Ketua Mufti Syria Benar Askar Kerajaan Rogol Wanita Pembangkang.

abgsedapmalam · Post time 27-1-2014 08:18 PM

Syria Gives Soldiers Religious Permission To Rape

By Allison Geller, Fri, January 03, 2014

The Chief Mufti, or Islamic scholar, of Syria has given religious permission to soldiers to rape the female relatives of rebels.

Sheikh Abd al-Rahman Ali al-Dala, aid to the chief mufti of Syria, told a radio station that supports Syrian president Bashar Assad that Syrian army soliders can “marry” unmarried and married women while fighting the rebels, including the sisters and mothers of rebel fighters, without an official marriage agreement. The rape, he said, is punishment for not reporting the rebels to the government. The Sheikh backed the pronouncement with his religious authority.

Captured soldiers and captains testified, before being put to death, that rape has long been common practice without any official permission. Victims include women dressed in full Muslim veils and cloaks. Some choice women are reportedly taken to senior commanders.

The rebel troops have also publicized religious permission for raping women.

Thousands of Syrian women have been raped during the battles, human rights groups report. The Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) put the number at 6,000, BBC reported in November. A spokeswoman for the group said victims are often stigmatized and forced their leave their homes, adding to the thousands that have been left homeless by Syrian warfare.

Hundreds of women have been arrested, “disappeared,” and tortured in state facilities, EMHRN told BBC.

"They are being used as privilege, not in the sense that they are favored, but because sometimes of their relationship to opposition members or government-related members," said EMHRN spokeswoman Hayet Zeghiche.

"They are deliberately targeted because of political issues and also because they are vulnerable victims."

The Syrian conflicts have left an estimated 130,000 dead. United Nations peace talks are set to take place in Geneva in January, with representatives present from the Syrian government and opposition.

Syria conflict

Women in Syria are increasingly the targets of violent abuse and torture by government forces and armed groups.
Some 6,000 women have been raped since the start of the conflict in March 2011, the Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) says.
A spokeswoman for the group said these women were then socially stigmatised, and often forced to flee their homes.
Women are being targeted by snipers and used as human shields, often with their children, the report also says.
Violence against Women, a Bleeding Wound in the Syrian Conflict is based on interviews with victims and medical staff in the first half of 2013.
The report describes how hundreds of Syrian women have been subjected to arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances and have undergone various forms of torture, in state detention facilities.
"They are being used as privilege, not in the sense that they are favoured, but because sometimes of their relationship to opposition members or government-related members," EMHRN spokeswoman Hayet Zeghiche told the BBC.
"They are deliberately targeted because of political issues and also because they are vulnerable victims."
'Alone and isolated'
The report also says the kidnapping of women has also become a strategy of exchanging prisoners and exacting revenge, and that the nature of the crimes - rape and gang-rape - leaves many women isolated.
"The stigma makes them socially unacceptable so they have to flee the area, some don't even have a chance to flee with their family members. They're very much left alone and isolated," Ms Zeghiche says.
More than 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the conflict. More than two million Syrians have fled the country, according to the UN.
On Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced that much-delayed peace talks will take place in Geneva on 22 January, bringing the government and opposition to the negotiating table for the first time.
He said it would be "unforgivable not to seize this opportunity to bring an end to the suffering and destruction".

Syrian Mufti's Aide Gives Army Permission to RapeDeputy Chief Mufti gives Syrian army soldiers religious permission to rape women in order to take revenge on them and on rebel forces.

By Dalit Halevi, Ari Yashar
First Publish: 1/2/2014, 8:22 PM

Muslim women in Tulkarem (file)
Israel news photo: Flash 90

Human rights [color=rgb(0, 0, 204) !important][backcolor=transparent !important]groups report that thousands of women have been raped by Syrian army soldiers in the ongoing war, which is now in its third year and has left 130,000 dead. That trend appears likely to only increase, as a deputy to the Chief Mufti (Islamic scholar) of Syria has given religious permission to rape.
On Thursday, Sheikh Abd al-Rahman Ali al-Dala, aid to the chief mufti of Syria, who is loyal to President Bashar Assad, gave an interview to Sham FM, a radio station that supports Assad.
In the interview, Al-Dala said Syrian army soldiers have permission to "marry" unmarried and married women, sisters and mothers of the rebel fighters, without any [color=rgb(0, 0, 204) !important][backcolor=transparent !important]official marriage agreement. He clarified that the rape is intended as a punishment for not reporting the rebels to the goverment forces.
In making his statement, the Sheikh placed his religious authority behind the rape of women and girls by soldiers, as part of their fight against the rebels.
According to testimony taken from captured soldiers and captains before [color=rgb(0, 0, 204) !important][backcolor=transparent !important]they were put to death by rebels, rape has been employed as a common practice by the army, well before Al-Dala's officialreligious support was stated.
While particularly attractive women are reportedly brought to senior commanders, rape victims include religious muslim women dressed in face veils and full-body cloaks (niqab).
It must be noted that for their part, the rebels have publicized religious permission for their fighters to do as they please with women who fall into their hands. Rebels from Al Qaeda have also apparently have been forcing Syrian Druze communities to convert to Islam.
A study in November found that Syria was the fourth worst country in the Arab world in terms of women's rights. Egypt was found to be the worst.
On December 31, Syria missed the deadline to transfer its most lethal [color=rgb(0, 0, 204) !important][backcolor=transparent !important]chemical weapons out of the country for destruction.

Last edited by abgsedapmalam on 27-1-2014 08:27 PM