Rape in Kuwait – the flip side
By now you know a lot about who I am – what I laugh at, what I treasure, and what makes me break out in a storm of fury. Rape is one of those issues; the sheer entitlement that goes with stripping another human of choice and violating flesh as if the victim were nothing more than a piece of meat, it energizes me to a white rage, whether the victim is man, woman or child.
And then . . . and then . . . there are very strange cases of reported rapes in Kuwait that I have a hard time imagining exactly what happened here. I am not being flip, in a flippant sense; I am perplexed. We sometimes get so little of the story, and once you have a key piece of information – which we often never have – things make sense.
This is from today’s Kuwait Times:
Minor Raped
Police said a minor girl told Salhiya police that while she was sitting on the beach, a young man approached her and told her that he belonged to a well-known family. He then took her to an apartment in Sharq where he raped her before returning her to the same area. Later, another man approached her and took her to another apartment and raped her as well. She provided police with their mobile phone numbers. The case is under investigation.
Does this not sound peculiar to you? For one thing, is she sitting alone on the beach? Does she know these men? She goes with them – alone? By choice? Twice, with two different men? They give her their phone numbers?? To me, there is a lot of information missing in this report. It sounds like a very strange case of rape. I almost wonder if the minor has a mental incapacity, but it doesn’t say that.
Man, Woman arrested
A police patrol traveling in Sulaibiya recently suspected a young man and woman as they were driving. (Note to self: remind Kuwait Times that you do not use “Police suspected. . ” without specifying which behavior they found suspicious) Police asked to see their civil IDs and discovered that the young woman had run away from home one month ago. During interrogation, she confessed that the man and his three friends had raped her several times in a flat. The case is under investigation.
The following one is not about rape (nor am I sure the above cases are about rape) but is a case that makes you go “hmm. . .. what??”
Runaway Woman
A Filipina woman recently told Sulaibikhat police that she abandoned her sponsor’s home in Bneid Al-Gar before going to her Pakistani friend’s flat in Doha. Two months later, the woman became pregnant. She then reported the matter to the police.
She went to the police and said “I am a runaway, and I am pregnant” knowing she will be charged with absconding AND with immorality, maybe adultery? Knowing she will go to jail? What, exactly, is she hoping to gain? What is she reporting?
The crime news is full of mysterious glimpses, and we rarely know the rest of the story.
Expecting Too Much?
The newspapers in Kuwait have gotten better. Really. They are using fewer hackneyed cliches, their spelling is better, their use of photos is getting better – mostly the captions match the photo.
This, however, is inexcusable.
A headline featuring the Emir of Kuwait – a big story.
Sew, my newspaper friends, is what you do with a needle.
Sow is what you do with seeds, or grains, as in “as you sow, so shall you reap.”
Oh, Arab Times, the shame!
AMIR WARNS IN RUN-UP TO POLL CAMPAIGN; ‘Prosecute bids to sew disunity’
KUWAIT CITY, April 12, (KUNA): His High-ness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Sunday called on the relevant national authorities to take legal action against persons or establishments that target national unity in the run-up to the electoral campaigns. The Amir made the call during an extraordinary session of the Cabinet that he chaired. The meeting was attended by HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Following the session, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Faisal Mohammad Al-Hajji Bou-Khaddour stated that HH the Amir, during the meeting, expressed his dismay and regret at those who are fomenting discords and hateful factional disputes, as part of their campaigns for the upcoming elections for the ninth legislative term of the National Assembly.
Kuwaiti Men and the Women’s Vote
What is not to love about Kuwaiti men? Most of the Kuwaiti men I know are strong proponents of the Kuwaiti woman, sometimes, just as in my own country, the men are stronger proponents of women’s rights than the women are. Saw this editorial cartoon last week and intended to publish it, but somewhere, it got lost. No longer.
Kudos on you, Ahmed. Great cartoon!
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?
There really is a “broken heart syndrome” and a recent study, discussed on BBC, finds it can be treated – and the heart can be mended. Read the entire article here.
Medics can help you recover from a broken heart
US researchers studied 70 patients with “broken heart syndrome”, a recognised condition linked to stressful or emotional events.
All these patients recovered, most after being given aspirin or heart drugs, even though 20% were deemed critically ill.
The American Journal of Cardiology study says the condition is probably caused by a surge in stress hormones.
Broken heart syndrome, known medically as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, was first described by Japanese researchers in the early 1990s.
Even though symptoms mimic those of a heart attack such as chest pain and shortness of breath, broken heart syndrome does appear to be temporary and completely reversible – if treated quickly.
Kuwait imposes fee on public toilets?
LOL – there are public toilets in Kuwait? Where? Women always memorize which buildings have public restrooms, but aren’t those owned by the buildings? And holy smokes, what do we do if we don’t have small change left after all our shopping??? Men are more . . . umm. . . err. . . flexible, but women need privacy, i.e. restrooms!
TRAIN your cleaners! Give them proper supplies! Hold their supervisors responsible for their inspection and maintenance of standards! This is called ACCOUNTABILITY.
Charging for use of public restrooms will impose, at the very least, inconvenience for women, and most likely, embarrassment for those who don’t have the money, at the very worst times, like when you have seven children with you and three of them need to use the toilets. Charging fees for usage? Bad idea.
Municipality to impose fees on public toilets
Staff Writer From this morning’s Al Watan
KUWAIT: Kuwait is seriously mulling over the notion of imposing nominal fees for using public toilets.
Mohammad AlـAmri, the Convener of the Cleansing Committee at Kuwait Municipality, stated that the fee is aimed at providing better sanitary services along the lines that are implemented in certain neighboring countries. The official also noted that the current cleaning contracts are scheduled to expire in November 2010.
In a related development, the outgoing Minister of State for Municipal Affairs and Minister of Public Works Dr Fadhil Safar disclosed that Kuwait Municipality is currently working on a proposal to implement a new mechanism in keeping track with the performance of cleaning companies to ensure that the garbage is disposed off at the assigned dumpsites. He added that the system has been already implemented in the Kuwait City Governorate and is expected to be applied in all other governorates soon.
Last updated on Thursday 26/3/2009
Citizens?
Here is what I don’t understand. Sometimes, it is very clear who did what to whom, and sometimes it is not. In the first paragraph, they talk about a serious car accident with six injured citizens, two Sudanese parents and their son and an Iranian female. OK, that’s four people. Who are the other two citizens? A citizen lost control? Which citizen?
I thought a citizen was one who had citizenship, and all the rest of us are Sudanese, Iranian, British, Irish, American, etc. etc. etc. These accident and crime reports are ambiguous, at best. Why so oblique?
From today’s Al Watan:
KUWAIT: Due to a serious car accident which occurred on the Fifth Ring Road heading to Jahra near the Surra area, six citizens, two Sudanese parents and their son, as well as an Iranian female, sustained serious injuries. It was reported that a citizen lost control of his speeding car and hit another other car which overturned. The injured were rushed to Mubarak Hospital by ambulance to seek medical assistance.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a citizen suffered serious injuries after his car overturned near a roundabout located in the Abdullah AlـMubarak area. After the operation room received a phone call informing them that a citizen had a car accident and was trapped within his vehicle, police officers and fire brigades rushed to the scene. Firefighters from the Jleeb AlـShuyoukh Fire Station, lead by First Lieutenants Mishari AlـTourah and Bader AlـKandari, managed to rescue the man from the wreckage. The man was taken to Farwaniya Hospital by paramedics to seek medical assistance.
Kuwait to Provide Assistance in Dharfur
From today’s Arab Times:
Kuwait Red Crescent ready to fill aid agencies gap in Darfur
KUWAIT CITY, March 7, (KUNA): Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) said Saturday it was ready to fill the aid agencies gap caused by the withdrawal of a number of humanitarian organizations from Darfur.
KRCS Chairman Barjas Al-Barjas said in a letter he sent to Secretary-General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Bekele Geleta, that KRCS believed the federation should cover the needs caused by the withdrawal of 16 non-governmental organizations from Darfur due to bad security conditions. He called IFRC to urge all humanitarian and charitable bodies, national societies, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to contribute to ending the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Darfur. Al-Barjas said KRCS was ready to provide aid, as it always did to the needy around the world.
Meanwhile, the Arab League Council has decided to send an Arab-Afro delegation to the UN Security Council (UNSC) to defer the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. The council, meeting urgently at the foreign ministers’ level to discuss ICC arrest warrant, expressed dismay for the ICC decision and said it did not consider justice, stability and peace in Sudan. The council voiced solidarity with Sudan against any plans undermining the sovereignty, unity and independence of Sudan.
The foreign ministers underlined in a statement importance of the independence of the Sudanese judiciary. They refused any attempt to politicize the principles of the international justice which would jeopardize the unity, sovereignty and independence of countries around the world. They regretted the fact that article 16 of the Rome statute of the ICC was not provoked thus delay the arrest warrant for 12 months. They asserted that heads of state enjoy immunity in accordance with the 1961 Vienna agreement.
The arrest warrant does not consider the implementation of the peace agreement in Southern Sudan and preparation for the general elections in the second half of this year, said the ministers. The Arab foreign ministers urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to live up its responsibility to preserving peace and stability in Sudan. They called on regional and international parties to provide suitable atmosphere for the political settlement between the Sudanese government and rebel groups in Darfur.
May God bless the work of their hands and their hearts.
International Women’s Day in Kuwait
From today’s Arab Times:
Kuwait womenfolk prove their mettle
KUWAIT, March 7, (KUNA): Kuwaiti women will be celebrating the Inter-national Women’s Day on Sunday alongside women of the world, having a series of achievements and success stories to be proud of. Women of Kuwait attained their political rights in May 2005 and voted and ran for candidacy for the first in the parliamentary elections in June 2006. Although none of the female candidates won a parliamentary set, women’s votes had a great impact on the election’s results.
In addition, the Kuwaiti leadership has made way for women’s participation in political life through appointing the first female minister, Dr Maasouma Al-Mubarak, on June 2, 2005 as Minister of Planning and Minister of State for Administrative Develop-ment Affairs. The Kuwaiti constitution stipulates that men and women have equal rights and duties. Article 25 of the constitution states, “All people are equal in human dignity, and in public rights and duties before the law, without distinction as to race, origin, language or religion.”
Rights
Although Kuwaiti women enjoyed many civil and social rights throughout the years, a number of the National Assembly members have adopted a draft law to give them even more rights. The draft law ensures giving men and women the same salaries and equal opportunities in being appointed at administrative and senior posts, and providing more rights to divorced Kuwaiti women and widows, and those married to non-Kuwaitis.
Kuwaiti females have equal education opportunities to their male counterparts in both schools and universities. Kuwait was not only keen on giving women their rights through local laws and legislations, but internationally through the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Compulsory premarital tests
From today’s Kuwait Times
KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health is preparing a draft law to make premarital blood tests compulsory for Kuwaiti citizens. It plans to refer the draft law to the Cabinet’s Fatwa and Legislative Department, which will then review it and suggest necessary amendments, reported Al-Rai. An official said that the committee would follow the standard procedure before referring it to Dr Ibraheem Al-Abdalhadi, the Ministry of Health’s Undersecretary, who in turn will refer it to the Minister of Health Roudhan Al-Roudhan. It will adopt the law immediately after different aspects of the law are approved by the department.
Does not clarify what the pre-marital tests will test for. I assume HIV/Aids, STDs . . . but will it also test genetic incompatibility?
Amnesty International Report on Gaza
This is just an excerpt from a much longer article on Wired.com. You can read the entire article by clicking on the blue type.
Tracking Down Gaza War’s Deadly, Mysterious Cubes
By David Hambling February 24, 2009 | 11:21:49 AMCategories: Ammo And Munitions, Missiles, Sabras
An unidentified weapon packed with strange “cube shaped shrapnel” killed or wounded civilians in the recent Gaza war, according to a new report from Amnesty International.
Amnesty’s report on weapons used by both sides in Gaza finds much to condemn. The group is particularly hard on the U.S., having found numerous remains of American munitions — including white phosphorus shells from Pine Bluff Arsenal, and a Hellfire missile made in Orlando. Another weapon which bothers Amnesty is a mysterious munition, filled with cubic particles.
“Amnesty International delegates in Gaza also found evidence of the use of a new type of missile, seemingly launched from unmanned drones, which explodes large numbers of tiny sharp-edged metal cubes, each between 2 and 4 mm square in size. This purpose-made shrapnel can penetrate even thick metal doors and many were seen by Amnesty International’s delegates embedded deep in concrete walls. They appear designed to cause maximum injury…
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