http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=88865&d=16&m=11&y=2006
Thursday, 16, November, 2006 (25, Shawwal, 1427) Rape: Who Gets Punished and Who Does Not? Abeer Mishkhas, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Last week the Arabic daily Okaz carried a story on two more rape cases in Qatif. One of them involved a 17-year-old boy who was dragged into a field by two men and raped. The atrocity was also filmed. The two rapists then attempted to assault another young man who managed to escape and go to the police. The two men were eventually caught and are now awaiting trial. These two crimes follow the famous rape case known in Saudi Arabia as the "Qatif Girl" incident which was a top news story a few months ago. For those who don't know, it was the gang rape of a girl in Qatif who called for help and when a man attempted to help her, he was beaten up and raped as well. The sentences, as reported by Arab News, were "Four of the seven men have been sent to jail for periods ranging from one to five years and will be given 80 to 1,000 lashes." In addition, "The court also sentenced the woman and the man she was meeting to 90 lashes for having met in private. The security source from the Eastern Province said, 'The judge sentenced the girl and the man to 90 lashes because they were alone with the intention of doing something bad. Because of that, they will be punished.'" Relatives of the woman said that they would appeal the 90-lash-sentence. The subsequent outcry and debate after the sentence is worth considering - especially in light of a sentence in another famous rape case in Riyadh a few years ago. A girl was set up by a former boyfriend and raped by the boyfriend's Nigerian driver. The rape was filmed by another friend of the boyfriend. The man who filmed the attack was sentenced to 12 years and 1,200 lashes. The Nigerian rapist was given 6 years and 600 lashes and the former boyfriend who arranged everything got only 2 years and 200 lashes. Now, there is a big discrepancy here. The men in Qatif were sentenced to from 1 to 5 years. What is the difference in the two cases? The girl in the Riyadh case was not punished though she had been involved earlier with one of the men. The Qatif girl was sentenced to 90 lashes because the court suspected the "intention of doing something bad." I certainly am not suggesting that the Riyadh girl be punished; what I am doing is wondering about the different sentences. In following this up, we can ask another question: Are people punished for nothing more than "intentions" and suspicions? And how did the court in Qatif know that the girl intended to do "something bad"? The girl denied this accusation and said he was a total stranger who came to help her. What possible foundation for punishment is there here? If the two of them had been walking down a street and there was no proven case of adultery, then there is no law which can punish them. Even under Islamic law, people are not punished for intentions and suspicions. In a well-known episode from Islamic history, Omar ibn Al-Khattab, the second caliph, was patrolling the streets of Madinah and saw a couple committing adultery in a deserted place. He did not stop them; he went back to his council and proposed bringing them in for punishment. Ali ibn Abu Taleb opposed the idea immediately and asked the caliph where the evidence and witnesses were. There could be no prosecution with neither. He told Omar, "Either you provide witnesses or we must punish you for slandering the couple." The case was dropped even though the caliph knew the couple had committed a sin. In a comment on the Al-Arabiyah website, a writer enumerated a variety of punishments in rape cases. He asked the Ministry of Justice to have a clear set of laws and punishments for such crimes so that people would not be puzzled at the light sentences in some cases and heavy ones in others. This is a very reasonable request and one which the ministry should agree to and all responsible Muslims should join the writer in requesting. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]