Sodomy now a cultural difference" in Afghanistan

World court inquiry sought in Afghan rapes 

Rick Westhead
STAFF REPORTER
The Star
December 15, 2008

The International Criminal Court should probe allegations some Canadian officers serving in Afghanistan told subordinates to look the other way when Afghan soldiers and local interpreters sodomized young boys, says one of Canada's leading human-rights lawyers.

University of British Columbia international law and politics expert Michael Byers, who was among a group of academics who sought to have former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet detained as a war criminal, said he plans to ask the ICC to begin its own inquiry into the charges.

In a story published yesterday in the Star, former Canadian soldier Tyrel Braaten said that during his tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2006, he witnessed Afghan interpreters bringing young boys inside buildings at Forward Operating Base Wilson, a remote Canadian base outside Kandahar. The boys were then sodomized by the interpreters and Afghan soldiers, Braaten said.

Other Canadian soldiers have complained to chaplains and military medical personnel that officers told them not to get involved because the sodomy was tantamount to "cultural differences."

If the allegations are true, Byers said, they will reflect more poorly on the Canadian military than the scandal in the 1993 in Somalia when Canadian soldiers tortured and murdered a Somali teenager who snuck into a Canadian base.

"We're spending $18 billion on this mission in Afghanistan and it's engaged the hearts and minds of 33 million Canadians in different ways," Byers said in a phone interview from London. "The rape of children in a conflict zone is at least as serious as the torture of that young Somalian during the Canadian mission there."

Also yesterday, Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada said the Ministry of Defence in Kabul is aware of the allegations levelled by Braaten and others, but won't act until it receives more detailed information from Canada. "These allegations go back to 2006, not something that occurred just last week," said Ambassador Omar Samad. "We don't have names, dates and legal testimony."

The Canadian Forces' National Investigation Service is investigating the allegations and is expected to complete its probe in the spring. A military board of inquiry, meantime, is also investigating and is going to extraordinary lengths to find prospective witnesses. In some instances, the board's investigating officers are using Facebook to obtain soldiers' lists of friends and contacting them to ask about the alleged rapes, according to several soldiers contacted in this manner.

Still, Byers said he wants the ICC to investigate because he has "concerns about self-investigation and the demonstrated delays in the Canadian military's investigation of alleged detainee abuse."

Based in The Hague and established in 2002, the ICC can investigate, prosecute and punish serious violations of international law, including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

The former U.S. ambassador at large for war crimes issues during the Clinton administration, David Scheffer, said in an interview it would be difficult to coax the ICC to pursue rape allegations "unless a real case could be made that Canada is unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate its own military conduct."

As lawyers yesterday debated murky legal questions, such as whether Canada has jurisdiction to charge Afghan citizens who work for Canada as interpreters, some military sources said they weren't surprised by Braaten's claims.

"It's common knowledge that young boys are used in this way in Afghanistan," said Brad Adams, executive director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch. "It's the great dichotomy of Afghanistan. Homosexuality is treated as a cardinal sin, but it's still common for men to have sex with boys."

Moreover, Adams said he wasn't surprised that some Canadian soldiers say they were told to ignore cases of abuse."

"I think (Western soldiers) look the other way about a number of things, like opium production and warlordism. They are looking the other way on almost everything."

During 2006, FOB was regularly being attacked by Taliban armed with rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, a possible reason why abuse accusations haven't garnered more scrutiny until now.

"I think it's safe to say that they had other worries, like how they were staying alive," said retired Canadian major-general Lewis MacKenzie.

MacKenzie said while the interpreters would have travelled on and off the base freely, after they were screened by Canadian security, young boys would be another matter. "It would have been abnormal for them to have been allowed on the base."

Asked about protocol for allowing civilians on bases in Afghanistan, a CF spokesperson described it as a "rigorous and robust" program.

Chaplain says senior officer aware of rapes by Afghans

Soldier recalls cries from boy brought onto Canadian base

The Star

Dec 14, 2008

"The boy was no more than 12. He wore a wig, lipstick and perfume and was dressed in a flowing robe when an Afghan interpreter escorted him to the entrance of the Canadian base in remote Afghanistan.

It was June 2006 and it was one of Tyrel Braaten's first days at Forward Operating Base Wilson, about 30 kilometres outside Kandahar.

Braaten watched as the local interpreter, who worked for the Canadians, ushered the boy through the security checkpoint and led him inside a nearby building.

The bombardier was bewildered. He asked another interpreter standing next to him who the boy was. The interpreter shrugged that the boy was one of "the bitches."

"I said, `What do you mean?' and he made the motion with his hips, like you know," said Braaten, 24. "I remember saying, `Are we on Mars? Does this s--- go on all the time?'"

Al-Qaeda accused of using male rape to 'create' suicide bombers

By Staff Writer,
PinkNews.co.uk
February 4, 2009 - 13:56

Islamic terrorists are raping young men in order to drive them into suicide bombings.

The Sun quotes Algerian militant Abu Baçir El Assimi:

"The sexual act on young recruits aged between 16 to 19 was a means to urge them to commit suicide operations."

The paper claims that "intense social stigma and fear of more gay sex attacks leaves Muslims prepared to die."

Rape and homosexual acts are punishable by death under Sharia law.

A suspected terrorist bomber killed in an attempted attack on a security installation in the Tizi Ouzou province of Algeria last month may have been raped, an autopsy revealed.

News source Ennahar Online said there was "a large tear in the anus of the terrorist, which confirms the sexual abuse. In addition, semen analysis is underway to determine the perpetrator.

"The young terrorist subject of sexual abuse, was aged 22, from Diar El Djemaâ, ElHarrach. He would have joined terrorist groups in March 2008.

"He was a candidate to execute a suicide operation in the region of Boumerdes."

The al-Qaeda terrorist movement is a loose association spread across nations from Algeria to Iraq.

Terrorists have been trained in camps in Sudan and Afghanistan.

Cells operating in the US and western Europe have claimed responsibility for a range of suicide attacks including the attacks on New York and Washington DC on September 11th 2001. Al-Qaeda has also been linked to an insurgency in Algeria.

Characteristic al-Qaeda techniques include suicide attacks and simultaneous bombings of different targets.

Afghan boy dancers sexually abused by former warlords
Reuters
Sun Nov 18, 2007PUL-E KHUMRI, Afghanistan (Reuters) - They are known as "bacha bereesh", boys without beards, teenage boys who dress up as girls and dance for male patrons at parties in northern Afghanistan.
It's an age old practice that has led to some of the boy dancers being turned into sex slaves by wealthy and powerful patrons, often former warlords, who dress the boys up as girls, shower them with gifts and keep them as "mistresses".
Afghan police are battling to crackdown on the practice which has angered Islamic clerics who say those involved should be stoned for sodomy, forbidden under Islamic law. In a society where the sexes are strictly segregated, it is common for men to dance for other men at weddings in Afghanistan.

But in northern Afghanistan, former warlords and mujahideen commanders have taken that a step further with competitions for their dancing boys. "Every boy tries to be the first. They are dressed in women's clothes, have bells on their feet and have artificial breasts," said Mohammad Yawar, a former mujahideen fighter against the Taliban and resident of the northern town of Pul-e Khumri.

The practice, called "bacha bazi" -- literally "boy play" -- has a long history in northern Afghanistan, but sometimes it does not stop with just dancing. "I very much enjoy hugging a boy. His smell and fragrance kills me," said Yawar.

The 38-year-old businessman said he recruited a 15-year-old boy three years ago to help him with his work. "I have had him for at least three years, since he was only 15. He was looking for a job and I gave him somewhere to stay," said Yawar, showing the boy's picture. "I don't have a wife. He is like my wife. I dress him in women's clothes and have him sleep beside me. I enjoy him and he is my everything," he said, kissing the photograph.

MARK OF PRESTIGE
Having the best-looking boy and the best dancer is a mark of prestige. "Everyone tries to have the best, most handsome and good-looking boy," said a former mujahideen commander, who declined to be named. "Sometimes we gather and make our boys dance and whoever wins, his boy will be the best boy."
Former mujahideen commanders hold such parties in and around Pul-e Khumri about once a week. "Having a boy has become a custom for us. Whoever wants to show off, should have a boy," said Enayatullah, a 42-year-old landowner in Baghlan province. "I was married to a woman 20 years ago, she left me because of my boy," he said. "I was playing with my boy every night and was away from home, eventually my wife decided to leave me. I am happy with my decision, because I am used to sleeping and entertaining with my young boy." The men say they lavish money and gifts on their boys.

"I was only 14-years-old when a former Uzbek commander forced me to have sex with him," said Shir Mohammad in Sar-e Pol province. "Later, I quit my family and became his secretary. I have been with him for 10 years, I am now grown up, but he still loves me and I sleep with him." Ahmad Jawad, aged 17, has been with a wealthy landowner for the past two years. "I am used to it. I love my lord. I love to dance and act like a woman and play with my owner," he said. Asked what he would do when he got older, he said: "Once I grow up, I will be an owner and I will have my own boys."

Watch this video until the end.

But Shir Mohammad, at 24, was already getting too old to be a dancing boy. "I am grown up now and do not have the beauty of former years. So, I proposed to marry my lord's daughter and he has agreed to it."

POVERTY
Many local residents have called for a crackdown, but are skeptical it will work as many of the men are powerful and well-armed former commanders. Jahan Shah, who lives in Pul-e Khumri, said government and security officials should take tough action against unIslamic and immoral acts. "If they don't stop this, it will become a custom and hundreds of other boys will be involved in it," he said.

Police and security officials in northern Afghanistan say they have been doing their best to arrest the men involved. "It is sad to state that this practice that includes making boys dance, sexual abuse and sometimes even selling boys, has been going on for years," said General Asadollah Amarkhil, the security chief of Kunduz province. "We have taken steps to stop it to the extent that we are able," he said. Amarkhil said poverty, widespread in Afghanistan after nearly three decades of war, forced teenage boys into compliance. "We have taken very strict measures to save the lives of the boys and punish the men," he said. "We are monitoring to find out where these men and boys gather, then go there and arrest them."

Those found guilty of abuse would be jailed for at least 15 years, said Baghlan chief prosecutor Hafizullah Khaliqyar. "We have 25 cases of such immoral acts. They are being processed and we are trying our utmost to tackle the problem," he said. Islamic scholars recommended harsher punishment. "Those who do this are the devil," said Mawlawi Mohammad Sadiq Sadiqyar, a scholar and prayer leader in the main northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

"Under Islamic law, those who practice this should be stoned to death." But some of the men say they are not interested in women. "We know it is immoral and unIslamic, but how can we quit? We do not like women, we just want boys," said Chaman Gul, aged 35 of Takhar province.

Abuse of Afghan Boys
My Pet Jawa
July 11, 2008

In a world where political correctness dictates cultural equivalency, it's impossible for me to understand how the PC crowd can ignore reports like this one.
Afghanistan must do more to end an age-old practice of young boys being kept as sex slaves by wealthy and powerful patrons,
the U.N. special representative for children and armed conflict said on Monday.



Radhika Coomaraswamy said the practice, called "bacha bazi" -- literally "boy play" -- was a taboo subject, but she had heard reports of warlords and military commanders keeping young boys and "exploiting them in terrible ways."
"What I found was nobody talks about it; everyone says 'Well, you know, it's been there for 1,000 years so why do we want to raise this now?'" she told a news conference at U.N. headquarters, reporting on a visit to Afghanistan last week.
"That seems to be the general attitude among everyone, but somebody has to raise it and it has to be dealt with."
Known as "bacha bereesh," boys without beards, the victims of such abuse are teenage boys who dress up as girls and dance for male patrons at parties in northern Afghanistan.

Cultural equivalency? I don't think so. Even the UN is against it.

Who said Islamic "men" feel threatened by women ..........?

If you are revolted by the material in this post ask yourself why the Leftist apologists and facilitators for Islam in the west, demand that you be forbidden to express your revultion, publicly, why would those who demand you accept that "Islam is a Religion of Peace" under threat of death or mutilation object to this type of behavior and much much worse, been rejected by you and your children ?
Worse still why would they demand that you live along side of and respect the followers of this "Religion of Peace" under threat of criminal sanction via the Multicutural /Cultural Diversity /Anti Discrimination / Religious /Racial Intolerance legislation?

Islam, the United Nation's rabid Mad Dog, off the leash and running, what better way to destroy Judeo / Christian western society, than to allow the injection of savage,violent stone age cultures with their stone age Godless practice's, all promoted and facilitated under the International Socialist Cultural Diversity / Multiculturalism "all cultures are equal" philosophy.

I read a quote that went along the lines of "Great civilizations are not conqured they simply commit suicide",how fitting to describe the last 40 years of western society.

A slow creeping death of our values,standards and institutions.

“ If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival.

“There may be even a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves”

Winston Churchill. Pg.310 “The Hell Makers” John C. Grover ISBN # 0 7316 1918 8