A tale of rape in a republic of fear

I'm a few days behind on seeing this, so forgive me if something was already
posted here commenting on the event.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/29/f-vp-macdonald.html

A tale of rape in a republic of fear Libyan Iman al-Obaidi dragged away
after telling of rape by pro-Gadhafi militiamen By Neil Macdonald, CBC
News<http://www.cbc.ca/news/credit.html>
  Posted: Mar 29, 2011 8:08 PM ET  Last Updated: Mar 29, 2011 11:49 PM ET *Read
116**comments**116*<http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/29/f-vp-macdonald.html#socialcomments>
**<http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/29/f-vp-macdonald.html#socialcomments>

Every year during his state of the union speech, the president of the United
States invites certain people to sit in the special presidential box with
the first lady. Generally, these are people who have committed extraordinary
acts, often of great courage — people like the pilot who put his passenger
jet down in the Hudson River two years ago, saving the lives of everyone
aboard.

This country adores heroes.

So, allow me to nominate one for inclusion in the presidential box next
year, if, indeed, she is still alive by then: Iman al-Obaidi.

Al-Obaidi is the woman who pushed her way, weeping, into the five-star Rixos
Hotel in Tripoli last weekend. That's where the Libyan regime keeps
international journalists penned up under the supervision of government
"minders." The minders try to ensure the journalists see only those things
that may assist the regime's propaganda efforts.
[image: Bruises are seen on the face of Iman al-Obaidi as she cries at the
Rixos Hotel in Tripoli on March 26.]*Bruises are seen on the face of Iman
al-Obaidi as she cries at the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli on March 26. **Zohra
Bensemra/Reuters*

(Not that I blame the journalists, having been penned up and minded myself
on more than one occasion. You do what you can do to be where you have to
be.)

Anyway.

Al-Obaidi confronted journalists eating their breakfasts with a pretty
harrowing story. She said she had been detained by a gang of "militiamen"
loyal to Moammar Gadhafi earlier in the day and gang-raped.

Why? Almost certainly because she's from Benghazi, the rebel-held city in
eastern Libya where Gadhafi has been denied the opportunity to slaughter the
disloyal population wholesale.

So intent was al-Obaidi on convincing reporters of her story that she lifted
up her black robe, which goes against the grain of nearly any woman in Arab
society, and displayed the trauma inflicted on her thigh. There were also,
reporters at the scene wrote, marks on her face, and on her wrists and
ankles, indicating she'd been tied up.

"They defecated on me," she told the reporters who scrambled with cameras
and notebooks. "They urinated on me. They violated my honour."
Rape rarely reported in Arab world

In places like Gadhafi's Libya (or Bashar al-Assad's Syria, or, until
recently, Hosni Mubarak's Egypt or Saddam Hussein's Iraq), a public act like
al-Obaidi's is not just incredibly courageous but near-suicidal, which is
why rape is almost never reported in the Arab world, even though it is
routinely used as a punishment by security forces.

Even in less repressive countries like Jordan, the rape itself is often less
hurtful than what can come next. I once interviewed a young woman in Amman
who had the misfortune of being raped by an uncle.

When her family found out about it, the stain on their honour was so
unbearable that they locked the door, turned the music up loud, drew the
curtains and shot her. When she had the nerve to recover in hospital, she
was sold off to an old man who was willing to lend his name to the bastard
child who resulted from the rape. All the girl had to do was agree to a life
of indentured servitude scrubbing her saviour's floors. She was rescued by a
group of women's advocates.

In Libya these days, you can add the viciousness of the regime's enforcers
to the day-to-day misogyny Arab women face.

According to reporters on the scene, al-Obaidi was instantly set upon by
waitresses in the restaurant, who grabbed knives and attacked her. One threw
a coat over her head to shut her up. And these were the *women*who
responded. The male "minders" from the government just grabbed al-Obaidi and
began dragging her away.
[image: Al-Obaidi reacts as she is grabbed by a Libyan official, left,
preventing members of the foreign media from reaching her. As reporters
gathered to hear her story, security guards grabbed al-Obaidi, bundled her
into a car and drove her away. Several journalists were beaten during the
scuffle.]*Al-Obaidi reacts as she is grabbed by a Libyan official, left,
preventing members of the foreign media from reaching her. As reporters
gathered to hear her story, security guards grabbed al-Obaidi, bundled her
into a car and drove her away. Several journalists were beaten during the
scuffle. **Zohra Bensemra/Reuters*

Journalists who tried to protect her were beaten. One "minder" pulled a gun.
Another one smashed the camera of a CNN cameraman who'd filmed the scene.

But, finally, the international press had a real story, and the damage
control began, in the ham-fisted, dull-witted manner that only officials of
regimes like the one in Tripoli can manage.

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim immediately announced that al-Obaidi was
drunk and mentally deranged.

Subsequently, when reporters insisted on speaking with her again, Ibrahim
announced she may not have been deranged and drunk after all and assured the
media her allegations were being investigated. Indeed, four men had been
questioned, he declared. Al-Obaidi, he said, was safely back in the bosom of
her family.

Except her family told reporters their daughter remained locked up. Her
mother said the regime had told her that if her daughter would just change
her story, there would be a reward of cash and new accommodations for the
family.

Her mother not only said her daughter stands by her story, she dispensed
with the family-honour nonsense. She declared her pride at her daughter's
courage and denounced Gadhafi and his thugs as "dogs."

Now, the regime has changed its story again. Ibrahim now claims that
al-Obaidi is a prostitute, a "*sharmuta*," to use the nasty Arabic
invective. Further, the men she accused of raping her are now so offended at
this slight to *their* dignity that they've filed a lawsuit against their
victim.

And, of course, they will win, if Gadhafi's regime lasts long enough for it
to get to court, even though al-Obaidi is, according to her mother, a
lawyer. She will be punished further.
Story rings true

Now, a word: Beyond a certain point, reporters cannot do normal due
diligence on al-Obaidi's story. It may, indeed, be that she will turn out to
be crazy. As noted, you'd almost have to be to challenge a regime like
Gadhafi's.

But her family confirms her account. To anyone who has worked in an Arab
country, it has the ring of truth. I have watched Arab policemen brutalize a
helpless woman.

Plus, al-Obaidi took the extraordinary step of publicly acknowledging rape
in an Arab society. And most importantly, the regime has tried to shut her
up. So, I'm just going to go ahead here and give her the benefit of the
doubt.
[image: Women hold a picture of al-Obaidi during a protest in Benghazi,
Libya, on March 27. Women's groups abroad have not been so quick to take up
her cause.]*Women hold a picture of al-Obaidi during a protest in Benghazi,
Libya, on March 27. Women's groups abroad have not been so quick to take up
her cause.* *Suhaib Salem/Reuters*

But here's my question. The reporters whom she confronted are clearly
outraged. Libyan women, at least in Benghazi, are outraged and protesting.
So, where is all the outrage here in the West?

As far as I can tell, there has been no comment from organizations such as
the U.S. National Organization for Women, despite the eyewitness dispatches
from Tripoli. Shouldn't Iman al-Obaidi be a symbol of *something*?

I can only hope it's not a matter of opposition to U.S. militarism trumping
support for women victimized in the Arab world.

In any event, if Canadian pilots and the other coalition members charged
with protecting Libyan civilians manage to hit the swine who tied up
al-Obaidi and debased her humanity, well, they'll have done their jobs.

I know, I know: the West intervenes selectively against tyrants, and yes,
America and its allies have supported some pretty disgusting sociopaths over
the years, and sure, there's hypocrisy everywhere.

But aiming cannon and bombs against Moammar "no mercy" Gadhafi and his hired
enforcers seems to me as good a use as any for Canada's fighter jets.

I'm ashamed to say I once wrote a column in this space saying how amusing I
used to find Gadhafi's eccentricities when I covered the Middle East.

Heaven knows what has become of al-Obaidi. But if she survives, and there is
justice, she should be sitting next to the first lady next February.

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