News

28/1/2010

Bahrain: Further Smear and Open Attack against Human Rights Defenders

The Human Rights Bureau (HRB) of the HAQ Movement expresses its concerns about the ongoing smear and defamation campaign waged by state-supported electronic and printed means of publications. Some dailies, in Arabic and English, newspapers as well as electronic forums stage that campaign whenever an international related activity (Report, Press Release, Petition, Seminar, Article) is posted out covering aspects of human rights of violations in Bahrain. The waged smear campaign was focused on Mr Nabeel Rajab, President of (BCHR), Ms Ghada Jamsheer, President of Women's Petition Committee, Dr Abdulla Al-Derazi, Secretary General of the Bahrain Human Rights Society, and Mr Mohamed Al-Maskati, President of Bahrain Youth Human Rights Society.

28/1/2010

Afghanistan: Women’s Leaders’ Priorities for Stabilization Statement

In the lead-up to the 28 January London Conference on Afghanistan hosted by the UK Government, Afghan women human rights defenders today released strong, specific recommendations on security, development and governance priorities for their country. These recommendations provide the only concrete input from consultation with Afghan women into the key decisions affecting the future of their country that will be set in London by international actors.

28/1/2010

Sri Lanka: Propaganda, intimidation and voter rights of IDPs denied in presidential election

26 January 2010: Tension surrounds today’s presidential election, especially for the press, which has had to face many obstacles. Use of the state media to support President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s campaign for another term has been accompanied by harassment and violence against privately-owned opposition media, culminating in the 24 January abduction of political reporter Prageeth Eknaligoda. Reporters Without Borders appeals to both sides to make every effort to avoid an Iran-style scenario in which the challenging of a questionable election result leads to a cycle of demonstrations and repression in which the press would clearly be one of the victims.

27/1/2010

Bangladesh: Court Orders Protection for Muslim Girl Punished for Being Raped

Bangladesh’s High Court has ordered authorities in an eastern district to protect and produce in court a 16-year-old girl who was lashed 101 times earlier this month after becoming pregnant as the result of a rape. The girl, who has not been named, received the punishment on the orders of village elders in the Brahmanbaria district who issued a “fatwa,” or Islamic ruling, declaring that she be flogged for immoral behavior. The elders pardoned the 20 year-old rapist. The incident occurred five months after the country’s highest court issued a ruling ordering authorities to investigate incidents of extra-judicial punishments and take action against those responsible.

27/1/2010

International: Holocaust Memorial Day: The Experiences of Women

In this 2004 paper by Alana M. Morrissette (Brandon, Manitoba), the author begins by citing Sybil Milton: 'The study of women and the Holocaust has barely begun, and the complexities and contours of the subject... will keep historians and other analysts occupied for many years', and goes on to describe how women were physically and emotionally injured even before their deportation to Nazi death camps. You can read the full paper here: www.jhcwc.org/morrissette2004.pdf

27/1/2010

Sudan: “Alliance of 149” for reform of rape law

We are the organizations and activist the founders of the “Alliance of 149”, which targeting to reform article 149 embedded in the criminal law of 1991. This article is defined as rape; one of the ugliest crimes that violates the privacy of human being and has consequences that correlates the victim in all his life.

27/1/2010

Afghanistan: Afghan women 'worried by Taliban plan'

President Karzai is to outline plans to re-integrate Taliban fighters into Afghan society and government at a conference in London tomorrow. A news conference under the theme "Afghan Women Leader's Priorities for Afghanistan Stabilization and Reconstruction" is being held ahead of the main meeting.

26/1/2010

France: Reactions to proposed partial ban on burqa

Sarkozy's veil climbdown: Has Nicolas Sarkozy lost face in his battle against the burqa? One might think so considering his latest compromise on the issue. While the French president firmly believes that these allegedly Islamic veils are "a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement" which are "not welcome" anywhere in the Fifth Republic, he now thinks the only workable ban would be on public transport or in civic buildings.

26/1/2010

France: Cross-party committee to recommend partial ban on full veil

France will today take the first step towards barring Muslim women from wearing the full veil when using public services, but will stop short of calling for an outright ban after critics argued that such a move would be socially divisive and hard to enforce. A cross-party committee of MPs was set up last year to explore the controversial issue in France of burkas and niqabs. The committee will recommend to parliament that Muslim women should be allowed to continue covering their faces in the street. Its final report will, however, recommend that anyone covering their face be barred from entering public sector property, including hospitals and schools, or using public transport.

26/1/2010

Philippines: Early marriage puts girls at risk

Nurina was 14 when she married Sid, who was 23. “We were close friends. He treated me like a younger sister,” Nurina said. “People started to gossip and my family insisted that we be married to avoid tarnishing my reputation.” Seven years later, Nurina is a third-year high-school student and a mother of three. Early and arranged marriages are common practice in Muslim culture in the Philippines where about 5 percent of the country’s 97 million inhabitants are Muslim.