U.S. Ambassador Forces Newspaper to Censor Known U.S. Critic in Pakistan

By Ahmed Quraishi

Finally, the Americans take their revenge. Dr. Mazari single-handedly threw cold water on Washington’s plan last year to send a rabidly anti-Pakistani US army general as defense attaché to Islamabad. The Pakistani government quietly accepted the appointment. But Dr. Mazari broke the story and aborted the plan. When the new pro-US elected government seized power, Mr. Zardari’s special assistant Husain Haqqani’s first order of business was to fire Dr. Mazari from her official post. And now the US ambassador succeeds in blocking her column. Welcome to the Banana Republic of Pakistan where soon US ambassadors will have the right appoint presidents and prime ministers. Some say they already do.

United States Ambassador Anne W. Patterson intervened with one of the largest newspaper groups in Pakistan to force it to block today a decade-old weekly column by a prominent academic and critic of US policies.

Dr. Shireen Mazari, the former director of the Islamabad Institute of Strategic Studies and a mordant critic of US blunders in Pakistan and the region, was stunned when her column failed to appear in today’s edition of the newspaper. This happened after the US ambassador sent a ‘private’ letter to the management of The News International, one of the largest English-language dailies of Pakistan.

This is a new high for American influence inside Pakistan.

Never before did a US ambassador manage to force such a change in a newspaper’s policy. For those who are new to Pakistan, this is equivalent to having Maureen Dowd or Tom Friedman’s column knocked off the pages of the New York Times because Dick Cheney does not like their criticism.

Unlike Ms. Patterson in Pakistan, her colleague in London, ambassador Louis Susman, could never dream of achieving a similar feat by, say, convincing The Times of London to block a column by David Aaronovitch. Or the US ambassador in Moscow, John Beylre, Jr., who could never even think of forcing Komsomolskaya Pravda to do anything remotely similar. They have Vladimir Putin in Russian who knows how to protect his country’s interest.

Only in Pakistan, where American meddling has reached alarming proportions and risks turning this second largest Muslim country and the world’s seventh declared nuclear-armed nation into another version of Latin America’s banana republics where Washington has been known to change governments at will.

The US achieved a feat last year when it forced the country’s military establishment under a weak and insecure Pervez Musharraf to strike a ‘deal’ to forgive the questionable illegal wealth and other criminal cases against several Pakistani political figures in order to help them come to power in exchange for supporting US policies in Pakistan.

Another major break for Washington is Pakistan’s acquiescence in the construction in Islamabad of what will soon become the largest US embassy in the world. Recently, members of privately armed US militias have been spotted in Islamabad, in some cases roughing up Pakistani citizens, without Pakistani government daring to take action.

But blocking Dr. Mazari’s column is a new high for American influence in Pakistani affairs.

She especially earned the ire of the Americans last year when she single handedly threw cold water on US plans to post a notoriously anti-Pakistan US army general to Islamabad. It was March 2008 when the new pro-US government in Islamabad allowed Washington to post Major General Jay W. Hood as the Chief, Office of the Defence Representative in Islamabad.

But Dr. Mazari broke the news of the appointment through her column, creating an uproar and forcing the Pakistani government to reject the appointment.

Dr. Mazari held a press conference today at the Islamabad head office of Pakistan Justice Movement, or PTI, a political party headed by cricket star Imran Khan where she is a senior official handling foreign policy issues.

Ambassador Anne Patterson is reported to have sent a letter to the management of the newspaper protesting at Dr. Mazari’s writings, especially on the question of the presence of Blackwater and other private American militias on Pakistani soil. Interestingly, Ms. Patterson said she did not want to see her letter published in the newspaper and insisted it be kept private. It is also not clear if Ms. Patterson actually threatened legal action or other form of protest or pressure if the newspaper continued to publish Dr. Mazari’s columns.

The newspaper editorial team is said to be ready to publish the blocked column later, possibly with some editing. Frankly, no one can blame a newspaper for protecting its interest when the very government of Pakistan seems incapable of protecting the national interest. Had Pakistan had a truly nationalistic government in Islamabad, one that inspired confidence, I can imagine that any newspaper would have politely deflected undue pressure from a foreign diplomat.

But the very fact that the column failed to run marks a victory for the US embassy and a fresh sign of the growing US influence and meddling in Pakistan’s internal matters.

It is not clear if Ms. Patterson sought the permission of the Pakistan Foreign Office before directly contacting a Pakistani newspaper to exert pressure.

This is the fourth attempt by the US Embassy to silence Dr. Mazari, whose incisive political commentary based on her close brush with power corridors in Islamabad over the years has given the Americans and the Brits a constant headache. Her columns are fodder for those who advocate a more nationalistic and Pakistan-centric approach in dealing with Washington instead of the current approach where the United States is reaping strategic benefits at the expense of Pakistan’s interests and stability.

In 2006, the US ambassador at the time, Ryan Crocker, is reported to have warned Pakistan’s foreign secretary Mr. Riaz Khokar, that he will consider Dr. Mazari’s writings to be reflective of official Pakistani thinking because Dr. Mazari was heading a think tank financed by the Foreign Office. The US diplomat demanded Dr. Mazari, according to her, be removed from office or told to stop criticizing US policies.

The foreign secretary resisted the pressure and Dr. Mazari continued her policy discourse. The interesting thing is that the first order of business for the present pro-US government in Islamabad after seizing power last year was to fire Dr. Mazari.

Her ousting was engineered by Mr. Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington who is widely known in Pakistan as a staunch American apologist. Many jokingly call him ‘America’s ambassador to the Pakistani embassy in Washington.’ So it was no surprise that Dr. Mazari was fired as soon Mr. Haqqani’s government came to power.

I personally faced a similar situation when a US diplomat telephoned me in November 2007 to accuse me of spreading anti-Americanism on the state-run PTV. My crime was to start a series of talk shows discussing how our ally the US turned Afghanistan into a hub for anti-Pakistan forces in the region. The US diplomat, used a cheap trick to intimidate me when she asked, ‘Does Musharraf know what you’re doing?’

My answer was, ‘Does President Bush know when US media frequently runs anti-Pakistan articles?’

Dr. Mazari is not disheartened by this episode. ‘They might have knocked me off this time,’ she told me today after her press conference, ‘but the last round will be mine. The Americans can’t gag me in my own country.’ And that is exactly what the newspaper, The News International, has assured her of.

Pakistan Daily

19/07/2009: The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) international solidarity network is deeply concerned by the violent abduction and detention without charge of human rights lawyer, Ms. Shadi Sadr, by state agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

We call on the Iranian authorities to release Shadi Sadr immediately and unconditionally, as she is a prisoner of conscience, held solely for her human rights activities and the peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression. We also urge the authorities to ensure that Shadi Sadr and all other detainees are protected from all forms of torture or other ill-treatment.

On Friday 17 July 2009, at around 11:30 a.m., our colleague Shadi Sadr was abducted by a group of officers in civilian clothes while she was walking on Keshavarz Boulevard, Tehran, to a mosque for Friday prayers. According to an eye-witness account, her friends tried to pull her away from her abductors but were unable to do so; Ms. Sadr was “hit badly and dragged so badly that her scarf and manteau (overcoat) was removed from her”. She was then forced into a car and taken away. Her abductors did not show any identity cards, warrants, or a reason for her apprehension. This abduction was a targeted act, unlike other arrests of peaceful women human rights defenders in Iran such as at demonstrations.

Ms. Sadr is a human rights lawyer who especially defends the rights of women in Iran. She is also a Council member of WLUML, as well as part of the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign and Meydaan (http://meydaan.com/english).

Ms. Sadr’s spouse Mr. Hossein Niachian sent word that an hour before her detention, officers had presented themselves at their house, introduced themselves as security forces, then searched their home, taking away some papers, documents, and two computer cases that had belonged to him and their ten-year-old daughter. The inspection took several hours, as they ransacked the house in the presence of the child.

Niachian said that Shadi suffers from a serious glandular and bone illness which leaves her in intense and debilitating pain and for which she requires specific medication. She was booked in for surgery for the condition this week. We are especially concerned for her health and well-being, and that she is receiving access to her prescribed medications.

Security Guards called Ms. Sadr’s family on Sunday 19 July asking them to provide bail. Niachian asked the guards what would be acceptable for bail and they told him to bring ID card and salary documents. However, after waiting outside Evin Prison for five hours, the family returned home without her.

As Iran has committed itself to upholding human rights, evidenced by its candidacy to the Human Rights Council 2006, a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and claims to be dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights, we ask that the Iranian authorities fulfil their obligation and immediately release Ms. Sadr who has been detained without any charge, presumably for her non-violent advocacy for the human rights of women. We respectfully ask that her serious health condition be taken into consideration and that she be given access to medical treatment as a matter of urgency.

An eyewitness account of the abduction is available here: meydaan.org

WHAT YOU CAN DO

We call upon the women’s rights community and all human rights activists and organizations to speak out in defense of Shadi Sadr and all those who are being unjustly persecuted in Iran for their non-violent dissent. You can write in Persian, English, or your own language.

Please write to local and international media, mobilize your networks, and urge your policy makers and embassies as well as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay to take action to protect the basic human rights of all those who are being abused and arrested in Iran.

Your letter can:

* call on the authorities to release Shadi Sadr immediately and unconditionally, as she is a prisoner of conscience, held solely for her human rights activities and the peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression;

* stress that Ms. Sadr’s arrest was of a targeted and violent nature, and that no warrant, reason for arrest, or officer identification were provided at the time;

* urge them to disclose her whereabouts immediately, and ensure that she is allowed immediate access to her family, lawyer of her choice and any medical treatment she may require, especially as she has a reported pre-existing medical condition;

* urge the authorities to ensure that Shadi Sadr and all other detainees are protected from all forms of torture or other ill-treatment;

* call on the authorities to remove unlawful restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and assembly in Iran.

The Honorable Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary General
760 United Nations Plaza
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
Web contact: www.un.org/en/contactus/contactform.asp

Ms. Navanethem Pillay
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Email: infodesk@ohchr.org
Tel: +41-22-917-90-00
Fax: +41-22-917-9008 or +1-212-963-4097

Ms. Margaret Sekaggya
Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders
E-mail: urgent-action@ohchr.org. The text of the e-mail should refer to the human rights defenders mandate.
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (Geneva, Switzerland)
Telephone: +41 22 917 1234. This is the number for the United Nations telephone operator in Geneva, Switzerland . Callers should ask to speak with staff at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights dealing with the special procedures of the Human Rights, and specifically with staff supporting the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders. Please see here for further details about filing complaints to the Special Rapporteur: www2.ohchr.org

Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
c/o. Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
CH-1211, Geneva 10
Switzerland
fax: +41-22-917-90-06
See model questionnaire here: www.unhchr.ch

The Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland
Fax: 00 41 22 917 9006
E-mail: urgent-action@ohchr.org

Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: via website: www.leader.ir (English), www.leader.ir (Persian)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

Iranian Bar Association
No. 3, Zagros St.,
Argentina Sq.,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 8771340
or +98 21 888 6425/ 26
Email: tamas@iranbar.org
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or mail@iranbar.org

And the Iranian embassy in your country (NB: recommend telephoning and faxing before letter-writing)

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-084-2009
21 July 2009

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that no investigation is being done into the rape and murder of a woman last year by a group of men, which included two police officers. Station heads have allegedly requested bribes from the victim’s family and accepted large sums from the accused, and no investigation has been done. The family has reported an escalation in threats pressuring them to withdraw their case, one being that the victim’s daughters will soon suffer her fate. They have asked for protection but have received none. The AHRC is gravely concerned for their safety, and for those living under the jurisdiction of Cantt police station, where there appears to be gross corruption and scant regard for the rule of law.

CASE DETAILS: (According to relatives of the victim and staff at a local NGO)
On August 23, 2008, the Aslam family realised that Shehnaz Bibi, a local matchmaker and mother of six, had gone missing. When they called her mobile phone an angry former client answered, instructing them to take Rs 100,000 to an address (11 Mohamdi Colony Street) in return for their mother’s safe release, but they later found no one there.

The next day, after questioning the client’s estranged wife Abida, the victim’s husband and a welding shop worker, Mr. Muhammad Aslam, lodged FIR (First Information Report: a first step for filing cases) number 271/08 at Cantt Police Station in Sargodha. It reported the information given to him by Abida: that his wife had been kidnapped by Ghulam Hussain Gujjar with the help of various other men, including two police officers: Elite Force head constable Zia Ulhassan and Mohammad Sardar Gujjar, an officer at the licensing branch of the Sargodha police. The others were named as Arshad and Ghulam (the latter also known as Boota Gujjar).

According to the Star Welfare Organisation in Sargodha, police briefly brought all the accused except the main perpetrator to the station, where the missing woman’s family were assured that she and Hussain would be found and brought in within 15 days if the four were allowed to leave and find them, after which they would all be arrested. A Muslim religious leader was brought in and the four perpetrators swore on a Quran before being released.

On August 27 Mohammad Aslam was sitting with the Cantt station head officer (SHO) when a call came in from village Chak123 to report that a bad smell was coming from the house of Ghulam Hussain. A police search found the body of Shehnaz Bibi wrapped in quilts. The district civil hospital in Sargodha conducted an autopsy and reported that her skull had been broken with an axe; the case was changed to a murder case. Hussain’s wife Abida was also taken into custody where she retold her story, also reporting that Hussain and his friends had raped Shenaz after she taunted them about their caste. Neighbours reported hearing the screams of the woman as she was being raped.

Since then the victim’s family and the Star Welfare Organisation report that no investigation has been carried out. On the contrary, Mohammad Aslam has been asked for bribes by five successive station head officers at Cantt over the year. In one incident the accused men allegedly offered two million rupees to Aslam in front of SHO Amir Shah, but when he refused to settle they announced that it would instead be used as payment for the police to not pursue the case. Aslam believes about 1.5 million rupees have changed hands so far between the police and the suspects.

The family of the murdered woman are now facing regular threats to deter them from following through with the case, particularly from Zia Ulhassan and Arif, the accused police officers. One repeated threat is that the five Aslam daughters will suffer the same fate as their mother. Reports to the station and requests for protection have not been acted on.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Miss Shehnaz Bibi had been hired to arrange a marriage for Ghulam Hussain, and had matched him with Abida. Shortly after the marriage Abida’s parents lost contact with her and Shehnaz was asked to help resolve the dispute. Hussain was allegedly demanding his money back and the victim was last seen on her way to Abida’s parents to meet with them and Hussain.

SUGGESTED ACTION
Please write letters to the authorities asking them to intervene immediately into this case by arranging protection for the family of Shehnaz Bibi and taking the accused named in FIR 271/08 Cantt into custody for a thorough investigation. Please also urge to the authorities to probe into the allegations of bribery and corruption taking place at Cantt station, with legal measures taken against those proven guilty of graft and negligence in this case.

The AHRC has written a seperate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women regarding this case.

To support this appeal please click here

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear __________,

PAKISTAN: Police officers participate in the rape and murder of a woman and no investigation is carried out

Names of the victims:
1. Mrs. Shehnaz Bibi, 42, wife of Mohammad Aslam.
2. Mr. Mohammad Aslam son of Allah Ditta, Mughal caste.
Both resident of 4/38 Mohalla Rehmanpura number 4,
Bajwa colony, Sargodha, Punjab province.

Names of the perpetrators:
1. Ghulam Hussain Gujjar, son of Kamal Hussain, main perpetrator,
2. Zia Ulhassan son of Mohammad Sardar Gujjar, a Punjab Elite Force head constable
3. Arif son of Tufail Gujjar, officer at the licensing branch of the Sargodha police
4. Arshad son of Ali Mohammad Gujjar
5. Ghulam alias Boota Gujjar son of Wali Mohammad Gujjar, supervisor at a stone crushing factory.
All resident of Chak number 123, Junubi Sargodha, Sargodha district, Punjab province.
6. Various district police officers and station house officers of Cantt police station, Sargodha, Punjab province, including one Amir Shah.

Date of Incident: Since August 24, 2008
Place of incident: Chak number 123, Sargodha district

I am writing to call for an immediate investigation into the rape and murder of a woman last year by a group of men, including two police officers, and into allegations of bribery and negligence against officers at Cantt Police Station, Sargodha.

Station heads have reportedly requested bribes from the victim’s family and accepted large sums from the accused, while neglecting to investigate the case. The family has reported a recent escalation in threats pressuring them to withdraw their case, one being that the victim’s daughters will soon suffer her fate: rape and murder. The family have asked for protection but have received none. I am gravely concerned for their safety, and for the welfare of those living under the jurisdiction of Cantt police station, where there appears to be gross corruption and scant regard for the rule of law.

According to the information I have received Mr. Muhammad Aslam lodged FIR 271/08 at Cantt Police Station in Sargodha, reporting his wife’s abduction by Ghulam Hussain Gujjar with the help of Elite Force head constable Zia Ulhassan and Mohammad Sardar Gujjar, an officer at the licensing branch of the Sargodha police, and Arshad and Ghulam.

According to the Star Welfare Organisation in Sargodha, police briefly brought all the accused except the main perpetrator to the station, and then quickly released them.

On August 27 police found the body of Shehnaz Bibi in village Chak123 at the house of Ghulam Hussain, and the district civil hospital reported that her skull had been broken with an axe. Hussain’s wife Abida reported that Hussain and his friends had raped Shenaz before murdering her. Neighbours reported hearing the woman’s screams.

Since then the victim’s family and the Star Welfare Organisation report that no investigation has been carried out. On the contrary, Mohammad Aslam has been asked for bribes by five successive station head officers at Cantt over the year. In one incident the accused allegedly offered two million rupees to Aslam in front of SHO Amir Shah, but when Aslam refused to settle they announced that it would instead be used as payment for the police to not pursue the case. Aslam believes about 1.5 million rupees have changed hands so far between the police and the suspects.

I am writing to voice my disbelief at the sheer extent of the corruption and the impunity being demonstrated by law enforcers in Cantt, where it appears that rape and murder cases do not receive attention if large enough bribes are paid. That no higher figure of authority has intervened and that the officers involved have been allowed to keep their jobs and threaten the family of the dead woman, says volumes about the quality of the policing here, and the frailty of the rule of law in this area. There is a clear and pressing need for high level intervention.

I therefore demand that the accused named in FIR 271/08 Cantt be taken into custody immediately for a thorough investigation, as warranted by the law. Protection must be arranged for the family of Shehnaz Bibi. I also expect the allegations of bribery and corruption taking place at Cantt station to be seriously investigated, with legal measures taken against those proven guilty of graft and negligence.

Yours sincerely

————

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1.Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111

2. Minister for Interior
R Block Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9212026
Fax: +92 51 9202624
E-mail: ministry.interior@gmail.com or interior.complaintcell@gmail.com

3. Mr. Mian Shahbaz Sharif
Chief Minister of Punjab
H-180 Model Town
Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 5881383

4. Minister of Law
Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Ravi Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN
E-mail: law@punjab.gov.pk

5. Chief Secretary of Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Lahore
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 7324489
E-mail: chiefsecy@punjab.gov.pk

6. Mr. Salman Taseer
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Mall Road
Lahore
PAKISTAN

7. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
ua@ahrc.asia

SEND AN APPEAL LETTER

Posted by: “Taimur Rahman” 175286@soas.ac.uk redpak2000
Sat Mar 28, 2009 4:05 am (PDT)

The attitude of a Pakistani judge toward a teenage gang rape victim
has caused widespread outrage, throwing the training of the country’s
judicial figures into question. On March 25, 2008, additional
district and sessions judge Nizar Ali Khawaja conducted the trial of
four men who allegedly gang-raped 13-year-old Ms Kainat Soomro in
2007, over a three day period in Dadu district, Sindh. The girl, who
was expecting an in-camera trial (one in the judge’s private
chambers), was asked by the judge to describe and even demonstrate
her rape in detail in front of the accused, Mr Shahban Sheikh, Mr
Sheikh Ehsan, Mr Roshan Aleem and Mr Kaleemullah, all influential men
who have all allegedly threatened and bribed Somroo’s family to
settle out of court. About a hundred spectators were also present,
according to court journalists. “The room was jam-packed, people
crowding at the back because everyone knew it was a rape case.” noted
a reporter from TheNews International.

Although public prosecutor Mr Maroof, asked that anyone unrelated to
the case be told to leave, the judge sided with the defense counsel,
which argued that he had no legal obligation to bar citizens from an
open court. According to journalists and the prosecution, the cross-
examiners and judge started to ask a string of invasive questions
about the rape, which the teenager, who has had an extremely
sheltered, conservative upbringing, struggled with. Sources at the
trial noted that she was asked when certain items of clothing were
removed, and exactly what actions were done to her when. When the
girl replied, in a few instances, that she couldn’t remember and felt
out of her senses (having fainted), the judge berated her; speaking
harshly about reports made by her family to the media. Witnesses have
noted that he appeared to enjoy the invasive nature of the questions
and the humiliation of the girl.

Objections from the special public prosecutor and assisting lawyers
triggered an argument with the defense; the judge simply quelled them
with a warning and adjourned the hearing to a later date, according
to the Daily Dawn. In the years leading up to this trial the family
have been forced to leave their home town due to threats, and have
fought fiercely to get the case this far (police originally refused
to register the FIR and public and media pressure saw it taken up).

Since the Women’s Protection Act in 2006 reformed the law surrounding
rape cases, more women have been encouraged to use the legal system,
but the experience continues to be harrowing, partly due to the
attitudes of those within it. Pakistan is already a harsh,
patriarchal environment for women and this is no different within the
courts.

“Judges have not been trained or sensitized to gender issues,” says
former Supreme Court Judge Nasir Aslam Zahid, who now runs the Legal
Aid Office for women and children in prison in Sindh. “They say: ‘how
is this woman allowed to come to court?’ The law has been made by
men, courts are men, police are all male and when a court case
involves a women, everything is against that woman.” This attitude is
a big deterrent; judicial and police figures are often unresponsive
to female victims reporting crimes. Others go further: figures for
the physical abuse of women in custody are high (117 were reported
last by the Aurat Foundation but the number unreported cases are
thought to be much greater). Female victims of rape or domestic
violence are frequently too scared to go to court or seek redress,
and so their general situation gets no better.

Soomro’s case is just another warning cry, reminding Pakistan’s women
not to expect justice or fair treatment in court.

The cabinet of President Asif Ali Zardari considers itself committed
to women’s issues in Pakistan, but to be truly committed it must
assess and take stronger measures. Just as police should be taught to
deal professionally with sexual and gender-based violence, judges
clearly need training so that they abandon old prejudices and are
able to act humanely towards victims.

This is an obligation, rather than a choice. States are duty bound to
protect and promote the rights of women and children under
international human rights law. Pakistan has ratified the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),
which among other things, obliges it to protect those under the age
of 18 “from all forms of physical or mental violence… negligent
treatment, maltreatment or exploitation” and “take appropriate and
effective measures to overcome all forms of gender-based violence,
give adequate protection to all women and respect their protection
and dignity.”

When a judge cannot or does not show himself able to do this in his
court for the most vulnerable of plaintiffs, one wonders what he is
doing in the profession in the first place.

[cmkp] Digest Number 1799

Press Release, March 5

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned a bombing at the mausoleum of renowned poet Rehman Baba on the outskirts of Peshawar.

In a statement issued on Thursday, HRCP said: “The bombing at the mausoleum cannot be condemned strongly enough. Rehman Baba is the national poet not only of the Pashtun people, but of the whole of Pakistan. It is ironic that the mausoleum of a poet revered for opposing oppression and advocating peace and tolerance has been targeted by the militants. But then may be it is not that strange after all. The bombing demonstrates the kind of country Taliban fanatics want to turn Pakistan into.

Militants had apparently asked people to stop women from visiting the shrine. Barring women stepping out of their houses is apparently something that no agreement with the government can talk the militants out of. Today it was Rehman Baba’s mausoleum. Tomorrow it will be girls’ colleges. Girls’ schools are already a regular target.

The deterioration of the security situation across the country is alarming. It is not a simple law and order issue any more, but needs much greater attention and urgency.”

Asma Jahangir
Chairperson

Press Release of the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign
Date: 2009/01/10

During the last week of December, 3 men were stoned to death in Behesht Reza Cemetery in Mashhad for the crime of adultery. One of them, an Afghan citizen by the name of Mahmoud, managed to forcibly escape from the stoning pit and survived. Unfortunately, the other two men, one of whom is named Hushang Khodadaeh and another who remains unidentified, were killed, pounded mercilessly with stones. This is the latest such case since the stoning deaths of Jafar Kiani in June 2007, and Mahboubeh M and Abbas H in May 2006.

For the last three years ago, the Head of the Iranian Judiciary has repeatedly stated that although the punishment of stoning remained under Iranian law, the execution of such sentences were not enforced; at the same time, a moratorium on stoning has been in effect for the entire country Nevertheless, we have witnessed at least 6 cases of stoning in the last 3 years. Clearly, as long as the penalty of stoning remains under the Penal Code and sanctioned by Iranian law, such words by the Head of the Judiciary are worthless.

In July of this year, several women’s rights defenders, lawyers, and activist held a rpess conference announcing the names of nine women who were currently awaiting stoning sentences. Since then, spokesman for the Judiciary Alireza Jamshidi announced in August that the stoning sentences of four women (Layla G., Azar and Zohreh Kabiri, and Shomameh Malak Gharbani) would be commuted to whipping and imprisonment. However, Azar and Zohreh Kabiri has not been released yet and a retrial planned for January 12 which will judge whether they are guilty for adultery or not.

In addition, there are presently at least ten others locked up in several prisons around the country who are in danger of being stoned to death:

1. Kobra Najjar, imprisoned in Reja’i-shahr- Karaj
2. Iran A., imprisoned in Sepidar Prison- Ahvaz
3. Kheirieh V., imprisoned in Sepidar Prison- Ahvaz
4. Ashraf Kalhori, imprisoned in Evin Prison-Tehran
5. Abdollah Farivar, imprisoned -Sari Prison
6. Ghilan Mohammadi, imprisoned in Central Prison -Isfahan
7. Gholamali Eskendari, imprisoned in Central Prison – Isfahan
8. Afsaneh R., imprisoned in In ‘Adel Abad Prison -Shiraz
9. The woman M.J., imprisoned in Vakil Abad Prison – Mashhad
10. The woman H., imprisoned in Vakil Abad Prison – Mashhad

Furthermore, the Majlis, or Iranian Parliament, is currently reviewing a new draft of the Islamic Penal Code. In it, the punishment for adultery is, once again, stoning. The only difference in this new act from the current law is that “based on the prosecutor’s discretion, if the implementation of penal measure such as stoning causes mafsadeh [degradation and disgrace], he can submit a revision and request an alternative measure such as lashing or execution to the Head of Judiciary.”

However, many women’s rights defenders, including the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign, are deeply troubled the revised law. Most notably, the penalty of stoning has not been omitted. In addition, implementation of such a verdict has been left to the discretion of the local prosecutor, who may decide to carry out the verdict or ask for alternative action to be taken, and who can base his judgment on his personal beliefs even if he may be considered a religious fundamentalist.

The Stop Stoning Forever Campaign was formed in August 2006 after news spread of the stoning of two people in Mashhad and the sentencing of Ashref Kalhari to stoning in Evin Prison. Its goal is to eliminating stoning unequivocally from the Iranian Penal Code. Since it began work, the Campaign, working predominately with the Network of Volunteer Lawyers, has saved eight women and one man: Hajieh Esmaeilvand, Parisa A., Najaf A., Soghra Molaei, Zahra Rezaei, Mokarrameh Ebhrahimi, Shamameh (Malek) Ghorbani, Azar Kabiri, Zohreh Kabiri, and Layla G. from death by stoning. In addition, the stoning sentence of one woman, Ashref Kalhari, has been suspended.

Even in light of these successes, the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign has grown deeply troubled by instances of stoning and the increasing number of executions that we have witnessed in Iran in the last few months due to extremist government policies and judicial trends. We urge the public to continue to register their protest with the inhumane punishment of stoning and to demand to the authorities of the Islamic Republic that they terminate this punishment once and for all.

Translated from Farsi by Rochelle Terman
To see Farsi version, please go to: meydaan.net

stop-stoning.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-060-2009
March 14, 2009

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

The law enforcement community in Pakistan has been shamed once more by an incident in which three officers arrested a boy, beat and raped him in custody, and distributed a video of the rape. A year later the boy is still in remand and the policemen have not been charged.

According to the national manager of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), Ms Sadia Baloch, seventeen-year-old Zeeshan Budd was picked up on the evening of January 17, 2008, between his grandmother’s and his parent’s house in the jurisdiction of Shah Lateef Town in Punjab. The boy says he had asked to hitch a ride on a motorbike and had been arrested along with the driver, who was apparently wanted by the police. Police tell a different story: that they responded to a complaint about a stolen bike and mobile phone, and picked up the boy alone.

Ms Baloch says that Zeeshan was not informed of his charges, his family was not told of his arrest that night and he was neither sent to a remand home nor appointed a probation officer, which is required under Pakistan’s Juvenile Justice System Ordinance. Instead he was stripped at the police station, beaten and interrogated, during which the three officers raped him, including Head Constable Arif Sharr and Constable Mohammad Ashraf. Video of the rape was recorded on an officer’s mobile phone. When the police contacted the family the next day, Zeeshan’s grandmother Kulsoom Akhter agreed to pay half the requested bribe — Rs 50,000 — so that he’d be released. However the boy was kept, sent to court and the officers distributed parts of the video of his rape to internet cafes close to the boy’s family’s home.

The officers’ actions are a clear and severe violation of child rights and human rights. They contravene the Constitution of Pakistan, the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance and the UN Conventions of the Rights of the Child, which Pakistan ratified in 1990. (Under the Majority Act 1875, a child is defined as a person under 18 years of age; the voting age is 18 years and the national identity card is also issued at this age.)

Akhter appeared at her grandson’s court case with evidence of his rape, but a medical check up ordered by the judge was delayed for a week by the police, reducing the chance of medical evidence being found. Despite harassment and a smear campaign from police, and despite being ostracised in their community, Zeeshan’s relatives filed petition 601-602 in the Malir Court at the end of 2008, demanding that an FIR be lodged against the officers. In the meantime eight cases of robbery were taken against Zeeshan, still in jail, which his family claims are clumsily fabricated. A judge has ordered an investigation into his abuse, but the FIR report has yet to be signed.

Since its formation, the AHRC has publicised countless violent crimes committed by Pakistan police officers against detainees and there are common threads running through them all: they are usually creatively brutal, the victims young and poor, and the crimes barely covered up; officers appear confident that their actions will not be called into question. This can be seen in the case of a 17-year-old girl last year who was kept offsite by a police station sub-inspector after her arrest and raped repeatedly (AHRC-UAC-164-2008), and in the case of Hazoor Buksh, who had his penis severed by a drunk officer in 2007 (UA-032-2007) before being forced to claim that he did it himself with a broken tea cup in a suicide attempt. Zeeshan’s case is remarkable only for the security clearly felt by police when they publicised the torture themselves on video.

The AHRC insists that an FIR be lodged against Zeeshan’s rapists, and against the officers in the vicinity of the crime who did nothing to stop it. A thorough investigation must be launched. The boy must be released and he and his family offered protection for the duration of the case, and given appropriate rehabilitation and compensation.

But much more must be done. The many rapes, torture and murders that happen in police custody in Pakistan must stop. A scrupulous and unremitting sweep of the policing system is long overdue. Individuals entering into police custody too often emerge brutally scarred — emotionally and physically — and the government must determine how the situation has become so bad, and what can be done to rectify it. Officers themselves must be placed under observation, and those implicated in brutal crimes must be fired, not transferred. A nation-wide clarification of acceptable interrogation methods is necessary, and strict re-training is clearly in order.

Without a legitimate police force — which is often the front line of the legal process — a country is weakened and its citizens made vulnerable. Without law and order, vigilante justice and corruption thrive; Pakistan has a reputation for both. The fact that children can be brutally raped by police on camera and still nothing is done, should be a matter of deep shame.

The authorities need to combat this widely held notion, in and outside the country, that being a policeman in Pakistan simply gives you a greater license to commit crime.

ahrchk.net

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

There were renewed calls Monday for the release of B.C. freelance journalist Khadija Abdul Qahaar, kidnapped in Pakistan three months ago, with Canadian government officials saying they are pursuing all avenues to secure her freedom.

Qahaar, 52, of West Vancouver was abducted in November while filming a documentary on the Taliban in the northwest Bannu district.

A convert to Islam, Qahaar, who changed her name from Beverly Giesbrecht, publishes her own online magazine called Jihad Unspun.

Her kidnappers have reportedly asked for a ransom of $150,000 and the release of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan in exchange for her return.

The Canadian Association of Journalists issued a press release Monday urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to “redouble efforts” to free Qahaar and another Canadian journalist kidnapped in Somalia.

Amanda Lindhout of Red Deer. Alta., was abducted in the East African country in August and is still missing.

Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Lisa Monette told CBC News Monday the department is continuing its efforts to secure Qahaar’s release, but she would not provide any further details, citing security concerns.

CBC News has obtained a video of Qahaar in which she is seen pleading for help in getting released.

In the five-minute video, Qahaar says she is cold and afraid.

“I have been in captivity now for almost three months,” she says. “I wake up in the dark, and I go to sleep in the dark. There is nothing for the wood furnace and not enough wood.”

In the video, Qahaar is flanked by what appear to be two Taliban fighters cradling Kalashnokovs. She is sitting outdoors on a folding chair wearing a padded camouflage jacket and a blue headscarf.

Just before she disappeared, Qahaar posted an appeal to Muslims on Jihad Unspun asking them to contribute money so she could finish her documentary. The documentary, she said, was going to counteract what she described as “biased coverage” in the Western media of the war in Afghanistan.

In the video, Qahaar says she had completed taping of the documentary but returned to Pakistan a second time to shoot a feature on an old man she met who had a valuable collection of ancient Islamic coins.

“So, I wanted to help him,” she said in the video. “I made arrangements to come back again for me to take pictures of it and take it to Sotheby’s [auction house] in London.”

On her way to or from the interview with the coin collector, Qahaar’s car was stopped by armed men who abducted her.

“I am not sure exactly [about] my location. I am [in] some place in the Afghan border area. There are air raids … This is a war zone,” she says in the video.

A Pakistani newspaper has reported that Qahaar is being held near Miran Shah, a city in North Waziristan, a mountainous region in Pakistan’s northwest bordering Afghanistan. For the past year, the U.S. has been launching cross-border missile attacks at suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters hiding there.

www.cbc.ca

Update on: Pakistan: Interference in the case of Mukhtar Mai

12/02/2009: Mukhtar Mai’s counsel, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, had moved an application for adjournment, which was considered the best course of action in the current circumstances. With no right to a further appeal, Mai’s rapists will stay in jail. However, the threat to the safety of Mukhtar Mai, and her family, from those implicated in the interference in her case remains.

A message of thanks from Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare Organization:

“Hats off to all of you for your efforts for all the interventions you made in support of Mukhtar! and to Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan for agreeing to appear for Mukhtar’s case because he has not been appearing in any case because of his principled stand believing the imposition of emergency and sacking of the judiciary in November 2007 illegal and unconstitutional. Barrister Ahsan is former President of Supreme Court Bar Association and is one of the main leader of the lawyers movement.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare Organization cautions that we have to ensure the perpetrators do not receive favourable treatment because of their political influence. It is much more important now because the threat to the lives of Mukhtar Mai, her family and colleagues has increased after exposing the minister’s act.

The Welfare organization recommend we continue our written interventions and ask the government of Pakistan to:

* Ensure that interference and political influence is not used in the proceedings of the case.

* Hold accountable the Federal Minister Mr. Abdul Qayyum Jatoi for his interference in a sub-judice matter and demand that he should be de-seated from his public office.

* Develop a security system for the safety and security of Mukhtar Mai, her family and colleagues, because of the increased threat to their lives, and that the police official should be directed to ensure that the security system is being implemented in letter and spirit.

ADDRESSES

His Excellency
Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President’s Avenue
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Phone: +92-51-9206069
FAX: +92-51-9203297 & +92-51-922 1422

His Excellency
Mr. Yousuf Raza Gillani
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Phone: +92-51-9206111
Fax: +92-51-9206907

Mr. Rehman Malik
Advisor / Minister for Interior
R Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Email Address: ministry.interior@gmail.com, interior.complaintcell@gmail.com
Tel: +92-51-9212026
Fax: +92-51- 9202624

Ms. Sherry Rehman
Minister for Women Development
1/F, State Building: 5
Ministry of Women Development
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
+92-51-920 1083

Mr. Salman Tasseer
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Lahore, PAKISTAN
Fax: +92-42-9200077

Pakistan: Interference in the case of Mukhtar Mai

9/02/2009: The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) international solidarity network is deeply concerned by the fact that a sitting Federal Minister, Mr. Qayyum Jatoi, has pressured Mukhtar Mai, the well-known women’s human rights defender, to drop charges against the accused in her case.

In 2002, 14 men from the dominant Mastoi tribe in Meeranwalla, Pakistan volunteered to rape Ms Mukhtar Mai as a way to settle a score after her 12-year-old brother Abdul Shakoor was seen walking with a Mastoi girl. The decision on retribution had been taken by a village court to preserve tribal honour. The jirga, or council of village elders, summoned Ms Mai to apologise for her brother’s sexual misdeed. When she apologised, they gang-raped her anyway.

After the atrocity was carried out, Ms Mai was paraded naked before hundreds of onlookers. Finally, her father covered her with a shawl and took her home.

Mukhtar Mai, an unmarried daughter from a low-caste family, was not about to go quietly. She fought back in the courts and at first the legal decisions appeared to go her way. Half a dozen men involved in her rape were punished, with two sentenced to death. But since that early success events have begun to take an increasingly sinister and depressing turn. In 2005, a court in Lahore refused to extend a 90-day detention order and 12 of the 14 accused were ordered to be released. The case has gone into appeal, and now is expected to go to the Supreme Court.

WLUML received news that Ms. Mukhtar Mai’s case will be heard in the Pakistan Supreme Court in the second week of February 2009. However, reports suggest that a Federal Minister, Mr. Qayyum Jatoi, has pressured Ms. Mai into dropping charges against the accused. This represents a serious miscarriage of justice.

We demand that the authorities ensure the trial of those accused of attacking Ms. Mai goes ahead without interference, and that Ms. Mai be protected from any pressure to drop her case.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Please send a letter based on the following to the Pakistani authorities, the embassy of Pakistan in your home country and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. Action is requested before 10 February, 2009.

SAMPLE LETTER

[Your Excellency / Dear Sir / Dear Madam]:

The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) international solidarity network is deeply concerned by the fact that a sitting Federal Minister, Mr. Qayyum Jatoi, has pressured Mukhtar Mai, the well-known women’s human rights defender, to drop charges against the accused in her case.

We believe that the Minister’s message is an indirect threat on the life and well-being of Mukhtar Mai and we fear that anything could happen and anyone can be used against Mukhtar, including extremists, outlaws, etc.

According to Mukhtar Mai, the Minister called her uncle, Ghulam Hussain, on 11th December 2008 to his place in Jatoi in order to have Mr. Hussain pass a message to Mukhtar. The Minister asked that Mukhtar drop all the charges against the thirteen accused of the Mastoi tribe who were involved either in the verdict against Mukhtar or had gang-raped her. The Minister threatened that if she does not comply, he and his associates will ensure that the Supreme Court finds against Mukhtar.

We have learned that Mukhtar Mai’s case is slated to be heard by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the second week of February 2009. The interference by Minister Qayyum Jatoi shows that the Mastoi clan has political influence of sufficient weight to bring pressure to bear on the Supreme Court.

We therefore urge your authority to:

• ensure Mukhtar Mai’s case is processed without any political pressure or influence;

• take special and urgent measures to ensure Mukhtar Mai’s safety and security before, during and especially after the hearing; and

• hold the Federal Minister accountable for his interference in an adjudicated matter and for threatening Mukhtar Mai.

We thank you in advance for your immediate attention to this grave matter.

Yours Sincerely,

[your name]

ADDRESSES

His Excellency
Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President’s Avenue
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Phone: +92-51-9206069
FAX: +92-51-9203297 & +92-51-922 1422

His Excellency
Mr. Yousuf Raza Gillani
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Phone: +92-51-9206111
Fax: +92-51-9206907

Mr. Rehman Malik
Advisor / Minister for Interior
R Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Email Address: ministry.interior@gmail.com, interior.complaintcell@gmail.com
Tel: +92-51-9212026
Fax: +92-51- 9202624

Ms. Sherry Rehman
Minister for Women Development
1/F, State Building: 5
Ministry of Women Development
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
+92-51-920 1083

Mr. Salman Tasseer
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Lahore, PAKISTAN
Fax: +92-42-9200077,

Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders,
Mrs. Margaret Sekaggya
C/o Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Palais Wilson
United Nations Office at Geneva
CH 1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 93 88, email: MChingSimon@ohchr.org

Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
Room 3-042
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9615
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN)
High Commission for Pakistan
34 – 36 Lowndes Square London, ENGLAND
SW1X 9JN

BACKGROUND

For more background on this case please see here:

www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt

here: http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-187717

and here: http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-542952

wluml.org

23/02/2009: The empowering story of the ‘Women in Black’ movement. An organisation set-up by Israeli women, but now joined by women the world over, all trying to bring peace through non-violent direct activism. (Journeyman Pictures)

WIB is an organisation set-up by Israeli women, but now joined by women the world over, all trying to bring peace through non-violent direct activism. In this documentary, we see ordinary women from all sides going to extra-ordinary lengths to help and highlight the plight of the Palestinians. And we witness first hand the struggle to maintain normal life surrounded by tanks and snipers.

The documentary was shot in 2002, so it does not cover or reflect upon recent events in Israel/Palestine. However, the power and courage of the women’s movement, WIB, and the harsh opposition they face, is so beautifully captured that it serves as a reminder to us all as to what we can and must do NOW to stand up to the increasing militarisation and macho warmongering of governments and armed groups worldwide.

You can watch a clip of the 52-minute documentary on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com

You can order the dvd here: journeyman.tv

“Everyone in the Palestinian quarter has a story to tell. A girl pulls back her hair to reveal a large bruise. “They hit me because they wanted to step on the Koran and I wanted to stop them,” she claims, recalling the night Israeli soldiers ransacked her house. Another woman recounts how her young daughter discovered their neighbour’s body “splattered all over the wall.” An aid worker describes how Israeli soldiers fired at journalists to prevent them recording Israelis looting Palestinian shops. Every house bears telltale signs of snipers or bombs.

“Sharon may have come to power by championing an aggressive Palestinian policy but not all Israeli Jews agree with him. The Women in Black movement, founded by a group of Israelis in 1988, believe that ending the occupation is the only way that Israel will achieve peace. As the traditional view of Israel as a haven for the oppressed is challenged, many Israelis are struggling to come to terms with the actions of their government. Anna Colombo’s family were murdered at Auschwitz. Despite this, she declares that “ever since I learned what was happening here, I have been suffering terribly … I don’t want to cause Arabs to suffer because of me being here.” Israeli Batya Makover agrees. “I hate what we are doing now, I hate it. I am very worried about what this means to these soldiers as they destroy houses and kill people.”

“Enthusiasm for the movement rapidly spread and there are now over 150 groups worldwide. They have pioneered a way of encouraging a more humanitarian course of action. We spend five months with the London Women in Black (affectionately dubbed ‘Hell’s Grannies’ by one British newspaper) as they go to the West Bank to form a human shield around Palestinian civilians. As well as dismantling roadblocks and flypostering ‘Return to Sender’ on Israeli tanks, they become caught up in the attack of Jenin and the siege of the Nativity, braving mines and the army to take aid to besieged Palestinians.

wluml.org

“One of the main aims of the international Women in Black is to relay information about conditions in the occupied territories. “I have never seen such an injustice take place,” states member Liz Khan, describing the way of life that Palestinians have been reduced to. “How can you have peace when you’re blockading people within their villages?” questions member Julie Slowik. “Their families are hungry and they’re desperate. They’re absolutely desperate.” Unfortunately, not everyone is sympathetic to their plight. “God owns this land and he gave it to the Jewish people!” shouts one opponent. “How dare you be on the side of Hitler number two? … You’re the worst, you’re Jew haters, Nazis, self-hating Jews.”

“It is clear that the current stalemate is benefiting nobody. While most coverage of the situation focuses on extremists from both sides of this conflict, this thought-provoking documentary shows normal people caught up in a cycle of violence, trying to make a difference and lend their voice to the suffering Palestinians. It’s heartening to see that there are Israelis and Palestinians working together with the international community towards peace.

By: Donna Baillie

Source: Journeyman Pictures

wluml.org