Sydney gang rapes

The Sydney gang rapes were a series of gang rape attacks committed by a group of up to fourteen Lebanese Australian youths led by Bilal Skaf against Anglo-Celtic Australian women and teenage girls, as young as 14, in Sydney Australia in 2000. The crimes, described as ethnically motivated hate crimes by officials and commentators,[1][2][3] were covered extensively by the news media, and prompted the passing of new laws. The nine men convicted of the gang rapes were sentenced to a total of more than 240 years in jail. According to court transcripts Judge Michael Finnane described the rapes as events that "you hear about or read about only in the context of wartime atrocities".[4]

Attacks

Day Month Year Week day Event
10 August 2000 Thursday Attackers offered a ride and a portion of cannabis to two teenage girls aged 17 and 18. The women were taken by the attackers to Northcote Park, Greenacre where more collaborators were waiting. The women were then forced to fellate eight males.[5]
12 Saturday A 16-year-old girl was brought to Gosling Park, Greenacre by 17-year old Mohammed Skaf, who she believed was her friend. At the park she was raped by Mohammed's brother Bilal Skaf and one other man, with twelve other men present who she said 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]
30 Wednesday Another woman was approached by attackers at the Bankstown railway station, who proposed she join them in smoking some cannabis at another location. She agreed and went with them. However, she was taken to three separate locations by the men and raped 25 times 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".[4]
4 September Monday Two girls, both 16, were taken by the attackers from Beverly Hills railway station to a house in another suburb, where three men repeatedly raped them over a period of five hours. One of the victims was told that "You deserve it because you're an Australian".[8]

Further attempted attacks

A further series of gang rapes were said to have been attempted but thwarted. Four of the attackers were also convicted for an attack on Friday 4 August 2000 when they approached a fourteen-year-old girl on a train where she was threatened with violence, punched twice, slapped,[9] and told that she would be forced to perform fellatio on several men and that she was going to be raped.[5]

Attackers

There was evidence to convict only nine men of the fourteen suspects. The sentences totalled 240 years in prison.

Racial controversy

Conservative commentators such as Miranda Devine categorised the crimes as racially motivated hate crimes.[1][2][3] The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the rapists had stated to a victim during the attack, "You deserve it because you're an Australian" and "I'm going to fuck you Leb-style". Two thirds of Muslim and Arab Australians said that they experienced an increase in racial vilification towards them after a number of events including the September 11 attacks, the Bali bombings, and these rapes.[30]

New laws

The gang rapes led to the passage of new legislation through the Parliament of New South Wales, increasing the sentences for gang rapists by creating a new category of crime known as "aggravated sexual assault in company".[31]

Also, in the course of one of the trials, the defendants refused counsel as they believed that "all lawyers were against Muslims". This led to the contentious prospect of the defendants being able to cross-examine the witnesses, including the victims, a situation that was averted by further legislation being put through the state parliament.[32]

Actions taken by government ministers, including Premier of New South Wales Bob Carr, who publicly identified the perpetrators' background, led to controversy. Ethnic community group leaders, 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.[33]

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

Coordination of the attacks

The attackers used SMS and mobile phones to orchestrate the attack and to phone ahead to other attackers to co-ordinate transport of rape gang members to the locations where women were being held. Authorities later released some of this material, recovered from the rapists' mobile phones

The attackers texted such messages as "When you are feeling down... bash a Christian or Catholic and lift up".[34] and "I've got a slut with me bro, come to Punchbowl".[35]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Bowden, Tracy (15 July 2002). "Ethnicity linked to brutal gang rapes". ABC. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  2. 1 2 Devine, Miranda (13 July 2002). "Racist rapes: Finally the truth comes out". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  3. 1 2 Goodenough, Patrick (16 July 2002). "Gang Rape Convictions Trigger Ethnicity Debate". CNSnews.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2006. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  4. 1 2 Crichton, Sarah; Stevenson, Andrew (17 September 2002). "When race and rape collide". The Age. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  5. 1 2 Judge Michael Finnane (23 August 2002). "Regina v H (sentencing remarks)". The District Court of New South Wales. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  6. 1 2 AAP (28 July 2006). "Gang rapist Skaf gets 31 years". NEWS.com.au. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  7. AAP (28 July 2006). "Victim 'happy' with Skaf rape sentence". The Age. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  8. Hayes, Liz (2 September 2001). "Life Sentence: Transcript". 60 Minutes. Nine Network. Archived from the original on 30 August 2006. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  9. Crichton, Sarah (24 August 2002). "Gang rapist jailed 25 years as judge finds grounds for leniency". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  10. Wallace, Natasha (28 July 2006). "Gang rapists re-sentenced". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  11. Gibbs, Stephen (2 August 2003). "Rapist out of sight but not out of mind". The Age. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  12. Oliver, Peter (18 November 2015). "Prisoner sentenced for bashing Bilal Skaf". Goulburn Post. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  13. "Leader of rape gang Bilal Skaf bashed by Goulburn Correctional Centre inmates in jail". Mail Online. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  14. Crichton, Sarah (11 October 2002). "Puny brother a cowardly bully". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
  15. Duff, Eamonn (21 July 2002). "Convicted man's family feel like criminals". The Sun-Herald. Retrieved 5 September 2013. ... jailed for 23 years for his part in the gang rape of two teenage girls.
  16. Mitchell, Alex (15 September 2002). "Rape leader's mum banned from prison". Sun Herald. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
  17. "Sydney Gang rapist Loses Parole Bid". AAP,The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 October 2011
  18. 1 2 3 4 "Parole revoked for Skaf gang rapist Mohamed Sanoussi". ABC News. Australia. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013. The State Parole Authority has revoked the parole it granted just yesterday to Skaf gang rapist Mohamed Sanoussi, before he could be released.
  19. "Parole granted to Skaf gang rapist Mohamed Sanoussi". ABC News. Australia. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  20. 1 2 "Skaf gang rapist Mohammed Sanoussi cleared for parole". The Australian. AAP. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  21. "NSW gang rapist Sanoussi free from jail". 9News.com. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  22. Davies, Lisa (9 April 2010). "Skaf gang rapist back behind bars". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  23. "Man jailed until 2012 for NSW gang rape". ABC Online. 9 August 2002. Archived from the original on 8 December 2010.
  24. Jeloscek, Lee. "Notorious Skaf gang rapist may be paroled". 7News, Sydney. Yahoo News. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  25. "Sentencing of H". Four Corners - ... For Being Lebanese Broadcast 16 September 2002:. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 16 September 2002. Retrieved 15 July 2008. On 23 August 2002, Justice Michael Finnane sentenced 'H' to 25 years in gaol with 15 years non-parole. These are Justice Finnane's sentencing remarks.
  26. Skaf gang rapist to be released. 4 February 2014, News.com.au
  27. "Freedom for gang rapist who faced two trials". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 July 2007.
  28. Crichton, Sarah; Stevenson, Andrew (7 September 2002). "Rape gang members named". theage.com.au. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  29. Crichton, Sarah (12 October 2002). "Gang rape man jailed 40 years". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
  30. Delaney, Brigid; Cynthia Banham (17 June 2004). "Muslims feel the hands of racism tighten around them". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 July 2006.
  31. "SECT 61JA". Crimes Act 1900. Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  32. "SECT 294A". Criminal Procedure Act 1986. Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  33. Goodenough, Patrick (16 July 2002). "Gang Rape Convictions Trigger Ethnicity Debate". Cybercast News Service. Archived from the original on 24 May 2006. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  34. Sutton, Candace; Duff, Eamonn (8 September 2002). "Rapist's loving family: Where did we fail our son?". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  35. Crichton, Sarah (24 August 2002). "Sentence angers rape gang victims". The Age. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
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