Thursday, July 17, 2008

Tell it to Haroun Al Rashid!

all my friends know that when i gratuated from university, my thesis was about homosexuality in islamic societies (actually it included also a small chapter on transgendering and transvestitism) and it is a topic that really interests me, so today i've found this article on the main page of 7Days (free daily newspaper in english) and i want to share it.
no comment...
Respect Our Rules.
Transvestites arrested and deported, police vow to continue with campaign.
by Ali Al-Shouk
"A police campaign targeting transvestites has led to 40 arrests since the initiative was launched at the end of May in Dubai.
The cross-dressers, mostly men found wearing women's clothes, were all charged with public indecency and immediately deported, according to police officials.
The Deputy Director of CID at Dubai Police, Colonel Khaleel Ibraheem, said that the majority of the transvestites were visitors to the country.
"We caught about 40 transvestites and most of them are tourists and visitors and they were referred to the Public Prosecution who charged them with indecency and immediately deported them," he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Jasim Mirza, head of the Safety Awareness Department at Dubai Police, told 7DAYS that some of those arrested were women. "This is a strange thing for the UAE's society. We are not against personal freedom (noooooooo, ndr -pardon but i couldn't help it) but it shouldn't interfere with our traditions and beliefs," he said.
"It is starting to spread in the country because of globalisation and as we have become a very open country to other cultures (what?)."
Police said that their patrols have been identifuing the transvestites from the way they walk or spotting them putting on mak-up.
"Some of the men make their hair long just like women and act like a woman with their behaviour. It's just not acceptable here in this country," Mirza said.
"We welcome everybody but they should follow our rules and traditions and respect ours just like when we go to their countries and respect their traditions and beliefs," he added.
Meanwhile, the campaign launched by Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, head of Dubai Police, on May 25 under the banner 'Our social values are precious - let's protect them', is set to continue.
Dahi Khalfan said that transvestites have been arrested in various public places including shopping malls.
He said: "We will tackle this problem strictly and any man who dresses up and behaves like a woman in public or vice versa will be questioned and legal action will be taken against them in the courts." (it would not be better to question and arrest "real men" who rape women? there is plenty of this kind in the street you see...)
Mirza said that if his officers catch an Emirati transvestite, then he would be "rehabilitated".
"If the transvestite is a local then we rehabilitate them (yes, with a lot of hormones as they do for homosexuals) and educate them by the Islamic beliefs because we want to keep our country away from such things," he added."
Haroun Al Rashid would cry in dismay!

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