http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/26/world/africa/26algeria.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
A Quiet Revolution in Algeria: Gains by Women
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
New York Times
May 26, 2007
ALGIERS, May 25 — In this tradition-bound nation scarred by a brutal Islamist-led civil war that killed more than 100,000, a quiet revolution is under way: women are emerging as an economic and political force unheard of in the rest of the Arab world.
Women make up 70 percent of Algeria’s lawyers and 60 percent of its judges. Women dominate medicine. Increasingly, women contribute more to household income than men. Sixty percent of university students are women, university researchers say.
In a region where women have a decidedly low public profile, Algerian women are visible everywhere. They are starting to drive buses and taxicabs. They pump gas and wait on tables.
Although men still hold all of the formal levers of power and women still make up only 20 percent of the work force, that is more than twice their share a generation ago, and they seem to be taking over the machinery of state as well.
“If such a trend continues,” said Daho Djerbal, editor and publisher of Naqd, a magazine of social criticism and analysis, “we will see a new phenomenon where our public administration will also be controlled by women.”
The change seems to have sneaked up on Algerians, who for years have focused more on the struggle between a governing party trying to stay in power and Islamists trying to take that power. Those who study the region say they are taken aback by the data but suggest that an explanation may lie in the educational system and the labor market.
University studies are no longer viewed as a credible route toward a career or economic well-being, and so men may well opt out and try to find work or to simply leave the country, suggested Hugh Roberts, a historian and the North Africa project director of the International Crisis Group.
But for women, he added, university studies get them out of the house and allow them to position themselves better in society. “The dividend may be social rather than in terms of career,” he said.
This generation of Algerian women has navigated a path between the secular state and the pull of extremist Islam, the two poles of the national crisis of recent years.
The women are more religious than previous generations, and more modern, sociologists here said. Women cover their heads and drape their bodies with traditional Islamic coverings. They pray. They go to the mosque — and they work, often alongside men, once considered taboo.
Sociologists and many working women say that by adopting religion and wearing the Islamic head covering called the hijab, women here have in effect freed themselves from moral judgments and restrictions imposed by men. Uncovered women are rarely seen on the street late at night, but covered women can be seen strolling the city after attending the evening prayer at a mosque.
“They never criticize me, especially when they see I am wearing the hijab,” said Denni Fatiha, 44, the first woman to drive a large city bus through the narrow, winding roads of Algiers.
The impact has been far-reaching and profound.
In some neighborhoods, for example, birthrates appear to have fallen and class sizes in elementary schools have dropped by nearly half. It appears that women are delaying marriage to complete their studies, though delayed marriage is also a function of high unemployment. In the past, women typically married at 17 or 18 but now marry on average at 29, sociologists said.
And when they marry, it is often to men who are far less educated, creating an awkward social reality for many women.
Khalida Rahman is a lawyer. She is 33 and has been married to a night watchman for five months. Her husband was a friend of her brothers who showed up one day and proposed. She immediately said yes, she recalled.
She describes her life now this way: “Whenever I leave him it is just as if I am a man. But when I get home I become a woman.”
Fatima Oussedik, a sociologist, said, “We in the ’60s, we were progressive, but we did not achieve what is being achieved by this generation today.” Ms. Oussedik, who works for the Research Center for Applied Economics and Development in Algiers, does not wear the hijab and prefers to speak in French.
Researchers here say the change is not driven by demographics; women make up only a bit more than half of the population. They said it is driven by desire and opportunity.
Algeria’s young men reject school and try to earn money as traders in the informal sector, selling goods on the street, or they focus their efforts on leaving the country or just hanging out. There is a whole class of young men referred to as hittistes — the word is a combination of French and Arabic for people who hold up walls.
Increasingly, the people here have lost faith in their government, which draws its legitimacy from a revolution now more than five decades old, many political and social analysts said. In recent parliamentary elections, turnout was low and there were 970,000 protest votes — cast by people who intentionally destroyed their ballots — nearly as many as the 1.3 million votes cast in support of the governing party.
There are regular protests, and riots, all over the country, with people complaining about corruption, lack of services and economic disparities. There are violent attacks, too: bombings aimed at the police, officials and foreigners. A triple suicide bombing on April 11 against the prime minister’s office and the police left more than 30 people dead.
In that context, women may have emerged as Algeria’s most potent force for social change, with their presence in the bureaucracy and on the street having a potentially moderating and modernizing influence on society, sociologists said.
“Women, and the women’s movement, could be leading us to modernity,” said Abdel Nasser Djabi, a professor of sociology at the University of Algiers.
Not everyone is happy with those dynamics. Some political and social analysts say the recent resurgence in radical Islamist activity, including bombings, is driven partly by a desire to slow the social change the country is experiencing, especially regarding women’s role in society.
Others complain that the growing participation of women in society is a direct violation of the faith.“I am against this,” said Esmail Ben Ibrahim, an imam at a neighborhood mosque near the center of the city. “It is all wrong from a religious point of view. Society has embarked on the wrong path.”
The quest for identity is a constant undercurrent in much of the Middle East. But it is arguably the most complicated question in Algeria, a nation whose borders were drawn by France and whose people speak Berber, Arabic and French.
After a bitter experience with French occupation and a seven-year revolutionary war that brought independence in 1962 at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives, the leaders here chose to adopt Islam and Arab identity as the force to unify the country. Arabic replaced French as the language of education, and the French secular curriculum was replaced with a curriculum heavy on religion.
At the same time, girls were encouraged to go to school
Now, more than four decades later, Algeria’s youth — 70 percent of the population is under 30, researchers said — have grown up with Arabic and an orientation toward Middle Eastern issues. Arabic-language television networks like Al Jazeera have become the popular reference point, more so than French television, observers here said.
In the 1990s radical Islamist ideas gained popular support, and terrorism was widely accepted as a means to win power. More than 100,000 people died in years of civil conflict. Today most people say the experience has forced them to reject the most radical ideas.
So although Algerians are more religious now than they were during the bloody 1990s, they are more likely to embrace modernity — a partial explanation for the emergence of women as a societal force, some analysts said.
That is not the case in more rural mountainous areas, where women continue to live by the code of tradition. But for the time being, most people say that for now the community’s collective consciousness is simply too raw from the years of civil war for Islamist terrorists or radical Islamic ideas to gain popular support.
There is a sense that the new room given to women may at least partly be a reflection of that general feeling. The population has largely rejected the most radical interpretation of Islam and has begun to return to the more North African, almost mystical, interpretation of the faith, sociologists and religious leaders said.
Whatever the underlying reason, women in the streets of the city are brimming with enthusiasm.“I don’t think any of this contradicts Islam,” said Wahiba Nabti, 36, as she walked through the center of the city one day recently. “On the contrary, Islam gives freedom to work. Anyway, it is between you and God.”
Ms. Nabti wore a black scarf covering her head and a long black gown that hid the shape of her body. “I hope one day I can drive a crane, so I can really be financially independent,” she said.
“You cannot always rely on a man.”
Showing posts with label civil rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label civil rights. Show all posts
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Giving Rights to Women Starts with AIDS Prevention
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=58000
World AIDS Day Focuses Spotlight On Links Between Sexual Violence, Broken Justice Systems And HIV/AIDS Pandemic
02 Dec 2006 In recognition of World AIDS Day, International Justice Mission calls upon the U.S. and other international donors to help AIDS-burdened countries in Africa build judicial capacity to investigate and prosecute sexual violence against women and girls.
"Rape is an HIV risk factor for tens of millions of African women and children and yet in many AIDS-burdened countries public justice systems are broken or virtually inaccessible to poor girls and women," says Holly Burkhalter, vice president of government relations at International Justice Mission, a Washington, D.C.-based human rights organization that strives to bring immediate relief to victims of oppression, slavery, trafficking and violence while pursuing prosecution for perpetrators.
"Defeating the AIDS pandemic requires that African women and girls have the right to protection under their own countries' laws. In addition to continuing successful campaigns to combat HIV/AIDS, these countries need hands-on help in getting rapists and batterers off the street and into jail."Burkhalter cites a June 2005 initiative announced by President Bush -- the "Women's Justice and Empowerment in Africa" program -- that pledged $55 million over three years to showcase successes in four African countries (Benin, Zambia, Kenya and South Africa) in creating judicial capacity to address sexual violence and increase services to victims.
Burkhalter notes that to date, only $1.2 million has been spent (in 2005), less than 3% of the money pledged in the program. No funds were used in 2006. (Initiative: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050630-5.html)"We urge the administration to fully implement the Women's Justice and Empowerment in Africa program with the same effectiveness as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). That program's success demonstrates how quickly and effectively billions of dollars in foreign aid can be mobilized if an issue is prioritized.
It is past time to make protection from rape, child abuse, and domestic violence that kind of a priority," added Burkhalter.An international consensus has emerged that violence and degradation of women and girls are key factors in the rapid spread of HIV among this group; and yet, investment in protection for children and women is not on the international radar screen, says IJM. The organization proposes a "build it as we go" approach to strengthening national judiciaries in AIDS-burdened Africa. This includes ramping up investigations, prosecutions and convictions from the dozens to the hundreds, then thousands, while simultaneously training, equipping and recruiting police, prosecutors and judges.
As in the case of health systems, the greatest need of judiciaries is for skilled human resources, according to IJM. Local police need training, management, salary support and deployment to underserved rural villages and towns. Scaling up of rape cases requires DNA labs, rape test kits, witness protection capacity, referral systems, vehicles and computers. Corrupt or abusive police and judicial staff should be fired and prosecuted; incentives and benefits should reward excellence and confer prestige on police and prosecutors who take on sexual violence."When it comes to women and HIV, access to justice has to be considered AIDS prevention," added Burkhalter. "Functioning judicial systems are the next frontier in confronting the AIDS pandemic and preventing its spread."
About International Justice Mission
International Justice Mission is a human rights organization that brings immediate relief to victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery and oppression. A multi-national team of lawyers and law enforcement professionals conduct criminal investigations and collect evidence to relieve victims and bring perpetrators to justice, and IJM social workers secure appropriate aftercare for victims of abuse. IJM was founded by Gary Haugen who was the Officer in Charge of the U.N. investigation into the Rwandan genocide. IJM has 11 overseas offices in Africa, Latin America and Asia.International Justice Missionhttp://www.ijm.org
Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=58000
“AIDS prevention”
World AIDS Day Focuses Spotlight On Links Between Sexual Violence, Broken Justice Systems And HIV/AIDS Pandemic
02 Dec 2006 In recognition of World AIDS Day, International Justice Mission calls upon the U.S. and other international donors to help AIDS-burdened countries in Africa build judicial capacity to investigate and prosecute sexual violence against women and girls.
"Rape is an HIV risk factor for tens of millions of African women and children and yet in many AIDS-burdened countries public justice systems are broken or virtually inaccessible to poor girls and women," says Holly Burkhalter, vice president of government relations at International Justice Mission, a Washington, D.C.-based human rights organization that strives to bring immediate relief to victims of oppression, slavery, trafficking and violence while pursuing prosecution for perpetrators.
"Defeating the AIDS pandemic requires that African women and girls have the right to protection under their own countries' laws. In addition to continuing successful campaigns to combat HIV/AIDS, these countries need hands-on help in getting rapists and batterers off the street and into jail."Burkhalter cites a June 2005 initiative announced by President Bush -- the "Women's Justice and Empowerment in Africa" program -- that pledged $55 million over three years to showcase successes in four African countries (Benin, Zambia, Kenya and South Africa) in creating judicial capacity to address sexual violence and increase services to victims.
Burkhalter notes that to date, only $1.2 million has been spent (in 2005), less than 3% of the money pledged in the program. No funds were used in 2006. (Initiative: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050630-5.html)"We urge the administration to fully implement the Women's Justice and Empowerment in Africa program with the same effectiveness as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). That program's success demonstrates how quickly and effectively billions of dollars in foreign aid can be mobilized if an issue is prioritized.
It is past time to make protection from rape, child abuse, and domestic violence that kind of a priority," added Burkhalter.An international consensus has emerged that violence and degradation of women and girls are key factors in the rapid spread of HIV among this group; and yet, investment in protection for children and women is not on the international radar screen, says IJM. The organization proposes a "build it as we go" approach to strengthening national judiciaries in AIDS-burdened Africa. This includes ramping up investigations, prosecutions and convictions from the dozens to the hundreds, then thousands, while simultaneously training, equipping and recruiting police, prosecutors and judges.
As in the case of health systems, the greatest need of judiciaries is for skilled human resources, according to IJM. Local police need training, management, salary support and deployment to underserved rural villages and towns. Scaling up of rape cases requires DNA labs, rape test kits, witness protection capacity, referral systems, vehicles and computers. Corrupt or abusive police and judicial staff should be fired and prosecuted; incentives and benefits should reward excellence and confer prestige on police and prosecutors who take on sexual violence."When it comes to women and HIV, access to justice has to be considered AIDS prevention," added Burkhalter. "Functioning judicial systems are the next frontier in confronting the AIDS pandemic and preventing its spread."
About International Justice Mission
International Justice Mission is a human rights organization that brings immediate relief to victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery and oppression. A multi-national team of lawyers and law enforcement professionals conduct criminal investigations and collect evidence to relieve victims and bring perpetrators to justice, and IJM social workers secure appropriate aftercare for victims of abuse. IJM was founded by Gary Haugen who was the Officer in Charge of the U.N. investigation into the Rwandan genocide. IJM has 11 overseas offices in Africa, Latin America and Asia.International Justice Missionhttp://www.ijm.org
Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=58000
“AIDS prevention”
Monday, February 18, 2008
Women's Natural Individual Rights Must Be Recognized & Respected In Order For Them to Achieve Economic & Political Freedom
Women's Natural Individual Rights Must Be Recognized & Respected In Order For Them to Achieve Economic & Political Freedom
By Lawrence Kogan
June 2002
A survey of global trouble spots marked by internal civil war, civil unrest and/or foreign intervention, places such as Central Europe, Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia, where social order and the rule of law have broken down, is likely to reveal a myriad of human rights abuses suffered disproportionately by local women and children (especially girls). Studies prepared by the United Nations and human rights groups confirm that women are particularly vulnerable to violence, rape, famine, disease, poverty, unemployment, displacement, etc. in these situations because of their subordinate status in society and their dependence on men for their very livelihoods and survival, whether for historical, cultural and/or religious reasons. That these conditions still persist in a world as affluent and technologically advanced as the one in which we live today, should be repugnant to each and every person who considers himself or herself ‘civilized’. That they can be tolerated by a world led by the United States, in which a Universal Declaration of Human Rights is acclaimed as ‘the foundation of the human rights doctrine’ and a Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women remains open for ratification, is morally reprehensible.
Based on the readings and Mr. O’Flattery’s lecture, it is possible to see how a ‘morally legitimate’ and ‘universal’ organization such as the United Nations can be both successful and unsuccessful in its efforts to arrest both the problem and the conditions that give rise to it. While women are indeed the primary victims of armed conflicts, they have yet to be fully accepted as meaningful participants in the processes that ultimately can lead to the resolution of the conflicts and to the subsequent rehabilitation, reconstruction and governance of their war-torn countries. The United Nations and its agencies have studied and recognized the contributions to civil society that women are capable of, and are currently pursuing, with the assistance of NGOs, a number of initiatives aimed at empowering women in peacemaking. Of the six principal organs established pursuant to Chapter III, Article 7 of the U.N. Charter, four of them are individually and collectively pursuing measures that should eventually lead to the full realization by women of their basic human rights and fundamental freedoms. As Mr. O’Flattery suggested, these measures represent a new phase in the implementation of previously developed human rights law.
Chief among these initiatives is Security Council Resolution 1325, which is “the first Resolution to give political legitimacy to women’s struggle for a seat at the negotiating table, to provide a political frame-work within which women’s protection and their role in peace-building can be addressed, and to be supported by a vibrant women’s movement”. (See “Women, Peace and Security, Progress on UN Security Council Resolution 1325” October 31, 2001, UNIFEM website). Res. 1325 is considered more than a statement of intention. It is viewed, rather, as a process that requires implementation. “It powerfully called for women’s full access to power structures and their central role in all efforts to resolve conflict. It also illustrates the vital importance of bringing gender perspectives to the center of attention to all U.N. peacekeeping, peace-building , rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts…There is a dynamic need for women to be adequately and fairly represented in peace processes and in UN peace operations. A woman’s participation in U.N. missions empowers local women and may inspire them to organize for the achievement of a democratic society.” (See Introductory Remarks of Brian Cowen, Pres. Of Security Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ireland, at First Anniversary of S.C. Res. 1325, U.N. Inter-Agency Panel on Women, Peace and Security, 10/31/01, at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/IAMWGE/activities/res1325/intro_cowen.html ).
S.C. Res. 1325 imposes a duty upon both Member States and the United Nations system to fulfill these mandates. The Secretary General, furthermore, is charged with two critical assignments. First, he is obliged to provide to Member States training guidelines and materials on the protection, rights and the particular needs of women, as well as on the importance of involving women in all peacekeeping and peace building measures. (par.#6). Second, he must carry out a study on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peace-building and the gender dimensions of peace processes and conflict resolution. The results of the study are to reported and submitted to the Security Council and to be made available to all Member States. (par.#16).
S.C. Res. 1325 is based, in part, upon the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which is an agenda for women’s empowerment that called upon governments to remove all obstacles to women’s active participation in all spheres of public and private life through a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making. Its main premise was that equality between women and men is not only a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice, but is also a necessary and fundamental prerequisite for equality, development and peace. The Platform for Action identified twelve critical areas of concern, including ‘the effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women (e.g,, those living under foreign occupation)’. (See “Fourth World Conference on Women, Platform for Action”, held in Beijing, China, September 1995, pars.# 1;44;). The recommendations contained within the “Report of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly” entitled, “Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century” (A/S-23/10/Rev.1) were also incorporated into Res. 1325. This report identified actions needed to be taken by the United Nations system, international and regional organizations and governments to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
The Platform for Action upheld the goals set forth within the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, adopted by the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace”, held in Nairobi, Kenya, July 15-26, 1985. (See G.A. Res. 44/77, Dec. 8, 1989, endorsing and reaffirming the importance of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the period up to 2000; G.A. 48/108, Feb. 28, 1994, adopted on the report of the 3rd Committee on the “Implementation of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women”). The Forward-Looking Strategies recognized the interdependence and inseparability of the goals of equality, development and peace as regards the advancement of women and their full integration in economic, political, social and cultural development. They prescribed long-term measures for global action, including the elimination of sex-based stereotyping, which is at the root of continuing discrimination. The strategies and measures were to be implemented according to the nature of the political process and the administrative capabilities of each country, and were to serve as guidelines for a process of continuous adaptation to diverse and changing national situations. Particular attention was given to especially vulnerable and underprivileged groups of women, including women in areas affected by armed conflicts, foreign intervention and international threats to peace. (Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies, par.# 41).
At least one U.N. agency is working to assist the Secretary General in conducting the study on the impact of armed conflict on women and children, and to implement the mandates of Res. 1325. The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) organized and convened a meeting on the “Impact of Conflict on Women and Girls” during November 2001, which led to a set of recommendations to ensure that refugee care and peace building efforts consistently addressed reproductive health concerns and gender based violence, and that gender concerns become an integral part of U.N. agencies and international NGOs. (See “Refugee and Peace-Building Efforts Must Address Women’s Needs, Meeting Stresses”, United Nations Population Fund, (11/15/01, at www.unfpa.org/news/pressroom/2001/bratislava.htm). In fact, the keynote speaker of the meeting, Ms. Elisabeth Rehn of Finland, was appointed by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) to study conflicts and post-conflict situations throughout the world in order to recommend ways to enhance women’s role in peace processes. Although Ms. Rehn found in her missions to ten countries ranging from East Timor to Macedonia, that lack of education, rape and domestic violence were common in each of the conflicts she studied, she also found positive signs that “all over the world, women have the strong will to take responsibility for the future of their countries”. (See “Peace Process Must Include Women, UN Expert Tells Meeting”, 11/13/01, at http://www.unfpa.org/news/features/womenpeace.htm ).
UNIFEM, which has for many years assisted and educated women in conflict and reconstruction situations and supported their participation in peace processes and law-making, is also working in the field within different countries to mitigate the impact of conflict on women and to facilitate their participation in peace building. UNIFEM, part of the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), operates at the country level as a U.N. Resident Coordinator, which is the Secretary General’s designated representative for development cooperation at the country level and the leader of the U.N. country team. UNIFEM’s successful activities in Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor and Latin America, for example, have been well documented. (See: “UNIFEM at Work Around the World”).
Recently, UNIFEM sponsored two historic consultations that provided Afghan women from different backgrounds and political beliefs with a forum to discuss how Afghan women could participate in rebuilding their country. An international roundtable consisting of Afghan women from within and outside Afghanistan was organized and convened in Brussels, Belgium. It resulted in the Brussels Action Plan, which outlines 47 concrete recommendations to protect women’s rights in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan, and requests support from the international community, donors, the United Nations, and NGOs to implement them (See Brussels Action Plan, “Roundtable on Building Women’s Leadership in Afghanistan”, convened by UNIFEM and the Government of Belgium, December 10-11, 2001).
UNIFEM also facilitated the first National Afghan Women’s Consultation in Kabul, during March 5-7, 2002, which consisted of 60 indigenous Afghan women who developed a list of needs and priorities that called for a 25% female representation in the Loya Jirga, women’s participation in the drafting of the new constitution and women’s access to healthcare and education. In response to these dialogues, UNIFEM formulated an agenda that will assist the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs in focusing on re-integrating Afghan refugee and displaced women into mainstream society, raising awareness of Afghan women’s issues and empowering Afghan women to participate in the political process. (See “Women’s Leadership Role in the Reconstruction of Afghanistan”, at http://www.unifem.undp.org/afghanistan ; “Afghan Women’s Minister Envisions Active Role for Women in Upcoming Loyal Jirga”, UNIFEM Press Release, April 25, 2002) at http://www.unifem.undp.org/press/pr_afghan_minister.html .
Furthermore, efforts have been made by a number of U.N. departments and agencies related to peacekeeping to implement the mandates of Res. 1325 within their internal operations and activities. These efforts were reported during a recent Inter-Agency Meeting on Women and Gender Equality, convened by the U.N. Interagency Panel of Women, Peace and Security. The Inter-Agency Meeting works actively to promote gender mainstreaming throughout the work of the United Nations. The heads of four U.N. departments reported to the panel. The Meeting’s chairperson is Ms. Angela King, Special Advisor to the Secretary General on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women. Ms. King also heads the Taskforce on Women, Peace and Security that is responsible for the implementation of the study and report that the Secretary General must prepare pursuant to S.C. Res. 1325. (See Statements by Mr. Kieran Prendergast, Under-Secretary General, Department of Political Affairs, Statement by Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary, Department of Disarmament Affairs, Statement by Mr. Jean-Marie Guehenno, Under-Secretary General, Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Statement by Mr. Kenzo Oshima, UnderSecretary General, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at the First Anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325, U.N. Inter-Agency Panel on Women, Peace and Security, 10/31/01, at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/IAMWGE/html ).
The Inter-Agency Meeting also established a taskforce chaired by Ms. King that successfully facilitated the incorporation of relevant gender perspectives in each of the areas that were prepared for the International Conference on Financing for Development. For obvious reasons, it is believed that the protection of women in areas of armed conflict and their inclusion in the reconciliation and reconstruction processes can only further a country’s development objectives, since conflicts deter development. (See par.#s 8, 11,12,16, and 18 of the Draft Outcome of the International Conference on Financing for Development, ‘The Monterrey Consensus’, March 1, 2002; Inter-Agency Task Force for Development, of the Inter-Agency Meeting on Women and Gender Equality, at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/IAMWGE/activities/tf_fin_dev.html ).
In an attempt to eliminate the root causes (attitudes) that give rise to the poor treatment of women, S.C. Res. 1325 also calls upon Member States which are parties to armed conflict “to respect fully international law applicable to the basic rights and protection of women, especially as civilians”, including the obligations contained within the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979. (par.#9). The CEDAW, which is often described as an international bill of rights for women, defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to eliminate such discrimination. By accepting the convention, Member States commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms, including legislation and temporary special measures so that women can enjoy all their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women was established pursuant to Article 17 of the CEDAW, and operates under the auspices of the General Assembly. It acts as a monitoring system to oversee the implementation of the Convention by those States that have ratified or acceded to it. On June 17-21, the Committee convened a meeting to address a number of women’s issues. (See Press Release, “Country Reports of Seven States Parties Considered; Provisional Agenda for Extraordinary August Session, 28th Regular Session Adopted. Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Concludes 27th Session”, at http://www.unhchr.ch/ ). The U.S.’ failure to ratify the CEDAW, in the view of some members of Congress, is cause for embarrassment. U.S. Representative Connie Morella (R.Md) recently testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urging the Senate to ratify the treaty known as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Agnst Women (CEDAW):
“The Senate has already agreed to the ratification of several important human rights treaties, including…CEDAW. Yet the U.S. has neglected our responsibility to participate. The U.S. is among a small minority of countries which have not ratified or acceded to CEDAW…Our overdue ratification of CEDAW would allow the U.S. to finally nominate a representative to the CEDAW oversight committee. Our vocal support for the human rights of every individual and our role as a world leader, should mandate our support for CEDAW, and our lack of action is nothing short of embarrassing …Women are not only victims. They are taking the initiative to reach across the conflict divide and foster peace. In some countries they join together to collect arms. In others they create joint community development projects. Yet despite women’s positive roles in fostering peace, they are excluded from most peace negotiations. The U.S. should actively engage in ways to eliminate the brutality women face around the world. One of the first and most basic steps is to adopt the objectives of CEDAW.” (See “Morella Asks Senate to Ratify Treaty on Discrimination Agnst Women” [1100], Washington File, June 14, 2002, at http://usinfo.state.gov/ ) .
Several other U.N. bodies which are responsible for promoting women’s rights and gender mainstreaming throughout the U.N. system are assisting countries to implement the mandates of S.C. Res. 1325. The Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) operates within the U.N. Secretariat and advocates the improvement of the status of women throughout the world and their equality with men. It aims to ensure the participation of women as equal partners with men in all respects of human endeavor. It conducts research and develops policy options, fosters interaction between governments and civil society and provides substantive servicing for UN intergovernmental and expert bodies.
The DAW also provides substantive servicing to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the functional commission of the ECOSOC with the mandate to elaborate policies, and the expert treaty body that monitors the implementation of legal standards in the CEDAW. And, it assists the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Agnst Women to achieve equality btwn women and men. The mandate of the CSW has been expanded to integrate into its program a follow-up process to the Beijing Platform for Action, regularly reviewing the critical areas of concern in the Platform for Action and to develop its catalytic role in mainstreaming a gender perspective in the U.N.’s activities.
The Commission on Human Rights, as well, operates under the auspices of the ECOSOC. It is charged, as stated by the U.N. Charter, with the enforcement of the human rights conventions, including CEDAW. It also has the important task of elaborating human rights standards. Since it concluded work on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, it has developed standards relating, inter alia, to the right of development, civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, the elimination of racial discrimination, torture, the rights of the child and the rights of human rights defenders.
The Commission devotes much of its time to examining issues of implementation. Its network of mechanisms – experts, representatives and rapporteurs (persons who make reports) plays an important role in reporting to the Commission annually. The Special Rapporteur on Violence Agnst Women, Its Causes and Consequences, falls under the Commission on Human Rights. (See Report of Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Cause and Consequences, “Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective Violence Against Women”, April 10, 2002, at http://www.unhchr.ch/ ).
The Commission of Human Rights can take action to address identified problems. It regularly answers requests from the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, a part of the U.N. Secretariat, to provide assistance to governments through its program of advisory services and technical cooperation in the field of human rights. This assistance takes the form of expert advice, human rights seminars, national and regional training courses and workshops, fellowships and scholarships, and other activities aimed at strengthening national capacities for the protection and promotion of human rights. (Ibid).
By Lawrence Kogan
June 2002
A survey of global trouble spots marked by internal civil war, civil unrest and/or foreign intervention, places such as Central Europe, Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia, where social order and the rule of law have broken down, is likely to reveal a myriad of human rights abuses suffered disproportionately by local women and children (especially girls). Studies prepared by the United Nations and human rights groups confirm that women are particularly vulnerable to violence, rape, famine, disease, poverty, unemployment, displacement, etc. in these situations because of their subordinate status in society and their dependence on men for their very livelihoods and survival, whether for historical, cultural and/or religious reasons. That these conditions still persist in a world as affluent and technologically advanced as the one in which we live today, should be repugnant to each and every person who considers himself or herself ‘civilized’. That they can be tolerated by a world led by the United States, in which a Universal Declaration of Human Rights is acclaimed as ‘the foundation of the human rights doctrine’ and a Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women remains open for ratification, is morally reprehensible.
Based on the readings and Mr. O’Flattery’s lecture, it is possible to see how a ‘morally legitimate’ and ‘universal’ organization such as the United Nations can be both successful and unsuccessful in its efforts to arrest both the problem and the conditions that give rise to it. While women are indeed the primary victims of armed conflicts, they have yet to be fully accepted as meaningful participants in the processes that ultimately can lead to the resolution of the conflicts and to the subsequent rehabilitation, reconstruction and governance of their war-torn countries. The United Nations and its agencies have studied and recognized the contributions to civil society that women are capable of, and are currently pursuing, with the assistance of NGOs, a number of initiatives aimed at empowering women in peacemaking. Of the six principal organs established pursuant to Chapter III, Article 7 of the U.N. Charter, four of them are individually and collectively pursuing measures that should eventually lead to the full realization by women of their basic human rights and fundamental freedoms. As Mr. O’Flattery suggested, these measures represent a new phase in the implementation of previously developed human rights law.
Chief among these initiatives is Security Council Resolution 1325, which is “the first Resolution to give political legitimacy to women’s struggle for a seat at the negotiating table, to provide a political frame-work within which women’s protection and their role in peace-building can be addressed, and to be supported by a vibrant women’s movement”. (See “Women, Peace and Security, Progress on UN Security Council Resolution 1325” October 31, 2001, UNIFEM website). Res. 1325 is considered more than a statement of intention. It is viewed, rather, as a process that requires implementation. “It powerfully called for women’s full access to power structures and their central role in all efforts to resolve conflict. It also illustrates the vital importance of bringing gender perspectives to the center of attention to all U.N. peacekeeping, peace-building , rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts…There is a dynamic need for women to be adequately and fairly represented in peace processes and in UN peace operations. A woman’s participation in U.N. missions empowers local women and may inspire them to organize for the achievement of a democratic society.” (See Introductory Remarks of Brian Cowen, Pres. Of Security Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ireland, at First Anniversary of S.C. Res. 1325, U.N. Inter-Agency Panel on Women, Peace and Security, 10/31/01, at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/IAMWGE/activities/res1325/intro_cowen.html ).
S.C. Res. 1325 imposes a duty upon both Member States and the United Nations system to fulfill these mandates. The Secretary General, furthermore, is charged with two critical assignments. First, he is obliged to provide to Member States training guidelines and materials on the protection, rights and the particular needs of women, as well as on the importance of involving women in all peacekeeping and peace building measures. (par.#6). Second, he must carry out a study on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peace-building and the gender dimensions of peace processes and conflict resolution. The results of the study are to reported and submitted to the Security Council and to be made available to all Member States. (par.#16).
S.C. Res. 1325 is based, in part, upon the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which is an agenda for women’s empowerment that called upon governments to remove all obstacles to women’s active participation in all spheres of public and private life through a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making. Its main premise was that equality between women and men is not only a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice, but is also a necessary and fundamental prerequisite for equality, development and peace. The Platform for Action identified twelve critical areas of concern, including ‘the effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women (e.g,, those living under foreign occupation)’. (See “Fourth World Conference on Women, Platform for Action”, held in Beijing, China, September 1995, pars.# 1;44;). The recommendations contained within the “Report of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly” entitled, “Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century” (A/S-23/10/Rev.1) were also incorporated into Res. 1325. This report identified actions needed to be taken by the United Nations system, international and regional organizations and governments to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
The Platform for Action upheld the goals set forth within the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, adopted by the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace”, held in Nairobi, Kenya, July 15-26, 1985. (See G.A. Res. 44/77, Dec. 8, 1989, endorsing and reaffirming the importance of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the period up to 2000; G.A. 48/108, Feb. 28, 1994, adopted on the report of the 3rd Committee on the “Implementation of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women”). The Forward-Looking Strategies recognized the interdependence and inseparability of the goals of equality, development and peace as regards the advancement of women and their full integration in economic, political, social and cultural development. They prescribed long-term measures for global action, including the elimination of sex-based stereotyping, which is at the root of continuing discrimination. The strategies and measures were to be implemented according to the nature of the political process and the administrative capabilities of each country, and were to serve as guidelines for a process of continuous adaptation to diverse and changing national situations. Particular attention was given to especially vulnerable and underprivileged groups of women, including women in areas affected by armed conflicts, foreign intervention and international threats to peace. (Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies, par.# 41).
At least one U.N. agency is working to assist the Secretary General in conducting the study on the impact of armed conflict on women and children, and to implement the mandates of Res. 1325. The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) organized and convened a meeting on the “Impact of Conflict on Women and Girls” during November 2001, which led to a set of recommendations to ensure that refugee care and peace building efforts consistently addressed reproductive health concerns and gender based violence, and that gender concerns become an integral part of U.N. agencies and international NGOs. (See “Refugee and Peace-Building Efforts Must Address Women’s Needs, Meeting Stresses”, United Nations Population Fund, (11/15/01, at www.unfpa.org/news/pressroom/2001/bratislava.htm). In fact, the keynote speaker of the meeting, Ms. Elisabeth Rehn of Finland, was appointed by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) to study conflicts and post-conflict situations throughout the world in order to recommend ways to enhance women’s role in peace processes. Although Ms. Rehn found in her missions to ten countries ranging from East Timor to Macedonia, that lack of education, rape and domestic violence were common in each of the conflicts she studied, she also found positive signs that “all over the world, women have the strong will to take responsibility for the future of their countries”. (See “Peace Process Must Include Women, UN Expert Tells Meeting”, 11/13/01, at http://www.unfpa.org/news/features/womenpeace.htm ).
UNIFEM, which has for many years assisted and educated women in conflict and reconstruction situations and supported their participation in peace processes and law-making, is also working in the field within different countries to mitigate the impact of conflict on women and to facilitate their participation in peace building. UNIFEM, part of the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), operates at the country level as a U.N. Resident Coordinator, which is the Secretary General’s designated representative for development cooperation at the country level and the leader of the U.N. country team. UNIFEM’s successful activities in Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor and Latin America, for example, have been well documented. (See: “UNIFEM at Work Around the World”).
Recently, UNIFEM sponsored two historic consultations that provided Afghan women from different backgrounds and political beliefs with a forum to discuss how Afghan women could participate in rebuilding their country. An international roundtable consisting of Afghan women from within and outside Afghanistan was organized and convened in Brussels, Belgium. It resulted in the Brussels Action Plan, which outlines 47 concrete recommendations to protect women’s rights in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan, and requests support from the international community, donors, the United Nations, and NGOs to implement them (See Brussels Action Plan, “Roundtable on Building Women’s Leadership in Afghanistan”, convened by UNIFEM and the Government of Belgium, December 10-11, 2001).
UNIFEM also facilitated the first National Afghan Women’s Consultation in Kabul, during March 5-7, 2002, which consisted of 60 indigenous Afghan women who developed a list of needs and priorities that called for a 25% female representation in the Loya Jirga, women’s participation in the drafting of the new constitution and women’s access to healthcare and education. In response to these dialogues, UNIFEM formulated an agenda that will assist the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs in focusing on re-integrating Afghan refugee and displaced women into mainstream society, raising awareness of Afghan women’s issues and empowering Afghan women to participate in the political process. (See “Women’s Leadership Role in the Reconstruction of Afghanistan”, at http://www.unifem.undp.org/afghanistan ; “Afghan Women’s Minister Envisions Active Role for Women in Upcoming Loyal Jirga”, UNIFEM Press Release, April 25, 2002) at http://www.unifem.undp.org/press/pr_afghan_minister.html .
Furthermore, efforts have been made by a number of U.N. departments and agencies related to peacekeeping to implement the mandates of Res. 1325 within their internal operations and activities. These efforts were reported during a recent Inter-Agency Meeting on Women and Gender Equality, convened by the U.N. Interagency Panel of Women, Peace and Security. The Inter-Agency Meeting works actively to promote gender mainstreaming throughout the work of the United Nations. The heads of four U.N. departments reported to the panel. The Meeting’s chairperson is Ms. Angela King, Special Advisor to the Secretary General on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women. Ms. King also heads the Taskforce on Women, Peace and Security that is responsible for the implementation of the study and report that the Secretary General must prepare pursuant to S.C. Res. 1325. (See Statements by Mr. Kieran Prendergast, Under-Secretary General, Department of Political Affairs, Statement by Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary, Department of Disarmament Affairs, Statement by Mr. Jean-Marie Guehenno, Under-Secretary General, Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Statement by Mr. Kenzo Oshima, UnderSecretary General, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at the First Anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325, U.N. Inter-Agency Panel on Women, Peace and Security, 10/31/01, at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/IAMWGE/html ).
The Inter-Agency Meeting also established a taskforce chaired by Ms. King that successfully facilitated the incorporation of relevant gender perspectives in each of the areas that were prepared for the International Conference on Financing for Development. For obvious reasons, it is believed that the protection of women in areas of armed conflict and their inclusion in the reconciliation and reconstruction processes can only further a country’s development objectives, since conflicts deter development. (See par.#s 8, 11,12,16, and 18 of the Draft Outcome of the International Conference on Financing for Development, ‘The Monterrey Consensus’, March 1, 2002; Inter-Agency Task Force for Development, of the Inter-Agency Meeting on Women and Gender Equality, at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/IAMWGE/activities/tf_fin_dev.html ).
In an attempt to eliminate the root causes (attitudes) that give rise to the poor treatment of women, S.C. Res. 1325 also calls upon Member States which are parties to armed conflict “to respect fully international law applicable to the basic rights and protection of women, especially as civilians”, including the obligations contained within the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979. (par.#9). The CEDAW, which is often described as an international bill of rights for women, defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to eliminate such discrimination. By accepting the convention, Member States commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms, including legislation and temporary special measures so that women can enjoy all their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women was established pursuant to Article 17 of the CEDAW, and operates under the auspices of the General Assembly. It acts as a monitoring system to oversee the implementation of the Convention by those States that have ratified or acceded to it. On June 17-21, the Committee convened a meeting to address a number of women’s issues. (See Press Release, “Country Reports of Seven States Parties Considered; Provisional Agenda for Extraordinary August Session, 28th Regular Session Adopted. Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Concludes 27th Session”, at http://www.unhchr.ch/ ). The U.S.’ failure to ratify the CEDAW, in the view of some members of Congress, is cause for embarrassment. U.S. Representative Connie Morella (R.Md) recently testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urging the Senate to ratify the treaty known as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Agnst Women (CEDAW):
“The Senate has already agreed to the ratification of several important human rights treaties, including…CEDAW. Yet the U.S. has neglected our responsibility to participate. The U.S. is among a small minority of countries which have not ratified or acceded to CEDAW…Our overdue ratification of CEDAW would allow the U.S. to finally nominate a representative to the CEDAW oversight committee. Our vocal support for the human rights of every individual and our role as a world leader, should mandate our support for CEDAW, and our lack of action is nothing short of embarrassing …Women are not only victims. They are taking the initiative to reach across the conflict divide and foster peace. In some countries they join together to collect arms. In others they create joint community development projects. Yet despite women’s positive roles in fostering peace, they are excluded from most peace negotiations. The U.S. should actively engage in ways to eliminate the brutality women face around the world. One of the first and most basic steps is to adopt the objectives of CEDAW.” (See “Morella Asks Senate to Ratify Treaty on Discrimination Agnst Women” [1100], Washington File, June 14, 2002, at http://usinfo.state.gov/ ) .
Several other U.N. bodies which are responsible for promoting women’s rights and gender mainstreaming throughout the U.N. system are assisting countries to implement the mandates of S.C. Res. 1325. The Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) operates within the U.N. Secretariat and advocates the improvement of the status of women throughout the world and their equality with men. It aims to ensure the participation of women as equal partners with men in all respects of human endeavor. It conducts research and develops policy options, fosters interaction between governments and civil society and provides substantive servicing for UN intergovernmental and expert bodies.
The DAW also provides substantive servicing to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the functional commission of the ECOSOC with the mandate to elaborate policies, and the expert treaty body that monitors the implementation of legal standards in the CEDAW. And, it assists the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Agnst Women to achieve equality btwn women and men. The mandate of the CSW has been expanded to integrate into its program a follow-up process to the Beijing Platform for Action, regularly reviewing the critical areas of concern in the Platform for Action and to develop its catalytic role in mainstreaming a gender perspective in the U.N.’s activities.
The Commission on Human Rights, as well, operates under the auspices of the ECOSOC. It is charged, as stated by the U.N. Charter, with the enforcement of the human rights conventions, including CEDAW. It also has the important task of elaborating human rights standards. Since it concluded work on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, it has developed standards relating, inter alia, to the right of development, civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, the elimination of racial discrimination, torture, the rights of the child and the rights of human rights defenders.
The Commission devotes much of its time to examining issues of implementation. Its network of mechanisms – experts, representatives and rapporteurs (persons who make reports) plays an important role in reporting to the Commission annually. The Special Rapporteur on Violence Agnst Women, Its Causes and Consequences, falls under the Commission on Human Rights. (See Report of Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Cause and Consequences, “Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective Violence Against Women”, April 10, 2002, at http://www.unhchr.ch/ ).
The Commission of Human Rights can take action to address identified problems. It regularly answers requests from the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, a part of the U.N. Secretariat, to provide assistance to governments through its program of advisory services and technical cooperation in the field of human rights. This assistance takes the form of expert advice, human rights seminars, national and regional training courses and workshops, fellowships and scholarships, and other activities aimed at strengthening national capacities for the protection and promotion of human rights. (Ibid).
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Women Sadly Do Not Have 'Property in Their Rights' in Saudi Arabia
[Property means] that dominion which one man [woman] claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in exclusion of every other individual. . . . [I]t embraces everything to which a man [woman] may attach a value and have a right; and which leaves to every one else the like advantage. In the former sense, a man’s [woman's] land, or merchandize, or money is called his [her] property. In the latter sense, a man [woman] has a property in his [her] opinions and the free communication of them. . . . He [she] has a property very dear to him [her] in the safety and liberty of his [her] person. He [she] has an equal property in the free use of his [her] faculties and free choice of the objects on which to employ them. In a word, as a man [woman] is said to have a right to his [her] property, he [she] may be equally said to have a property in his [her] rights.
JAMES MADISON, Property, THE NAT’L GAZETTE, Mar. 29, 1792, reprinted in 14 THE PAPERS OF JAMES MADISON 266-67 (Robert A. Rutland et al. eds., 1983)
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3321637.ece
Religious police in Saudi Arabia arrest mother for sitting with a man
TIMES ONLINE
February 7, 2008
Sonia Verma in Dubai
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 cafe'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
JAMES MADISON, Property, THE NAT’L GAZETTE, Mar. 29, 1792, reprinted in 14 THE PAPERS OF JAMES MADISON 266-67 (Robert A. Rutland et al. eds., 1983)
************************************************************************************
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3321637.ece
Religious police in Saudi Arabia arrest mother for sitting with a man
TIMES ONLINE
February 7, 2008
Sonia Verma in Dubai
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 cafe'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
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