Egypt Unifies Call to Prayer Sparking Concern Over Government Interference in Religious Affairs

Egypt Unifies Call to Prayer Sparking Concern Over Government Interference in Religious Affairs

By Alyxandra Stanczak
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

Photo of mosque in downtown Cairo. (Courtesy of egypttourinfo.com)

CAIRO, Egypt – Up to 730 muezzins, men who transmit the call to prayer five times daily in each mosque, face unemployment after the Egyptian government instituted a uniform call to prayer earlier this week.  Religious scholars are also worried that this government-mandated regulation of call to prayer could constitute a further intrusion by the Egyptian government in religious affairs.

Officials at the Ministry of Religious Endowment have said that the regulation is necessary to restore the dignity of the azan, the Islamic call to prayer. Although the government has stated that the muezzins would be able to maintain their salary, their tasks around the mosque would become much less prestigious and could include anything from leading prayers to custodial work. Muezzins are generally paid a  small wage, roughly $55 per week in some instances, but that wage goes far in a country with a yearly per capita income of  $2,161.

Sheik Youssef al-Badri, a religious conservative, opposes this regulation on the basis that “the Prophet Muhammad never ordered people to unify their calls to prayer in (his home of) Medina, so we shouldn’t do the same in Cairo.” Other conservatives are worried about the fact that the regulation tampers with an age-old Islamic ritual.

The Ministry of Religious Endowments hopes to regulate all of Egypt’s over 100,000 government-funded mosques after successful implementation of the program in Cairo. However, muezzins in impoverished areas of Cairo are worried that this regulation would mean that non-government funded mosques would be prevented from transmitting a call to prayer, which could possibly result in many people missing the five-times daily prayer ritual.

Other religious scholars have said that they are not worried about the governmental interference on religious affairs. Mohamed el Shahat el Gindy, Professor of Islamic Law at Helwan University, indicated that this decision could lessen the confusion caused by the mix of voices heard during the call to prayer.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Egypt’s unified call to prayer – 12 August 2010

USA Today – Cairo mosques begin unified call to prayer – 12 August 2010

NPR – In Cairo, and end to the cacaphony of calls to prayer – 5 August 2010

Egypt then and now – Unified call to prayer will be first activated in Greater Cairo – 2 August 2010

Bogota car bomb linked to FARC rebels

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

The site of the car bomb that damaged 30 buildings. (Photo courtesy of the Guardian.)
The site of the car bomb that damaged 30 buildings. (Photo courtesy of the Guardian.)

BOGOTA, Colombia—At least 13 people were injured when a car bomb was detonated near a popular radio station in north Bogota.  The blast is thought to have been the work of left-wing FARC rebels.

The bomb, which exploded early Thursday, damaged an entire block, including the studio of Caracol Radio.  The car bomb had been placed in the country’s financial center, just five blocks from the capital city’s stock exchange and near the American Embassy.

Windows of nearby buildings and cars were shattered in the explosion, which caused extensive material damage.  People sleeping in their bedrooms awoke to glass falling on their heads.

Police say the car had been packed with more than 50 kilograms of explosives.

The Prosecutor General’s Office has reported that a man who confessed to switching the license plates on the car used in the attack voluntarily turned himself in to police.  He denied knowing, however, that the car would be used for such a harmful purpose.

Police also arrested the man who provided the false license plate.  Both men are not suspected of being involved in any illegal organization.

FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, has been blamed for the incident and a member of the group is now in custody.  According to RCN Radio, the local prosecutor’s office has already identified the suspects directly responsible for the detonation.

Newly-elected President Santos has announced that diplomacy and mediation will not be employed to end Colombia’s domestic armed conflict until “the government considers the circumstances warrant it.”

“We have not thrown the key to dialogue into the ocean, but the door is closed,” Santos continued.  “[Illegal groups’] deceitfulness in the past has made us incredulous.  Now the government is holding the key, and we won’t give it to anyone until the conditions we have outlined are met.”

Santos explained that the rebels must illustrate through “concrete deeds” that they seek peace.  After visiting the scene of the crime Thursday, Santos called the blast a terrorist act.

FARC has been a violent opponent of Colombia’s government since the 1960s.  Bombings were on the decline under Santos’ predecessor, Alvaro Uribe, who had been president until August 7, 2010.  Uribe had worked to eradicate left-wing guerrilla groups, including the FARC.

Santos has vowed to take a hard-line stance against illegal groups, saying, “Their only aim is to sow fear, and that they will not achieve.  We will continue to fight terrorism.”

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg-Colombia Captures FARC Member After Bogota Car Bombing, RCN Radio Reports-14 August 2010

Colombia Reports-Bogota police arrest two suspects in radio station car bomb case-14 August 2010

Buenos Aires Herald-Bogota carbomb ‘final spasms of a dying dog,’ Santos-13 August 2010

BBC-Colombia offers Bogota car-bomb reward-13 August 2010

Guardian-Colombia capital hit by car bombing-12 August 2010

Voice of America-Colombian President Calls Bogota Car Bombing ‘Terrorist Act’-12 August 2010

Argentina: Ensure Women Access to Healthcare

By Ricardo Zamora

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Thousands of Argentine women of all ages suffer at the hands of negligent or abusive reproductive healthcare services each year, Human Rights Watch reported Tuesday.

In a report titled “Illusions of Care: Lack of Accountability for Reproductive Rights in Argentina,” Human Rights Watch explained that doctors and clinics place unnecessary obstacles that women must satisfy before they can access healthcare services to which they are entitled, such as contraception, voluntary sterilization procedures, and abortion after rape. Such obstacles include financial barriers, a husband’s permission for treatment, and unnecessary delays and referrals to other clinics. This results in speculative access to medical treatment, at best.

Human Rights Watch also reported that doctors who deny women treatment or impose arbitrary requirements are often not penalized.

Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, stressed that “women need dependable care throughout their reproductive lives but in Argentina it’s more like a lottery: You might be lucky enough to get decent care but you are more likely to be stuck with deficient — or even abusive — services.”

Even female victims of rape experience difficulty obtaining abortions or other, less intrusive, medical services. As a result, up to 40% of pregnancies in Argentina terminate by unsafe abortions. Vicanco reports that “Unsafe abortion has been the leading cause of maternal mortality in the country for decades.”

Vivanco believes that while Argentina’s reproductive health policies are not perfect, they would be much more effective in preventing maternal suffering if implemented and that the Argentine Government is not exerting sufficient effort in monitoring how the policies are implemented and is not punishing doctors who violate them.

The Argentine government responded positively to the publication of “Illusions of Care” and has taken steps to address many of the concerns it highlights. However, it has yet to take action. For example, in May, the National Health Ministry created a educational telephone service which logged complaints and provided information about where to find reproductive health care services. Human Rights Watch reports that, in June, one day after the Ministry announced that it would ensure that abortions where carried out for women threatened by pregnancy and those who have been raped, the government retracted its statements, noting that such treatments were not guaranteed.

“The Argentine government seems to be slowly waking up to the notion that laws on reproductive health mean nothing unless they are enforced,” Vivanco Said. “But unless changes are constant and clear, women and girls will continue to suffer and, in some cases, die.”

For more information please see:

Human Rights Watch – Argentina: Guarantee Women’s Access to Health Care – August 10, 2010

Human Rights Watch – Illusions of Care – August 10, 2010

United Press International – Argentine Healthcare Failing Women? – August 10, 2010

Iranian Television Broadcasts ‘Confession’ from Woman Sentenced to Stoning Execution

By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran –  Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to execution by stoning for alleged adultery has reportedly appeared on Iranian state television and ‘confessed’ to her crime.  The ‘confession’ was broadcast on Wednesday night, and Ashtiani [or a woman who identified herself as Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani] confessed to conspiring to murder her husband with her husband’s cousin, the man she is accused of having an affair with.

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Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani / Photo courtesy of AP

The face of the woman who identified herself as Ashtiani was blurred, and her words were dubbed from Azeri, Ashtiani’s native language, into Persian.  These factors rendered positive identification of Ashtiani impossible.

The interview was broadcast the day after U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, urged Iran to honor treaty obligations which require Iran to respect the rights of citizens and to halt executions.

Ashtiani, a forty three-year-old mother of two, was first convicted of the crime of having an “illicit relationship” with two men in 2006 and received 99 lashes. Later that year an inquiry into whether she had committed “adultery while married” was opened and she was retried, receiving the sentence of execution by stoning.

Houtan Kian has taken on representation of Ashtiani since her last attorney, Mohammad Mostafaie, fled the country and sought asylum in Norway. He told the Guardian that the interview was genuine, and that Ashtiani was, in the days preceding the interview, “severely beaten up and tortured until she accepted to appear in front of the camera.” Kian added that he was worried that the judiciary would move quickly in order to carry out her death sentence now that they have a confession.

He reported that Ashtiani’s twenty two-year-old son and seventeen-year-old daughter were “completely traumatised by watching this programme.”

Nazanine Moshiri, an Al Jazeera reporter reporting from Tehran, said that a source connected to the Iranian judiciary has stated that is is unlikely that Ashtiani will be executed during Ramadan [which lasts until September 9th], and added that there remains a “small possibility” that her execution will be revoked.

The supposed confession comes nearly a month after her death sentence was suspended for judicial review.  Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East, Hassiba Hadj Sahroui, said that the broadcast calls into question the independence of the Iranian judiciary. Sahroui stated:

“If the judiciary in Iran is to be taken seriously, this ‘confession’ needs to be disregarded  and assurances given that it will not affect the review of her case.”

Mina Ahadi of the Iran Committee against Stoning (ICAS) said:

“It’s not the first time Iran has put an innocent victim on a televised programme and killed them on the basis of forced confessions – it has happened numerously in the first decade of the Islamic Revolution.”

Ashtiani’s case still remains to be heard before the Iranian Supreme Court.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Iran stoning woman ‘confesses’ – 12 August 2010

The Guardian – Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani ‘confesses’ to murder on Iran state TV – 12 August 2010

New York Times – Woman Sentenced to Death by Stoning Reportedly Appears on Iranian Television – 12 August 2010

Radio Free Europe – Lawyers Say Stoning Defendant ‘Tortured’ To Confess on TV – 12 August 2010

 

TOUGH CONTROLS ON MEDIA COMING IN SOUTH AFRICA

By: Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – South Africa has again drawn the attention of the international community as the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s ruling party, seeks to create a media tribunal to crack down on violations of laws governing the press. 

Local and foreign media are criticizing South Africas ruling African National Congress.
Local and foreign media are criticizing South Africa's ruling African National Congress. (Photo Courtesy of AllAfrica)

The tribunal will adjudicate claims against media organizations alleged to have misreported news and information.  The government contends that the tribunal will be established to “provide tough action in cases of malicious, damaging, defamatory and misleading irresponsible reporting.”  The tribunal will be run by a press watchdog which would answer directly to the ANC-controlled parliament. This could allow the ANC to initiate proceedings against any media reporter or source critical of the government or its officers.  The ANC is currently running its own media campaign to persuade critics of the necessity of such a tribunal by claiming that a majority of the general public supports the plan. 

The South African media and many outside observers claim that this plan is an attempt by the government to limit freedom of speech in order to isolate the government from criticism.  In addition to others, the Press Council of South Africa has come out in opposition to the tribunal, claiming that it is unconstitutional.  In response to these claims, the government contends that the tribunal does not seek to extinguish media freedom but merely to enforce the existing press code. 

 At the same time the ruling party is attempting to pass the tribunal legislation, it is also pushing through a bill that would allow the government to prohibit the distribution of information which it defines as related to the “national interest.”  This legislation, called the Protection of Information Bill, would give the government more room to classify information as being important to national interests.  Those who disclose classified information would face up to five years in prison.  Although a general consensus has emerged that this bill will be passed, opponents hope that it will not be able to withstand judicial scrutiny. 

Although a formal vote on these two bills is pending, the government has already started arresting journalists for violating press control laws.  Last week a journalist was arrested and charged with “fraud and forgery” for possessing documents discussing the possible resignation of a top ANC politician.  The reporter was said to have been tied up in a car while his house was raided and numerous possessions seized by police.  The government contends that the arrest was not related to the new media controls and noted that all police forces are be held accountable for breaking the law. 

For more information, please see;

All Africa – ‘Most Citizens Agree on Need’ for Media Tribunal – 11 Aug. 2010

Eye Witness News – Media Appeals Tribunal to “Protect Public” – ANC – 11 Aug. 2010

iAfrica.com – ANC Gloats Over “Freedom” – 11 Aug. 2010

Wall Street Journal – South Africa Weighs Media Controls – 11 Aug. 2010

Associated Press – South Africa Ruling Party Proposes Media Tribunal – 10 Aug. 2010