Crime increasing among teenagers, says Interior Ministry

Posted in: Reports Written By: Ola al-Shami Article Date: Oct 6, 2007 - 2:39:26 AM Digg this story! Leave Your Comments! Email This Article Printer Friendly Page

Statistics collected by the Ministry of the Interior show that the rate of crimes committed by teenagers and juveniles has increased during the past few years. The most commonly reported crimes include prostitution, honor crimes, theft, and the use of drugs and alcohol. Sociologists attribute the rise to a number of factors, including increasing social, economic, cultural and psychological pressures, and the break up of traditional family units, while many psychologists attribute inappropriate behavior by teens to feelings of insecurity and a lack of acceptance. This stage has its peculiarities and characteristics. It is important to have good environment and good company because it is a time when teenagers become more connected with the world outside their house, said an anonymous teacher. Another report issued by the Ministry of the Interior recently states that teenage boys are more inclined to commit theft crimes than girls. The report states that of 980 cases studied, 146 crimes were committed by boys aged 18 years old and below. A field study conducted by the Womens Forum for Research and Training shows that the most crimes committed by females occur between the ages 15 and 18. The study also indicates that many females turn to prostitution at an early age. Teacher, Amal al-Solawi believes that the main reason teenagers commit crimes is to escape from poverty. She says the society, the family, and the economic and unemployment problems in Yemen are the main factors behind teenage crime. However, others disagree. I disagree with the idea that the family is the last factor. Parents must raise their kids with a clear and a strict Islamic background. It is the fundamental factor which society depends on, said teacher Sabah alShoja. Amnesty International has highlighted the disturbing cases of children and teenagers who have been wrongly imprisoned for crimes in Yemen in a report published this year. Mohammed al-Kazami, aged 15, was arrested in February and detained without charge or trial at the Political Security prison in Abyan. The apparent reason behind his arrest was to put pressure on one of his relatives to surrender to the authorities. Saddam Hussein Abu Sabaa, Naif Abdulah Abu Sabaa, and Naji Abu Sabaa were arrested in Sanaa on July 15, 2007 near the US Embassy, where they were apparently planning to seek asylum. In September, they were charged with harming the reputation of Yemen and insulting the president. Ibrahim al-Saiani, age 14, was released without charge in March this year, after being detained in May 2005. Security forces allegedly arrested him while searching for one of his relatives. While in detention, his health gave serious cause for concern.

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Alcohol sells from hidden points in Yemen

Posted in: Reports Written By: Fares Anam Article Date: Feb 4, 2012 - 7:09:21 PM Digg this story! Leave Your Comments! Email This Article Printer Friendly Page

Farouq a 28 year old resident of Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, never thought he would ever in his life drink alcohol since the beverage is strictly forbidden in Islam.

The Holy Quran clearly stipulates that alcohol is prohibited. Although the young man often decline to so much as smell or look at an alcoholic drink, current upheavals made him look for an escape. Farouq claims that given the hardship the country was going through after a year of popular uprising which led to a meltdown of the countrys economic and financial institutions, many people turned to illegal substances to forget their problems and breathe a little easier for a few hours.
Yemenis oppose drinking or trading alcohol.

Farouk recalled how on one instance his friends expressed some concerns over his tense demeanor, saying that if he was to drink a beer or two he would feel much more at ease with the world. They then took somewhere in the Hadda area, through a myriad of back streets. Lost the group of friends were asked by local residents if they were looking for beers. We followed them into a shop and they brought us back several ice cold beers and an array of wines, some expensive, some not. I was shocked since I had a hard time believing that Yemeni shopkeepers would ever sell the forbidden beverage. Farouq added that he was amazed to hear that there were several points throughout the capital which were selling alcohol at reasonable prices, proving that it was quite a wide spread activity. Any given person could buy a beer in Sanaa for YR1000. I bought 1 and my friends.

It tasted just like Mousi ginger [non-alcoholic beer] but this time with the alcohol content. After he finished his drink, Farouq said that although he felt cozier he did not feel much of a difference. He however said that he felt truly guilty of having so bluntly disobeyed God, swearing that he would never do it again. Farouq is sadly part of a worrying trend ion Sanaa, as depressed and harassed people are turning to those alcoholic points to escape their problems.
Alcohol is prohibited in Yemen.

I wanted to forget my worries, myself, and my miserable life, recalled Farouq. Although alcohol is forbidden for Public comsumption in Yemen, embassies, high class hotels and foreign restaurants are issued special licences by the government allowing them to serve alcohol to their customers and staff as long as there are not Yemeni nationals. And because alcohol is being legally shipped to Yemen, smugglers are using this crack in the system to unlawfully supply a network of resellers. Last week, extremists and officers of the Yemeni navy seized a truck loaded with dozens of bottles of wines and spirits in Hodeidah city as it was heading towards the capital. The Yemen Observer reported that a source at Hodeidah customs confirmed that the shipment belonged to some western embassies in Sanaa and that the load had been cleared for entry in Yemen. Custom officials said that informants in the sea-port called on al-Islah members, tipping them on the content of the truck. The Islamist party immediately ordered its men to stop the vehicle and destroy its shipment. Eyewitnesses told the Yemen Observer that several Islamic extremists stopped the truck in Hodeidah, then started smashing the alcohol bottles onto the street for 4 hours shouting AllahuAkbar God is Great. After destroying all the bottles the extremists and Navy officers burnt the truck, the driver having long ran away from the site by fear of reprisal against his person. Last month extremist militants who believed to be al-Qaeda fighters raided Lyali Dubai Dubai Nights hotel in Aden killing 2 people and wounding several others for they suspected the hotel to be selling alcohol. The Yemen Observer also unveiled that the group accused the hotel administration of practicing prostitution. An enquiry into the matter of illegal alcohol selling points revealed that officials and members of a mafia-like organization were behind the trend, as the men used their influence to deliver the contraband to resellers. In Yemen Import licenses are not required, but the import of pork and pork products, coffee, alcohol, narcotics, fresh fruit and vegetables, weapons, explosives and rhinoceros horn are prohibited, according to Muslim Trade Network. In 2009, Al-Sabeen local council authority launched a campaign against Chinese restaurants and closed tens of Chinese restaurants and clubs, seized hundreds of bottles of alcohol, and arrested several people working in these places. Large quantity of all kinds of alcohol was seized and confiscated by the local authority. Mohammed Saleh, a shopkeeper on Hadda Street said that the restaurants had brought all sorts of trouble to the neighborhood. The spread of those restaurants was scary. Eight restaurants were opened in less than six months and no one knew who owned them or who gave them licenses.

If they have licenses to sell alcohol, it would represent a disaster for our country, said Saleh. Those clubs and restaurants returned back to work after the raids but this time more carefully. Yemen has a history of alcohol trade, it was during the British Occupation in the southern part of Yemen that beer, wine, and other liquors, gained fame and spread like wildfire. Twelve years ago, however, the National Brewing Company, or the Seera beer factory, the first and only beer factory in Yemen, was burned to the ground by northern troops during the North-South civil car. Every bottle of beer was broken. Tough measures were then taken to ensure that alcohol would never play a role in the countrys future. Many alcohol drinkers think that it the beverage hold health benefits, but medical studies are proving the contrary. Excessive drinking can cause a variety of health problems, from fetal alcohol syndrome to liver damages and cancer. Research shows that the risk of having a stroke increases dramatically within the first hour of drinking an alcoholic beverage. The use of alcohol to repress the effects of pain is as old as the fermentation process itself. Alcohol is believed to be one of the oldest used drugs in the world. Even modest amounts of alcohol consumption can cause blood pressure to increase, especially in older adults, according to two recent studies conducted in Japan. Researchers have definitively linked drinking three or more glasses of liquor a day to an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer. A British study finds that even moderate drinking may be detrimental to life expectancy; contrary to studies showing that moderate drinking may be helpful. A study from Denmark suggests alcohol consumption may increase mens risk of developing atrial fibrillation - an irregular heartbeat, according to the website alcoholism.about.com. With more than 2.5 million deaths a year attributed to the harmful use of alcohol, the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a global strategy aimed at reducing alcohol abuse worldwide.

Now, can someone really argue that hardship justifies ones disobedience to one of Allahs most sacred commandments or is it just a pathetic attempt to alleviate ones guilt?

Working to reduce crime among youth

By: Web Staff

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KINGSTON, N.Y. -- Kingston residents gathered at the Boys and Girls Club for a meeting to discuss ways to reduce juvenile crime and violence. Residents say Kingston has a lot to offer, but it is being overshadowed by the crimes taking place. One local mom says people need to start getting involved and donating their time to help come up with ways to keep kids off the streets. She also has an idea she plans to pitch to the family court judges that could help with prevention. "Making parents accountable. They need to be accountable for the actions of their children if they are committing crimes. Not just punishing the parents, but community service. Make the parent and the child together have community service. The parent becomes engaged in what the child is doing and the child is giving back to the community and seeing that there's more out there," Kingston parent Janai McDonough said. Also to help combat crime, an anti-violence walk will be taking place on Monday

Deadly fire in Cohoes

By: Web Staff

COHOES, N.Y. -- A 70-year-old woman has died following a house fire in Cohoes. The fire happened around 11:30 Saturday night on Saratoga Street. Cohoes Mayor John McDonald tells us the fire likely started after Beverly Redcross fell asleep while smoking in her living room. McDonald said Redcross had a son who lived upstairs, but he was a work at the time of the fire.

She died of smoke inhalation.

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Rising crime blamed on youth violence, gangs

Justice Department to spend nearly $50 million to fight gangs and guns
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Robert Nickelsberg / Getty Images file Los Angeles Police Department gang unit officers stop and frisk a known 18th Street gang member in the Rampart district of Los Angeles in August of last year.

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WASHINGTON Increasing violence among teenagers and other youths appears to have contributed to a nationwide crime spike, the Justice Department said Tuesday. Gangs and gun violence are partly to blame for the rise in crime that is on pace to increase for the second straight year, says Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in a prepared speech. In response, the Justice Department is pledging to spend nearly $50 million this year to combat gangs and guns, and will push Congress to enact new laws to let the federal government better investigate and prosecute violent crime. FBI data from last fall show violent crimes, including murders and robberies, rose by 3.7 percent nationwide during the first six months of 2006. Those findings came on top of a 2.2 percent crime hike in 2005 the first increase since 2001. Results of study into rising crime Faced with the discouraging data, Gonzales last fall ordered a study of 18 cities and suburban regions to show why crime is surging. According to Gonzales prepared remarks and a Justice Department fact sheet, obtained by The Associated Press, the study found:
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That a growing number of offenders appear to be younger, and their crimes more violent, and that laws in some states provide few, if any, tough penalties on juvenile offenders. Many youths have little parental oversight and are too easily influenced by gang membership and glamorized violence in popular culture. Loosely organized gangs present the biggest concern for law enforcement officials because they are hard to investigate and their members often commit random acts of crime out of self-protection.

Offenses committed by people using firearms pose a major threat not only to communities, but also to police. So-called straw purchases, where gun owners buy their firearms through a go-between, is an area of concern.

The Justice Department plans to distribute $18 million in grants nationwide this year to prevent and reduce illegal gun sales and other firearms crimes. Gonzales also will announce spending $31 million in new funds this year to combat gangs, according to the Justice Department fact sheet. The department also is working on a new crime bill to help federal authorities assist local and state police in cases involving juvenile crime. 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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crime rates Violent crime (Drug crimes Knife crime among among among youth rose among youth among disadvantag of crimes among youth, 319 x 346 aged teenagers is ed youth. youth 282 425 x 319 x 410 www.statcan.gc.c 487 x 398 460 x 276 1600 x 1588 www.dominicacentr www.statc a populargusts.bl www.guardi www.indiatal al.com an.gc.ca ogspot.com an.co.uk kies.com

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