Libya: Abdel Rahim al-Kib named new interim PM

BBC News, 31 October 2011

Libya Crisis 

• Muammar Gaddafi: How he died
• The bloody birth of new Libya
• Last of the buffoon dictators?
• Counting the cost in Libya

Abdel Rahim al-Kib replaces Mahmoud
Jibril (pictured) as interim prime minister

Libya's interim authorities have named electrical engineering academic Abdel Rahim al-Kib as the new prime minister.

The National Transitional Council (NTC) made the announcement days after declaring the country "liberated" following the death of Muammar Gaddafi.

It also coincides with the official end of the Nato air campaign that helped overthrow the long-time leader.

The NTC wants a national congress to be elected within eight months, and multi-party elections in Libya in 2013.

Mr Kib, an academic specialising in electrical engineering and based in Tripoli, beat eight other candidates to receive 26 of the 51 votes from members of the NTC.

He is seen as a consensus candidate, who is well-liked and can smooth over rivalries within the NTC, the BBC's Katya Adler in Tripoli reports.

Mr Kib is expected to appoint a new cabinet in the coming days. The new interim government will run Libya until elections are held.

He replaces Mahmoud Jibril, who said he would stand down once Libya was declared officially "liberated" - which happened on 23 October, after the death of Col Gaddafi and the fall of his hometown of Sirte.

Spokesman Jalal el-Gallal said the NTC wanted to form a new interim government after the fall of Col Gaddafi because its initial members started out as an impromptu group, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Uganda fury at David Cameron aid threat over gay rights

BBC News, 31 October 2011 

Related Stories 

• PM Commonwealth human rights plea
• Uganda's anti-gay bill 'shelved'
• South Africa's lesbians fear 'corrective rape'

Human rights should be respected, David Cameron says

The UK is showing a "bullying mentality" by threatening to cut aid to countries where homosexuality is illegal, a Ugandan official says.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said at the weekend that those receiving British aid should respect gay rights.

But Ugandan presidential adviser John Nagenda told the BBC Ugandans were "tired of these lectures" and should not be treated like "children".

Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda and most other African countries.

Many people see it as violating religious and cultural beliefs.

In Nigeria, the government has unveiled a draft law which makes it an offence for anyone to support gay marriages.

Mr Cameron told the BBC he had raised the issue of gay rights at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, in Perth, Australia, last week.

'Natural death'

Mr Cameron said those receiving UK aid should "adhere to proper human rights".

Ending the bans on homosexuality was one of the recommendations of an internal report into the future relevance of the Commonwealth.

Mr Nagenda accused Mr Cameron of showing an "ex-colonial mentality" and of treating Ugandans "like children".

"Uganda is, if you remember, a sovereign state and we are tired of being given these lectures by people," he told the BBC's Newshour programme.

"If they must take their money, so be it."

Mr Cameron's threat applies only to one type of bilateral aid known as general budget support, and would not reduce the overall amount of aid to any one country.

Malawi has already had some of its budget support suspended over concerns about its attitude to gay rights.

Mr Nagenda said the UK's "bullying mentality" was "very wrong".

"Those who have more should give to those who have less. It's as simple as that," he said.

Mr Nagenda said he doubted that the Ugandan parliament would ever approve a bill which proposed the death penalty for some homosexual acts.

"I believe it will die a natural death. But this kind of ex-colonial mentality of saying: 'You do this or I withdraw my aid' will definitely make people extremely uncomfortable with being treated like children," Mr Nagenda said.

The bill - tabled by MP David Bahati - sparked widespread international condemnation earlier this year.

Meanwhile, a Senate committee in Nigeria is holding public hearings into a proposed new law on same sex marriages.

Homosexual acts and gay marriages are already illegal in Nigeria but the draft law would also punish those who aid or abet such marriages, reports say.

Mr Cameron said he had spoken with "a number of African countries" and that more pressure had been applied by Foreign Secretary William Hague, who deputised for him during parts of the Commonwealth summit.

Some 41 nations within the 54-member Commonwealth have laws banning homosexual acts. Many of these laws are a legacy of British rule.

Related Articles:

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About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channelled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack) - “You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.”

"The Akashic System" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)  - (Text version)  New !

Horror of South Africa's 'corrective rape'

CNN News, by Nkepile Mabuse, CNN, October 28, 2011

 Thousands march through the streets of Cape Town during the
city's pride weekend.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• In South Africa the full scope of 'corrective rape' is not known because cases are not separated from other forms of rape
• 'Corrective rape' is where men rape lesbians in the belief it can can make them straight
• Zukiswa Gaca tells how she was raped and had to push police to investigate properly
• In South Africa, gay rights are constitutionally protected and activists want 'corrective rape' to legally be a hate crime

Lesbians in South Africa say they are threatened and victimized by men who believe they can "cure" them by raping them. Watch CNN International's "World'sUntold Stories" Saturday and Sunday.

Cape Town, South Africa (CNN) -- It was supposed to be an ordinary night out with friends for 20-year-old Zukiswa Gaca but it ended with her lying on a railway track attempting to take her own life.

Gaca was at a bar, drinking with friends in Khayelitsha township, less than 40 kilometers outside Cape Town, South Africa, when a man tried to ask her out.

"I told the guy that no I'm a lesbian so I don't date guys and then he said to me, 'no I understand.

I've got friends that are lesbians, that's cool, I don't have a problem with that.'"

Gaca says he was nice and she trusted him, and they left the bar to go to the home of one of his friends, and that is where his friendly exterior turned nasty.

"He said to me, 'you know what? I hate lesbians and I'm about to show you that you are not a man, as you are treating yourself like a man,'" she told CNN.

"I tried to explain 'I'm not a man. I never said I'm a man, I'm just a lesbian'. And he said, 'I will show you that I am a man and I have more power than you.'"

Then he raped her, she says, as his friend watched.

Gaca said: "[Afterwards] I went to the railway train road, because I was suicidal at the time. I was lying on the tracks. I think the train was 100 meters away from where I was. Then some other guy came and grabbed me. The train passed. He called the police."

It is called "corrective rape" - where men force themselves on lesbians, believing it will change their sexual orientation.

The extent of the problem is hard to know as South African police do not compile corrective rape statistics separately from other rape cases.

But human rights groups in the country -- where gay rights are constitutionally protected -- are outraged.

Cherith Sanger, of the Women's Legal Centre in Cape Town, which provides legal support for rape victims who cannot afford good lawyers, said: "We believe that corrective rape warrants greater recognition on the basis that there are multiple grounds of discrimination.

"It's not just about a woman being raped in terms of violence against women, which is bad enough, but it's also got to do with sexual orientation so it's another ground or level of unfair discrimination leveled against lesbians."

It was not the first time Gaca had been raped. She says she ran away from her home village, in the rural Eastern Cape, after the first rape when she was 15 years old and too afraid to press charges.

She says running was easier than dealing with a community that didn't accept lesbians.

She moved to Khayelitsha Township, a sprawling shanty town near Cape Town, Africa's "gay capital" where she hoped to find tolerance.

Instead, she was confronted by more hate. "Being a lesbian in Khayelitsha is like you are being treated like an animal, like some kind of an alien or something," she said.

While there are no official statistics on corrective rape, there have been enough publicly reported incidents to spark widespread alarm.

This time Gaca is fighting back.

New York-based Human Rights Watch recently conducted interviews in six of South Africa's nine provinces and concluded: "Social attitudes towards homosexual, bisexual, and transgender people in South Africa have possibly hardened over the last two decades. The abuse they face on an everyday basis may be verbal, physical, or sexual -- and may even result in murder."

The group added: "This is a far cry from the promise of equality and non-discrimination on the basis of 'sexual orientation' contained in the country's constitution."

Most known victims, like Gaca, are poor and black and so are the perpetrators, prompting many to ask how a people who fought against discrimination during apartheid can today treat some of its most vulnerable in such a violent manner.

Siphokazi Mthathi, South African director at Human Rights Watch, said: "We've failed to make it understood that there is a price for rape. Sexism is still deeply embedded here. There is still a strong sense among men that they have power over women, women's bodies and there's also a strong sense that there's not going to be consequences because most often there are no consequences."

Interpol estimates that half of South African women will be raped in their lifetime. But corrective rape is not even recognized as a hate crime and rights groups say few victims report their cases to the police.

But Gaca did.

In many African countries being gay is illegal. In South Africa, those entrusted with enforcing the country's "tolerant laws" now stand accused of re-traumatizing victims.

"When a woman is raped she is re-raped by the system and for me this is a big thing because it's a serious violation of our constitution and the duties that are placed on the state in terms of what the state needs to do for survivors," Sanger said.

CNN saw the treatment meted out to survivors firsthand with Gaca as she trekked from police station to police station trying to first find, and then get answers from, her investigating officer.

He was the third assigned to her case since she reported the attack in December 2009 and she eventually found him at the sexual offences unit in Bellville, a 30-minute drive from her home.

Despite the sensitive nature of her case, he met her in the wide, open office.

When Gaca asked why the police had failed to interview her alleged attacker's friend, who witnessed the rape, another officer in the room told her: "I never take a statement from a suspect's friend."

He added: "The suspect's friend is obviously going to say you are in a relationship with the suspect or that he didn't see anything. The only statements that are important here are the ones from your friend, a neutral person or a neighbor. Not someone who was there watching while you were being damaged and he wasn't helping."

CNN requested an interview with the investigator and was referred to his superiors, before being granted an interview with South Africa's Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa, who promised an investigation.

"I feel bad," the minister said. "I feel bad about all these things. That is why I'm saying people who are responsible have a case to answer."

No action has so far been taken against the police officers who not only treated Gaca with disdain but who she also had to push every step of the way to do their job.

When they let her alleged attacker go without taking DNA evidence, potentially crucial in proving his guilt, it was Gaca who insisted they re-arrest him.

After neglecting to question the eyewitness who was allegedly there throughout the incident, it was Gaca who forced the police to talk with him.

She says she sat in a car while they questioned him, as he leaned in through an open window to tell the police officer what he saw of the assault, forcing Gaca to once again relive the experience.

South Africa's Victims' Charter was drafted in 2004, granting seven fundamental rights to every victim of crime. Among them is the right to be treated with fairness and with respect to your dignity and privacy.

Gaca says these rights are ideals she has never experienced. Yet she's determined to press on.

She said: "They always get away with it. I'm just pushing so that there will be a different story on my case. Maybe if this guy could be sentenced or something happens to him I think a lot of my friends will report their cases because some of the lesbians, they don't report their cases, they don't go to the police station because they know that it will just be a waste of time."

Nearly two years after reporting her case, Gaca is still awaiting her day in court, still hoping for justice, and still fighting.

Related Articles:

About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channelled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack) - “You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.”

"The Akashic System" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)  - (Text version)  New !

Yemeni women burn veils to protest regime

CNN News, Mohammed Jamjoom and Hakim Almasmari, CNN, October 26, 2011

Women defiantly burn their veils in protest against President Ali Abdullah
Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen on October 26.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The women gathered their veils and scarves in a pile and set it ablaze
• The act is highly symbolic in the conservative Muslim nation
• A protester accused Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime of killing women and children
• She said women would not tolerate silence from tribal leaders

Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- Yemeni women defiantly burned their traditional veils Wednesday in protest of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's brutal crackdown on anti-government demonstrations.

Thousands of women gathered in the capital, Sanaa, said witnesses. They carried banners that read: "Saleh the butcher is killing women and is proud of it" and "Women have no value in the eyes in Ali Saleh."

They collected their veils and scarves in a huge pile and set it ablaze -- an act that is highly symbolic in the conservative Islamic nation, where women use their veils to cover their faces and bodies. It's the first time in the nine months of Yemen's uprising that such an event has occurred.

Inspired by Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman's Nobel Peace Prize this month, more and more Yemeni women have taken to the streets and escalated their campaign for help from the international community.

More than 60 women were attacked in October alone by the government, said protester Ruqaiah Nasser. Government forces are raiding homes and also killing children, she said.

She said silence from tribal leaders on the matter is a "disgrace."

"We will not stay quiet and will defend ourselves if our men can't defend us," Nasser said. "Tribes must understand they will not be respected by Yemeni women if they stay quiet while their women are being attacked by the Saleh regime. Tribes who ignore our calls are cowards and have no dignity."

"Saleh is killing women and children and this is against tribal culture," she said. "Where are their voices when we need them? It's a disgrace if they stay quiet."

The women's protests came after the Yemeni government announced a cease-fire Tuesday. But that did not appear to be holding.

At least 10 people died and dozens were injured earlier Tuesday in clashes between Yemeni government security forces in the country's capital and the province of Taiz, medical officials reported.

Yemen's government has said that opposition-supported militants are responsible for the violence.

Saleh summoned the U.S. ambassador and reiterated a promise to sign an agreement brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council in which he would step aside in exchange for immunity from prosecution, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

However, Saleh has repeatedly promised to sign the council-backed deal and not done so. The embattled leader has clung to power through the protracted protests.

Moderate Islamist party claims election win in Tunisia

BBC News, 24 October 2011

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Tunisia's moderate Islamist party, Ennahda, is claiming victory in the country's first democratic elections.

Moderate Islamists say they are winning
Tunisia's elections

Official results are expected on Tuesday, but provisional results suggest that Ennahda will win most votes while falling short of a majority.

Its main rival, the secular centre-left PDP party, has admitted defeat.

International observers praised the conduct of Sunday's election as free and fair.

Former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown nine months ago after mass demonstrations - he had been in power for 23 years.

However, unlike its eastern neighbour Libya, Tunisia's transition from authoritarian rule has been largely peaceful.

'Greatest share'

Ennahda's leaders have pledged to create a multi-party, secular democracy, and not an Islamist state.

A spokeswoman for the party, Yusra Ghannouchi, said: "Tunisians have voted in fact for those parties that have been consistently part of the struggle for democracy and opposed to Ben Ali's dictatorship.

"At the forefront of those parties is Ennahda party, and we believe that, as expected, it has achieved the greatest share of the vote." 

The official result is due to be announced on Tuesday.

Tunisians are electing a 217-seat assembly that will draft a constitution and appoint an interim president, who will choose the new government.

Electoral commission secretary-general Boubaker Bethabet said more than 90% of the 4.1 million registered citizens had voted.

No turnout figures were available for another 3.1 million unregistered people who also had the right to vote.

More than 100 parties had registered to participate in the elections, along with a number of independent candidates.

Hundreds of foreign election observers and thousands of local ones monitored the poll and will be watching the vote counting.

The US and EU have praised Tunisia on the peaceful election process, with President Barack Obama saying the vote was "an important step forward".

Former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown nine months ago after mass demonstrations - he had been in power for 23 years until he fled to Saudi Arabia on 14 January. 

This is the first free election in Tunisia's history

Many voters emerged from polling stations holding up blue-stained index fingers - proud to show they had cast their ballots.

The mother of Mohamed Bouazizi, the young man whose self-immolation last December triggered the Tunisian revolt, told the Reuters news agency the election was a victory for dignity and freedom.

"Now I am happy that my son's death has given the chance to get beyond fear and injustice," Manoubia Bouazizi said. "I'm an optimist, I wish success for my country."

Campaigning in Tunisia was marked by concerns over splits between Islamists and secularists, party funding and voter apathy.

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"Healing the Military Energies in our family Tree" – Jun 13, 2011 (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

“ … There’s much violence and anger throughout the world; when we look at the Middle East, we can see that changes are coming there. The West has a lot of power over the Middle East, but that power will begin to dissolve. The Muslim people of this world will begin to have their own power, and their own prosperity, and they will begin to disconnect from the Western World. This disconnection doesn’t have to be violent as violence only happens when somebody hangs onto what doesn’t belong to them....

... What Military Energy means if we use an analogy: it would be like putting grinding paste into the oil of your motor car. Once you release these energies you will begin to feel lighter as you disconnect from this reality, and, you will find it easier and easier to release any other negative emotions. Military Energies are the core of all your problems...."

Zimbabwe's PM Morgan Tsvangirai in gay rights U-turn

BBC News, 24 October 2011

Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in gay rights U-turn

Zimbabwe - New Era? 

• Glasnost - African style
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Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has reversed his position on gay rights, saying he now wants them enshrined in a new constitution.

He told the BBC that gay rights were a "human right" that conservative Zimbabweans should respect.

Last year, Mr Tsvangirai joined President Robert Mugabe in opposing homosexuality.

The fractious coalition formed by the two leaders has promised political reforms ahead of next year's elections.

Zimbabwe is in the process of drafting a new constitution, which will be put to a referendum ahead of the elections.

Homosexual acts are currently illegal in Zimbabwe, as in most African countries where many people view homosexuality as un-Christian and un-African.

'Pigs and dogs'

Mr Tsvangirai told BBC's Newsnight programme that there was a "very strong cultural feeling" against homosexuality in Zimbabwe, but he would defend gay rights if he became president. 

President Robert Mugabe (L) and his Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai (R) have a fractious relationship

"It's a very controversial subject in my part of the world. My attitude is that I hope the constitution will come out with freedom of sexual orientation, for as long as it does not interfere with anybody," he told Newsnight's Gavin Esler.

"To me, it's a human right," he said.

Zimbabwe's long-time leader Mr Mugabe - a practising Christian - once said gays were "worse than pigs and dogs", sparking international condemnation.

In March 2010, Mr Tsvangirai said gay rights was not up for discussion in Zimbabwe.

"I totally agree with the president," he said at the time.

Mr Tsvangirai's U-turn suggests that he now wants Zimbabwe to adopt a liberal policy, similar to that of neighbouring South Africa.

But he will face strong resistance from Mr Mugabe, who will exploit Mr Tsvangirai's U-turn to drum up support for himself in the run-up to the election, correspondents say.

It will be Zimbabwe's first general election since Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party formed a unity government with President Mugabe's Zanu-PF after polls in 2008.

Those elections were marred by widespread violence and rigging, with Mr Tsvangirai boycotting a run-off vote.

The coalition - formed under pressure from regional leaders - has stabilised the country, but tension has been rising ahead of next year's vote.

The two parties are yet to agree on political and security reforms to guarantee a free and fair poll.

Related Articles:

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About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channelled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack) - “You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.”

"The Akashic System" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)  - (Text version)  New !

U.N. Security Council unanimously condemns Yemen

CNN News, By Mick B. Krever, October 21, 2011

Yemeni dissident soldiers salute anti-government protesters Friday in Sanaa.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• U.N. Security Council vote demands that Yemen allow peaceful protests
• Resolution does not sanction embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh
• Yemen has been engulfed in months of unrest

United Nations (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday in favor of a resolution to condemn violence in Yemen, where demonstrators, government forces and rival factions have been embroiled in months of unrest.

The 15-0 vote demands that Yemen allow peaceful demonstrations to take place and to end government crackdowns on civilians.

It does not, however, sanction embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

"We welcome the long overdue condemnation of Yemeni government abuses, but believe the Security Council should have more clearly distanced itself from the (Gulf Cooperation Council) impunity deal," said Philippe Bolopion, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch.

The proposed deal, which Bolopion noted, referenced a GCC-brokered accord, backed by the United States and European Union, whereby Saleh could resign from power in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

"By signaling that there would be no consequence for the killing of Yemenis, the immunity deal has contributed to prolonging the bloodshed," Bolopion said.

Peter Wittig, German ambassador to the United Nations, said the resolution was "not ideal" but "can make a difference."

"We would have liked to express those messages that are in that resolution even in a stronger and more unequivocal form, especially the strong call to President Saleh to step down," he said.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman also weighed in Friday, calling the resolution "not sufficient."

"They have to discuss about the ousting of Ali Saleh and that he has to be handed over to the authorities immediately," claims the Yemeni activist who says she plans to stay in the United States "until I am able to submit Ali Saleh's case to the international tribunal."

"But in general," she said of the resolution, "I would say it is good."

Earlier this week, several people were killed during clashes with Yemeni security forces after anti-government protests filled the streets of the country's capital.

Crowds had marched through downtown Sanaa, where government forces allegedly gunned down protesters.

Hundreds of security forces attempted to restrict the protesters' movements, and tear-gas canisters could be seen flying toward the crowd, said hospital director Mohammed Qubati.

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition on anonymity, said that Friday's resolution, introduced by Germany and the United Kingdom, would send a strong signal of urgency for political transition.

The official said that unanimity is an indication of greater consensus on the council.

Russia and China issued a rare double veto of a resolution condemning the violence in Syria this month.

Security Council members have said a political solution in Yemen should be based on a initiative put forward by the GCC, a political and economic union of Arab states.

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U.N. council condemns Yemen violence, urges deal