Pakistan holds rape victim's passport - official

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pakistani government, which last week said gang-rape victim Mukhtaran Mai was free to travel, has taken away her passport, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.

"Pakistani officials do have her passport," said a State Department official who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of U.S.-Pakistani relations. "We're telling them she needs to be free to travel ... We're trying to get at the basic issue here."

Last week the Pakistani government said it had lifted travel restrictions on Mukhtaran Mai, who was gang-raped on the orders of a traditional village council in 2002, following protests from international media and the U.S. government.

Mai had demanded the government allow her to travel after a court ordered the release of 12 men connected with her case.

~snip~
more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050621/wl_nm/pakistan_rape_dc;_

from earlier today:
Rice secures pledge that Pakistan gang rape victim free to travel: US

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050621/pl_afp/pakistanuswomen_050621193925

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. What was done to her was barbaric

AND against the Qur'an. As I understand it, a male relative had an affair or something like that, and SHE was the one punished. Qur'an says that the person found guilty is punished, not someone else. This horrible anti-woman attitude is one that, sadly, is found in many areas of the world-but no religion I have studied justifies it.

[The Doctor.]

2. Read the Old Testament lately? n/t

[atreides1]

3. That's the problem

The Qur'an says one thing, yet the law of each tribe does not always coincide with the teachings of the Qur'an, sort of like the way some Christians like to quote Leviticus when talking about the
gay community, and yet these very same Christians are clean shaven,
which is also a violation according to Leviticus.

The Qur'an, like the Bible is also used to justify barbaric behavior.

Most unfortunate, isn't it?

[Moderator]

4. kick

[NNN0LHI]

5. Pakistan holds rape victim's passport - official

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5889206&cKey=1119391510000

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pakistani government, which last week said gang-rape victim Mukhtaran Mai was free to travel, has taken away her passport, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.

"Pakistani officials do have her passport," said a State Department official who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of U.S.-Pakistani relations. "We're telling them she needs to be free to travel ... We're trying to get at the basic issue here."

Last week the Pakistani government said it had lifted travel restrictions on Mukhtaran Mai, who was gang-raped on the orders of a traditional village council in 2002, following protests from international media and the U.S. government.

Mai had demanded the government allow her to travel after a court ordered the release of 12 men connected with her case.

[shance]

6. This women needs our help. She has been amazing and very courageous.

and is now being threatened by the Pakistani government.

[magellan]

8. This was covered on Democracy Now! yesterday.

Mai was gang-raped for a crime allegedly committed by her younger brother. Despite her gender and illiteracy she persisted in bringing the 12 offenders to court, won quite a lot of money, and used it to establish a school for girls in her village.

The Pakistani government has now said she can have her passport back but she has to come and get it. They'd also like her to travel with a "government aide". She says she won't be going anywhere for a while because another court case is pending...but she still intends to travel to bring attention to how Pakistani women are treated under fundamentalist law.

The 12 men who raped her have been released, but Mai refuses to move from her village. Very brave. And no surprise that BushCo have turned a blind eye to these barbaric practices. Musharraf has US protection as long as he plays along like a good soldier.

[varun]

7. you wont hear about this from US media...

...now that they have the suffering of Iranian women in their crosshairs..