News

15/1/2010

Fiji: End harassment of women human rights defenders

The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD IC) calls on Fiji’s military regime to end its harassment of Imrana Jalal and all women human rights defenders.

14/1/2010

UN: OHCHR Seminar on challenges posed by cultural rights

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in partnership with the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) and UNESCO, and in collaboration with the Observatory of diversity and cultural rights (Fribourg – Switzerland), proposes the holding of a seminar on the parametres of, issues arising from, and challenges posed by cultural rights.

14/1/2010

International: The many faces behind the veil

To some it is a symbol of female subjugation. But these women believe that their Islamic headwear is a versatile, liberating way of expressing their identities. Jilbab. Niqab. Al Amira. Dupatta. Burqa. Chador. Even the language used to describe the various kinds of clothing worn by Muslim women can seem as complicated and muddied as the issue itself. Rarely has an item of cloth caused so much consternation, controversy and misunderstanding as with the Islamic headscarf or veil.

14/1/2010

Arab world: Segregate the sexes? Fine, until the men run out of coffee

I was sitting in a majlis with a group of women when our chat on world affairs was interrupted by an urgent knock on the door; a knock that opened more than just a passage into the rest of the house. “We ran out of coffee!” I heard a male voice in distress telling the hostess as she opened the door just a tiny crack to see who it was. It was her husband, who was hosting a similar majlis in another corner of the house, with the husbands of the women here. The hostess went out to help him, leaving the door wide open to a room full of annoyed women. Several of them ran to the door to close it, because “there are men in the house”.

14/1/2010

Uganda: Museveni distances himself from "cruel" anti-gay bill

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has indicated he will not back a bill that would impose the death sentence for the crime of "aggravated homosexuality" - when an HIV-positive person has sex with anyone who is disabled or under the age of 18. Museveni appears to have bowed to international pressure, telling members of his ruling National Resistance Movement that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had all urged him to ensure the controversial bill does not go ahead.

14/1/2010

Update: Iran: Mourning Mothers Released

All members of the Mourning Mothers who were detained in Laleh Park in Tehran on Saturday, 9 January, have been gradually released, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported today. The Campaign strongly condemns the harassment and detention of the Mourning Mothers and to address their legitimate grievances. Mourning Mothers is a group of mothers and relatives of those killed by government forces during recent events and was formed following the death of Neda Agha-Soltan. The group has grown to include the mothers and relatives of political prisoners who were executed in the past.

13/1/2010

Pakistan: ‘Eye for an Eye’ Judgment Hailed, Denounced

For Fazeelat Bibi, 21, the last few days of 2009 have brought her some retribution, if not cheer. "Justice has been delivered," said the young woman, her voice void of any feelings. An anti-terrorism court in the Pakistani eastern city of Lahore, on Dec. 21, ordered the noses and ears of two brothers, Sher Mohammad, 27, and Amanat Ali, 29, to be cut off after doing the same to Bibi in September. The court also sentenced the brothers to life imprisonment and ordered them to pay 700,000 rupees (8,300 U.S. dollars) in compensation to the victim.

13/1/2010

Aceh: Sharia police arrested for alleged rape

A serious blow to the credibility and morality of Sharia police in Aceh province, has occurred after several members were detained for an alleged gang rape in Langsa regency. Police in the regency said Tuesday they had arrested two Sharia police officers, or Wilayatul Hisbah, for reportedly raping a female detainee at the Langsa Sharia Police Station. The Langsa Police are also hunting down another suspect who is currently on the run.

12/1/2010

Fiji: WLUML Statement on charges against Imrana Jalal

The international solidarity network, Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML), condemns the politically-motivated charges brought against human rights lawyer, Imrana Jalal, by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) on 1 January 2010. FICAC, as with most significant government bodies since the coup, is headed by a military officer. FICAC was established to investigate and prosecute corruption, but instead has been used to also persecute persons not supportive of the military regime.

12/1/2010

International: Study on Global Restrictions on Religion

Global Restrictions on Religion, a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, finds that 64 nations – about one-third of the countries in the world – have high or very high restrictions on religion. But because some of the most restrictive countries are very populous, nearly 70 percent of the world’s 6.8 billion people live in countries with high restrictions on religion, the brunt of which often falls on religious minorities. The report is attached.