The news is out!! I
In North India, there is now a shortage of brides and men who are looking for women to marry, must look outside their tribal area... in the Toronto Star today, June 30th , a special to the Star report on the situation and it's effects on the women who are TRADED in marriage... when will it be the turn of other countries in Asia who practice such illogical and horrible crimes against the female of our species...
Are we going to see kidnappings and trading for females from the west or from country to country in the region... as a commodity to keep the genes of a tribe or country going... or wars where the young men of a nation go out in search of women to bring back for 'wives'... or more horrible in this era, organized crime getting involved in the trafficking of females to other countries, for profit... stealing them off the street or out of their beds... tricked into overseas jobs that make them vulnerable to kidnapping... mail order brides, like in the 1800's when North America and Australia were growing...
Killing of baby girls triggers social upheaval in India
Jun 30, 2008 04:30 AM
Sonya Fatah Special to the Star
http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/451522
Excerpted:
BAGHPAT, INDIA–Six years ago, Sandhya Sharma lived in a mountain village in Himachal Pradesh, the land of snowy mountains that is nestled in the western Himalayan range.
Sharma, 26, had never left her village before she was brought here, to the Indo-Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh, India's most densely populated state, married to a man whose language and culture were unknown to her.
Sharma talked about the deep isolation she felt immediately after her marriage.
"At first I never spoke to people. When I did, no one would understand me, so I cried a lot," said Sharma as she gently fussed over her year-old twins.
Such set-ups are neither marriages of convenience, nor of choice. But in the northwestern states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, such arrangements are on the rise. It's a trend that seems strange in a culture where language, caste and regional identity are so deeply and separately treasured. But take one look at the 2001 national census and the numbers offer an explanation – they reflect the sad saga of the killing of baby girls and aborting female fetuses in India.
Sonya Fatah is a Journalist based in Southeast Asia
Monday, June 30, 2008
Weng'an City Riots over Rape and Murder Li Shufen
Girl's death inflames ChinaAP PHOTO
Thousands rallied in Guizhou province, June 28, 2008, setting fire to buildings and vehicles. Protesters were furious over how officials handled the death of a reportedly raped 16-year-old girl.
Excerpted - http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/452472
Jul 02, 2008 04:30 AM
Bill Schiller Asia Bureau
**********************************************
Parents agree to bury daughter whose mysterious death sparked riots in southwest China
R.I.P. Li Shufen, you were a beautiful flower, plucked too soon, and discarded wantonly... you won't find peace or justice here...
Friday, June 27, 2008
Aarushi Talwar - Crime Page
The Facts, Just the Facts!!
Victim 1: Arushi Talwar,
Age 14,
DOB - Saturday, May 24, it was Arushi Talwar’s birthday
DOD - May 16th, 2008, approximately 1am to 2am
DOC
Class IX student of Delhi Public School in Noida
cell phone # 9910520630
Aarushi Talwar had a profile at Orkut, as social networking site
one must be 18yrs or older to use Orkut... BD is part of reg.
http://www.orkut.com/Profile.aspx?uid=11105995623719420101
http://www.hi5.com/friend/106815289–aArUsHi–Profile-html
May also have had Facebook
Close friends of
best friend Fiza (Classsmate??)
Anmol
daughter of Dr Anita Durrani, unnamed
Victim 2: Yam Prasad Banjade aka Hemraj
DOBI
DOD May 16th, 2008, approximately ???
DOC
Eight months ago, (October 2007) when Hemraj was hired to replace Vishnu
Cell phone # 9213515485
Family Members
at crime scene:
Dr. Rajesh Talwar
has serious asthma
Dr. Nupur Talwar
Arushi Talwar
other than crime scene:
brother, Dr. Dinesh Talwar
brother, Ramesh Talwar
Hemraj’s uncle, Ram Prasad
House Servants , past and present
Yam Prasad Banjade. Aka Hemraj
Bharti, part time maid
Vishnu; Vishnu Sharma alias Vishnu Thapa former domestic helper
Umesh Sharma, the Talwar’s driver:
Nim Raj Kaushal alias Raju. Former domestic help
Shambu, male servant
Vijay Mandal, a domestic helper from same L block in Jalvayu Viha
People Around the Case
Abhijeet Chatterjee, Talwar’s lawyer,
Pinaki Mishra, another Talwar family lawyer
RK Saini, CBI counsel
Krishna’s lawyer, F C Sharma
Uma Thakur, the social worker that talk to Hemraj on May 11th
Upendra Pancholi, the head priest in the temple in Haridwar
Dheeraj Kumar, temple at the Baba Balaknath Mandir in Sector-62, Noida
Shyam Sunder, security supervisor for the residential neighborhood
Dr Sudhir Gupta, Associate professor of forensic medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences
Clinic Workers
Vikas, the clinic manager.
Jeevan Sharma, Hemraj’s son-in-law
Krishna, the compounder and receptionist
unknown persons
Dinesh Verma supposedly framed father of Aarushi???
Friends & Neighbors of Note
retired Senior police officer K.K. Gautam, a neighbor; finds body of Hemraj
“close” friends Prafful Durrani and Dr Anita Durrani
Dr Anita Durrani shared the dental clinic with Dr Rajesh Talwar.
good friends for over 13-14 years. They were like an extended family.
doctor-friend Bharat Bhushan, who was present in one version, on the occasion to record Aarushi Talwar’s death
Pradeep Tayal, the friend of the Talwars, is also the common and mutual friend of the Dr.'s Durrani. and works in Flex Industry.
Crime Scene
address of crime scene: L-32 Jal Vayu Vihar home in Sector-25, Noida.
Both Arushi Talwar and Hemraj had similar wounds on their necks, it had been though that the wounds were made by a scalpel, but that was put to rest; it now seems that the two died of blunt trauma to the head, and the neck wounds, by a knife, were to make sure of the job
at present, no one is sure who died first, there have been conflicting reports from the press, usually surrounding their speculation on the motive for the deaths
victims clothing and the bed linen may have been removed from scene
Arushi was found in the house, presumably her room, while Hemraj was found out on the terrace, covered by a 'cooler lid'
There may have been a trail of blood from the door to the terrace to Hemraj's body, this per K.K. Gautam's statement in the press, but the day before when the mattress was taken to the terrace, the workers for Dr. R. Talwar did not report seeing any blood trail.
The house appears to have been cleaned up after the killings, ie the blood that should have been on the stairs to the terrace was not there
Environment:
Weather for the 15 to 16th, clear overnight,
Temperatures ranged from 96 F /36C to 87F / 31C,
Winds light, or non existent, visibility 1.7mi/2.8km
Sunrise: 5:30am, Sunset: 7:05pm
Civil Twilight, from 5:04am to 7:31pm
Moon: ¾ full, Rise: 3:56pm May 14, Set: 2:57
What is known for fact:
1)Days before murders
A ‘mystery scrapper’ visited Arushi Talwar’s Orkut profile regularly. This Internet identity reminded her about murder victims over the Internet sites.
Uma Thakur, the social worker, said that Hemraj approached her on May 11, 2008. Hemraj desired to consult her on a matter. He requested for an hour of audience with her. She told him that she was busy at that time of 7:30 pm. Uma Thakur related that Hemraj looked frightened.
Umar Thakur claimed that she had spoken to Hemraj’s son-in-law. She claimed that the younger man told her that Hemraj and Arushi shared a normal relationship and there was nothing improper about them.
Krishna’s phone made an outgoing call at 12.17.32 pm on May 14 to a land line number: 011-24360509. CBI officers confirmed that the number belonged to them but refused to acknowledge that they received a call from Krishna.
2)Hours before murders
Rajesh Talwar’s driver, Umesh, said that Dr. Rajesh Talwar did not go to work on Thursday
Arushi came home from school at????
Sankalp, a very close friend of Arushi spoke to her at around 4:45 pm on May 16. The conversation was a general one, mainly regarding school. Sankalp was very sure that Arushi was not bothered about anything till then and spoke to him very normally and was her usual self. Sankalp said, “Arushi was very close to her parents and never said anything negative about them”. There was also no trouble involving the servant of the house, Sankalp confirmed.
On Thursday night, someone made 6 calls to Dr Anita Durrani cell phone number on Dr Rajesh Talwar's cell phone, it is not known if Dr A. Durrani was the person spoken to or what the conversations were about. Police have not said where Dr. A. Durrani's phone was when calls were picked up.
Jeeva (Jeevan Sharma??) said that Hemraj called him at 5:30 on Thursday. He told that his madam (Dr. Nupur Talwar) had instructed him not to go to the clinic, as per his normal routine, since Arushi was home alone.
9 - 9:30 p.m., Arushi Talwar spoke to her friend Anmol from her mobile phone; when was phone turned off and why..
Arushi had her last meal at about 11 pm.
span >What did she do between the time she came home and this phone call
3)during murders
There has been no confirmed or substantiated descriptions of what happened in the house on the night that the murders were committed: from 11pm to 6am the night of May 15 to 16
4)after murders, before discovery
On the morning of May 16th, a part time maid, Bharti, arrived at the house to work. Bharti found the gate locked on the outside of the house. Madam Dr. Niranjan threw down the keys from her balconey and the maid opened the gate to enter the compound
Dr R. Talwar claims that he opened the gate (or door) for her, there are reported to be 3 doors to get into the house from the road so both statements could be true (if so, then how did the killers get passed the 3 doors, or was there another way not mentioned...)
5)Hours after discovery
Umesh said that he was instructed by Dr. Rajesh Talwar to carry Aarushi’s bloodstained mattress to the terrace and leave it there. Umesh carried it with the help of Vikas, the clinic manager. (at some point later, mattress is found on neighbor's terrace, ripped)
6)Days after discovery; ie Police Investigation
day after murder; Senior police officer K.K. Gautam, a neighbor; door to terrace is locked on inside; he has to break door, and finds body of Hemraj under cooler lid, hidden from view. He also looks into bedroom, and reports that he sees evidence pertaining to the crime, but what he does not say.
Within 2-3 days the body of Arushi was cremated; is there a date
Police said they obtained proof. Rajesh Talwar & Nupur Talwar told the priest in Hardwar to record Arushi Talwar’s time of death as 2:30 am, on Friday morning, May 16, 2008.
Superintendent of Police (City) Mahesh Mishra was transferred out on Sunday afternoon, May 18, 2008. The station house officer of Sector-20 police station of Noida was also transferred out.
On Wednesday, May 21st, it was established that the authorities in charge of the twin murder cases were Senior Superintendent of Police Noida A.S. Ganesh, Special Task Force (STF) and a few others.
Noida Senior Superintendent of Police A Satish Ganesh gave a press conference on Thursday, May 22, 2008. He said that it would take another 15 more days for the police to crack the case. Was there anything else said at that press conference, was it televised
May 26 The Hindu website said that on Tuesday, Arushi Talwar’s classmates and friends organized a peaceful candle light procession. They walked from DPS Noida to her house. That was a distance of 1 1/2 kilometers. The students said nobody close to Arushi was questioned by the police. The teens said that instead of investigations, the police were laying the blame on the dead, who could not utter a single defense.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008, The Times Of India:
Pinaki Mishra, another Talwar family lawyer, has requested for the case to be handled by CBI (crime branch investigation?) because he was dissatisfied. Pinaki Mishra claimed Police made a scape goat of Rajesh Talwar.
May 31st or June 1st CBI take over police investigations from Noida local police, who have botched the job
June 5th,
The blood stained blanket, clothes and other items have been recovered too late. CBI could not confirm if they had been washed. The famous palm print at the terrace has been discarded as almost useless because it was a gloved print!
June 6
CBI believed that Aarushi Talwar was killed first before Hemraj. This was established from viscera reports, post-mortem reports, finger/ palm prints found in Aarushi’s bedroom and prints found in the terrace. They conclude so because the prints in Aarushi’s room were clean from blood and the prints found on the terrace had blood on them. So after Aarushi was murdered, her blood stained the prints of the killer. This is not substantiated by the police themelves; this may be press speculation
Sat. June 7 2008.
ExpressIndia:
1.All India Institute of Medical Sciences was consulted. They examined the medical reports of Aarushi Talwar. Some experts said that she was killed by the blow and incisions to her head. Her neck injury was inflicted the last of all. The wounds were deep and could not be caused by a surgical scalpel as the thin instrument could only cut through skin one layer at a time. Since the victim had deep wounds, it looked like it was the work of a knife. If the neck was cut first, blood would have sprayed out and stained the rest of the bedroom. (conclusion: her heart had stopped pumping and she was dead when her neck was cut) The Associate professor of forensic medicine, Dr Sudhir Gupta, gave his expert opinion.
CBI Joint Director Arun Kumar released some information. On June 11th
Monday, June 9, CBI gave Krishna a lie detector test.
Tuesday, June 10, Krishna had his second polygraph test.
Wednesday June 11, Krishna is taken to Bangalore for a narco test.
Krishna taken into custody
Krishna spoke to the media before he was taken away by the CBI. Krishna said he was being framed to protect Rajesh Talwar. His last words were a plea, “Save me!”
June 22 2008 CBI said that they ran checks on Krishna, Rajkumar, Vijay Mandal and Umesh. They do not have any criminal records.
June 24th CBI said that the forensic test revealed that Krishna’s khukri is clean. There was no possibility of that khukri being the murder weapon.
Date unknown: two different accounts as to who was with Dr. R Talwar when he recorded Aarushi's Death with the temple
Upendra Pancholi, the head priest in the temple in Haridwar said that Rajesh Talwar, Nupur Talwar, Rajesh’s brothers Dinesh and Ramesh and doctor-friend Bharat Bhushan were present on the occasion to record Aarushi Talwar’s death.
The head priest at Hardwar told the police that 5 people came to see him to record the death of Arushi Talwar. Nupur Talwar, Rajesh talwar, Dinesh Talwar, and the Durranis.
By June 26th, By now it is obvious that the CBI are doing no better at this investigation that the Noida police force...
Conclusion
at this point, June 26th, I can only say:
Motive: there has been no motive given that corroborates the evidence found or presented by the police to the press,
Suspects: the logical suspects are still the parents, but there is no proof,
Under Investigation: the servants or workers from the clinic are being pursued to appease the public outcry, and to make it look as if the police are advancing the case. Why they are keeping Dr R. Talwar locked up is anyone's guess; God only knows and she is only guessing...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Living Hell in this Life
http://celebgalz.com/josef-fritzls-incest-on-daughter-elizabeth-fritzl-story-all-photos/ Blog with updates as they happen on the case, with links to donation and other sites of interest to the case, such as the clinic they are kept in, and the lawyer's office for Elisabeth and family...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natascha_Kampusch Kidnapped at age 10, and held for 8 years in basement, with occasional periods outside, eventually escapes, and captor commits suicide
http://schneewolfe1948.blogspot.com/2008/06/horror-in-cannibal-case-in-czech.html Boys kept in locked room, one being used for meat, while still alive...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_(feral_child) Girl that was kept in isolated conditions and never learned to talk...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Mokhov not family members, but similar to Fritzl in dungeon creation
http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/05/11/dad-dubbed-scotland-s-josef-fritzl-keeps-daughter-prisoner-while-making-her-pregnant-six-times-78057-20413325/ Scottish dad that keeps daughter prison and tries to get her pregnant to be able to claim benefits...
http://schneewolfe1948.blogspot.com/2008/06/hungarian-natascha-aka-magyar-natascha.html girl kept prisoner by dad, raped and beaten repeatedly in from of chronically ill mother...
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1314849,00.html The French Fritzl, gives birth to 6 children during her captivity, in hospital, while the whole village knows, and does nothing...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/josef_fritzl/2008825/ Argentina Fritzl like case
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1368918.ece Austrian woman imprisons 3 daughters for 7 years
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusako_Sano another kidnapped girl, by someone other than the parents, Japan...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1026429/Woman-locked-filthy-bedroom-dungeon-18-YEARS-having-baby-wedlock.html Italian Fritzl Type case
http://www.thestar.com/article/446491 Canadian woman sentenced to 9 years for starving her autistic sister to death http://johnhonderich.com/printArticle/273687 more on Canadian woman sentenced to 9 years for starving her autistic sister to death
there was another case in Austria, where an adopted daughter was kept in a cold room, locked, and treated like an animal; this seems to have been some years ago... I have not been able to find any information on the net about it... I am beginning to realize that there won't be any cases like this in Asia, because they would be covered up, or as in child marriages, permitted by society...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natascha_Kampusch Kidnapped at age 10, and held for 8 years in basement, with occasional periods outside, eventually escapes, and captor commits suicide
http://schneewolfe1948.blogspot.com/2008/06/horror-in-cannibal-case-in-czech.html Boys kept in locked room, one being used for meat, while still alive...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_(feral_child) Girl that was kept in isolated conditions and never learned to talk...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Mokhov not family members, but similar to Fritzl in dungeon creation
http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/05/11/dad-dubbed-scotland-s-josef-fritzl-keeps-daughter-prisoner-while-making-her-pregnant-six-times-78057-20413325/ Scottish dad that keeps daughter prison and tries to get her pregnant to be able to claim benefits...
http://schneewolfe1948.blogspot.com/2008/06/hungarian-natascha-aka-magyar-natascha.html girl kept prisoner by dad, raped and beaten repeatedly in from of chronically ill mother...
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1314849,00.html The French Fritzl, gives birth to 6 children during her captivity, in hospital, while the whole village knows, and does nothing...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/josef_fritzl/2008825/ Argentina Fritzl like case
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1368918.ece Austrian woman imprisons 3 daughters for 7 years
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusako_Sano another kidnapped girl, by someone other than the parents, Japan...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1026429/Woman-locked-filthy-bedroom-dungeon-18-YEARS-having-baby-wedlock.html Italian Fritzl Type case
http://www.thestar.com/article/446491 Canadian woman sentenced to 9 years for starving her autistic sister to death http://johnhonderich.com/printArticle/273687 more on Canadian woman sentenced to 9 years for starving her autistic sister to death
there was another case in Austria, where an adopted daughter was kept in a cold room, locked, and treated like an animal; this seems to have been some years ago... I have not been able to find any information on the net about it... I am beginning to realize that there won't be any cases like this in Asia, because they would be covered up, or as in child marriages, permitted by society...
Hungarian Natascha, aka Magyar Natascha
I am publishing this, after some thought, as it is sad to relate, that there is nothing whatsoever on the net other then one other story in a tabloid newspaper... I have tried to discover more, sent one e-mail to a clinic where she might up, but of course didn't know her... unlike the other European cases, this woman has vanished off the face of the planet it would seem... The Picture is from one of the two articles on her, but it is possible that it is faked, as the skin tone does not match the description... though evidence of beatings is obvious... I have deliberately left out any links to the papers... not with any idea to thewarting people looking, but with the idea that if they are not there, maybe people will not look... she deserves her peace... I wish 'Snow White' much happiness, and hope her recovery is well on it's way...
WOMAN HELD IN FLAT FOR 13 YEARS BY FATHER
"Hungarian Natascha" Found in Budapest
"Hungarian Natascha" Found in Budapest
A 27-year-old Hungarian woman in Budapest was held captive for 13 years in her home by her father and regularly raped and beaten, Hungarian media are reporting. News of her ordeal comes weeks after the escape of Austrian girl Natascha Kampusch from her kidnapper and she is already being dubbed the "Hungarian Natascha".
Her father, a prison guard, had forbidden her to leave the apartment they shared since she was 14, newspapers reported, citing social workers. The woman has been dubbed the "Hungarian Natascha" by the media in reference to 16-year-old Austrian girl Natascha Kampusch, who was kidnapped and held for 8 years before managing to escape.
Her father, a prison guard, had forbidden her to leave the apartment they shared since she was 14, newspapers reported, citing social workers. The woman has been dubbed the "Hungarian Natascha" by the media in reference to 16-year-old Austrian girl Natascha Kampusch, who was kidnapped and held for 8 years before managing to escape.
Newspapers said the Hungarian woman, who has not been named, was repeatedly raped and beaten by her father in front of her seriously ill mother. The case came to light after the father died and the mother, who was also abused by the man, contacted authorities.
Social workers who came to the flat noticed that the daughter had snow-white skin. "My colleagues saw that that the young woman can't have been outside for a long time," a social worker told Hungarian television. She appears "like a 12-year-old child with gray hair."
The woman is severely traumatized and afraid of everyone and speaks only falteringly. She receives daily visits from social workers. No further details were released.
The neighbors apparently didn't notice what was going on. The mother has since died.
Social workers who came to the flat noticed that the daughter had snow-white skin. "My colleagues saw that that the young woman can't have been outside for a long time," a social worker told Hungarian television. She appears "like a 12-year-old child with gray hair."
The woman is severely traumatized and afraid of everyone and speaks only falteringly. She receives daily visits from social workers. No further details were released.
The neighbors apparently didn't notice what was going on. The mother has since died.
Horror In Cannibal Case in Czech Republic
This Crime came to my attention earlier this year, but only in so far as the search and arrest of the woman named Anna, AKA Barbara Skrlova was concerned... I knew nothing of the background, until today... another 'dungeon' story, only with aspects of cannibalism & torture, not rape or confinement for breeding purposes... as has been noted in the Fritzl case, where were the neighbours before the video was discovered... was there nothing to tell that something was amiss in that house... what if the neighbours didn't have a baby monitor that would pick up the video signal... what would have been the fate of those boys... and seeing as there is one such weird breakaway cell of that Grail Cult, are there more which we don't know about... what are the authorities doing to find out... I think that this is making more questions than answers...
NEWSER:
http://www.newser.com/story/30540.html
Cannibal Family Ate Boy's Flesh
Posted Jun 20, 08 11:35 AM CDT in World, Crime & Courts
(Newser) – A family of Czech cannibals is on trial for hacking off pieces of a 7-year-old boy who survived the ghoulish abuse, the Sun reports. The horror unraveled last year when a neighbor’s baby monitor picked up images of the chained-up boy meant to be seen by the boy's mother.
The partially skinned boy and his 9-year-old brother were also burned and whipped. Also involved in the abuse was a 34-year-old posing as an adopted 13-year-old sister. The imposter, the boys’ mother, and other relatives are members of the Grail Movement cult and claim its leader coordinated the abuse using text messages.
*****************************************************************
THE INDEPENDENT.UK
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chance-discovery-of-abused-child-reveals-bizarre-czech-grail-cult-451364.html
Chance discovery of abused child reveals bizarre Czech Grail Cult
By Daniel McLaughlin in Budapest
Saturday, 2 June 2007
A flickering image of a small naked boy, lying tied-up on the bare floor of a room, was the clue that drew the Czech Republic into a tale of child abuse, obscure sects and a mysterious vanishing girl that has shocked and baffled the nation.
The picture was spotted by a father keeping an eye on his baby, when his video monitor received a stray signal from a similar device being used in a neighbouring house in the quiet town of Kurim, close to the south-eastern city of Brno.
When police searched the area on 10 May, sisters Klara and Katerina Mauerova allegedly refused to open a locked door in their home. When firemen broke it down, they found Klara's eight-year-old son Ondrej inside, bound with duct tape, badly dehydrated and watched over by a video camera. Investigators believed Ondrej had been maltreated for six months, and he was taken into care with his brother Jakub and a girl called Anna, whom a court had allowed Klara Mauerova to adopt in March.
What was just a case of child abuse seized the nation's attention, however, when Anna disappeared from a children's home, sparking a search for her in nearby woods and villages.
Then came the bizarre revelation that "Anna" was not a 13-year-old girl, but a 34-year-old woman in disguise. Police believe "Anna" was actually Barbara Skrlova, a friend of the Mauerova sisters who, like them, belongs to a breakaway faction of an organisation called the Grail Movement.
The Grail Movement follows the teachings of Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, a German also known as Abd-ru-shin, who from 1923-38 wrote the Grail Message, which depicts man as a being whose spirit can return to its source in heaven by performing good deeds on Earth. It claims to have at least 10,000 followers worldwide, including several hundred in Britain.
"We broke with the people involved in this 11 years ago, after they added to the Grail Message with their own imaginings and fantasies," said Artur Zaplukal, spokesman of the Grail Movement in the Czech Republic, where it has about 1,500 followers. "I sent them a letter telling them they were no longer part of the Grail Movement."
Amid constant twists to a case that is being called one of the strangest in Czech criminal history, police now say they believe "Anna" never really existed.
Investigators think that when Klara Mauerova appealed to a court for custody of Anna, whom she said had been abandoned by her family, the daughter of a fellow cult member pretended to be the young girl.
They then gave the newly created identity of Anna to Ms Skrlova - so she could be groomed for a leading role in the sect.
"The community probably wanted to turn her into an idol for worship," one policeman told the national Czech newspaper Mlada Fronta Dnes.
Social workers say Ondrej and Jakub now appear to be fine, and the search continues for "Anna", who becomes more mysterious by the day.
This week, President Vaclav Klaus received a nine-page letter defending Ondrej's mother, from someone claiming to be the missing Anna. "I have a feeling someone is playing a very strange game with us," said the bemused Mr Klaus.
NEWSER:
http://www.newser.com/story/30540.htmlCannibal Family Ate Boy's Flesh
Posted Jun 20, 08 11:35 AM CDT in World, Crime & Courts
(Newser) – A family of Czech cannibals is on trial for hacking off pieces of a 7-year-old boy who survived the ghoulish abuse, the Sun reports. The horror unraveled last year when a neighbor’s baby monitor picked up images of the chained-up boy meant to be seen by the boy's mother.
The partially skinned boy and his 9-year-old brother were also burned and whipped. Also involved in the abuse was a 34-year-old posing as an adopted 13-year-old sister. The imposter, the boys’ mother, and other relatives are members of the Grail Movement cult and claim its leader coordinated the abuse using text messages.
*****************************************************************
THE INDEPENDENT.UK
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chance-discovery-of-abused-child-reveals-bizarre-czech-grail-cult-451364.html
Chance discovery of abused child reveals bizarre Czech Grail Cult
By Daniel McLaughlin in Budapest
Saturday, 2 June 2007
A flickering image of a small naked boy, lying tied-up on the bare floor of a room, was the clue that drew the Czech Republic into a tale of child abuse, obscure sects and a mysterious vanishing girl that has shocked and baffled the nation.
The picture was spotted by a father keeping an eye on his baby, when his video monitor received a stray signal from a similar device being used in a neighbouring house in the quiet town of Kurim, close to the south-eastern city of Brno.
When police searched the area on 10 May, sisters Klara and Katerina Mauerova allegedly refused to open a locked door in their home. When firemen broke it down, they found Klara's eight-year-old son Ondrej inside, bound with duct tape, badly dehydrated and watched over by a video camera. Investigators believed Ondrej had been maltreated for six months, and he was taken into care with his brother Jakub and a girl called Anna, whom a court had allowed Klara Mauerova to adopt in March.
What was just a case of child abuse seized the nation's attention, however, when Anna disappeared from a children's home, sparking a search for her in nearby woods and villages.
Then came the bizarre revelation that "Anna" was not a 13-year-old girl, but a 34-year-old woman in disguise. Police believe "Anna" was actually Barbara Skrlova, a friend of the Mauerova sisters who, like them, belongs to a breakaway faction of an organisation called the Grail Movement.
The Grail Movement follows the teachings of Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, a German also known as Abd-ru-shin, who from 1923-38 wrote the Grail Message, which depicts man as a being whose spirit can return to its source in heaven by performing good deeds on Earth. It claims to have at least 10,000 followers worldwide, including several hundred in Britain.
"We broke with the people involved in this 11 years ago, after they added to the Grail Message with their own imaginings and fantasies," said Artur Zaplukal, spokesman of the Grail Movement in the Czech Republic, where it has about 1,500 followers. "I sent them a letter telling them they were no longer part of the Grail Movement."
Amid constant twists to a case that is being called one of the strangest in Czech criminal history, police now say they believe "Anna" never really existed.
Investigators think that when Klara Mauerova appealed to a court for custody of Anna, whom she said had been abandoned by her family, the daughter of a fellow cult member pretended to be the young girl.
They then gave the newly created identity of Anna to Ms Skrlova - so she could be groomed for a leading role in the sect.
"The community probably wanted to turn her into an idol for worship," one policeman told the national Czech newspaper Mlada Fronta Dnes.
Social workers say Ondrej and Jakub now appear to be fine, and the search continues for "Anna", who becomes more mysterious by the day.
This week, President Vaclav Klaus received a nine-page letter defending Ondrej's mother, from someone claiming to be the missing Anna. "I have a feeling someone is playing a very strange game with us," said the bemused Mr Klaus.
The World Awaits Answers To Zimbabwe Crisis
ok, Should the Crisis in Zimbabwe turn, as some pundits have predicted into a genocide of Rwandan proportions, will the world support an armed intervention, on the same scale that rescued that beleaguered country... Already South Africa's Zuma has come out hitting hard at Mugube, even though the present Gov't's UN representatives, have forced a weakening of that bodies statement on the situation... now it is up to Africa and the world to step up and do there bit to right the terrible wrongs that have been done, by there own acts of omission... the rest of us wait with held breath for an answer... will we resolve to wipe away the stain of honor, that has persisted since the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan... and do something that is principled, and not for obvious monetary gain... Come on Leaders of Africa and the West... we await your answers...
http://www.thetimes.co.za/specialreports/Zimbabwe/Default.aspx?id=363615
http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=789923
Zimbabwe: ANC’s hard-hitting statement restores South Africa’s pride
24 June 2008, 17:18 GMT + 2
“THE ugly incidents and scenes that have been visited on the people of Zimbabwe persuade us that a run-off Presidential election offers no solution to Zimbabwe’s crisis. The very legitimacy of a run-off election has already been severely compromised by the actions of both Zanu-PF militants and those state officials who do not even conceal their partiality in favour of the governing party.”The words of Morgan Tsvangirai? Of Helen Zille? Or those of Gordon Brown?Wrong on all three counts. These are the words that appeared in a statement released by the ANC yesterday.They are words that will profoundly change the diplomatic climate surrounding Zimbabwe.For the first time, Mugabe stands alone in Africa, the South African lifeline to legitimacy which has been maintained by President Thabo Mbeki finally severed.For the first time, the world speaks with one unequivocal voice on Zimbabwe, acknowledging that Mugabe’s is a government prolonging its stay in power through unacceptable means.The ANC statement was echoed by ANC President, Jacob Zuma, who said yesterday: “We cannot agree with Zanu-PF. We cannot agree with them on values. We fought for the right of people to vote, we fought for democracy.”But the ANC’s words do not just provide hope to Zimbabweans, they finally break the great human rights drought in South African politics.The ANC statement returns this country to its rightful place in world affairs — on the side of the people, in favour of democracy, believing in human rights and against the tyrants.It represents welcome nourishment for a young democracy that has been starved of hope by years of Machiavellian diplomacy which has seen this country silent on human rights in face of world anger.We must now return to our core values and stand by them whatever the short-term cost.
But then we did water the whole thing down at the UN … WHILE the ANC and its president Jacob Zuma have gone some way towards restoring this country’s pride, the same cannot be said for our morally lame diplomats at the UNThey finally agreed to a fairly strongly worded UN resolution calling on Mugabe to “stop the violence, cease political intimidation, end the restrictions on the right of assembly and release the political leaders who have been detained.”But only after excising a clause stating that “until there is a clearly free and fair second round of the presidential election, the only legitimate basis for a government of Zimbabwe is the outcome of the March 29 election.”
http://www.thetimes.co.za/specialreports/Zimbabwe/Default.aspx?id=363615
http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=789923
Zimbabwe: ANC’s hard-hitting statement restores South Africa’s pride
24 June 2008, 17:18 GMT + 2
“THE ugly incidents and scenes that have been visited on the people of Zimbabwe persuade us that a run-off Presidential election offers no solution to Zimbabwe’s crisis. The very legitimacy of a run-off election has already been severely compromised by the actions of both Zanu-PF militants and those state officials who do not even conceal their partiality in favour of the governing party.”The words of Morgan Tsvangirai? Of Helen Zille? Or those of Gordon Brown?Wrong on all three counts. These are the words that appeared in a statement released by the ANC yesterday.They are words that will profoundly change the diplomatic climate surrounding Zimbabwe.For the first time, Mugabe stands alone in Africa, the South African lifeline to legitimacy which has been maintained by President Thabo Mbeki finally severed.For the first time, the world speaks with one unequivocal voice on Zimbabwe, acknowledging that Mugabe’s is a government prolonging its stay in power through unacceptable means.The ANC statement was echoed by ANC President, Jacob Zuma, who said yesterday: “We cannot agree with Zanu-PF. We cannot agree with them on values. We fought for the right of people to vote, we fought for democracy.”But the ANC’s words do not just provide hope to Zimbabweans, they finally break the great human rights drought in South African politics.The ANC statement returns this country to its rightful place in world affairs — on the side of the people, in favour of democracy, believing in human rights and against the tyrants.It represents welcome nourishment for a young democracy that has been starved of hope by years of Machiavellian diplomacy which has seen this country silent on human rights in face of world anger.We must now return to our core values and stand by them whatever the short-term cost.
But then we did water the whole thing down at the UN … WHILE the ANC and its president Jacob Zuma have gone some way towards restoring this country’s pride, the same cannot be said for our morally lame diplomats at the UNThey finally agreed to a fairly strongly worded UN resolution calling on Mugabe to “stop the violence, cease political intimidation, end the restrictions on the right of assembly and release the political leaders who have been detained.”But only after excising a clause stating that “until there is a clearly free and fair second round of the presidential election, the only legitimate basis for a government of Zimbabwe is the outcome of the March 29 election.”
Examples of honour killings
A woman is raped, her body abused and suffering, she goes to the police, she reports the attackers, either family members or relatives of family acquaintances in her village... the police ask her for the obligatory 4 male witnesses, she says they are the men who attacked her... they will not condemn their family members... the police send her away, telling her they will investigate; but instead report the crime to a local religious court... the court brings the woman in, and say that with out the 4 men, she is too be accused of adultery, and must face the religious penalty... stoning... she protests her innocence to no use... she is resigned to her fate, because it is her sentence in life... and she is stoned...
A girl falls in love with a boy of another religion... her family finds out, and the village as a whole take her apart, outside the village; she has been accused of religious apostasy, even though there is no evidence that she has converted or seeks to give up her religion ... father, brothers, uncles, take up stones, and while she lays on the ground, in her red coat, pleading with her father, who throws the first stone; then a shower of stones is launched against her... two people at least record this on their cell phones... it ends up on You tube... her last moments show her rising up on one elbow or arm, only to be knocked down, with the weight of a lump of concrete or stone crushing her head... no one is charged...
A young couple was killed to uphold the woman's family honour. The reason: the young woman and man had married without permission... there crime according to the religious court: she had committed adultry and he had kidnapped and raped her... even though they are married...
Their half-stripped bodies were laid out on the dirt - dumped outside for all to see. "From the society's point of view, this is a very good thing. The blot has been removed" said a hooka-smoking senior citizen. Almost the entire village echoed the same sentiments. An old woman however whispered: "Aaurat ke liye, maika bhi paraya, sasural bhi parya, us ke liye hai kya." (A woman is stranger in her parent's home and also in her in-law's home; what is there for her). The victim's mother admitted, "We did it because she deserved it. We have managed to redeem our honour". Moreover, the father without the slightest regret or remorse reportedly confessed to committing the murders. A neighbour added: "They have been killed to set an example, so that no one repeats the same mistake".
A Jordanian girl 14 is walking across the street, and her brother sees her... inadvertently, she has in crossing the street headed directly towards a house where only young boys live... he catches and accuses her of going there... and rouses the village, and she is stoned...
A Pakistani killed his eldest daughter for marrying against his wishes. He then killed his three other innocent daughters aged 12, 8 and 4, fearing that they too might have been infected by his eldest daughter and follow in her footsteps. He did this ostensibly to save the family honour which he believed had been restored by killing his four daughters.
A 13 year old girl, begins a long distance relationship with a cousin in another state... her father finds out, and takes the girl out to a shed and beats her; then she is hung and beaten more while she strangles to death, kicking away at the air, as her face turns blue. Then the father takes her lifeless body down and to make sure she is dead, cuts off her head...
in Germany, a young woman, leaves home to get away from her family and begin a life of her own... she tries to cover her tracks; she starts training for a job, and meeting new friends... then one night on the way home, a voice beckons from the shadows, and she sees her brother and a cousin... her brother calls her name, and her blood runs cold, as she sees him raise his hand, the glint of a gun... her last thought is fear, as the gun goes off and her head explodes from the bullet crashing into it...
the girl has been beaten and raped... her father tells her she is dead to him... her only choice is how she will die, either a slit throat or poison... she is numb, as she chooses poison... and soon is in convulsions as the poison takes affect... dieing a gruesome death
this is only a sampling... 5000 women a year die in honour killings... and those are only the ones we know about... many more go unreported, or are reported erroneously as suicides, crimes of passion, or the women have simply disappeared, their bodies never found...
A girl falls in love with a boy of another religion... her family finds out, and the village as a whole take her apart, outside the village; she has been accused of religious apostasy, even though there is no evidence that she has converted or seeks to give up her religion ... father, brothers, uncles, take up stones, and while she lays on the ground, in her red coat, pleading with her father, who throws the first stone; then a shower of stones is launched against her... two people at least record this on their cell phones... it ends up on You tube... her last moments show her rising up on one elbow or arm, only to be knocked down, with the weight of a lump of concrete or stone crushing her head... no one is charged...
A young couple was killed to uphold the woman's family honour. The reason: the young woman and man had married without permission... there crime according to the religious court: she had committed adultry and he had kidnapped and raped her... even though they are married...
Their half-stripped bodies were laid out on the dirt - dumped outside for all to see. "From the society's point of view, this is a very good thing. The blot has been removed" said a hooka-smoking senior citizen. Almost the entire village echoed the same sentiments. An old woman however whispered: "Aaurat ke liye, maika bhi paraya, sasural bhi parya, us ke liye hai kya." (A woman is stranger in her parent's home and also in her in-law's home; what is there for her). The victim's mother admitted, "We did it because she deserved it. We have managed to redeem our honour". Moreover, the father without the slightest regret or remorse reportedly confessed to committing the murders. A neighbour added: "They have been killed to set an example, so that no one repeats the same mistake".
A Jordanian girl 14 is walking across the street, and her brother sees her... inadvertently, she has in crossing the street headed directly towards a house where only young boys live... he catches and accuses her of going there... and rouses the village, and she is stoned...
A Pakistani killed his eldest daughter for marrying against his wishes. He then killed his three other innocent daughters aged 12, 8 and 4, fearing that they too might have been infected by his eldest daughter and follow in her footsteps. He did this ostensibly to save the family honour which he believed had been restored by killing his four daughters.
A 13 year old girl, begins a long distance relationship with a cousin in another state... her father finds out, and takes the girl out to a shed and beats her; then she is hung and beaten more while she strangles to death, kicking away at the air, as her face turns blue. Then the father takes her lifeless body down and to make sure she is dead, cuts off her head...
in Germany, a young woman, leaves home to get away from her family and begin a life of her own... she tries to cover her tracks; she starts training for a job, and meeting new friends... then one night on the way home, a voice beckons from the shadows, and she sees her brother and a cousin... her brother calls her name, and her blood runs cold, as she sees him raise his hand, the glint of a gun... her last thought is fear, as the gun goes off and her head explodes from the bullet crashing into it...
the girl has been beaten and raped... her father tells her she is dead to him... her only choice is how she will die, either a slit throat or poison... she is numb, as she chooses poison... and soon is in convulsions as the poison takes affect... dieing a gruesome death
this is only a sampling... 5000 women a year die in honour killings... and those are only the ones we know about... many more go unreported, or are reported erroneously as suicides, crimes of passion, or the women have simply disappeared, their bodies never found...
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Polygamy Editorials in Newspaper Spark Angry Reaction, and Debate
In the past month the Toronto Star published 2 editorials and some articles regarding Polygamy in Canada... this reflects the laws which we have in place against the practice, and the existing practices of polygamy in contradiction of those laws... the reasons for their ambivalence in our society to prosecute and the lack of debate on the subject... while the fundamentalist Mormon sect in Bountiful, BC has remained silent on these articles, only responding to question put to it's leaders, the Islamic Community in Toronto has reacted sharply, to the point of what I would term character assassination of one of the writers, a woman... below is an excerpt from an editorial written regarding the attacks...
"I, however, was surprised by the personal attacks against her. Her commitment to her faith has been questioned by other Muslims and some have even suggested it was improper for a Muslim reporter to report on this.
One "open letter" that came to my office, the Star's letters page, and is now circulating in the online blogosphere, accuses her of demonizing Islam itself. "If your intention was to spark debate on polygamy in the community then the Toronto Star was not the forum for it," the letter states. "There is already ample anti-Islamic sentiment in the world and it is not befitting for a Muslim to add to it.
"As a Muslim woman, you had an Islamic obligation, to defend this aspect of your faith, not to deliver a further blow to an already bruised community."
Polygamy in Islam is not a requirement for men, it was instituted as a means by which women, in underdeveloped countries, with no protection, or means of support, could find that support and protection, when they needed it... ie as widows, orphans... it has become an abused system in modern western societies, where there is no need for this... men are having multiple wives, and collecting benefits from the government social welfare system... this is wrong... as well, young girls are being trafficked for the purpose of arranged marriage's to older men...
In the case of the Fundamentalist Mormon religion, it is more complicated... in their religion, it is considered a prerequisite for men to have multiple wives to get into heaven, and for women to be married to such men... this is a stumbling block to prosecution of these cases...
but as the original author of the editorial rightly said, the major concern in polygamist marriages has to be the welfare of the children... and in this there is no agreement... not enough studies it seems have been done to determine whether there is a negative affect... this I have to look into more...
however, for at least one woman who was lied to by her husband, on the advice of the Imman who married him to his 3 wife, she has divorced him, and has moved on... Is growing and has begun a new life...
the Imman who married her husband, made this comment when confronted:
"This is in our religion and nobody can force us to do anything against our religion," he said. "If the laws of the country conflict with Islamic law, if one goes against the other, then I am going to follow Islamic law, simple as that."
Yet in Islam there is no such justification for his actions... The president of the Canadian Society of Muslims, who speaks frequently on polygamy issues:
"Muslims should not enter into polygamy while they are living in Canada, because the local Canadian law prevails. It overrules the Islamic law if there is a conflict between the two," he said.
Islamic men coming into the country as immigrants, who already have multiple wives, do it seems have protection under the law and social services... however those already here as landed immigrants or citizens of Canada, who wish to practice polygamy, whether it is bringing in women to marry, marrying women here, or going to home countries to marry, do not have any such protection under the law, and are open to charges...
"I, however, was surprised by the personal attacks against her. Her commitment to her faith has been questioned by other Muslims and some have even suggested it was improper for a Muslim reporter to report on this.
One "open letter" that came to my office, the Star's letters page, and is now circulating in the online blogosphere, accuses her of demonizing Islam itself. "If your intention was to spark debate on polygamy in the community then the Toronto Star was not the forum for it," the letter states. "There is already ample anti-Islamic sentiment in the world and it is not befitting for a Muslim to add to it.
"As a Muslim woman, you had an Islamic obligation, to defend this aspect of your faith, not to deliver a further blow to an already bruised community."
Polygamy in Islam is not a requirement for men, it was instituted as a means by which women, in underdeveloped countries, with no protection, or means of support, could find that support and protection, when they needed it... ie as widows, orphans... it has become an abused system in modern western societies, where there is no need for this... men are having multiple wives, and collecting benefits from the government social welfare system... this is wrong... as well, young girls are being trafficked for the purpose of arranged marriage's to older men...
In the case of the Fundamentalist Mormon religion, it is more complicated... in their religion, it is considered a prerequisite for men to have multiple wives to get into heaven, and for women to be married to such men... this is a stumbling block to prosecution of these cases...
but as the original author of the editorial rightly said, the major concern in polygamist marriages has to be the welfare of the children... and in this there is no agreement... not enough studies it seems have been done to determine whether there is a negative affect... this I have to look into more...
however, for at least one woman who was lied to by her husband, on the advice of the Imman who married him to his 3 wife, she has divorced him, and has moved on... Is growing and has begun a new life...
the Imman who married her husband, made this comment when confronted:
"This is in our religion and nobody can force us to do anything against our religion," he said. "If the laws of the country conflict with Islamic law, if one goes against the other, then I am going to follow Islamic law, simple as that."
Yet in Islam there is no such justification for his actions... The president of the Canadian Society of Muslims, who speaks frequently on polygamy issues:
"Muslims should not enter into polygamy while they are living in Canada, because the local Canadian law prevails. It overrules the Islamic law if there is a conflict between the two," he said.
Islamic men coming into the country as immigrants, who already have multiple wives, do it seems have protection under the law and social services... however those already here as landed immigrants or citizens of Canada, who wish to practice polygamy, whether it is bringing in women to marry, marrying women here, or going to home countries to marry, do not have any such protection under the law, and are open to charges...
Saturday, June 21, 2008
New Facts on Female Genital Mutilation in the UK
the Independent has an article on FGM and looks like it may be good news...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/female-circumcision-a-tradition-steeped-in-blood-852028.html
Female circumcision: a tradition steeped in blood
Brian Brady reports on a police operation to protect more than 20,000 girls, some aged nine or younger, thought to be in danger of forced genital mutilation
Sunday, 22 June 2008
*******************************************************
Female genital mutilation is widely practised in Iraqi Kurdistan where around 60% of girls will have their labia and clitoris excised at a young age with the intention of reducing their interest in sex to make them more faithful.To sign a petition protesting this, please send your details to
stopfgmkurdistan@yahoo.com
Petition text:
To the esteemed Head of Kurdistan Region Parliament, Presidency of Kurdistan Region, Kurdistan Region Counsel of Ministers
We ask your esteemed assistance to issue legislation to stop female genital mutilation in Kurdistan and to establish practical procedures to end this abnormal practice. This request comes after attempts over many years to end this practice. But recent surveys suggest that female genital mutilation is still ongoing in a fair part of Kurdistan. Sixty percent of girls and women are circumcised in various parts of Kurdistan. Girls are forced to cut away a very important part of their bodies and suffer long-term physical and psychological conditions. They also become more susceptible to certain diseases. Many traditional authorities in the Muslim world justify female genital mutilation by saying it has become mandatory in Islam. But it is not rooted in Islam. The practice is a crime against women. This is why it is conducted in silence and secrecy. Science has also rejected the practice. Numerous human rights charters classify it as physical and psychological violence. At present, international organizations like the UN, WHO and various women organizations consider female genital mutilation to be a major crime against females.Thus, imposing immediately a resolution and law to stop this practice should be the principle duty in front of Kurdish authorities. Countering this problem is essential if the international community will continue to depict the Kurds as among the progressive nationalities which believe in female rights, counter violence against women and grant women the rights they deserve. The democracy which Kurdistan enjoys since the toppling of dictatorship should enable us to talk about problems freely and bring reforms. Attached is a list of the names of those individuals and groups that have signed this memorandum.
With regards
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/female-circumcision-a-tradition-steeped-in-blood-852028.html
Female circumcision: a tradition steeped in blood
Brian Brady reports on a police operation to protect more than 20,000 girls, some aged nine or younger, thought to be in danger of forced genital mutilation
Sunday, 22 June 2008
*******************************************************
Female genital mutilation is widely practised in Iraqi Kurdistan where around 60% of girls will have their labia and clitoris excised at a young age with the intention of reducing their interest in sex to make them more faithful.To sign a petition protesting this, please send your details to
stopfgmkurdistan@yahoo.com
Petition text:
To the esteemed Head of Kurdistan Region Parliament, Presidency of Kurdistan Region, Kurdistan Region Counsel of Ministers
We ask your esteemed assistance to issue legislation to stop female genital mutilation in Kurdistan and to establish practical procedures to end this abnormal practice. This request comes after attempts over many years to end this practice. But recent surveys suggest that female genital mutilation is still ongoing in a fair part of Kurdistan. Sixty percent of girls and women are circumcised in various parts of Kurdistan. Girls are forced to cut away a very important part of their bodies and suffer long-term physical and psychological conditions. They also become more susceptible to certain diseases. Many traditional authorities in the Muslim world justify female genital mutilation by saying it has become mandatory in Islam. But it is not rooted in Islam. The practice is a crime against women. This is why it is conducted in silence and secrecy. Science has also rejected the practice. Numerous human rights charters classify it as physical and psychological violence. At present, international organizations like the UN, WHO and various women organizations consider female genital mutilation to be a major crime against females.Thus, imposing immediately a resolution and law to stop this practice should be the principle duty in front of Kurdish authorities. Countering this problem is essential if the international community will continue to depict the Kurds as among the progressive nationalities which believe in female rights, counter violence against women and grant women the rights they deserve. The democracy which Kurdistan enjoys since the toppling of dictatorship should enable us to talk about problems freely and bring reforms. Attached is a list of the names of those individuals and groups that have signed this memorandum.
With regards
When does someone die
http://the-hermits-cabin.blogspot.com/2008/07/nb-i-wrote-this-in-february-just-prior.html
This post has been moved to the above URL
This post has been moved to the above URL
Zimbabwe Aflame
Updated on July 4th 2008
Updated on July 6th 2008
this is the latest news out of Zimbabwe... in the past 48 hours of reading, (not just on Zim) I have read the most horrendous torture and killing of innocent civilians at the hands of a brutal dictatorship, that anyone could imagine... in fact I would have to say, it is beyond imagination... one couldn't begin to dream up such stuff in a civilized world... but it is happening in Southern Africa, the land that people there say is one of Ubuntu, "humanity toward others" in the Zulu Language...
From The Sunday Times
July 6, 2008
Teenage girls raped at Robert Mugabe's torture camps
A sharp rise in pregnancies shows Zanu-PF’s campaign is reaching new depths of cruelty
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article4276294.ece
Douglas Marle in Harare
Dozens of teenage girls have been made pregnant after being taken into the bush and raped in torture camps by President Robert Mugabe’s youth militia operating near Mudzi, a town 100 miles northeast of Harare, human rights workers allege.
Amid the continuing chaos, there are as yet no clear statistics, but the sharp rise in teenage pregnancies seems almost certain to have been repeated elsewhere in rural districts. Some of the victims will have contracted HIV-Aids, which has ravaged Zimbabwe for years and helped reduce average life expectancy to 34 for women, the lowest in the world.
The raped girls are the silent victims of Mugabe’s stolen election. Their suffering has been surrounded by silence owing to the stigma and shame of rape.
“It is a particularly brutal and disturbing element of the months of violence, and its after effects will be felt by these girls and their families long after the rest of the terror sweeping the country has died away,” said one human rights worker. “Some of the girls will never recover.”
Related Links
Bow to me before talks, says Mugabe
Food used as weapon as famine looms
Mugabe moves to erase the MDC
There are an unprecedented 16 teenage pregnancies registered at one local hospital alone. Residents report that the local Zanu-PF militia boasts that it wants to make Mudzi an “MDC-free zone”. The torture camps, they claim, are still manned, with no sign that they are about to be dismantled.
In Harare, the new parliament is expected to be sworn in on Tuesday amid reports that the Mugabe regime plans to kill or arrest MPs from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to overturn the opposition’s narrow majority.
Among those risking their lives to attend is a former Zimbabwean headmaster who has spent the past eight years in exile in Britain, working as a supply teacher in Essex.
“I am scared,” said John Nyamandi, 56, who won the constituency of Makoni Central in Manicaland. “We know a hit list has been drawn up. But we started the game and have to finish it.”
The March 29 elections gave the MDC 100 seats compared with 99 for Mugabe’s Zanu-PF. It is the first time the ruling party has lost control of parliament since independence in 1980.
article from Guardian re hidden camera in election fraud,
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A Zimbabwe prison officer used a hidden camera given to him by a British newspaper to film how he and his colleagues were forced to vote for Robert Mugabe in last month's widely criticized presidential runoff.
The Guardian posted the film on its Web site Saturday, and said in the film and accompanying stories that the officer, Shepherd Yuda, fled Zimbabwe on Friday and was now with his family in an undisclosed location.
International observers said the June 27 runoff was not free or fair, largely because of violence against opposition supporters. There also were reports of ballot tampering as described in Yuda's film, with members of the security forces and others not allowed to vote in secret.
Repeated attempts to reach Zimbabwe's government spokesman for comment Saturday by telephone were unsuccessful.
Click here to watch the video. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/04/zimbabwe1
Zimbabwean officials have rejected criticism of the election, which opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of as the only other candidate. Mugabe was declared winner on June 29 and took the oath of office within hours of the release of results.
The film, which lasts about 10 minutes, shows a senior official identified as a member of Mugabe's party handing out postal ballots to Yuda and other prison workers and watching as they mark them. It is clear they feel they have no choice but to vote for Mugabe, for fear of what the senior official might do if they vote for the opposition.
Later, in private, Yuda sits in front of the camera and says that marking an `X' on the ballot next to Mugabe's photo "was the most difficult moment of my life."
Other scenes in his film show prison workers speaking fearfully of a colleague's relative being abducted by militant Mugabe supporters, and a meeting at which prison workers are told to vote for Mugabe. It also shows some famous prisoners, including No. 2 opposition leader Tendai Biti and civil rights activist Jenni Williams. Biti, charged with treason, and Williams, charged in a separate case with disturbing the peace, each have since been released on bail.
it is now 6 days to the post election run off, and some are saying the elections should be held off, as the rising tide of violence is becoming critical... my view point is, that regardless of whether the election is held or not, there will continue to be violence... Zimbabwe is on the brink of a Killing Fields that is akin to the SEA killings in Cambodia... we will in the future be witness to stacks of skulls lined up, and mass graves dug up... all because we did nothing, but issue proclamations and platitudes, and Mbeki stood by while his 'comrade' did as he wished... this will stain not only Zimbabwe's reputation for 100 years, but also South Africa and other Southern Africa states... the west also will be complicit in this Holocaust... God will bless Africa, only after he has judged it, and his judgement will be harsh...
News Update: June 23rd, the MDC has backout of the contest; sadly they feel that the election will only go to Bob anyway, and many of their supporters will be killed at the polls... this still doesn't stop the killings... the ZANU-PF has the smell of blood and will no doubt continue it's oppression once election observers leave the country... it is now time for the rest of Southern Africa to step up and say NO MORE!! or be complicit in the killings...
It's all lies, says Mugabe
June 21 2008 at 01:57PM
Harare - President Robert Mugabe accused the Zimbabwe opposition of lying over political violence to justify claims that next week's presidential runoff vote will not be free and fair, the official media reported on Saturday.Mugabe said the Movement for Democratic Change was compiling names of alleged victims and falsely claiming that their supporters were being beaten up."They say this so that they can later say the elections were not free and fair. Which is a damn lie," the state Herald newspaper quoted him as saying at a campaign rally on Friday in the western city of Bulawayo.Mugabe faces opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the June 27 runoff. Tsvangirai won the first round but not by an outright majority.
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Independent human rights groups says 85 people have died in pre-election political violence, which has displaced tens of thousands from their homes, most of them opposition supporters.The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights said most of the dead were victims of militants of Mugabe's party, but at least five were ruling party supporters.International condemnation of the violence is mounting. The European Union on Friday threatened additional sanctions against Mugabe's government. Even African countries traditionally sympathetic toward Mugabe, including Angola, voiced concern.In Bulawayo, Mugabe said that everywhere he visited was peaceful. He repeated his campaign theme that voting for Tsvangirai and his pro-Western party was "tantamount to going back to colonialism", The Herald quoted him as saying."You cannot take away the country using a ball point. The gun is stronger than the ball point," the 84-year-old autocrat said. A seven-year bush war swept Mugabe to power at independence from Britain in 1980.Zimbabwe's powerful police chief Augustine Chihuri put the blame for the violence firmly on the Movement for Democratic Change."I wish to put the record straight on the political violence in Zimbabwe. It is without doubt that between the two political parties... MDC-T (Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change) is the main culprit in the political violence that we are currently witnessing in the country," the Herald quoted him as saying.He said police have arrested 156 Zanu-PF and 390 opposition supporters; that the police force was on high alert and had already started intensifying deployments throughout the country."Violence will not be treated with kid gloves and as the police we are intensifying deployments in all areas," the Herald quoted him as saying.Doctors for Human Rights said there were 14 new victims added to the list on Thursday. They included four opposition activists killed in the township of Chitungiwza, south of Harare, on Wednesday, and eight who died across the country in recent days whose death certificates were issued Thursday.Details of the two others were not immediately available.One of the dead was a school headmaster in the Mutoko district northeast of Harare whose eye was removed and whose genitals were severed.The fire-charred body of another, the wife of an opposition local council official southwest of the capital, was found with both feet and a hand removed, the doctors said.Witnesses said gangs of militants wearing bandannas and scarves of Mugabe's party and carrying sticks and clubs continued to roam Chitungwiza and other Harare townships Saturday after manning makeshift roadblocks overnight.Residents were advised to stay indoors and avoid traveling by road at night, witnesses said. Militants also set up camps in suburban grassland and frog-marched residents to political meetings, they said.Tsvangirai said on Friday that a "wave of brutality" has swept Zimbabwe since the runoff was called. His message was distributed by e-mail, one of the few ways he has of reaching voters.Tsvangirai's attempts to tour the country have been stymied by police at road blocks, and the state-controlled media all but ignore him.Roy Bennett, a leading member of Tsvangirai's party, told South Africa's independent e.tv television news on Friday that the violence will not stop Tsvangirai from participating in the runoff.On Friday, leaders in Africa and Europe stepped up pressure on Mugabe to stop political attacks, while Tsvangirai called on Zimbabweans not to lose hope that they can change their country.The opposition says the treason case against its secretary-general, Tendai Biti, is also part of a government plot to undermine it before the election.After hearing two days of arguments from prosecutors and defense lawyers, Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe ruled on Friday that there were grounds to believe Biti had committed an offense and ordered him held until another hearing set for July 7 while police continue their investigations. - Sapa-AP
Updated on July 6th 2008
this is the latest news out of Zimbabwe... in the past 48 hours of reading, (not just on Zim) I have read the most horrendous torture and killing of innocent civilians at the hands of a brutal dictatorship, that anyone could imagine... in fact I would have to say, it is beyond imagination... one couldn't begin to dream up such stuff in a civilized world... but it is happening in Southern Africa, the land that people there say is one of Ubuntu, "humanity toward others" in the Zulu Language...
From The Sunday Times
July 6, 2008
Teenage girls raped at Robert Mugabe's torture camps
A sharp rise in pregnancies shows Zanu-PF’s campaign is reaching new depths of cruelty
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article4276294.ece
Douglas Marle in Harare
Dozens of teenage girls have been made pregnant after being taken into the bush and raped in torture camps by President Robert Mugabe’s youth militia operating near Mudzi, a town 100 miles northeast of Harare, human rights workers allege.
Amid the continuing chaos, there are as yet no clear statistics, but the sharp rise in teenage pregnancies seems almost certain to have been repeated elsewhere in rural districts. Some of the victims will have contracted HIV-Aids, which has ravaged Zimbabwe for years and helped reduce average life expectancy to 34 for women, the lowest in the world.
The raped girls are the silent victims of Mugabe’s stolen election. Their suffering has been surrounded by silence owing to the stigma and shame of rape.
“It is a particularly brutal and disturbing element of the months of violence, and its after effects will be felt by these girls and their families long after the rest of the terror sweeping the country has died away,” said one human rights worker. “Some of the girls will never recover.”
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There are an unprecedented 16 teenage pregnancies registered at one local hospital alone. Residents report that the local Zanu-PF militia boasts that it wants to make Mudzi an “MDC-free zone”. The torture camps, they claim, are still manned, with no sign that they are about to be dismantled.
In Harare, the new parliament is expected to be sworn in on Tuesday amid reports that the Mugabe regime plans to kill or arrest MPs from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to overturn the opposition’s narrow majority.
Among those risking their lives to attend is a former Zimbabwean headmaster who has spent the past eight years in exile in Britain, working as a supply teacher in Essex.
“I am scared,” said John Nyamandi, 56, who won the constituency of Makoni Central in Manicaland. “We know a hit list has been drawn up. But we started the game and have to finish it.”
The March 29 elections gave the MDC 100 seats compared with 99 for Mugabe’s Zanu-PF. It is the first time the ruling party has lost control of parliament since independence in 1980.
article from Guardian re hidden camera in election fraud,
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A Zimbabwe prison officer used a hidden camera given to him by a British newspaper to film how he and his colleagues were forced to vote for Robert Mugabe in last month's widely criticized presidential runoff.
The Guardian posted the film on its Web site Saturday, and said in the film and accompanying stories that the officer, Shepherd Yuda, fled Zimbabwe on Friday and was now with his family in an undisclosed location.
International observers said the June 27 runoff was not free or fair, largely because of violence against opposition supporters. There also were reports of ballot tampering as described in Yuda's film, with members of the security forces and others not allowed to vote in secret.
Repeated attempts to reach Zimbabwe's government spokesman for comment Saturday by telephone were unsuccessful.
Click here to watch the video. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/04/zimbabwe1
Zimbabwean officials have rejected criticism of the election, which opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of as the only other candidate. Mugabe was declared winner on June 29 and took the oath of office within hours of the release of results.
The film, which lasts about 10 minutes, shows a senior official identified as a member of Mugabe's party handing out postal ballots to Yuda and other prison workers and watching as they mark them. It is clear they feel they have no choice but to vote for Mugabe, for fear of what the senior official might do if they vote for the opposition.
Later, in private, Yuda sits in front of the camera and says that marking an `X' on the ballot next to Mugabe's photo "was the most difficult moment of my life."
Other scenes in his film show prison workers speaking fearfully of a colleague's relative being abducted by militant Mugabe supporters, and a meeting at which prison workers are told to vote for Mugabe. It also shows some famous prisoners, including No. 2 opposition leader Tendai Biti and civil rights activist Jenni Williams. Biti, charged with treason, and Williams, charged in a separate case with disturbing the peace, each have since been released on bail.
it is now 6 days to the post election run off, and some are saying the elections should be held off, as the rising tide of violence is becoming critical... my view point is, that regardless of whether the election is held or not, there will continue to be violence... Zimbabwe is on the brink of a Killing Fields that is akin to the SEA killings in Cambodia... we will in the future be witness to stacks of skulls lined up, and mass graves dug up... all because we did nothing, but issue proclamations and platitudes, and Mbeki stood by while his 'comrade' did as he wished... this will stain not only Zimbabwe's reputation for 100 years, but also South Africa and other Southern Africa states... the west also will be complicit in this Holocaust... God will bless Africa, only after he has judged it, and his judgement will be harsh...
News Update: June 23rd, the MDC has backout of the contest; sadly they feel that the election will only go to Bob anyway, and many of their supporters will be killed at the polls... this still doesn't stop the killings... the ZANU-PF has the smell of blood and will no doubt continue it's oppression once election observers leave the country... it is now time for the rest of Southern Africa to step up and say NO MORE!! or be complicit in the killings...
It's all lies, says Mugabe
June 21 2008 at 01:57PM
Harare - President Robert Mugabe accused the Zimbabwe opposition of lying over political violence to justify claims that next week's presidential runoff vote will not be free and fair, the official media reported on Saturday.Mugabe said the Movement for Democratic Change was compiling names of alleged victims and falsely claiming that their supporters were being beaten up."They say this so that they can later say the elections were not free and fair. Which is a damn lie," the state Herald newspaper quoted him as saying at a campaign rally on Friday in the western city of Bulawayo.Mugabe faces opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the June 27 runoff. Tsvangirai won the first round but not by an outright majority.
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Independent human rights groups says 85 people have died in pre-election political violence, which has displaced tens of thousands from their homes, most of them opposition supporters.The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights said most of the dead were victims of militants of Mugabe's party, but at least five were ruling party supporters.International condemnation of the violence is mounting. The European Union on Friday threatened additional sanctions against Mugabe's government. Even African countries traditionally sympathetic toward Mugabe, including Angola, voiced concern.In Bulawayo, Mugabe said that everywhere he visited was peaceful. He repeated his campaign theme that voting for Tsvangirai and his pro-Western party was "tantamount to going back to colonialism", The Herald quoted him as saying."You cannot take away the country using a ball point. The gun is stronger than the ball point," the 84-year-old autocrat said. A seven-year bush war swept Mugabe to power at independence from Britain in 1980.Zimbabwe's powerful police chief Augustine Chihuri put the blame for the violence firmly on the Movement for Democratic Change."I wish to put the record straight on the political violence in Zimbabwe. It is without doubt that between the two political parties... MDC-T (Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change) is the main culprit in the political violence that we are currently witnessing in the country," the Herald quoted him as saying.He said police have arrested 156 Zanu-PF and 390 opposition supporters; that the police force was on high alert and had already started intensifying deployments throughout the country."Violence will not be treated with kid gloves and as the police we are intensifying deployments in all areas," the Herald quoted him as saying.Doctors for Human Rights said there were 14 new victims added to the list on Thursday. They included four opposition activists killed in the township of Chitungiwza, south of Harare, on Wednesday, and eight who died across the country in recent days whose death certificates were issued Thursday.Details of the two others were not immediately available.One of the dead was a school headmaster in the Mutoko district northeast of Harare whose eye was removed and whose genitals were severed.The fire-charred body of another, the wife of an opposition local council official southwest of the capital, was found with both feet and a hand removed, the doctors said.Witnesses said gangs of militants wearing bandannas and scarves of Mugabe's party and carrying sticks and clubs continued to roam Chitungwiza and other Harare townships Saturday after manning makeshift roadblocks overnight.Residents were advised to stay indoors and avoid traveling by road at night, witnesses said. Militants also set up camps in suburban grassland and frog-marched residents to political meetings, they said.Tsvangirai said on Friday that a "wave of brutality" has swept Zimbabwe since the runoff was called. His message was distributed by e-mail, one of the few ways he has of reaching voters.Tsvangirai's attempts to tour the country have been stymied by police at road blocks, and the state-controlled media all but ignore him.Roy Bennett, a leading member of Tsvangirai's party, told South Africa's independent e.tv television news on Friday that the violence will not stop Tsvangirai from participating in the runoff.On Friday, leaders in Africa and Europe stepped up pressure on Mugabe to stop political attacks, while Tsvangirai called on Zimbabweans not to lose hope that they can change their country.The opposition says the treason case against its secretary-general, Tendai Biti, is also part of a government plot to undermine it before the election.After hearing two days of arguments from prosecutors and defense lawyers, Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe ruled on Friday that there were grounds to believe Biti had committed an offense and ordered him held until another hearing set for July 7 while police continue their investigations. - Sapa-AP
Monday, June 16, 2008
female respones to mother's of abused children
it seems to me, that in a lot of responses of women to Rosemarie Fritzl, who don't seem to have gone through abusive relationships, or had children who were abused, that it is a visceral reaction, based on disbelief...
HOW COULD SHE NOT HAVE KNOWN...
SHE KEPT QUIET TO PRESERVE HER LIFE STYLE...
SHE DESERVES TO BE PUNISHED AS MUCH AS HIM...
SHE IS JUST AS GUILTY....
SHE IGNORED THE SIGNS OUT OF SELFISHNESS...
There is a searching for 'evidence' to pillory the mother, most hearsay, and of really doubtful validity... taken either out of context, from unreliable sources, or sources that have no experience in dealing with long term incarceration, or with the culture that the abuses happen in...
I don't believe that these women are thinking, so much as reacting to a situation that they have no way of comprehending, and any attempt at bringing understanding has fallen on deaf ears... they don't seem to want to know.... it is the emotional turmoil inside, that says,
HOW CAN A MOTHER NOT KNOW,
HOW CAN SHE NOT PROTECT HER CHILD...
A MOTHER WOULD INSTINCTIVELY KNOWN WHAT WAS GOING ON...
instead of dealing with the reality of Rosemarie's situation, or that of any other woman who allows such atrocities, and ignoring them, to justify their own righteous anger and coming to the conclusion in their minds...
THEY WOULD NEVER HAVE NOT SEEN...
THEY WOULD HAVE REACTED...
THEY WOULD HAVE DONE EVERYTHING TO SAVE THEIR CHILD...
and in so doing, perpetuate their own myths that they would be perfect mothers... looking at the situation from their safe homes, in western society, where women are queens, and not second class citizens... one only has to look at where most of these cases happen to realize that it is the society that is at fault... whether it be rural France, or Austria, Argentina or Italy... Hungary and Belgian... in many cases never coming to the rescue until it is too late... in many cases the woman imprisoned is so mentally and emotionally damaged as to be only a shell of her potential... never truly able to have a chance at anything like what we would term a normal life or relationships... which re-enforces the guilt that these commenter's have placed on the likes of Rosemarie, and their own righteous indignation...
HOW COULD SHE NOT HAVE KNOWN...
SHE KEPT QUIET TO PRESERVE HER LIFE STYLE...
SHE DESERVES TO BE PUNISHED AS MUCH AS HIM...
SHE IS JUST AS GUILTY....
SHE IGNORED THE SIGNS OUT OF SELFISHNESS...
There is a searching for 'evidence' to pillory the mother, most hearsay, and of really doubtful validity... taken either out of context, from unreliable sources, or sources that have no experience in dealing with long term incarceration, or with the culture that the abuses happen in...
I don't believe that these women are thinking, so much as reacting to a situation that they have no way of comprehending, and any attempt at bringing understanding has fallen on deaf ears... they don't seem to want to know.... it is the emotional turmoil inside, that says,
HOW CAN A MOTHER NOT KNOW,
HOW CAN SHE NOT PROTECT HER CHILD...
A MOTHER WOULD INSTINCTIVELY KNOWN WHAT WAS GOING ON...
instead of dealing with the reality of Rosemarie's situation, or that of any other woman who allows such atrocities, and ignoring them, to justify their own righteous anger and coming to the conclusion in their minds...
THEY WOULD NEVER HAVE NOT SEEN...
THEY WOULD HAVE REACTED...
THEY WOULD HAVE DONE EVERYTHING TO SAVE THEIR CHILD...
and in so doing, perpetuate their own myths that they would be perfect mothers... looking at the situation from their safe homes, in western society, where women are queens, and not second class citizens... one only has to look at where most of these cases happen to realize that it is the society that is at fault... whether it be rural France, or Austria, Argentina or Italy... Hungary and Belgian... in many cases never coming to the rescue until it is too late... in many cases the woman imprisoned is so mentally and emotionally damaged as to be only a shell of her potential... never truly able to have a chance at anything like what we would term a normal life or relationships... which re-enforces the guilt that these commenter's have placed on the likes of Rosemarie, and their own righteous indignation...
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