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Voices of Women Living Under Fundamentalism
last updated: April 2009
Articles & Information: Iran / Iraq / Afghanistan
Iran Freedom for Women in Iran
Iranians use Technology Bolsters Women's Movement
Iranian Blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi Died in Evin Prison
Two other women are sentenced to stoning and execution in Iran
Action Alert: Arrest of Esha Momeni, Iranian exchange student from US
Iraq: No Iranians in need of protection should be sent to Iran against their will
Campaign for One Million Signatures
Reporters Without Borders Speak About Iranian Attacks Against Women's Rights Publications
Podcast Interview with Ana Sami on the Iranian Resistance Movement
Iraq Freedom for Women in Iraq
Violations of 'Islamic teachings' take deadly toll on Iraqi women
Afghanistan Freedom for Women in Afghanistan
ALERT: Naseer Fayyaz: Me and my family are in danger
Afghan Journalist Zakia Zaki Slain in Her Sleep
* Infidel
* The Caged Virgin, An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam
* Zoya's Story, An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom
* With All Our Strength: The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
* Veiled Courage: Inside the Afghan Women's Resistance
* Meena, Heroine of Afghanistan, The Martyr Who Founded RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
* Women for Afghan Women
* The Storyteller's Daughter, One Woman's Return to Her Lost Homeland
Iranians use Technology Bolsters Women's Movement
By Rochelle Terman
AlArabiya.net
http://www.alarabiya.net/views/2009/04/08/70223.html
April 8, 2009
Next time you find yourself stuck in the crowded subway cars of the Tehran metro system, turn on your Bluetooth. Not only will you find everything from political news to scandalous cartoons of President Ahmadinejad, love letters to pornography, but you will also be exposed to the burgeoning and increasingly techno-clever Iranian women's rights movement. Women's rights defenders in Iran have long utilized technology for their activism. The Change for Equality (www.campaign4equality.info) and Women's Field (www.meydaan.org) websites are updated daily with news, opinion pieces, and commentary on the status of women and women's activism in Iran, often in multiple languages for both the domestic as well as international reader. Iran boasts one of the most prolific blogging networks in the world, with 60,000 routinely updated blogs featuring a rich and diverse mix of bloggers. Email and cell phone messaging are ubiquitous among the urban Iranian population, and SMS texting is currently the largest independent network for exchanging information in Iran. Given the strict censorship the Islamic Republic government places on state television, print, and radio, Iranians are using nuanced techniques for spreading information, and the women's movement is no exception. Years ago, women's activists were among the first to use the power of the internet to spread their message of gender equality. In response, the government placed extensive internet filters on any sites featuring dissent and critiques of the Islamic Republic, as well as on pornography and other "immoral and anti-religious" material. However, these limitations may have catalyzed the emergence of an even farther reaching network of technology-based information sharing for social and political movements. Last year, the official in charge of internet matters in the Tehran city prosecutor's office announced that the state's extensive filtering of internet sites had had the unintended consequence of increasing SMS message traffic, as texting less vulnerable to government control.
Most recently, the use of Bluetooth wireless technology-which allows individuals to exchange music, pictures, and video between computers and phones-has provided the Iranian women's movement with an even more powerful tool to communicate with one another and the public at large. Bluetooth technology is almost impossible to track and control, so it provides a relatively safe and private sphere in which activists can communicate. For now, it is almost impossible for the government to monitor, allowing a kind of freedom of speech rarely seen either during the Shah or since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. And in Iran, anonymity is power.
Iranian Blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi Died in Evin Prison
The Washington Times - March 23, 2009
Iranian blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi died March 18 under mysterious circumstances in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. The official word is suicide, but close observers strongly suspect foul play...most women journalists in Iranian prisons can't count on high level intervention. Four Iranian "cyber-feminists" recently appeared before a revolutionary tribunal for writing essays in the blog sites "Women's City" and "Change for Equality." They are charged with, among other things, "disrupting public opinion" which presumably is what blogging is all about. One of the activists, Maryam Hosseinkhah, wrote from her cell in Evin prison that she was "one of hundreds of women who for years are entangled in the tall walls of Evin and have no one to help. Neither the law helps them, nor family, nor any one else. The true definition of helplessness can be learned here, in the eyes of these inmates."
Two other women are sentenced to stoning and execution in Iran
December 2, 2008
BOSTON, MA- - In the last few days two women have been sentenced to death by stoning and execution. Public hanging and execution have been on the rise in recent months. There has been more than 240 cases of public hangings and executions in 2008. With compare to 2007, execution of juveniles has increased three fold in Iran. No country in the world executes minors except Iran. In July 2008, Tehran's regime sentenced eight women to stoning. Currently there are 14 women who face stoning to death in Iran. No other country practices stoning except Iran. In recent days, however, Tehran has set a new record of violence against women:
On November 29, 2008
Iran's supreme court has confirmed a sentence of death by stoning sentence for Afsaneh R. in the southern city of Shiraz. Afsaneh is charged with murdering her husband with the help of a man identified as Reza. She and Reza were also charged with committing adultery. While Afsaneh faces stoning, Reza had been sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery charges and 15-years-prison terms for murder charges. According to Iran's constitution, adultery is punishable by stoning, which involves the public hurling stones at the convict buried up to his waist. A woman is buried up to her shoulders.
On November 30, 2008
Iran's fundamentalist regime has sentenced a pregnant women to death in the town of Roudan in south of Iran. According to reports received from Iran, the female victim in Roudan, Shahla, and her husband Shahram faced sever interrogations in prison since their arrest. The revolutionary court judge is claiming that these victims have "confessed" to have been engaged in "drug trafficking" and now face execution. The couple never had a criminal record and come from illiterate and under-privileged backgrounds. The revolutionary court never presented any evidence of their trafficking activities and according to regime's own prosecutor in Roudan, Jafar Hamzei, "they had not succeeded to sell any drugs..." The couple did not have legal defense representation for their case.
The Women's Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran (WFAFI) calls upon all governments, human rights organizations and the United Nations to hold Tehran responsible for its gross violations of human rights. Stoning and execution must come to an end in Iran. The leaders of the Islamic Fundamentalist regime must be brought to justice for their shameful actions against women. WFAFI believes that the policy of silence on such violence has only emboldened Ahmadinejad and the mullahs to escalate their atrocities and crimes against humanity . The lack of decisive position by West is interpreted by Tehran as the green light to further violate the rights of its citizens, particularly women. Defense of human rights is defense of women's rights in Iran. The issue of human rights in Iran is indeed a political issue and the international community must support the Iranian people and their aspirations for democratic change.
email: press [at] wfafi.org
Media Inquiry: (617) 590-1665
web: http://www.wfafi.org
Women News Network - WWN
http://womennewsnetwork.net/actions/
Arrest of Esha Momeni, Iranian exchange student from US
Esha Momeni is an Iranian exchange student attending the University of California who was recently arrested in Iran while there to do research on women's issues inside the country. Image: The Feminist School
Feminist School: Esha Momeni, an Iranian student residing in USA California, was arrested while travelling to Iran and was arrested on Thursday October 15 in Tehran. Reason for her arrest was given as “Driving fast”.
While she was transferred to Evin prison the security forces ransacked her house and confiscated her computer and her Univeristy of California project material on women’s issues in Iran and the One Million Signatures campaign.
Esha’s family have been unsuccessful in following her case as the authorities refuse to respond to the families questions.
Esha Momenie Esha Momeni, women’s rights advocate and a member of the Campaign from California, was born 1980 and graduated at the Tehran’s Open University in Graphics Design and during her studies she did work as a volunteer in the nursery and tried to design plays that would help the children to express themselves.
To continue her studies Esha attended the University of California studying Communication and Art. Her thesis is on issues of women and to finish her thesis she had decided to make a short film on women activists in the Iran Campaign for One Million Signatures .
After the arrest, the Campaign for One Million Signatures in California notified Esha’s university course leader, Dr. Melissa Wall, who said, “I am surprised to hear the news and I am sure my colleagues would be too, to hear that a young student in her country to continue with her project would be arrested”.
In another interview Esha’s lecturer in photography, David Blooman said, “Esha is one of our best students at the university, she is artistic and creative. Esha was interested in researching women’s issues in Iran and wanted to correct the wrong assumption the world has had on Iranian women.”
Help Esha Momeni in this wrongful arrest
Head of the Judiciary - Iran
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Office: Ministry of Justice Tehran
Fax: +011 98 21 879 6671 / 640 4018 or 4019
Email: Irjpr@iranjudiciary.org
Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: irjpr@iranjudiciary.org
President: His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud AhmadiNejad
address: Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +011 98 21 649 5880
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
The leader of the Iranian Parliament Majles-e Shura-ye Eslami: Ali Larijani
address: Imam Khomeini Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +011 98 21 646 1746
Email: info@majlis.ir
Supreme Audit Court main building, Tehran, Iran (Headquarters)
address: East Brazil St. Vanak Sq. Tehran, P.O.B 14155-6471, 15875- 6515, Iran
Fax: +011 98 21 888 8 9930
Email: pria@dmk.ir
Telephone of the Head of the International Affairs office - Iran
+011 98 21 888 8 9941
Contact the Pakistan Embassy in US - Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran
address: 2209 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20007
Tel: (202) 965-4990
Fax: (202) 965-1073
Email: requests@daftar.org
Women News Network - WWN
http://womennewsnetwork.net/actions/
DOCUMENT - IRAQ: NO IRANIANS IN NEED OF PROTECTION SHOULD BE SENT TO IRAN AGAINST THEIR WILL
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT
AI Index: MDE 14/023/2008
28 August 2008
Iraq: No Iranians in need of protection should be sent to Iran against their will
Amnesty International has written to both the Iraqi and US governments reminding them of their obligations under international law and urging them to continue to provide protection to people affiliated to and members of the People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), an Iranian opposition group based in Iraq.
In its letters, Amnesty International reminds both governments that members of the PMOI in Iraq are ‘protected persons’ under international humanitarian law and, therefore, should not be expelled or forcibly returned to Iran.
In its letters to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamil al-Maliki and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Amnesty International expressed concern at recent statements made by senior Iraqi officials criticising the presence of members of the PMOI (also known as Mojahedeen Khalq Organization – MKO) at Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s northern governorate of Diyala. On 3 July 2008 ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, one of the main political parties represented in the Iraq government, reportedly said that the "MKO's presence in Iraq lacks any legal or international covers," and accused the organisation of "aiding and abetting the former regime in killing Iraqis...." He is also reported to have accused the MKO of seeking “to fuel” sectarian conflict in Iraq and adopting an “aggressive position toward the parliament and the elected national government".
Earlier, on 18 June 2008 Iraq’s government spokesperson Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh said that the Iraq cabinet had “decided to emphasize the decisions made previously that consider the MKO as a terrorist organization and should leave Iraq.”
Amnesty International considers that those living in Camp Ashraf would be at grave risk of torture or other serious human rights violations if they were to be returned involuntarily to Iran, whether by the Iraqi authorities or by the US-led MultiNational Force (MNF). The organization has told the Iraqi and US governments that it strongly opposes any such forcible returns, either of those at Camp Ashraf or of other Iranian nationals who currently reside in Iraq having left Iran for political reasons or to escape persecution.
Amnesty International urged both governments to provide promptly a firm assurance that they will prevent the forcible return to Iran of any Iranian refugees and asylum seekers, currently in Iraq, who would be at serious risk of torture or persecution there, respecting the principle of non-refoulement.
The organization emphasised that before any final decision to remove an individual to their country of origin, there should be an independent, individual assessment of the potential risk of serious human rights violations, including the death penalty and torture. No person should be returned, either directly or via a third country, to a situation where they would be at risk of torture or other serious human rights abuses.
Amnesty International urged the Iraqi and US authorities to work together with UNHCR, and others as appropriate, to find a satisfactory long term solution to the situation of PMOI members and supporters currently at Camp Ashraf.
Background Information
Amnesty International has been monitoring the situation of members and supporters of the PMOI in Camp Ashraf. Following the US-led military intervention in Iraq in 2003 about 3,400 members of the PMOI were disarmed by the US-led forces at Camp Ashraf. Since that time PMOI members living in the Camp, which is managed by the MNF, have been designated as “protected persons” under Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which prevents extradition or forced repatriation to Iran as long as the US-led Multinational Force (MNF) is present in Iraq.
Campaign for One Million Signatures
Iranian women’s rights activists are initiating a wide campaign demanding an end to discriminatory laws against women in the Iranian law. The Campaign “One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws” is a follow-up effort to the peaceful protest of the same aim, which took place on June 12, 2006 in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran
website: http://www.we-change.org/spip.php?article19#sp19
Campaign Description:
Iranian law considers women to be second class citizens and promotes discrimination against them. It is noteworthy that legal discrimination of this type is being enforced in a society where women comprise over 60% of those being admitted to university. It is generally believed that laws should promote social moderation by being one step ahead of cultural norms. But in Iran the law lags behind cultural norms and women’s social position and status.
Without a doubt, women of lower socio-economic status or women from religious and ethic minority groups suffer disproportionately from legal discrimination. On the other hand, these unjust laws have promoted unhealthy and unbalanced relationships between men and women and as a result have had negative consequences on the lives of men as well.
On the other hand, the Iranian government is a signatory to several international human rights conventions, and accordingly is required to bring its legal code in line with international standards. The most important international human rights standard calls for elimination of discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, religion, etc.
The Campaign aims to collect one million signatures in support of changes to discriminatory laws against women. It will provide education on legal issues to the public and especially to women, raise public awareness, promote collaboration between groups demanding equality between men and women, and document experiences. The Campaign will be implemented through the following means:
1. Collection of signatures through door-to-door contact and dialogue with individual women;
2. Collection of signatures in places and events in which women gather, and where dialogue and discussions with groups of women can be carried out;
3. Implementation of seminars and conferences with the intent of raising the profile of the campaign, promoting dialogue, identifying supporters and collecting signatures;
4. Collection of signatures through the internet. The internet will be utilized to share information about the Campaign, including legal educational materials, and those interested in supporting this effort can sign petitions related to the Campaign.
Contact Information: • For more information on the Campaign please visit: www.we-change.org; or write to the Campaign Organizers at: forequality@gmail.com
website: http://www.we-change.org/spip.php?article19#sp19
Reporters Without Borders Speak About Iranian Attacks Against Women's Rights Publications
RSF - May 9 , 2008
The international press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urged Iranian authorities earlier this week to end a recent spate of systematic attacks against women's rights publications. The statement by RSF comes on the back of the jailing of three women for six months and a two-year suspended sentence ordered earlier this month against the editor of feminist website "Change for Equality", Parvin Ardalan. Ardalan's sentence comes after she was accused last year of "illegal assembly and refusing to obey police orders with the intention of harming national security", a charge brought against her for her attendance at a demonstration in Tehran calling for equal rights between men and women. Ardalan's case hit the headlines after she was awarded the Olaf Palme prize for her work in forwarding women's rights, but was not permitted to leave the country to collect her award. Nasrin Afzali, Nahid Jafari and Marzieh Mortazi, three feminist activists were in March sentenced to six-month jail terms as well as suspended sentences of six lashes each. The three were accused of "disturbing public order" for their part in a demonstration in support of feminist colleagues on trial for their activities. RSF went on to add that a number of women's rights websites had become inaccessible. In October 2007, RSF ranked Iran in 166th place out of 169 countries on its annual world press freedom rankings.
Women's Rights Activist and Journalist Given Suspended Flogging and Jail Sentence for Disturbing the Public Order
Agance France Presse - April 17, 2008
An Iranian court has given a women's rights activist and journalist a suspended flogging and jail sentence for disturbing the public order, media reports said today. Nasrin Afzali "was sentenced to 10 lashes and a six- month jail term for disturbing public order. "The sentences will be suspended for two years," her lawyer Mohammad Mostafai was quoted by the Etemad newspaper as saying. Afzali was arrested in March last year along with 32 other women in front of a revolutionary court where five women's rights activists were on trial for organising a protest in a Tehran square advocating equal rights. "My client had appeared in front of the court as a journalist to cover the trial of five women who had participated in the Haft- e Tir square rally," Mostafai said. Afzali is also a member of the women's committee in a radical pro- reform student group, the Office to Consolidate Unity. Iran has put mounting pressure on women's rights advocates and in recent months several have been arrested for calling for changes to Iranian laws that discriminate against women or for taking part in public protests. It is not the first time that Iran has handed a women's rights activist a lashing sentence. Leading activist Marzieh Mortazi Langroudi was given a suspended sentence of 10 lashes and six months in prison in February for her participation in the solidarity protest outside the revolutionary court. The five feminists were accused of acting against national security for the June 2006 demonstration in Haft-e Tir square, where 70 people were arrested amid allegations of police brutality. Protesters demanded equal rights for women in marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody.
Journalist Facing Prison
International Herald Tribune - March 6, 2008
An Iranian-American radio journalist who is facing a yearlong prison term for her broadcasts to Iran through Radio Free Europe said yesterday that Iran had threatened to seize her 95-year-old mother's home in Tehran if she did not return to serve a sentence for propaganda. The journalist, Parnaz Azima, 59, who works for the Persian-language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague, said her lawyer in Iran was appealing her conviction Saturday by Tehran's 13th Revolutionary Court for spreading propaganda and working for the "anti- revolutionary" Radio Farda, the Persian-language station of Radio Free Europe. "The interrogation was about everything, about my own life," she said. "What was I doing before leaving Iran 25 years ago. What I was doing in my life before coming to Radio Free Europe. And then about what was I doing in Radio Free Europe. And they were always insisting that if I cooperated with them, everything would be closed." She noted that officials particularly urged her to avoid covering sensitive issues like human rights. IPS News - March 11, 2008 Suppression of women's movements and refusal to allow women to rally in public places by Iran's hard line rulers kept celebrations of this year's International Women's Day confined to small gatherings in private residences. The fear of harassment or arrest was real. Memories are fresh of the arrests of 10 women at a Mar. 8 rally in front of the Iranian Parliament, last year. Four days prior to that, 33 women's rights advocates, who had rallied in front of a revolutionary court to protest the trial of five women's rights activists, were arrested on charges of 'jeopardising national security'. Since then, tens of more rights activists have been arrested, summoned by courts or security bodies, imprisoned, tried by revolutionary courts or prevented from leaving the country. The Tronto Star - March 12, 2008 Soroya Malekzadeh wanted to test Iran's claim to being an open democracy, so she submitted her nomination papers to be a candidate for this month's parliamentary elections. The reply came from the Interior Ministry, formally disqualifying her for failing to meet Iran's strict Islamic requirements. Now, exhausted by state harassment and imprisonment, she has submitted another set of papers, this time to the Canadian embassy in Tehran in hope of obtaining refugee status. From a small, one-bedroom apartment in central Tehran, Malekzadeh trembles and blinks nervously as she describes her failed bid to run in Iran's elections. Visibly exhausted from years of run-ins with the authorities, Malekzadeh, 38, says her vocal stance on women's issues in Iran has left her with little option but to leave. "I have lost almost everything," she says. "My job, my future, everything," the medical nurse adds. "Women can't do anything in this country. The government tells us how to dress, whether we can see boys and what we can say ... I want to go to Canada where I can have freedom." The former lecturer and author with a Masters degree in medicine now spends her days reading and pleading her case for asylum. "I am not a criminal," she says, sipping tea.
Young Girl Stoned
Although the Iranian regime claims that it halted the practice of stoning, the stoning verdict of a 14 year old girl was approved and carried out by her father in city of Zahedan in Sistan-Baluchistan province. The security forces took no action to stop the killing of the young girl despite the desperate plea by her mother. The father admitted to the head of Zahedan police that he killed his daughter for her "illicit relation with a man, indecency and lack of morality". According to the father, he stoned his own daughter first and then killed her by four bullet because "he had no other choice but to defend his honor." According to Article 220 of Iran's Penal code, the father will not face any punishment for taking matters in to his own hands.
WFAFI News Service - February 18, 2008
web: http://www.wfafi.org
Podcast Interview of Ana Sami on the Iranian Resistance Movement
http://www.feistyaphrodite.com/podcast_files/MEKpodcast.mp3
You may also access the permalink here:
http://www.feistyaphrodite.com/podcasts/show/the-iranian-resistance-and-its-battle-for-human-rights
The voice podcast interview is an excellent overview of the Iranian Resistance Movement and worth every minute of your listening time for the important issues that are discussed. The interview was done by a group called Feisty Aphrodite (www.feistyaphrodite.com).
Valuable link:
About Stop Stoning Forever Campaign: http://www.meydaan.com/English/aboutus.aspx
The objective of this campaign is to change the Islamic Penal Code of Iran such that stoning will neither be issued as a sentence nor be practiced as a punishment ever again.
IRAQ
Violations of 'Islamic teachings' take deadly toll on Iraqi women
By Arwa Damon, February 8, 2008
CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/08/iraq.women/index.html)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The images in the Basra police file are nauseating: Page after page of women killed in brutal fashion -- some strangled to death, their faces disfigured; others beheaded. All bear signs of torture.
The women are killed, police say, because they failed to wear a headscarf or because they ignored other "rules" that secretive fundamentalist groups want to enforce.
"Fear, fear is always there," says 30-year-old Safana, an artist and university professor. "We don't know who to be afraid of. Maybe it's a friend or a student you teach. There is no break, no security. I don't know who to be afraid of."
Her fear is justified. Iraq's second-largest city, Basra, is a stronghold of conservative Shia groups. As many as 133 women were killed in Basra last year -- 79 for violation of "Islamic teachings" and 47 for so-called honor killings, according to IRIN, the news branch of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
One glance through the police file is enough to understand the consequences. Basra's police chief, Gen. Abdul Jalil Khalaf, flips through the file, pointing to one unsolved case after another.
"I think so far, we have been unable to tackle this problem properly," he says. "There are many motives for these crimes and parties involved in killing women, by strangling, beheading, chopping off their hands, legs, heads."
"When I came to Basra a year ago," he says, "two women were killed in front of their kids. Their blood was flowing in front of their kids, they were crying. Another woman was killed in front of her 6-year-old son, another in front of her 11-year-old child, and yet another who was pregnant."
The killers enforcing their own version of Islamic justice are rarely caught, while women live in fear.
Boldly splattered in red paint just outside the main downtown market, a chilling sign reads: "We warn against not wearing a headscarf and wearing makeup. Those who do not abide by this will be punished. God is our witness, we have notified you."
The attacks on the women of Basra have intensified since British forces withdrew to their base at the airport back in September, police say. Iraqi security forces took over after British troops pulled back, but are heavily infiltrated by militias.
And tracking the perpetrators of these crimes is nearly impossible, Khalaf says, adding that he doesn't have control of the thousands of policemen and officers.
"We're trying to trace crimes carried out by an anonymous enemy," he says.
Amnesty International has raised concern about the increasing violence toward women in Iraq, saying abductions, rapes and "honor killings" are on the rise.
"Politically active women, those who did not follow a strict dress code, and women [who are] human rights defenders were increasingly at risk of abuses, including by armed groups and religious extremists," Amnesty said in a 2007 report.
Sometimes, it's just the color of a woman's headscarf that can draw unwanted attention.
"One time, one of my female colleagues commented on the color of my headscarf," Safana says. "She said it would draw attention ... [and I should] avoid it and stick to colors like gray, brown and black."
This extremist ideology enrages many secular Muslim women, who say it's a misrepresentation of Islam.
Sawsan, another woman who works at a university, says the message from the radicals to women is simple: "They seem to be sending us a message to stay at home and keep your mouth shut."
AFGHANISTAN
Pursuit of the Past: Afghanistan?s New Law Allows Marital Rape
by Nina Somera
we! Documenting feminist visions. Creating critical communications.
Strengthening social movements.
published by Isis International (c)
-----------------------------------
We! March 2009, Issue 2: Degrees towards Destruction: Women and Climate
Justice
Days after the international condemnation on Afghanistan?s new Shia
Family Law, President Harmid Karzai ordered a review of the legislation.
The Shia Family Law effectively allows marital rape and child marriage,
a step back that is comparable to the Taliban regime. The law also
grants men easier access to divorce and child custody.
The legislation had been pending until it re-emerged and passed in
March. Critics describe the passage of the new Shia Family Law as
tactical, Karzai?s means to obtain the support of fundamentalist
warlords. Some members of the parliament are likewise counting on such
support for their political survival.
As Shinkai Karokhail, a woman member of the parliament explained, ?It is
about the votes. Karzai is in a hurry to appease the Shia because the
elctions are on the way. There are moderate views among the Shia but
unfortunately our MPs, the people who draft the laws, rely on extremists.?
Shia Muslims constitute 20 per cent of Aghanistans population. Karzai is
also unpopular in the country, having been seen as a puppet of the
United States (US) and the occupation forces. He has also installed
relatives in the government in a bid to consolidate his power. As Tariq
Ali wrote in the New Left Review, ?A quick-fix presidential contest
organised at great expense by Western PR [public relation] firms in
October 2004?just in time for the US elections?failed to bolster support
for the puppet president inside the country.?
In a response to the outrage expressed by US President Barack Obama,
United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and Canada as well as the
United Nation?s Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the UN Office of
the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR), Karzai surmised that the
law may have been wrongly translated and interpreted by English-speaking
leaders, media, and women?s rights advocates.
But for Sonali Kolhatkar of Afghan Women?s Mission thought otherwise,
insisting that Karzai knew the contents of the law. In an interview with
Al Jazeera, she said, ?I doubt this law has been misunderstood. One of
the representatives of Afghanistan?s own independent human rights
commission saw the full law and saw the president?s signature on it.?
OHCHR head Navi Pillay also asserted, ?This is another clear indication
that the human rights situation in Afghanistan is getting worse not
better,? Pillay said. ?Respect for women?s rights ? and human rights in
general ? is of paramount importance to Afghanistan?s future security
and development. This law is a huge step in the wrong direction.?
Sources:
Al Jazeera. (5 April 2009). ?Karzai to review ?abhorrent? law.? URL:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/04/200944174829557404.html
OHCHR. (2 April 2009). ?UN human rights chief says Afghan law
restricting women?s rights is reminiscent of Taliban era.? URL:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/Media.aspx
Starkey, Jerome. (31 March 2009). ?Afghan leader accused of bid to
?legalise rape.?? URL:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/afghan-leader-accused-of-bid-to-legalise-rape-1658049.html
Tariq, Ali (2008). ?Afghanistan: Mirrage of the Good War?, in the New
Left Review. URL: http://www.newleftreview.org/?page=article&view=2713/
The Canadian Press. (31 March 2009). ?New Afghan law forcing sex draws
outrage from Canada.? URL:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/03/31/afghan-family-law-women.html
ABOUT "We!"
===========
We! is the newsletter of Isis International Manila, an international NGO
servicing women's information and communication needs within and beyond
Asia and the Pacific region. We! provides the latest information on the
issues, campaigns, conferences, training opportunities, funding
possibilities and other goings-on in the women's movement. It also
provides updates on national, regional and international events
organised by NGOs, government bodies and multilateral agencies that
impact women.
We! comes out in both electronic and print editions. The electronic
edition is circulated every two weeks, and the print version as special
editions. In consideration of the limitations of print space and
time-bound nature of some of the materials, not all articles and
postings in the electronic version will be included in the monthly version.
Isis International encourages feedback and looks forward to receiving
information about your activities, issues and campaigns. Archives of we!
may be viewed at the Website: <http://www.isisinternational.org> Send
communications to communications[AT]isiswomen[DOT]org
ALERT
RAWA News, August 3, 2008
Naseer Fayyaz: Me and my family are in danger
Open letter from Naser Fayaz, ATN journalist which has been sent to
UNAMA and some other human rights organizations
This is Naser Fayaz, the ATN journalist who was illegally detained by
the Afghan intelligence agency, the NDS. I want to thank all the
national and international organizations and all the print and
electronic media outlets which fought for my release.
As you know on Monday 28 July, NDS agents briefly detained me and the
same day in the evening again I was detained by the intelligence
agency and released after one night. The detention took place due to
my investigative program Haqeeqat- the Truth which is based on facts
and truths is broadcast every Sunday at 9:30 PM on Ariana Television.
The program also reflects the current political, social and economic
issues of the country.
The 27 July program which was based on Afghan government's performance
during the last four years was pulled off the air mid-broadcast on the
demand of the intelligence agency which had called to the station.
This is against the freedom of the press and violation of the Article
34 of Afghan's Constitution.
The show was discussed at the regular council of ministers meeting on
Monday which accused me of "insulting" top government officials, and
which was followed by my detention by the in! telligence officials.
Let me assure you that there was nothing against the national interest
and everything was based on facts.
This is against the constitution because Afghan law has due process
provisions in cases where a journalist is accused of violations. It
calls for the creation of an independent investigative committee
composed of lawyers, journalists and other professionals.
As you know that several organizations known for supporting Human
rights and Freedom of Speech condemned the detention. Reporters
without border has urged the Afghan government to be clearer and more
serious in its policy towards Freedom of Speech in the country saying
it is not the responsibility of the intelligence agency to oversee
media activities in the country.
This case is not the first where journalism has been jeopardized in
Afghanistan. At several instances in the past governmental agencies
have harassed media activists in the ! country. This is the fact that
journalists and media workers in Afghanistan have come under
increasing threats and attacks by both state and non-state actors and
several journalists have been killed. The government, in particular
the NDS and the Ulema Council (council of religious scholars), have
attempted to reduce the media's independence.
Video Clip
Amnesty International in its report has said that the Afghan
government must prevent the country's intelligence agency, the NDS
from suppressing media freedom. Amnesty International says the NDS has
no right to interfere in this case and its involvement signifies an
unwarranted government intrusion on Afghanistan's media. He adds the
NDS should not become a tool for the government to intimidate its
critics. Officially the NDS only has the authority to address national
security threats.
After my detention and release from the intelligence agency, I am
feeling very scared. Only last night when I wa! s reading Dari
bulletin on our ATN channel, one of my colleagues in the station
received a call from my brother at home informing that he has been
witnessing some suspicious movements around my house. Over telephone
he said that several armed persons with big turbans and suspected
attire were moving around my residence. He told me not to go home
because it could be threat to my life. And right from that time I have
not visited my house; I am at a safer place provided by my employer
ATN.
And as you are aware of the developments in my case, the situation
what I have been going through is intimidating me. I don't feel safe
and also I am concerned about my family. I am passing through a kind
of fear right after my release. It seems any time any thing can happen
to me and my family.
Seemingly it is possible that I might be attacked when I come to
office from my home and when I go home from office. And the same case
might happen with my! family. They may be attacked at any time in my
presence or in my absence. Therefore I request you to save me and my
family members providing me and my family members with armed
protection.
Regards,
Naser Fayaz
Journalist- ATN
Kabul, Afghanistan
RAWA requests all its supporters and well-wishers of Afghan people to
defend the brave and freedom-loving journalist Naser Fayaz and
register their protest to his harassment by sending letters to the
following sources:
President Hamid Karzai
khaleeq.ahmad@gmail.com, president@afghanistangov.org
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan – UNAMA
spokesperson-unama@un.org, siddiquea@un.org
Supreme Court of Afghanistan aquddus@supremecourt.gov.af
URL for news «Naseer Fayyaz: Me and my family are in danger»
http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/08/03/naser-fayaz-me-and-my-family-are-in-danger.html
News Archive of the «Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan» (RAWA)
A Voice of Hope for Afghanistan's Women
By Frud Bezhan
April 15, 2009, The Age (Australia)
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/04/13/1239474816110.html
FOR the women of Afghanistan, it is yet another brutal
message - that death awaits those who choose a public life.
Malalai Joya believes the US and other foreign powers are
making a mockery of democracy and the liberation of Afghan
women by empowering the warlords and fundamentalists.Sitara
Achakzai - a women's rights campaigner - was gunned down in
the streets of Kandahar on Sunday.
She is among several high-profile women the Taliban have
assassinated in recent years. But it is merely the most
public example of the extreme violence women face in this
embattled country, where rape and murder are widespread.
Malalai Joya understands better than most the oppression
of Afghan women - and the danger of speaking out. The women's
rights activist and member of Afghanistan's national
parliament has lived in hiding for five years and never
spends more than 24 hours at the same house. Her only contact
with the world is by infrequent phone calls and, if there is
electricity, the internet. She sleeps, eats and breathes in
the shadow of six heavily armed bodyguards and wears a burqa
to conceal her identity.
Malalai Joya's plight - and that of the other high-profile
women - is symbolic of a country in turmoil. More than seven
years after international forces removed the Taliban from
power, Afghanistan is slipping further into violence and
lawlessness.
Read the full story: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/04/13/1239474816110.html
The Age Company Ltd.
Infidel
By Ayaan Hirsi Ali
(Free Press, NY, 2007)
"In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of The Caged Virgin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalis, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West.
"One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist's murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie Submission."
The Caged Virgin, An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam
By Ayaan Hirsi Ali
(Free Press, NY, 2006)
"Muslims who explore sources of morality other than Islam are threatened with death, and Muslim women who escape the virgins' cage are branded whores. So asserts Ayaan Hirsi Ali's profound meditation on Islam and the role of women, the rights of the individual, the roots of fanaticism, and Western policies toward Islamic countries and immigrant communities. Hard-hitting, outspoken, and controversial, The Caged Virgin is a call to arms for the emancipation of women from a brutal religious and cultural oppression and from an outdated cult of virginity. It is a defiant call for clear thinking and for an Islamic Enlightenment. But it is also the courageous story of how Hirsi Ali herself fought back against everyone who tried to force her to submit to a traditional Muslim woman's life and how she became a voice of reform.
"Born in Somalia and raised Muslim, but outraged by her religion's hostility toward women, Hirsi Ali escaped an arranged marriage to a distant relative and fled to the Netherlands. There, she learned Dutch, worked as an interpreter in abortion clinics and shelters for battered women, earned a college degree, and started a career in politics as a Dutch parliamentarian. In November 2004, the violent murder on an Amsterdam street of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, with whom Hirsi Ali had written a film about women and Islam called Submission, changed her life. Threated by the same group that slew van Gogh, Hirsi Ali now has round-the-clock protection, but has not allowed these circumstances to compromise her fierce criticism of the treatment of Muslim women, of Islamic governments' attempts to silence any questioning of their traditions, and of Western governments' blind tolerance of practices such as genital mutilation and forced marriages of female minors occurring in their countries."
Zoya's Story, An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom
By Zoya with John Follain and Rita Cristofari
(HarperCollins Publishers, NY: 2002)
Dedication: "To the women of Afghanistan, the victims of inhuman suffering inflicted by fundamentalism"
Excellent and inspiring -- a moving account.
With All Our Strength: The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
By Anne E. Brodsky
With a foreword from RAWA
With All Our Strength chronicles the history of RAWA and their battle for women's rights in Afghanistan. Through interviews with more than 100 members and supporters of RAWA, Brodsky reveals the principles behind their enormous success. With All Our Strength tells how RAWA's innovative structure and strong spirit of community have allowed this remarkable organization to survive. With All Our Strength is an ode to the resilience of Afghan women and a model for all human rights organizations. As RAWA says in their foreword, "This is the only book that uses firsthand experiences to accurately portray Afghan women not as silent victims under the burqas but warriors who have bravely resisted all oppressive regimes and have changed their lives and the lives of many others."
Arundhati Roy writes:
"Anne Brodsky's book gives us a ring side view of this extraordinary women's movement that is as doggedly committed to democracy as it is to dreaming of another, better world. Each of us needs a little RAWA."
Katha Pollit says:
"Anne Brodsky goes behind the headlines to look closely at a unique organization that according to popular stereotypes of Afghan women should not exist."
Ahmed Rashid calls it "A powerful story."
With All Our Strength is available in bookstores throughout the U.S., through a link on RAWA's website, from Amazon.com, and in English language bookstores throughout the world.
All author proceeds go directly to RAWA
==============================================
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
Mailing Address: RAWA, P.O.Box 374, Quetta, Pakistan
Mobile: 0092-300-8551638
Fax: 001-760-2819855
E-mail: rawa@rawa.org
Home Page: http://www.rawa.org
Mirror site: http://rawa.fancymarketing.net
Routledge, NY, 2003
Veiled Courage: Inside the Afghan Women's Resistance
By Cheryl Benard
The story of RAWA with interviews of these dedicated women and their supporters. We hear the voices of women who for decades have resisted oppression and worked for the liberation of the Afghan people.
Random House, NY, 2002
Meena, Heroine of Afghanistan, The Martyr Who Founded RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
By Melody Ermachild Chavis
With a foreword by Alice Walker
A moving and fascinating account of the founder of RAWA.
All of the author's proceeds from this book will be donated to programs sponsored by RAWA.
St. Martin's Griffin, New York, 2003
Women for Afghan Women
Edited by Sunita Mehta
Contributor chapters by Murwarid Abdiani, Mikele Aboitiz, Rina Amiri, Sara Amiryar, Freshta Amirzada, Fevziye Rahzogar Barlas, Zohra Yusuf Faoud, Atia Gaheez, Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald, Riffat Hassan, Felicity Hill, Esther Hyneman, Angela E. V. King, Andrea Labis, Arline J. Lederman, Irena Lieberman, Homaira Mamoor, Weeda Mansoor, Sunita Mehta, Ruth Messinger, Sanaa Nadim, Fariba Nawa, Lina Pallotta, Zohra Rasekh, Eleanor Smeal, Gloria Steinem, Masuda Sultan, Fahima Vorgetts, Sima Wali, and Batya Swift Yasgur.
Palgrave Macmillan, NY, 2002
The Storyteller's Daughter, One Woman's Return to Her Lost Homeland
By Saira Shah
Saira Shah lives in London and is a freelance journalist. She was born in Britain of an Afghan family, the daughter of Idries Shah, a writer of Sufi fables. She first visited Afghanistan at age twenty-one and worked there for three years as a freelance journalist, covering the guerilla war against the Soviet occupiers. Later, working for Britain's Channel 4 News, she covered some of the world's most troubled spots, including Algeria, Kosovo, and Kinshasa, as well as Baghdad and other parts of the Middle East. Her documentary Beneath the Veil was broadcast on CNN.
Random House, Inc., NY, 2003
Websites
http://www.meydaan.com/English/wwarchive.aspx
The objective of this campaign is to change the Islamic Penal Code of Iran such that stoning will neither be issued as a sentence nor be practiced as a punishment ever again.
Arab Women's Court: http://www.arabwomencourt.org/
The Permanent Arab Court To Resist Violence Against Women is a symbolic popular court that aims at fighting all forms of violence practiced against women in Arab societies.
National Council of Women - Egypt: http://www.ncw.gov.eg/new-ncw/english/index.jsp
NCW aims to enhance the status of all Egyptian women and to maximize their contribution to the growth and development of Egypt. The focus is on narrowing existing socio-economic gender gaps and addressing women's strategic needs including social, economic and political empowerment.
Iran:
Women's Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran
E-ZAN VOICE OF WOMEN AGAINST FUNDAMENTALISM IN IRAN
Women's Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran is committed to promote a greater awareness of the challenges women face living under the fundamentalist regimes like Iran. Our tasks ranges from raising public awareness, conducting research projects, initiating outreach programs, to policy discussions and analysis. We firmly believe the political presence, participation and leadership of women are the essential elements in achieving social, political and economic equality. We are a group of individuals concerned with the growing threat of fundamentalism worldwide. We submit to the definition of fundamentalism explained in the comparative study of religions, as embodiment of backwardness in its host cultures or religion .Our primary area of focus is the Islamic Fundamentalism in Iran, established as a form of government in 1979. For more information, please visit http://www.wfafi.org
National Committee of Women for a Democratic Iran
The National Committee of Women for a Democratic Iran is a non-profit organization advocating since 1990 on behalf of women's rights in Iran. NCWDI was formed to fill the vacuum of a women's organization devoted specifically to monitoring and promoting women's rights in Iran. Our tasks range from accurate reporting, to public appearances, to engaging in discussion and exchange with relevant authoritative bodies.
Afghanistan:
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
"RAWA was established in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1977 as an independent political/social organization of Afghan women fighting for human rights and for social justice in Afghanistan. The founders were a number of Afghan woman intellectuals under the sagacious leadership of Meena who in 1987 was assassinated in Quetta, Pakistan, by Afghan agents of the then KGB in connivance with fundamentalist band of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. RAWA's objective was to involve an increasing number of Afghan women in social and political activities aimed at acquiring women's human rights and contributing to the struggle for the establishment of a government based on democratic and secular values in Afghanistan. Despite the suffocating political atmosphere, RAWA very soon became involved in widespread activities in different socio-political arenas including education, health and income generation as well as political
Iraq:
Organisation for Women's Freedom in Iraq / Equality in Iraq
Organisation for Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) - a women's a women's political organisation working in Iraq, advocating Iraqi women's rights and setting up women's shelters etc. Publishes a regular newsletter. http://www.equalityiniraq.com/
1940 Calvert Street, NW
Washinton, DC 20009-1502
phone: 202-265-6707
email: allen [at] wifp.org
www.wifp.org