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

ISSUE #77 CONTENTS:


SPOTLIGHT CASES:

Civil Procedure: Democratic Debate Series Debuts in Cairo

DebateRadio Horytna, Cairo's most popular Internet radio service, interrupted its usual pop music program Thursday evening to air a debate sponsored by the American Islamic Congress’ Cairo office. A young audience of diverse religious backgrounds – including Christians, Muslims, and Baha'is - crowded into the radio studio, filling every seat and lining the walls. The capacity crowd waited to weigh in as debaters argued for and against the resolution: “the primary obstacle to religious tolerance in Egypt is popular attitudes not laws.”

Two weeks of online polling conducted before the debate showed 63% popular support for the resolution and 37% opposed. A quick audience survey conducted at the debate's outset mirrored the online results. Yet by the end of the evening's discussion – framed by opposing debaters Ahmed Abul Maged and Ayman Abdul Rasul – opinions had shifted drastically with 90% against and 10% in favor.

Thursday's event was the culmination of a week-long debate training project. Trainees, including students and young activists, participated in a full day of instruction in civil dialogue and workshops on negotiation and debate skills. The initiative aims to help young Egyptians address religious disputes through respectful discussion while providing the opportunity for interfaith dialogue. Once the floor was opened to the audience, a number of the trainees asked questions and shared their viewpoints, contributing to an exciting exchange of ideas.

“Ignorance and lack of communication are the major factors in the growing intolerance we often see in society,” observed AIC Egypt director Dalia Ziada. “Thursday’s debate presented a new way for young Egyptians to address civil rights and social challenges through an open forum and respectful exchange. Given the enthusiastic response, we are planning several more debates and more debate training.”



Mock Court in Beirut Challenges Citizenship Ban

MockA Lebanese politician sports an extravagant suit and casually blows cigar smoke as he expresses indifference to the rights of the citizens he represents. The satiric scene, acted out in downtown Beirut, was part of a recent mock trial organized by civil rights advocates to protest Lebanon’s decades-old laws that bar women from passing citizenship to their spouses and children.

On June 20, 300 people endured the heat to march from the Interior Ministry in Sanayeh to the Beirut Corniche. The protest, organized by the Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action (CRTD-A), came after Lebanon’s Appeals Court overturned a ruling granting Samira Soueidan’s four children Lebanese citizenship. It is estimated that 80,000 husbands and children in Lebanon are currently denied citizenship – and consequently face employment discrimination, must repeatedly apply for residency permits, and remain ineligible for state healthcare and education.

CRTD-A’s Roula Masri observed: “Through this mock trial… we are trying to find out why people really oppose this measure, to shed light on the real reasons. At the end of the mock trial, we’ll have our own judgment – the people’s judgment.” In Masri’s theatrical protest, the mock Lebanese politician nonchalantly flicks cigar ash and acts undeterred by the civil rights protests. It remains to be seen if real-life political leaders will continue to stay similarly aloof. 



“Quazi” Citizen: A Hostage to Saudi’s Guardian Law

It is a love story like any other, a Romeo and Juliet of sorts, only this time in the Middle East with the names Nazia Quazi and Bjorn Singhal. The two met while studying at Ottawa University. Quazi, a Canadian of Indian Muslim origin fell in love with classmate Bjorn, a half-Hindu half-Muslim from Dubai. In 2007, Quazi left for Dubai with the intention of marrying Singhal, already aware that her parents disapproved of the match. Upon discovering their daughter’s whereabouts, Quazi’s father took her to Saudi Arabia and leveraged the country’s Guardianship Law to block her from leaving the country.

Under Saudi law, every woman – no matter how old – must have a male guardian (brother, father, husband, or son) to approve when she travels, works, marries, etc. Quazi discovered her passport and IDs were missing, and without her father’s permission she could not purchase a plane ticket. Desperate for help, Quazi approached a Saudi human rights commission but was instructed to respect her father’s decision. The Canadian embassy refused to give her a temporary passport because she lacked authentic ID and said that ultimately any form of exit from the country would require her father’s permission.

Frustrated, Quazi wrote an online letter, hoping that someone would take up her case. Human Rights Watch, Muslims for Progressive Values, and international media began to pick up the case of a Canadian girl trapped in Saudi Arabia. Three years later, in May of this year, Quazi’s father finally relented under the pressure and allowed Nazia to travel to Dubai to marry Bjorn. “The hardest part was to wait for something to happen, that’s what really killed me,” says Quazi. “I actually forgot what freedom was.” Though she is tasting freedom again and has reunited with her lover, Saudi Guardianship Laws remain and effectively imprison an untold number of women.

 

MingleQUIZ: What can mingling with the opposite gender get you at a Saudi party?

ANSWER: An unspecified number of lashes and two years in jail. A Saudi court has convicted four women and 11 men for the crime of mingling at a party. The men and three of the women, all between the ages of 30 and 40, were sentenced to an unspecified number of lashes and given one or two year prison terms. One woman escaped jail time but received 80 lashes as punishment due to her status as a minor. The group was spotted partying last month up until daylight, and sentenced at a court in Ha’il last week.


BECOME A PARTNER IN CRIME:
Here are quick ways to contribute to the Middle East civil rights movement: