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US troops capture a senior Pakistan Taliban leader in Afghanistan
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Cops: Ferndale man attacked woman he met in anger management class
A Ferndale man is charged with assault by strangulation on a woman he had a sexual relationship with after police say he met her at a court-ordered anger management class.

Jeffrey Richards, 55, is jailed on $25,000 cash bond and was in Ferndale 43rd District Court for a pre-exam conference Thursday.

In a separate case last month, Richards pleaded no contest to a domestic violence charge in Oak Park 45B District Court involving a female relative during the summer. He was put on probation and ordered to attend anger management classes where police say he met the woman.

Police said Richards had known the 52-year-old Southfield woman he is accused of attacking for about two months before he assaulted her.

The woman called police after she fled from his apartment Sept. 16, police said.

"According to the woman they were having sex but were not in a committed relationship," said Ferndale Police Detective Ken Denmark. "On the night this happened she said they were drinking together when Richards told her he wanted to begin a regular dating relationship. He became upset when the victim told him she was not interested in that."

Richards is accused of grabbing the woman by the neck and pushing her to the floor, police said, before choking her and punching her in the face. The woman told police she lost consciousness at one point.

The woman told police that when she regained consciousness she attempted to placate the suspect, embracing him and telling him she cared about him.

"She was able to calm him down enough so he let her up from the floor and she eventually made her way to the door of the apartment and fled," Denmark said.

Richards was initially arraigned on a second-offense domestic violence charge in Ferndale, but the charge was upgraded Oct. 4 to assault by strangulation, a new law that took effect in Michigan in April.

Violation of the new law is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Michigan is one of about 30 states to pass such a law, which makes non-fatal choking assaults a felony.

The law has been championed by anti-domestic violence groups and many prosecutors.

Richards is scheduled for a preliminary examination on the evidence against him at 2 p.m. Monday in Ferndale District Court.

Posted by: Beavis || 10/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He's Black.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 10/12/2013 1:01 Comments || Top||

#2  You say he is back, oh God, I got to get outa here!

Posted by: Au Auric || 10/12/2013 1:49 Comments || Top||

#3  "On the night this happened she said they were drinking together when Richards told her he wanted to begin a regular dating relationship. He became upset when the victim told him she was not interested in that."

All she wanted was an 'occasional piece' in the living room.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/12/2013 9:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Richards told her he wanted to begin a regular dating relationship. He became upset when the victim told him she was not interested in that."
Richards is accused of grabbing the woman by the neck and pushing her to the floor, police said, before choking her and punching her in the face. The woman told police she lost consciousness at one point.



Good idea. That'll change her mind
Posted by: Frank G || 10/12/2013 11:40 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Ancient Artifact Obama Gave Iran is a Fake from 1999
Obama ran for office promising masterful diplomacy. The reality has been less savvy diplomat and more pathetic loser. Hillary Clinton's Reset Button with Russia was a dumb Bush-bashing gimmick and it was also misspelled.

That set the tone for the long-running comedy of errors in which Obama Inc. blended appeasement with dumb gimmicks and somehow managed to screw them up.

The ancient artifact it shouldn't have given to Iran... proved not to be so ancient after all.

Sometimes an ancient artifact symbolizes more than its admirers necessarily imagine. Take for example the silver griffin that was returned by the United States to Iran as a gesture of respect and--at least according to tea-leaf readers--a sign of an emerging thaw between the two nations.

There's only one problem: It's a fake.

Not only is it a fake, it's a bad fake.


Not only was it a bad fake. But the US government knew it was a bad fake. But the State Department chose not to know.

A definitive publication by retired Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Oscar White Muscarella clearly demonstrates that what is alleged by even the U.S. State Department to be a 2,700-year-old artifact from Iran is actually a modern fake, dating back to, at the earliest, 1999.

But when the griffin arrived in New York in 2003, one of the Iranian-Swiss dealers was arrested by the Department of Homeland Security on the charge of falsifying the object's place of origin. The next year he pleaded guilty to falsely stating that the griffin had originated in Syria rather than Iran and received one year of probation and a fine of $5,000. The buyer got her money back. The artifact was seized but the market, the game, was barely disturbed.

Then the griffin went into Homeland Security's deep freeze, residing in a Queens warehouse until this fall.


So the US knew this was fake, because the Federal government had seized it... for being fake. And gave it to Iran. In exchange for fake offers of peace.

From someone smarter than Obama, that might have been a clever dig. The British, once upon a time, might have done it that way. But Obama and his people are just arrogant idiots.
Posted by: Beavis || 10/12/2013 11:05 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You mean it was all a lie? Well, all I can say to the Iranians is - welcome to the club.

But the State Department chose not to know.

To paraphrase a former SecState - "what difference does it make."
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/12/2013 13:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Do we have a Romulan Dude image handy?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/12/2013 15:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Hear tell his birth certificate is fake, too.
Posted by: Thrans Splat1574 || 10/12/2013 15:28 Comments || Top||

#4  FAKE
...FAKE
......FAKE
.........FAKE
............FAKE
/Channeling Elaine Bennis
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 10/12/2013 16:38 Comments || Top||


German Groom Forgets Bride at Gas Station
[An Nahar] A German couple's marriage got off to a rocky start when the groom forgot his bride at a highway gas station on the way home from their honeymoon, only noticing she was missing after hours had passed.

Police said Friday the couple was heading home to Berlin from France when the man pulled over near the central town of Bad Hersfeld late Thursday to fill up their van.

The woman had been sleeping in the back but got up -- unbeknownst to the man -- to use the toilets and he drove off before she returned.

Only after 2 ½ hours on the road did he notice she was gone and called police who said she was patiently waiting.

At least it should make his anniversary easier to remember.
Posted by: Fred || 10/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OOoooh did YOU screw up.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 10/12/2013 0:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Mann, hate to tell the guy he has a final exam tomorrow and I not certain of the building, much less the room.
Posted by: Shipman || 10/12/2013 0:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Only after 2 ½ hours on the road did he notice she was gone and called police who said she was patiently waiting.....with a few things she picked up at the gift shop...

Posted by: Au Auric || 10/12/2013 1:57 Comments || Top||

#4  When my brother got married to his first wife, he left her behind at the reception. He thought her family was taking her home to change; they thought he was taking her home. My sisters and I thought it was hilarious. I'm sure it was the first thing listed in the divorce proceedings years later, though.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 10/12/2013 12:20 Comments || Top||

#5  "Du werdest am Sofa schlafen!"
Posted by: Korora || 10/12/2013 14:22 Comments || Top||


George W. Bush's heart problems far more dangerous than generally believed
[NATIONALJOURNAL]
Posted by: Fred || 10/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Now WHO was it said he didn't have one?
Posted by: Skidmark || 10/12/2013 2:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Got to irk the more foam at the mouth types that both Bush and Cheney survived bad ticker episodes.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 10/12/2013 9:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Because he stayed in shape, his heart was able to adapt and continue "adequate" blood flow. I was somewhat in the same boat with congestive heart failure. Heart function was only 17%. Since I had worked out and stayed in shape, I survived. My heart function now is normal. I was given 6 mo. to live. That was eight years ago. Keep it up GW.
Posted by: OCCD || 10/12/2013 9:50 Comments || Top||

#4  I hope he makes it. I've been missing him dreadfully for nearly five years now.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/12/2013 10:06 Comments || Top||

#5  Always a slam from the lib-tard side - some physicians wondered whether the stent was medical overkill, given that Bush has no known family history of heart disease and is in good shape.

Just wasting valuable dollars on an old, white man?
Posted by: Bobby || 10/12/2013 10:34 Comments || Top||

#6  I have to wonder if youthful cocaine use had anything to do with this. People who say cigarettes kill don't seem to realize that soft and hard drugs all have very negative side effects. It's just that illicit drug users are far scarcer, so the side effects aren't as publicized.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 10/12/2013 20:33 Comments || Top||


Elephants 'understand human gesture'
[BBC.CO.UK]
Zookeeper Killed In Elephant Attack At Missouri Zoo

And they're pretty sensitive.
Posted by: Fred || 10/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So maybe they don't really understand Cheta's cousin then....

Posted by: Au Auric || 10/12/2013 1:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Elephants 'understand human gesture'

I wonder, did she misunderstand a gesture, or nor.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 10/12/2013 16:30 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Combat Knitting to Air from Noooooway
Ah, Norway! Land of my people! A Norwegian television station has announced that they plan to broadcast the world knitting record for the fastest time from "sheep to actual finished sweater"--earmarking a full five contiguous hours for the purpose. That's five hours of shearing, spinning, and knitting (plus four hours of fleece-themed knitting pre-show). On TV.

I grew up eating a bastardized Norwegian dish that my mom called "milk mush," which is essentially just hot flour soup, so in terms of entertainment this sounds about right:

"The NRK network says the Nov. 1 broadcast will be preceded by a four-hour documentary on how the wool off a sheep's back turns into a sweater," according to the Associated Press. "NRK producer Rune Moeklebust said Friday that 'it's kind of ordinary TV but very slow, although they'll be knitting as fast as they can.'"

They've dedicated five whole hours to the event to see if the individuals can beat the previous record held by Australia of 4 hours and 51 minutes of non-stop knitting. Originally, I was thinking grandmothers around the world must have beat this record 10 times over since the beginning of knitting, but the actual record involves the fastest time between the sheep to the actual finished sweater.
OH GOD NORWAY I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. (Full disclosure: I would totally watch this. Drink every time the fleecy lamb craps on the floor!)
Is a side bar really a cutout and space filler?

Too much oil, not enough light, best to nuke 'em now before they start to stir again.
Posted by: Shipman || 10/12/2013 01:14 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Aw Come on, Norway isn't all that bad!
Great place to visit in the dog days of August here in NY.
Posted by: DanNY || 10/12/2013 8:47 Comments || Top||

#2  I want my kids to watch this while practicing knots.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/12/2013 13:08 Comments || Top||

#3  The TV show on Netflix, Lilyhammer, was pretty good. I suspect the Norse look askance at Norway too.
Posted by: Dopey Sinatra || 10/12/2013 19:25 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
This Week in Guns, October 12th, 2013


By Chris Covert

Rantburg.com


In a possible sign of the apocalypse, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the "assault weapons" ban, but signed just about every other 2nd Amendment right-violating law he could. They're saying the recall elections in Colorado may have been a factor in the veto. If I was a Californian, I wouldn't get too frisky celebrating this rare win. The bad guys will be back in Sacramento with even more innovating ways to strip you of your rights.

I was told in Oklahoma a youth hunt scheduled for the weekend of October 18th was cancelled because the federales have closed the wildlife refuges they don't even manage. The Barky administration got cold feet with some of its other bans in other parks and reopened some of the parks using private funds. I can't check about the youth hunt because there is no news at the moment. The state wildlife refuges are the only public gun ranges in Oklahoma, and until yesterday I did not know they were on federal land. Pretty sure Barky and his Barkettes would hate to see the proliferation of private gun ranges in response.

A new gun range target is out. It's Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder's CDs. Vedder could not forbear to mention how he wants harm to come to gun owners. I got twenny bucks that says he has armed guards. F*cker.

According to Ammoland's Dean Weingarten, police officers are three times as likely to commit murder as carry concealed permit owners. So let that be a lesson to you: Be a good little drone and get a carry concealed permit, so you will be three times less likely to commit a murder than a cop. I would posit the ratio is likely three times that when you factor in shoots cops have gotten away with.

Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:

Pistol ammunition prices were mostly unchanged to higher, while rifle ammunition prices were mixed.

Prices for used weapons of all categories for private sale were mixed.

Pistol Ammo

.45 caliber, 230 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Selway Armory, BVAC (CPRN), .36 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: LAX Ammo, reloaded, .36 per round

.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged
Cheapest, 50 rounds: BangIt Ammo, Precision One, reloaded, .30 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1000 rounds: LAX Ammunition, reloaded, .26 per round (w/ ammo can) (- .01 each from last week)

9mm Parabellum, 115 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Alamo Ammo, Hotshot, .28 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Battle Bag Ammo, Reloaded, .25 per round (-.01 each from last week)

.357 Magnum, 158 grain, From Last Week: +.06 each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Fiocchi, .38 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 250 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Fiocchi, .41 per round

Rifle Ammunition

.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 grain, From Last Week: +.02 each

Cheapest, 20 rounds: Munire USA, Monarch, steel cased, .32 per round
Cheapest Bulk 1,000 rounds: Bulk it Ammo, Tula (prolly steel cased), .37 per round (Last Week: +.09 each )

.308 NATO 145 grain, From Last Week: -.01 each (-.13 over three weeks)

Cheapest, 20 rounds: Fire Arms for Sale, Ruag Ammotech, steel cased, .60 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1000 rounds: Sportsman Guide, MFS, .56 per round

7.62x39 AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (Three Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Ammo Supply Warehouse, Wolf Polyformance, steel core and case, .26 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1000 rounds: Ammo Supply Warehouse, Wolf Polyformance, steel core and case, .26 per round

.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (Two weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo Fast, Federal Gold Target, .10 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Ammo Supply Warehouse, Armscor, .14 per round

Guns for Private Sale
Rifles


.223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic) Average price: $719 Last Week Avg: $730
California: Custom/POF: $799
Texas: Armalite: $800
New York: Smith & Wesson M&P15: $500 (!)
Virgina: Stag Arms: $795
Florida: Surplus Ammo & Arms: $700

.308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $1,250 Last Week Avg: $1,230
California: Sig Sauer M716 Patrol: $1,250
Texas: DPMS Oracle: $1,050 (Same Gun)
New York: Core 30 MOE: $1,200 (Same Gun)
Virginia: Sig Sauer 716-16B: $1,500
Florida: DPMS: $1,249

7.62x39mm (AK Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $598 Last Week Avg: $643
California: WASR: $650
Texas: WASR: $650
New York: Yugoslavian: $950
Virginia: Norinco MAK-90: $650
Florida: WASR: $675

7.62x54mm (Dragunov Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $1,223 Last Week Avg: Unchanged

California: Romak PSL: $1,650 (Same Gun)
Texas: None
New York: None
Virginia: NODAK (Custom Build): $817 (Same Gun)
Florida: Romak PSL: $1,200 (Same Gun)

Pistols

.45 caliber ACP (M1911 Pattern Semiautomatic Pistol) Average Price: $444 Last Week Avg: $522
California: Tisas Classic 1911: $320 (Same gun)
Texas: Rock Island Armory: $500
New York: American Tactical Imports: $500
Virginia: Rock Island Armory: $650 (Same Gun)
Florida: Llama 45: $250

9mm Beretta 92FS Semiautomatic Average Price: $613 Last Week Avg: $519
California: $700

Texas: $600
New York: None
Virginia: $650
Florida: $500

.40 caliber S&W (Glock and other semiautomatic) Average Price: $523 Last Week Avg: $481
California: Glock 23: $500
Texas: Glock 27: $550
New York: Glock 22: $540
Virginia: Glock 23: $474
Florida: Glock 23C: $550

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com.
Posted by: badanov || 10/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Moroccan kiss, Muslim society shaken by Internet effect
[Al Ahram] The trial of three teenagers for posting photos of themselves kissing on Facebook has sparked a storm of online protest in Morocco, where conservative Musselmen values are being challenged on the Internet.
The offending couple, a boy and a girl aged 15 and 14, and their 15-year-old male friend who took the photos outside their school in the northern town of Nador, were tossed in the clink
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
last week.

The arrests immediately triggered a wave of online support, with activists posting pictures of couples locking lips and calling for protest "kiss-ins", and the judge ordered that the teens be released on bail three days later, ahead of their trial on Friday.

"Social media are playing a more and more important role in monitoring both the authorities and Moroccan society, which remains deeply conservative," said political analyst Mohammed Madani.

"Activists agitating on Faceboook are a potent force because they can get media attention, sometimes abroad, and can shake the conservative values both of society and the state," he added.

"As a result, the authorities review judicial decisions and sometimes challenge them, as happened in the case of the Spanish paedophile" mistakenly freed in July by King Mohammed VI.

Faced with public outrage at the decision to free convicted child rapist Daniel Galvan, along with dozens of other Spanish nationals tossed in the clink
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
in Morocco, the royal pardon was hastily revoked, with the palace insisting the king had been unaware of the nature of Galvan's crimes.

Underlining the growing power of social media, US NGO Freedom House said last week that 55 percent of the Moroccan population regularly accessed the Internet in 2012, the highest penetration rate in Africa, up from 21 percent in 2007.

On the eve of Friday's trial, hundreds of Moroccan online activists renewed their demands that the charges against the three teenagers, of "violating public decency", be dropped.

More than two thousand people have indicated that they will attend a planned "giant kiss-in" outside parliament in Rabat on Saturday.

The Facebook link for the "kiss-in" is on https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/209127885927276/

The accused were arrested after a Moroccan NGO filed a lawsuit late last month charging that the published photos of them kissing outside their school had a negative affect on society, "and upset people's feelings".

"They are being tried under Article 483 (of Morocco's penal code) which relates to violations of public decency by a minor," their lawyer Monaim Fattahi told AFP.

The offence carries a possible two-year prison sentence.
Posted by: Fred || 10/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Colombia Rebels Condemn 'Unfortunate' Offensive
[An Nahar] Colombia's leftist guerrillas on Friday criticized President Juan Manuel Santos's "unfortunate" decision to order a military offensive amid peace talks.

Santos ordered the armed forces Wednesday to dismantle the FARC's southern and eastern units, with a priority on capturing or killing five guerrilla leaders, according to Colombian media.

"This was an unfortunate decision of the president of the republic," said Rodrigo Granda, a FARC delegate in peace negotiations with the Santos government in Cuba aiming to end Latin America's oldest insurgency.

"We do not understand how you can talk about dialogue and peace while increasing the entire repressive apparatus, the entire armed forces of Colombia, the whole apparatus of death."

"We note that at this point, 63 billion pesos ($33.3 million) have been spent on the war in Colombia," he added.

"You're better off burning that money or putting it aside... it could build 100,000 schools."

Since the start of peace talks, President Santos has refused to agree to a ceasefire during negotiations, the fourth attempt since the 1980s to end the insurgency.

The last peace talks, in 2002, fell apart when the government concluded that the guerrillas were regrouping in a vast demilitarized zone it created and where the talks were held.

The rebels suggested earlier this week they would be willing to pause the peace talks during the elections if the government requested it.

After 11 months of negotiations in Havana, the Bogota government and leftist fighters have reached agreement on just one key issue -- land reform -- with progress stalled on four other agenda items, notably how the FARC will give up their weapons and enter the political process.
Posted by: Fred || 10/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Santos can see how FARC's patron in VZ is doing and wants to step up the pressure
Posted by: Frank G || 10/12/2013 11:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Hmmmmm...sounds like the "apparatus of death" is winning maybe?
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/12/2013 18:06 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Azerbaijan Lashes out at U.S. over Election Criticism
[An Nahar] Oil-rich Azerbaijan on Friday lashed out at the U.S. for criticizing a presidential poll that saw strongman Ilham Aliyev claim a third term with a crushing victory to extend his family's decades-long rule.

Aliyev -- who has ensured the strategically-located ex-Soviet state enjoys warm relations with the U.S. -- won with some 85 percent of the vote at Wednesday's poll, far ahead of main challenger Jamil Hasanli on around 5.5 percent, according to the official results.

But the opposition rejected the result as fraudulent and the U.S. State Department appeared to give weight to those claims by saying that the vote "fell short of international standards."

"Such an approach by the U.S. calls into doubt the sincerity of the U.S. in relation to Azerbaijan," the Azeri foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Such an announcement is biased, inadmissible and considered disrespectful to the citizens of Azerbaijan," the statement said.

Resource-rich Azerbaijan has become both an increasingly important energy supplier to Europe and a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
ally in the region.

Authorities in the tightly-controlled ex-Soviet state have also hit out at observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for calling the poll "seriously flawed", after a preliminary report detailed a skewed election campaign, ballot-stuffing and serious problems with the vote counting.

Aliyev's opponents have pledged to challenge the election in court and are set to hold a sanctioned rally in Baku on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred || 10/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
Turkey Seizes 346 Kg of Heroin
[An Nahar] Turkish drugs police seized 346 kilos (762 pounds) of heroin in Istanbul as part of a joint operation with the National Intelligence Organization, an official source said Friday.

Authorities found the drugs in a vehicle in the suburb of Silivri after an operation carried out in both Istanbul and Hakkari, an eastern town near the Iranian border.

The authorities suspect the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) of organizing the smuggling of the seized drugs from Iran to Europe, the official told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity.

The authorities placed in durance vile
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
11 people including one Iranian. Two were released after questioning.
Posted by: Fred || 10/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Narcos


India-Pakistan
Alarm at rise in rape incidents, low conviction rate
[Dawn] A roundtable conference on violence against women held on Thursday noted with grave concern an alarming rise in incidents of rape and the fact that very few victims dared report it to police while ratio of conviction remained significantly low.

A reputed lawyer shocked the audience by declaring that demand for new laws to protect women would not deliver as the state, which guaranteed and implemented them, had 'collapsed'.

Though no other speaker agreed to his statement they concurred with the lawyer's narrative, which detailed the host of difficulties a rape victim had to go through normally if she dared to approach the justice system in her quest for justice.

"It is a myth that any new law meant to protect women could deliver as it is expected, for such laws never get implemented as the state, which sets laws in motion, has collapsed," said Faisal Siddiqui, a lawyer, at the conference on 'Opposing violence in Pakistain: improving responses'.

The moot was jointly organised by the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
...9th PM of Pakistain from 1973 to 1977, and 4th President of Pakistain from 1971 to 1973. He was the founder of the Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP). His eldest daughter, Benazir Bhutto, would also serve as hereditary PM. In a coup led by General Zia-ul-Haq, Bhutto was removed from office and was executed in 1979 for authorizing the murder of a political opponent...
Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) and the Women Action Forum (WAF) at the SZABIST campus in Clifton.

He shared his experience with rape victims whose cases he had fought and said the incidence of rape was on an alarming rise. Very few victims dared report it to police while conviction was rare, he said.

"Our criminal justice system brutalises and discourages rape victims and benefits perpetrators only. A rape case could take seven to 10 years to decide and ultimately it ends up with acquittal (of the accused).

"If a victim is bold enough to fight the case to its logical end, she has to do it on her own as the elite civil society leaves her very soon and the media gets other cases to report instead of following up her case," he said.

He said that a rape victim had to endure hardships in all forms and from everyone starting from a policeman to a judge of a lower court. He cited the new disturbing trend in which rape victims were getting killed as well and many of the bodies found were mutilated.

Anis Haroon of WAF disagreed with Mr Siddiqui on the ground that it was abuse of religion that introduced certain anti-women laws, which made the situation worse, and said such laws had to be replaced with better ones with better implementation.

"The state itself has fallen victim to its own atrocious laws. Better and improved laws could help the state too to stand on its feet," she said.

She said that sexual violence against women was on the rise. Without giving figures, she said the number of rape cases and other offences against women this year so far had already exceeded the entire last year's figures.

A recent report of the National Crisis Management Cell said a total of 10,703 rape cases had been reported in the country over the past five years. Most cases (8,806) were reported in Punjab, some 722 cases each in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
and Sindh, 86 in Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
, 295 in Islamabad and some 22 rape cases were registered in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Posted by: Fred || 10/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan



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Sat 2013-10-12
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Fri 2013-10-11
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Thu 2013-10-10
  Libyan Prime Minister Zeidan kidnapped by gunmen
Wed 2013-10-09
  Egypt Strips Muslim Brotherhood of NGO Status
Tue 2013-10-08
  Egypt: Huge Explosion Hits Security HQ In Sinai
Mon 2013-10-07
  SEAL Strike on Shaboob Big Turban Fails in Somalia
Sun 2013-10-06
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  Boko Haram: 186 killed, 15 arrested as Military raids insurgents' camp in Yobe
Fri 2013-10-04
  Belgium Extradites Nisar Trabelsi to U.S.
Thu 2013-10-03
  Iranian cyber warfare commander shot dead in suspected assassination
Wed 2013-10-02
  Iraq Executes 23 People in Two Days
Tue 2013-10-01
  Drone strike in North Waziristan kills two, injures one
Mon 2013-09-30
  US drone kills three in Pakistan
Sun 2013-09-29
  Boko murders up to 50 students in their sleep
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