By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – The United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) produced a six-minute video entitled “Be Yourself” to cure gay men of homosexuality.  This “tutorial” posted by the government last week on YouTube shocked the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

Link to the UAE film \”Be Yourself\”.

Set in a typical suburban area in the UAE, the video tells the story of five young men: Rashid Al-Muaini, Majid Al-Muaini, Ali Al-Ghaithi, James Al-Ghaithi, and Mohammed Eissa.  Two of the characters dressed in traditional Emirati greet a third character in a t-shirt and jeans.  In his apparent shy and effeminate manner, he says “Hi guys” to the other characters in a high-pitched voice while he plays with his long hair and daintily shakes their hands.

The final two characters wearing western-style clothing join the trio and greet them in a masculine manner.  The effeminate character receives an invitation to join the other characters in an adjacent villa.   In the villa, the men tell the effeminate character he needs to change his personality.  He agrees.

As part of his straight makeover, the effeminate man mimics manly gestures.  The other men scrub his hands and face, and they cut his hair and nails.  When the newly masculine man departs, he says “Bye guys” in a high-pitched voice.  The men slap him and command him to thicken his voice.

Once the makeover concludes, the men appear pleased and proud of their work.  They also thank Allah for enabling the man’s “change.”

24-year-old founder of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Rights UAE Abdullah responded the video “angers me to no end, but it also saddens me.”  The video reminded him of hot afternoons when he was a teenager.  He forcibly observed men interacting or drinking coffee, so he could mimic them and make his father proud.

The UAE has enacted federal legislation that prohibits homosexual acts throughout the country.  The country can punish men engaging in consensual sodomy with fines, ten to fourteen years in prison, deportation, flogging, or death.

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual Rights UAE activist network informed the Canadian Prime Minister and Human Rights Minister, the United Nations, and various media outlets of the continued persecution their community faces.  For example, the network stated UAE officials used hormonal treatments to “cure” homosexuals.

Dubai resident and gay activist Omar said, “This is the only way to enable our rights as citizens because activism on the ground here will lead to our arrest and jailing.  We struggle.”

For further information, please see,

Albawaba  – UAE Gay “Cure” Video Causes Sting in LGBT Community – 31 Jan 2012

International Business Times – Gay Man ‘Cure Video’ Sparks Outrage in UAE – 31 Jan 2012

Huffington Post – United Arab Emirates’ ‘Be Yourself’ Video Shows Gay Men Being ‘Cured’ of Homosexuality – 30 Jan 2012

Pink News – Video: UAE ‘Straight Makeover’ Video Slammed – 30 Jan 2012

By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain–Bahraini detainees and activists who were convicted for taking part in anti-government protests last year began a hunger strike on Sunday January 29 2012. The strike was announced as the Gulf kingdom’s interior minister called for punishment against those “attacking policemen” to be raised to a 15-year prison term.

Mohammed al-Maskati, head of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), shared these words with the AFP concerning the hunger strike.

“This evening, they will have their last meal.”

BYSHR stated that 14 prevalent human rights activists and opposition leaders would begin a hunger strike “in solidarity with pro-democracy protests and in protest against the brutal crackdown.” Also, that detainees held in police stations and the Dry Docks detention center would also participate in the strike as well as BYSHR activists not presently behind bars.

The 14 leading individuals in jail include several opposition leaders who wee convicted last year of plotting to overthrow the regime of the Sunni Al-Khalifa after security forces ended a month-long protest movement demanding democratic changes. But the conflict between members of the Shiite majority and police have intensified recently as the first anniversary of protests that began on 14 February 2011 gets closer.

According to the BNA state agency, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa said on Sunday 29 January 2012 that the recent clashes have seen an “increase in violence and attacks on security personnel.” He also stated his intention to urge parliament to pass laws to punish “assailants and the instigators” of attacks that target security forces with jail sentences lasting up to 15 years.

“My responsibility is to call for the strengthening of law protecting police as there are no deterrent laws so far.”

The interior ministry has reported that some 41 officers were injured in orchestrated attacks on police on Tuesday 24 January 2012 with protesters in Shiite villages, while the opposition said one protester was killed and several others were injured.

In addition to dealing with alleged attacks on officers, the Bahraini government is also refuting opposition claims that security officers were responsible for the deaths of anti-government protesters, stating that they died of “natural causes.”

The death of teenager Mohammed Ibrahim Yacoub was one of four deaths reported by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. Also, the opposition group al Welfaq accused Bahraini authorities of running over Yacoub with a police car. According to the Bahrain News Agency, the Ministry of Health denied the allegation.

Luma Bashmi, a spokeswoman for the president’s office at the Information Affairs Authority, stated to CNN on Friday 27 January 2011, that the 17-year-old had “died from complications of Sickle Cell Anemia following his arrest on Wednesday 25 January for rioting in Sitra.”

Yacoub, whose age was previously reported as 19, reportedly told police about his medical condition when he began to feel ill during his interrogation. Then, police took him to a medical center but his condition continued to worsen. Intensive care doctors were not able to resuscitate him, due to internal bleeding and a fatal drop in blood pressure.

As part of the Health Ministry’s defense, it released a video purportedly taken at the time of the arrest that it allegedly shows Yacoub unharmed. It also released a medical report that indicated the boy’s cause of death was “sickle cell complications” and that his body had remained free of injuries.

According to a BNA report, Yacoub was arrested on Wednesday 25 January 2012 for participants in act of violence and vandalism.

Bashmi, of the Information Affairs Authority, also reported on the deaths of two more protesters. The first, Saeed Ali Al-Sikri, reportedly fell in the bathroom of his residence on Wednesday 25 January 2012 and later was pronounced dead in a hospital. The public prosecutor ordered forensic blood tests but no results have been released at this point. The second, Abbas Al-Shakikh, had been diagnosed with cancer last year. He was admitted to a hospital but his condition quickly deteriorated and he passed away on Wednesday January 25 2012.

The demonstrations and protests in Bahrain began on 14 February 2011, inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. But unlike other nations in the Arab Spring, the movement in Bahrain failed to gain any real traction and have been repeatedly quelled by crackdowns backed by troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In November 2011, Bahrain’s Independent Commission of Inquiry issued a report highly critical of the crackdown. Set up by the king, the commission concluded that police had indeed used excessive force and torture during last year’s crackdown on protests. Commission chairman Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni stated at the time that abuse of detainees included beatings with metal pipes and batons and threats of rape and electrocution. Additionally, the report stated that the mistreatment included physical and psychological torture, intended to extract information or to punish those held by security forces.

The report recommended reforms to the country’s laws and better training of its security forces. But the reports surrounding the death of protests such as Mohammed Ibrahim Yacoub make it clear that change has not happened at all and that civilians continue to suffer.

 

 

For more information, please see: 

ABNA – Iran Condemns Bahrain’s Cruelty Against Peaceful Demonstrators – 30 January 2012

Ahram – Bahrain Detainees To Begin Hunger Strike – 29 January 2012

Reuters – Bahrain Wants Stiffer Penalties For Security Staff Attackers – 29 January 2012

CNN – Bahrain Government Refutes Claims Over Protester Deaths – 28 January 2012

BBC – Bahrain Criticized Over ‘Inappropriate’ Use of Tear Gas – 27 January 2012

Al-Jazeera – Bahrain Confirms Teen Died In Police Custody – 26 January 2012

NYT – In Bahrain, Worries Grow of Violent Shiite-Sunni Confrontation – 25 January 2012

 

 

 

By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran — In recent weeks, both the United States and Human Rights Watch have accused Iran of attempting to quash free expression ahead of the country’s March elections.  Since the beginning of 2012 at least ten reporters and bloggers have been arrested.

“This wave of arrests against journalists and bloggers is a brazen attempt by the authorities to exercise absolute control over information available to the citizens,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Officials should immediately release all journalists and bloggers currently languishing in Iran’s prisons without ever being publicly charged and presented with the evidence against them, or serving time for exercising their right to freedom of expression.”

Authorities have refused to publically announce many of the charges against the journalists and bloggers, however two of the bloggers have received death sentences for the charge of “spreading corruption.”

On January 24, BBC Persia reported that judicial authorities in Iran had acknowledged the existence of a “temporary detention” order for one of the journalists, but friends and family of the detained say that they have been denied access and have yet to be told the charges levied.

There are rumors of charging the journalists and bloggers with “acting against national security” and “propaganda against the regime,” however these have yet to be confirmed officially.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland noted U.S. concern over the treatment of the detained, and Iran’s apparent disregard for due process.

“We are deeply concerned by the alarming increase in the Iranian regime’s efforts to extinguish all forms of free expression and limit its citizens’ access to information in the lead-up to March parliamentary elections,” she said.

“Iranian courts confirmed death sentences for bloggers Saeed Malekpour and Vahid Asghari, both of whom were not accorded due process and now face imminent execution on charges of ‘spreading corruption.'”

The U.S. is urging Iran to respond to the international calls “to abide by its commitments to protect the rights of all citizens and uphold the rule of law.” They are also asking Iran officials to cooperate with the United Nations Special Rapporteur who began a special assignment investigating human rights in Iran late last year.

Iran has also recently increased its efforts to censor free expression the internet. On January 4, local newspapers printed new regulations from Iran’s cyber police unit that gave internet cafes 15 days to install security cameras and to begin collecting personal information from customers for tracking purposes.

Recent interruptions in internet connectivity and an increase of blocked websites have some thinking this is evidence that Iran is testing a national intranet.  In March 2011, Iranian authorities announced that they were funding a multi-million dollar project to build a special Iranian internet to protect the country from socially and moral corrupt content.

For more information, please see:

AFP — US says Iran seeking to snuff out free expression — 27 Jan. 2012

U.S. Department of State — Wave of Arrests, Harassment, and Death Sentences in Iran — 26 Jan. 2012

Washington Examiner — Iran arrests journalists, to execute bloggers — 26 Jan. 2012

Human Rights Watch — Iran: New Assault on Freedom of Information — 25 Jan. 2012

By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch, Middle East

A Jordanian activist has been found guilty of “harming the king’s dignity” for burning a street poster of Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

Odai Abu-Issa,  an 18 year old from Madaba, 40 kilometers south of Amman, and a member of the Youth Movement for Reform, torched the poster in front of government office in southwest Jordan two weeks ago.

The charge is included among several acts that prohibit insulting the king, for which article 195 of Jordan’s penal code imposes sentences of between one and three years.

Abu-Issa was also charged with setting property on fire, which is punishable with hard labor.

While no clear motive for Abu-Issa’s actions has been reported, he belongs to a small group of young Jordanians who have been demanding that the king’s absolute powers be curbed.

A military prosecutor said the verdict was issued Thursday by the military State Security Court.

Human Rights Watch had been calling on Jordan’s prosecutor to drop the charges since they were first issued.  Although criminal prosecutions for the destruction of other people’s property is permissible, criminalizing insults against a head of state is incompatible with international human rights standards protecting the right to freedom of expression, Human Right Watch said.

“Burning a royal’s image as a political statement should not be criminally prosecuted,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. “To prosecute this act would send a chilling message that criticizing the king is off limits.”

Abu-Issa’s lawyer, Moussa Al-Abdallat, called the sentence “harsh” and said that he will appeal.

In December 2011, the State Security Court detained and charged Abu-Issa for slogans he shouted against the king during a protest in Madaba.  The trials for this charge are still currently in progress.

Human Rights Watch has documented numerous cases of Jordan charging individuals under the laws prohibiting insulting the king, including incidents at a barbershop, during parliamentary campaigning, and for poetry published on facebook.

In early August, the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a new general comment on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 19.  “The mere fact that forms of expression are considered to be insulting to a public figure is not sufficient to justify the imposition of penalties…in any case, the application of the criminal law should only be countenanced in the most serious of cases [of dangerous speech] and imprisonment is never an appropriate penalty.”

King Abdullah signed a law in September that restricts the State Security Court’s jurisdiction over civilians to four types of offenses – high treason, espionage, terrorism, and drug trafficking – but these changes do not go into force for three years. The Jordanian Parliament voted down proposals to remove the court’s entire jurisdiction over civilians.

For more information, please see:

Ahram — Jordan activist jailed for burning king’s picture — 26 Jan. 2012

Boston Globe — Jordan youth critical of king gets jail time — 26 Jan. 2012

Press TV — Jordanian jailed for burning king image — 26 Jan. 2012

IEWY — Jordan: Drop Charges for ‘Undermining Royal Dignity” — 24 Jan. 2012