Iranian Judge Returns Severely Abused 4 Year Old to Abusive Parents
Iran Human Rights, May 19: A judge in Tehran has decided to hand over Nima, a 4 years old boy who has been subjected to severe physical abuse, back to his abusive father, reported the Iranian state run news agency ISNA today.
The report said: "Nima, is a four years old boy in Tehran, and the second victim of child abuse [who received media attention] in the past month. Yesterday, and only ten days after he was taken to the Mofid Children’s hospital, he was released and delivered to his abusive father."
"Nima suffered injuries from severe beatings from his parents who burned various parts of his body including his genitals and caused deep bruising around his eyes. He was transfered to the hospital on May 8th. Upon arrival at the hospital, Nima told the staff that his father had burned his body" said the report.
Mostafa Eghlima, the President of the Academic Association of Social Workers in Iran told ISNA, “According to the law, a father may refer to the Judiciary any time he wishes to collect his child.” He added, “Even though the legal proceedings have allowed for Nima to return to his father, we must [know] how the presiding Judge came to the decision that the father is qualified to care for Nima.”
According to paragraph 220 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, if the father or father’s father kills his child or grandchild, he will not be punished for murder. Physical punishment by a parent is permitted in Iranian law. by Anette Meyer
UN Committee on the Elimination of Race Discrimination (CERD) has published concluding observations following a review state of race equality in the UK over a three-day period. Overall the report is a success in highlighting the concerns of civil society organisations about race equality issues in the UK today. It demonstrates that the lobbying efforts by the UK NGOs Against Racism and others in Geneva last month were well worth the effort. To find out more about the UN review process, you can read MRN’s blogs with insights from the meeting in Geneva. Particular issues in relation to migration, highlighted by the Committee’s concluding observations are:
continued negative portrayal of migrants and asylum seekers in the media
continues discrimination on the basis of national and ethnic origin at the UK borders
discriminatory impacts of the marriage visa restrictions in particular the increased age of spouse visa applicants
UK’s continued refusal to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their families
originally by: The Guardian published: 10th September 2011 The family of Mark Duggan, the Tottenham man whose death in a police shooting last month sparked five days of widespread riot and disorder, believe officers were operating a “shoot to kill” policy. Duggan’s brother, Shaun Hall, 42, said ahead of Duggan’s funeral on Friday: “The police were clearly operating a shoot to kill policy that day. They are supposed to disable, not kill, suspects. If they hadn’t shot and killed Mark there would have been no riots.” The family, in exclusive interviews with the Guardian, said they had been told that the bullet fired at Duggan’s chest after officers intercepted the taxi he was travelling in, would have killed him in seven to 12 seconds, giving him no prospect of surviving. They are devastated by his loss and distraught at the misinformation initially put out that the incident in Ferry Lane in Tottenham, north London, was a “shootout”.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is investigating the killing on 4 August, confirmed the two shots that were fired were from a CO19 firearms officer. Read full article >
all credits: Mikey Powell Campaign http://4wardeveruk.org/2011/09/ipcc-takes-over-powell-family-van-complaint-investigation/ Zinzi Eka-NaphtaliIPCC to take over investigation into complaint against van officers The IPPC are to independently investigate a complaint by Claris Powell, made following the jury’s verdict at the Inquest into the death of her son, Mikey, in a police van on the way to a police station. The IPCC made this decision on 27 May 2011, after Claris Powell threatened to judicially review their decision to allow West Midlands Police themselves to investigate the complaint against their own officers. An Inquest jury found on December 18 2009 that Mikey had died in the back of a police van of positional asphyxia. The jury found that Mikey had been put in the police van on his side; that he had been transported to the police station “in between” being on his side and on his front; and that he was “on his front” when he arrived at the police station. The danger of positional asphyxia is greater to someone on their front than on their side. Following the Inquest verdict, Claris Powell made a number of complaints to the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police on 14 December 2010. This included a complaint about the accounts given to the Inquest by the officers in the van. West Midlands Police decided on 31 January 2011 to take no action on the complaint. Claris Powell appealed to the IPCC on 17 February 2011. On 15 March 2011 the IPCC upheld the appeal and decided that the complaint should be recorded by West Midlands Police as potential misconduct. West Midlands Police referred the complaint back to the IPCC but it decided that it should be investigated by an investigator from West Midlands Police under IPCC supervision. Claris Powell considered that an investigation carried out by West Midlands simply would not be sufficiently independent and threatened to challenge the decision by way judicial review in the High Court – arguing that the IPCC itself should investigate the complaint. They are now doing so. The IPCC are due to meet Claris Powell in October to discuss the investigation.
