Religious minorities

Groups working with Muslim women in the city came together to demand more inclusion in the state's women draft policy that is currently under review.

Over 60 individuals, mostly dervishes (members of a religious order), were arrested in the Iranian cities of Kavar, Tehran and Shiraz between 3 and 14 September. At least three lawyers who represent the group were also arrested on 4 September. All are currently held in Evin Prison in Tehran and are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. 

شارك عدد كبير من النساء المصريات في مسيرة " لا للفتنة الطائفية " التي أطلت علي مصر بوجهها القبيح من حي إمبابة، للتأكيد علي قيم المواطنة والتسامح ولدرء الفتن التي شهدتها المنطقة ومناطق مختلفة في مصر بعد الثورة . ويؤكد المركز علي أن الأمر يعد محاولة مكشوفة لإجهاض ثورة يناير وتصفيتها من خلال استخدام النساء في أحداث الفتنة. ويشيد المركز بمشاركة المرأة في هذه المسيرة من كافة القوي السياسية وكذلك من نساء إمبابة اللاتي شاركن بكافة أنماطهن من ربات منزل، وموظفات؛ مسلمات يحملن الصليب ومسيحيات يؤكدن بهتافهن علي المواطنة الكاملة. ويري المركز أن مشاركة النساء في تلك المسيرة جاءت تاكيداً علي رفضهن لاستخدامهن، وتأكيدهن علي رفض استغلال الدين بإسمهن من منطلق المتاجرة بالدين من الجانبين . 

Iranian women are exposed to a variety of discriminations with charges ranging from gender-related and ethnic issues over religious and political beliefs to the defense of their own rights and those of underprivileged groups within the Islamic Republic of Iran.On the occasion of the 100th International Women’s Day we publish a list of imprisoned Iranian women to expose the extent of this discrimination. As to the prisoners of conscience the two most vulnerable groups are the religious minorities of Baha’i and Christians, both persecuted relentlessly as they pose a serious challenge to the autocratic Islamist system. With regards to ethnic discriminations members of the Kurd and Baluchi minorities are most endangered.

Des inconnus ont ouvert le feu et tué, mercredi 2 mars, le ministre des minorités religieuses pakistanais, le chrétien Shahbaz Bhatti, à Islamabad. Les talibans pakistanais ont revendiqué l'assassinat du ministre, expliquant leur geste par ses propos jugés blasphématoires. Des hommes armés ont tiré en rafale sur sa voiture dans un quartier huppé de la capitale, a indiqué un officier de policequi précise que les assaillants, au moins deux hommes à moto, ont pris la fuite. "Il était mort à son arrivée à l'hôpital, on lui a tiré dessus", a déclaré à l'AFP par téléphone le docteurAzmatullah Qureshi, porte-parole de l'un des plus grands hôpitaux d'Islamabad, le Shifah.

Gunmen shot and killed Pakistan’s government minister for religious minorities on Wednesday, the latest attack on a high-profile Pakistani figure who had urged reforming harsh blasphemy laws that impose the death penalty for insulting Islam. Shahbaz Bhatti was on his way to work in Islamabad when unknown gunmen riddled his car with bullets, police officer Mohmmad Iqbal said. The minister arrived dead at Shifa Hospital and his driver was also wounded badly, hospital spokesman Asmatullah Qureshi said.

The Supreme Court of Iran should immediately reverse the apostasy conviction and death sentence of Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani and release him from prison, theInternational Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. The judiciary should also release another pastor, Behrouz Sadegh-Khanjani, who faces a similar prosecution.

It's not known exactly how many Ahmadis have settled in Britain - because many are too fearful to even admit they belong to the religion. They are a small, peaceful community who came here after fleeing persecution in Pakistan. But many Ahmadis are now living in fear for their lives - because they claim a campaign of hatred against them by other, extremist Muslims, is being exported from Pakistan onto the streets of the UK. 

Selon certaines sources, près de la moitié des chrétiens irakiens a choisi l’exil au cours des vingt dernières années. Lundi 15 novembre, sous le titre "Des intellectuels arabes condament les agressions que subissent les chrétiens d’Irak" et à l’initiative du Forum culturel libanais, une quarantaine de personnalités arabes vivant en France a signé un manifeste dont voici l’intégralité.

The International Solidarity Network, Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) is deeply shocked that a court in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan, has sentenced a 45-year-old Christian woman, Asia Bibi, to death on the charge of having committed “blasphemy”. Although illiterate, she has been accused of denying the institution of prophet-hood by citing copious examples from the key texts of Islam. We join local human rights organizations, international women’s groups and religious minorities in calling for Pakistan to urgently repeal its Blasphemy Laws. We also appeal to the authorities to guarantee the safety of Asia Bibi and her family from the rage of local extremists, as well as investigate the violent persecution of the Christian community in the Punjab.

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