GCC countries to issue own 'rights' reports

What a brain fart reported in this morning's Gulf Daily News...

Gulf to issue rights reports

COUNTRIES in the GCC may start to issue their own annual reports on terrorism, human rights and human resources to offset those compiled by international organisations. GCC Secretary General Abdulrahman Al Attiyah proposed the move at the seventh GCC consultative meeting on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He claimed there is a need to counter reports on the GCC by
international organisations because they "may be inaccurate".
"My proposal was well received by the leadership of GCC states at the meeting," he said following yesterday's Press conference at the Foreign Ministry, in Manama.

A new department is now expected to be formed at the GCC General Secretariat specifically to issue reports, which would be compiled in co-operation with relevant government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in member states...

Indepedent observers keep writing bad things about GCC countries, so let's do something about it... Hmmm, I know, let's write our own reports about how glorious things are. Brilliant plan! That should encourage gullible investors & create a few more jobs.

As if the media isn't controlled enough already. Maybe the GCC will be seeking to counter this type of stuff from the International Crisis Group.

Kuwaiti women get the vote... at last!

Some good news in Kuwait in the last month as we witnessed the Prime Minister pushing through the vote in Parliament emancipating woman, giving them the right to vote and stand in elections at long last… starting in 2007. This introduces a real dilemma for the hard-line Islamist bloc, as this means they will have to allow their women to vote if they are to have any hope of retaining or winning any seats in Parliament… after campaigning that women should never be allowed to vote, let alone stand for public office.

There were some real humdinger excuses given by the Islamists to unsuccessfully sway support for their point of view, including one saying recently that women in Parliament would break down and cry if they couldn’t get their way… maybe this is the behaviour of their wives at home, but, this isn’t necessarily the way that woman act! This is desperation talk, as let’s face it, woman are pretty good at playing politics too, and the dimwittedness of some current parliamentarians will be even more evident. Now, you boys will have to behave in Parliament and not act like schoolboy bullies…

Here are some other quotes from opponents to woman gaining the vote:

Islamist MP Faisal al-Muslim told Reuters he voted against the law. "An MP
position in parliament would make women responsible for the masses and that is
anti-Islamic," he said.

Daifallah Buramia, another Islamist MP who also voted against the bill,
said: "Anyone who supports the passage of this law would bear the sin until
Judgement Day."

Al-Rai Al-Aam quoted MP Mohammad Al-Baseeri as saying. "Kuwait is
witnessing the after shocks of this decision as Islamic parties will be the
biggest beneficiaries of these changes," he added. Al-Baseeri continued,
"Islamic parties support women and their social rights. The accusations of some
political personalities that the Islamic Front stands against women's rights and
wants to take away their political rights are wrong," he noted.

Yeah right, it’s a woman’s right to be obligatory covered from head to toe, not to be contaminated by using the same voting booth as the other sex…

It will be fascinating to see how the voting patterns change in 2007. Logically, I would have thought, emancipating women will increase the number of liberal representation versus Islamic representation in Parliament (in a broad brush way, not that it’s necessarily that clear-cut, as hopefully we’ll also see voter power removing liberal MPs that are incompetent and corrupt, and installing moderate Islamists).

Sure, there will be lots of women that follow their master’s instructions, but equally it can be argued that there will be a large number of oppressed women that use the power of an anonymous vote to go against the wishes of their masters having seen through the rhetoric of the self-righteous standard bearers of Islam. Maybe, this is wishful thinking. As George Bernard Shaw said, "Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for the appointment by the corrupt few." Let’s hope not.

As another aside, a comment from a friend yesterday was that today’s Kuwait & the division between Islamic fundamentalists and the common public reminds them of the behaviour of the Puritans a century or so ago. History always repeats.

Various commentators have alluded to the number of eligible voters with women being able to vote. The amendment will increase the number of eligible voters in Kuwait from the current 145,000 males to more than 350,000 people, or 37 percent of Kuwait’s native population of 956,000.
More than a 100% increase, but still only 37% of the native population will be able to vote. I haven’t got the time to research the reasons why the proportion is still rather low... maybe later. Pure speculation, but are there a large number of people with legal cases registered against them (therefore being ineligible to vote)?

Uzbekistan's war for terror

Having lived in Uzbekistan in the mid-90’s it has always been close to my heart. The bad news currently emanating from Uzbekistan though is at risk of being brushed over, and easily forgotten - as were the riots and killings in the early 90’s in the newly created Khirghiz part of the Ferghana valley, after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

This is a disaster that has a sense of inevitability about it, in that eventually the Uzbek regime would lash out against any protest that threatened the legitimacy of the state. And, as a strategic ally of the USA, they know they can get away with it (for now). Eventually, probably 5-10 years from now, you can foresee a day that once the crimes start piling up the USA will eventually get around to sorting out the dictator they once supported, ala Saddam Hussein (once, or if, they have Afghanistan and Iraq under control). Mind you, by then they may have more pressing concerns in Iran or North Korea, or some other hotspot that is considered strategically more important. Being the world’s policeman is not an easy job, and with other countries that could play a role, happy to let the USA bear the responsibility (particularly if good business can be done thanks to an USA self imposed embargo, ala France and Iran), there will probably be little respite for the Uzbek populace for many years.

A good source for information about the regime's crackdown on protestors and the fallout in Andijan can be found here.