porkchop_express posted:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/05/31/egypt.virginity.tests/index.html?iref=NS1
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/egypt-admission-forced-virginity-tests-must-lead-justice-2011-05-31


Anything has to be better than this.

Ace Oliveira posted:

How did they "check" that those girls weren't virgins?

Casimir Radon posted:

Well "virginity check" sounds a lot like code words for rape.

Ace Oliveira posted:

How did they "check" that those girls weren't virgins?

Do I want to know?

Vincent Van Goatse posted:

Or, more likely, humiliating sexual assault.

Ace Oliveira posted:

Yeah, that sounds more likely. Still, I don't think we know much about what the Egyptian Military did to those protestors.

I just hope they didn't loving do anything like that.

Ace Oliveira posted:

How did they "check" that those girls weren't virgins?

Do I want to know?

Ham posted:

Female military personell (usually medics and nurses) check the hymen.

quote:

"We did not agree for a male doctor to perform the test," she said. But Hosseini said her captors forced her to comply by threatening her with more stun-gun shocks.

"I was going through a nervous breakdown at that moment," she recalled. "There was no one standing during the test, except for a woman and the male doctor. But several soldiers were standing behind us watching the backside of the bed. I think they had them standing there as witnesses.

porkchop_express posted:

ecureuilmatrix posted:

In particular, that general is a pig. In general, the whole drat "these filthy whores might accuse our brave men of being rapists!!!" mindset is a pigsty.

That's institutionalized sexual assault, drat it!

Mad Doctor Cthulhu posted:

It also explains why the protesters are so angry. Can you imagine an institution that corrupt and grotesque existing? No wonder several people are dying for this: it's mocking people to hit the breaking point.

And it always follows the same thing: those in authority think that showing force backs their authority, and all it does is show how desperate and petty they are, hence enraging the populace to take more action.

Ace Oliveira posted:

Well, gently caress.

How many protesters are turning up? Because this could turn into some real poo poo with the populace. They were already pissed off about the military taking too long, this will probably piss them off even more.

The-Mole posted:

So much for my hopes and dreams.

quote:

As the NATO bombardment of the Libyan capital continued on Tuesday evening, the Libyan government spokesperson briefed the media on the meeting between country’s leader Muammar Gaddafi and the South African President Jacob Zuma and how they discussed ways to end the crisis.

Moussa Ibrahim, said during the media conference:

quote:

They (referring to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the South African President Jacob Zuma) discussed how to active the African initiative to solve the Libyan problem from within Libya

They discussed how to prevent foreign interests to affect the peace process in Libya. They discussed how Africa could prove to the world that it is wise enough, grown up enough look after its problems. Mr Zuma praised the leader for his position and for accepting the African road map to save Libyan blood.

He praised his (Gaddafi) resilience against the NATO attacks; he never discussed any exit strategies as they have been called in the media. He knows the leader and knows how dignified he is, how honourable he is and how he will stay in his home country, Libya, and fight for the future of Libya as a whole.

Meanwhile Lynn Pascoe, UN under-secretary-General of the United Nations for Political Affairs has responded to the country’s stalemate over peace talks:

“The parties in Libya remain far apart on even beginning negotiations to resolve the conflict. The Libyan government has repeatedly called for a cease fire, including an end to NATO operations as a prerequisite to negotiations.

quote:

For its part the TNC (Transitional National Council) maintains that negotiations on a cease fire on related aspects can only start with the removal from power of Colonel Gaddafi and members of his family. And the withdrawal of the Libyan army from cities forcibly occupied after the outbreak of hostilities.

quote:

British former special forces soldiers working for private security companies are in the Libyan city of Misurata, advising the rebels and supplying information to NATO, the Guardian reported Wednesday.

Former members of the Special Air Service (SAS) are among those gathering information about the location and movement of troops loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi, British military sources told the paper.

They are passing that information on to NATO’s command centre in Naples. The former soldiers are in Libya with the blessing of Britain, France and other NATO countries, the sources told The Guardian.

They have been supplied with non-combat equipment by the coalition forces. Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials denied the private soldiers were being paid by the British government and insisted it had no combat troops on the ground.

The Guardian said the soldiers were reportedly being paid by Arab countries, notably Qatar. Britain last week approved the use of its Apache attack helicopters in the operation.

The information being gathered by the rebel advisers was likely for use by British and French pilots during missions predicted for later this week, the paper reported. Reports of their presence emerged after Gulf news channel Al-Jazeera on Monday showed video footage of six armed westerners talking to rebels in the port city of Misurata.

Libya on Tuesday accused NATO of having killed 718 civilians and wounded 4,067 in 10 weeks of air strikes.

quote:

Jordan is establishing diplomatic ties with the Libyan rebels’ National Transitional Council.

Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh says he is dispatching a veteran diplomat to be based in Libya’s eastern coastal city of Benghazi to liaise with the council.

Jordan last week recognised the council as the “legitimate representative and the credible interlocutor for the Libyan people.”

Several countries, including France and Italy, have officially recognised the Libyan rebels. The United States, Britain and others have not done so but have established a diplomatic presence in Benghazi.

Judeh said on Wednesday that Fawaz al-Eitan will take up his post in Benghazi in the “next couple of days.” He says al-Eitan will be a “resident envoy and a permanent representative.”

quote:

NATO’s top official says the military alliance and its partners have decided to extend the mission in Libya another 90 days.

Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday, “This decision sends a clear message to the Gadhafi regime: We are determined to continue our operation to protect the people of Libya.”

The military alliance took over command of the operation on March 31 after difficult negotiations among its members. Unanimity of 28 is required for action, and the operations to enforce a no-fly zone and use air power to protect civilians was authorized for an initial 90 days.

That time would have expired in late June. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is trying to withstand the NATO air barrage and put down a rebellion among his own people.

quote:

On May 30th, NATO aircraft flew 158 sorties, including 58 strike sorties. Some of the key targets included:
In the vicinity of Tripoli: 1 Vehicle Storage Facility, 2 Surface-To-Air Missile Launchers, 1 Target Acquisition Radar.
In the vicinity of Mizdah: 1 Ammunition Storage Facility.
In the vicinity of Misratah: 1 Command & Control Node, 3 Truck-Mounted Guns, 3 Tanks, 3 Heavy Equipment Transports, 1 SurfaceTo-Air Missile Launcher.
In the vicinity of Hun: 1 Ammunition Storage Facility.
In the vicinity of Zintan: 1 Surface-To-Air Missile Launcher, 2 Target Acquisition Radars.
In the vicinity of Brega: 1 Artillery Piece.
In the vicinity of Ras Lanuf: 1 Command & Control Node.

quote:

Yemen: a map ruled by conflict
Since the beginning of Yemen's popular uprising in February, President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been putting into practice his skilful art of "dancing on the heads of snakes".

On the domestic front, he first offered the protesters a number of concessions, but then withdrew them again. He then applied police and military repression as well as exploiting the deep fissures in Yemeni society. For the regional and international audience, Saleh waved his two warning cards: al-Qaida and civil war.

Strategically located at the intersection of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and being perceived as the homeland of the most dangerous branch of al-Qaida, Yemen is indeed of vital interest to regional and international security. Despite such significance, however, Yemen is the most fragile, least developed and most "food-insecure" political entity in the Middle East. But despite this, over the last three months, Saleh has shown that he is one of the most talented Arab leaders in terms of manoeuvre and survival. Four months after the first calls for him to go, he clings on.

At the end of May, for example, Yemeni army helicopters airlifted the UAE's international ambassadors out of their besieged embassy in the capital city of Sana'a. The ambassadors had been trapped by armed pro-Saleh supporters who were angry at the deal brokered for the president to step down after more than three decades. But once at the presidential palace, the ambassadors were informed that Saleh had decided not to sign a deal with the opposition after all. It was the third time that he had changed his mind at the last minute and frustrated the regional and international mediators who have been negotiating his political exit for weeks.

A glance at Yemen's uprising reveals how it is such a unique specimen in the political aquarium of Arab revolutions. While the Tunisian revolution was ignited in a village and Egypt's in the capital city, the Yemeni social intifada started from everywhere.

Yet it is no coincidence that Yemen's popular revolution was launched from numerous geographical locations. Saleh adopted "management through conflicts" as one of his essential tools of governance. As a result, on the eve of the revolution, the map of Yemen was completely scarred with deep, unresolved violent conflicts: a northern rebellion, a southern separatist movement, militant jihadists, and bloody intertribal disputes. Each of these conflicts created its own geographical zone of political, economic and security grievances. Each created its own orbit of victims and beneficiaries. The Yemeni revolution is a geographical amalgamation of all of these.

Unlike the other Arab countries where popular protests blossomed, the Yemen of Saleh is neither a police state nor a military dictatorship. It has been governed by a complex, overlapping and competitive structure of familial, clanistic and tribal networks that are constantly mirrored in the security apparatus and in the military.

Saleh cannot hold on for ever, and he will find it increasingly difficult to negotiate the terms of his departure. But while his exit from the political arena will be a symbolic victory for the people, his replacement with another leader will not save the country from its divisions.

Yemen is a deeply fractured country that is in conflict with itself. And it has a long way to go to undo the terrible legacy of state fragility, violence and instability. Tunisia and Egypt are currently in dire need of redefining the relationship between state institutions and citizens. Libya will need to construct a civil society. Syria must open the gates of its closed political arena. Yemen, however, will need to build a state.

quote:

• Fighting has continued in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, with loud explosions shaking the city. Medical officials say at least 41 people were killed in overnight shelling and street battles between government forces and rival tribal fighters in the capital. The two sides have been battling for control of buildings, including the interior ministry and the state-run television station, according to the New York Times. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that tribesmen had taken over a five-storey building there after clashing with the army.

• Renewed protests are expected in Bahrain after the state of emergency was lifted. The planned demonstrations include a return to Pearl Roundabout, where protesters camped out for over a month before it was overrun by the security services. Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa has opened the door to dialogue with the opposition but eyewitnesses have said the security forces have been out in strength on the streets and the justice ministry warned of severe consequences for any who acted against the nation's "security and unity."

• Syrian dissidents at an opposition conference in Antalya, Turkey, said their main aim is to get the UN security council to pass a resolution referring members of President Assad's regime to the international criminal court. Human Rights Watch has released a report documenting "crimes against humanity" in and around Daraa, where the protests against Assad began and said it was up to the security council to make sure people are held accountable.

quote:

Comment is Free has a transcript of the speech given to journalists by the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, yesterday. Here's an excerpt:

quote:

We have worked throughout our reign to create a democratic life in which everyone could raise their demands freely through institutions furnished by this democracy. In adherence to these measures, and in support of the initiative of the crown prince, backed by the government and the legislative branch, and affirming what came in the National Unity Gathering's last statement that dialogue is a national strategic choice to reach the required and agreed upon solutions, we instruct both the executive and legislative branches to call for a national dialogue for an optimal outcome for the kingdom of Bahrain, and to take all necessary measures to prepare for this comprehensive, serious dialogue – without preconditions to begin early July of this year, in which all people could participate with their vision of the future.

The king also confirmed to journalists that their "freedom is preserved and their rights are safeguarded". Earlier this week I included a link to a Reporters Without Borders article that contained horrific details of the alleged torture of a France 24 journalist in Bahrain for "harming Bahrain's image".

quote:

An interesting tweet from Bahrain's ministry of interior (translated from Arabic) suggests that it is engaging in dialogue - although what kind we can only guess at:

quote:

His Excellency the Minister of Interior meets in his office at the Ministry a number of representatives of associations and political actors

quote:

Brief news from Egypt of a significant development. Egypt's state news agency says former President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons will go on trial on 3 August.

The Middle East News Agency quoted a court official as saying Mubarak will be tried on charges of corruption and intentionally killing protesters during the 18-day uprising that ousted him on 11 February

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/05/201153185927813389.html posted:

Hamza al-Khateeb used to love it when the rains came to his small corner of southern Syria, filling up the farmers' irrigation channels enough so that he and the other children could jump in and swim.

But the drought of the last few years had left the 13-year-old without the fun of his favourite pool.

Instead, he'd taken to raising homing pigeons, standing on the roof of his family's simple breeze-block home, craning his neck back to see the birds circling above the wide horizon of fields, where wheat and tomatoes were grown from the tough, scrubby soils.

Though not from a wealthy family himself, Hamza was always aware of others less fortunate than himself, said a cousin who spoke to Al Jazeera.

"He would often ask his parents for money to give to the poor. I remember once he wanted to give someone 100 Syrian Pounds ($2), and his family said it was too much. But Hamza said, 'I have a bed and food while that guy has nothing.' And so he persuaded his parents to give the poor man the 100."

In the hands of President Bashar al-Assad's security forces, however, Hamza found no such compassion, his humanity degraded to nothing more than a lump of flesh to beat, burn, torture and defile, until the screaming stopped at last.

Arrested during a protest in Saida, 10km east of Daraa, on April 29, Hamza's body was returned to his family on Tuesday 24th May, horribly mutilated.

The child had spent nearly a month in the custody of Syrian security, and when they finally returned his corpse it bore the scars of brutal torture: Lacerations, bruises and burns to his feet, elbows, face and knees, consistent with the use of electric shock devices and of being whipped with cable, both techniques of torture documented by Human Rights Watch as being used in Syrian prisons during the bloody three-month crackdown on protestors.

Hamza's eyes were swollen and black and there were identical bullet wounds where he had apparently been shot through both arms, the bullets tearing a hole in his sides and lodging in his belly.

On Hamza's chest was a deep, dark burn mark. His neck was broken and his penis cut off.

"Where are the human rights committees? Where is the International Criminal Court?" asks the voice of the man inspecting Hamza's body on a video uploaded to YouTube.

"A month had passed by with his family not knowing where he was, or if or when he would be released. He was released to his family as a corpse. Upon examining his body, the signs of torture are very clear."

The original clip has since been removed, but a version with Hamza's castrated genitals blurred is still running [Note: this video is extremely graphic].

"When Hamza's mother came to see the body she was only shown his face," said the cousin, who was present at the time.

"We tried to tell the father not to look, but he pulled the blanket back. When he saw Hamza's body he fainted. People ran to help him and some started filming - it was chaos."

'He just disappeared'

April 29 was dubbed "The Friday of Ending the siege on Deraa", the border city where the torture of children had lit the spark for the Syrian uprising and where Maher al-Assad's forces lead the assault on a civilian population that killed hundreds.

Hamza didn't burn for politics, said his cousin, "but everybody seemed to be going to the protest, so he went along as well," walking with friends and family the 12km along the road from his home town of Jeezah north-west to Saida.

The firing began almost as soon as the villagers reached the edge of Saida, said the cousin.

"People were killed and wounded, some were arrested. It was chaotic we didn't know at that point what had happened to Hamza. He just disappeared."

A second source from the region, an activist, also spoke to Al Jazeera, confirming that Hamza had been among 51 protesters detained on April 29, he said, by Airforce Intelligence, which a number of detainees have reported as using brutal torture.

"They were all arrested by the anti-terrorism branch of the Airforce Intelligence," said the activist.

"They were all alive when they went into prison, but we received 13 bodies back this week and all had been tortured. The Airforce Intelligence are notorious for torture, they're barbarians. We're expecting another dozen bodies back in the coming days."

Responding to the video of Hamza's mutilated body, Syria's only private TV station, the pro-regime Al Dunia, aired an interview (Arabic) with a forensic doctor from Damascus' Tishreen Militarily Hospital.

Dr. Akram al-Shaar, who claimed to have supervised the autopsy of Hamza in Tishreen, said he found no signs of torture, claiming the marks on Hamza's body had been caused by natural decomposition.

Dr Shaar's testimony, however, is also the first public admission by a Syrian official that civilians arrested or injured or killed during the military assault on the Deraa region have been collected and transported to security facilities in Damascus.

Earlier this month, the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS) reported that the bodies of 244 civilians killed in the military assault on Deraa had been transported to Tishreen Military hospital, consistent with an apparent systematic regime campaign, first reported by Al Jazeera, to disrupt the treatment of dead and dying protestors.

After Hamza's body was filmed so the world could see how he died, the boy was buried in Jizah after last prayers for his soul in the local mosque. Following the ceremony, children walked through the streets of Jizah holding up a photo of Hamza and a banner that said he died a martyr, 13-years-old, under the brutal torture of the security forces.

All foreign media are barred from Syria but experienced local journalists and human rights researchers found no reason to doubt the authenticity of the footage of Hamza.

'A crime against humanity'

Hamza's father, Ali al-Khateeb, wanted to press charges against the army and security forces, said Hamza's cousin. Instead, Ali and his wife were visited by the secret police and threatened.

"They said: 'Enough of what has happened because of you already. You know what would happen if we heard you had spoken to the media,'" said Hamza's mother, clearly terrified as she spoke to the local activist, refusing to give further details on the circumstances of her son's arrest or death.

Hamza's father was briefly detained late Saturday afternoon, said his wife, after the secret police demanded he tell state media that Hamza was killed by armed Salafists, Sunni Muslim extremists, which the regime has claimed are driving the popular uprising.

"The father was asked to go to the security branch for half an hour so they could tell him their point of view about Hamza," said the cousin. "He was well treated."

Torture in Syrian prisons, long known as some of the worst in the world, is now "rampant" according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

"When you have mass execution and torture it rises to the level of a crime against humanity. In Syria, it appears clear that this has become widespread and systematic," said Ricken Patel, director of Avaaz, which has been documenting human rights abuses in the country.

"This is a campaign of mass terrorism and intimidation: Horribly tortured people sent back to communities by a regime not trying to cover up its crimes, but to advertise them."

If advertising its crimes is indeed the regime's strategy then it appears to be working: Within hours of the video of Hamza's mutilated body going online a protest broke out in Daraa city by hundreds of furious residents, defying the ongoing military siege to express their outrage at Hamza's torture and killing.

"People here are really furious about what happened to Hamza and this is another sign that the secret police and the authorities are criminals who cannot be trusted to make any reforms," said the activist, who travels widely in the Deraa region.

A week after his body was returned, a Facebook page dedicated to Hamza had more than 60,000 followers, under the title, "We are all Hamza al-Khateeb", a deliberate echo of the online campaign on behalf of Khaled Saeed, the young Egyptian whose death in police custody last year proved a trigger for the revolution in Cairo.

From the other end of Syria, in the far north-east, Rezan Mustapha, spokesman of the opposition Kurdish Future Movement said he and others had also seen the horrifying footage.

"This video moved not only every single Syrian, but people worldwide. It is unacceptable and inexcusable. The horrible torture was done to terrify demonstrators and make them stop calling for their demands."

But, said Khateeb, protestors would only be spurred on by such barbarity.

"More people will now go to the street. We hold the Syrian secret police fully responsible for the torturing and killing of this child, even if they deny it."

Some reactions didn't need any words at all. Though only one among his 20 other children from two wives, Hamza's 65-year-old father Ali appeared no less devastated by Hamza's murder than if he had lost his only son.

"How would any family feel if they saw that video of their own child?" asked Hamza's cousin. "I have never seen Hamza's father cry in his entire life. Now we see only tears in his eyes."

Zedsdeadbaby posted:

It matters a hell of a lot to us Europeans because we've been bitching about the ridiculous numbers of immigrants for a while. The last thing we need are a bunch of frightened African-Arabs fleeing across the Mediterranean sea away from all the troubles amidst this 'Arab Spring'.

quote:

A Human rights investigation in Libya has found that it was the US and its Western allies who cluster bombed the troubled city of Misratah back in April.


The HRI said it has convincing evidence that the cluster bombing blamed on pro-Gaddafi forces was actually carried out by the US navy.

His idleness posted:

It turns out that the bombs dropped on Misratah were dropped by US navy aircraft, not the Libyan military as was reported.
Is this how NATO protects civilians.
Get out of Libya now.

quote:

Human Rights workers from the Caro Institute have discovered evidence that a shadow contingent of Our Brave Troops are using flamethrowers in Misrata, literally roasting Libyan babies to death before eating them.

quote:

A Human rights investigation in Libya has found that it was the US and its Western allies who cluster bombed the troubled city of Misratah back in April.

The HRI said it has convincing evidence that the cluster bombing blamed on pro-Gaddafi forces was actually carried out by the US navy.

The report says at the time of the attack, Human Rights Watch and a reporter working for US media immediately blamed forces loyal to Libya's embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi for the cluster bombing that threatened civilian lives.

According to the report, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay and the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were quick to condemn the act.

Clinton called the cluster bombing of urban areas an act that posed a lot of challenges to both NATO and the opposition.

International aid agencies and human rights groups had warned of a growing humanitarian disaster in Misratah, Libya's third largest city.

"We never saw these injuries before. We need experts to assess [the munitions]," said a doctor at a Misratah hospital back in mid-April.

The Libyan regime had flatly denied reports that they have used internationally banned cluster bombs in the ongoing clashes with revolutionaries.

NATO has been bombing Libya since March. Under a UN mandate, the alliance must protect civilians caught up in the battle between the opponents of Gaddafi and his loyalists.

However, many civilians and even anti-Gaddafi forces have been killed since the Western-led war on Libya began in March. Cluster bombs used by coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq have also resulted in civilian casualties.

Critics, however, accuse the West of hypocrisy over the offensive on Libya, along with its silence towards the brutal crackdowns on similar anti-regime movements elsewhere in the Arab world, such as in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Experts say the main motive behind the Western attack on Libya is the vast oil reserves in the North African country.

quote:

It offers domain privacy services through partner domain registrars such as Go Daddy and Wild West Domains.

Subscribers list Domains by Proxy as their administrative and technical contacts in the Internet's WHOIS database, thereby delegating responsibility for managing unsolicited contacts from third parties and keeping the domains owners personal information safe from the public eye.

Brown Moses posted:

Any chance you could provide a link to your source?

Bonaventure posted:

If that news weren't bad enough...

quote:

Human Rights workers from the Caro Institute...

Brown Moses posted:

I'm not a computer whiz like some people here, but I assume if the name server is "ns1.wordpress.com" then their site is just a wordpress blog?

So it's a Wordpress site run by someone who doesn't want the world to know who they are. His Idleness, I don't suppose you could provide us with more information about Human Rights Investigations, seeing you obviously consider them a trust worthy source?

quote:

HRI is a new blog / nascent organisation set up in 2011 to answer the need for objective and thorough human rights investigations on issues which larger human rights organisations and the mass media ignore or just get wrong.

Our methodology and organisation is being developed through practice.

HRI is currently focused on the Libyan conflict but we intend to look at other issues which we regard as key and where we think investigative methods can make a difference.

Cable Guy posted:

Not a snowflake's in hell. We saw yesterday the "quality" of his posts... why is he still around? Brown Moses, you shouldn't need to bother chasing HIS sources, and you certainly shouldn't need to ask him to consider what he's said AFTER he's opened his mouth.

Dreissi posted:

HRI appears to have no source data and no one affiliated with it by name.

suboptimal posted:

Well, bear in mind that SA's resident schizophrenic Caro Ascendant (nee Caro) is currently in Libya, masquerading as some sort of hybrid war tourist and pseudo-combat medic. Reporting that troops are killing Libyan babies with flamethrowers certainly wouldn't be his most outlandish claim.

quote:

Instalaza fabrica estos proyectiles aunque, aseguran, no han vendido a Libia. Sin embargo, su salto a la primera plana viene dada del uso que ha hecho de ella el Ejército libio comandado por Gadafi durante las últimas horas en el conflicto abierto con las fuerzas rebeldes y la ONU.

quote:

Instalaza manufactures these missiles but, they say, they have not sold to Libya. However, his jump to the front page is given the use made of it the army led by Gaddafi Libya during the last hours in open conflict with rebel forces and the UN.

Brown Moses posted:

I'm really looking forward to your next post, His Idleness.