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BBC Malaysia moots cross-cultural circumcision
By Jonathan Kent Malaysia is to consider using mass circumcision ceremonies to promote
racial harmony.
Circumcision is a rite of passage for young Muslim boys, and in Malaysia
it is common for the ceremony to become an event with dozens, or even
hundreds of boys being circumcised together.
Now the prime minister's religious affairs adviser has suggested that
circumcision can bring Malaysians of all races and religions together.
Dr Abdul Hamid Othman said that with the growing popularity of
circumcision among the country's non-Muslim minorities - who see it as good hygienic practice - they too could be invited to join in the celebrations with
their Muslim friends.
He believes the idea could promote better race relations and he wants to
see a nationwide circumcision ceremony organised.
Just over half of Malaysia's population is Muslim, mainly members of the
ethnic Malay community, while the country's Chinese, Tamil and tribal
peoples follow a variety of other faiths.
The government has been exploring ways of stopping the different groups
from drifting apart, including the introduction of a national service
scheme which begins in February
[This monstrous proposal is closely akin to child sacrifice. Dr Othman may be surprised to find that it is not received with the enthusiasm he expects - especially by its victims.] |
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Aftenposten Nettutgaven, Local Damages for surprise circumcision
December 10, 2003
A man who woke up in a Molde hospital and found himself the recipient of
an unexpected circumcision has been awarded NOK 20,000 ($US 3,000) in
compensation from the surgeon, newspaper Sunnmørsposten reports.
Frostating Court of Appeals ruled that the physician in charge of was
negligent for not reading the man's journal before the operation, and
found the result of the surgery constituted injury.
The patient told the court that he would never have embarked on surgery to
relieve an uncomfortably tight foreskin if he had known a circumcision
would result.
The man claimed that the circumcision had destroyed his sex life by
reducing the sensitivity of his penis and because he was now embarrassed to appear naked in front of his wife. He said he was also embarrassed to be naked in
public bathing facilities now.
The man originally sued both the hospital owner and the doctor but lost,
then changed his appeal to concentrate on suing the doctor.
The surgeon said in his defense that at least 60 percent of American men
are circumcised and that the procedure is routine for Jewish and Muslim
babies. He also argued that the man was objectively better after the operation and he had been warned that the foreskin could be partially or completely removed.
The appeals court chose to believe that the resulting circumcision came as
a shock to the patient, and ruled he had suffered damage, though not 'considerable' damage.
The court also ruled that circumcision remains unusual in Norway and that
the physical changes to the man's organ were self-evident.
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National Council for Children calls for ban on male circumcision
Fri, 5 Dec 2003 02:19:45 -0800
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| Pressemeddelelse | Press release |
| Af en artikel i Kristeligt Dagblad fremgår det at Børnerådet har stillet eller vil stille et konkret forslag om forbud mod omskæring af drengebørn. | According to an article in Kristeligt Dagblad (Christian Daily Blade), it appears that the Council for Children has put forward or will put forward a concrete proposal for prohibiting circumcision of boys. |
| Forslaget er imidlertid stillet af folketingskandidat fra de Radikale Kim Sejr, og Børnerådets formand har alene kommenteret forslaget. | The proposal is however/meanwhile being put forward by a parliamentary candidate from the Radical Left Party, Kim Sejr, and the Council chairman himself has commented on the proposal. |
| Børnerådet har ikke haft lejlighed til at diskutere et forbud. | The Council itself hasn't had an opportunity to discuss the prohibition. |
| Mine kommentarer har været at debatten afslører et dilemma mellem vores ønske om at give trossamfund ret til at praktisere og hensynet til det enkelte individ og dets rettigheder som menneske, i forbindelse med rituelle handlinger som er knyttet til udøvelsen af troen. | My comments have been that the debate reveals a conflict between a desire to grant religious communities the right to practise their faith, and a respect for individual human rights, in the context of rituals associated with the practice of that faith. |
| Og i et eventuelt valg i dette spørgsmål for mig må falde ud til fordel for individets rettigheder. | And in my opinion, in the final analysis it is the rights of the individual that must prevail. |
| FN´s konvention om barnets rettigheder artikel 24, 3 lyder: "Deltagerlandene skal tage alle effektive og passende forholdsregler med henblik på afskaffelse af traditionsbundne ritualer, som er skadelige for børn." | The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child article 24(3) reads: "States Parties shall take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children." |
| Rækkevidden af denne formulering kan naturligvis diskuteres, men kan næppe fortolkes således at omskæring er uproblematisk i konventionens forstand. | The reach/extent/scope of that formulation is naturally open to discussion, but it is scarcely possible to interpret it so that circumcision poses no problems for the purposes of the Convention. |
| Omskæring af drenge må betragtes som et indgreb som krænker drengenes integritet, og som ikke kan begrundes i hensynet til drengebørns fysiske eller mentale sundhed. | Circumcision of boys may/must be viewed as an intervention that violates a boy's integirity, and cannot be justified on the basis of protecting a child's physical or mental health. |
| Indgrebet er forbundet med smerte og ubehag og er uafvendeligt og derfor betydningsfuldt for drengene. | The procedure is accompanied by pain and discomfort and is inevitable and is therefore of great significance to the boys. |
| Indgrebet må siges at krænke forestillingen om at vi alle bør råde over vores egen krop, også børn, og beslutningen herom bør overlades til drengene selv, når de når en alder hvor de vil kunne overskue konsekvensen af et sådant indgreb. | The procedure can be said to infringe on the right to control our own bodies, a right which is also enjoyed by children, and decisions about this should be left to the boys themselves, when they reach an age where they understand the consequences of the procedure. |
| 15 år kunne være et passende tidspunkt. | 15 years could be an appopriate age |
| Det er tidspunktet hvor børn i medfør af loven om patientrettigheder har ret til at sige fra i spørgsmål om behandling for lidelser. |
That is the age at which, under the law pertaining to patients' rights,
children are entitled to refuse medical treatment.
Klaus Wilmann
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BBC News Child porn images 'worst ever'
A bricklayer who had more than 400,000 images of "unimaginable evil and depravity" on his computer has been warned he faces a lengthy jail term.
Sheriff Norrie Stein told 37-year-old Steven Perrie that he faced prison
after 403,000 indecent images of children and 16,000 video clips were
found at his home in Forfar, Angus.
Police who had to sift through the images described it as the worst
material they had ever seen.
At Forfar Sheriff Court, Perrie pled guilty to the offences.
One of the most appalling images showed the non-medical circumcision of
a boy estimated at six to seven years old.
Sheriff Stein said: "The court has heard lengthy descriptions of 420,000
videos and images of unimaginable evil and depravity. ....
[If an image of the circumcision of a boy is "appalling" and "unimaginable evil and depravity", what do you call actually doing it?
This story also hints at the dark side of the motivation of circumcisors.] |
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dagsavisen Barneombudet* Critical of Circumcision of Boys
*Children's Ombudsman - an official appointed by the Cabinet, whose sole responsibility is to act as protector of children. S/he can take up whatever cause or plight interests him or her with respect to children in Norway.
26 June 2003: Trond Waage, the Barneombudet, asks the Minister of
Health for a report (official statement of position) re circumcision of
boys. The Barneombudet is of the opinion that such practices must cease at all
public hospitals [practically ALL hospitals in Norway are public] if the
practice is harmful to the health of the child.
Norwegian law has absorbed ("internalized") the U.N. Convention of [the Rights of] the Child, and thus we must terminate traditional practices which are
harmful to the health of the child, says Waage. Today Norwegian hospitals are obliged [directed] by Norwegian governmental authorities to perform circumcision
of boys of Muslim or Jewish background.
Irreversible [surgical] Operation
Has Dysfunctional Consequences
She is of the opinion that circumcision is an assault on children.
Illegal Practices
Waage, the Barneombudet, is aware of this risk,but demands even so a thorough (governmental) report (equivalent to a White Paper) setting forth the basis (the arguments and premises upon which such practices are presently based) for allowing the circumcision of boys in Norway before he will reach his own final conclusion.
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Le Monde French human rights law would outlaw circumcision
An uproar has arisen over the wearing of Muslim headscarves in French schools. Michel Orcel contrasts that with the silence on male circumcision. The Veil and Circumcision Michel Orcel Excerpts:
Article 16-3 of the Civil Code is perfectly clear on this point: We can see even more clearly the stupidity or bad faith of a dispute over headscarves, when we consider that for over two centuries we have tolerated a cultural and/or religious mutilation that serves no therapeutic purpose.... If a new "religion" (comparable in scope, say, to Scientology [TM]) one day commanded its followers to cut off their infants' earlobes, that bit of insensitive and useless skin at the bottom of the ear, people everywhere would be screaming at the top of their lungs and the courts would be jammed with lawsuits... This example is not so far-fetched when we consider the Raëliens who already claim to have cloned a human being... While launching a frontal attack on the wearing of headscarves, the secular and democratic French Republic is turning a blind eye to other practices which--though invisible and non-proselytizing--are nonetheless mutilations that are clearly illegal and subject to prosecution... Something to think about. Full text in French: http://tinyurl.com/uyk3 |
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Botched circumcision: surgeon sent to jail October 23 2003 at 04:47AM By Madoda Dyonana A traditional surgeon has been jailed for carrying out a botched and
unauthorised circumcision.
Eastern Cape Health Department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said on Wednesday that Mphathiseni Mduka, 23, was found guilty of circumcising an
18-year-old youth although he was not registered with the health department and did not have the permission of the youth's parents.
The circumcision was botched and the youth had to be taken to hospital and
re-circumcised.
Mduka was sentenced in the Engcobo Magistrate's Court to 12 months'
imprisonment or a fine of R2 000. He was unable to pay the fine and will
remain behind bars.
Kupelo said it was the first conviction since the passing two years ago of
the Application of Health Standards in Traditional Circumcision Act.
Mduka was one of nine traditional surgeons arrested in June after 21
initiates died and 16 had to undergo amputations as a result of botched
circumcisions, said Kupelo.
The 18-year-old youth had been admitted to All Saints Hospital in Engcobo
after complaining about a severe headache.
"This initiate was observed as mentally disturbed and was an incomplete-
circumcision case," Kupelo said.
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Circumcision case man cleared
A teacher accused of deceiving mothers into allowing him to circumcise
their sons, has been cleared on a judge's orders.
Omunnakwe Amechi, 53, allegedly quoted a false "aura" of medical expertise
with business cards, receipts and the title "Doctor" from a chemistry
Ph.D.
As a result parents trustingly handed over £100 to carry out "unsafe and
harmful" sitting room surgery, it was claimed.
Mark Wyeth, prosecuting, told London's Woolwich Crown Court that in
February and July last year two youngsters, aged 14 and 19 months, were left
bleeding profusely, and required both follow-up transfusions and corrective surgery in hospital.
But Amechi, of Goldsmith Street, Peckham, south London, who has been
circumcising young boys since 1995, denied any wrongdoing.
Pointing out the law did not require circumcisers to be medically
qualified, he said he had never once sought to give the impression that he was.
Judge Shirley Anwyl QC then interrupted his evidence to say she had
decided to back early defence submissions that there was no case to answer on two counts of obtaining property by deception - a reference to the fees he
charged.
Mr. Wyeth told the court that in view of her decision he would offer no
evidence against either of those charges or two allegations of unlawful
wounding which Amechi had also denied.
The jury was then formally directed to return not guilty verdicts on all
counts.
Mr. Wyeth, however, went on to announce that he would be writing to the
new Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken MacDonald, on the advisability of
properly regulating the practice of circumcision.
Story filed: 18:15 Thursday 30th October 2003
Earlier story:
BBC Circumcision 'doctor' denies wounding boys
A man circumcised two baby boys in their mothers' front rooms after leading them to believe he was a medical doctor, a court heard.
Omunnakwe Amechi, 53, would turn up at houses smartly dressed and carrying a doctor's kit bag, Woolwich Crown Court was told.
But his doctorate was a PhD in chemistry, which was to do with the workings of rats' brains, and he had no formal medical qualifications.
Mr Amechi, of Goldsmith Street, Peckham, south-east London, denies two charges of unlawful wounding [yet non-doctors do circumcise boys: but if he is convicted, this will establish that circumcision is "wounding" - which it obviously is] and two deception charges.
Prosecutor Mark Wyeth told the court two boys, aged 14 months and 19 months, lost a lot of blood and needed transfusions and corrective surgery after being circumcised by Mr Amechi.
Mistaken belief
He said Mr Amechi used business cards, receipts and the title "doctor" given for his PhD to create a false impression of medical expertise.
"The defendant, by his conduct, induced in the mothers of these children the mistaken belief that he was medically qualified," he said.
"If he hadn't induced that state of belief neither would have consented to their sons being circumcised by this man."
The court heard Mr Amechi had been regularly circumcising young boys since 1995.
His business spread by word of mouth although he had no surgery or office.
But his business cards, which bore the title doctor, a phone number and a list of qualifications failed to clarify his non-medical status or give his home address, the prosecutor said.
He added there was no formal rules governing circumcision and it was not regulated by the General Medical Council or anyone else.
But those who performed surgery had to be "very clear about their qualifications, very clear about their training and need to be capable of carrying it out to a high and safe standard," said Mr Wyeth.
The trial continues.
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Museveni Threatens to Ban Circumcision
New Vision (Kampala [Uganda]) Nathan Etengu President Yoweri Museveni has threatened to stop the cultural practice of circumcision, which he said had endangered the lives of youths through the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Museveni was on Sunday evening addressing youth leaders from the 10 eastern districts during a workshop on HIV/AIDS.
"If necessary, we can stop circumcision. I do not care about losing votes. I cannot look for votes from people who may die tomorrow after getting infected during the circumcision rituals," Museveni said.
The workshop, organised under the "Presidential Initiative on aids Strategy for Communicating with Young People, was held at Mbale secondary school.
More than 1,000 youth leaders from Kaberamaido, Soroti, Katakwi, Kumi, Busia, Tororo, Kapchorwa, Pallisa, Mbale and Sironko attended the workshop organised by the youth desk in State House and the Uganda Aids Commission.
Resource persons at the workshop included the former Big Brother Africa (BBA) housemate, Gaetano Kaggwa Juuko, and presidential advisers, Moses Byaruhanga and Dr. Jesse Kagimba, a senior presidential advisor on HIV/AIDS.
Museveni said he could be prompted to organise medically qualified personnel to carry out public circumcision to protect interests of the community where it was practiced.
He directed officials from the Uganda Aids Commission and those from the Aids control Programme to attend the circumcision ceremonies to identify dangers that it posed.
Museveni said circumcision in Bugisu and Sebei was a danger to the candidates since some 'surgeons' did not sterilise their knives in a medical manner.
Museveni added that he might be forced to avail doctors to carry out the circumcision, provided it was done in a clinical manner.
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Cut boys catch Antibiotic-resistant Staph.
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Mysterious Crop of Staph Newborns, moms infected after stay at St. Catherine's By Roni Rabin STAFF WRITER October 9, 2003 Two newborns developed antibiotic-resistant staph infections just days after being born [and circumcised] at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown in August, and their mothers also were infected, state Health Department officials have confirmed. Another baby born at St. Catherine also was diagnosed with Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, just weeks after his birth May 23, his mother, Kelley Gould of St. James, said. St. Catherine officials said through a spokesman that there was no evidence Gould's infection originated in the hospital. MRSA doesn't respond to widely used penicillin-related antibiotics. It usually develops in critically ill patients or nursing home residents who have had multiple courses of antibiotics, and is rare in newborns. It can cause serious life-threatening infections, especially if it spreads to vulnerable patients and gets into surgical wounds. ... Meanwhile, questions remained about why the hospital waited 10 days to report the first infections to the state, whether it closed the affected nursery in order to disinfect it, whether its internal investigation ever determined the source of the infections, and what steps were taken after the third and fourth infections were identified. Yesterday, Kenny retracted an earlier statement saying the hospital had identified one of the four infected patients as the source of the infections. He said instead that the hospital's investigation of the source was inconclusive. But he said the hospital acted appropriately to contain the infections, even though the cases were not reported to the state until Aug. 21, 10 days after the first two cases were identified Aug. 11. "Aggressive steps were taken to contain it and there have been no additional cases since then," Kenny said. ...Michele Werner, also of St. James, whose baby, Brody, was infected four days after his birth on Aug. 7 and who herself tested positive for MRSA, insisted the nursery her son slept in was not closed down. "I only left on the 12th and I was there on the 13th. ... Both Nurseries A and B were packed with babies," she said. "They told me they cleaned them overnight." When Werner returned home, she was shocked to learn that her friend's baby, born two months earlier at St. Catherine, had also picked up a resistant staph infection. The friend, Kelley Gould, said she found out her baby, Kevin, born May 23, was infected when she took him to the pediatrician two weeks after coming home from the hospital for what she thought was a diaper rash. Gould and Werner believe the infection wasn't noticed earlier because Gould and her baby were in the hospital for only two days. Werner, who had a Caesarean section, had been kept in the hospital for five days. But Werner had an even bigger surprise recently when she was shopping at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove and struck up a conversation with a third mother, whose baby was about the same age as her son. She soon discovered that the baby, born Aug. 14 in St. Catherine, also developed an antibiotic-resistant staph infection in the hospital. "That's when I started worrying that they were trying to keep everything quiet and weren't taking care of it," said Werner, who reported her son's infection to the state. "You try to do everything you can to have a healthy baby, and then this happens. ... I would hate for this to happen to another baby." All of the infected babies were boys who were circumcised at the hospital, though their infections were not in the wounds but on the skin on different parts of their bodies, their mothers said. They were all treated with Clindamycin, a powerful antibiotic, and as a result may face an increased risk of incurring additional antibiotic-resistant infections, the mothers said. Medical experts said the infections underscore the larger global problem of proliferation of antibiotic resistance, which has been fueled by inappropriate use of antibiotic agents. Resistant staph bacteria also can cause serious infections such as pneumonia and life-threatening blood infections. ... Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc. | |
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Another Non-random HIV Correlation | |
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Circumcision Reduces Risk Of Contracting HIV, Study Suggests SAN DIEGO, October 9, 2003 - Uncircumcised men are at 8 times the risk of being infected with HIV-1 compared with those who are circumcised, according to a large study of Indian men [no, the study does not generalise from these men to all men], which is being presented at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). AT A GLANCE
Circumcision involves removal of the foreskin, which covers [no, is] the tip of the penis, and typically is performed shortly after birth. In the United States, approximately two-thirds of male infants are circumcised annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Worldwide, the rates vary widely, depending on culture and religion: in many countries, including India, circumcision is uncommon. Results of the study being presented at IDSA suggest that removal of the foreskin is biologically protective against HIV infection, but not as protective against other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The inner surface of the foreskin doesn't have the same protective layer as the outside, and is potentially more vulnerable to HIV, researchers say. "It's important that we offer measures to help curb the spread of AIDS, particularly in developing countries, where it continues to grow at an alarming rate," said Steven J. Reynolds, M.D., M.P.H., post-doctoral fellow in the division of infectious diseases at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and a study investigator. "Condoms are protective, but they still are not being used consistently in some settings. This study suggests that circumcision, where safe and culturally acceptable, may offer the developing world another tactic in combating the spread of HIV." ["And therefore Carthage must be destroyed"] Researchers also studied the risk of other STDs - including syphilis, gonorrhea and genital herpes - among circumcised and uncircumcised men. Although the incidence of the STDs was slightly higher among uncircumcised men compared to circumcised men, the difference was not statistically significant in this study, said Dr. Reynolds. This was in contrast to the reduced risk of HIV among circumcised men, which was highly statistically significant. The research was part of a larger study investigating risk factors for
HIV-1 infection based on men attending one of three STD clinics in Pune,
India. Demographics, sexual risk behaviors (including having sex with a
prostitute), and condom use were remarkably similar between both groups,
said Dr. Reynolds. The findings suggest the benefit of circumcision may be biological rather than due to other factors, such as infection with another STD, or differences in behavior between circumcised and uncircumcised men, said Dr. Reynolds. The inner surface of the foreskin is not as thickly "keratinized" as the outside or other surfaces of the penis, meaning it has less of a protective layer and may be more easily penetrated by HIV, he said. It also has higher numbers of the cells that HIV infects, possibly contributing to the reduced risk of HIV infection observed when the foreskin is removed. There are other potential methods uncircumcised men may be able to use to protect themselves against HIV, said Dr. Reynolds. In the future, a topical microbicide product might be applied to the foreskin before sex to protect against HIV. Such products are currently in development, said Dr. Reynolds. Circumcision isn't totally protective and may not be culturally
acceptable or safe in some settings, "Circumcision as a potential prevention strategy requires confirmation by randomized clinical trials, which are the gold standard in evaluating medical interventions," he said. There currently are clinical trials underway in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa. Co-authors of a paper on the topic being presented by Dr. Reynolds are Mary E. Shepherd, Arun R. Risbud, Raman R. Gangakhedkar, Ronald S. Brookmeyer,Anand D. Divekar, Sanjay M. Mehendale and Robert C. Bollinger. IDSA is an organization of physicians, scientists and other health care professionals dedicated to promoting human health through excellence in infectious diseases research, education, prevention and patient care. Housed within IDSA is the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), which represents more than 2,600 physicians, scientists and other health professionals who work on the frontline of HIV treatment, prevention, education and research. IDSA, which has 7,000 members, was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Alexandria, Va. Copies of 2003 IDSA news releases are available online at www.pcipr.com
Editor's note: Study numbers are current as of Sept. 29 and may change
upon presentation at the IDSA Annual Meeting.
Media Contact: Julie Semancik or Sonja Sorrel 312/558-1770
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