Warning over 'Excessively Strict' Discipline in UK Madrassas

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Children attending some UK Islamic schools are being subjected to physical beatings as teachers use loopholes to get around a ban on corporal punishment, according to new research.

Several madrassas – religious schools often run by mosques – use “excessively strict approaches to discipline” to keep children in line, it was revealed.

Researchers said the imposition of hard-line rules on behaviour instilled a sense of “spiritual fear” in young people, marking them out from mainstream schools.

The study, by the Institute for Public Policy Research, found a number of examples of madrassas actually employing corporal punishment.

A ban on physical beatings, including the cane, was introduced in the 1980s.

But the legislation does not cover “supplementary schools”, including many madrassas, where lessons are taught for fewer than 12.5 hours per week.

Labour pledged to close the loophole after an independent review of child safety raised concerns over the practice in early 2010, but the policy has never been enacted.

The latest study – Inside Madrassas – also found around one-in-10 institutions did not subject staff to criminal records checks, adding that this was likely to be a significant underestimate as it failed to include less formal schools not covered by the research. » | Graeme Paton, Education Editor | Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Muslim Preacher Jailed after Being Secretly Filmed Kicking and Slapping Children at Mosque

MAIL ONLINE: A religious teacher who was caught on a secret camera kicking and slapping children in a mosque was jailed for 10 weeks today.

Sabir Hussain, 60, admitted four charges of assaulting boys at the Markazi Jamia Mosque, in Keighley, West Yorkshire, as they learned The Koran.

He was arrested after secret filming was screened on a Channel 4 documentary earlier this year.

The assaults Hussain admitted happened on December 7 and December 13 last year, and involved four different boys.

Hussain, of Spencer Street, Keighley, appeared at Bradford Magistrates Court in traditional clothing and was led out of court in handcuffs after the sentence was passed. Read on and comment » | Richard Hartley-Parkinson | Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Iran to Blind Criminal with Acid in 'Eye for an Eye' Justice
THE GUARDIAN: Retribution granted to woman who had acid thrown in her face by man she refused to marry

In a literal application of the sharia law of an eye for an eye, Iran is ready for the first time to blind a man with acid, after he was found guilty of doing the same to a woman who refused to marry him.

Majid Movahedi, 30, is scheduled to be rendered unconscious in Tehran's judiciary hospital at noon on Saturday while Ameneh Bahrami, his victim, drops acid in both his eyes, her lawyer said.

Bahrami who had asked for an eye for an eye retribution in the court, was disfigured and blinded by Movahedi in 2004 when he threw a jar of acid in her face while she was returning home from work. "He was holding a red container in his hand. He looked into my eyes for a second and threw the contents of the red container into my face," she told the court in 2008.

According to Iranian media, Bahrami's lawyer, Ali Sarafi, has said: "A very good sentence has been given and an appropriate method has been adopted so that the convict will be blinded by few drops of acids in eyes after he is rendered unconscious."

In a highly publicised dossier in November 2008, a criminal court in Tehran ordered qisas (retribution) on Movahedi after he admitted throwing acid at Bahrami, and entitled her to blind him with acid. He was also required to pay compensation to the victim. Bahrami refused to accept the "blood money" and told the court: "Inflict the same life on him that he inflicted on me." » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Friday, May 13, 2011

Naughty Brits Still Smack Their Children. Not Good Enough, Says Europe
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain is one of the few countries in the world not to have completely banned smacking, European Union leaders say, as they called for a change in the law.

The British government’s “unwelcome” intrusion into family affairs was to blame for the delay in the complete ban of the practice, the Council of Europe warned.

The Council, a body which monitors compliance with the European convention on Human rights, also blamed traditional parenting practices that were based on “authority”.

The comments come ahead of a debate in Strasbourg on Tuesday where EU leaders and campaigners against the “corporal punishment of children” will criticise the UK government for not banning the practice completely.

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, deputy secretary general of the Council of Europe, said on Monday that 20 countries had "formally abolished laws" against smacking since over the past three year.1998 ruling found it violated a child’s human rights.

"The UK is one of the countries that has not yet implemented a full ban," she said.

“In part, this is because the traditional parent-child relationship in the UK is one of authority [and] state intervention into family affairs is still not welcome.” Smacking ban delays caused by 'unwelcome government intrusion', Europe says >>> Andrew Hough | Monday, April 26, 2010

Smacking Ban Extended to Muslim Madrassahs and After School Clubs
MAIL ONLINE: Islamic schools are to be banned from smacking after a report warned that children were at risk of physical abuse.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls today acted to extend the ban on smacking to all who teach or care for children outside the family including leaders of Muslim madrassahs.

The move followed an investigation by Government adviser Sir Roger Singleton which found evidence youngsters in madrassahs were sometimes given physical punishments, including a 'clip round the ear' or the 'hen' position, where fingers are squeezed around a pencil.

'I do not think that there should be any scope to conceal reality by dissembling with words,' said Sir Roger, chief adviser on child safety.

'A "clip round the ear" could result in a damaging blow to a child's head.'

He went on: 'I was told of other physical punishments such as the "hen" position where fingers are laced with a pencil and squeezed.'

He also raised concerns about treatment of children in some fundamentalist Christian part-time schools, where biblical references to chastising youngsters are taken literally.

Existing laws outlaw smacking by teachers in schools. But those who tutor children outside school, in part-time educational settings and weekend and evening faith schools are not covered.

These include Britain's estimated 1,600 madrassahs. >>> Laura Clark | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Even More Balls from Ed Balls! It’s Time Mr Balls Found His Balls!
Loophole: Girls studying at a Madrasah. Ed Balls is refusing to ban smacking in Islamic schools in Britain. Photograph: Mail Online
To look at these kids dressed like this in a British school is an affront to all that we stand for and hold dear! NO CHILD, even in Islam, needs to be dressed like this in a state of prepubescence. Not even in Saudi Arabia are children expected to dress like this before puberty. It's time for you to find your balls, Mr Balls! – © Mark

MAIL ONLINE: Schools Secretary Ed Balls has been accused of refusing to ban Islamic schools from smacking children for fear of upsetting Muslim 'sensitivities'.

Mr Balls was last week urged to close a legal loophole which gives teachers in Britain's estimated 1,600 schools associated with mosques the right to smack children - even though it is banned in other schools.

He refused, prompting claims that he is allowing an alleged 'culture of physical abuse' in some of the mosque schools - or madrasahs - go unchecked.

Smacking is banned in all State and private schools. However, it does not apply to madrasahs, where pupils usually study in the evenings or at weekends, because the ban exempts schools where children attend for less than 12.5 hours per week.

Lib Dem schools spokesman David Laws, who is spearheading the campaign to close the smacking loophole, said: 'The Government needs to legislate to protect children - not leave an opt-out simply because it fears some ethnic or religious backlash.'

He was supported by Labour MP Ann Cryer, who said it would be 'bonkers' if the Government did not act. She said: 'I suspect people are frightened of upsetting the sensitivities of certain members of the Muslim faith.'

A report just over a year ago warned that madrasah students had been slapped, punched and had their ears twisted.

Irfan Chishti, a former Government adviser on Islamic affairs, said that one madrasah student was 'picked up by one leg and spun around' while another pupil said a teacher was 'kicking in my head like a football'. Double standards row as Ed Balls refuses to ban smacking at mosque schools to avoid 'upsetting Muslim sensitivities' >>> Brendan Carlin | Sunday, January 17, 2010

Muslim Woman to Be Caned for Drinking a Beer
BALTIMORE SUN BLOG: A 32-year-old Muslim woman, a model, was sentenced this week to six strokes with a rattan cane for drinking a beer in a nightclub.

Word of this event, reported by the Associated Press in Australia and picked up The Huffington Post, comes from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Consuming alcohol is a religious offense in Malaysia only for Muslims, who make up nearly two-thirds of the population, reports say. Offenders are prosecuted in Shariah courts, which handle cases mainly related to family and moral issues for Muslim.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno was sentenced Monday to six lashes and a fine of 5,000 ringgit ($1,400) for consuming alcohol.

Earlier news sources reported the woman would appeal the sentence. But yesterday the blog Nuraiana A. Samad's 3540 Jalan Sudin said the woman had decided not to appeal. There seemed to confusion, however, over who would strike the blows. Technically, she has to be in prison to be caned. She is not in prison.

The caning inflicts more shame than corporal punishment, a Malaysian official claims. Easy for him to say. [Source: Batimore Sun Blog] | Rob Kaspar | Comment here

Judges To Order More Lashings Than Prison Sentences (July 2008)

Editorial: Deeper Malaise Afflicting Europe
ARAB NEWS: THE American educational system was a pioneer in abandoning corporal punishment in schools, preferring to trust children would be influenced to do the right thing by pure reason and such minor penalties as detention. But things have changed. When some high schools open in Texas for the next school year, some teachers will be carrying guns to defend themselves from their pupils who often themselves bring guns and knives to class.

That a society which forbids the cane for serious cases of indiscipline is nonetheless prepared to let teachers fire guns at students in self-defense is mind-boggling. It does not matter that this astonishing development is currently taking place in a handful of schools in only one state. It is a further searing indictment of the continuing right to bear arms enshrined in the second amendment to the US Constitution. It also points to a deeper malaise which is by no means confined to America but which clearly affects Europe as well.

Western societies have lost control of their children. Since the 1960s, youth culture has been progressively commercialized. From the minute they are able to watch TV, billions of advertising dollars target children. Vulnerable young minds are being pressed to grow up too fast and encouraged to believe that they have a useful contribution to make to society — at the very time when society should, in fact, be educating them, both in academics and character-building. Editorial: Deeper Malaise Afflicting Europe >>> | August 17, 2008

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