Mission & Justice

7/10/08

A sexual harassment law is being drafted by the Shoura Council and the Ministry of Labor, according to yesterday’s Al-Madinah newspaper. The draft law suggests a SR50,000 fine and a prison sentence of up to three years to people found guilty of sexually harassing women subordinates. The law aims at reducing incidence of harassment in workplaces with women’s sections, such as hospitals and advertising agencies. According to the Al-Madinah report, legal experts have analyzed sexual harassment laws in Europe, the US and in some Muslim countries before preparing the draft. The new law will label sexual harassment a crime against honor that will entail a minimum of one year in prison and a SR20,000 fine.

(more…)

Fatima Sidiya; 7/10/08

A 22-year-old Saudi woman told Arab News yesterday that she and her husband of four years were stopped on a road by the religious police of Al-Jurf, west of the holy city of Madinah, accused of being an unrelated man and woman in an illegal state of seclusion (khulwa) at about 1 a.m. on Sunday. “As we were driving home, my husband and I realized we were being followed by three men in a car,” said the woman, who did not want her name published. “They were coming from both sides of the car and (at one point in the chase) were also in front of our car. I was afraid of having an accident. The whole scene looked just like something in a movie.” She also said that because no police officer was accompanying the three members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, her husband was afraid to stop.

(more…)

Jacob Simet; 6/10/08

The cultural splendor of the East Sepik province and the Momase region was displayed during the recent 7th Garamut Na Mambu Festival in Wewak. Garamut (slit-drum) and mambu (bamboo flutes and other bamboo musical instruments) were on display. A number of tumbuan masks performed, in association with garamut or mambu musical instruments. These were strictly traditional cultural performances. There were however two tumbuan masks that appeared at the festival which appeared to have come out of no mask culture known to us. On enquiry, it transpired that one of the masks was from a contemporary performing group from somewhere near Wewak Town. The other was from a cultural group from the Sandaun province.

(more…)

Ron Rolheiser: 5/10/05

There is a story told about the Russian poet, Anna Akhmatova. During the Stalin purges, she was standing one morning outside a prison along with some other women, all of whom were trying to deliver letters and packages to their loved ones inside. Their waiting was made more painful because they were not even sure whether their loved ones were still alive and by the fact that the guards made them wait needlessly for hours simply to assert their authority. But, if they wanted to get messages to their loved ones, they had no other option but to wait. On this particular morning, another woman recognized the poet, approached her, and asked: “Can you describe this?” Akhmatova replied: “I can,” and a smile passed between the two women.

(more…)

Rana Husseini; 10/5/08

The criminal prosecutor on Saturday charged a physically disabled man with the manslaughter of his niece in the latest so-called honour crime this year, according to an official source. The victim received three bullet wounds to her head and chest on Friday, purportedly by the suspect who phoned the police and informed them that he killed his niece to cleanse his family’s honour, the source told The Jordan Times.He handed officers who rushed to the house the gun he allegedly used in the murder and told the police that he killed his unmarried niece, because he suspected she was involved in an “illegitimate affair” based on rumours, the source said. The victim was visiting her uncle’s house with the rest of her family when an argument ensued, the source added, citing initial investigations into the case.

(more…)

Selma Milovanovic; 4/10/08

Five years after he resigned over a child sexual abuse scandal, former governor-general Peter Hollingworth says he should never have accepted the vice-regal job. In a rare interview since his controversial departure in May 2003, Dr Hollingworth told The Big Issue he had underestimated concerns about the separation between church and state. Asked whether he would have been better off declining the job offer, he said: “With the benefit of hindsight, yes.” Dr Hollingworth said he had asked then prime minister John Howard why he was an appropriate choice. “He (Mr Howard) went through a whole lot of things … and I was thinking, ‘I can do this job. I do know Australia, I do know the Australian people, I know about government, I know about the constitution and can make reasonable speeches,” he said.

(more…)

Nicky Trup; 4/10/08

Victims of Paul Raymond Evans clapped and cheered from the public gallery of the NSW District Court yesterday after the Catholic priest was handed a 15-year prison sentence for sexually abusing teenage boys in his care. Evans, 57, who was a parish priest on the NSW central coast for 15 years, was convicted in July of committing 18 sexual offences against seven boys when he worked at Boys Town Catholic boarding school in Engadine, in Sydney’s south, between 1977 and 1988. Evans was found guilty of nine counts of homosexual intercourse by a teacher, seven of indecent assault and two acts of indecency.

(more…)

Andrew Fraser ; 4/10/08

It sounds like something out of a thriller novel, not the doings of a suburban Catholic parish in Brisbane. There are letters to the Pope setting off a train of events that could lead to excommunication, parishioners who tell those who have worshipped alongside them that they will fry in hell for their actions, and talk of spies, Opus Dei, and storming the church to break the locks if the Vatican changes them. All of this has resulted from a letter from Brisbane Archbishop John Bathersby to St Mary’s parish priest Peter Kennedy. Bathersby’s letter says that St Mary’s is “out of communion” with the Roman Catholic Church, the grounds being the liturgical practices, or form of service. The letter lists several areas where St Mary’s needs to conform.

(more…)

Barak Ravid; 4/10/08

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief says women in the Gaza Strip have recently felt coerced into covering their heads, while Christians there have faced rising intolerance. The UN envoy, Asma Jahangir, visited Israel and the Palestinian Authority last week and published a report on her eight-day trip. “Women seem to be in a particularly vulnerable situation and bear the brunt of religious zeal. I was informed about cases of honor killings carried out with impunity in the name of religion,” she added.

(more…)

Laura Bashraheel; 4/10/08

The evil eye is something that people in the Kingdom — like those of other cultures and religions — generally believe in. However, many people exaggerate its effects and often develop a psyche to continuously attribute their unhappiness and illnesses to the concept. The evil eye, which is known in Arabic as “Ain,” comes into effect when someone is jealous of another person. As a result, the person affected will feel an adverse effect, such as some sort of material harm. The Prophet (peace be upon him) indicated that the influence of the evil eye is a fact. Saying Masha Allah (as God wills) when someone sees something appealing is a way of protecting others from the evil eye. It is customary to say Masha Allah, or invoke God’s blessings on the object or person that is being admired. Reciting certain verses from the Qur’an is used to protect one’s self from the evil eye.

(more…)