Alleged sex assault of boy shakes Dubai

[Logan13]

Alleged sex assault of boy shakes Dubai
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/...apping_trial_7
AP DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The mother of a 15-year-old French-Swiss boy who was allegedly sexually assaulted by two Emirati men accused authorities Thursday of lying about a defendant's HIV status to cover up the fact that AIDS exists in this booming Arab city-state.

The case has exposed deep rifts over attitudes toward homosexuality and what critics call an outmoded legal system, mixing religious and tribal values.

Dubai officials have defended their handling of the case and said the teenager and his family were treated fairly. They have refused to comment publicly on the mother's accusations, and the United Arab Emirates Embassy in Washington also had no immediate comment.

The mother, Veronique Robert, a French journalist, told The Associated Press in Paris that she had obtained an official document, dated 2003, indicating authorities in the United Arab Emirates knew one defendant was HIV positive then.

Nevertheless, Emirates authorities told her and French diplomats on four separate occasions after the July attack that none of the three defendants was HIV positive, she said.

"This was a lie of the state," Robert said. "They willfully prevented us from getting treatment for our son so that, above all, nobody would find out that AIDS exists in the Emirates."

The teenager and his mother also accuse a police forensic doctor of calling the boy a homosexual while examining him after the alleged assaults.

Robert said she and her son, who previously had attended school in Dubai, where his father works, left the country early last month because French diplomats told her that her son might be prosecuted for homosexual acts, a crime here.

The AP is using Robert's name with her agreement, but is not identifying her son.

French officials have not commented publicly on the case, but a French diplomatic official in Paris, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said French officials had asked Dubai to do everything possible so that the attackers are held responsible in court.

Two Emirati men, age 18 and 35, are on trial in Dubai, charged with kidnapping Robert's son and another French boy, who were headed home from a shopping mall at the time, and sexually assaulting Robert's son.

A third defendant, also accused of taking part in the assault and also Emirati, is being tried in a juvenile court, where the proceedings are closed to the public.

Last week, the two adult defendants pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping with deceit and illicit sexual intercourse. The Emirates' legal system prohibits the media from naming the defendants until a verdict is reached.

The case has caused controversy in this affluent tourist hub, which boasts a prosperous economy and where European tourists and expatriate workers mingle with a more conservative Arab society.

Some expatriates — both European managers and low-paid laborers, mostly from Asia — have long complained that foreigners, who far outnumber Emirati citizens, have few legal rights in Dubai.

Earlier this week, about 4,000 south Asian workers were jailed for several days for going on strike to ask for higher wages — also against the law.

Many Emirati citizens defend their legal system.

Khalifa al-Shaali, a former Dubai police chief now dean of the law faculty at the University of Ajman, Dubai's neighboring emirate, said foreigners who come to the Emirates are mostly ignorant of the complex legal system, a combination of Islamic and tribal laws.

Al-Shaali said Emirates judges are fair and "don't look at religion or nationality" but that the judges, often deeply religious, "are under intense pressure, not from the political system but from their consciences."

"Some of us are afraid of newcomers, because we feel that social changes might slip beyond our control," al-Shaali said.

Dubai is one of seven semiautonomous city-states that make up the UAE. It, like much of the Arab world, remains largely hostile to homosexuality.

The boy's mother, on a Web site she set up, called for pressure on Dubai to take basic steps to protect underage rape victims, such as ensuring they are tested for infectious diseases and get psychological help after an attack.

According to court documents, the alleged attack began when the juvenile defendant offered the two French boys, one of whom he knew slightly, a ride home from a Dubai mall. The two boys got in the car and were later joined by the two adult defendants.

The group drove to the edge of the Dubai desert, where the three defendants allegedly threatened the boys and took turns sexually assaulting Robert's son in the car, while the other boy was told to stay behind a sand dune, according to the court documents.

The 15-year-old told police that one defendant threatened him, saying he would "burn down your house and burn your parents after I've had sex with your mother."

After the attack, the two boys managed to get a taxi home. They reported the assault to police who arrested all three defendants the same day, court documents said.

[Tock]

Huh . . . this is a terrible crime. But what I'm wondering is how come in this story of homosexual rape, the word "homosexual" appears many times, but in another story of a heterosexual rape, the word "heterosexual" never appears.

What's up with this?

=======================================

'Big Brother South Africa' horror show
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?storyID=9400

The sight of a blind-drunk young woman being assaulted by a Big Brother housemate in what may be the most public rape ever has turned the stomachs of millions of television viewers.

The incident, broadcast live by a pay-TV conglomerate across Africa, has prompted denunciations from the continent's great and good. Viewers have flooded newspapers and internet message boards with emails expressing undiluted outrage.

Many of the emails contain photo clips from the programme that appear to show Richard Bezuidenhout (left), a 24-year-old film student from Tanzania, assaulting Ofunneka Molokwu, a 29-year-old medical assistant from Nigeria.

M-Net, which airs the show have intervened. "There is no indication that she was unconscious at the time," said Joseph Hundah, an executive at M-Net.

However, viewers of the incident, which took place on Saturday afternoon after an extended drinking bout which ended in copious vomiting and apparent blackout for Molokwu, remain adamant about what they saw: Bezuidenhout lay down next to the comatose young woman and penetrated her vagina with his fingers. He carried on despite the pleas of another female housemate for him stop. Under the law in South Africa - where, on average, a woman is sexually assaulted every 40 seconds - such an act constitutes rape.

Bezuidenhout, who is married, finally desisted and went off to sit by himself while drunkenly sniffing his fingers. At this point the producers of the show did intervene, sending paramedics into the house and cutting the live feed.

Bezuindehout, defending his sexual behaviour in a show that has featured copious nudity, recently told his housemates, "Well, this is Africa."

The contest is due to reach a climax on November 11. But the $100,000 on offer to the winner may prove chump change compared to the settlement sought by Ofunneka (right) and her lawyers once she escapes the Big Brother bubble and views footage of her very public humiliation.

[Tock]

. . . and here's another story of a heterosexual crime where the word "heterosexual" never comes up.

After a while, when people constantly see "homosexual" in sex crimes but never "heterosexual" in sex crimes, they think of gays as sex criminals, but not heterosexuals.

What's up with this?

---------------------------------------------------------------

Soldier Pleads Guilty in HIV Case...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/.../hiv_soldier_1

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - An HIV-positive paratrooper pleaded guilty to assault Thursday for knowingly having unprotected sex with a teenager he met online.

Pfc. Johnny Lamar Dalton, who is a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, entered his plea during a court-martial at Fort Bragg.

A military judge sentenced Dalton to 40 months in prison. The sentence included a reduction in rank and a dishonorable discharge.

Dalton was ordered last November not to have unprotected sex after he was found to have HIV. State law also prohibits a person infected with HIV from having sex unless condoms are used and sexual partners are notified.

Doctors discovered the 17-year-old had HIV during a routine blood test, and his mother notified the military.

Dalton also pleaded guilty to violating a direct order, aggravated assault, committing an indecent act and using marijuana.

[Odpierdol_sie!]

I don't really want to get involved in a debate but i think its the point to make it that an assault was carried out on a young male by adult male/s. if the media say "rape" people immediately assume that the victim was female.

More to the point in this case in the UAE, Sharia law is what is practiced as a part of the religious faith.
Homosexuality goes against Islamic faith, it is considered a crime to carry out an act that contradicts what is scribed in the Koran. In other words, to engage in homosexuality in Islamic countries is against the law and can be punishable by death.
I know that it is a bold statment but executions are still carried out, the severity of the "crime" determins on if you keep your hand/s or pecker (if you are lucky!!!)

[Logan13]

Huh . . . this is a terrible crime. But what I'm wondering is how come in this story of homosexual rape, the word "homosexual" appears many times, but in another story of a heterosexual rape, the word "heterosexual" never appears.

What's up with this?

=======================================

'Big Brother South Africa' horror show
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?storyID=9400

The sight of a blind-drunk young woman being assaulted by a Big Brother housemate in what may be the most public rape ever has turned the stomachs of millions of television viewers.

The incident, broadcast live by a pay-TV conglomerate across Africa, has prompted denunciations from the continent's great and good. Viewers have flooded newspapers and internet message boards with emails expressing undiluted outrage.

Many of the emails contain photo clips from the programme that appear to show Richard Bezuidenhout (left), a 24-year-old film student from Tanzania, assaulting Ofunneka Molokwu, a 29-year-old medical assistant from Nigeria.

M-Net, which airs the show have intervened. "There is no indication that she was unconscious at the time," said Joseph Hundah, an executive at M-Net.

However, viewers of the incident, which took place on Saturday afternoon after an extended drinking bout which ended in copious vomiting and apparent blackout for Molokwu, remain adamant about what they saw: Bezuidenhout lay down next to the comatose young woman and penetrated her vagina with his fingers. He carried on despite the pleas of another female housemate for him stop. Under the law in South Africa - where, on average, a woman is sexually assaulted every 40 seconds - such an act constitutes rape.

Bezuidenhout, who is married, finally desisted and went off to sit by himself while drunkenly sniffing his fingers. At this point the producers of the show did intervene, sending paramedics into the house and cutting the live feed.

Bezuindehout, defending his sexual behaviour in a show that has featured copious nudity, recently told his housemates, "Well, this is Africa."

The contest is due to reach a climax on November 11. But the $100,000 on offer to the winner may prove chump change compared to the settlement sought by Ofunneka (right) and her lawyers once she escapes the Big Brother bubble and views footage of her very public humiliation.

If you read the story, it is pointed out in order to counter the claims that there is no homosexual sex or AIDS in the Middle east.