Saudi Girl Sentenced to More Lashes Than Her Rapists

[donsu]

http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2006/11/22/saudi-girl-sentenced-to-more-lashes-than-her-rapists/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Fworld%2Fstory%2F_a%2Fsaudi-girl-sentenced-to-more-lashes-than%2Fn20061121165109990005%3Fcid%3D774&frame=true


When the teenager went to the police a few months ago to report she was gang-raped by seven men, she never imagined the judge would punish her - and that she would be sentenced to more lashes than one of her alleged rapists received.

The story of the Girl of Qatif, as the alleged rape victim has been called by the media here, has triggered a rare debate about Saudi Arabia's legal system, in which judges have wide discretion in punishing a criminal, rules of evidence are shaky and sometimes no defense lawyers are present.

The result, critics say, are sentences left to the whim of judges. These include one in which a group of men got heavier sentences for harassing women than the men in the Girl of Qatif rape case or three men who were convicted of raping a boy. In another, a woman was ordered to divorce her husband against her will based on a demand by her relatives.

In the case of the Girl of Qatif, she was sentenced to 90 lashes for being alone in a car with a man to whom she was not married - a crime in this strictly segregated country - at the time that she was allegedly attacked and raped by a group of other men.
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the men who rule Saudia Arabia are religiously insane criminals

justice is needed for the women and girls of Saudia Arabia

the article ends with this:

"The lack of transparency in the investigation, the trial and the sentencing, plus the difficulties that journalists have to get access lead to deep a darkness where everything is possible," said al-Gassem.

"a deep darkness where everything is possible" is something we american women have escaped from - thankfully.

but that darkness is just a blink away. we can't aford to blink.

[Fridays Child]

1. Uh, isn't that grounds for an invasion by U.S. troops?

Don't we need to bring democracy to Saudi Arabia? I mean they have a whole bunch of oil dictatorial, repressive regime, don't they?

[aquart]

4. Before Iraq, I would have bet we could take 'em.

And the rest of the Arab world might well have shrugged (and possibly giggled). Now? No. We can't invade an ant hill and win.

[Heywood J]

2. This is why

I buy Venezuelan (Citgo). That way, you're not subsidizing the Saudi royal family and this shit. Hit them in the pocketbooks - they'll succumb to reform soon enough.

In the meantime, this is as atrocious as Tiananmen Square.

[EdwardM]

7. but but but Hugo Chavez is an evil dictator!!

Saudi Arabia is our ally in this global war on terror. Didn't you hear? GET WITH THE PROGRAM!!!

[Heywood J]

19. That's the thing.

I'm not enamored with Mr. Chavez and I'm not certain I like some of his politics. I do, however, respect the fact that the man and his country do things like donate heating oil for the poor and shelters in the US. I'll more than support that over the murder of dissenters, the torture of suspects, sexist death sentences, and the breeding of Wahabbism.

Life in Saudi Arabia seems to be nothing but trouble. The men get tortured and the women get gang-raped or lashed.

[bleedingheart]

3. Don't kid yourself...there are men in this country that would like

to see that type of legal system here too.

What I have to wonder is a cultural environment where women give birth to sons that they then rear to disrespect them. (now I know that majority of them probably aren't that way)...but I am pretty sure until their cultural issues are addressed this stuff will be with us for centuries to come.

[greeneyedboy]

12. it takes a village... i don't think moms should get more than a fraction of the blame.

[musette_sf]

17. the way that works

is that the dad disrespects the mom (and usually the daughters too), and the kids all catch on. reading domestic violence message boards is a real education on how some men try to poison their kids' minds.

[Cameron27]

5. I hope that this

reprehensible insanity gets the worldwide attention & condemnation it deserves. Disgusting.

[LiberalinNC]

6. That's f'ed up!

[bluestateguy]

8. We should cut off all diplomatic relations with that medieval despotic regime!

What a sick society.

[mondo joe]

9. These are our "Allies".

:barf:

[greeneyedboy]

13. yeah. the country where the hijackers came from--you know, our friends!

don't they need a taste of Bush-style "democracy", too?

[KitSileya]

10. I wasn't sure I wanted to click on this post.

These things never fail to make me sick. Disgusting. There are some cultures that cannot be allowed to continue without radical change, simply for humanitarian reasons. I don't care how tolerant liberals are supposed to be, in these cases the human beings must come first.

[BlooInBloo]

11. It's ok - it's impossible to say whether or not Saudis are sexist.

[Joe Chi Minh]

14. Bring on the "freedom fries"!

[musette_sf]

15. well, since Vampire Cheney is visiting SA tomorrow

for a cheery T-Day Weekend tete-a-tete with King Abdullah, we know he's gonna straighten ALL that shit out.

All he's gotta do is let Lynne The Jagged Tooth Weasel loose on Abdullah's gang.

[Crim_n al]

16. Either the lashes will be given in regular "doses"

which is torture and will leave her scarred mentally and physically for life,
and possibly disabled, or they will be given all at once, which has a good
chance of being a death sentence.

Now, immediately the question arises: would not 100 lashes just as equally kill a woman? The answer is it would almost definitely kill a woman.

http://eteraz.wordpress.com/2006/10/04/seven-stonings-in-iran/

Article 76.
The testimony of women alone or in conjunction with the testimony of only one just man shall not prove adultery but it shall constitute false accusation which is a punishable act.

Article 140.
The penalty for false accusation is 80 lashes regardless of the gender of the culprit.

http://www.learningpartnership.org/resources/legislation/nationallaw/iran

Under Islamic law, a raped woman legally has no redress, even when she has one man
to back her accusations. Her accusation is automatically considered false on the
grounds that her word has no legal weight.

[madrchsod]

18. why they are bush`s kissing cousins

must`t talk bad about them....