The C.R.I.M.E. Report

ISSUE #45 CONTENTS:


SPOTLIGHT CASES:

End Pilgrimage Gender Discrimination: A Young Blogger’s Plea

Inspired by the recent celebration of Muhammad’s birthday and her mother's accounts of making the pilgrimage to Mecca in 2007, Dalia Ziada decided to join her mother on an upcoming pilgrimage. But a quick Google search revealed a rude shock: as a woman under the age of 45 she can only get a visa to Saudi Arabia if accompanied by a male relative chaperone.

In frustration, Ziada vented on her blog: "I have already traveled to several places around the world. I was completely alone… Who gave [the Saudi government] the right to prevent me, among other young Muslim women, from visiting [the] Prophet's land?!" That blog post got picked up around the world, including the BBC, and caught the eye of a producer at Egypt's Dream TV satellite station. Last Sunday she appeared on the talk show, "Shababeek" ("Youth Like You") to discuss her call to end the discriminatory Saudi policy.

"We do not have to be imprisoned in outdated customs that restrict our freedom as women," she told the audience. Both the hosts and callers to the program were supportive and inspired. A few days later, Time Magazine featured her in a major profile.

Ziada is also coordinator of the AIC office in Egypt and a correspondent for The CRIME Report. In fact, over the past four days she has helped organize a conference in Cairo for women’s rights activists from across the Middle East focused on women’s civic, political, and economic roles in the Arab world. As Dalia explains, "For the Middle East to develop and prove itself on the international scene we must empower women." One small step: free young women to go on pilgrimage as independent individuals.



Iranian Youth Gone Wild – For a Night

Held on the last Tuesday before the spring equinox - when the Persian new year holiday of Noruz is celebrated - Chaharshanbe Suri marks an ancient tradition where people jump over the bonfires to wish each other a healthy year.

Iran's ruling theocrats do not particularly like these ancient "pagan" feasts, which barely survived the Islamic Revolution. Over the years, the regime has taken steps to co-opt the holidays by inserting new religious elements. For example, a special prayer for Noruz has been introduced. The minute the new year begins all channels in the state-run TV and radio broadcast live Supreme Leader Khamenei's new year speech, where he bestows a thematic name on the year - for instance, "Imam Khomeini Year" or "Responsibility of the Officials to the People."

Yet it is hard to slip ideological symbols into Chaharshanbe Suri. Given the normally harsh legal restrictions on social and civic life, the holiday offers a unique moment where the regime's pressure is largely gone and rowdy behavior is tolerated. This gives youth an opportunity to go "wild" with impunity. Young Iranians have learned to enjoy this night to full by setting off fireworks, mixing in large numbers with the opposite sex, and playing pranks. These outbursts of pent-up energies have turned this ancient feast into a nightmare for the authorities, prompting the security officials go on high alert every year.

Amnesty International is using the Noruz holiday to launch an alert of its own - a call to stand in solidarity with several leading Iranian activist currently behind bars. These include Mansour Ossanloo, previously profiled in The CRIME Report for leading a strike by Tehran's bus drivers and currently sentenced to five years in jail for his activism. The call is to send Noruz greetings to Ossanloo and two Iranian Kurds, one a journalist and the other an artist, who have to celebrate the approach of the spring and the new year in their cold cells. One sad coda: during the holiday last week blogger Omid Reza Mir-Sayafi, who had been jailed for allegedly "insulting" the Supreme Leader committed suicide in Evin Prison.



WANTED for Running a “Progressive” News Site: Hanevy Ould Dahah

Founded only two years ago, Taqadoumy ("Progressive") has surged to become Mauritania's top online news site. The independent site's investigative reporting is a thorn in the side of the country's ruling military regime. Last week, authorities suddenly blocked the site and arrested lead reporter Abbass Ould Braham. When journalists organized a sit-in in solidarity with Abbass, riot police used tear gas and truncheons. But an international outcry forced the regime to back down, releasing Abbass and unblocking Taqadoumy. The site's editor Hanevy Ould Dahah offers the inside scoop on media repression in Mauritania.

Why did Taqadoumy become so popular so quickly?

We launched less than two years ago without any substantial financial resources. But we are committed to independent reporting that exposes and challenges. We quickly became the most-read Arabic site in Mauritania because of the quality of our reporting. Taqadoumy publishes in three languages (Arabic, French and English) and provides Mauritanians with compelling independent news. We became so popular that some politicians actually tried creating their own competitor sites, but none could overtake us.

Why was your reporter Abbass arrested and the website blocked?

Abbass was arrested after a member of the government accused him of defamation for an article in Taqadoumy – though the General Prosecutor had been waiting for an excuse to target us. Abbass spent three days in jail, and I would likely have been arrested if I were not traveling now. Ironically, the order to block Taqadoumy was enforced by MauriTel, the Mauritanian state telecom company, which has been one of our site's biggest advertisers. This is the first time a website has been blocked in Mauritania since a 2005 coup toppled the dictator Taya. Also, the head of MauriTel's Internet division bravely refused to ban the site as a matter of conscience– and was fired.

Why did the government finally back down?

Taqadoumy was not intimidated and continued to report on events as they happened. We encouraged Mauritanian readers to use proxy servers to access our website. On Monday, journalists from a wide range of publications – including ones that do not like our reporting – came out for a demonstration of solidarity in the capital. Other journalists and activists worldwide began protesting, and regional satellite TV shows picked up on the story. Mauritanian officials created this mess for themselves and realized that trying to shut us down had only made us stronger. On March 18, Abbass was released with charges dropped and our site was unblocked. An official apology was even issued – perhaps the first time a regime in the Arab world has apologized to an arrested journalist. This case shows how free reporting and activism can work.

 

Quiz: Where does delivering bread to the elderly get jail time?
Answer: In Saudi Arabia, a court sentenced Khamisa Sawadi, a 75 year-old widow, to 40 lashes and four months jail time for mingling with unrelated men. The two men were the woman's nephew and his business partner, who were delivering bread to the elderly woman. The Muttawa public vice squad detained the three after they received a tip reporting on the visit. The two men were convicted of mingling with an unrelated woman and sentenced to lashes and jail time.

BECOME A PARTNER IN CRIME:
Here is a list of quick ways you contribute to the Middle East civil rights movement: