Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf continues to juggle the ass-backwards feudal sentiments of much of his nation against his desire to be seen as a forward-looking leader and a partner of the U.S. in the GWOT.
So when Mukhtaran Bibi, a courageous victim of tribally sanctioned gang rape, dared to accept an invitation to the US to speak out about her experience, Perez had her placed under house arrest.
More below...
Nicholas Kristof, of the NY Times' OpEd page, has been writing on Bibi since last Fall:
She was sentenced by a tribal council in Pakistan to be gang-raped because of an infraction supposedly committed by her brother. Four men raped Ms. Mukhtaran, then village leaders forced her to walk home nearly naked in front of a jeering crowd of 300.
Ms. Mukhtaran was supposed to have committed suicide. Instead, with the backing of a local Islamic leader, she fought back and testified against her persecutors. Six were convicted.
Then Ms. Mukhtaran, who believed that the best way to overcome such abuses was through better education, used her compensation money to start two schools in her village, one for boys and the other for girls. She went out of her way to enroll the children of her attackers in the schools, showing that she bore no grudges.
Sounds like a happy ending? Not when Bibi wanted to take her story overseas. The authorities turned the tables on her, confining her to her home at gunpoint and cutting off her phone lines.
Worst of all, they freed her attackers, in an apparent attempt to intimidate her.
Kristoff insists the Bush administration not turn a blind eye to such abuses when committed by allies:
I've been sympathetic to Mr. Musharraf till now, despite his nuclear negligence, partly because he's cooperated in the war on terrorism and partly because he has done a good job nurturing Pakistan's economic growth, which in the long run is probably the best way to fight fundamentalism. So even when Mr. Musharraf denied me visas all this year, to block me from visiting Ms. Mukhtaran again and writing a follow-up column, I bit my tongue.
But now President Musharraf has gone nuts.
"This is all because they think they have the support of the U.S. and can get away with murder," Ms. Jahangir said. Indeed, on Friday, just as all this was happening, President Bush received Pakistan's foreign minister in the White House and praised President Musharraf's "bold leadership."
So, Mr. Bush, how about asking Mr. Musharraf to focus on finding Osama, instead of kidnapping rape victims who speak out? And invite Ms. Mukhtaran to the Oval Office - to show that Americans stand not only with generals who seize power, but also with ordinary people of extraordinary courage.
To help Mukhtaran Bibi and her campaign defending Pakistani women against honor killings, rapes, and acid attacks, as well as her support for education and health services, you can send money to the following location:
Mercy Corps
RE "Mukhtaran Bibi"
3015 S.W. First
Portland, Ore. 97201