Iran ( Government amends law " Being Gay " could cost you 100 lashes in public )

Iran arrests 'network of homosexuals and satanists' at birthday party

Revolutionary guards raid hall in city of Kermanshah where group was dancing, taking away at least 17 people Thursday 10 October 2013 13.38 EDT                

         

Women on a gay pride march in Berlin protest at Iran's treatment of gay people. Photograph: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

Iran's revolutionary guards have announced the arrest of "a network of homosexuals and satanists" in the western city of Kermanshah, close to the country's border with Iraq, prompting fresh alarm over the treatment of gay people in the Islamic republic.
The news website of the revolutionary guards in Kermanshah province, home to the country's Kurd ethnic minority, reported on Thursday that their elite forces had dismantled what it claimed to be a network of homosexuals and devil-worshippers.
A number of foreign nationals, including Iraqis, were also among those detained, the report said, adding that eight of the group were married to each other.
The group were picked up from one of the city's ceremony halls, which they had rented for a birthday party. The guards' webiste said they were dancing as the raid ensued.
The revolutionary guards claimed the group had been under surveillance for some time but did not specify how many people were arrested.
Authorities in the Islamic republic have previously likened homosexuals to satanists in an apparent attempt to further smear them in the eyes of the country's religious conservatives.
The Guardian has been informed that the raid took place on Tuesday night when some 80 people, including both straight and gay Iranians, had gathered for a birthday party in Kermanshah. At least 17 people who had tattoos, make-up, or were wearing rainbow bracelets were blindfolded and taken to an unknown location, according to a local source. Partygoers were filmed by the elite forces and had their mobile phones confiscated.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Iran face serious persecution both from the ruling system and broader society, especially by hardline conservatives. Some risk horrific punishments, including the death penalty and heavy jail sentences, others are bulllied and forced into exile.
Official treatment of gay people varies dramatically depending on where they are arrested and who by. Those arrested in provincial cities like in Kermanshah, are usually under more pressure.
Until recently same-sex sodomy was punishable by death but a new amendment to the penal code, approved in 2012, has brought new changes. Under the new penal code, in effect, the person who played an active role will be flogged 100 times if the sex was consensual and he was not married, but the one who played a passive role will still be put to death regardless of his marriage status. Punishment for mosahegheh (lesbianism) is 100 lashes for all individuals involved, but it can lead to the death penalty if the act is repeated four times.
In recent years, it appears that the government and the police has maintained the policy of ignoring gay people but the revolutionary guards and the informal voluntary Basij religious militia, who are indepdent of the government but close to the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been active tracking down gays and punishing them.
Despite the punishment, Iran's LGBT community have been struggling for recognition in recent years with many active online, publishing their works or simply sharing their experience. An increasing number of Iranian gay people also appear to be coming out to their friends and family.
Unlike homosexuality, which is punishable by death, transsexuality in Iran has been legal since a fatwa was issued in 1987 by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on their behalf. Although transsexuality is legal, the social stigma means that they can have an even worse life than gay people.
In September 2007, Iran's former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad famously denied homosexuals existed in the Islamic republic. "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country," he told a jeering audience at Columbia University in New York during his UN visit.
Back home, Siamak Ghaderi, a journalist working for the state news agency, Irna, proved him wrong by publishing a series of interviews with the country's homosexuals but was later arrested and sentenced to jail. He is currently in prison serving a four year prison term for "insulting the president" and "spreading propaganda against the regime", and was reportedly lashed 60 times in 2012

Mexico ( Citizens " Protest over " self-defense group " they block freeway )

IGUALA -. Cuatro Caminos On the road-Apatzingán, blockades resumed in height Parácuaro village.

The inhabitants of communities belonging to the municipality of Parácuaro use buses crossed to prevent the use of the road that connects all the Tierra Caliente to central Michoacan entity.


They protest against the self-defense group Parácuaro installed and require the federal government to intervene to disarm also called intruders from last Saturday are holding the county seat.

Also demand the release of 11 municipal police officers were disarmed and detained by armed civilians.

Read more: http://www.elblogdelnarco.net/2014/01/regresan-los-narcobloqueos-michoacan.html # ixzz2pvDzc8V7
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India ( Gang Rape supects and killers " Threaten Family of victim " ) Protection order for family

NEW DELHI: An Indian court has ordered protection for the family of a schoolgirl who was gang-raped twice and then burned to death in the country’s east, the father said.
The family sought protection from the High Court in the eastern city of Kolkata after vowing to fight for justice for their 16-year-old daughter, who died on New Year’s Eve after being set ablaze.
The father says his family has been threatened by members of the gang which raped his daughter on October 26 and then again the next day.

 The second rape occurred as she was returning home in the town of Madhyagram, 25 km north of Kolkata, after reporting the first attack at a police station.
The family moved house but gang members tracked them down, before allegedly setting their daughter on fire on December 23 at their home. She later died in hospital.
“I am satisfied and confident that we will get justice for our daughter,” the father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told AFP by phone from Kolkata after the court’s order.
Her death sparked protests in Kolkata and comes 12 months after the fatal gang-rape of a student on a moving bus in the capital that shocked the country and unleashed waves of anger over violence against women.
The High Court ordered the state to provide adequate protection to the family after hearing its petition, which also asks that the Central Bureau of Investigation take over the case
The family traveled to New Delhi earlier this week to meet the country’s President Pranab Mukherjee, vowing not to back down from their efforts to see those responsible prosecuted.
“I am also satisfied with the assurances I received from the honorable president. What else can I demand?” the father said.
The family as well as activists and opposition parties have accused authorities from the West Bengal state government of failing to act swiftly after the girl lodged her initial complaint.
Police arrested and charged six men over the attacks only after the girl died.
Rampant rape, assault and harassment of women in India have been highlighted in the past 12 months after the fatal gang-rape of the 23-year-old student sparked nationwide outrage.
Parliament has since passed tougher laws to punish rapists.
Activists say rape victims often face severe threats and intimidation from their attackers, while police often discourage them from lodging complaints

Pakistan ( Suicide bomber kills " Super Cop " or police commander )

KARACHI: A suicide attacker in Karachi on Thursday killed one of Pakistan’s best-known police commanders, famed for his fearless work tackling militants in the city.
Chaudhry Aslam, who had survived numerous assassination attempts in the past, died along with two other officers when a bomber targeted a police convoy on an expressway in eastern Karachi.
The sprawling port city is Pakistan’s largest conurbation and economic heart but has been plagued for years by brutal ethnic, political, sectarian and Islamist violence.


 The bomber smashed his vehicle into Aslam’s convoy and he and two other policemen were killed, Iqbal Mehmood, a senior officer with the criminal investigation department, told AFP.
Aslam had been receiving threats from the Pakistani Taleban, which tried to kill him in September 2011 in a huge explosion that tore off the front of his house in a smart area of the city.
After that attack he made a defiant appearance before the media, saying: “I will give my life but I won’t bow to terrorists.”
Earlier on Thursday Aslam had claimed the killing of three suspected members of the Pakistani Taleban in an encounter in the city.
Police are currently involved in an operation aimed at clearing Karachi of militants and hardcore criminals including hired killers, gun runners and drug peddlers.

Saudi Arabia ( Expat assaulted and robbed by 6 men )

An Asian expatriate was assaulted and robbed of his belongings in Riyadh on Tuesday evening.
Ahmed Hilmy Sattar, who has been working in the Kingdom for more than 30 years, and was heading home for his annual vacation, said six masked men with guns got out of a brand new GMC vehicle, attacked and then robbed him.



“They took SR3,000, my iqama and other valuables in my possession,” Sattar said.
The incident occurred when Sattar was going to a shop in Farazdak Street near Al-Obeid Hospital. He said he was about to go home to Colombo. “I’m still traumatized,” Sattar said.
He said that when he went to the nearest police station to lodge a complaint, the policemen on duty were not interested in filing a report.
“So I went home disappointed that I could not file a first information report at the police station.”
Sattar said an eye specialist found that he sustained internal injuries to his right eye. He had been afraid that he might lose sight in the eye.

Saudi Arabia ( Man wanted for sexually molesting a seven-year-old schoolgirl ) Video Outrage

 

There was an outpouring of anger and shock from Saudis on Wednesday after a video on YouTube showed a man sexually molesting a seven-year-old schoolgirl in the foyer of her building in Dammam.
The man should be jailed and more awareness campaigns launched to warn children about pedophiles, they said.
The 47-second video, which went viral on social media networks with over 300,000 hits in one day, shows the schoolgirl in her uniform and carrying a backpack, waiting at the elevator when the man shows up.
The man, dressed in a white short-sleeved thobe and skullcap, first walks past her to check if anyone is on the staircase and then turns back to talk to her. He checks the doors to the fire escape and the elevator, and then lifts the little girl’s dress and starts touching her.
He stops as the elevator arrives, and then enters it behind her. The video ends at this point.
In the background, another man can be heard talking to a friend on the phone in Arabic.
The Eastern Province police have launched an investigation into the incident. “It was brought to our notice and we are investigating it,” Col. Ziad Al-Ruqaiti, the Eastern Province police spokesman, told local media on Wednesday.
Muaad Al-Khazi tweeted that “such a man must be brought to justice, jailed and isolated for the rest of his life.”
“Justice must be served by ridding society of those who pollute it like this man,” tweeted Reem Sami.

Iraq ( AL-Qaeda fighters urged to leave Fallujah to avoid showdown )

BAGHDAD: Tribal leaders in the besieged city of Fallujah warned Al-Qaeda-linked fighters to leave to avoid a military showdown, echoing a call by Iraq’s prime minister Wednesday that they give up their fight as the government pushes to regain control of mainly Sunni areas west of Baghdad.
The warning came as gunmen attacked an Iraqi army barracks in a Sunni area north of Baghdad, killing 12 soldiers. Seven soldiers were wounded in the assault in Diyala province, authorities said.
The United Nations and the Red Cross, meanwhile, said Fallujah and nearby areas are facing mounting humanitarian concerns as food and water supplies start to run out.


 Sectarian tensions have been on the rise for months in Sunni-dominated Anbar province as minority Sunnis protested what they perceive as discrimination and random arrests by the Shiite-led government. Violence spiked after the Dec. 28 arrest of a Sunni lawmaker sought on terrorism charges and the government’s dismantling of a year-old anti-government Sunni protest camp in the provincial capital of Ramadi.
Last week, Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen seized control of Ramadi and nearby Fallujah, cities that were among the bloodiest battlefields for US forces during the Iraq war. The militants overran police stations and military posts, freed prisoners and set up their own checkpoints.
The United States and Iran have offered material help for the Iraqi government but say they won’t send in troops.
Speaking in his weekly television address, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki hinted of a possible pardon for supporters of Al-Qaeda’s local branch, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, if they abandon the fight.
“The war that is being fought by the Iraqi security forces, tribes and all segments of Iraqi society against Al-Qaeda and its affiliates is a sacred war,” he said. “I call on those who were lured to be part of the terrorism machine led by Al-Qaeda to return to reason.”
In exchange, he promised that his government will “open a new page to settle their cases so that they won’t be fuel for the war that is led by Al-Qaeda.”
Iraq’s government has rushed additional troops and military equipment to Anbar and has been carrying out airstrikes in an effort to dislodge the militants.
Skirmishes between Iraqi forces and militants broke out on the outskirts of Fallujah and Ramadi again Wednesday, according to witnesses, and militants blew up a small bridge on the edge of Ramadi, officials in Anbar said. There was no immediate report of casualties.
At least four crew members were killed when a military helicopter crashed in Anbar, according to army and government officials in the province and state TV. The officials said the cause was poor weather conditions in the area and there was no indication militants brought it down. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information.
Influential tribal leaders have been meeting to try to find a way out of the crisis and demanded that Al-Qaeda members holed up in Fallujah get out of town, said provincial spokesman Dhari Al-Rishawi.
“They agreed on expelling ISIL from Fallujah. The told them to withdraw ... or face an attack by the tribes and the army,” he said.
That message was echoed over mosque loudspeakers late Tuesday, which also called on fleeing families to come back.
Al-Rishawi and residents reached by phone in Fallujah said at least some of the militants had left the city, which is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad.
It was not clear how many had gone, or whether they were taking up new positions in different parts of the city.
“We, the residents and the tribes, don’t want Al-Qaeda in the city. We don’t want to see the same violence we saw when the Americans were here,” said Ayad Al-Halbosi, a 22-year-old teacher in Fallujah.
Markets in the city began reopening Wednesday and some families returned to their homes, though residents complained of shortages of fuel and cooking gas. Civilian cars and trucks were seen on the road and traffic policemen were on the streets.
The militant gains in Anbar are posing the most serious challenge to the Shiite-led government since American forces withdrew in late 2011 after years of bitter warfare following the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-led regime and propelled the formerly repressed Shiite majority to power.
The UN envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, warned that the humanitarian situation in Anbar is likely to worsen as military operations continue.
Food and water supplies in Fallujah are beginning to run out, and more than 5,000 families have fled to neighboring provinces to escape the fighting, he said.
“The UN agencies are working to identify the needs of the population and prepare medical supplies, food and non-food items for distribution if safe passage can be ensured,” Mladenov said in a statement.
The International Committee of the Red Cross also voiced concerns about the growing risks to Anbar residents, particularly in Fallujah. Patrick Youssef, head of the Red Cross delegation in Iraq, warned that ongoing power outages and dwindling medical supplies could leave health care facilities unable to provide proper care.
“We are ready to deliver more life-saving supplies and other humanitarian aid immediately to the areas hardest hit,” Youssef said. “But we need to be given easier access and the necessary security guarantees.”
Tensions have been simmering in Iraq since December 2012, when the Sunni community staged protests to denounce what they say is second-class treatment by Al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government.
Al-Qaeda militants, emboldened by the civil war in neighboring Syria, have sought to position themselves as the Sunnis’ champions against the government, though major Sunni tribes in Anbar and elsewhere oppose the group’s extremist ideology and are fighting against it.