High-level defection: why N. Korean diplomatic family chose freedom

Yahoo – AFP, Kim Il-sung, March 1, 2023 

Born into an elite North Korean family with ties to the ruling dynasty, Oh Hye Son grew up believing she was "special" -- but then she tasted freedom overseas and decided to defect. 

Most of the tens of thousands of North Koreans who have escaped repression and poverty at home make an arduous, high-risk journey across the country's land border with China, where they face arrest and possible deportation. 

Oh's family's defection was less dangerous but equally as wrenching: she convinced her husband Thae Yong Ho, then deputy ambassador at North Korea's London embassy, to give up their privileged place in the Pyongyang regime for the sake of their children. 

"I wanted to never return to North Korea and questioned why North Koreans had to live such a hard life," she told AFP in an interview in Seoul, where she now lives. 

Years of postings across Europe -- in Denmark, Sweden, and Britain -- exposed the family to a different life, she said, adding that when she first arrived in London she thought: "If there is paradise, this must be it". 

Oh, who recently published a Korean-language memoir, was once part of Pyongyang aristocracy -- a descendent of a famed North Korean general who fought alongside leader Kim Il Sung against the Japanese in the 1930s. 

But despite this impeccable pedigree, she still "lived in fear of power", she said. 

"No one except the Kim family had privileges, and as my children learned about freedom and democracy when they lived abroad, I realised there was no future for them in North Korea," she added. 

NHS love 

Oh's eldest son Thae Juhyok had chronic health problems including nephrotic syndrome, a condition which can cause life-threatening kidney problems if not treated. 

Getting that treatment was near impossible in Pyongyang's crumbling health system -- one of the world's worst -- where doctors had to be bribed to do anything and crucial medicines were lacking. 

Oh said it was eye-opening when the family first arrived in London in 2004 and became eligible for the National Health Service. 

Her son was soon able to get free treatment at one of the best medical facilities in the city, she said, adding that her children also went to British schools, where they settled in well. 

"The children grew up so bright in England, in a society that respected them," she said. 

It was a stark contrast to life in Pyongyang, to which they returned in 2008 after her husband's first London posting ended. 

Juhyok attended the Pyongyang Medical University, but instead of studying he was put to work on a construction site hauling cement, Oh said. 

North Korea is beset by labour shortages across economic sectors and it is common for the government to order students, even schoolchildren, to do manual labour as a demonstration of loyalty. 

If one fails to comply, the government reportedly withholds food rations or imposes taxes, according to a 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report published by the US State Department. 

As her overseas-raised children began questioning the corruption and injustice they observed in North Korea, Oh realised it would be impossible for them to fully integrate into Pyongyang society. 

"They had completely different values," she said. 

"It was then that I began thinking that if I ever had a chance to go overseas again, I will not return." 

Escape 

Oh's chance came when her husband was again posted to London as the deputy ambassador, and she convinced him to defect as she did not want to be "resented by her children in the future". 

She had hoped the North Korean regime would collapse after the death of Kim Jong Il, the father and predecessor of current leader Kim Jong Un, and was crushed when his son emerged as the third generation of Kims to rule. 

"In North Korea, you existed -- from morning to night -- for the sake of the Kim family," Oh said. 

Thae became the first defector to be elected to South Korea's parliament, where he is now a high-profile lawmaker for the conservative People Power Party. 

Oh loves her new life in Seoul, but is haunted by thoughts of her mother and siblings left behind in North Korea, which is known to punish defectors' family members. 

She can't check in with them: civilian contact is banned between the two Koreas, although some defectors have used intermediaries to smuggle Chinese mobile phones across the border. 

Oh has not managed to contact her family, but she once glimpsed her brother-in-law when he was part of an official North Korean delegation that visited Seoul in 2018 during a rare bout of diplomacy. 

It gave her hope that her relatives had not been purged by the Kim regime as a result of her family's escape. 

"Will they resent me? Will they envy me? Or will they silently cheer for me?" she said, wiping away tears.

Loopholes riddle Saudi reforms on 'guardianship' of women

Yahoo – AFP, Anuj Chopra, October 23, 2019

Saudi Arabia now allows women over the age of 21 to obtain passports without
seeking the approval of their 'guardians' (AFP Photo/FAYEZ NURELDINE)

Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia has eased travel restrictions on women but observers say loopholes still allow male relatives to curtail their movements and, in the worst cases, leave them marooned in prison-like shelters.

In August, the conservative kingdom allowed women over the age of 21 to obtain passports without seeking the approval of their "guardians" -— fathers, husbands or other male relatives.

The move, part of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to revamp the national image, ended a longstanding rule that prompted some extreme attempts to flee the kingdom.

But campaigners warn it is easy to sidestep the reform.

While allowing travel documents, Saudi Arabia has not done away with "taghayyub" -- a legal provision that means "absent" in Arabic and which has long been used to constrain women who leave home without permission.

"Guardians can still file a police complaint that their female relatives are 'absent', which would lead to their arrest and possible detention in Dar al-Reaya (women's shelter)," Eman Alhussein, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.

The system of shelters operated around the kingdom is opaque but accounts of conditions there paint a dire picture.

Activists including Human Rights Watch (HRW) say they are run like detention facilities, and it is unclear how many women they hold.

Saudi Arabia now allows women over the age of 21 to obtain passports without
seeking the approval of their 'guardians' (AFP Photo/FAYEZ NURELDINE)

"Saudi (fathers) can't stop the girls getting passports but they can still declare them missing to local police who will then track them down for the parents," a Western official told AFP, calling it a "massive loophole".

Saudi authorities did not respond to requests for comment.

Last year, members of the advisory Shura Council recommended the justice ministry stop accepting taghayyub cases as a way to slowly dismantle the guardianship system, but the suggestion seems to have been ignored.

Officials in Riyadh told AFP that dozens of women have applied for passports since the reform was announced.

"Today, I came to issue a new passport for the first time in my life," one 40-year-old woman told AFP as she made the application at a government office.

"I am very happy and this step gives confidence to Saudi women."

The move was celebrated as a historic leap for gender equality, triggering humorous online memes featuring women dashing to the airport with suitcases —- alone.

But it also prompted laments for the perceived loss of men's control, with one social media portrait showing fully veiled women wriggling underneath a barbed wire fence and emerging scantily clad on the other side.

A Saudi woman rolls her suitcase at the departure 

hall of the Jeddah Airport (AFP Photo)

'Restrict travel'

Campaigners, however, say that control is far from lost, with HRW warning that male guardians could also possibly circumvent the passport reform by seeking a "court order to restrict female relatives' travel".

Cases of filial "disobedience" can be filed against adult women -- a crime that can lead to imprisonment.

Women also still require a guardian's permission to marry or to be released from prisons and shelters.

Campaigners warn even those with valid passports could wind up in Dar al-Reaya.

Two Saudi women detained there for about a year after fleeing what they called abusive guardians told AFP they were watched round the clock through surveillance cameras inside their cells.

They said inmates were subject to flogging as punishment -- by men.

One said the shelter in Riyadh also kept a notebook to account for their menstrual period -- an invasive practice corroborated by HRW -- to ensure they didn't break rules surrounding Muslim prayers.

A document from the facility seen by AFP described one of the women as "frustrated", "rebellious" and seeking to sully her family's reputation. There was no mention of her guardian's alleged abuse.

"Some women can stay in these homes for a prolonged period if their guardians fail to receive them, perhaps as a way to punish them," said Alhussein.

Saudi women line up to apply for passports in Riyadh City (AFP Photo/

FAYEZ NURELDINE)

'Disobedient daughters'

When their guardians refused to get them out, the two women said they were transferred to another shelter known as Dar al-Diyafa, or "hospitality home".

They described it as a dark place with boarded-up windows and depressed women unclaimed for years. Others made desperate attempts to escape despite tight security.

Often the only legal escape is through an arranged marriage —- sometimes to strangers vetted by the shelter -— a move that transfers guardianship to the husband, campaigners say.

"Many women are stuck there for years with some waiting for someone to marry them —- and men come to the place with specifics such as 'I want a tall girl'," HRW researcher Rothna Begum told AFP.

Saudi authorities did not respond to repeated requests for access to the shelters.

The testimonies underscore how taghayyub -- often a tool against a young generation of what arch-conservatives call "disobedient daughters" -- effectively obstructs women from breaking free from abusive guardians.

They also offer clues into why Saudi women alleging abuse undertake perilous attempts to escape overseas despite the pro-women reforms, including a historic decree allowing them to drive.

"Women are free to get passports but guardians still control whether they can leave their homes," said Alhussein.

Malaysia court frees woman in North Korea murder case

Yahoo – AFP, M. Jegathesan, March 11, 2019

Indonesian Siti Aisyah waves to the press after her return to Jakarta having been
freed by a Malaysian court (AFP Photo/ADEK BERRY)

An Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader's half-brother was freed Monday after Malaysian prosecutors dropped a murder charge against her, in a shock decision that delighted her friends and family.

Siti Aisyah smiled as she was ushered into a car outside the court, where she had been on trial for a year and a half alongside a Vietnamese woman for the 2017 murder of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur airport.

"I feel happy. I did not know this will happen. I did not expect it," said the 27-year-old, who earlier hugged her tearful Vietnamese co-accused, Doan Thi Huong, in the dock when the news was announced.

Indonesian officials mounted a major diplomatic effort to free Aisyah, which included pressure from the president. The Indonesian justice minister had written to Malaysia's attorney general seeking her release, citing problems with the case, and he agreed last week.

The women had always denied murder, saying they were tricked by North Korean spies into carrying out the Cold War-style hit using VX nerve agent, and believed it was a prank for a reality TV show.

Elite Malaysian police secure the court hearing the North Korea assassination case 

(AFP Photo/Mohd RASFAN)

Their lawyers presented them as scapegoats, saying that authorities were unable to catch the real killers. Four North Koreans -- formally accused of the murder alongside the women -- fled Malaysia shortly after the assassination.

The trial, which began in October 2017, had been due to resume Monday with the defence stage of proceedings after a break of several months.

But at the start of the hearing at Shah Alam High Court, prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad requested that the murder charge against Aisyah be withdrawn and she be given a discharge, without providing a reason.

The judge agreed to a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, and ordered Aisyah's immediate release. This means Aisyah has not been formally cleared of the charge and could, in theory, be re-arrested.

The news was a surprise as the court had only been scheduled to hear Huong testify Monday, and the Vietnamese woman was left in shock that she was not released alongside Aisyah.

"I do not know what will happen to me now. I am innocent -- please pray for me," the 30-year-old said. Her testimony was adjourned Monday as her lawyers said they would also apply to get the charge against her dropped.

Indonesian Siti Aisyah adjusts hear headscarf during a press conference on 

her return to Indonesia (AFP Photo/ADEK BERRY)

Homecoming party

Aisyah arrived later Monday in Jakarta, where she was reunited with parents. In her hometown of Sindangsari on Java island, there was shock and delight as word spread of her release.

"We've heard the news and we're so happy. We're getting a celebration ready!" her aunt Darmi, who goes by one name, told AFP.

Indonesia often makes concerted diplomatic efforts to free its citizens detained overseas, particularly those who may face the death penalty.

Speaking at the Indonesian embassy in Malaysia, Indonesian Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly reeled off a list of figures in government -- from President Joko Widodo to the foreign minister -- who had pushed for Aisyah's release.

A murder conviction carries a mandatory penalty of death by hanging in Malaysia. The government vowed last year to abolish capital punishment but has yet to amend the law.

Vietnamese national Doan Thi Huong is escorted into the Malaysian court hearing

the assassination trial (AFP Photo/MOHD RASFAN)

There does not appear to have been any such aggressive lobbying effort from Vietnam for Huong, however.

Vietnam generally does not get publicly involved in individual criminal cases overseas, and foreign affairs officials did not respond to AFP’s request for comment Monday.

In the first stage of the trial that ran until August last year, prosecutors presented their case.

Witnesses described how the victim -- the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong Un and once seen as heir apparent to the North Korean leadership -- died in agony shortly after being attacked.

Prosecutors said Aisyah and Huong were well-trained assassins but their lawyers argued the four North Koreans were the masterminds, and provided them with poison on the day of the murder.

South Korea has accused the North of ordering the hit, which Pyongyang denies.

Malaysia had been one of the nuclear-armed North's few allies but the assassination badly damaged ties, and led to the countries expelling each other's ambassadors.

Princess Rima bint Bandar: First Saudi woman ambassador

Yahoo – AFP, February 24, 2019

Princess Rima bint Bandar: First Saudi woman ambassador

Riyadh (AFP) - Princess Rima bint Bandar, Saudi Arabia's first woman ambassador, is a social campaigner on the front line of government efforts to boost the kingdom's battered international reputation despite never having worked as a diplomat.

The 43-year-old princess was named envoy to Washington on Saturday as the kingdom faces pressure from US lawmakers over last year's murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents and its bombing campaign in neighbouring Yemen.

A member of the Saudi royal family, the divorced mother-of-two is a vociferous advocate of women's rights and previously worked at the kingdom's General Sports Authority, where she led a campaign to boost sports education for girls in schools despite opposition from hardliners.

The princess has an entrepreneurial background, having once served as the chief executive of luxury lifestyle store Harvey Nichols in Riyadh, according to Saudi state media, and has actively campaigned to raise awareness about breast cancer.

She has no diplomatic experience but spent several years in the United States during her youth as the daughter of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to Washington from 1983 to 2005.

She received a bachelor of arts degree from Mount Vernon College at George Washington University in 1999.

A Saudi official who knows her told AFP she seems well-versed with the American political scene, as she takes on her role in Washington.

The new envoy has worked as an advisor to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has faced virulent criticism from US lawmakers over Khashoggi's murder in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate last October.

But the princess, fluent in English, has strongly defended the crown prince in international circles, describing his social reforms such as ending a ban on women drivers as "evolution, not Westernisation".

"You ask us to change, but then when we begin to exhibit change you come to us with cynicism," she said during the last World Economic Forum.

"I don't know how to explain how destructive that is when you wake up every morning and you go into the office and you're motivating people to make a change for their community... Then the article comes out and it says 'This was fabulous, but...'

"Why but? Do you say that to anyone else?"

The princess has spoken of "monumental leaps" for women's rights, but has refrained from commenting publicly on the arrest of several female activists last May and subsequent claims that some of them faced sexual abuse and torture in detention.

Dutch woman, 22, arrested in Qatar after reporting her rape

DutchNews, June 11, 2016

A Qatari woman walks in front of the city skyline in Doha. Photo: AP/
Kamran Jebreili

 A 22-year-old Dutch woman from Utrecht has been in jail in Qatar since March since making a police report she had been raped, Dutch media reported on Saturday. 

The woman, named in the media as Laura, faces being charged with having sex outside marriage, which carries a jail term of up to three years 

The Dutch foreign ministry confirmed on Saturday that Laura has been arrested but said she had not yet been charged with anything. 

Laura had gone out dancing at the Crystal Lounge in the Doha Hotel, a popular hangout with foreign tourists where alcohol is permitted, the Telegraaf said. She was on holiday in Qatar with a friend called Lisa, her mother told the Telegraaf. 

According to Laura’s family’s lawyer, she went to the police after waking up in a strange apartment and realising she had been raped. She thinks it likely her drink was drugged and had flashbacks of being taken from the hotel in a taxi by an Arab man, lawyer Brian Lokollo told Radio 1 news. 

Marriage

The man she claims attacked her has also been arrested. According to one newspaper report, he says that he paid Laura to have sex with him. 

Dutch media say Laura is coming under considerable pressure from her alleged attacker’s family to marry the man, so that both would be let off without any charge.

‘I have recommended against this, not only because it would be a appalling thing to do, but I don’t know what the other consequences would be,’ Lokollo said. 

Embassy

A foreign ministry spokesman said an official had been in court with Laura and she had been provided with a list of lawyers but that she wanted to make her own arrangements. Another hearing will take place on Monday, the spokesman said.’Our main aim is to ensure a fair trial,’ he is quoted as saying. 

MPs have urged foreign minister Bert Koenders to make a statement about the situation, in particular the role of the embassy in helping the woman and her family. 

They also want answers on claims it took three weeks before anyone from the embassy visited Laura in jail.

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Iran appoints first woman ambassador since revolution

Yahoo – AFP, 8 Nov 2015

Marzieh Afkham has been appointed as Iran's first woman ambassador since the 

1979 Islamic revolution, heading its embassy in Malaysia (AFP Photo/Behrouz Mehri)

Tehran (AFP) - Iran has appointed its first woman ambassador since the 1979 Islamic revolution, naming foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham to head its embassy in Malaysia, the foreign minister announced on Sunday.

"Choosing Afkham as ambassador took a few minutes but choosing her successor took four months," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said at a ceremony in Tehran for the 50-year-old career diplomat who will be replaced at the ministry by a man, Jaber Ansari.

Iranian media first said back in April that Afkham was lined up for promotion to the rank of ambassador, but the reports were unconfirmed.

Zarif paid tribute to Afkham, who was also the first woman in the Islamic republic to serve as foreign ministry spokeswoman, saying she had carried out her duties for two years with "dignity, bravery and particular insight".

In turn, the new ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, quoted by state news agency IRNA, praised Zarif for "the courage to take such a decision" and for his "trust in women".

After his 2013 election, Iran's moderate President Hassan Rouhani called on ministers to appoint women to high posts and said his government would stand up against discrimination, naming three women to the country's 11 vice presidential positions.

Although deemed more liberal than those of many Arab countries, Iran's laws since the revolution have been criticised as unfair to women in cases of marriage, divorce and inheritance.

While women may hold key posts, including in parliament and the cabinet, they can not serve as judges and have not been allowed to run for president.

Related Article:

Michelle Obama wants 'honest conversation' on girls' education

Australia-Indonesia Relations Likely to Improve After Abbott Exodus

Jakarta Globe, Erin Cook, September 2015

An anti-Tony Abbott protester attends a demonstration at the Australian
embassy, South Jakarta, earlier this year. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)

Jakarta. An expected foreign policy pivot under the guidance of new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, will see Australia pay particular attention to mending and maintaining relations with China and Indonesia, regional pundits have predicted.

Turnbull, who rose to the country’s top job after trumping former prime minister Tony Abbott in a party room vote late Monday night, has been a long term supporter of Asian business in Australia and a vocal advocate of the China Australia Free Trade Agreement.

While Turnbull has indicated continued support for the “boat turn backs” policy, which sees asylum seekers entering Australian waters towed into Indonesian waters by local law enforcement, experts have suggested his style of diplomacy may weather the controversy better than that of his predecessor.

Evi Fitrani, international relations head at the University of Indonesia heralded the change of leadership as a likely improvement to relations.

"Even though Malcolm Turnbull hasn't made any statement about foreign policy yet ... judging from his personality — judging from Abbott's personality at least — we think we will deal more communicatively and maybe in a better situation and better environment with this kind of leader," she said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Sydney-based Tom Wheelwright, a managing director of BowerGroup Asia focusing on government relations in the region, told ChannelNews Asia that Turnbull’s pragmatic and respectful style will likely be welcomed by his Asian counterparts.

“The big change we’ll see is that there will be no more three-word slogans to confuse or irritate our Asian neighbors,” he said.

“I think we’ll see more substance to foreign policy and I think Julie Bishop will have a stronger hand with foreign policy and less interference from domestic considerations.”

Bishop is tipped to retain her role as Foreign Minister under the new leader, a move likely to be welcomed across the region. Bishop and her Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, met in August for the first time after the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Paul Grigson, was recalled in response to the April execution of two Australian drug traffickers. Grigson returned to Jakarta in June.

After a private meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers conference in Kuala Lumpur on on Aug. 6, both ministers welcomed a return to warm relations.

Abbott’s time at the helm is marred by a series of events marking a particularly tumultuous period in the Australia-Indonesia relationship, from a phone hacking scandal targeting Indonesia’s political leaders to the #CoinsforAbbott campaign which saw thousands collect rupiah coins to “pay back” Australian aid to Indonesia after the then-prime minister linked the 2004 Aceh tsunami to the Bali Nine executions.

Related Article:

Australian PM Abbott toppled by ex-minister Turnbull

India demands Saudi ambassador to cooperate over New Delhi rape case

The Saudi ambassador has been urged to cooperate with India over allegations that one of his diplomats sexually assaulted and imprisoned two Nepali maids. Protests have broken out in India's capital over the claims.

Deutsche Welle, 10 Sep 2015

The two women, aged 30 and 50, told police that recruiting agents lured them from their homes in Nepal under the promise of higher wages. They were hired and supplied to the Saudi diplomat in April. Police rescued the women on Monday after a third maid saw their condition and informed a local NGO.

"They raped us, kept us locked up, did not give us anything to eat...When we tried to run away, we were beaten up," one of the women told to the NDTV network. She added that they had been held at the apartment near New Delhi for around four months.

The accused diplomat in the suspected rape case has since claimed diplomatic immunity and the Saudi embassy is urging India to drop the case.

According to Indian media outlets, the Saudi embassy has denied the accusations, saying it "strongly stresses that these allegations are false and have not been proven." Saudi Arabia also claims that Indian police broke international conventions by entering a diplomatic property.

India's foreign ministry "conveyed [a] request to Ambassador Saud Mohammed Alsati on Thursday, however, asking for his cooperation "in the case of two Nepali citizens," ministry spokeman Vikas Swarup said on Twitter.

Indian police also said on Wednesday that they were pushing ahead with the investigation.

MEA Chief of Protocol called in Saudi Amb today, conveyed request of Haryana Police for coopn of Embassy in the case of 2 Nepali citizens

— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) 10 september 2015

The charges have created diplomatic tensions between the two countries ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned state visit to Saudi Arabia later this year. Modi will seek to secure an investment from the rich, oil state and to expand in the energy sector.

Crowds were also seeing protests outside the Saudi Arabian embassy in New Delhi on Thursday in response to allegations.

ksb, rs/kms (AP, AFP, Reuters)

UK's Hammond hails 'new phase' of ties with Iran

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said the ties between the UK and Iran have entered a new phase as he reopened his country's embassy in Tehran. This follows an agreement with Iran to curb its nuclear program.

Deutsche Welle, 23 Aug 2015

Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond (L) and non-resident charge d'affaires
 Ajay Sharma watch as the Union flag is raised at the British Embassy in Tehran,
Iran, August 23, 2015

Hammond arrived in the Iranian capital on Sunday to attend the opening ceremony of the British Embassy and to hold talks with the officials of the Shiite state.

Britain severed diplomatic ties with Iran following an attack on its embassy in 2011. His trip to Iran was the first by a British foreign secretary since 2003.

"Four years on from an attack on the British Embassy, I am today re-opening it," Hammond said in a statement. "Today's ceremony marks the end of one phase in the relationship between our two countries and the start of a new one - one that I believe offers the promise of better," he added.

Iran simultaneously opened its embassy in London, confirmed the Iranian ISNA news agency.

"Our relationship has improved since 2011. President (Hasan) Rouhani's election and last month's nuclear agreement were important milestones. I believe that we have the potential to go much further," said Hammond.

Pleased to announce the re-opening of the British Embassy in #Tehran. Important milestone in improved relations. pic.twitter.com/Gfu8PnB3P1

— Philip Hammond (@PHammondMP) 23 augustus 2015

Common threats

According to the foreign secretary, terrorism, regional stability and the threat of the Sunni militant group "Islamic State" in Syria and Iraq are among some of the challenges which Britain and Iran will be trying to overcome together.

The new British charge d'affaires, Ajay Sharma, was also present at the Sunday's ceremony, which was attended by representatives of the Iranian foreign ministry. Hammond was also accompanied by a small delegate of trade representatives who will discuss the possibility of economic cooperation with Iran following the nuclear deal.

Under the terms of the P5+1 deal, sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United Nations and the United States are to be gradually lifted in exchange for Iran agreeing on the long-term curbs, which are mean to prevent Tehran from developing the capacity to produce a nuclear weapon.

The trip marked the first time a British
foreign secretary has visited Tehran
since 2003

While the United States and its Western allies have long suspected that Iran could be using its nuclear program as a cover to develop a nuclear bomb, Tehran has consistently insisted that the program is for peaceful purposes only.

Iran back on the world stage

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif welcomed the reopening of the British Embassy and said it proved his country's regional and global significance.

"The world has realized Iran's constructive role in the region and globe," Zarif was quoted as saying on Sunday. "Of course, we have differences with some European countries, but that can be negotiated through interaction, open eyes and a realistic approach," he added.

While the thaw in relations between Iran and the West has been hailed by most countries in the world, the US' Arab allies in the region and Israel are skeptical about it.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the Middle East to assure the Arab nations that the Iran deal would not undermine their interests in the region.

shs/se (Reuters, AP, dpa)

Related Article:

Iran, major powers trumpet historic nuclear deal

‘Mentally Ill’ Indonesian Worker Beheaded in Saudi Arabia

Siti Zaenab binti Duhri Rupa was executed on Tuesday after being on death row for over 15 years

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite, Apr 15, 2015

An Indonesian migrant worker prepared to be sent to Saudi Arabia, covers her
face during an inspection by the police in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia, in this
 file photo taken on June 22, 2011. (EPA Photo/Mast Irham)

Jakarta. The Indonesian government, saying it has done its utmost to prevent the execution of a possibly mentally ill Indonesian woman in Saudi Arabia, regrets the fact that the decapitation went ahead on Tuesday, without her family being notified in advance.

Siti Zaenab binti Duhri Rupa was executed after being on death row for over 15 years for killing her boss, after allegedly facing abuse.

“We have done everything we can to free Siti Zaenab,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told reporters on Tuesday.

Arrmanatha said that Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi had asked the family of the killed woman to forgive the Indonesian worker, and a press release on the ministry’s website said that President Joko Widodo as well as his predecessors Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Abdurrahman Wahid had sent letters to the Saudi king to request clemency.

In Saudi Arabia, a death sentence can be commuted if the family of the victim forgives his or her murderer.

Siti Zaenab, born in Madura in 1968, was sentenced to death in 1999.

Amnesty International said in a press release that Siti Zaenab was reported to have stabbed her employer 18 times after allegedly being mistreated by the employer’s son. She “confessed” to the act during interrogation, but reports suggest “police suspected that she suffered from mental illness at the time,” Amnesty said.

“Imposing the death penalty and executing someone with a suspected mental illness smacks of a basic lack of humanity,” Philip Luther, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program director, said in the press release. “This practice has been widely condemned on the world stage and Saudi Arabia should take this opportunity to reconsider its stance on the death penalty.”

Amnesty says Saudi Arabia ranks among the top five executioners in the world, having executed at least 60 people so far this year, most of them by beheading. The country carried out 90 executions last year.

“Whatever the misguided purpose behind Saudi Arabia’s shocking spike in executions so far this year, it should draw international condemnation. The Kingdom’s authorities must halt this execution spree and establish an official moratorium on the use of the death penalty,” Luther said.

Joko’s government itself has come under fire in recent months for resuming executions of drug convicts on death row, most of them foreign nationals.

Mustafa Ibrahim Al-Mubarak, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Indonesia, said there might have been a miscommunication between his government and the Indonesian embassy in Riyadh.

“They knew about the [upcoming] execution, but the Saudi Arabian government might have not reminded them of the execution date,” said Al-Mubarak. “I will check what went wrong. I will be in touch with my government to get their explanation.”

Iran to appoint first female ambassador since Islamic revolution

Marzieh Afkham to become only second female ambassador for Iran as Rouhani says it is government’s duty to create equal opportunities for women

The Guardian, Saeed Kamali Dehghan, 14 April 2015 

Afkham is a veteran of Iran’s diplomatic service, having served as a ministerial
 aide and later as head of its public relations department. Photograph: Atta
Kenare/AFP/Getty Images

Iran is to appoint its first female ambassador since the 1979 Islamic revolution, marking a breakthrough for women in government under the moderate president, Hassan Rouhani.

Marzieh Afkham, who is the country’s first foreign ministry spokeswoman, will head a mission in east Asia, the state news agency reported. It is not clear to which country she will be posted as her appointment has yet to be announced officially.

Afkham will only be the second female ambassador Iran has had. Under the last shah’s rule, Mehrangiz Dolatshahi, a three-time MP known for her advocacy of the family protection law, which gave women the right of divorce and child custody, became an ambassador to Denmark in 1976, a post she held until the revolution.

Women in Iran need the permission of their husband or legal custodian, such as their father, to travel abroad. The government is also reluctant to promote women who are single and not married. Afkham was reported to have married last year.

Rouhani said this week that he saw it as his government’s duty to create equal opportunities for women and spoke against crackdowns by the religious police on women who push the boundaries of the mandatory hijab by showing their hair. But a decision to overturn discriminatory practices is not solely in his hands.

Gissou Nia, deputy director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI), a leading rights group based in New York, hailed Afkham’s appointment on Tuesday.

“This is certainly welcome news for women in Iran,” Nia told the Guardian. “It is a positive step that the appointment has been made; we haven’t had a female ambassador since the 1970s but it doesn’t alleviate the ongoing concerns about pending legislation in the Iranian parliament that seeks to restrict women’s role in the public sphere.”

Sadeq Zibakalam, a prominent Iranian professor and commentator, said from Tehran: “This is a great decision and will pave the way for women being promoted to more senior jobs in Iran.”

Despite a series of setbacks for women’s rights after the Islamic revolution, women continued to hold government jobs. Afkham is a veteran of Iran’s diplomatic service, having served in it for about 30 years as a ministerial aide and later as head of its public relations department.

In 2013, following the presidential election that brought Rouhani to power, Iran’s new US-educated foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, appointed Afkham as his spokeswoman, the first Iranian woman to hold such a high-profile role that demanded regular contact with the press.

Women have held senior jobs in Tehran in the past but this is the first time a woman will lead a foreign mission in post-revolutionary Iran. Mansoureh Sharifisadr was chargé d’affaires, or deputy head of mission, in Japan. She is currently the director general of the foreign ministry’s human rights and women affairs department.

The highest ranking position ever held by a women in the Islamic republic was that of a cabinet minister. Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi was appointed under Rouhani’s predecessor, the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Dastjerdi’s appointment in 2009 as health minister drew nationwide interest but she fell out with Ahmadinejad within a few years and was sacked over her objection to inadequate funding for the importation of vital medicine while Iran was under international sanctions.

Since taking office, Rouhani has taken a softer line on gender equality, making clear heopposes segregation of men and women at universities or banning them from attending big sporting events alongside men. But he is yet to deliver on many of his promises. No women currently hold a ministerial role, though Rouhani has a few serving as his aides and vice-presidents.

In December 2013, in a rare example of a politician from a minority group being promoted in Shia-dominated Iran, a Sunni woman, Samieh Baluchzehi, who belongs to the country’s Baluchi ethnic minority, was chosen as the mayor of a provincial city, Kalat.

Despite these achievements, Iran remains sensitive about the activities of women’s rights activists, including those behind the one-million signatures campaign demanding the repeal of discriminatory laws. Many campaigners have been imprisoned, including the student activist Bahareh Hedayat, who is serving a sentence of nine and half years in jail.

Last month, the human rights group Amnesty issued a strong warning over two proposed bills being considered by the Iranian parliament, which seek to reverse the country’s progressive laws on family planning by outlawing voluntary sterilisation and restricting access to contraceptives to increase Iran’s population. Amnesty said the move would set Iranian women back by decades and reduce them to “baby-making machines”.

Although women can vote and drive in Iran, discriminatory laws persist. Women are required to wear the hijab and in court their testimony is worth only half that of a man.

Mohammadreza Jalaeipour, a former political prisoner and activist, said:

“Rouhani has stepped up his rhetoric for gender quality, which is a good move, but we need to see more women in ministerial, or even middle-ranking political jobs, such as governors and political directors.”