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16/9/2010
UPDATE: Iran: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani denies torture claims, suspicion of forced confession

The Iranian woman facing death by stoning after being convicted for adultery appeared on the Islamic republic's state TV channel last night to say she has not been whipped or tortured.Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose stoning sentence was suspended in July, was allegedly given 99 lashes on 2 September after the Times ran a picture of an unveiled woman mistakenly identified as her, her lawyer said at the time.

16/9/2010
Haiti: UN Launches New Campaign Against Rape & Gender Violence

The United Nations has launched a new operation to combat rape and gender violence in Haiti, where some 1.3 million people were made homeless by January’s devastating earthquake, with the majority still living in camps. Police and soldiers from the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSTAH) and Haitian national police (PNH), who are often the first responders, are being trained to tackle the problem and ensure medical services for victims, the top UN official in Haiti told the Security Council today.

16/9/2010
Indonesia: Female Parliamentarians - More Elected but Challenges for Power

When a record 101 women won seats in Indonesia's House of Representatives in the 2009 election, development groups said it was proof that the world's largest Muslim nation was ready to back female politicians and a gender quota system that the country had recently rejected wasn't in fact needed.

16/9/2010
International: UN Special Rapporteur on Torture’s Statement on Acid Attacks and Women

 The following text is a statement by Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, made in a Side Event sponsored by Women’s UN Report Network, Worldwide Organization for Women and NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva and delivered at the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, on 15 September 2010:

15/9/2010
International: Former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet to head New United Nations Women's Agency (UN Women)

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today (14 September) named former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet to head United Nations Women (UN Women), a newly created entity to oversee all of the world body’s programmes aimed at promoting women’s rights and full participation in global affairs.

The new body – which will receive a large boost in funding and become operational in January – merges four UN agencies and offices: the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, and the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW).

14/9/2010
Update: Iran: WLUML and SKSW Statement on the release of Shiva Nazar Ahari

The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) international solidarity network and the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women (SKSW campaign) welcome the news that Shiva Nazar Ahari was released from prison on Sunday 12 September 2010. 

Shiva Nazar Ahari is a 26-year-old human rights activist specializing in women’s rights, children’s rights, and the defense of political prisoners. She is a journalist and blogger, as well as actively involved with the Committee of Human Rights Reporters and the One Million Signatures Campaign. Formerly a civil engineering graduate student, Ahari was expelled from university as a result of her student activism. She had endured 266 consecutive days in Evin Prison, 100 of which were spent in solitary confinement, for participating in non-violent actions.

13/9/2010
USA: 'On 9/11, Remembering the Other’s Others: International Law & Muslim Fundamentalism'

The ninth anniversary of September 11, 2001, finds the international community still grappling with the consequences of that terrible day. Armed conflicts which began in the wake of 9/11 continue in Afghanistan and Iraq, spilling over now into Pakistan and Yemen with often devastating consequences for civilians. Human rights abuses in the “war on terror” remain largely unpunished, but will never be forgotten around the world. Xenophobia directed against Muslims serves as a useful tool for right-wing politicians in the West. And you may have heard that an idiot in Florida has been trying to decide whether or not he will burn hundreds of Qur’ans today.

At the same time, Muslim fundamentalist armed movements akin to those that perpetrated 9/11, like the various permutations of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, or Al Shabab in Somalia or Boko Haram in Nigeria, just to name a few, continue to pose major challenges to human rights in Muslim majority societies and around the world. For a terrifying insight into the worldview of defenders of such movements, see here.

13/9/2010
Update: Iran: Shiva Nazar Ahari released on $500,000 bail

Shiva Nazar Ahari, women's and children’s rights activist and a head member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, was released today on a $500 thousand (USD) bail after enduring 266 days in prison. Her official sentence has not yet been announced.

Nazar Ahari was arrested on December 20, 2009 at Enghelab Square along with numerous other activists including Kouhyar Goodarzi, another founding member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters. They were on their way to the city of Qom to attend the funeral of Ayatollah Montazeri.

The last trial for Shiva Nazar Ahari took place on September 4th for the charges of “moharebeh” (enmity with God), “assembly and collusion to commit a crime”, “propaganda against the regime,” and “disrupting the public order”. The trial took place in branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court with presiding judge Pir-Abassi. Worldwide protests were also launched calling for the freedom of Shiva Nazar Ahari.

10/9/2010
International: “Challenges of Change: Religion, Secularism & Rights”

A one-day event will be held on “Challenges of Change: Religion, Secularism & Rights” in Washington, DC on 21 September 2010. The event is organized by the Women’s Learning Partnership (WLP) in cooperation with Cultural Conversations of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University.

10/9/2010
Kurdistan: "Quest for Honor: Stop The Killings Now!": A Documentary Examines Honor Killing

First-time filmmaker, 70-year-old Mary Ann Smothers Bruni, has made it her mission to bring visibility to honor killing in Iraqi Kurdistan. Within that context, her documentary highlights the advocacy of women who are catalyzing change in the region.