News and Views
Breaking News: Sakineh's lawyer harrassed and his family arrested and detained
The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women (SKSW Campaign) and Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) are seriously concerned about the reported arrest of the wife and brother-in-law of human rights lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei. They were arrested on 24 July 2010 and are being held in the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran. His wife, Fereshteh Halimi, called her parents to confirm her arrest and detention. Her brother, Farhad Halimi, is also believed to be detained there. There are strong indications that their arrest is intended to pressure Mohammad Mostafaei to turn himself in. Mohammad Mostafaei is a leading human rights lawyer who defended Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was sentenced to death by stoning, and a number of other detainees in Iran.
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India: One wife, multiple husbands - a custom fades
Buddhi Devi, 70, was betrothed as a teenager to two brothers in a polyandrous marriage in Malang, India. The custom has not carried over to her five children.
Iran: List of those awaiting execution by stoning
By: Soheila Vahdati
As protests against the stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani arose amongst the public and western officials, the IRI embassy in London announced that the verdict would not be stoned to death. On the contrary, the Secretary of Judiciary Commission of Human Rights declared that death by stoning does exist in the law of the country and that it would be implemented.
Now, it is feared that the Islamic Republic of Iran may decide to suddenly execute all those sentenced to stoning, either by stoning or hanging, in an attempt to quiet the rising western opposition as quickly as possible.
It is especially important to note that the Iranian embassy in London did not mention that Sakineh would be released, just that she would not be stoned to death, leaving open the possibility of her being hanged instead.
Pakistani couple face death by stoning threat after conviction for adultery
A couple have been sentenced to be stoned to death for alleged adultery by a tribal court in north-west Pakistan, with the woman's life now considered in grave danger.
The man involved, Zarkat Khan, has run away while the woman is in the custody of the court, according to residents in Kala Dhaka, a remote area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
The death sentence, handed down in Manjakot village last month, will be carried out once the man is found, a member of the tribal court said.
The woman, whose name is being withheld at the request of human rights groups, is being held in a nearby village, according to campaigners. She is married and believed to have three children.
"As usual, it is the woman who is made to bear the brunt of such atrocious barbarism, injustice, and inhuman, un-Islamic sentences," said the Woman's Action Forum, a Pakistani non-governmental organisation. "Why is the provincial law enforcement system neither de jure nor de facto functional? Where are the women's protection mechanisms and institutions?"
UK: Damian Green says burka ban would be 'un-British'
Banning the wearing of the Islamic full veil in public would be "un-British", the immigration minister has said.
Damian Green told the Sunday Telegraph trying to pass such a law would be at odds with the UK's "tolerant and mutually respectful society".
It comes after Tory MP Philip Hollobone introduced a private members' bill which would make it illegal for people to cover their faces in public.
Spain: Parliament rejects burqa ban
Spanish lawmakers will debate Tuesday July 20, 2010, barring burqas in public, joining other European countries considering similar moves on the grounds that the body-covering garments are degrading to women, the leading opposition party said Sunday. Head-covering veils would not be included in a ban. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
MADRID — Spain's Parliament on Tuesday rejected a proposal to ban women from wearing in public places Islamic veils that reveal only the eyes.
However, the Socialist government has said it favors including a ban on people wearing burqas in government buildings in an upcoming bill on religious issues to be debated after parliament's summer vacation break.
Following a lower chamber debate, 183 lawmakers opposed the ban, 162 voted for it and two abstained.
Iran: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani ordered to name campaigners
Iran has put fresh pressure on the woman it last month sentenced to death by stoning, demanding the names of those involved in the campaign for her release.
The case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has drawn international attention after her children launched a campaign for her release. After a global outcry last month, Iran's judiciary said Sakineh would not be put to death by stoning, but still faced execution by hanging.
The 43-year-old mother of two has been interrogated inside Tabriz prison over the names of the people who have been in touch with her family and the way her photo has been distributed among the media, the Guardian has learned.
Sakineh's photo, which has been distributed all over the world, has become a defining image for human rights activists campaigning against stoning in Iran.
"Sakineh has been under big pressure since the world has paid attention to her case", a source close to her family told the Guardian. "Recently she was questioned and asked to advise her children to remain silent, otherwise they will be arrested too. International attention is the only hope for Sakineh's release", the source added.
India: Prosecute Rampant ‘Honor’ Killings
(New York) July 18, 2010 -- The Indian government should urgently investigate and prosecute those responsible for the recent spurt in reported "honor" killings, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should also strengthen laws that protect against kinship, religion-based, and caste-based violence, and take appropriate action against local leaders who endorse or tolerate such crimes, Human Rights Watch said.
Murders to protect family or community "honor" have increased in recent months, in the northern states of Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, where unofficial village councils, called khap panchayats, issue edicts condemning couples for marrying outside their caste or religion and condemn marriages within a kinship group (gotra), considered incestuous even though there is no biological connection. To enforce these decrees and break up such relationships, family members have threatened couples, filed false cases of abduction, and killed spouses to protect the family's "honor." Some local politicians and officials have been sympathetic to the councils' edicts, implicitly supporting the violence.
"Officials who fail to condemn village council edicts that end in murder are effectively endorsing murder," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director for Human Rights Watch. "Politicians and police need to send these councils a strong message to stop issuing edicts on marriages."
Study: In Brazil, 10 women killed daily in domestic violence
(CNN) -- Every day, 10 women are killed in domestic violence cases in a country known for its glorious models, according to a new study released Sunday.
And it takes a high-profile incident -- such as the case against a Brazilian goalkeeper who is the prime suspect in the disappearance and murder of a woman -- to bring attention to the problem, said Women's Affairs Minister Nilcea Freire.
The government-sponsored study, called Map of Violence 2010, found that 41,532 women were murdered in Brazil between 1997 and 2007.
Catholics denounce Vatican putting female ordination on par with sex abuse
Women's groups describe Vatican's decision on female ordination as 'appalling'.
It was meant to be the document that put a lid on the clerical sex abuse scandals that have swept the Roman Catholic world. But instead of quelling fury from within and without the church, the Vatican stoked the anger of liberal Catholics and women's groups by including a provision in its revised decree that made the "attempted ordination" of women one of the gravest crimes in ecclesiastical law.
The change put the "offence" on a par with the sex abuse of minors.
Indonesia: 'Islamic' Police Jailed for Gang-Raping Woman
Banda Aceh. An Indonesian court on Thursday jailed two Islamic policemen for gang-raping a young woman in custody, a case that has sparked outrage in the deeply religious province of Aceh.
Mohammed Nazir, 29, and Feri Agus, 28, were found guilty of raping a 20-year-old student in a police station in January after she was arrested with her boyfriend under local laws designed to enforce Islamic morals.
Saudi Arabia: Issues of Marrying Abroad + Unmarried Saudi Women
Recently, the society warned Saudis against marrying foreigners. “There are several difficulties faced by Saudi children living abroad, such as social, economic, education and health problems. Sometimes the father simply vanishes from the scene and leaves the children with their mothers,” he said.
JEDDAH - A summer programme is to be launched to educate young Saudis about the risks of entering into marriage abroad, according to Dr Tawfiq Al Suwailam, chairman of the Society for the Welfare of Saudi Families Abroad (Awasir).
“We help such children by finding and certifying documents attesting to the legality of the marriage and also by helping the children to return to the kingdom and to integrate socially, so that they can become effective and productive citizens,” he added.
Bangladesh: High Court Directs Government to Immediately Implement Sexual Harassment Guidelines in All Educational Institutions, and Ensure that Women Are Not Forced to Veil or Cover Their Heads
Advocate Salahuddin Dolon v Bangladesh, Writ Petition No. 4495 of 2009
Summary: The High Court today directed the Ministry of Education to take immediate steps to implement the Guidelines on Sexual Harassment declared earlier in BNWLA v Bangladesh, and to ensure that no woman working in any educational institution, public or private is forced to wear a veil or cover her head, and may exercise her personal choice whether or not to do so. [1]The Court also observed that Section 27A of the Government Servants Discipline and Conduct Rules 1979, must be read alongside these Guidelines, to ensure that public officials are held to account for any acts of sexual harassment.
The Court observed “It is the personal choice of a woman to wear a veil. If any person tries to compel a woman to wear a veil against her consent or will that amounts to a violation of her fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution”.
Historic Vote Makes Argentina First Latin American Country To Grant Gays, Lesbians Equal Rights To Matrimony
(AP) Argentina legalized same-sex marriage Thursday, becoming the first country in Latin America give gays and lesbians all the legal rights that marriage brings to heterosexual couples.
After a marathon debate that lasted more than 16 hours, the vote was 33 in favor, 27 against and 3 abstentions in Argentina's Senate. Since the lower house already approved the bill and President Cristina Fernandez is a strong supporter, it now becomes the law of the land.
The bill passed despite a concerted campaign by the Roman Catholic Church and evangelical groups, which drew 60,000 people to a march on Congress earlier this week.
Ukrainian Muslim woman loses court battle for the right to be photographed in headscarf
The Kyiv District Administrative Court has rejected the suit brought on behalf of 25-year-old Susanna Ismailova from Bakhchysarai (the Crimea). She had asked the court to order the Ministry of Internal Affairs [MIA] to allow her to have a passport photo taken in her hijab or Muslim headscarf.
The court deemed that Ms Ismailova’s rights were not restricted by the insistence that she be photographed without the scarf.
France votes to ban full-face veils
Amnesty International has condemned an overwhelming vote by the lower house of the French parliament to ban the wearing of full-face veils in public.
Three hundred and thirty six parliamentarians voted for the measure on Tuesday, with only one opposing it.
"A complete ban on the covering of the face would violate the rights to freedom of expression and religion of those women who wear the burqa or the niqab as an expression of their identity or beliefs," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's expert on discrimination in Europe.
The law, which must still be approved by the French Senate, prohibits the wearing anywhere in public of any form of clothing intended to conceal one's face.