Fundamentalisms

Sudan: Girl lashed 50 times for "indecent" skirt

A 16-year-old south Sudanese girl was lashed 50 times after a judge ruled her knee-length skirt was indecent, her lawyer and family said in the latest case to push Sudan's Islamic law into the spotlight. The mother of teenager Silva Kashif told Reuters on Friday [Nov 27] she was planning to sue the police who made the arrest and the judge who imposed the sentence, as her daughter was underage and a Christian. The case will add fuel to a debate already raging over Sudan's decency laws after this year's high-profile conviction of Sudanese U.N. official Lubna Hussein, who was briefly jailed for wearing trousers in public.

ASEAN Region: APMM Statement on the growth of politicized Islam

Southeast Asia Muslim human rights advocates express concerns on the growth of politicized Islam in the ASEAN region and makes recommendations to ASEAN leaders at the 15th ASEAN Summit. A regional meeting of Southeast Asian human rights advocates was held in Jakarta on 16-17 October 2009 to examine how certain interpretations of Sharia laws are affecting the rights of the women in Muslim contexts in the region and undermining secularism and democratic institutions in such countries as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.

Saudi Arabia: Death Sentences for “Witchcraft”

The cassation court in Mecca should overturn the death sentence imposed on Ali Sabat by a lower court in Medina on November 9 for practicing witchcraft, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the Saudi government to cease its increasing use of charges of “witchcraft,” crimes that are vaguely defined and arbitrarily used.

Irak: Les communautés minoritaires de Nineveh demandent à être protégées

Dans la province de Nineveh, dans le nord de l’Irak, les communautés minoritaires ont demandé à être protégées par les autorités locales et nationales, dans un contexte où l’on annonce un risque de multiplication des attaques à leur encontre durant la campagne des élections nationales de janvier. « En tant que Chrétiens, nous ressentons l’insécurité depuis l’invasion de 2003 [menée par les Etats-Unis], car nous sommes l’objet de déplacements, extorsions, enlèvements et assassinats commis par les différentes parties, pour des raisons d’agenda politique ou d’idéologies extrémistes », a dit Ihsan Matti, chauffeur de taxi de 33 ans habitant à Mossoul, la capitale de la province de Nineveh.

Malaysia: Progressive ulama arrested

The arrest of a progressive ulama has plunged many Malaysians into further despair that this country is hurtling towards an implosion but it may prove a blessing in disguise.

Iran: Stopping the stoning of Mokarrameh Ebrahimi

This documentary is a WLUML production, supported by City University of Hong Kong. The Stop Stoning Forever (SSF) campaign broke the news of scheduled stoning of Jafar Kiani and Mokarrameh Ebrahimi on 19 June 2007, and the public reaction led to the order of stoning being stayed. Jafar Kiani was stoned to death on 5 July, 2007.

Somalia: Pregnant women to be stoned to death

Islamists in southern Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth. Abas Hussein Abdirahman, 33, was killed in front of a crowd of some 300 people in the port town of Merka. An official from the al-Shabab group said the woman would be killed after she has had her baby. Islamist groups run much of southern Somalia, while the UN-backed government only control parts of the capital. This is the third time Islamists have stoned a person to death for adultery in the past year.

International: Resisting and Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms

The Resisting and Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms (RCRF) team is currently documenting a broad spectrum of feminist strategies to counter fundamentalist politics.

UPDATE: Indonesia/Aceh: Institute to facilitate amendment of bylaws

The National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) will facilitate a dialogue between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the National Commission for Women's Protection to eliminate 154 bylaws considered to discriminate against women and minorities. Lemhanas governor Muladi told a discussion on the national perspectives of bylaws Thursday that many bylaws violated the Constitution and had created public controversy that could lead to the disintegration of the nation.

Canada: Limits to tolerance if multiculturalism is to work

There is a paradox in Canadians' prized tolerance -- taken to its extreme, we inevitably will be asked to countenance the intolerable. Where that line is between tolerance and the intolerable is something that the courts are dealing with on several fronts. Polygamy is the most recent. Last week, B.C. Attorney-General Mike de Jong asked the Supreme Court of British Columbia to determine whether banning polygamy is a justifiable limit on the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.