Iraqi PM releases records of alleged rape victim(warrarts issued for unspecified charges)

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Feb 21 (Reuters) - U.S. military doctors who examined a Sunni woman who accused Iraqi police of raping her found no evidence of any attack, according to a copy of their report released by the prime minister's office on Wednesday.

Maliki's office has rejected the rape accusations against the Shi'ite-dominated police, saying "known parties" are trying to discredit a new security crackdown in Baghdad that aims to sweep Sunni Arab and Shi'ite gunmen from the streets.

The medical report was from the Ibn Sina Hospital, the main U.S. military hospital in Baghdad's international Green Zone, which also treats Iraqi civilians.

"No vaginal lacerations or obvious injuries," was scrawled in English and then repeated in Arabic on the single-page document that was titled "Theatre trauma nursing record". The finding was repeated again at the bottom in Arabic script. The patient's name was blanked out.

"We don't know how the prime minister's office got it but we would not normally comment on the specifics of a medical report. We follow the same privacy rules as in the States," U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver said.

more: http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL124652.htm

Government calls rape claim false
Sunni leaders answer finding for police with coverup

BAGHDAD, Iraq - After a one-day investigation, the government cleared three policemen Tuesday of rape allegations brought by a married Sunni woman -- a move that drew charges of a coverup from Sunni leaders.

The government said a medical examination showed the 20-year-old woman "had not been subjected to any sexual attack whatsoever" and that three warrants had been issued against her for unspecified charges.

The statement gave no other details on the investigation but accused "certain parties" of fabricating the allegation to discredit a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown in Baghdad. The government also said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "ordered that the honorable officers accused be rewarded."

more: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/16745246.htm?source=rss&channel=charlotte_news

Earlier DU thread here with more background:
Rape row splits Iraqi government
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2737941&mesg_id=2737941

[maddezmom]

1. more: Maliki fires head of Sunni Endowment

~snip~

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki fired the head of the influential Sunni Endowment after the official called for an international investigation into the rape allegations.

~snip~

A statement by al-Maliki's office gave no reason for the dismissal of Ahmed Abdul-Ghafour al-Samaraie, who directed the state agency overseeing Sunni mosques and seminaries. But suspicion fell on his harsh criticism of the government's handling of the rape allegations.

The government's quick rejection of the woman's claims have outraged many Sunnis, who accused al-Maliki of a high-level cover-up. The Association of Muslim Scholars, a militant Sunni group known to have links with insurgent groups, called it a "moral genocide" and warned of more fallout ahead.

"Those who perpetrated this crime must know their guilt will not be forgotten," the group said in a statement Tuesday.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070221/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[maddezmom]

2. Top Sunni official fired over rape case

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki fired a top Sunni official Wednesday after he called for an international investigation into the rape allegations leveled by a Sunni Arab woman against three members of the Shiite-dominated security forces.

A statement by al-Maliki's office gave no reason in announcing the dismissal of Ahmed Abdul-Ghafour al-Samaraie, head of the Sunni Endowments. Al-Samaraie, whose organization cares for Sunni mosques and shrines in Iraq, had joined other prominent Sunnis in criticizing the government's handling of the case.

~snip~

"The Sunni Endowments strongly denounces this horrific crime and lets out a cry for help from the international community and human rights organizations, demanding that they launch an immediate investigation into this crime," said the statement, signed by al-Samaraie.

There was no immediate comment from al-Samaraie on his dismissal. A man who answered the telephone at the offices of the Sunni Endowments said he was in Amman, in neighboring Jordan

His dismissal is the latest move in a highly publicized and increasingly bitter tussle over the rape allegations, pitting al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki against its Sunni Arab critics. The public quarrel is fueling charges by the Sunnis that the Baghdad crackdown was targeting Sunni neighborhoods and leaving unaffected Shiite areas harboring militias blamed for sectarian killings.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070221/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_rape_6

[Heidi]

3. Kick.

:kick:

[sabra]

4. Medical report says al-Janabi's claims groundless - spokesman(Iraq gov't "outs" woman in rape claim)

http://www.aswataliraq.info/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=37858&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Medical report says al-Janabi's claims groundless - spokesman

Baghdad, Feb 21, (VOI) – A medical report by the U.S.-run (Ibn Sina) hospital in Baghdad proved that claims by an Iraqi woman who said she was raped by Iraqi soldiers and officers were groundless, Iraqi security spokesman said on Wednesday.

"Sabrin al-Janabi is married with a man whose name is Qais and she does not have any identification papers", Brigadier Qassem Atta said in a news conference in Baghdad.
"The woman has two names: the registered name is Zaynab Abbas al-Jemeli and a pseudonym that is Sabrin", Atta added.

"The house, where the woman was arrested is located in the district of al-Amil, has a hole that leads to an adjacent house, where forces found a small hospital for treating injured gunmen", the Brigader noted.
"Interrogation lasted for only 15 minutes", the official stated, noting that these claims aim at hindering the ongoing (Rule of law) security plan.

...

Meanwhile, Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi called for stopping the Baghdad security plan in that specific district pending the end of the investigation.
Hashimi, who is also the leader of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, made his demands in a statement aired by the Party's TV channel Baghdad on Monday.

This looks bad... :-(

[maddezmom]

5. Evidence backs Sunni woman's rape allegation

BAGHDAD - A Sunni Muslim woman's allegations that she was raped by three members of Iraq's Shiite-dominated police force took a startling turn Friday when a Sunni human rights official said that a government committee has uncovered strong evidence to support her claims.

The official, Omar al-Jabouri, said one of the woman's alleged attackers and an accomplice have been in custody since Wednesday and that a special four-member panel has continued to investigate the case despite Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's public statements that the woman lied.

The panel is led by the head of the Interior Ministry's intelligence service, Gen. Hussein Kamal. Al-Jabouri is an observer to the panel on behalf of Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni.

The investigation is complicated because the woman has been charged with supporting the Sunni insurgency, al-Jabouri said.

more:http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/world/16775079.htm?source=rss&channel=dfw_world