Sydney gang rapes

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Bilal Skaf - led and orchestrated the three August 2000 attacks.
Bilal Skaf - led and orchestrated the three August 2000 attacks.

The Sydney gang rapes were a series of gang rape attacks by a group of up to fourteen Muslim Lebanese Australian men against white[1] girls, some as young as 14, in Sydney, Australia in 2000. The crimes, decried as racially motivated hate crimes by conservative commentators such as Miranda Devine[2][3][4] saw blanket media coverage, the passing of new laws, and over 240 years in jail time handed out to nine men.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Middle Eastern rapists had stated to an Australian girl during a five hour attack in which the girl was raped 25 times by 14 Middle Eastern men, "You deserve it because you're an Australian" and "I'm going to fuck you Leb style".

Contents

[edit] Attacks

August 10, 2000, Thursday
Attackers offered a ride and a portion of marijuana to two women aged 17 and 18. The women were taken under duress to Northcote Park, Greenacre where more collaborators were waiting, the women were then forced to fellate eight males.[5]
August 12, 2000, Saturday
A 16-year-old girl was brought to Gosling Park, Greenacre by her friend, 17-year-old Mohammed Skaf. At the park she was raped by Mohammed's brother Bilal Skaf, and one other man, with twelve other men present who were "standing around, laughing and talking in their own language".[6] The second man held a gun to her head and kicked her in the stomach, before she was able to escape.[7]
August 30, 2000, Wednesday
Another woman was approached by attackers at the Bankstown train station, who proposed she join them in smoking some marijuana at another location. She was taken to three separate locations by the men, gang raped by a total of fourteen men, in an ordeal that lasted six hours. After the attacks the woman was hosed down with a fire hose, the woman, who was known during the trial as 'C' to protect her identity, later told her story to 60 Minutes. She told of how the attackers called her an "Aussie Pig", asked her if "Leb cock tasted better than Aussie cock" and explained to her that she would now be raped "Leb-style".[8]
September 4, 2000, Monday
Two women, both 16, were taken by the attackers from Beverly Hills train station to a house in another suburb, where three men repeatedly raped them over a period of five hours. The attackers told one of the victims at one point that "You deserve it because you're an Australian".[9]

[edit] Further attempted attacks

A further series of gang rapes were attempted, but thwarted. On Friday August 4, 2000 four of the attackers approached a fourteen year old girl on a train where she was threatened with violence, punched twice and slapped before escaping the would be rapists. [10]

[edit] Attackers

  • Bilal Skaf led and orchestrated the three August 2000 attacks. He was initially sentenced to a total of 55 years imprisonment but had his prison time reduced by the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal to 28 years, with parole available after 22 years. However, on July 28, 2006 Acting Justice Jane Mathews added another ten years to his sentence for his role in the August 12 rape (his original conviction over the attack was quashed in 2004 and a retrial was ordered after it was revealed that two jurors had conducted their own investigations at Gosling Park).[11] Bilal Skaf will now be eligible for release on February 11, 2033. In March 2003, Skaf was charged with sending mail containing white powder to a corrections department official from prison in an apparent hoax terrorist act.[12]
  • Mohammed Skaf, younger brother of Bilal Skaf was also one of the gang rape attackers. He was gaoled for 32 years for his role in the gang rapes but has also had his sentence reduced on appeal, to 19 years with a non-parole period of 11 years. However, on July 28, 2006 he received an additional 15 years, with a minimum of seven and a half years over the Gosling Park attack. Mohammed Skaf will now be eligible for release on July 1, 2019.[6]
  • Belal Hajeid, then aged 20, was another gang rapist who was convicted and imprisoned for 23 years with a non-parole period of 15 years. Hajeid had his sentence later reduced on appeal.
  • Mohammed Sanoussi, then 18, gang rapist who was sentenced to 21 years with a non-parole period of 12 years for the August 10 and 30 rapes. Sanoussi had his sentence later reduced on appeal.
  • Mahmoud Sanoussi, then 17, is the brother of Mohammed Sanoussi who was sentenced to 11 years and three months imprisonment with parole available after six-and-a-half years. Mahmoud Sanoussi unsuccessfully appealed against his sentence in 2005.
  • Mahmoud Chami, (then 20) - attacker gaoled for 18 years with a non-parole period of ten years. Chami unsuccessfully appealed against his sentence in 2004.
  • "H" (Identity sealed), (then 19), was sentenced to 25 years with a non-parole period of 15 years. 'H' has successfully appealed and gained a reduction in his penalty.
  • Tayyab Sheikh, then 18, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of nine years for his role in the August 30 rape.
  • Mohammed Ghanem, then 19, was the final person to be sentenced and was imprisoned for 40 years with a non-parole period of 26 years for two counts of rape.

There was evidence to convict only nine men of the fourteen suspects, and in total over 240 years of prison time was handed out for the rapes.

[edit] New laws

The public uproar caused by the gang rapes led to the passage of new legislation through the Parliament of New South Wales, dramatically increasing the sentences for gang rapists by creating a new category of crime known as aggravated sexual assault in company.[13] Also in the course of one of the trials, the defendants refused counsel claiming that "all lawyers were against Muslims". This led to the contentious prospect of the defendants being able to cross examine the witnesses themselves, a situation that was averted by further legislation being put through the New South Wales parliament.[14]

Actions taken by government ministers, including the then Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr, who publicly identified the perpetrators' background, led to controversy. Ethnic community groups, including Keysar Trad of the Lebanese Muslim Association complained that Carr was smearing the entire Lebanese Muslim community with the crimes of a few of its members, and that his public comments would stir up ethnic hatred. [15]

The first court case heard under the new sentencing regime concerned the gang rapes of two young caucasian women by Pakistani immigrants in Ashfield on July 28, 2002.

[edit] SMS used as tool

The attackers used SMS and mobile phones to orchestrate the attacks, utilizing this technology to phone ahead to other attackers to co-ordinate timely transport of rape gang members to the locations where women were being held. Authorities later intercepted these phone records, and a small sample of this material was released to the media, the rest being too offensive to publicise. The attackers texted such messages as "When you are feeling down ... bash a Christian or Catholic and lift up".[16] and "I've got a slut with me bro, come to Punchbowl". [17]

[edit] Community response

The crimes have been cited by Muslim Australians as contributing to an increase in racial vilification towards the Muslim community.[18]

[edit] Movie in the Making

A movie titled Wrong Girl directed by Michael Jenkins regarding the Sydney gang rapes (and specifically on the August 30 attack) is due to begin production in 2007. The film has received $51,000 in federal and NSW state funding and has drawn criticism from Police and Government ministers. [19]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ The term white in this context typically refers to Australian people of West European ancestry whose first language is English.
  2. ^ Tracy Bowden. "Ethnicity linked to brutal gang rapes", ABC, July 15, 2002. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  3. ^ Miranda Devine. "Racist rapes: Finally the truth comes out", Sydney Morning Herald, July 13, 2002. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  4. ^ Patrick Goodenough. "Gang Rape Convictions Trigger Ethnicity Debate", CNSnews.com, July 16, 2002. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  5. ^ Judge Michael Finnane (23 August, 2002). R v H (sentencing remarks). Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  6. ^ a b AAP. "Gang rapist Skaf gets 31 years", NEWS.com.au, July 28, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  7. ^ AAP. "Victim 'happy' with Skaf rape sentence", The Age, July 28, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  8. ^ "When race and rape collide", The Age, September 17, 2002. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  9. ^ Hayes, Liz (September 2, 2001). Life Sentence: Transcript. 60 Minutes. Nine Network. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  10. ^ Crichton, Sarah. "Gang rapist jailed 25 years as judge finds grounds for leniency", Sydney Morning Herald, August 24, 2002. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  11. ^ Wallace, Natasha. "Gang rapists re-sentenced", Sydney Morning Herald, July 28, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  12. ^ Gibbs, Stephen. "Rapist out of sight but not out of mind", The Age, August 2, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  13. ^ SECT 61JA. Crimes Act 1900. Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  14. ^ SECT 294A. Criminal Procedure Act 1986. Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  15. ^ Goodenough, Patrick. "Gang Rape Convictions Trigger Ethnicity Debate", Cybercast News Service, July 16, 2002. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  16. ^ Candace Sutton and Eamonn Duff. "Rapist's loving family: Where did we fail our son?", Sydney Morning Herald, September 8, 2002. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  17. ^ Sarah Crichton. "Sentence angers rape gang victims", The Age, August 24, 2002. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
  18. ^ Brigid Delaney and Cynthia Banham. "Muslims feel the hands of racism tighten around them", Sydney Morning Herald, June 17, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-07-29.
  19. ^ "Gang rapist movie plans draw outrage", Yahoo7 News, Australian Associated Press, 2007-01-28. Retrieved on 2007-01-29.

[edit] External links

Crime in Australia
Regional crime: Timeline | Melbourne | Northern Territory | Western Australia | Sydney
Australian law: Courts | Criminal law | Law enforcement
Australian people: Bushrangers | Convicts | Criminals | Murderers | Prisoners
Australian prisons: ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA
International: Crime by country
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