Image caption
Sébastien has undergone 17 years of therapy
A gay man in
Belgium is trying to end his life because he cannot accept his
sexuality. He told the Victoria Derbyshire programme he wanted to be
granted euthanasia on the grounds of extreme psychological suffering.
Sébastien has thought carefully about the moment he hopes his life will come to an end.
"The
moment when they put the drip in my arm - I'm not worried about that,"
the 39-year-old explains. "For me, it's just a kind of anaesthesia."
Sébastien, whose name we have changed to protect his identity, is from Belgium - where euthanasia has been legal since 2002.
There were 1,807 confirmed cases of euthanasia in 2013, the most recent year for which figures are available.
The
majority of cases are elderly people suffering from terminal illnesses
including cancer - only 4% were suffering from psychiatric disorders.
Euthanasia in Belgium
For physical illness two doctors must agree a patient can be euthanised
Psychiatric cases require three doctors to agree
Patients requesting euthanasia must be legally competent and conscious
They must also be making a voluntary request
And they must be suffering incurable, constant and unbearable physical or mental suffering
Sébastien has undergone 17 years of therapy, counselling and medication and believes he has no other option.
He
claims to be attracted to young men and adolescent boys and is scarred
from a difficult childhood; his mother was ill and there was a strict
Catholic ethos.
"My whole life has led me to this, really," he says. "My mother had dementia, so I wasn't right, mentally.
"All
that was instilled in me, so I was extremely lonely, extremely
withdrawn, very inhibited physically - scared to go out, scared of being
seen, all the time scared, hugely shy.
"And growing up, I met a
boy and I fell crazy in love. We were both 15. And it was just
unbearable for me, you know? I didn't want to be gay."
'Permanent suffering'
For
Sébastien, or anyone else in Belgium who seeks euthanasia as an option,
it is not as simple as asking a doctor and being granted a lethal
injection.
The law states that patients must demonstrate "constant and unbearable physical or mental suffering".
In psychological cases, three doctors must agree that euthanasia is the right option.
Nevertheless, Sébastien remains determined to pursue it.
"I
have always thought about death. Looking back on my earliest memories,
it's always been in my thoughts. It's a permanent suffering, like being a
prisoner in my own body," he says.
"A constant sense of shame,
feeling tired, being attracted to people you shouldn't be attracted to -
as though everything were the opposite of what I would have wanted."
There
is widespread public support for the euthanasia law in Belgium and the
number of approved cases has risen year by year since it came into
effect in 2002.
In 2014, the law was amended to allow euthanasia for terminally-ill children.
But there is debate among the medical profession about whether it should be an option for people who are mentally ill.
Psychiatrist
Caroline Depuydt, who works at the Clinique Fond'roy psychiatric
hospital in Brussels, prefers to encourage patients to seek further
treatment.
"We always have something that could work. Time,
medication, psychotherapy - something that we must try and keep going
with that. And the psychiatrist must give hope to the patient that it's
never finished," she says.
"It's a very difficult law, it's a philosophical and ethical question, very deep and there is no one good answer."
Psychological problems
Each death as a result of euthanasia in Belgium is reviewed after the event by a committee of lawyers and doctors.
For
Gilles Genicot, lecturer in medical law at the University of Liege, and
member of the euthanasia review committee, Sébastien's case does not
fulfil the legal criteria for euthanasia.
"It's more likely he has psychological problems relating to his sexuality. I cannot find a trace of actual psychic illness here.
"But what you cannot do is purely rule out the option of euthanasia for such patients.
"They
can fall within the scope of the law once every reasonable treatment
has been tried unsuccessfully and three doctors come to the conclusion
that no other option remains."
Sébastien's request for euthanasia
has been accepted initially, he now faces further assessments to
determine whether his case fits within the law.
Asked whether there is any chance he will reconsider, or take a different path, he is sceptical.
"If
someone could give me some kind of miracle cure, why not? But for now, I
really don't believe it any more. And I'm too exhausted also, whatever
may be out there."
Although he is calm - almost matter of fact -
about wanting to end his life deliberately, he acknowledges the effect
this will have on the people around him.
"The hardest thing now is telling my family. If I get a yes, that's what's going to be most delicate." The Victoria Derbyshire programme is broadcast on weekdays between 09:00-11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel. Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36489090
A British man is facing multiple
life sentences for numerous sex crimes against Malaysian children which
he boasted about on the "dark web".
Richard Huckle, 30, from
Ashford in Kent, admitted the offences against victims aged between six
months and 12 years, from 2006 to 2014.
It is believed Huckle abused up to 200 children.
His sentencing hearing began at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, and is expected to conclude on Friday.
The 91 charges related to 23 children from mainly poor communities in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
He admitted 71 of the charges, and the prosecutor asked that the other counts "lie on file".
Huckle, a freelance photographer, was arrested at Gatwick Airport by National Crime Agency officials in December 2014.
Paedophile manual
Details
of the abuse can only now be reported because investigators had
previously sought a court order to ensure the victims were safe from
other online sexual predators.
Huckle,
a practising Christian, first visited Malaysia on a teaching gap year
when he was 18 or 19. He then went on to groom children while doing
voluntary work.
Investigators uncovered numerous indecent pictures
and videos Huckle took of himself abusing girls and boys. More than
20,000 indecent images were found on his computer.
Huckle wrote a
paedophile manual called "Paedophiles And Poverty: Child Lover Guide",
as well as a series of notes in which he detailed rapes and various sex
acts.
The encrypted manual was on Huckle's laptop ready for
publication on the "dark web". At his first plea hearing at the Old
Bailey, it took more than an hour to read out all the charges.
According to one charge, Huckle had said: "I'd hit the jackpot, a 3yo girl as loyal to me as my dog and nobody seemed to care."
'Warped depravity'
At
an earlier hearing, Judge Peter Rook QC told Huckle the charges
amounted to "sexual offending of the utmost gravity" and said he was
"considering life sentences in your case".
An NSPCC spokesman said
Huckle's "delight in abusing babies and toddlers" which he boasted
about on the internet "shows the depths of his warped depravity".
"This
case highlights the urgent need for a global effort to crack down on
those who use the web to exploit and hurt vulnerable youngsters."
The
charity also called on internet service providers to "cleanse the web
of these images and prevent them from being viewed in the first place".
By Angus Crawford, BBC News
One word and a freckle indirectly led to Richard Huckle's arrest.
Police
in Australia and Europe were aware of a paedophile site called the Love
Zone hidden in the so-called dark web. It was protected by passwords,
encryption and specialist software. Users were totally anonymous.
The images and videos there were particularly disturbing - showing the abuse of babies and very young children.
Members had to post increasingly graphic material to remain on the site. There were tens of thousands of accounts.
Officers with Task Force Argos in Australia knew the creator of the site used an unusual greeting - the word "hiyas".
After
exhaustively trawling chatrooms and forums in the open internet, they
found a Facebook page of a man who used the same greeting.
Although
the Facebook page was fake, they identified a picture of a vehicle and
that led them to a man called Shannon McCoole - a child care worker in
Adelaide.
When officers went through his door, he was actually online running the site.
They
took detailed photographs of McCoole's hands. This is where the freckle
comes in - one on his finger matched exactly one seen in many of the
images of abuse.
Airport arrest
In an unprecedented move, Task Force Argos assumed McCoole's identity and took over the running of the site.
Last year he was given a 35-year prison sentence.
One user who stood out was Huckle - given the number of children he had access to and his aggressive attitude.
Using
data gleaned from the site and information Huckle had posted on social
media and other open internet sites, they identified who he was and
where he lived.
Realising he was coming back to the UK for the Christmas holidays in 2014, they tipped off Britain's National Crime Agency.
As he landed at Gatwick airport he was met by officers from the NCA's Child Exploitation and Online Protection command.
On his computer and encrypted drives they found tens of thousands of obscene images and videos.
The plane that carried a Kenyan burnt by a Saudi Arabian employer shortly after it touched down at JKIA. PHOTO: TUKO
Stories of Kenyan workers suffering at the hands of their employers in the Middle East are back in the news.
On Saturday, May 28, Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko posted on his social
media, disturbing photos of a woman who was apparently burnt by her
employer in Saudi Arabia. The
lady, name withheld, being assisted into an ambulance after arriving at
the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after arriving from
Middle East. IMAGE: FACEBOOK/MIKE SONKO
The philanthropic politician said: “Serious and shocking as it
sounds, I commanded my team and our medical personal to the Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport in the wee hours and together with the
family received the lady who was burnt and in bad state.” The lady, name withheld, is receiving treatment at the Kenyatta National Hospital. IMAGE: FACEBOOK/MIKE SONKOTuko is reporting that the lady was employed as a domestic
worker, and was taken to Kenyatta National Hospital for treatment when
she jetted back in the country. She was apparently burnt by her employer in Saudi Arabia. IMAGE: FACEBOOK/MIKE SONKO
It will also be remembered that back in September 2014, Kenya banned
hiring of its citizens in the Middle East after numerous reports of
mistreatment in that part of the world.
Then in February this year, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s cabinet gave
the green light of Foreign Employment Administration and Labour
Migration Management Framework to look into the plight of Kenyan
domestic workers in the Middle East.
Due to lack of employment opportunities in the country, many Kenyans
go to the Middle East in search of greener pastures where most of them
are hired as domestic workers, but life changes for the worst when
mistreatment kicks in.
According to statistics, there are between 100,000 to 130,000 migrant workers in Saudi Arabia alone.
It is reported that a house help in Jordan, an Arab country, pockets
about KSh 40,000 which is far much higher than in Kenya where many of
them get paid below the set government minimum wage of KSh 11,000.
But mistreatment is not the only trouble Kenyans go through in the
Middles East as several Kenyans are languishing in Saudi Arabian jails.
Saudi Arabia foreign ministry shocked many In 2015 when it released a
list showing that about 200 Kenyans were convicted of various crime
since 2013 after going to look for work in the Arab country.
It was revealed that some were serving the minimum jail term of four
months with 70 lashes while others had been imprisoned to up to 10 years
with 1,000 lashes plus a 7000 Saudi Riyals fine.
According to the report, the sentences were as a result of different
crimes with seventy apparently found guilty of pimping, 30 for
prostitution, 20 for misconduct while 13 were found guilty of theft.
Not just that but there were some that were found in possession of illegal substances like hashish and other intoxicants.
Other crimes that have sent Kenyans behind bars include;
embezzlement, fornication, human trafficking, illegal gathering,
sorcery, dishonesty, trespassing, burning employers, forgery and forming
kidnapping gangs.
Via Tuko
