Nyamko Sabuni wants to Ban the Hijab on Children in Sweden

Sweden’s Muslim minister turns on veil By Helena Frith Powell

The Sunday Times, London

“Nowhere in the Koran does it state that a child should wear a veil; it stops them being children. By putting a veil on a girl you are immediately saying to the outside world that she is sexually mature and has to be covered. It’s wrong,” she said.
An elegant, vivacious woman who uses subtle make-up and wears soft clothes in pastel shades and tight woollen sweaters, she argues for a total ban on veils being worn by girls under the age of consent, which is 15 in Sweden.

THE latest media darling of Scandinavian politics is not only black, beautiful and Muslim; she is also firmly against the wearing of the veil.

 Minister for Gender Equality, Deputy Minister for Education,Nyamko Sabuni, 37, has caused a storm as Sweden’s new integration and equality minister by arguing that all girls should be checked for evidence of female circumcision; arranged marriages should be criminalised; religious schools should receive no state funding; and immigrants should learn Swedish and find a job.

Supporters of the centre-right government that came to power last month believe that her bold rejection of cultural diversity may make her a force for change across Europe. Her critics are calling her a hardliner and even an Islamophobe.

“I am neither,” she said in an interview. “My aim is to integrate immigrants. One is to ensure they grow up just as any other child in Sweden would.”Sabuni believes all immigrants must try to become proficient in Swedish — just as she did when she arrived from Africa aged 12 — rather than alienating locals.“Language and jobs are the two most crucial things for integration,” she said. “If you want to become a Swedish citizen, we think you should have some basic knowledge of Swedish.”

Sabuni was born in Burundi. Her father was a political dissident who was in prison during much of her early childhood. In 1980 he was granted asylum in Sweden. The next year his wife and six children joined him and they settled near Stockholm.

Sabuni read law at Uppsala University, Sweden’s equivalent of Oxbridge, and became a public relations consultant. Her husband, who works in the travel industry and runs their home in Stockholm, took paternity leave when their twin boys, now five, were born.

In Sweden she is best known for her suggestion that adolescent girls should have compulsory examinations to make sure they have not been subjected to genital mutilation. “It would enable us to prosecute people carrying out the practice,” she said.

According to Sabuni, many politicians have shied away from talking about the need for assimilation rather than multi-culturalism: “I am one of the few who dares to speak out. Sadly, some members of the Muslim community feel picked on.”

Muslim groups in Sweden are already organising a petition to have her removed from government. “I regret that Muslims feel I am a threat to them,” she said. “Everybody has a right to practise their religion, but I will never accept religious oppression. And I represent the whole of society, not just the Muslims.”

Despite her ascendancy in her adopted country, Sabuni says that Sweden, where immigrants — half of them Muslims — make up nearly 12% of the population, has been only moderately successful at integration: “We have a whole underclass of people who don’t have jobs, who don’t speak the language and who are living on the fringes of society.”

Although fighting discrimination is one of her stated aims, she effectively closed down a Centre Against Racism last week by withdrawing its £400,000 state funding. By chance, the centre was run by her uncle.“It didn’t achieve its aims,” she said bluntly. “It simply didn’t do what it set out to do, so I had to pull the plug. My uncle is a good and a competent man, but a whole institute can’t be run by one man. He understands that I have to do my job.”

Other ministers appointed by Fredrik Reinfeldt, the prime minister, are more concerned about their jobs. Since he took over on September 17, two ministers have resigned in a series of minor scandals involving unpaid television licences and black-market domestic help, and two more are under pressure to go.

Should Reinfeldt’s government fall, Sabuni would be willing to step into his shoes. On a TV show three years ago she declared that she would become Sweden’s first female prime minister. “I stand by that,” she said. “It’s not something I think about on a daily basis but, if I’m in politics, the ultimate aim has to be to become prime minister.”

Anders Jonsson, a political commentator on the liberal newspaper Expressen, says there is no doubt Sabuni is one to watch. “She is a tough cookie and incredibly ambitious,” he said. “But I think it’s good that a black woman is raising these issues and she has proved that she is prepared to take tough decisions in order to get things done.”

AP Photographer Anja Niedringhaus was shot in her car by a rogue police officer in Afghanistan

Shock attack in heavily guarded compound near Khost city kills Associated Press photographer

The German photographer had been covering the Afghan general election

Reporter, Kathy Gannon, was also wounded in the attack
Policeman yelled 'Allahu Akbar' - God is Great - before opening fire on the pair in the back of a car with an AK-47
AP executive editor say Niedringhaus was 'vibrant, dynamic, well-loved'
Niedringhaus becomes the 26th journalist killed in Afghanistan since 2001 - and the third in the past month

Anja Niedringhaus, right, and Kathy Gannon worked together to cover the lead-up to the Afghan general election

According to the freelancer, they had arrived in the heavily guarded district compound shortly before the incident. As they were sitting in the car waiting for the convoy to move, a unit commander named Naqibullah walked up to the car, yelled “Allahu Akbar” — God is Great — and opened fire on them in the back seat with his AK-47, the freelancer said. He then surrendered to the other police and was arrested. Medical officials in Khost confirmed that Niedringhaus died.

Kathy Gannon, an AP correspondent who for many years was the news organization’s Afghanistan bureau chief and currently is a special correspondent for the region, was shot twice and later underwent surgery. She was described as being in stable condition and talking to medical personnel.

“Anja and Kathy together have spent years in Afghanistan covering the conflict and the people there. Anja was a vibrant, dynamic journalist well-loved for her insightful photographs, her warm heart and joy for life. We are heartbroken at her loss,” said AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll, speaking in New York.

In a memo to AP staff, AP President Gary Pruitt remembered Niedringhaus as “spirited, intrepid and fearless, with a raucous laugh that we will always remember.”

“Anja is the 32nd AP staffer to give their life in pursuit of the news since AP was founded in 1846,” he wrote. “This is a profession of the brave and the passionate, those committed to the mission of bringing to the world information that is fair, accurate and important. Anja Niedringhaus met that definition in every way.”

Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed his deep sadness over Niedringhaus’ death and the wounding of Gannon.

“These two AP journalists had gone to Khost province to prepare reports about the presidential and provincial council elections,” a statement from Karzai’s office quoted him as saying. It added that Karzai instructed the interior minister and the Khost governor to assist the AP in every way possible.

Niedringhaus covered conflict zones including Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, Gaza and the West Bank during a 20-year stretch, beginning with the Balkans in the 1990s. She had traveled to Afghanistan numerous times since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Niedringhaus, who also covered sports events around the globe, received numerous awards for her works.

She was part of an AP team that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news photography for coverage of the war in Iraq, and was awarded the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation. She joined the AP in 2002 and had since been based in Geneva, Switzerland. From 2006 to 2007, she was awarded a Nieman Fellowship in journalism at Harvard University.

Niedringhaus started her career as a freelance photographer for a local newspaper in her hometown in Hoexter, Germany at the age of 16. She worked for the European Press Photo Agency before joining the AP in 2002, based in Geneva. She had published two books.

The heartbreaking final pictures from German photographer Anja Niedringhaus on her last assignment - days before she was shot dead by an Afghan policeman

Mulayam’s remarks absolutely shocking: NCW member

NCW member Shamina Shafique says the commission has the power to take up the matter and issue notice to the SP leader

Shamina Shafique, National Commission for Women member, has described as “absolutely shocking” Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh’s statement that rapes are mistakes committed by boys and does not warrant hanging as prescribed in the amended anti-rape legislation. At an election rally in Moradabad on Thursday, Mr. Singh said if voted to power, his party would change the law.

Ms. Shafique said the commission had the power to take up the matter and issue notice after going through the video recording. “We can also seek a report from the State government,” she said. “Whether hanging is justified or not can be a personal opinion but his opinion on crimes against women is shocking.”

“We have been told Shehzad Poonawala, a Delhi-based lawyer and social commentator, has filed a complaint with the commission, but we will check it only on Friday since the office is closed today,” she told The Hindu.

All-India Mahila Congress president Shobha Ojha said no-one should speak about rape in such a flippant manner as the violation not only amounted to physical abuse but also mental torture that left the victim scarred for life.

Patriarchal

Ranjana Kumari of the Centre for Social Research said Mr. Singh’s attitude towards women had always been patriarchal.

He had no respect for women, one of the reasons for the prevailing law-and-order situation in Uttar Pradesh. Women should give a befitting reply to him by voting against the Samajwadi Party. “Such statements are reprehensible and condemnable,” she said.

Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All-India Progressive Women’s Association, said the Samajwadi Party had no principled stand on the death penalty or gender justice. “Women’s groups, too, have opposed the death penalty but Mulayam Singh has trivialised rape and essentially said rape is a mistake and not a crime,” she said.

Renu D. Singh, women’s rights activist in Meerut, said: “It is the worst insult on women of this country. Mr. Singh must be sick to advocate leniency for the brats who first befriend young innocent girls, have sex with them by promising marriage and then throw them out of their lives and sometimes even kill them.”

Alka Sharma, another social activist, asked Mr. Singh to immediately apologise to the women of the country as he had insulted them.

Rape being used as a tool for revenge in Pakistan

The Law on Rape in Pakistan: History and Current Scenario

 — Advocate High Court

When Pakistan came into being, it adopted laws that existed in the Indian sub-continent as the law of the land. This included the civil and criminal codes in Pakistan. The offence of rape was part of these adopted laws.

The offence drew controversy in 1979 when the military dictator General Ziaul Haq, who decided to implement an extremely conservative and contentious version of Islamic law in Pakistan, implemented a process from which we are still recovering. One of the most catastrophic consequences of this process was the promulgation of the Hudood Ordinances in 1979.

Incidents of rape | Create Infographics

The Hudood Ordinances are a set of five ordinances promulgated that were never debated in parliament.

They are perceived to have been hastily enforced without national debate or evaluation and as a politically expedient measure by the martial law regime to justify its unlawful continuance in power.

One of the casualties of this process of ‘Islamisation’ was the offence of ‘rape’ — which originally came under the Pakistan Penal Code. It was subsequently removed and thereafter placed in the Zina Ordinance 1979 — one of the five Hudood Ordinances.

The Hudood Ordinances, particularly the Zina Ordinances, were severely criticised as being incredibly discriminatory and oppressive especially towards women and other marginalised sections of society.

Women and human rights organisations as well as leading jurists, members of intelligentsia, journalists and academicians, have opposed these laws as being unjust and against the true spirit of Islam.

Even on an official level, (Commission for the Inquiry of Women, 1997 and the Special Committee of the National Commission on the Status of Women) set up to review the situation of women, recommended their repeal unanimously, or with a very significant majority. Despite this strong opposition these laws were considered ‘un-touchable’ for 27 years due to their ‘Islamic’ nature.

The ordinances manifested in numerous forms of discrimination against women and minorities due to their provisions as well as the manner and method for which they were used.

For example:

• Testimony of women and minorities excluded as a whole.
• Rape and adultery were equated: With rape being considered a ‘form of adultery’
• Law of evidence made discriminatory: The law required four adult Muslim men to witness the entire act of ‘adultery’ vis a vis rape – thereby leading to the lack of prosecution and impunity given to rapists.
• Previous legal protection to children removed equating puberty with adulthood* – removing the age old accepted legal norm that children have an immaturity of the mind to fully comprehend the acts they commit and are thereby granted leniency.
• Pregnancy can be used as proof against women: Cases of rape were converted into cases of adultery in case a woman could not prove the rape. Her pregnancy and her reporting of rape were taken as her admission of fornication.
• Distinction between ‘attempt’ to rape and ‘preparation’ to rape with the latter carrying a lighter penalty.

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Discriminatory definition of adult: A female is considered an adult at 16 or puberty – puberty being interpreted as physical maturity (i.e. age of menstruation, which can happen as early as 9 or 10 years) as opposed to mental maturity, and thereby entitled to adult punishment. Ironically, while a girl child cannot be a valid witness for awarding a Hadd punishment she is considered an adult for the imposition of one.

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A permanent state of harassment for women: the law as used to harass, exploit and control women throughout its existence. Women were imprisoned under the charge of Hadd and remained imprisoned for years. Investigation shows that women in jail on charges of Zina had been put there by their fathers, brothers and husbands.

Supporters of the law claimed that the intention behind the ordinance was to protect women from heinous crimes such as rape, but the practical application does the opposite.

In reality, it was used to torment women who marry of their choice, wives wishing to get a divorce, divorced women wishing to re-marry or who try to get custody of the children etc — it is a power tool compromising women’s fundamental rights.

The Zina Ordinance was finally amended by the Protection of Women (Criminal Law) Amendment Act:

This law made a number of instrumental and practical changes to directly challenge the injustices that had become part of the system when dealing with such cases:

• Hadd and Tazir offences/punishments are separated.
• Rape (Zina bil jabr) separated from fornication/adultery (Zina) and inserted in the Pakistan Penal. Code (PPC).
• Fornication introduced in the PPC as Tazir offence.
• Procedure for complaint of Zina and Qazf changed with applications being made directly to the Sessions Court as opposed to an FIR to the police.
• Overriding nature of Zina and Qazf Ordinances done away with.
• The offence of rape is now in the Pakistan Penal Code 1860.

Rape and Punishment of rape fall under Sections 375 and 376 respectively of the Pakistan Penal Code. This means that the evidentiary criteria and requirement of proof needed will be the same as any other crime, thereby allowing admission of evidence such as circumstantial evidence, forensic evidence (such as DNA) and placing high value on the testimonies of the victims etc.

The punishment for rape is death or imprisonment not less than 10 years or more than 25 years and a fine.

For gang-rape, each of persons shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life.

Section 375 defines rape as:

Rape:

A man is said to commit rape who has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the five following descriptions,

(i) against her will.

(ii) without her consent

(iii) with her consent, when the consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or of hurt,

(iv) with her consent, when the man knows that he is not married to her and that the consent is given because she believes that the man is another person to whom she is or believes herself to be married; or

 (v) With or without her consent when she is under sixteen years of age.

Explanation: Penetration is sufficient to constitute the sexual intercourse necessary to the offence of rape.

This definition of rape makes clear certain aspects of the commission of this crime:

The women/girl must give clear, unencumbered and actual consent to sexual intercourse. Without this consent, it is rape. A girl below the age of 16 cannot consent to sexual intercourse.

This is an extremely important point to note which requires further explanation. The law on rape previous to this section in the Zina Ordinance 1979 defined rape (Zina bil jabr) as:

“A person is said to commit Zina bil jabr if he or she has sexual intercourse with a woman or man as the case may be, to whom he or she is not validly married….”

The words “to whom he or she is not validly married” have been removed in Section 375 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860.

There is an accepted understanding of the law that if words have been specifically removed from legislation, it is meant to have a specific effect. Therefore the removal of the requirement of marriage as a defence to forced intercourse means that the relationship between man and a woman is immaterial if sexual intercourse is forced or committed against the consent of a woman – whether she is or is not his wife.

Should we then conclude that regardless of the marital status, sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16 is rape?

While it is evident that there is a wide law on rape, which covers important issues of child and marital rape, the issue arises as to the low rate of prosecution. This unfortunately links up with the earlier discussion relating to the social content of Pakistan.

The implementation of the law and the prosecution of rape cases are conducted within this social context.

Resultantly, police officers, lawyers and even the judges have time and time again been seen to misapply this law.

Investigations are not conducted properly or thoroughly; forensic evidence is not collected correctly or mishandled; incorrect FIRs are registered which do not effectively capture the whole offence or do not report all aspects of the case (whether the police does this through negligence, lack of knowledge or maliciously is subjective).

Further, predominant male lawyers and prosecutors and judges are sympathetic towards the perpetrators and strive for the decision to be in their favour.

Alongside this, in many circumstances, a protective approach was adopted resulting in misapplication of the law i.e. to ‘protect’ the ‘vulnerable’ women through not giving them the status of raped women (by declaring child marriages valid); not registering cases and arranging compromises due to the issues with the legal system and the added trauma that women often go through due to the court case; or pushing for the woman not to ‘shame’ herself and admit in public that she is tainted and thereafter ‘ruining’ her life’. This attitude is wrong because it further violates the legal rights of the woman and allows impunity to perpetrators.

Whatever the circumstances are, malicious or protective, cases of reported rape and prosecution of rapists are far and few. Despite the handful of positive cases and case law, the majority of situations result in impunity for the perpetrators.

Recent positive judgements of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the case of Salman Akram Raja and Tahira Abdullah vs. Government of Punjab 2013 [Link to copy of the judgement] must be implemented across the nation.

This includes police stations receiving rape complaints should involve reputable civil society organisations for the purpose of legal aid and counselling; administration of DNA tests and preservation of DNA evidence should be made mandatory in rape cases; a victim’s statement should be recorded under section 164, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, preferably by a female Magistrate; trials for rape should be conducted on camera and after regular court hours; during a rape trial, screens or other arrangements should be made so that the victims and vulnerable witnesses do not have to face the accused persons; and evidence of rape victims should be recorded, in appropriate cases, through video conferencing so that the victims, particularly juvenile victims, do not need to be present in court.

It is extremely important to re-examine the entire scheme, processes and procedures in relation to the investigation and implementation of cases of rape in Pakistan. The role of the police must be re-examined and better training and sensitisation must be ensured. It is also important to keep regular monitoring and checks on judgements to eliminate anti-women societal bias. These steps must be taken to ensure the impunity given to perpetrators of rape must end and victims be given the justice they deserve.

COVER PHOTO AND ILLUSTRATIONS: Soofia Says