By Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – The Sharjah Sharia Court in the UAE today sentenced two foreign workers to 100 lashings and deportation for having “unlawful sex.”  This incendiary ruling comes after two immigrant workers, one Filipino and one Bangladeshi, were found to have had sex out of wedlock, a crime under Sharia law.  In addition to deportation and other physical punishments, the Bangladeshi national may also be imprisoned for up to a year for committing adultery. 

Reports indicated that the Filipino worker, a housemaid, invited her boyfriend over to her sponsor’s house on numerous occasions while the family was away in order to have sex.  The two were caught after the housemaid’s sponsor saw the worker’s boyfriend sneaking out of the house.  Both workers are said to have admitted to having sex while the sponsor family was away.

Under Sharia law in the UAE, Muslim immigrants who commit adultery are lashed and deported while non-Muslims immigrants are imprisoned and then deported.  According to reports, both workers are Muslims, however, both may be subject to an additional prison sentence.  Having sex out of wedlock is illegal in the UAE.   Kissing in public is also illegal under Sharia law.

The UAE has come under fire recently for a slew of court rulings sentencing foreign workers to a variety of inhumane and disproportionate punishments for various “illegal” acts.  In August, the UPI documented 8 cases of excessive punishments.  These cases are only illustrative and account for only a portion of the harsh rulings imposed against foreigners in the UAE.  The government in Abu Dhabi has yet to comment on the result of this latest case.  However, for those countries which embrace Sharia law, today’s ruling is simply business as usual.

For more information please see:

ABC News – Couple to be Lashed for Sex Out of Wedlock – 15 Nov. 2010

Emirates 24/7 – 100 Lashes Each for Illicit Lovers – 15 Nov. 2010

UPI – Illicit Couple Sentenced to Lashing in UAE – 15 Nov. 2010

UPI – Continued Cultural Clashes in Dubai, Abu Dhabi – 12 Aug. 2010

TEHRAN, Iran – Detained Iranian filmmaker and journalist Mohammad Nourizad has published an account of the torture which he claims that he and other detainees have be subjected to as political prisoners.  Nourizad said in a statement that was posted on several Iranian reformist websites, that he was cursed and severely beaten by intelligence officers, whose behavior he called “barbaric.”

Nourizad was arrested in 2009 after publishing several open letters on his blog which were deemed disrespectful to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials.  He was sentenced to three years in prison and fifty lashes on unclear charges, but was released from prison on June 24, 2010. He was subsequently returned to prison on August 18, 2010 after publishing another public letter addressed to Khamenei on his blog.

Nourizad’s account stated that other political prisoners, including Mostafa Tajzade, Abdullah Momeni, Hamza Karimi, and Mohammad Reza Rajabi were also tortured while in detention. Momeni and Karimi have both previously written to Khamenei informing him of the torture and mental abuse that they, and other prisoners, were subject to in detention.

Both physical and mental torture are forbidden in the Iranian Constitution.

Karimi said, in a public statement:

“All those who have been affected by these matters in any way should know that the government’s principles do not lie in tolerance. We believe in making a stand against those opposing us within the framework of the law.”

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran executive director and spokesman, Hadi Ghaemi, told Radio Farda on November 10, 2010 that postpresidential election detainees are routinely tortured.  He said:

“The news of torture leaked during the initial period of the unrest when a huge number of people were arrested, and the Kehrizak detention center was the center of attention in this respect.”

Ghaemi hopes to prevent torture of detainees in Iran by publicizing it and drawing international attention to it.

For more information, please see:

RFL/RL – Detained Iranian Filmmaker Says He And Other Detainees Were Tortured – 11 November 2010

InsideofIran.com – Mohammad Nourizad Summoned to Evin Prison – 20 August 2010

Persian2English.com – Detained Journalist Mohammad Nourizad Writes Letter to the Supreme Leader – 27 April 2010

By Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Despite the best efforts of the international community to stop the execution of Sakineh Mohammedi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death for committing adultery, it now appears that her execution is imminent.   If the government moves forward with its plan to execute Ashtiani, she will be stoned to death.  To make matters worse, both Ashtiani’s son and lawyer have been detained by the government since October 10.  Now Amnesty International is renewing its call to stay the execution but fears that these additional detentions may make it impossible to defend Ashtiani. 

Nations throughout the world have joined together to condemn Ashtiani’s sentence, calling death by stoning “barbaric” and “inhumane.”  Facing intense international pressure, the government of Iran temporarily suspended the stoning punishment in favor of execution by hanging but has since reaffirmed the original verdict.  Government officials however, contend that the leadership has not yet made a final decision on the matter.  Despite its rhetoric, Tehran’s position is quite clear.  Responding to criticism, Mr. Ramin Mehmanparast, a Foreign Ministry representative stated “[t]they (the West) have been so shameless that they have turned the case of Ms. Ashtiani, who as committed crime and treason, into a human rights case against our nation.” 

Although reports have confirmed that she has not yet been executed, the International Committee against Stoning (ICAS) warned that Ms. Ashtiani’s execution might take place as early as today.   Ms. Ashtiani has already faced punishment by suffering 99 lashes in front of her son.   Despite this abuse, officials indicate that she is currently in good health.

Even if she escapes her stoning punishment, Ashtiani still faces further criminal penalties for her alleged involvement in the murder of her husband.  Under Sharia law, if found guilty, Ashtiani would face death by hanging.  Although her lawyer Houton Kian calls the charges ”bogus,” he will be unable to challenge these accusations if the government continues his detention.  Despite these difficulties, the ICAS expressed its commitment to freeing Ashtiani, her son and her lawyer and has been able to raise significant contributions for their defense.  Although the Iranian leadership may step back from its staunch support of stoning punishments it will likely seek to execute Ashtiani by other means. 

For more information, please see:

The Australian – Iran Lashes Out at West Over Ashtiani Stoning Outrage – 4. Nov. 2010

The Washington Post – Amnesty Urges Iran to Free Stoning Case Detainees – 4 Nov. 2010

Sify News – Iran Says ‘no final Decision Taken on Stoning to Death’ Woman’s Execution – 4 Nov. 2010

New York Daily News – Iranian Woman Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani charged with Adultery, Murder, and Will Likely Die by Hanging – 3. Nov. 2010

By Eric C. Sigmund
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria – Two children in Syria, a boy of five-years-old and a girl of three, became engaged last week after being forced into the relationship through an arranged marriage. The children’s parents contend that both children consented to the engagement and that they love each other.  Although the parents of the children say that there will be no formalization of the marriage for at least a decade, the issue of arranged marriages has again received international attention. 

The boy’s father reported that he vowed to have his son, Khalid, engaged by the age of five and claims that his son fell in love with the girl, Hala, on a family trip.  He explained that after their encounter, both children suffered from “loneliness” when they were apart.  After returning home, Khalid refused to return to his day care center unless Hala attended with him reported the boy’s father.  Khalid’s parents note that their son’s new fiancé felt similar symptoms and that upon discussing the matter with Hala’s parents, agreed that the children should be engaged.

Arranged marriages are common in the region and often involve negotiations for the exchanged of goods or favors for a promise to marry.  Khalid’s father told Gulf News that he will “bear the education expenses of both the children till they graduate.”

Both families are facing growing criticism from within and outside of the country.  Articles in numerous Syrian newspapers and online discussion forums expressed their disapproval of the engagement.  “How can these idiotic and clearly blind parents not see that they are merely encouraging the destruction of their children’s childhoods?” comments one woman on an online forum.  But Forward Magazine, a Syrian magazine written in English, notes that Syrian marriages are traditionally arranged at an early age.  Typically, when a boy reaches puberty, his mother will search for a suitable female, usually younger than their son, to be his wife explains the magazine.  Despite the prevalence and custom of arranged marriages in Syria however, the ages of Khalid and Hala makes this case very unique. 

The United Nations has recommended that nations set a minimum age for marriage at 18 for both men and women, warning that child marriages often reinforce poverty and low education.  A number of international human rights agreements protect children from underage marriages however, enforcement of these agreements is often lax especially when a society’s customs and beliefs are implicated.

Khalid’s father notes that it is possible that the children may change their minds when they are older but failed to comment on whether the engagement could be broken off.  “We know that Khalid or Hala might change their mind in the future” states Khalid’s father “but what we do know at this stage is that they are very happy and talk to each other everyday.” Khalid is waiting until he is 15 to marry Hala.

For more information, please see:

CBS News – Syrian Boy, 5, Engaged to Girlfriend, 3 – 25 Oct. 2010

Huffington Post – Syrian Boy, 5, Proposes to 3-Year-Old Girlfriend – 25 Oct. 2010

New York Daily News – Boy, 5, Engaged to Girl, 3, in Arranged Marriage in Syria – 25 Oct. 2010

Gulf News – Five-Year-Old Khalid Pops the Question to Hala, Three – 21 Oct. 2010