Questions on Prostitution

This image was created for a post at Iraq Blogger Central on an Iraqi blogger, Baghdad’s Mistress. There were questions on whether she was authentic or not.
In retrospect, it does not really matter. However, what does are the psychological and social problems related to this profession, which is as old as humanity.The inhuman conditions, which prostitutes endure in most societies, are troubling. There vulnerability to abuse is worth examining.

Human Rights For All And Without Distinction

Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

...

Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.


Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Any Language

الإعلان العالمي لحقوق الإن English Français

Pearl Harbor And Iraq War Veterans

Vétérans de la guerre en Iraq et de Pearl Harbour.
Dry pigment, acrylic and charcoal - approx. dimmension, 2.75' X 2.75'

Source: Urban Legends Reference Pages, Generations of Valor Snopes.com

Middle Eastern Children - Unbearable Silence

See articles and references in Search and Difficult Images.

William Sampson - Victim of Saudi Arabia's Dictatorial Regime

Canadian William Sampson was facing a public beheading in Saudi Arabia, having been unfairly convicted of carrying out a bombing that killed a British man and injured several others.
Al Queda was probably responsible for that murder.

After more than 2 and an half years in jail, most of which was spent in solitary confinement, enduring extreme torture, Sampson and five accused British citizens were released from prison. Recently, he was granted permission by a British court to sue the Saudi Arabia government.


- Special thanks for Francine Dubé from the National Post.
Francine published an extensive interview with Mr. Sampsoon.
"I am not quite the man I was"

I was held in solitary confinement in a Saudi Arabian prison for two years, seven months, three weeks and two days. At the beginning of my incarceration, I was chained upright in my cell, 24 hours a day and subjected to sleep deprivation. I was punched, kicked, hung upside down from a metal bar and beaten with a bamboo cane on the soles of my feet...

Dr. William Sampson's extraordinary courage during this ordeal was a powerful inspiration right from the beginning of this project. His portrait was the first of this series. He kindly accepted this work. I have yet to send it to him.
In our brief correspondence last year, he graciously explained what he perceived in this work.

"I find it difficult to consider myself as someone capable of inspiring such work, but I must say that the work does seem to capture the mix of emotions that I saw in my face every time I saw it in the steel mirrors of my prison cell." W.S. - UK

Dry pigment, acrylic and charcoal on canvass. - 6' x 8.5'

US Marine, Scout/Sniper - Israel

The war in Lebanon opposing the Palestinians, Muslims and Hezbollah on one side and Israel, and the democratic forces on the other was a complex, long and bloody struggle.

Arafat was always looking for a country to be in, while arriving with weapons and a plan to cause trouble. In the late sixties, Arafat had been trying to destabilize Jordan and to take over. Syria was also very interested to take over. King Hussein had enough and booted Arafat out of Jordan, after Black September, which produced between five to ten thousand deaths.
Arafat fled to South Lebanon to stir more problems for the Israelis.
By 1975, there was about 300 000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Because Lebanese leaders could not on agree what to do with Arafat, it created the civil war as Palestinians fighters were raiding and shouting across the border. On one side was the Lebanese *Phalanengists – the Christian militia - under Bashir Gemayel and on the side were Palestinians, Sunnis and Druze.
The *Maronits were losing as Syria sent 40 000 troops in Lebanon - these are the troops who finally left Lebanon a few months ago. Assad's plan was to take over Lebanon, and he dominated the government until this recent pulling out of his troops.
In 1978, Litani River Operation: Israel crossed the river to stop the attacks.
In September 1982, the young democratic President Bashir was killed by a Syrian agent. This cause a profound grief to the Christians and the democrats in Lebanon. - Just as the Syrian killed the Prime Misnister Rafik Hariri in February 2005.
1982, Gen. Sharon dealt with Arafat, his PLO fighters plus other killers and thugs by kicking them out of South Lebanon with the help of the Phalangists. Arafat ended up in Tunis.
Angry Lebanese Christians, perhaps seeking revenge for the murder of President Bashir, massacred a number of Palestinians,in Sabra and Shatilain where supposedly the killers were operating.
In 1983, US Barracks were blown up, causing the death of 241 Americans Marines.

This US Marine served in Grenada and the Middle East in the early eighties.
Dry pigment, acrylic and charcoal on canvass - 6' x 4.5'

Weapons In The Last Decades Of Conflicts

Armes dans les conflits des dernères décénies; M16 et AK47.
The M16 is precise, effective but pricy and requires tender care. The AK is robust, you can drpop it in the mud, but it does not offer the precious precision of the M16.
In Iraq, the coalition use the M16 type and the Iraqi troops use the AK47.
Dry pigment, acrylic and charcoal on canvass - 5' x 3'

US Marine After A Exploxion In Baghdad

Marine américain après explosion - Iraq.
Dry pigment, acrylic and charcoal on canvass - 6’ x 3’

Mourning Women and plastic bag containing human remains.

During the exhumation of Mass Graves, plastic bags were used to carry the delicate the remains of love ones disppeared under Saddam's deadly regime. An estimated three hundred thousand humans have being burried in more than 250 of these sand graves.
The Arabic text on the left side is part of the first article in the Human Rights Charter, from the 1948 Declaration adopted by the United Nations.

Femme en deuil et sac contenant des restes humains, fausse commune. - Hilla, Iraq.

Dry pigment, acrylic and charcoal on canvass - 6’ x 3’

US Marine and Stray Dog - Iraq, 2003.

Marine américain et chien errant. Iraq - 2003
Dry pigment, acrylic and charcoal on canvass. 2.5’ x 4’

US Marine returning a little girl to her mother.

Marine américain et enfant iraquien retournant à sa mère, Iraq.
Dry pigment, acrylic and charcoal on canvass - 8’ x 3'

I would like to thank AFP, Agence France Press and the excellent photographer Patrick Baz, for the kind permission to use their material.

Original Photograph.
US marine Captain Alex Henegar with 3/5 - 17 Nov 2004
AFP
By: PATRICK BAZ



Filed as well at Getty Images. Search: # 51755359

Mourning Man, Sitting at Mass Grave - Hilla Iraq

Homme en deuil assis, fausse commune - Hilla, Iraq ,
Dry pigment, acrylic and charcoal, 6’ x 4.5’

Man and Woman walking in mass grave - Hilla, Iraq

Dry pigment, acrylic and charcoal on canvass - 6,3' x 7,3'