The Vicar of Baghdad (Part 1/3)

Argentine Judge, 97, Says He “Will Not Give In”

BUENOS AIRES – A 97-year-old Supreme Court judge criticized by the government of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez for remaining on the bench despite his advanced age, said that he “will not give up,” in a letter sent to the country’s Catholic primate.

In the missive, the contents of which were published Tuesday by the daily La Nacion, Carlos Fayt told Cardinal Mario Poli that he “will continue fulfilling in the best way” his “earthly destiny.”

Poli, the successor to Jorge Bergoglio – who became Pope Francis – as archbishop of Buenos Aires, had sent the judge a message in May, the contents of which were made public last weekend, in which he said that the attacks against him “harm the constitutional order.”

The cardinal was referring to the government’s attempts to oust Fayt from his post on the grounds that he is not able to properly fulfill his court duties because of his age and health situation.

In his written response, dated June 5, Fayt thanked Poli and said that “work, in any of its forms, is the main way of acknowledging the dignity of people and age – specifically – is not harmful to that dignity.”

“Pope Francis asked us elderly people, from his heart, not to give up. Encouraged by the words of His Eminence and encouraged by an honorable life, I can say with pride: Here I am!” Fayt wrote.

3 women and 1 man Murdered in Northern Mexico

MONTERREY, Mexico – Three women and a man were murdered in a poor neighborhood controlled by gangs in Monterrey, the capital of the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, a State Investigations Agency, or AEI, spokesman said.

The female victims, one a minor and another possibly pregnant, were shot dead on Saturday, while the man had his throat cut, the AEI spokesman told Efe.

“Reports were received that three women had been found dead inside a house and a man was outside” the property, the AEI spokesman said, adding that the killings occurred in the Colonia Independencia section of Monterrey.

Colonia Independencia, which borders the first district of Monterrey, is home to a shantytown where at least 20 gangs with links to drug cartels operate.

The weekend started in Nuevo Leon with the killings of 10 people on Friday at a beer distribution center in Garcia, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area.

Seven of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene and three others died while being transported to hospitals.

“(The) evidence has let us pursue a line of investigation that considers this an attack by an organized crime group,” Nuevo Leon Attorney General Javier Flores said.

The killings at the beer distribution center are the worst attack by drug gangs in the Monterrey metropolitan area in a year.

Monterrey has been plagued by drug-related violence in recent years, with the worst incident occurring on Aug. 25, 2011, when Zetas cartel members set fire to a casino in the industrial city, killing 52 people

Mexico Rescues 6,733 Children from Human Traffickers

MEXICO CITY – Mexican immigration officers rescued 6,733 minor illegal immigrants from human traffickers who had promised to deliver them to their families in the United States.

The National System for Integral Family Development, DIF, and the National Institute of Migration, INM, said in a joint statement Sunday, the rescued children were mostly from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

They said they have implemented common strategies to protect the rights of children and adolescents during their stay in the country after INM rescued them from irregular routes used by traffickers, where they were exposed to different kinds of abuse including forced labour, rape, physical and verbal assault.

Upon rescue, the children were immediately sent to state and municipal DIF systems for protection and specialized care.

Consular representatives are verifying their nationalities from their countries of origin, to reunite them with their families.

The state and municipal DIF systems have specialized staff including physicians, psychologists and social workers to attend to all children and adolescents in the shelters.

According to immigration authorities, a total of 11,893 children, 8,060 male and 3,833 female, from the above mentioned countries have been rescued so far this year.

Of the rescued, 4,029 were aged between 0 and 11 years of age and 7,864 were between 12 and 17 years.

The statement said from January to May 2013, INM rescued 3,496 foreign minors while in 2014 the corresponding figure was 8,003.

74 lashes, prison term for anyone caught eating in Iran during Ramadan

NCRI - Anyone in Iran caught eating or drinking in public during the days in the month of Ramadan may receive 74 lashes in addition to a jail term of up to two months, a high ranking judiciary official of the Iranian regime has threatened.

Dadkhoda Salari, the prosecutor general in the city of Kerman said on Friday: “Any individual who eats or drinks in public places could face a prison term of 10 days to two months and 74 lashes,” the state-run Mehr news agency reported.

Another state-run news agency warned the public that special patrols have been stationed at streets and public parks in Tehran during the holy month of Ramadan to deal with those who drink, eat or smoke in public.

“The police will deal with those individuals who smoke, drink water and other liquids, eat a snack or food in public,” the state-run ISNA news agency reported.

Last year hundreds of Iranians were lashed in public under the medieval laws of the religious dictatorship which can sentence offenders to 74 lashes and two months in prison for eating during Ramadan.

At least 200 people were flogged in last year in the Iranian province of Qazvin for eating in public during Ramadan.

In 2014, Qazvin official Ismail Sadeghi-Niaraki acknowledged the scale of medieval punishments now being carried out within the regime under the rule of so-called 'moderate' president Hassan Rouhani.

He said: "Exceptional measures were taken by the judiciary in Qazvin province during the month of Ramadan to deal with those eating in public.”

"Over this period, 400 people were arrested and some were given warnings. Another 200 had their cases reviewed by the judiciary and the flogging sentence was carried out within 24 hours of their arrest."

Last year, a Christian man in Iran was sentenced to have his lips burnt with a cigarette for eating during the day in Ramadan. The savage punishment was carried out in public in the city of Kermanshah.

“Women in Iran are becoming vocal in efforts to overcome misogyny”

Iranian women are becoming more vocal and determined in their efforts to overcome “misogynist” laws in Iran under the mullahs’ rule, an official of the Iranian Resistance has said.

Mrs. Houri Seyyedi, discussed the situation of women’s rights in a live Question and Answer session on Friday broadcast on women.ncr-iran.org (NCRI Women’s Committee), with international journalists and rights activists posing questions via Twitter.

“The suppression of women by the misogynist regime in Iran has in many instances become institutionalised”.

“Restrictions are imposed on women, even in their private lives and in the manner that they choose to dress. They are sidelined from work places and there is gender inequality in places of education including universities and government buildings. They are denied an active presence in educational, cultural and arts centres, and Iranian female singers are not allowed to perform.”

Women in Iran face constant violence and harassment, Mrs. Seyyedi said.

“There is constant harassment of women by the so-called anti-vice patrols, and arbitrary and unlawful arrests of women. There have even been cases of acid attacks on the faces of women on the bogus charge of mal-veiling. Even in their homes, women are denied basic rights, and face violence and harassment, and women are denied custody of their children in cases of divorce.”

“In the past 10 years more than 30,000 women have been arrested for so-called mal-veiling. More than 7,000 women have been forced to give written pledges to conform to the Islamic veil. At least 4358 women have had their files sent before the judiciary."

Mrs. Seyyedi said that despite promises of moderation by Hassan Rouhani, the rate of executions in Iran has increased at a soaring rate since he became president.

"However, Iranian women are fighting against this regime and its misogynist laws and they are resisting in different forms. They have no hopes on any reforms from within the regime. They are determined to bring about change themselves. For example they are resisting against the restrictions and misogynist laws imposed on them in carrying out or even watching sports matches."

Asked why the regime was preventing women to attend sports stadiums to watch matches, Mrs. said the regime was fearful that the scene could quickly transform into a political protest.

“Since misogyny is a key element of the fundamentalist regime, the women’s protests quickly become deeply political and attack the regime in its entirety.”

Over 20 Million Yemenis Need Urgent Humanitarian Assistance

GENEVA – A total of 21.1 million Yemenis, 80 percent of the population, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, warned on Friday.

“We’re facing a humanitarian crisis,” OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said during a press conference, adding “the public services are collapsing in all regions of the country.”

Meanwhile, World Food Program, or WFP, spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said that more than 6 million people suffer from severe food insecurity and are “in need of immediate humanitarian assistance.”

According to this figure, one in every five Yemenis needs urgent help, she explained.

At the end of 2014, people suffering severe food insecurity numbered 3.4 million, an enormous amount, Byrs added.

The WFP has managed to distribute food to 1.7 million people in 11 regions in recent weeks, but Byrs said that it is a fraction compared to the number of those in need of help.

World Health Organization, or WHO, spokesman Christian Lindmeier said that the rate of people being treated in hospitals for malnutrition has increased by 150 percent.

Lindmeier also added that 53 health facilities, including 17 hospitals, were no longer in service, while the main operating center, where most of the surgical emergencies in Sana’a were performed, has been destroyed.

More than 15 million people, including a million displaced, require urgent health services, the UN official pointed out.

Yemen has been the epicenter of political unrest since 2011, worsened last September when the Houthi rebels launched their armed uprising.

The Shiite group gained control of the capital in February, forcing Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi into exile in Saudi Arabia.

In late March, Saudi Arabia formed an Arab coalition to launch airstrikes in Yemen, causing more than 2,600 deaths, half of whom were civilians, and huge damage to infrastructure.