Faeq Ameen Bakr, director general of Baghdad's Institute of Forensic Medicine in Baghdad, often writes "killed to wash away her disgrace" in the many autopsy reports and investigations that cross his desk.
In Iraq a barber works in a dangerous trade. Many have been murdered, beaten or forced to close their businesses by Islamic fanatics who accuse them of shaving off beards or giving Western-style haircuts.
Personal status laws dictate that both husband and wife must attend court for a divorce to be granted, but the laws are often violated and men are handed separation without their wives' involvement.
As Iraq's first elected parliament in decades prepares to begin its work, the women who make up nearly a third of its members agree on one thing: they want more power ... At the same time, the assembly's women are deeply divided.
More than 50 per cent of female parliamentarians belong to the cleric-backed United Iraqi Alliance, which won the election in a landslide with just over half the seats. It has called the implementation of Sharia “non-negotiable”.
Extremists have shot women activists in the streets and killed them in private. Other threats are more insidious—and may be growing. Article by Babak Dehghanpisheh, Eve Conant and Rod Nordland.
Since March 15th there have been massive and courageous student demonstrations in the southern Iraqi city of Basra against the notorious Islamist gang led by Moqtada al-Sadr.
Pour avoir joué de la musique, des étudiants sont battus à mort par des miliciens chiites déchaînés. Les étudiant-es ont commencé à installer leur pique-nique sous le soleil printanier, quand les hommes ont attaqué.
Giuliana Sgrena, 57 ans, Italienne. Journaliste du «Manifesto» et militante féministe. Otage un mois à Bagdad, elle n'est pas encore sortie du drame qui a ensanglanté sa délivrance.
