Jailed After Decrying Justice System
JIDDAH -- An outspoken critic of the Saudi government who was previously jailed for calling for greater democracy has been arrested, his wife said Tuesday.
Matrouk al-Faleh, a professor of political science at King Saud University in Riyadh, the capital, was detained Monday after he left for work, said his wife, Jamila al-Ukla. Over the past year, Faleh has accused the Interior Ministry of disregarding laws that ban arrests without charge and guarantee the right to counsel.
An Interior Ministry spokesman was unavailable for comment on Faleh's arrest.
Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy that restricts press and speech freedoms, does not allow political parties, civil rights groups or demonstrations. But since King Abdullah took the throne in 2005, official tolerance of criticism and debate has grown.
Faleh, 55, a dissident with a long history of political activism, spent 18 months in prison and was released in August 2005 after a royal pardon.
Faleh was one of three activists, along with Ali al-Domaini and Abdullah al-Hamed, who were jailed in 2004 after calling for a constitutional monarchy and an elected parliament. They were banned from traveling outside the kingdom after their release.
Hamed, a lawyer and former academic, and his brother were sentenced in November to several months in prison for encouraging a group of women to demonstrate in front of the offices of central security in the central city of Buraidah to protest the detention of male family members without charge. After a failed appeal, the brothers began their sentences in March.
After visiting Abdullah al-Hamed in prison, Faleh on Sunday posted a three-page criticism of the Saudi justice system on several Web sites, including http://www.menber-alhewarandarts.net.
"Those who wanted to imprison Dr. Abdullah al-Hamed and his brother Eissa wanted to silence them and shut them up from saying the truth about the transgressions of the Interior Ministry and their abuses of human rights," he wrote. "Their ultimate goal is to strike at the peaceful campaign for constitutional reforms and its advocates."
By Faiza Saleh Ambah, Washington Post Foreign Service
Matrouk al-Faleh, a professor of political science at King Saud University in Riyadh, the capital, was detained Monday after he left for work, said his wife, Jamila al-Ukla. Over the past year, Faleh has accused the Interior Ministry of disregarding laws that ban arrests without charge and guarantee the right to counsel.
An Interior Ministry spokesman was unavailable for comment on Faleh's arrest.
Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy that restricts press and speech freedoms, does not allow political parties, civil rights groups or demonstrations. But since King Abdullah took the throne in 2005, official tolerance of criticism and debate has grown.
Faleh, 55, a dissident with a long history of political activism, spent 18 months in prison and was released in August 2005 after a royal pardon.
Faleh was one of three activists, along with Ali al-Domaini and Abdullah al-Hamed, who were jailed in 2004 after calling for a constitutional monarchy and an elected parliament. They were banned from traveling outside the kingdom after their release.
Hamed, a lawyer and former academic, and his brother were sentenced in November to several months in prison for encouraging a group of women to demonstrate in front of the offices of central security in the central city of Buraidah to protest the detention of male family members without charge. After a failed appeal, the brothers began their sentences in March.
After visiting Abdullah al-Hamed in prison, Faleh on Sunday posted a three-page criticism of the Saudi justice system on several Web sites, including http://www.menber-alhewarandarts.net.
"Those who wanted to imprison Dr. Abdullah al-Hamed and his brother Eissa wanted to silence them and shut them up from saying the truth about the transgressions of the Interior Ministry and their abuses of human rights," he wrote. "Their ultimate goal is to strike at the peaceful campaign for constitutional reforms and its advocates."
By Faiza Saleh Ambah, Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Jordan: Honour killing sentence could signal tougher stance
A court in Jordan has sentenced a 23-year-old man to 10 years in jail for killing his sister.
He was originally sentenced to death, but this was commuted to give him the chance to repent.
Human rights groups have urged Jordan's King Abdullah to do more to prevent what are known as honour killings.
His Government has abolished the legal provision that had seen those convicted of such killings in the past receive sentences as light as six months.
The harsher punishment delivered by the court in this case may be a sign of greater official determination to curb honour killings in the conservative, tribal-dominated society.
- BBC
He was originally sentenced to death, but this was commuted to give him the chance to repent.
Human rights groups have urged Jordan's King Abdullah to do more to prevent what are known as honour killings.
His Government has abolished the legal provision that had seen those convicted of such killings in the past receive sentences as light as six months.
The harsher punishment delivered by the court in this case may be a sign of greater official determination to curb honour killings in the conservative, tribal-dominated society.
- BBC
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Egypt: Facing Facebook
Following her release from detention on 23 April Esraa Abdel-Fattah, the founder of the Facebook group "6 April: A Nationwide Strike", told newspapers that she would henceforth avoid any form of "virtual activity".
"I have not heard about any coming strike nor do I want to hear about it," she said. Her uncle has told reporters that she no longer has a computer.
Abdel-Fattah's decision to avoid politics and reluctance to talk about her detention to the press -- Al-Ahram Weekly's attempts to contact her all failed -- comes as no surprise. Although she has reportedly said that she was "treated very well" she questions why she was detained in the first place. Having spent 16 days in prison, only to be unexpectedly released last week, it is only natural that she should be cautious about expressing any public opinions on political matters.
Abdel-Fattah was originally detained on 7 April for allegedly masterminding the 6 April strike and fuelling people's intentions to peacefully protest against rising food prices. Two days later Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud announced that Abdel-Fattah would be released.
The announcement was overruled by the Interior Ministry and instead of Mahmoud's decision being implemented Abdel-Fattah disappeared for 16 days. Her horrified mother then published a paid statement on 21 April in the daily Al-Masry Al-Yom appealing "from the heart of a mother" to the "heart of President Hosni Mubarak, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, and Interior Minister Habib El-Adli," to set her daughter free. In response, perhaps, El-Adli issued an order to release Abdel-Fattah. Her detention received heavy coverage in the media and consolidated her image as a popular hero among young Egyptians.
Detention is only one card the state can play in dealing with virtual protesters. There is an ongoing debate over whether the regime intends to block, or at least strictly monitor, the Facebook pages that have become a tool in the political mobilisation of Egypt's disaffected young. Observers approached by the Weekly believe such a security-oriented step is not only destined to fail but may have drastic repercussions.
"It is unwise, not to say impossible, to deal with Egypt's virtual community with the same security-oriented mindset the state uses in confronting on-the-ground challenges," says Amr Elshobaki of Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic and Political Studies". From a purely practical point of view, Elshobaki points out, shutting Facebook will have little impact since "the pages that are closed can easily be re-loaded on other sites."
Technology, says political analyst Nabil Abdel-Fattah, has provided young people with spaces that transcend the barriers that nation-states might want to impose. "There are hundreds of websites that bloggers have created so that their voices can be heard loud and clear."
Nabil Abdel-Fattah believes any attempt to block Facebook will only indicate the state's weakness and inability to confront the digital era in which we all now live. "It is as if the state can come up with nothing but old policies in facing new, revolutionary techniques. This is very unwise and will never work."
Instead of dreaming about controlling cyber space, which is impossible, they argue that the state would better spend its time considering the reasons that made what was conceived as a social utility a venue for political mobilisation in the first place. Facebook, points out Elshobaki, is popular the world over. Only in Egypt, he says, has it been so politicised, one reason being that while other countries have a variety of venues for socio- political expression, including political parties and NGOs, in Egypt this is not the case. "Young people have deserted a reality in which they knew they can change nothing and directed their efforts instead towards this virtual environment." If the state deprives them of even this form of expression then they will look to release their anger elsewhere. "They may," he concludes, "turn to violence."
That Esraa herself has been deterred by the security-oriented mentality does not, argues Nabil Abdel-Fattah, suggest that that strategy will be successful in other cases. There are "hundreds of other young Egyptians who will replace Esraa and use cyber space to express their socio- political demands; no censorship or deterrence strategies can stop them."
A day before Esraa was released, Bilal Diab, a Cairo University student, interrupted a speech delivered by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif on the Internet as a tool of communication. "Prime Minister," Diab told Nazif, "release all 6 April detainees... they are the same young people who used the Internet to express their opinions..."
-- Al Ahram
"I have not heard about any coming strike nor do I want to hear about it," she said. Her uncle has told reporters that she no longer has a computer.
Abdel-Fattah's decision to avoid politics and reluctance to talk about her detention to the press -- Al-Ahram Weekly's attempts to contact her all failed -- comes as no surprise. Although she has reportedly said that she was "treated very well" she questions why she was detained in the first place. Having spent 16 days in prison, only to be unexpectedly released last week, it is only natural that she should be cautious about expressing any public opinions on political matters.
Abdel-Fattah was originally detained on 7 April for allegedly masterminding the 6 April strike and fuelling people's intentions to peacefully protest against rising food prices. Two days later Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud announced that Abdel-Fattah would be released.
The announcement was overruled by the Interior Ministry and instead of Mahmoud's decision being implemented Abdel-Fattah disappeared for 16 days. Her horrified mother then published a paid statement on 21 April in the daily Al-Masry Al-Yom appealing "from the heart of a mother" to the "heart of President Hosni Mubarak, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, and Interior Minister Habib El-Adli," to set her daughter free. In response, perhaps, El-Adli issued an order to release Abdel-Fattah. Her detention received heavy coverage in the media and consolidated her image as a popular hero among young Egyptians.
Detention is only one card the state can play in dealing with virtual protesters. There is an ongoing debate over whether the regime intends to block, or at least strictly monitor, the Facebook pages that have become a tool in the political mobilisation of Egypt's disaffected young. Observers approached by the Weekly believe such a security-oriented step is not only destined to fail but may have drastic repercussions.
"It is unwise, not to say impossible, to deal with Egypt's virtual community with the same security-oriented mindset the state uses in confronting on-the-ground challenges," says Amr Elshobaki of Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic and Political Studies". From a purely practical point of view, Elshobaki points out, shutting Facebook will have little impact since "the pages that are closed can easily be re-loaded on other sites."
Technology, says political analyst Nabil Abdel-Fattah, has provided young people with spaces that transcend the barriers that nation-states might want to impose. "There are hundreds of websites that bloggers have created so that their voices can be heard loud and clear."
Nabil Abdel-Fattah believes any attempt to block Facebook will only indicate the state's weakness and inability to confront the digital era in which we all now live. "It is as if the state can come up with nothing but old policies in facing new, revolutionary techniques. This is very unwise and will never work."
Instead of dreaming about controlling cyber space, which is impossible, they argue that the state would better spend its time considering the reasons that made what was conceived as a social utility a venue for political mobilisation in the first place. Facebook, points out Elshobaki, is popular the world over. Only in Egypt, he says, has it been so politicised, one reason being that while other countries have a variety of venues for socio- political expression, including political parties and NGOs, in Egypt this is not the case. "Young people have deserted a reality in which they knew they can change nothing and directed their efforts instead towards this virtual environment." If the state deprives them of even this form of expression then they will look to release their anger elsewhere. "They may," he concludes, "turn to violence."
That Esraa herself has been deterred by the security-oriented mentality does not, argues Nabil Abdel-Fattah, suggest that that strategy will be successful in other cases. There are "hundreds of other young Egyptians who will replace Esraa and use cyber space to express their socio- political demands; no censorship or deterrence strategies can stop them."
A day before Esraa was released, Bilal Diab, a Cairo University student, interrupted a speech delivered by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif on the Internet as a tool of communication. "Prime Minister," Diab told Nazif, "release all 6 April detainees... they are the same young people who used the Internet to express their opinions..."
-- Al Ahram
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Kuwait: Arrests for vote buying
The Ministry of Interior will refer two former MPs and parliamentary candidates to the Public Prosecution for alleged vote-buying, Arab Times reports.
The parliamentary elections are on May 17.
Securitymen have arrested more than 10 men and women, including members of a female candidate’s committee in Hawalli and three women in the Fifth Constituency on similar charges. The police raided the committee’s office and during interrogation some panel members admitted that they had purchased votes in the Third Constituency. The police found a box full of citizenship certificates and another box containing KD100,000 ready for distribution to the certificate owners.
Sources said votes were purchased at KD500 each and one candidate intended to buy votes to win tribal elections in the Fifth Constituency. The raid was part of efforts to combat vote-buying in line with the Elections Law and Interior Minister Shaikh Jaber Al Khaled Al Sabah issued directives to expedite interrogation and refer the accused to the Public Prosecution. The Public Prosecution also ordered the immediate arrest of members of the Hawajer and Awazem tribes in the First Constituency for participation in the recent primaries.
The elections monitoring committee at the Kuwait Democracy Development Society said one candidate from the Fourth Constituency hired the services of citizens for unknown reasons and expressed doubts on the candidate’s move which, it said, might be intended to buy votes.
The sources said Al Otaibi tribe held primaries on Monday and nominated two candidates from the First Constituency. Al Rashidi tribe also held primaries.Naeema Al Hae from the Third Constituency filed papers and said women voters in previous elections were disappointed as male parliamentarians ignore their issues.
Accusing some male candidates of spreading rumours that women would not vote for female candidates, Al Hae said it was one way to discourage women from contesting the elections.
Objecting to the proposed quota system, Al Hae said the system would limit the number of parliamentary seats for women. “If female voters choose four candidates each, then there will be 20 female MPs in the next parliament.”
Al Hae is the only female candidate to register since Thursday. Twenty candidates registered on Monday, bringing the number of candidates to 313, including 19 women.
Only one candidate has withdrawn since the start of registration on April 14. Former MP and First Constituency candidate Sayed Hussein Al Qallaf confirmed he would form alliance with others but refused to provide details. Asked about the large number of alliances among candidates from the First Constituency, Al Qallaf said the five constituency system had given birth to alliances. “Ethnical electoral lists are being enforced on us but I hope they represent the community and not a certain group.”
The Court of First Instance ordered the ministry to allow Fourth Constituency candidate Faisal Al Tuwayeh to contest the election. But it dismissed Al Tuwayeh’s petition to declare Elections Law No. 35/1962 unconstitutional. Tuwayeh argued that he was Kuwaiti and had never been convicted for dishonesty or breach of trust. But when he filed papers as candidate from the Fourth Constituency, he said, he discovered Al Nahda area where he lived was not included in the election. Tuwayeh sought help of people to consider his candidacy but his efforts went in vain and he filed the case.
Bahrain Tribune
The parliamentary elections are on May 17.
Securitymen have arrested more than 10 men and women, including members of a female candidate’s committee in Hawalli and three women in the Fifth Constituency on similar charges. The police raided the committee’s office and during interrogation some panel members admitted that they had purchased votes in the Third Constituency. The police found a box full of citizenship certificates and another box containing KD100,000 ready for distribution to the certificate owners.
Sources said votes were purchased at KD500 each and one candidate intended to buy votes to win tribal elections in the Fifth Constituency. The raid was part of efforts to combat vote-buying in line with the Elections Law and Interior Minister Shaikh Jaber Al Khaled Al Sabah issued directives to expedite interrogation and refer the accused to the Public Prosecution. The Public Prosecution also ordered the immediate arrest of members of the Hawajer and Awazem tribes in the First Constituency for participation in the recent primaries.
The elections monitoring committee at the Kuwait Democracy Development Society said one candidate from the Fourth Constituency hired the services of citizens for unknown reasons and expressed doubts on the candidate’s move which, it said, might be intended to buy votes.
The sources said Al Otaibi tribe held primaries on Monday and nominated two candidates from the First Constituency. Al Rashidi tribe also held primaries.Naeema Al Hae from the Third Constituency filed papers and said women voters in previous elections were disappointed as male parliamentarians ignore their issues.
Accusing some male candidates of spreading rumours that women would not vote for female candidates, Al Hae said it was one way to discourage women from contesting the elections.
Objecting to the proposed quota system, Al Hae said the system would limit the number of parliamentary seats for women. “If female voters choose four candidates each, then there will be 20 female MPs in the next parliament.”
Al Hae is the only female candidate to register since Thursday. Twenty candidates registered on Monday, bringing the number of candidates to 313, including 19 women.
Only one candidate has withdrawn since the start of registration on April 14. Former MP and First Constituency candidate Sayed Hussein Al Qallaf confirmed he would form alliance with others but refused to provide details. Asked about the large number of alliances among candidates from the First Constituency, Al Qallaf said the five constituency system had given birth to alliances. “Ethnical electoral lists are being enforced on us but I hope they represent the community and not a certain group.”
The Court of First Instance ordered the ministry to allow Fourth Constituency candidate Faisal Al Tuwayeh to contest the election. But it dismissed Al Tuwayeh’s petition to declare Elections Law No. 35/1962 unconstitutional. Tuwayeh argued that he was Kuwaiti and had never been convicted for dishonesty or breach of trust. But when he filed papers as candidate from the Fourth Constituency, he said, he discovered Al Nahda area where he lived was not included in the election. Tuwayeh sought help of people to consider his candidacy but his efforts went in vain and he filed the case.
Bahrain Tribune
Monday, March 31, 2008
Kuwait: Human Rights Watch Says Kuwait Enforcing "Repressive" Dress Code Laws
Cairo, Egypt (AHN) - The Kuwaiti government has again begun arresting citizens who are "imitating the appearance of the opposite sex." Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the government of Kuwait to investigate these claims and to repeal what they called an "offending provision."
The rights group said that the law and arrests violate Kuwait's human rights obligations.
"This vague and sweeping law is based on prejudice and gives authorities a green light to abuse people over how they dress," said Joe Stork, Middle East director at HRW.
"It violates basic rights to privacy and free expression, and these continuing arrests show why it should be repealed."
The law was approved in an amendment to Kuwait's Criminal Code this past December. It reads that "any person committing an indecent act in a public place, or imitating the appearance of a member of the opposite sex, shall be subject to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding one thousand dinars ($3,500)."
At least 14 people were arrested during the first month the new amendment was added. More arrests began earlier in March as police began arresting more people for violating the code.
-- Joseph Mayton - AHN Middle East Correspondent
The rights group said that the law and arrests violate Kuwait's human rights obligations.
"This vague and sweeping law is based on prejudice and gives authorities a green light to abuse people over how they dress," said Joe Stork, Middle East director at HRW.
"It violates basic rights to privacy and free expression, and these continuing arrests show why it should be repealed."
The law was approved in an amendment to Kuwait's Criminal Code this past December. It reads that "any person committing an indecent act in a public place, or imitating the appearance of a member of the opposite sex, shall be subject to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding one thousand dinars ($3,500)."
At least 14 people were arrested during the first month the new amendment was added. More arrests began earlier in March as police began arresting more people for violating the code.
-- Joseph Mayton - AHN Middle East Correspondent
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tunisia: Press freedom organisations claim Tunisian activist was assaulted
Tunisian journalist and press freedom advocate Sihem Bensedrine and husband Omar Mestiri were allegedly assaulted by police early this month when entering Tunisia from Europe. The government denies the claims, but human rights groups are persisting in their accusations.
Press freedom advocacy groups have condemned the Tunisian government for the alleged March 3rd assault of two well-known journalists on their re-entry into the country.
According to a statement issued the day of the incident by the Observatory for the Freedom of Press, Publishing and Creation in Tunisia (OLPEC), Sihem Bensedrine and husband Omar Mestiri were "detained for six hours by Tunisian customs, and were subjected to violent physical assault from elements of political police."
The OLPEC statement reported that upon the couple's arrival at the port of La Goulette in the northern suburbs of Tunis, they were subjected to a thorough search by customs agents and required to surrender their laptop computers. Bensedrine and Mestiri refused, claiming it was an "oppressive measure" without the proper court order. When the couple persisted, the report claims they were physically assaulted by police.
The Tunisian government responded on March 4th, denying all allegations of assault.
An official source, wishing to remain anonymous, told Reuters the two journalists "were not subjected to any mistreatment ... or to any violence."
"On the other hand," the official continued, "Mrs. Bensedrine's behaviour towards customs officers was aggressive and violent during this ordinary customs procedure."
According to the official, police ordered the couple to open their bags after they triggered detection systems at the port. "After the inspection, the luggage was put back in the car and nothing has been seized," the official added.
However, the International Federation of Journalists (FIJ) claimed in a statement issued on March 5th that "Bensedrine sustained severe bruises and a torn ligament in one arm."
Sihem Bensedrine is Secretary-General of OLPEC and spokesperson of the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia (CNLT). Her husband, Omar Mestiri, is managing editor of online newspaper Kalima.
Rohan Jayasekera, chair of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG), said, "I find it hard to believe that just days before International Women's Day, the government of Tunisia would sanction such a vicious attack on a woman."
Bensedrine has come under fire in Tunisia by pro-government weekly El Hadath, which has accused her and other human rights activists of treason. The articles were condemned by numerous local and international organisations, including the International Federation for the Defence of Human Rights and the International Observatory for the Protection of Defenders of Human Rights.
In a statement issued March 3rd, the National Union of Tunisian Journalists condemned the actions of some Tunisian newspapers, claiming their practices violate the law and the journalist's code of ethics by "cursing and defaming national Tunisian figures mentioned by name".
The Union said the critical articles published by El Hadath are punishable under the Press Law, article 50 and other articles on defamation, and asked public prosecutors to examine lawsuits filed against the authors and publishers.
Sihem Bensedrine was awarded the Danish Peace Foundation's 2008 Peace Prize for her defence of human rights, democracy, and freedom of expression. She was jailed in 2001 for her harsh criticisms of the Tunisian regime, and has long been known for her campaigns against what she deems human rights abuses in the country.
-- Jamel Arfaoui in Tunis, Magharebia
Press freedom advocacy groups have condemned the Tunisian government for the alleged March 3rd assault of two well-known journalists on their re-entry into the country.
According to a statement issued the day of the incident by the Observatory for the Freedom of Press, Publishing and Creation in Tunisia (OLPEC), Sihem Bensedrine and husband Omar Mestiri were "detained for six hours by Tunisian customs, and were subjected to violent physical assault from elements of political police."
The OLPEC statement reported that upon the couple's arrival at the port of La Goulette in the northern suburbs of Tunis, they were subjected to a thorough search by customs agents and required to surrender their laptop computers. Bensedrine and Mestiri refused, claiming it was an "oppressive measure" without the proper court order. When the couple persisted, the report claims they were physically assaulted by police.
The Tunisian government responded on March 4th, denying all allegations of assault.
An official source, wishing to remain anonymous, told Reuters the two journalists "were not subjected to any mistreatment ... or to any violence."
"On the other hand," the official continued, "Mrs. Bensedrine's behaviour towards customs officers was aggressive and violent during this ordinary customs procedure."
According to the official, police ordered the couple to open their bags after they triggered detection systems at the port. "After the inspection, the luggage was put back in the car and nothing has been seized," the official added.
However, the International Federation of Journalists (FIJ) claimed in a statement issued on March 5th that "Bensedrine sustained severe bruises and a torn ligament in one arm."
Sihem Bensedrine is Secretary-General of OLPEC and spokesperson of the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia (CNLT). Her husband, Omar Mestiri, is managing editor of online newspaper Kalima.
Rohan Jayasekera, chair of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG), said, "I find it hard to believe that just days before International Women's Day, the government of Tunisia would sanction such a vicious attack on a woman."
Bensedrine has come under fire in Tunisia by pro-government weekly El Hadath, which has accused her and other human rights activists of treason. The articles were condemned by numerous local and international organisations, including the International Federation for the Defence of Human Rights and the International Observatory for the Protection of Defenders of Human Rights.
In a statement issued March 3rd, the National Union of Tunisian Journalists condemned the actions of some Tunisian newspapers, claiming their practices violate the law and the journalist's code of ethics by "cursing and defaming national Tunisian figures mentioned by name".
The Union said the critical articles published by El Hadath are punishable under the Press Law, article 50 and other articles on defamation, and asked public prosecutors to examine lawsuits filed against the authors and publishers.
Sihem Bensedrine was awarded the Danish Peace Foundation's 2008 Peace Prize for her defence of human rights, democracy, and freedom of expression. She was jailed in 2001 for her harsh criticisms of the Tunisian regime, and has long been known for her campaigns against what she deems human rights abuses in the country.
-- Jamel Arfaoui in Tunis, Magharebia
Monday, March 10, 2008
Saudi Arabia: Two reformists sent to jail
RIYADH • A leading Saudi reformist and his brother started to serve time behind bars yesterday after being convicted of inciting women's protests in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom.
Abdullah Al Hamed, a prominent Islamist reformist, and his brother Issa were sentenced last November to six and four months in jail respectively.
The sentences were upheld by an appeals court last month, but the two men were still free pending a decision on the rulings by the governor's office of Al Qassim region where their trial took place.
"The two brothers turned themselves in at 1.00 pm (1000 GMT) after they were summoned on Wednesday to serve the sentences," a family friend said.
"They handed themselves in at the Buraida prison," in Al Qassim, 320 kilometres north of the Saudi capital Riyadh, he added, requesting anonymity.
The charges against the Hamed brothers were linked to two sit-ins last summer by women in Al Qassim.
The women mounted the protests to demand their husbands or brothers, held on suspicion of involvement in a wave of violence unleashed by suspected Islamist militants in 2003, either receive a public trial or be released.
Public protests are banned in Saudi Arabia.
More than 40 Saudi human rights activists and reformists called earlier this month for the annulment of the "unfair ruling" against the Hamed brothers.
In November, New York-based Human Rights Watch slammed Saudi Arabia for jailing the two reformers, saying the judgement proved it was illegal to criticise the authorities in the kingdom.
Abdullah Al Hamed was one of three reformists who spent 17 months in jail for demanding a constitutional monarchy before being pardoned by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz immediately after he assumed the throne in August 2005.
-- AFP
Abdullah Al Hamed, a prominent Islamist reformist, and his brother Issa were sentenced last November to six and four months in jail respectively.
The sentences were upheld by an appeals court last month, but the two men were still free pending a decision on the rulings by the governor's office of Al Qassim region where their trial took place.
"The two brothers turned themselves in at 1.00 pm (1000 GMT) after they were summoned on Wednesday to serve the sentences," a family friend said.
"They handed themselves in at the Buraida prison," in Al Qassim, 320 kilometres north of the Saudi capital Riyadh, he added, requesting anonymity.
The charges against the Hamed brothers were linked to two sit-ins last summer by women in Al Qassim.
The women mounted the protests to demand their husbands or brothers, held on suspicion of involvement in a wave of violence unleashed by suspected Islamist militants in 2003, either receive a public trial or be released.
Public protests are banned in Saudi Arabia.
More than 40 Saudi human rights activists and reformists called earlier this month for the annulment of the "unfair ruling" against the Hamed brothers.
In November, New York-based Human Rights Watch slammed Saudi Arabia for jailing the two reformers, saying the judgement proved it was illegal to criticise the authorities in the kingdom.
Abdullah Al Hamed was one of three reformists who spent 17 months in jail for demanding a constitutional monarchy before being pardoned by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz immediately after he assumed the throne in August 2005.
-- AFP
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Saudi Arabia: Religious police hit back over woman held in cafe
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia’s religious police hit back on Tuesday at critics of their arrest of a businesswoman in a Starbucks cafe for mixing with a male colleague, threatening to sue a journalist.
The powerful Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, or religious police, charged the Saudi woman was making ‘suspicious gestures’ while in the man’s company and broke the law on several counts, in a statement published in the local press.
The commission ‘reserves the right of its members ... to claim their legal right from columnist Abdullah Al Alami who accused them of abduction,’ it said.
The religious police, commonly known as Muttawa, said Alami, a columnist for the daily Al Watan, had also accused them of strip-searching the woman, ‘which is no less reprehensible than ... the crime of kidnapping’.
The businesswoman, a 40-year-old financial consultant, was quoted in the English-language daily Arab News on February 5 as saying she was detained and strip-searched by the Muttawa the previous day.
She had been sitting in a Starbucks coffee shop with an unrelated man, an activity which is taboo in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia.
The woman, named only as Yara, said she was holding a business meeting with the man in a branch of Starbucks in Riyadh, in a section reserved for families.
Yara, a mother of three, said she was taken to a Riyadh prison, strip-searched and forced to sign a confession to having been caught alone with an unrelated man.
She said the Muttawa released her several hours later after her husband intervened. The man with whom Yara had coffee, an unnamed Syrian financial analyst, was also arrested.
Newspapers said the man was released the next day.
In its statement, the 5,000-strong religious police accused Yara of violating both the law and Islamic tenets by flying unaccompanied from Jeddah to Riyadh and sitting alone with an unrelated man in a public place in a section reserved for families.
The religious police said its members went to the coffee shop after receiving information that the woman did not have her head covered and was wearing make-up and making ‘suspicious gestures’ while in the man’s company.
A UN expert on women’s rights said last week at the end of a visit to Saudi Arabia that she had heard accounts of serious discrimination against women and abuses by the Muttawa.
‘The Muttawa are said to be responsible for serious human rights abuses in harassing, threatening and arresting women who ‘deviate from accepted norms’,’ said Yakin Erturk, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women, citing Yara’s arrest during her visit.
Women in Saudi Arabia, which applies a rigorous doctrine of Islam known as Wahhabism, face a host of constraints, including a ban on driving.
They are forced to cover from head to toe in public, and can not mix with men other than relatives or travel without written permission from their male guardian.
(AFP)
The powerful Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, or religious police, charged the Saudi woman was making ‘suspicious gestures’ while in the man’s company and broke the law on several counts, in a statement published in the local press.
The commission ‘reserves the right of its members ... to claim their legal right from columnist Abdullah Al Alami who accused them of abduction,’ it said.
The religious police, commonly known as Muttawa, said Alami, a columnist for the daily Al Watan, had also accused them of strip-searching the woman, ‘which is no less reprehensible than ... the crime of kidnapping’.
The businesswoman, a 40-year-old financial consultant, was quoted in the English-language daily Arab News on February 5 as saying she was detained and strip-searched by the Muttawa the previous day.
She had been sitting in a Starbucks coffee shop with an unrelated man, an activity which is taboo in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia.
The woman, named only as Yara, said she was holding a business meeting with the man in a branch of Starbucks in Riyadh, in a section reserved for families.
Yara, a mother of three, said she was taken to a Riyadh prison, strip-searched and forced to sign a confession to having been caught alone with an unrelated man.
She said the Muttawa released her several hours later after her husband intervened. The man with whom Yara had coffee, an unnamed Syrian financial analyst, was also arrested.
Newspapers said the man was released the next day.
In its statement, the 5,000-strong religious police accused Yara of violating both the law and Islamic tenets by flying unaccompanied from Jeddah to Riyadh and sitting alone with an unrelated man in a public place in a section reserved for families.
The religious police said its members went to the coffee shop after receiving information that the woman did not have her head covered and was wearing make-up and making ‘suspicious gestures’ while in the man’s company.
A UN expert on women’s rights said last week at the end of a visit to Saudi Arabia that she had heard accounts of serious discrimination against women and abuses by the Muttawa.
‘The Muttawa are said to be responsible for serious human rights abuses in harassing, threatening and arresting women who ‘deviate from accepted norms’,’ said Yakin Erturk, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women, citing Yara’s arrest during her visit.
Women in Saudi Arabia, which applies a rigorous doctrine of Islam known as Wahhabism, face a host of constraints, including a ban on driving.
They are forced to cover from head to toe in public, and can not mix with men other than relatives or travel without written permission from their male guardian.
(AFP)
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Saudi Arabia: Religious police arrest mother for sitting with a man
A 37-year-old American businesswoman and married mother of three is seeking justice after she was thrown in jail by Saudi Arabia's religious police for sitting with a male colleague at a Starbucks coffee shop in Riyadh.
Yara, who does not want her last name published for fear of retribution, was bruised and crying when she was freed from a day in prison after she was strip-searched, threatened and forced to sign false confessions by the Kingdom's “Mutaween” police.
Her story offers a rare first-hand glimpse of the discrimination faced by women living in Saudi Arabia. In her first interview with the foreign press, Yara told The Times that she would remain in Saudi Arabia to challenge its harsh enforcement of conservative Islam rather than return to America.
“If I want to make a difference I have to stick around. If I leave they win. I can't just surrender to the terrorist acts of these people,” said Yara, who moved to Jeddah eight years ago with her husband, a prominent businessman.
Her ordeal began with a routine visit to the new Riyadh offices of her finance company, where she is a managing partner.
The electricity temporarily cut out, so Yara and her colleagues — who are all men — went to a nearby Starbucks to use its wireless internet.
She sat in a curtained booth with her business partner in the café's “family” area, the only seats where men and women are allowed to mix.
For Yara, it was a matter of convenience. But in Saudi Arabia, public contact between unrelated men and women is strictly prohibited.
“Some men came up to us with very long beards and white dresses. They asked ‘Why are you here together?'. I explained about the power being out in our office. They got very angry and told me what I was doing was a great sin,” recalled Yara, who wears an abaya and headscarf, like most Saudi women.
The men were from Saudi Arabia's Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, a police force of several thousand men charged with enforcing dress codes, sex segregation and the observance of prayers.
Yara, whose parents are Jordanian and grew up in Salt Lake City, once believed that life in Saudi Arabia was becoming more liberal. But on Monday the religious police took her mobile phone, pushed her into a cab and drove her to Malaz prison in Riyadh. She was interrogated, strip-searched and forced to sign and fingerprint a series of confessions pleading guilty to her “crime”.
“They took me into a filthy bathroom, full of water and dirt. They made me take off my clothes and squat and they threw my clothes in this slush and made me put them back on,” she said. Eventually she was taken before a judge.
“He said 'You are sinful and you are going to burn in hell'. I told him I was sorry. I was very submissive. I had given up. I felt hopeless,” she said.
Yara's husband, Hatim, used his political contacts in Jeddah to track her whereabouts. He was able to secure her release.
“I was lucky. I met other women in that prison who don't have the connections I did,” she said. Her story has received rare coverage in Saudi Arabia, where the press has been sharply critical of the police.
Yara was visited yesterday by officials from the American Embassy, who promised they would file a report.
An embassy official told The Times that it was being treated as “an internal Saudi matter” and refused to comment on her case.
Tough justice
— Saudi Arabia’s Mutaween has 10,000 members in almost 500 offices
— Ahmad al-Bluwi, 50, died in custody in 2007 in the city of Tabuk after he invited a woman outside his immediate family into his car
— In 2007 the victim of a gang rape was sentenced to 200 lashes and six years in jail for having been in an unrelated man’s car at the time. She was pardoned by King Abdullah, although he maintained the sentence had been fair
Source: The Times Archives
Sonia Verma in Dubai
Yara, who does not want her last name published for fear of retribution, was bruised and crying when she was freed from a day in prison after she was strip-searched, threatened and forced to sign false confessions by the Kingdom's “Mutaween” police.
Her story offers a rare first-hand glimpse of the discrimination faced by women living in Saudi Arabia. In her first interview with the foreign press, Yara told The Times that she would remain in Saudi Arabia to challenge its harsh enforcement of conservative Islam rather than return to America.
“If I want to make a difference I have to stick around. If I leave they win. I can't just surrender to the terrorist acts of these people,” said Yara, who moved to Jeddah eight years ago with her husband, a prominent businessman.
Her ordeal began with a routine visit to the new Riyadh offices of her finance company, where she is a managing partner.
The electricity temporarily cut out, so Yara and her colleagues — who are all men — went to a nearby Starbucks to use its wireless internet.
She sat in a curtained booth with her business partner in the café's “family” area, the only seats where men and women are allowed to mix.
For Yara, it was a matter of convenience. But in Saudi Arabia, public contact between unrelated men and women is strictly prohibited.
“Some men came up to us with very long beards and white dresses. They asked ‘Why are you here together?'. I explained about the power being out in our office. They got very angry and told me what I was doing was a great sin,” recalled Yara, who wears an abaya and headscarf, like most Saudi women.
The men were from Saudi Arabia's Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, a police force of several thousand men charged with enforcing dress codes, sex segregation and the observance of prayers.
Yara, whose parents are Jordanian and grew up in Salt Lake City, once believed that life in Saudi Arabia was becoming more liberal. But on Monday the religious police took her mobile phone, pushed her into a cab and drove her to Malaz prison in Riyadh. She was interrogated, strip-searched and forced to sign and fingerprint a series of confessions pleading guilty to her “crime”.
“They took me into a filthy bathroom, full of water and dirt. They made me take off my clothes and squat and they threw my clothes in this slush and made me put them back on,” she said. Eventually she was taken before a judge.
“He said 'You are sinful and you are going to burn in hell'. I told him I was sorry. I was very submissive. I had given up. I felt hopeless,” she said.
Yara's husband, Hatim, used his political contacts in Jeddah to track her whereabouts. He was able to secure her release.
“I was lucky. I met other women in that prison who don't have the connections I did,” she said. Her story has received rare coverage in Saudi Arabia, where the press has been sharply critical of the police.
Yara was visited yesterday by officials from the American Embassy, who promised they would file a report.
An embassy official told The Times that it was being treated as “an internal Saudi matter” and refused to comment on her case.
Tough justice
— Saudi Arabia’s Mutaween has 10,000 members in almost 500 offices
— Ahmad al-Bluwi, 50, died in custody in 2007 in the city of Tabuk after he invited a woman outside his immediate family into his car
— In 2007 the victim of a gang rape was sentenced to 200 lashes and six years in jail for having been in an unrelated man’s car at the time. She was pardoned by King Abdullah, although he maintained the sentence had been fair
Source: The Times Archives
Sonia Verma in Dubai
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Egypt: Government releases Al Jazeera producer
Howayda Taha, a documentary producer for Al Jazeera, has been released after being held for 15 hours by Egyptian police.Taha was arrested on Monday for allegedly filming without a proper licence, her lawyer and police said.
She is already appealing an earlier jail sentence after reporting on alleged torture in police stations.
Taha was working on a film about farm labourers in a low-income neighbourhood in Cairo when police detained her early on Monday and questioned her late into the evening.
Ahmed Helmi, her lawyer, said on Tuesday she had all the necessary papers issued to her from the Egyptian press centre.
Police confiscated her tapes and sent them to be inspected by the department of artistic inspection, Helmi said. It was not clear if any charges would be raised."She is under a constant police watch, they want to ban her from working in Egypt," he said.
Police said four other people were arrested with her, including three crew members and an Egyptian human-rights activist.
Taha was sentenced in absentia in May to six months in jail and fined $5,600 for working on a documentary highlighting torture in police stations.
She has appealed against the sentence. The appeals court is due to deliver its ruling on February 11.
- Al Jazeera News Service
She is already appealing an earlier jail sentence after reporting on alleged torture in police stations.
Taha was working on a film about farm labourers in a low-income neighbourhood in Cairo when police detained her early on Monday and questioned her late into the evening.
Ahmed Helmi, her lawyer, said on Tuesday she had all the necessary papers issued to her from the Egyptian press centre.
Police confiscated her tapes and sent them to be inspected by the department of artistic inspection, Helmi said. It was not clear if any charges would be raised."She is under a constant police watch, they want to ban her from working in Egypt," he said.
Police said four other people were arrested with her, including three crew members and an Egyptian human-rights activist.
Taha was sentenced in absentia in May to six months in jail and fined $5,600 for working on a documentary highlighting torture in police stations.
She has appealed against the sentence. The appeals court is due to deliver its ruling on February 11.
- Al Jazeera News Service
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