Palatinate Thursday 9th February 2017 | No. 792
Nicky Morgan MP The former Education Secretary on schools, censorship, and the NHS
www.palatinate.org.uk | FREE
DDF 2017
Stage takes a look at the biggest festival yet
Al-Qasimi Building named after ruler of UAE emirate accused of human rights abuses
Durham sexual violence culture highlighted in national media reports Emma Pinckard News Editor
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Amal Clooney have all highlighted abuses in Dr Al-Qasimi’s Emirate of Sharjah Eugene Smith Deputy News Editor The academic after whom Durham University’s Al-Qasimi Building is named is the emir of a United Arab Emirates province accused of abusing human rights, Palatinate can report. Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi, a Durham graduate and author who has ruled the Emirate of Sharjah since 1972, donated £2.25 million to the University for the construction of a new building to house the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (IMEIS) in 1999. The building, which is also home to the School of Government and International Affairs (SGIA), is located opposite St Mary’s College and was opened in 2003. Dr Al-Qasimi’s emirate has been condemned by various human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, which claims the regime is responsible for “torture, restrictions on freedoms of expression and association, and violations of women’s rights.” In 2011, the same organisation singled out the Emirate of Sharjah for its conviction of 17 migrant workers for murder in March 2010, “despite evidence their confessions were unreliable and the product of police torture.” An Indian group named Lawyers for Human Rights International (LFHRI) claimed police beat the men
with clubs, subjected them to electric shocks, deprived them of sleep, and forced them to stand on one leg for prolonged periods. Meanwhile, Amnesty International criticised Dr Al-Qasimi’s regime in 2015 for the detention of an Egyptian national by the emirate’s Preventive Security Services. More recently, the high-profile human rights lawyer Amal Clooney visited an April 2016 summit in the emirate’s main city of Sharjah, attended by Dr Al-Qasimi, to declare that regional governments “need to be vocal about human rights.” Human rights groups and international commentators further note the emirate’s draconian social codes. In the Emirate of Sharjah, it is reportedly illegal for unmarried members of the opposite sex “to be alone in public places or in suspicious times or circumstances” according to Gulf News. Additionally, according to a 2001 state pamphlet, women are forbidden to wear “short clothing above the knee,” “tight and transparent clothing that describes the body,” or “clothing that exposes the stomach and back.” Sharjah is also the only emirate in the UAE to prohibit the sale of alcohol, and consumption is solely permissible by a valid Alcohol Licence holder, provided they only drink in their own home. In response to these allegations, the University referred to Dr AlQasimi’s payment as “a large gift of Continued on page 4
Visit of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan Al Qasimi (R) Photograph: Paul Sidney
Durham has been the subject of several national newspaper reports, regarding extreme levels of sexual violence and misconduct at the University. The Times has reported that there is a “conspiracy of silence over rape” in Durham, and students who were interviewed “claimed that a cocktail of privilege and alcohol has created a conspiracy of silence at the university, with assaults on female students hushed up to protect the alleged attackers’ reputations.” The article continued to report that students “told how the majority of alleged incidents had been fuelled by drinking.” Further, it drew attention to the fact that in November, “police figures showed that 463 sex attacks had been reported by female university students at 70 leading institutions in the past two years” and that “two of the country’s most well regarded universities – Durham and Oxford – had the largest number of recorded rape and sex assault allegations, with 36 incidents at each.” The report also quoted Professor Graham Towl, the former chairman of the Sexual Violence Task Force (SVTF), who said: “We have been very active with our work in this area,” but continued, “I think there is a problem in society and I know from my former role there’s significant under-reporting and that’s the general problem.” Emphasising this issue, the report quotes a student, who explains that “if I was sexually assaulted I would always think twice about reporting it,” and “everyone knows everyone in Durham and you can’t get away from people.” In addition to this, The Sun reported that “a shocking 48 per cent of female undergrads at Durham claim to have been attacked” and that “in the past 12 months, four students have been to court for sexual assault, with Continued on page 5