Saturday, 5 November 2011
Turkish court reduces sentences for 26 men accused of raping 13-year-old
Human rights groups have reacted with outrage after a Turkish appeals court reduced prison sentences for 26 men convicted of having sex with a 13-year-old girl, because the victim had given "consent".
In a judgment this week, the court ruled that the sentence was based on the old Turkish penal code, under which rape of a minor could be punished with a minimum prison sentence of 10 years – unless the child consented.
Two women accused of having sold the girl – known only as NÇ – for sex have each been sentenced to nine years in prison, for leading "immoral lives", but the 26 men, who include teachers, civil servants and a village elder, were given sentences ranging from one to six years.
Activists protesting outside Istanbul's palace of justice on Friday called for the decision to be overturned.
"Is it necessary to discuss consent when 26 men rape a 13-year-old girl?" asked Nilgün Yurdalan, a women's rights activist of the Istanbul Feminist Collective.
"We think that the government itself has committed a serious crime. This does not concern only the five judges, but the laws of this country, the mentality of the government and their view of women," she said.
The supreme court said the sentence could, however, still be appealed, and that no further comments could be made on the case.
One of NÇ's lawyers, Reyhan Yalçindag Baydemir, warned that further delay might lead to the case breaching the Turkish statute of limitations, which would result in all 26 defendants going free. The case will now also be reviewed by the European court of human rights.
The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has distanced itself from the ruling, and family and social policies minister Fatma Sahin called the sentence "unacceptable and worrying".
Human rights activist Leman Yurtsever, who together with human rights lawyer Erin Keskin has been a foster mother to NÇ, told a local newspaper that the court ruling was a severe shock for the young woman, who had suffered severe injuries and trauma. NÇ, now 19, has just finished high school and plans to become a journalist or a lawyer.
According to statistics published by the justice ministry, killings of women in Turkey increased by 1,400% between 2002 and 2009.
Yurdalan said the figures reflect an increase in women's willingness to report abuse, but also an increase in violence.
"Men in Turkey, be it husbands, fathers or politicians, cannot bear that women demand equal rights and make their voices heard," she said.
Constanze Letsch @'The Guardian'
In a judgment this week, the court ruled that the sentence was based on the old Turkish penal code, under which rape of a minor could be punished with a minimum prison sentence of 10 years – unless the child consented.
Two women accused of having sold the girl – known only as NÇ – for sex have each been sentenced to nine years in prison, for leading "immoral lives", but the 26 men, who include teachers, civil servants and a village elder, were given sentences ranging from one to six years.
Activists protesting outside Istanbul's palace of justice on Friday called for the decision to be overturned.
"Is it necessary to discuss consent when 26 men rape a 13-year-old girl?" asked Nilgün Yurdalan, a women's rights activist of the Istanbul Feminist Collective.
"We think that the government itself has committed a serious crime. This does not concern only the five judges, but the laws of this country, the mentality of the government and their view of women," she said.
The supreme court said the sentence could, however, still be appealed, and that no further comments could be made on the case.
One of NÇ's lawyers, Reyhan Yalçindag Baydemir, warned that further delay might lead to the case breaching the Turkish statute of limitations, which would result in all 26 defendants going free. The case will now also be reviewed by the European court of human rights.
The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has distanced itself from the ruling, and family and social policies minister Fatma Sahin called the sentence "unacceptable and worrying".
Human rights activist Leman Yurtsever, who together with human rights lawyer Erin Keskin has been a foster mother to NÇ, told a local newspaper that the court ruling was a severe shock for the young woman, who had suffered severe injuries and trauma. NÇ, now 19, has just finished high school and plans to become a journalist or a lawyer.
According to statistics published by the justice ministry, killings of women in Turkey increased by 1,400% between 2002 and 2009.
Yurdalan said the figures reflect an increase in women's willingness to report abuse, but also an increase in violence.
"Men in Turkey, be it husbands, fathers or politicians, cannot bear that women demand equal rights and make their voices heard," she said.
Constanze Letsch @'The Guardian'
exiledsurfer exiledsurfer
Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, tits, fart, turd, twat. No one ever said them better. youtu.be/3_Nrp7cj_tM
Iran boosts anti-U.S. rhetoric ahead of nuclear report
Iran marked the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy on Friday with burning flags and chants of "Death to America," escalating its anti-U.S. rhetoric ahead of the release of a pivotal U.N. report on its nuclear program.
Thousands of students burned the Stars and Stripes, an effigy of Uncle Sam and pictures of President Barack Obama outside the leafy downtown Tehran compound that once housed the U.S. mission.
The embassy was stormed by hardline students on November 4 1979, shortly after Iran's Islamic revolution toppled the U.S.-backed shah, and 52 Americans were held hostage there for 444 days. The two countries have been enemies ever since.
Tehran has raised the volume of its anti-American rhetoric since October when the United States accused Iran of plotting to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington. Iran calls the accusations false.
Tension between Iran and the West is particularly high ahead of the publication next week of a report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, expected to suggest Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.
Iran says its nuclear program is aimed at peaceful generation of electricity, but its failure to allay suspicions that it is seeking a bomb has prompted the United Nations to impose four rounds of economic sanctions on Tehran.
For its part, Tehran accuses the United States and Israel of killing several Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years.
"America has carried out terrorist acts against Iran and other countries ... We will support those who are against America's policies outside and inside America," the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, told the crowd outside the former embassy.
He said Iran would present the United Nations with evidence of U.S. plots against Iran, and the foreign ministry would summon the Swiss ambassador on Friday to protest. The Swiss embassy represents U.S. interests in Iran.
Iran's top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday he had 100 "undeniable documents" proving the U.S. was behind "terrorist acts" in Iran.
PRESSURE
The United States, Britain and France have turned up the pressure on Iran this week ahead of next week's IEAE report, expected to unveil detailed intelligence pointing to military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program.
"One (issue) in particular that I want to mention is the continuing threat posed by Iran's nuclear program," U.S. President Barack Obama told reporters after meeting French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the resort of Cannes.
"The IAEA is scheduled to release a report on Iran's nuclear program next week and President Sarkozy and I agree on the need to maintain the unprecedented pressure on Iran to meet its obligations."
The United States and Israel have refused to rule out military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites. Iran has warned of a fierce response to any attack.
"Nuclear technology is our absolute right," read one banner carried by students at Friday's protest.
"We came here to show America that it cannot do a damn thing and we will destroy them if they attack Iran," said Mehdi Asadi, 13, who said he was attending the ceremony to pay homage to the takeover of the embassy.
Ramin Mostafavi @'Reuters'
Thousands of students burned the Stars and Stripes, an effigy of Uncle Sam and pictures of President Barack Obama outside the leafy downtown Tehran compound that once housed the U.S. mission.
The embassy was stormed by hardline students on November 4 1979, shortly after Iran's Islamic revolution toppled the U.S.-backed shah, and 52 Americans were held hostage there for 444 days. The two countries have been enemies ever since.
Tehran has raised the volume of its anti-American rhetoric since October when the United States accused Iran of plotting to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington. Iran calls the accusations false.
Tension between Iran and the West is particularly high ahead of the publication next week of a report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, expected to suggest Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.
Iran says its nuclear program is aimed at peaceful generation of electricity, but its failure to allay suspicions that it is seeking a bomb has prompted the United Nations to impose four rounds of economic sanctions on Tehran.
For its part, Tehran accuses the United States and Israel of killing several Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years.
"America has carried out terrorist acts against Iran and other countries ... We will support those who are against America's policies outside and inside America," the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, told the crowd outside the former embassy.
He said Iran would present the United Nations with evidence of U.S. plots against Iran, and the foreign ministry would summon the Swiss ambassador on Friday to protest. The Swiss embassy represents U.S. interests in Iran.
Iran's top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday he had 100 "undeniable documents" proving the U.S. was behind "terrorist acts" in Iran.
PRESSURE
The United States, Britain and France have turned up the pressure on Iran this week ahead of next week's IEAE report, expected to unveil detailed intelligence pointing to military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program.
"One (issue) in particular that I want to mention is the continuing threat posed by Iran's nuclear program," U.S. President Barack Obama told reporters after meeting French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the resort of Cannes.
"The IAEA is scheduled to release a report on Iran's nuclear program next week and President Sarkozy and I agree on the need to maintain the unprecedented pressure on Iran to meet its obligations."
The United States and Israel have refused to rule out military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites. Iran has warned of a fierce response to any attack.
"Nuclear technology is our absolute right," read one banner carried by students at Friday's protest.
"We came here to show America that it cannot do a damn thing and we will destroy them if they attack Iran," said Mehdi Asadi, 13, who said he was attending the ceremony to pay homage to the takeover of the embassy.
Ramin Mostafavi @'Reuters'
Tom Waits: The Fresh Air Interview
"I never had my own place before," he tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "[In a studio], you know there was a band before you and you know you have to pack up at the end of your session because there was a band behind you. You have to photograph the board so no one changes your settings. Now, this is my own rig. It's my own trailer."
Bad As Me, Waits' 20th album, references the people he normally sings about: loners, losers, drunks and eccentrics. The "poet of outcasts," as The New York Times once called Waits, romanticizes loneliness, the city of Chicago, death and love, among other topics. The album also pays homage to some of Waits' favorite singers, including James Brown, Peggy Lee and Howlin' Wolf.
"I've always looked to [Wolf] for guidance, and probably always will," Waits says. "He does have a voice that is otherworldly. It should be in a time capsule somewhere. When you're a kid and you're trying to find your own voice, it's rather daunting to hear somebody like Howlin' Wolf, because you know that you'll never achieve that. That's the Empire State Building. You can scream into a pillow for a year and never get there."
One of the torch ballads on Bad As Me is called "Kiss Me," and has opening chords reminiscent of "Cry Me a River." The title, Waits says, was inspired by Kiss Me Like a Stranger, Gene Wilder's book about Gilda Radner.
"As soon as I heard it," Waits says, "I said, 'That's a tune waiting to be written.'"
To make the recording sound older, Waits added the sound of vinyl pops and clicks — using a piece of chicken barbecuing on a grill.
"It sounds exactly like vinyl if you hold the microphone up to your barbecue," he says. "It's the same sound, actually. ... I wanted to go back in time a little bit and give it a feeling like you're alone in a hotel with a record player."
For the words in "Kiss Me," Waits says he drew inspiration from songwriters like Peggy Lee, Julie London and Bessie Smith.
"For a songwriter, you don't really go to songwriting school; you learn by listening to tunes. And you try to understand them and take them apart and see what they're made of, and wonder if you can make one, too," he says. "And you just do it by picking up the needle and putting it back down and figuring it how these people did this magical thing. It's rather mystifying when you think about songs — where they come from and how they're born. Many times, it's very humble and very mundane, the origin of these songs."
Waits says he also grew up listening to James Brown and Ray Charles, whom he admired for his ability to sing in falsetto. Waits takes his own turn singing in falsetto in "Talking At the Same Time," which he says was inspired by Charles, as well as Marvin Gaye, Skip James, Prince and Smokey Robinson.
"Sometimes the magnetism of a song is impossible to ignore, and it demands that it be sung in a certain way," Waits says. "And that's really your job as an interpreter, to discover: 'What is the way in? Do I growl this? Do I eliminate all my growl and try to do it like a younger man? What does this song mean?' You're more like an actor."
But Waits says performing night after night on the road takes its toll on his voice.
"I bark my voice out through a closed throat, pretty much," he says. "It's more, perhaps, like a dog in some ways. It does have its limitations, but I'm learning different ways to keep it alive."...
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SOPA: Hollywood's latest effort to turn back time
The bill, introduced as the House version of the Senate's Protect IP Act, solves few of the glaring problems of the Senate bill and introduces many all its own. While Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) may have given in to hyperbole in calling SOPA "the end of the Internet as we know it," there is certainly a great deal in the bill that should concern even law-abiding consumers and leaders in the tech community.
Has Washington finally gone too far?
House leaders assured Silicon Valley they would correct serious defects in the Senate bill. Unfortunately, SOPA does just the opposite. It creates vague, sweeping new standards for secondary liability, drafted to ensure maximum litigation. It treats all U.S. consumers as guilty until proven innocent. If passed, the bill would give media companies unprecedented new powers to shape the structure and content of the Internet.
Critics of Protect IP pointed out that most of its provisions would only harm innocent foreign Web sites, since truly rogue Web sites could easily engineer around all of its provisions. Rather than give up on the idea of legislating a fast-changing Internet, the House authors have instead built in as many alternative definitions, open-ended requirements, and undefined terms as they could.
The result is not a better piece of legislation. It is simply one with no real boundaries. The House version throws legal and technical spaghetti against the wall, hoping some of it will stick.
The House bill, for example, dubbed the "E-PARASITE Act," proposes alternative versions of several provisions from Protect IP, including new authority for the attorney general to cut off access and funding for "parasite" foreign Web sites. (SOPA requires the U.S. copyright czar to determine the extent to which these foreign infringers are actually harming U.S. interests, data collection that logically should precede such sweeping new powers.)
Once the Justice Department determines a site "or a portion thereof" is "committing or facilitating" certain copyright and trademark violations, it can apply for court orders that would force ISPs and others who maintain DNS lookup tables to block access to the site.
Search engines (a term broadly defined that includes any website with a "search" field), along with payment processors and advertising networks, can also be forced to cut ties with the parasites. Operators of innocent sites have limited ability to challenge the Justice Department's decision before or after action is taken.
SOPA also includes its own version of another Senate bill, which would make it a felony to stream copyrighted works. The House version allows prosecution of anyone who "willfully" includes protected content without permission, including, for example, YouTube videos where copyrighted music is covered or even played in the background...
Continue reading
Larry Downes @'c/net'
Murdoch press a threat to democracy
A senior ALP faction leader branded Rupert Murdoch's News Limited "a threat to democracy" today as the feud between the newspaper group and the Government intensified.
Left faction convenor Doug Cameron's extraordinary outburst was sparked by a story in News Limited's Daily Telegraph reporting that former PM Kevin Rudd is being urged by his backers to challenge Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Senator Cameron said he would take a motion to Labor caucus seeking to widen the existing inquiry into the media to look specifically at News Limited's "absolute hatred" of Labor.
"The inquiry we are having into the media - we should widen it to make sure we get a decent press in this country," he told reporters at Parliament House.
News Limited and the Daily Telegraph are not the only publications to report on a Rudd challenge, but Senator Cameron singled out the newspaper as "reprehensible".
"The Murdoch press are an absolute disgrace, they are a threat to democracy in this country and we should absolutely be having a look at them.
"They run unsubstantiated stories. I'm saying it's a fabrication. They run unsubstantiated stories in relation to the leadership of the party."
Senator Cameron said the Labor caucus was "completely in support of the leader" and said the Daily Telegraph story was "lies and nonsense".
"We should not be diverted by the Murdoch press and their attempt to destabilise this government. This is a good government. It doesn't suit Rupert Murdoch and his minions and we are prepared to take that on.
"Day in and day out the Murdoch press are putting false headlines out there. They are misrepresenting the position of the government. Day in and day out it's absolute lies and nonsense that is getting printed in the Murdoch press, and that's the issue."
He said he would move to change the terms of reference of the media inquiry to specifically examine News Limited reporting.
"It's my view - and I'm going to take it up in the next caucus - that we should widen the inquiry into the press in this country and make sure that we put a forensic analysis on the behaviour of the Murdoch press and the threat to democracy they are.
"They are setting out to try and destroy the Labor party. They are not reporting the facts. They are making stories up and the story that's there this morning is a complete fabrication."
Senator Cameron linked the Australian arm of the Murdoch empire to News International, the UK newspaper arm of News Corporation, which saw its popular News of the World tabloid closed after a phone tapping scandal.
"You can't tell me that the culture that permeates the Murdoch press internationally has not permeated Australia. I don't buy that for one minute."
And Senator Cameron questioned how the story was obtained in the first place.
"This report looks like a long boozy dinner and something's been made up. It looks absolute nonsense."
Liberal Senator Eric Abetz said Senator Cameron needed "liver cleansing treatment" and said he should not blame newspapers for Labor's problems.
"It is no secret around this building that Kevin Rudd is trying to make a comeback and here we have Senator Cameron blaming the Murdoch press for it. I ask you, if that is what he actually believes he is hugely deluded," Senator Abetz told reporters.
Mr Rudd has laughed off the speculation he will challenge for the Labor leadership.
"As I have said a thousand times before, I am very, very happy being the Foreign Minister of Australia," he said. "That hasn't changed and it won't change."
When contacted for comment, one of the report's authors, Daily Telegraph reporter Simon Benson, asked: "Do you normally ring other journos for comment?"
"Journos speaking to other journos - what a joke. You're a clown. You're a clown."
The other journalist on the joint by-line, Steve Lewis, declined to comment.
Today's story and Senator Cameron's comments will add to the bitter animosity between News Limited and the Government in the wake of strident criticism of the Daily Telegraph by Treasurer Wayne Swan and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
Greens leader Bob Brown has also been bitterly critical of News Ltd papers, particularly the Australian, which he brands "the hate media", and Senator Conroy has accused the Daily Telegraph of running a campaign for "regime change".
The Greens have called for the break-up of the Murdoch press - which owns almost 70 per cent of Australia's capital city newspaper market - but the current media inquiry is not considering the reform, instead looking at ways to strengthen the print media watchdog, the Press Council.
@'ABC'
Left faction convenor Doug Cameron's extraordinary outburst was sparked by a story in News Limited's Daily Telegraph reporting that former PM Kevin Rudd is being urged by his backers to challenge Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Senator Cameron said he would take a motion to Labor caucus seeking to widen the existing inquiry into the media to look specifically at News Limited's "absolute hatred" of Labor.
"The inquiry we are having into the media - we should widen it to make sure we get a decent press in this country," he told reporters at Parliament House.
News Limited and the Daily Telegraph are not the only publications to report on a Rudd challenge, but Senator Cameron singled out the newspaper as "reprehensible".
"The Murdoch press are an absolute disgrace, they are a threat to democracy in this country and we should absolutely be having a look at them.
"They run unsubstantiated stories. I'm saying it's a fabrication. They run unsubstantiated stories in relation to the leadership of the party."
Senator Cameron said the Labor caucus was "completely in support of the leader" and said the Daily Telegraph story was "lies and nonsense".
"We should not be diverted by the Murdoch press and their attempt to destabilise this government. This is a good government. It doesn't suit Rupert Murdoch and his minions and we are prepared to take that on.
"Day in and day out the Murdoch press are putting false headlines out there. They are misrepresenting the position of the government. Day in and day out it's absolute lies and nonsense that is getting printed in the Murdoch press, and that's the issue."
He said he would move to change the terms of reference of the media inquiry to specifically examine News Limited reporting.
"It's my view - and I'm going to take it up in the next caucus - that we should widen the inquiry into the press in this country and make sure that we put a forensic analysis on the behaviour of the Murdoch press and the threat to democracy they are.
"They are setting out to try and destroy the Labor party. They are not reporting the facts. They are making stories up and the story that's there this morning is a complete fabrication."
Senator Cameron linked the Australian arm of the Murdoch empire to News International, the UK newspaper arm of News Corporation, which saw its popular News of the World tabloid closed after a phone tapping scandal.
"You can't tell me that the culture that permeates the Murdoch press internationally has not permeated Australia. I don't buy that for one minute."
And Senator Cameron questioned how the story was obtained in the first place.
"This report looks like a long boozy dinner and something's been made up. It looks absolute nonsense."
Liberal Senator Eric Abetz said Senator Cameron needed "liver cleansing treatment" and said he should not blame newspapers for Labor's problems.
"It is no secret around this building that Kevin Rudd is trying to make a comeback and here we have Senator Cameron blaming the Murdoch press for it. I ask you, if that is what he actually believes he is hugely deluded," Senator Abetz told reporters.
Mr Rudd has laughed off the speculation he will challenge for the Labor leadership.
"As I have said a thousand times before, I am very, very happy being the Foreign Minister of Australia," he said. "That hasn't changed and it won't change."
When contacted for comment, one of the report's authors, Daily Telegraph reporter Simon Benson, asked: "Do you normally ring other journos for comment?"
"Journos speaking to other journos - what a joke. You're a clown. You're a clown."
The other journalist on the joint by-line, Steve Lewis, declined to comment.
Today's story and Senator Cameron's comments will add to the bitter animosity between News Limited and the Government in the wake of strident criticism of the Daily Telegraph by Treasurer Wayne Swan and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
Greens leader Bob Brown has also been bitterly critical of News Ltd papers, particularly the Australian, which he brands "the hate media", and Senator Conroy has accused the Daily Telegraph of running a campaign for "regime change".
The Greens have called for the break-up of the Murdoch press - which owns almost 70 per cent of Australia's capital city newspaper market - but the current media inquiry is not considering the reform, instead looking at ways to strengthen the print media watchdog, the Press Council.
@'ABC'
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