Forced repatriation of Libyan woman violates international law, UN agency says

The forced return from Qatar to Libya of a woman who had made complaints about gang rapes in Tripoli and was later recognized as a refugee violates international law, the United Nations refugee agency said today.

According to media reports, Eman Al Obeidi told reporters in Tripoli on 26 March that she had been gang raped by Libyan Government troops. She was arrested and briefly detained by Libyan authorities, and later fled to Qatar. 

"UNHCR was present at the hotel where Ms. Al Obeidi was staying in Qatar, ready to accompany her to the airport to travel to an emergency transit centre in Romania," said Adrian Edwards, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

"She was prevented from leaving for this flight in the early hours of Thursday morning. Ms. Al Obeidi was transported against her will to Benghazi on a flight by Qatar early Thursday," he added.

Mr. Edwards said the agency was trying to meet with Ms Al Obeidi and her family in Benghazi.

"Every effort will be made to ensure that their best interests are respected," he said.

Egypt's women push for legislative revolution

CAIRO - Since the recent revolution, many people have been calling for women to be sidelined from social activities. However, nobody can deny what women have achieved in various fields.The Salafists and certain other men would like Egypt's family laws, issued by former president Hosni Mubarak, supporting by his wife, Suzanne, to be cancelled.Regrettably, in the wake of the revolution, the quota of seats for women in the People's Assembly (the Lower House of Egyptian Parliament) has been cancelled.Other discrimination against women includes their not being allowed to participate in amending the Constitution and other governmental activities.“During the revolution. Egypt's women stood shoulder to shoulder with its men and the whole world praised their working together for liberty and social justice,” says journalist Karima Kamal.“There's only one woman in the current Cabinet and that's not enough. Besides, there weren't any woman in the higher committee formed prior to the constitutional referendum, held last March.”She appeals to the media to correct the image of women, as portrayed in soap operas, that make them look like failures when it comes to raising a family.Karima also stresses that people should be chosen for jobs according to their qualifications, not on the basis of favouritism, while the world accords relating to women's rights, signed by Egypt in 1979, should be activated, to help put an end to their marginalisation.Professor Awatef Abdel-Rahman of the Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University, says that, in Egyptian culture, women rely on men to do the thinking.She says that women's responsibilities have been increasing, while their social position hasn't improved since the revolution, even though they participated in the revolt alongside men.“There is a lot of hostility towards women. Certain laws in their favour, such as the Civil Status Law, have been delayed,” adds Awatef, who says that the media are also to blame for the way people regard women.“Many women in the countryside and Bedouin women are neglected, as are female breadwinners. We need a legislative revolution to help them; there must be wide-ranging political, social, cultural and economic changes.” 

Libyan woman claiming rape deported from Qatar

Tripoli, June 03: A Libyan woman who claimed she was gang-raped by Muammar Gaddafi's troops was deported from Qatar where she sought refuge, and is now in Benghazi, said a UN official on Thursday.

Her sudden expulsion cast light again on one of the most widely covered incidents of alleged abuses by Gaddafi's forces, as NATO continued its relentless nightly bombing raids on Libyan military and security bases, backing rebels who are trying to unseat Gaddafi after a four-decade dictatorship.

A series of at least 10 NATO strikes hit targets in and around the Libyan capital early Friday. The attacks targeted military barracks close to Gaddafi's sprawling compound in central Tripoli, a police station and a military base, said a government official speaking on customary condition of anonymity. He said it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

The US government on Thursday expressed concern for the safety of the Libyan woman, Eman al-Obeidi.

In March, al-Obeidi rushed into Tripoli's Rixos Hotel where all foreign correspondents are forced to stay while covering the part of Libya under Gaddafi's control, and shouted out her story of being stopped at a checkpoint, dragged away and gang-raped by soldiers.

As she spoke emotionally, and as photographers and reporters recorded her words, government minders, whose job is to escort reporters around the area, jumped her and dragged her away.

She disappeared for several days, then turned up in Tunisia and later Qatar. She was heard from little until Thursday, when she was suddenly expelled from Qatar and ended up in Benghazi, the Libyan rebels' de facto capital. No explanation was forthcoming from Qatar.

Rebel spokesman Jalal el-Gallal said al-Obeidi arrived in Benghazi by plane. "She's welcome to stay, this is her country," el-Gallal said.

The UN Refugee Agency's Sybella Wilkes said al-Obeidi should have been allowed to stay in Qatar, and her deportation runs contrary to international law.

Al-Obeidi "is a recognised refugee, and we don't consider there is any good reason for her deportation”, Wilkes said.

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the US was "monitoring the situation" and working to ensure al-Obeidi's safety.

"We're concerned for her safety, given all that's happened to her. And we're going to work to make sure that she's kept safe, first and foremost, and that she finds appropriate asylum," Toner told reporters in Washington on Thursday.

Libyan authorities have alternately labelled al-Obeidi a drunk, a prostitute and a thief.

Al-Obeidi has maintained that she was targeted by Gaddafi's troops because she is from Benghazi, the rebel stronghold.

Al-Obeidi's rape claim could not be independently verified.

Human rights violations are one aspect of the rebels' complaints against the Gaddafi regime.

Saudi Arabian women urge Hilary Clinton to back their right to drive

SAUDI activists have written an open letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a champion of women's rights around the world, urging her to publicly press Saudi Arabia to let women drive.

The letter written by Saudi Women for Driving and distributed on Change.org has amassed more than 10,000 signatures of support throughout the United States, according to the website that petitions for social change.

"In the context of the Arab Spring and US commitments to support non-violent movements for democracy, now is the time for US leaders to show their support for Saudi women's rights," said the letter to the chief US diplomat.

"We were encouraged to see media reports that US diplomats have quietly pressured the Saudi government to give women the right to drive.

"But given the recent arrests of women trying to drive, now is the time for the US to show its muscle and make that pressure public," it continued.

The petition comes after Manal Sharif, a 32-year-old computer-security consultant, was arrested on May 22 after posting on YouTube a video of herself driving her car around the eastern Saudi city of Khobar.

Many women are said to have followed her example.

"We write to ask that you (Clinton) make a public statement supporting Saudi women's right to drive," the female activists said.

"We do not make this request lightly, but we believe that you making a public statement of support for Saudi Arabia opening the country's roads to women would be a game changing moment."

The letter said the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia means they miss medical and other important appointments and are prevented from carrying out basic errands in the absence of a good public transportation system.

"Our lack of this basic right to drive our own cars has been repeatedly exploited by abusive fathers, brothers, husbands and even hired drivers," it added.

"Just this week, a Saudi woman reported she was raped by her driver."

123 killed in temple stampede in north India

Over 120 people were killed and 40 injured in a panic at a famous temple in Indian north state Himachal Pradesh Sunday, the police said. The stampede occurred after a railing outside the temple collapsed, the Indo-Asian News Service reported. The crowd had gathered at the temple on the occasion of the 10-day religious fair that began Saturday. Most of the dead were women and children. A majority of the victims were from neighboring Punjab state. A state government statement Sunday evening said that 123 people were killed and 40 injured in the accident.People stand near bodies outside the Naina Devi temple at Bilaspur in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh August 3, 2008. The death toll in a stampede at the temple on Sunday rose to at least 123 people, police said.Rescue operations at the temple, located atop a hill, were hit by inclement weather, the report said. The police said the death toll could well mount further. He said most of the injured have been taken to the hospitals. Traffic on the road leading to the temple has been blocked, the police said. The temple is located 160 km from the state capital Shimla, the popular hill resort in northern India.

Women Smoking Cigarette increases by 10 per cent in Pakistan

The number of young female smokers in the country has jumped to 16 per cent from six per cent in  recent years.This was stated by Dr. Javaid A. Khan, a senior chest physician and researcher in his presentation during the 12^th Biennial Convention of Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) “Tobacco is responsible for 100,000 deaths annually in Pakistan. The number of female smokers in their teens and twenties has increased rapidly. These women smokers are also going to face the same health issues due to tobacco usage as those being suffered by male smokers. Pakistanis in general consume Rs. 450 billion worth of tobacco annually and this trend needs to be curbed,” said Dr. Khan, a consultant chest physician, currently associated with the Aga Khan University Hospital.

In his key-note address on ‘Tobacco Control – Key to Disease Prevention’, he said, “The usage of tobacco in the form of Shisha or Hookah is gaining popularity among youngsters in urban areas of the country. However, it must be noted that smoking Shisha for an hour is equal to smoking 100 cigarettes in the same time. Since Shisha also contains nicotine and tar, it can lead to lung cancer and heart attacks. Its unfortunate that many people consider Shisha a non-hazardous leisurely activity.”

The chest physician referred to a WHO study that showed that parents who had 15 per cent acceptability for smoking cigarettes reflected over 70 per cent acceptability for Shisha smoking.

Dr. Khan deplored that in countries like Pakistan a single cigarette pack was cheaper than a loaf of bread and consequently smoking was getting popular among youth due to its easy availability and affordability.

“Appropriate and efficient measures to prohibit smoking and tobacco chewing will not only prevent deaths but also curtail heavy expenditure incurred on diseases caused due to consumption of tobacco and its bi-products,” he said.

He further added that Tarceva, a medicine used for the treatment of lung cancer, costs patients more that US$ 4000 per month, and is unaffordable for majority of Pakistani.

Meanwhile, a PIMA press release issued here on Monday stated that the two day 12^thBiennial Convention of the Association concluded on Sunday evening at Hyderabad. The event was attended by renowned consultants, including Pediatricians, Cardiologists, Nutritionists, Oncologists, Gynecologists, Hematologists and other medical professionals. A large number of postgraduate students and pharmacists from all over Sindh also attended the moot.