Will the rape of Sabrine trigger a full blown Iraq civil war? pt. 2

[sabra]

First thread here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=258800&mesg_id=258800

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/22/world/middleeast/22accuse.html

Maliki Fires Official for Criticizing Response to Rape Account

BAGHDAD, Feb. 21 — Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki fired a top Sunni official on Wednesday after he criticized the government’s handling of a young Sunni woman’s account of being raped by members of the Shiite-dominated security forces.

Mr. Maliki, responding to criticism that his Shiite-led government was rushing to discredit the woman’s account because she is Sunni, also released what he said was evidence that she was lying, including a medical report that he said had come from an American-run hospital where the woman had been treated.

Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the chief American military spokesman, said that the hospital had given only the woman a copy of the medical report and that it was unclear whether Mr. Maliki’s document was genuine.

A copy of Mr. Maliki’s document, obtained by The New York Times, shows it to be inconclusive. It says the subject had no vaginal tearing, but notes bruises on her thighs. In an extremely unusual broadcast on Al Jazeera on Monday night, the woman said she had been beaten with a water hose during the attack.

...

“Maliki is fed up with me talking about all the terrible things that are happening to Iraqis, whether it is killing, kidnappings or illegal arrests,” he said. He said he had met with many Sunni women who confided that they had been raped by government soldiers.

Experts question Iraqi officials' statement on alleged rape

McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi prime minister's office, eager to prove that a Sunni Muslim woman was lying when she accused Iraqi police of raping her, released one page of a U.S. Army medical examination report on Wednesday that Iraqi officials said showed the woman wasn't sexually assaulted.

The single sheet, apparently part of a multi-page report, said that there were "no vaginal lacerations or obvious injury." An accompanying statement asserted that the medical report "confirmed" there had been no rape, but several rape experts in the United States said the report did no such thing.

The report didn't disprove the woman's allegations, the experts said, and it indicated that the woman suffered extensive injuries, including at least eight bruises on the front of her thighs consistent with a sexual assault.

...

"They did a CT scan of the head, the pelvis, and the neck. These tests would not have shown if someone was sexually assaulted, so there had to have been some kind of other trauma that they found," said Dr. Karen Simmons, medical director of the Rape Treatment Center in Miami, Fla.

"It shows that she was brought into a trauma unit in bad shape," said Joshua Weintraub, an attorney who once ran the sexual crimes office of the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office.

Here's the leaked page from the US medical report:

[maddezmom]

1. I didn't think it could get any worse, but after this incident and the 2 report of rape today

I'm not so sure. :(

Second case of rape allegations in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four Iraqi soldiers have been accused of raping a 50-year-old Sunni woman and the attempted rape of her two daughters in the second allegation of sexual assault leveled against Iraqi forces this week, an official said Thursday.

Brig. Gen. Nijm Abdullah said the attack allegedly occurred about 10 days ago in the northern city of Tal Afar during a search for weapons and insurgents.

A lieutenant and three enlisted men denied the charge but later confessed after they were confronted by the woman, a Turkoman. Abdullah said a fifth soldier suspected something was wrong, burst into the house and forced the others at gunpoint to stop the assault.

"They have been referred to the judicial authorities so they can receive their just punishment," said Abdullah, who effectively serves as mayor of the city.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070222/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_rape

Four Iraqi soldiers arrested for rape: official
MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) - Four Iraqi soldiers have been charged with raping a woman in northern Iraq, an official said Thursday, three days after similar allegations in Baghdad triggered a bitter political storm.

The mayor of Tal Afar, Brigadier General Najim Abdullah Al-Juburi, said he received a complaint from a local woman "a few days ago" and after a brief investigation had referred the troops to the judiciary for prosecution.

Abdullah named the victim and described her as a married mother of 11 aged in her forties, but AFP has decided not to disclose her identity.

more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070222/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestrape_070222131242

[sabra]

2. torture, murder, chaos, is talked about, rape is not. With a second report

now coming out, I fear what gate will open...

<snip>


“Maliki is fed up with me talking about all the terrible things that are happening to Iraqis, whether it is killing, kidnappings or illegal arrests,” he said. He said he had met with many Sunni women who confided that they had been raped by government soldiers.

[cali]

4. Whether this is THE trigger that will

amp up the civil war is debatable. What's not debatable is that it definitely makes things worse, and it clearly shows what a creep Maliki is.

[sabra]

6. "shows what a creep Maliki is"

in my first thread, I linked to an Iraqi report, showing the gov't "outing" the accuser. Maliki essentially has placed a death warrant on this woman.

[NashVegas]

3. I Doubt It

Do I think Sunni Iraqis really care if a woman was raped? My impression is that if she weren't a handy propaganda tool (for outside purposes), their leaders would just as soon stone her.

[sabra]

5. I guess that's what I mean by trigger, a tool to take things to a scarier level...

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/073F2178-6F72-4F20-BF6E-B57BBF39E43C.htm

<snip>

Sunni outrage

On the other hand, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a top Sunni official and parliament speaker, said on Al-Jazeera, referring to al-Maliki: "By God, if you don't bring justice to this Muslim Iraqi woman, whom you should view as your sister or daughter ... history will curse us with eternal disgrace."

Rape victims rarely come forward because they fear public scorn and humiliation.

A woman who acknowledges being raped risks death at the hands of male relatives seeking to restore their family's honour.