RiverSbend wrote:
The Situation for Women in Saddam's Iraq
In 1979, immediately upon coming to power, Saddam Hussein silenced all political opposition in Iraq and converted his one-party state into a cult of personality. Since then, his regime has systematically executed, tortured, imprisoned, raped, terrorized, and repressed the Iraqi people. Iraq is a nation rich in culture, with a long history of intellectual and scientific achievement, especially among its women. However, Saddam Hussein's brutal regime has silenced the voices of Iraq's women, along with its men, through violence and intimidation.

[..]

Murder. In 1990, Saddam Hussein introduced Article 111 into the Iraqi Penal Code in a calculated effort to strengthen tribal support for his regime. This law exempts men who kill their female relatives in defense of their family's honor from prosecution and punishment. The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women reported that more than 4,000 women have been victims of so-called "honor killings" since Article 111 went into effect. (UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, January 2002)

I want to help my country to make a new life, to get human rights, and also to get modern life, especially because we are a rich country

- posted by river @ 1:37 AM


[BRIAN’S Comment – all this, apart from the last improvised line is taken from the US State Dept site under the heading Women in Iraq http://www.state.gov/g/wi/c8973.htm. At least this time the article appeared before the blogger claimed to have written it]

RiverSbend wrote:
I am Iraqi
I can honestly say now that I'm proud to be an Iraqi. Because of what has happened, because there is freedom here like I have not known before. Now I can talk-to you, to people I could never talk to before. I am a simple woman. I am just a worker. But even these simple things-talking-give me hope.
- posted by river @ 4:31 AM


[BRIAN’S Comment – I am an Iraqi. I am a woman. I am a worker. Don't believe a word of it. "I am simple". Now that I won't argue with.]