UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

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UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by DJKeefy »

The United Nations has expressed its "deep concern" over the acquittal of defendants accused of carrying out FGM on a girl who later died from her injuries, the first trial of its kind in Egypt.

"There is no moral, religious or health reason to cut or mutilate any girl or woman. Traditions that demean, dehumanise and injure are human rights violations that must be actively opposed until they are ended," the UN said in a statement on Thursday.

An Egyptian court dropped charges against a doctor who carried out the circumcision of 14-year-old Soheir El-Bataa, who died in the operation. Charges against the girl’s father were also dropped.

A Misdemeanour Court said on Thursday that the criminal case had "expired" after "reconciliation" with the victim's family, and ruled that the doctor must pay LE5,000 as compensation to the girl’s mother.

The defence team told Ahram Online that they would appeal.

The UN also said it "encourages review of current legislation to ensure that it fully protects the rights of women and girls, and that the perpetrators of such heinous crimes are brought to justice."

FGM was banned in Egypt in 2008, but it is still a common practice among both Muslims and Christians, especially in rural areas.

According to the UN, the Demographic and Health Survey of 2008 shows that at least 91 percent of Egyptian women aged 15 – 49 have undergone female genital mutilation.

The operation involves the removal of the clitoris and sometimes even more extreme mutilation, which proponents argue “purifies” women and prevents sexual temptation.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/116068.aspx


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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by Bullet Magnet »

So a 14 year old girls life is worth 5k ?
Doctor's seldom get to court, never mind being found guilty. :urm:
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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by newcastle »

The UN may be "deeply concerned" but it is apparent that the societies which still perpetrate the abomination of FGM are anything but and until these societies themselves undergo a mindset change little will change.

I believe it may take a few generations more ....despite the current furore over this (and other) cases.
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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by Glyphdoctor »

I can understand how reconciliation might lead to dismissal of the death charges, but whether she died or not it was illegal for him to be performing the operation in the first place. I've never read anything about whether he is being held accountable for that aspect of the case, which seems like it should be cut and dry and he should lose his license to practice on those grounds alone.
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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by newcastle »

Is it possible the judges accepted the testimony of the father & hospital that it wasn't actually an FGM operation but "the removal of excess skin"....for some other abstruse reason? I appreciate this requires the suspension of disbelief.....but what other sense is one to make of the decision?

That the culture that supports FGM is endemic is one thing. That some judges are prepared to connive in excusing it is beyond appalling.
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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by newcastle »

I have, from time to time, raised the issue of FGM with Egyptian friends and all of them express disapproval. However I sense that it bothers them in somewhat the same way that many of us might feel about the eating of meat or consumption of milk. We might acknowledge that it entails the most appalling cruelty to animals....but relatively few of us are prepared to embrace veganism.

It's as if the horror can be "disappeared".
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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by Scottishtourist »

My bugbear is not so much with the doctor who performed this...it's more with the father of the young girl!
What the hell was he thinking of?
And where was her mother in this period of distress?

We've heard very little about the mother's reaction.Was she pushing the father to do this to their child?

I've read numerous stories about this procedure on the forum.They all seem to be instigated by the mothers/females in the family.Is this the one decision in a young girls life where they are bound by "matriarchal"rule?

A young girl has died from being needlessly butchered!Even the original defence of being treated for genital warts leaves a bad taste in the mouth!

What exactly is the mindset of Egyptian men with regard to this?
Do they enjoy sex so much with a circumcised woman that they honestly believe their daughters will benefit from this procedure?
Or are they simply following tradition,culture and accepting the opinions of their wives/mothers/female relatives,etc?

This is a serious question,so I'm not looking for flippant replies.

Everyone says Egypt/Luxor is a conservative society.But all everyone seems to talk about is sexuality.Our friend's daughter is now 14.Her mum informed me on my recent visit that her daughter has now "got her period ."They had a party for her and she's now wearing niqab..at 14 years old.So young..and proudly proclaiming to world that she is now a "woman!"
My own two daughters would have curled up with embarrassment if I had even suggested any form of celebration for this natural bodily function commonly known as puberty!
Their daddy would have treated them as young women and put aside all notions of their "sexuality."
They would still have been god-like and chaste in his eyes whether they were developing or not!

I can honestly say that I'd rather have an uncut living daughter..than a dead "chastened"one.
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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by Glyphdoctor »

Newcastle-You ask what other sense there is to accept this decision. Google diyya and qissas. It all makes perfect sense as to why there was no further punishment for the death to me based on those principles, but I would still think he should definitely be punished for performing a banned procedure, regardless of its outcome.
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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by newcastle »

Glyphdoctor wrote:Newcastle-You ask what other sense there is to accept this decision. Google diyya and qissas. It all makes perfect sense as to why there was no further punishment for the death to me based on those principles, but I would still think he should definitely be punished for performing a banned procedure, regardless of its outcome.
Thank you for the reference to 'diyya' & 'qissas...I was vaguely aware of these Sharia principles...but unaware of the nomenclature! But, unlike KSA, Iran & some other islamic states, these principles are not embodied in Egypt's penal code....or at least I didn't think so.

Maybe I didn't express my query clearly. What I found senseless was that the accused (father & hospital) were "acquitted" under the law...at least according to the very brief coverage of the trial I've seen. In plain English that means to me that the judges found that they had not connived in or performed an FGM operation. Perhaps the reports I've seen are not accurate in this respect.

I agree with you that, at the very least, the doctor should have been found guilty & punished in order to signify that the state does not condone FGM.
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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by Glyphdoctor »

From what I have read, the family changed their police reports to say no surgery was performed. Although I would think forensic exams could show that one way or another.

As for the law, well sharia law is the basis of the law as per the constitution, so even if it isn't enocded in particular statutes, it still could be used as a point of reference I would assume.
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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by Glyphdoctor »

For those following this thread this article gives some more info: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/n ... not-guilty
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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by Dusak »

My friend is very much against this procedure. Her brother is insisting that his new born girl has it done because it is right. Her sister also has a new baby girl but the opposite is in force here, her husband says that it is not necessary, but the mother says that it is needed because she has had it done and protects the child against illness. She will not budge from her outlandish opinion. I have no idea where or when this will take place, but I do know from past conversations that a woman in the next village has carried it out for years. Her sister lives in Aswan, so can only assume that it will be done there.
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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by newcastle »

Glyphdoctor wrote:For those following this thread this article gives some more info: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/n ... not-guilty
A rather dreadful indictment of the judicial system, or at least one judge, .....but then that's been par for the course in Egypt for years.

The doctor got off lightly. The father's punishment is the death of his child....justice of a sort.
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Re: UN 'deeply concerned' over Egypt FGM acquittal

Post by DJKeefy »

Egypt court overturns acquittal verdict in FGM death case.

An Egyptian court accepted on Thursday to hear an appeal by prosecutors against an acquittal verdict given to two men charged in relation to performing a female circumcision operation that killed a teenage girl in 2013.

The acquittal of the girl's father and the doctor who performed the operation was announced by a court in Egypt's Nile Delta city of Mansoura in November.

It was the first time Egyptian courts have looked into a case of female genital mutilation, a practice that was officially banned in 2008.

The court acquitted the defendants of performing female circumcision, exposing the child to danger and forcing the child to undergo the operation. It also acquitted the doctor of operating in an unfit medical facility.

Although banned, FGM is still widespread in Egypt in both Muslim and Christian families, especially in rural areas.

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/117767.aspx
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