7 International Tuesday, August 25, 2020 12 days for assault: Fury at weak penalties for attacks on women Harassment, assaults ‘not taken seriously enough’ in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Sexual harassment and assaults against In July, Yin Zi Qin, a dentistry student at NUS, was women are not being taken seriously enough in Singa- jailed for less than two weeks and asked to conduct 80 pore, activists warn, after students at elite universities hours of community service despite pleading guilty to were given punishments criticized as too lenient for strangling his ex-girlfriend and pressing his thumb into their crimes. In the most recent incident, a 23-year-old her eye until she lost consciousness. The judge opted spent just 12 days behind bars after he tried to strangle for softer “community-based sentencing” put forward his ex-girlfriend during a vicious assault. The city-state by the prosecution as he was a first offender, cooper- is known for its tough approach to law and order, with ated with authorities, and voluntarily sought counseling vandalism punishable by caning, while drug trafficking and to apologize to the victim. and murder carry the death penalty. But it provoked a public backlash with some angry But campaigners say crimes against women have the privileged only get a “slap on the wrists” for serious long been minimalised-marital rape was only criminal- crimes. “I can’t believe the sentence is so light! I guess ized this year. “The justice system is very harsh on peo- NUS students have such a bright future that they can ple who vandalize state-owned get away with any crime,” com- property. But you want to mented Maruko Chan on a so- threaten and violate a woman’s cial media post about the ruling. life? Oh yeah, sure. It’s not as se- Punishments “Because he’s a medical student rious, is the message (authori- and a future doctor?... Go ahead ties) are giving,” said Pamela Ng, criticized as do more of wrist slapping,” said a spokeswoman for the Aim For netizen Huew Lim. Zero campaign against sexual too lenient In another case, NUS stu- violence. dent Terence Siow Kai Yuan SINGAPORE: A sign of the National University of Singapore is displayed at the campus entrance in Singapore. There are also concerns the was sentenced to 21 months of Sexual harassment and assaults against women are not being taken seriously enough in Singapore, academic potential of male per- supervised probation for mo- activists warn. — AFP petrators is being prioritized over the actual effect of lesting a woman on a train and at a station. The judge sex crimes on women. This echoes criticisms of inci- rejected the prosecution’s call for a custodial sentence dents at prestigious schools in the US, including the six- saying he had a high chance of being rehabilitated given ‘Sexual violence normalized’ Ong Ye Kung provided to Parliament last May. NUS month imprisonment of Brock Turner for three counts his academic record and “relatively minor” nature of his Vanessa who runs Instagram account upand.out, toughened penalties for sexual misconduct after the of sexual assault, where a judge feared a longer sen- acts, according to court documents. which aims to empower youth, says the system must Baey case in 2019, and said Yin Zi Qin is suspended tence would severely “impact” the Stanford University However, his victim told The New Paper, the attack treat everyone equally. “23-years-old = fully func- pending disciplinary proceedings. swimmer. was not “spur of the moment” and the impact on her tioning adult. He is fully capable of higher thinking if Despite the growing concerns, Singapore lawyer Last year, National University of Singapore (NUS) had not been minor. Siow was later jailed for two weeks he was accepted in one of our top university’s most Gloria James-Civetta cautioned that the judiciary could student Monica Baey took to social media to protest after prosecutors appealed. Following the July case, competitive courses. If SG is taking a more compas- only operate within the “boundaries prescribed by leg- the light punishment given to a male student who filmed women’s rights group AWARE raised concerns that sionate stance for crimes now, it should be reflected islators”. “In some instances, the academic background her in a dormitory shower. Her decision to go public more consideration was being shown for the assailant in every case,” the 22-year-old, who gave only her of the offender may be indicative of the offender’s pos- was dubbed the city-state’s #MeToo moment and is than the impact on the victims. “Rehabilitation is impor- first name, added. sibilities for reform,” she explained. Singapore has credited with encouraging other victims to come for- tant but this should not depend on the educational sta- There were 56 cases of sexual misconduct involving toughened some of its sex crime laws, with “cyber- ward. But critics say recent cases involving men of priv- tus of the perpetrator,” AWARE executive director students from six Singapore universities between 2015 flashing”-sending unsolicited images of one’s private ilege show not enough has changed. Corinna Lim adds. and 2017, according to information Education Minister parts-and “revenge porn” recently outlawed. —AFP

when his examination lasted 7-1/2 hours, fuelling wor- Japan leader ‘second ries about his health. But major broadcaster Nippon TV said Abe was being treated for a chronic illness hospital visit within rather than a check-up, citing multiple unidentified government and ruling party sources. Abe has been prime minister since 2012 in his second stint after a Xinjiang residents days’ sparks concern troubled term from which he resigned abruptly in 2007, because of struggles with ulcerative colitis, a protesting online TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to disease he now keeps in check with medicine that was take care of his health and do his utmost at his job, he not previously available. said yesterday, after a second hospital visit within days against lockdown sparked concern whether he could stay on as leader ‘Not at all’ worried of the world’s third biggest economy. The visit came as His office did not give a detailed explanation for the BEIJING: Residents in China’s northwestern Japan’s longest-serving prime minister surpassed a hospital visits, but close aide Health Minister Kat- Xinjiang region have complained on social TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wearing a record for longest consecutive tenure as premier set sunobu Kato said last week’s visit was a regular check- media about the harsh coronavirus lockdown face mask arrives at the Prime Minister’s office in by his great-uncle Eisaku Sato half a century ago, up and he was “not at all” worried about Abe’s health. measures in the sensitive region after a local Tokyo yesterday. — AFP adding to speculation Abe could resign after reaching Japanese media have speculated about Abe’s health outbreak. China - where the disease first the milestone. this month, including detailed reports on his walking emerged - had largely brought domestic trans- Abe, criticized for his handling of the coronavirus speed. Weekly magazine Flash said Abe had vomited election, followed by the winner’s formal election in mission under control through lockdowns, travel outbreak and some scandals, has suffered a slide in blood at his office on July 6. Reuters was unable to ver- parliament.Abe’s tenure as LDP president, and thus, restrictions and testing, but sporadic regional voter support to one of the lowest levels since return- ify the widely cited report, which was denied by gov- premier, ends in September 2021 unless he steps down outbreaks have emerged. A new cluster in Xin- ing to office for a second term in 2012 with promises ernment officials. earlier. Those tipped as possible successors include jiang’s capital Urumqi in mid-July prompted to revive the economy and bolster defense. “I’d like to Abe gets a regular check-up twice a year, with his Aso, former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba, ex-for- fresh restrictions. A total of 902 cases have been take care of my health and do my best at my job,” Abe most recent on June 13, Kyodo news agency said, eign minister Fumio Kishida, Suga, and Defense Min- officially reported in the outbreak. told reporters at his official residence, after visiting a adding that last week’s visit was a follow-up to a June ister Taro Kono. All are veteran LDP lawmakers Officials said earlier this month that they had Tokyo hospital where he said he had received results check-up, citing a hospital source. If Abe is incapaci- unlikely to make huge policy shifts, despite differing “effectively contained” the spread of the Urumqi of an exam done last week and undergone additional tated, Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, 79, who dou- over details. But any successor may find it tough to em- cluster, and there have been no new cases re- examinations. Abe, who turns 66 next month, also said bles as finance minister, would take over temporarily ulate Abe’s political longevity, which followed years of ported in the last eight days. But hundreds of he wanted to speak again later about his medical tests. as acting prime minister. If Abe says he has decided to revolving-door premiers and was aided by the strong local residents flooded local social media forums Earlier, government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said resign, he would stay on until formally replaced, which economy, tight control over bureaucrats and weak op- in recent days to complain about harsh condi- Abe was having a follow-up to a check a week ago requires a ruling Liberal Democratic Party presidential position parties.— Reuters tions, including many being forced to stay home. After some of these comments were removed - China’s internet is heavily censored - users tried to flood local forums on the Twitter-like Weibo platform in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Libyan Red Crescent Social media users shared photos of front doors sealed with steel crowbars, and locks in- retrieves 22 bodies stalled by community workers. “Why can’t pre- fectures with no cases remove the lockdown? Why do you need to lock down the whole of TRIPOLI: The Libyan Red Crescent re- grants and refugees known to have per- Xinjiang?” read one comment on Weibo, which trieved the bodies of 22 migrants off the ished on the route so far this year, the coastal town of Zwara on Sunday, the In- IOM and the UNHCR said, stressing that received thousands of likes. “Doors have been ternational Organization for Migration the actual figure was likely much higher. sealed, this has brought huge inconvenience to (IOM) said. “Today, 22 bodies were re- Safa Msehli, spokeswoman for the IOM workers and people’s lives. Prices of daily items trieved by the Libyan Red Crescent in in Geneva, told AFP on Sunday it was have risen... many things I buy are expired.” Zwara,” the IOM’s chief of mission in possible the 22 bodies were from that Little information has been released by the Libya, Federico Soda, wrote on Twitter, same sinking, “given the reported loca- authorities about the Xinjiang cluster. Other sharing a photo of body bags lined up on tion of the shipwreck”. local governments in China have provided infor- a beach. On Wednesday, the IOM and the “The bodies retrieved today were all mation on patients’ movements in granular de- UN refugee agency said dozens of mi- African males. We still don’t have infor- ABU QURAYN: Photo shows fighters loyal to the UN-recognized Libyan Government tail. Photos circulating on Weibo and WeChat grants and refugees had perished off mation on the nationalities,” she added. of National Accord (GNA) securing the area of Abu Qurain. — AFP also purportedly showed people chained to Libya in the deadliest shipwreck so far Libya has been in chaos ever since the community gates with handcuffs, reportedly as this year. 2011 overthrow and killing of dictator a punishment for leaving their homes. Some res- The agencies said that survivors from Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed across the Mediterranean Sea. Migrant towards people fleeing conflict and ex- idents also wrote that they were forced by au- Monday’s sinking, 37 of whom were res- uprising, though its warring rival admin- departures from Libya’s coast increased treme poverty, and a failure to humanely thorities to take Chinese medicine daily, and cued by fishermen, said at least 45 others, istrations said Friday they would cease all by nearly 300 percent this year between manage migration flows,” Soda added were required to film themselves doing so. including five children, had died when the hostilities and organize nationwide elec- January and the end of April, compared Sunday. More than 100,000 migrants One video from Saturday purportedly engine of the vessel they were aboard ex- tions soon. Since the ousting of Gaddafi, to the same period in 2019, according to tried to cross the Mediterranean last year showed dozens of high-rise residents in Urumqi the UN. “These painful deaths are the re- with more than 1,200 dying in the at- ploded off Zwara. The latest tragedy, west Libya has become a key route for irregu- yelling from their windows in despair. Stranded sult of the increasingly hardening policy tempt, according to the IOM.—Agencies of Tripoli, brings to 302 the number of mi- lar migration from Africa into Europe, migrant workers, university students, business travelers and tourists have also complained about not being able to leave Xinjiang. “I have violent attack launched by IPOB on the team,” it tions against IPOB at the appropriate time,” he said. even taken three nucleic acid tests... but com- said in a statement. The DSS statement did not say it killed any Biafran IPOB and secret munity workers won’t let me leave,” one user Security forces were on the trail of the attackers, separatists, nor could the figure of 21 dead be in- wrote on a message board run by the state-run it said. “All measures have been put in place to en- dependently verified. However, local and interna- People’s Daily. police clash in sure that their killers and everyone involved in this tional human rights bodies have long accused At a press conference last Thursday, local dastardly act are promptly apprehended and Nigerian security forces of killing IPOB members. health officials in Xinjiang said that the epi- brought to justice.” IPOB spokesman Emma Pow- In 2016, Amnesty International accused the na- Nigeria’s east demic situation remains “complicated and se- erful denied his group killed any government secu- tional security forces of extra-judicial executions of vere”. Around half of Xinjiang’s more than 21 rity forces and said instead that it was Nigerian 150 IPOB members, a charge they denied. IPOB LAGOS: Nigeria’s secret police say two of its men million people are ethnic Uighurs and other forces who killed unarmed Biafrans holding a which seeks a separate state for the Igbo people of were killed Sunday by Biafran separatists who in Turkic Muslims, many of whom complain of peaceful meeting in Emene. southeast Nigeria has frequently clashed with the turn claim 21 of their members were killed in an un- decades of political and religious oppression by “The Nigerian security personnel stormed IPOB security forces. Calls for a separate state of Biafra provoked attack on a peaceful meeting. The De- China’s ruling Communist Party, which the gov- meeting ground in Enugu and started shooting spo- are a sensitive subject in Nigeria, after a unilateral partment of State Service (DSS) said one of its ernment denies. Activists have accused the Chi- radically which consumed the lives of 21 members declaration of independence in 1967 sparked a bru- patrols was attacked Sunday in Emene, southwest- nese government of incarcerating about one and 47 arrested for no just cause or provocation,” tal 30-month civil war. More than one million peo- ern Enugu state, by members of the outlawed In- million Uighurs and other Turkic people in Xin- Powerful said in a statement. “Those responsible for ple died, most of them Igbos, from the effects of digenous People of Biafra (IPOB). “The Service lost jiang camps. —AFP two personnel in what was clearly an unprovoked this barbaric killing in Enugu...must pay for their ac- conflict and disease.—AFP