News

20/11/2012

Pakistan: "Marrying Daughters To The Quran To Keep Property In Family

Seven years ago, Zubaida Ali witnessed a bizarre ceremony in her ancestral village in Sindh where her cousin Fareeba was married to the Holy Quran.

“It was extremely odd and, of course, very tragic. Fareeba, who is a very pretty girl and was then around 25 years old, was dressed as a typical bride, with red, sequined clothes, jewellery and mehndi patterns on her hands and feet but over all this she was draped in an enveloping dark chaddor. There was music and lots of guests but no groom,’’ Zubaida, 33, was quoted as saying by IRIN, the UN information unit in a report.

19/11/2012

Myanmar: Myanmar's Rohingya Crisis.

BANGKOK, 16 November 2012 (IRIN) - Five months after communal violence erupted in Myanmar's Rakhine State, the plight of the 800,000 Muslim Rohingya there has worsened: Renewed violence in late October left more than 100,000 displaced, according to the government.

19/11/2012

Tunisia: Not Illegal, but Taboo.

Homosexuals in Tunisia celebrated the ouster of dictator Ben Ali, hoping it would improve their situation. But in nearly two years, little has changed for the country's gay and lesbian community. Sarah Mersch reports from Tunis.

15/11/2012

Pakistan: UPR of Pakistan, Ongoing Concerns Include Violence Against Women and Blasphemy Laws.

Pakistan’s second review under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) took place on the 30 October 2012, and was attended by a large delegation led by Ms Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and including the Advisor on Human Rights and the Advisor on Minorities.

15/11/2012

Egypt: Radical Clerics Seek to Legalise Child Brides.

CAIRO, Nov 14 2012 (IPS) - An ultraconservative Salafi cleric recently sparked outrage among Egypt’s liberal circles when he attempted to justify his opposition to a proposed constitutional article that would outlaw the trafficking of women for sex.

15/11/2012

Gambia: Justice Prevails in a Two Year-Long Judicial Harassment Case Against Two Women Human Rights Defenders

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), welcomes the vindication of two women humanrights defenders in The Gambia following two years of judicial harassment.

14/11/2012

South Sudan: Contraceptives Give Women the Right to Choose.

JUBA, 14 November 2012 (IRIN) - Cut off from development by five decades of civil war, South Sudan has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world and high levels of infant mortality and morbidity. Large families struggle to get by in the war-ravaged new nation.

14/11/2012

Tunisia: Tunisia Battles Over Pulpits, and Revolt’s Legacy.

KAIROUAN, Tunisia - November 11, 2012 - On the Friday after Tunisia’s president fell, Mohamed al-Khelif mounted the pulpit of this city’s historic Grand Mosque to deliver a full-throttle attack on the country’s corrupt culture, to condemn its close ties with the West and to demand that a new constitution implement Shariah, or Islamic law.

13/11/2012

Turkey: Turkey's 'Panic Buttons' Turn Off Safety Advocates.

Turkey has a high-profile pilot project to ward off domestic assault. Safety advocates say it won't work as long as victims continue to be routinely disbelieved and mistreated.

13/11/2012

Somalia: Somali PM Appoints Country's First Female Foreign Minister.

The new prime minister of Somalia, rated as one of the worst places in the world to be a woman, has appointed a female foreign minister. Fauzia Yusuf Haji Adan was one of two women chosen to join a lean cabinet of 10 ministers charged with leading the east African country out of decades of conflict and building on military gains made against the Islamist militants of al-Shabaab.