Egyptian Judge Acquits Doctor in First FGM Prosecution

90% of women under age 50 have been mutilated in Egypt. Yet, despite a 2008 ban, no one has ever been convicted for performing FGM in Egypt.Sun, November 23, 2014

In what was hoped to be a watershed moment in the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) in Egypt, the first-ever prosecution for performing FGM ended in an acquittal for both the doctor and the father who were accused of breaking Egypt’s 2008 law which banned the procedure.

Meanwhile, in Uganda, five people – both men and women – werefound guilty of participating in the mutilation of girls, which was outlawed in the country in 2010. The conviction, which came after a guilty plea by all the defendants, was a rare occurrence in Uganda, where previous arrests for the crime have been made but few convictions have been handed down. The five were given four-year prison terms.

The Egyptian case centered around Sohair el-Batea, a gifted 13- year old girl from a Nile Delta village who died in June 2013 after the procedure was performed on her by Raslan Fadl, a medical doctor and an Islamic cleric. Prosecutors charged Sohair’s father with forcing her to undergo the procedure.

Despite evidence from medical reports provided by Egypt’s forensic authority that proved that Sohair has been subjected to FGM, the judge in the case ignored the reports, according to Reda el-Danbouki, one of the lawyers involved in the case. Similarly, the judge ignored a decision by the health ministry ordering the doctor’s clinic to be shut down for violating medical practices.

Instead, the judge in the town of Aga, where the case was heard, merely wrote an acquittal verdict in the court ledger, giving no reason for his decision. The verdict was not announced in the courtroom.

El-Danbouki said he is planning to appeal in conjunction with human rights groups.

Meanwhile, Fadl’s clinic is still operating, according to the Associated Press, whose reporters visited the clinic last month. During the trial,Fadl blamed Sohair’s death on an allergy to penicillin.

“Of course there will be no stopping any doctor after this. Any doctor can do any FGM he wants now,” said Atef Aboelenein, a lawyer for the Women’s Centre for Guidance and Legal Awareness.

Aboelenein, who was the first to find out about the verdict, added, “This opens the door for any doctor to perform the same procedure without fear of being held accountable and in absence of any deterrence.”

Sohair’s family initially filed a complaint with the police saying the girl had died as a result of the FGM that had been performed on her by Fadl, but changed their story during the trial due to a reconciliation agreement between the family and the doctor. In that agreement, the doctor agreed to pay 60,000 pounds (about $8,500) to the girl’s mother.

As a consequence of the reconciliation, the judge dropped the charge of manslaughter against Sohair’s father.

"It is awful that after what seemed to be strong moves towards a positive outcome, Sohair has not been given justice," said Suad Abu Dayyeh, a representative for the NGO Equality Now.

"The verdict is disappointing and it's a problem," said Manal Fawzy, of the Childhood and Development Association, an NGO that campaigns against FGM in southern Egypt. "Now it will be easy for any doctor to perform such surgeries."

Despite the ban on FGM in Egypt – a law which carries with it a punishment of up to two years in prison -- more than 90% of Egyptian women under the age of 50 have been cut.

FGM, includes all procedures involving partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It is generally practiced on girls between the ages of four and 12.

FGM ranges in severity to the removal of part or all of the clitoris, excision of the clitoris along with the removal of the external genitalia and the stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening. In the most severe cases, the procedure also involves the scraping of tissue surrounding the vaginal opening and/or the introduction of corrosive substances or herbs into the vagina to cause tightening.

The overwhelming majority of mutilations worldwide are performed by untrained lay people with no use of anesthesia.

FGM is performed for non-medical reasons. It is a trauma that denies a woman a normal sexual life and condemns her to a life of pain. Short-term complications can include hemorrhaging, pain, shock and even death, while long-term complications include formation of cysts, problems with sexual intercourse, chronic pelvic infection, life threatening childbirth, a lower rate of survival to babies born to women who have been mutilated and a significantly higher rate of stillborn birth for women who have been subjected to the gruesome practice.

It is estimated that three million girls undergo FGM every year. The practice has long been regarded a critical public health issue by the World Health Organization and other national and international health organizations because of its harmful physical and mental effects.