Somali citizen Lul Ali Osman Barake was cleared today of making false claims about her rape. On August 14 of last year, Barake, who is an internally displaced person (IDP), was stopped at a food distribution point and was approached by five men in uniform. The men slapped and blindfolded her and lead her into an empty school. She asked the men what they had wanted with her, but none replied. Barake was then raped by all five men, one after another. Once she asked to be allowed to go back home to her baby, she left and stated that she had fallen three or four times and she had to sit down and rest before she had made it back to the IDP camp. When she reached the camp, she was given a letter and sent to the hospital to verify her allegations. She waited from about 6 am until 2 pm until a doctor finally appeared. Barake says that eventually, she was subjected to a humiliating "finger test" and was then handed $20 which she believes may have been an attempt to buy her silence of the rape that was committed. A couple of months after the incident, on January 6, Barake was interviewed by Ibrahim, a freelance journalist who was investigating sexual violence, outside of her home. Four days later, after the interview, police arrived to take Barake into custody. She was asked about the separate interview that she had given to al- Jazeera and asked who was the woman that was raped. She responded by saying "I am". She was taken to police headquarters were she states that the most powerful officers in the country demanded to know why she changed her name for the media. Her words about the interrogations:
"The interrogations were very horrible and sometimes threatening,"
she said. "The last one was with the police chief. He had a pistol in
his hand and he said, 'You are a criminal, you tell lies about the
government and police. I want to ask the government to forgive you. To
do that you must say the right thing and withdraw these allegations. If
you don't, you will be arrested and put in jail.'
"The next time
they gave me a statement withdrawing the allegations, even though I am
illiterate, and told me to sign it with my thumb. I did it out of fear.
The police were standing there with pistols; sometimes I thought they
would kill "
During the last incident, Barake's husband argued with the police, after watching his wife cry. He was jailed for 26 days , including 9 extra days at Mogadishu central prison, for his defiance against the police. When Barake came before a judge last month, the police had opted not to produce her "signed" statement, which she was forced to sign. As a result, she was convicted of making false accusation and defaming a government body and sentenced to a year in prison, and was temporarily modified to house arrest so she could care for her baby. After an international outcry, an appeals court judge overturned her conviction due to insufficient evidence.
This is yet another crime where police force has abused their powers, in an extremely unacceptable and dishonorable way. How can anyone possibly sentence a rape victim to do time in prison, when all they were trying to do is prevent it from happening to the next possible victim? Not only that, so the victim can have a peace of mind knowing that the men who committed this crime are locked away and cannot harm her again. Reading the entire article, Barake says that they were making use of her ignorance, because she can neither read nor write due to her being an IDP, to protect the reputation of the government and the police. The article also states that now, journalist in Somalia will see this incident as a message. They will run away from the victim because of what just happened to this woman. This leaves a question as to whether rape victims will still want to speak up for justice, or if they will keep silent in fear of going to prison for bringing to light a crime that should be stopped in developing countries. Laws do not appear to be as strict that involve sexual violence in developing countries as they are in developed countries. Just because these police are given the authority, does not mean that they are allowed to abuse that power they are given. Being a police or any part of law enforcement does not give any right to harm someone or put their life at risk if they have done absolutely nothing wrong at all. Not only do we hear about police force abusing their powers in other nations, we hear about it right here at home as well. Any police that abuses their power should be removed from the force, no warnings or a suspension, immediately removed. A victim should not have to suffer for a crime that an official is too embarrassed to own up to.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/07/rapists-rewarded-somali-woman-cleared
Tiara Paylor
3/7/13 10:59
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