Blog 3
I noticed that is week the news has been filled with interesting stories. One that caught my attention was the story that was very close to home. A mother that had at least five children locked four of them in a closet for punishment. While there is much that could be said for how she chose to correct the behaviors of her kids. What I am finding surprising is how little her neighbors knew about her and her children. The story did not go into detail about how long they lived in the home, but some of the neighbors did say that the kids rarely came out to play. What should be said is that she is an immigrant from Somalia who was left alone with five kids while her husband was away in Africa. The story goes into how the mother left the kids for 10 hours to go shopping. The mother was 28 years old with small children and little to no support system. She had her family members and friends. What I am thinking that is so different from anything that I could think of is that fact that one the father was gone for a month to visit family in another country. Then it was the uncle who said that she should feed the kids. I would think that if they found anything wrong with the kids that they would step in and help her, but that is not what happened in this case. She was left to her own to try and figure out how to take care of the family on her own. The Father a cab driver in Indy was not there to help. Reportedly she locked them in often when she was cooking or when they were being punished. I got the feel that really the mother was the only contact that the children had for guidance, love or direction.
What I wanted to see more of was what was her support system? I am a mother of six kids with three more through marriage which is a total of nine. Scary for some, but I am the oldest sister of nine siblings. I know who hard it is to raise a large family and with zero support it can be even harder. You make difficult decisions. From the looks of the woman when she came into court she was very malnutrition herself. Her eyes were sunk in and she looked to be skin and bones. The uncle is stated to have said he told her she should feed the kids, but with what would have been my question. The statement went on to say she agreed with the uncle, he went on to say that he told her this because the kids looked as if they had not been feed. Now we have this case and really we are at the start of everything it leaves so many questions. The kids were of school age why was this not reported by a teacher or had she not been here long enough to enroll the kids in school. The next question would be had she become a citizen yet? Did the children have citizenship? They are now in custody, but if they are not citizens will they be deported? The father is on his way back to the US, but will he even be able to get custody back? How did they live before this incident? Were there any signs to say that she needed help.
According to the statement from friends they live in a tight community and will not give a statement on her behave or against her. They would like to be left alone. Well if your so close why did they not try to help her with the children? They were in need of services and from the looks of things that was not given. It brings to mind how little help we as women receive. There are services, but in order to get them there is a process that needs to be followed. These services require most times that the person be a citizen of the United States in order to receive them. Women have historically been set in the position of nurturer. They are the ones set in place to having to take care of the children and make sure that their needs are met while men take care of going out to get the jobs and provide. While this may have even been the case for this couple why was she left to do what seems like everything by her self? This story has so many sides and just reading about it tends to anger me on behalf of the kids, the loss of life and the mother. I know that the father and other family members are experiencing a loss as well. The story is listed below please read a post your comments.
Girl knew 2 siblings died in Indy closet
Click here to find out more!
By Deanna Martin
of The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — A 7-year-old Indianapolis girl told investigators she and her siblings usually slept when barricaded in an apartment closet by their mother, but last weekend she called out for the woman to open the door after realizing her brother and sister had died, according to court documents released Thursday.
Ebyan Farah, 28, is charged with eight counts of neglect and confinement. A Marion County judge entered a preliminary not guilty plea on her behalf during a brief Thursday hearing, during which Farah hung her head and looked down at the floor.
Defense attorneys requested a gag order for the case and private autopsies for Farah’s 4-year-old daughter, Zuhur Farah Hassan, and 3-year-old son, Zakariya Farah Hassan. Her three other children have been placed in foster care, but a lawyer for her husband said he returned this week from a visit to Africa and is seeking to regain custody.
The attorneys issued a statement to Indianapolis media saying relatives of Farah, an immigrant from Somalia, are “devastated and shocked by this tragedy.”
“We are a tight community, and we believe with God’s help that we will face this tragedy with strength and faith,” Farah’s uncle, Mohammed Hersi, said in the statement.
Farah’s attorneys said they would have no further comment until the judge rules on the gag order.
Authorities have said Farah told police she “was not in her right mind” when she allegedly placed her children in a 6-foot-by- 1 1/2 -foot upstairs closet at Manchester Village Apartments about 6 a.m. Sunday. Court documents say Farah put a bed frame or mattress against the closet door to keep the children from leaving while she went to visit a friend for the day.
Seven-year-old Muntaaz Farah Hassan told investigators her mother often put children in the closet as punishment or when she needed to cook, according to a police affidavit. The girl said she sometimes helped her mother get the children in the closet when they got into trouble.
The girl said she had a hard time breathing in the hot, dark closet Sunday and that no food and water had been left for her and three of her four siblings, according to the affidavit. Muntaaz said her youngest brother, who turns 2 next month, was not there.
Authorities said earlier in the week that all five children were believed to be in the closet, but did not immediately return messages seeking an explanation for the discrepancy Thursday.
Muntaaz told investigators she believed her brother and sister died while all four children were sleeping. She said when she realized it, she called for her mother, who then opened the door.
Farah told police she opened the closet door about 4:20 p.m., according to the affidavit. Muntaaz said she watched her mother carry the dead children downstairs, the affidavit said.
Hersi told police he called to check in on his niece Sunday evening.
“I did something wrong,” Farah said and began crying, according to affidavit.
Police were called after Hersi went to the home, looked inside and saw one of the dead children on the couch. A police report said medics found both children “in full rigor mortis” and with no pulse.
Autopsies on the children found no blunt force trauma and Dr. John Daniels determined they did not die of natural causes or disease, according to the probable-cause affidavit. Daniels is waiting on toxicology tests to help determine a cause of death but listed several possible factors: high temperatures in the closet, positional asphyxia, a possible low level of oxygen and the additional complication of malnutrition.
The children’s weights were found to be in the lower 25th percentile based on height and weight, according to the affidavit. Hersi recently told Farah she needed to feed the children because he feared they might die from not eating, and Farah told detectives she understood what her uncle was saying and agreed with him, according to the affidavit.
Farah said she had been feeding her children but hasn’t been feeding herself recently, the affidavit said.
Her defense attorneys say they have requested private autopsies in an effort to learn the contents of the children’s stomachs.
http://www.newsrunner.com/display-article/?eUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.news-sentinel.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcs.dll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D%2FSE%2F20100924%2FNEWS%2F9240321&eSrc=The+News-Sentinel+-+Fort+Wayne+IN&eTitle=Girl+knew+2+siblings+died+in+Indy+closet
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Blog 2
Sep 10, 9:26 PM EDT
Iran postpones American woman's release
By NASSER KARIMI
Associated Press Writer
Iran to Free American Hiker for Holiday Clemency
Advertisement
Latest News
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran on Friday postponed the planned release of an American woman jailed along with two friends for more than a year, state media reported, dealing a blow to the hopes of three U.S. mothers who have pleaded for the trio's freedom.
Iranian officials had said that Sarah Shourd, who was detained with her friends near Iran's border with Iraq, would be released on Saturday. But the IRNA state news agency quoted the deputy chief of communication for the Iranian president's office, Mohammed Hassan Salilhimaram, as saying that would not happen.
He said details of the decision would be announced later, but Tehran's chief prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, blamed the fact that "judicial procedures have not been done," according to the semiofficial ILNA news agency.
It was the latest in a series of mixed messages from Tehran in a case that has deepened tensions between the U.S. and Iran, a relationship already strained over Washington's suspicions that Tehran is trying to manufacture nuclear weapons - something Iran denies.
Shourd and two friends, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, were arrested along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009, and Tehran has accused them of illegally crossing the border and spying. Their families say they were hiking in Iraq's scenic north and that if they crossed the border, they did so unwittingly.
The U.S. State Department and relatives said they had no immediate information about the reports.
The announcement of the delay came hours after state media reported that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had personally intervened to secure Shourd's release as an act of clemency in part because of the "special viewpoint of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the dignity of women."
Patrick Clawson, deputy director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the last-minute quarrels over Shroud's release highlight the internal fissures in Iran's power structure between Ahmadinejad and others such as the prosecutor who could see him overreaching his authority.
"There are all kinds of internal pressures," he said. "A case like this shows there are various factions at play."
A judicial official close to the prosecutor's office said that Dolatabadi believes the release is unacceptable because Shourd should first stand before the court and then the amnesty will be granted.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue.
Shourd's name was not among the official list of prisoners freed at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, suggesting that prosecutors want the Americans to first face trial before any kind of pardon or clemency is considered.
Typically, inmates released during Ramadan have already been convicted.
In some recent cases of high-profile foreigners jailed and released in Iran, authorities have first conducted trials and issued sentences.
In May, a French academic, Clotilde Reiss, was freed after her 10-year sentence on espionage-related charges was commuted. American freelance journalist Roxana Saberi was convicted of spying before being released in May 2009.
Canadian-Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari of Newsweek was freed on $300,000 bail in October 2009 after nearly four months detention following the crackdown after the disputed presidential election. He was later sentenced in absentia to more than 13 years in prison and 50 lashes.
In 2007, Iran released 15 British sailors without a trial after being held for nearly two weeks for allegedly crossing into Iran along its river border with Iraq. Some were paraded on television to deliver confessions for trespassing.
The delay in Shourd's release is sure to further fuel concerns over her health, which her family has said is deteriorating.
The 31-year-old has been held in solitary confinement, and her mother has said she's been denied treatment for serious health problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells.
Shourd's planned release had provided a long-sought sign of hope to the Americans' families, who have been pleading with Iranian officials to free their children since their arrest.
Now, they are once again left wondering what is going to happen.
"We don't know anything," said Samantha Topping, a New York publicist working with the families. She said the families knew only what they were hearing from media about a delayed release.
---
Associated Press writer Brian Murphy contributed to this report from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_US_HIKERS?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
I chose this piece to talk about because I thought in general women are oppressed, but when you come up against a country that believes that women are a possession then we have some real problems. The Women in this piece were hiking from all accounts I for one would not know that I had crossed over into another country if it were me unless someone had told me. So I can say that I understand that they did not know what they had gotten themselves into. I am sure that on the mountain aren't any signs that state "hey another step and your in Iran or Iraq so watch where your steeping". I know that if there were signs considering that we don't want to have any issues with this country at this time I am sure they would not have gone over.
I just have a few questions. If this were a men would our country fight harder to get them home or at least some medical attention? I have heard of different situations where they have made some moves to get people out of a communist country. So why cant they do that in this situation? Do they want to wait for these women to be convicted to death or something? I am just a little curious. I can say that if the pictures are correct these are white women so at least race on the surface is not playing a part of this. I say on the surface because the people that are holding these women may have some type of prejudice against whites.
Do you think that in some way these women have offended someone and the man in charge feels they need to pay some cost? I am no sure, but I have to say that it caught my attention. That today in 2010 we still have men that are unwilling to see that they are oppressing women.
I feel very frustrated by the lack of action on our part as Americans, but who do we talk to. One of the women is in need of medications that are being denied her. She needs those to live. Why aren't we doing something? I know that we are in talks and that we want to avoid problems if we can, but this is something that could be easily handled I think. Let them go.
How could they be considered spy's? Were they on some watch list any where that says these women or women in general are all spy's. Sounds crazy I know, but no more crazy than these people who are holding these women without a trail and they are unwilling to give them medical treatment. So it is more than likely that they are not on any list of spy's, but they are American and that is seen as the enemy.
Funny how other countries stereotype us in the same manner that we stereotype people that we feel in less than us. Some countries view Americans a dogs. That they are lazy, thieves and good for nothing. Yet this is where they send there family members to establish business or to get an education to come back home and be of service to their people. It is very frustrating. I put the web page in my text so others can go on a see the interview that is listed.
Iran postpones American woman's release
By NASSER KARIMI
Associated Press Writer
Iran to Free American Hiker for Holiday Clemency
Advertisement
Latest News
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran on Friday postponed the planned release of an American woman jailed along with two friends for more than a year, state media reported, dealing a blow to the hopes of three U.S. mothers who have pleaded for the trio's freedom.
Iranian officials had said that Sarah Shourd, who was detained with her friends near Iran's border with Iraq, would be released on Saturday. But the IRNA state news agency quoted the deputy chief of communication for the Iranian president's office, Mohammed Hassan Salilhimaram, as saying that would not happen.
He said details of the decision would be announced later, but Tehran's chief prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, blamed the fact that "judicial procedures have not been done," according to the semiofficial ILNA news agency.
It was the latest in a series of mixed messages from Tehran in a case that has deepened tensions between the U.S. and Iran, a relationship already strained over Washington's suspicions that Tehran is trying to manufacture nuclear weapons - something Iran denies.
Shourd and two friends, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, were arrested along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009, and Tehran has accused them of illegally crossing the border and spying. Their families say they were hiking in Iraq's scenic north and that if they crossed the border, they did so unwittingly.
The U.S. State Department and relatives said they had no immediate information about the reports.
The announcement of the delay came hours after state media reported that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had personally intervened to secure Shourd's release as an act of clemency in part because of the "special viewpoint of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the dignity of women."
Patrick Clawson, deputy director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the last-minute quarrels over Shroud's release highlight the internal fissures in Iran's power structure between Ahmadinejad and others such as the prosecutor who could see him overreaching his authority.
"There are all kinds of internal pressures," he said. "A case like this shows there are various factions at play."
A judicial official close to the prosecutor's office said that Dolatabadi believes the release is unacceptable because Shourd should first stand before the court and then the amnesty will be granted.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue.
Shourd's name was not among the official list of prisoners freed at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, suggesting that prosecutors want the Americans to first face trial before any kind of pardon or clemency is considered.
Typically, inmates released during Ramadan have already been convicted.
In some recent cases of high-profile foreigners jailed and released in Iran, authorities have first conducted trials and issued sentences.
In May, a French academic, Clotilde Reiss, was freed after her 10-year sentence on espionage-related charges was commuted. American freelance journalist Roxana Saberi was convicted of spying before being released in May 2009.
Canadian-Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari of Newsweek was freed on $300,000 bail in October 2009 after nearly four months detention following the crackdown after the disputed presidential election. He was later sentenced in absentia to more than 13 years in prison and 50 lashes.
In 2007, Iran released 15 British sailors without a trial after being held for nearly two weeks for allegedly crossing into Iran along its river border with Iraq. Some were paraded on television to deliver confessions for trespassing.
The delay in Shourd's release is sure to further fuel concerns over her health, which her family has said is deteriorating.
The 31-year-old has been held in solitary confinement, and her mother has said she's been denied treatment for serious health problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells.
Shourd's planned release had provided a long-sought sign of hope to the Americans' families, who have been pleading with Iranian officials to free their children since their arrest.
Now, they are once again left wondering what is going to happen.
"We don't know anything," said Samantha Topping, a New York publicist working with the families. She said the families knew only what they were hearing from media about a delayed release.
---
Associated Press writer Brian Murphy contributed to this report from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_US_HIKERS?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
I chose this piece to talk about because I thought in general women are oppressed, but when you come up against a country that believes that women are a possession then we have some real problems. The Women in this piece were hiking from all accounts I for one would not know that I had crossed over into another country if it were me unless someone had told me. So I can say that I understand that they did not know what they had gotten themselves into. I am sure that on the mountain aren't any signs that state "hey another step and your in Iran or Iraq so watch where your steeping". I know that if there were signs considering that we don't want to have any issues with this country at this time I am sure they would not have gone over.
I just have a few questions. If this were a men would our country fight harder to get them home or at least some medical attention? I have heard of different situations where they have made some moves to get people out of a communist country. So why cant they do that in this situation? Do they want to wait for these women to be convicted to death or something? I am just a little curious. I can say that if the pictures are correct these are white women so at least race on the surface is not playing a part of this. I say on the surface because the people that are holding these women may have some type of prejudice against whites.
Do you think that in some way these women have offended someone and the man in charge feels they need to pay some cost? I am no sure, but I have to say that it caught my attention. That today in 2010 we still have men that are unwilling to see that they are oppressing women.
I feel very frustrated by the lack of action on our part as Americans, but who do we talk to. One of the women is in need of medications that are being denied her. She needs those to live. Why aren't we doing something? I know that we are in talks and that we want to avoid problems if we can, but this is something that could be easily handled I think. Let them go.
How could they be considered spy's? Were they on some watch list any where that says these women or women in general are all spy's. Sounds crazy I know, but no more crazy than these people who are holding these women without a trail and they are unwilling to give them medical treatment. So it is more than likely that they are not on any list of spy's, but they are American and that is seen as the enemy.
Funny how other countries stereotype us in the same manner that we stereotype people that we feel in less than us. Some countries view Americans a dogs. That they are lazy, thieves and good for nothing. Yet this is where they send there family members to establish business or to get an education to come back home and be of service to their people. It is very frustrating. I put the web page in my text so others can go on a see the interview that is listed.
Friday, September 3, 2010
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