Iraq War Blogswarm - The War on Women in Iraq

On March 12th 2004, George and Laura Bush gave a press conference regarding "Efforts to Globally Promote Women's Human Rights" at the White House. President Bush used this opportunity to comment upon the rights of women across the globe and, particularly, in the Middle East. During the press conference, President Bush said the following about the position of women in post-Saddam Iraq:

Iraq has a different history, and yet a different set of challenges. Only one year ago -- only one year after being liberated from an incredibly ruthless person and a ruthless regime, Iraqi women are playing an essential part in rebuilding the nation. They're part of the future of the country.

Every woman in Iraq is better off because the rape rooms and torture chambers of Saddam Hussein are forever closed. He is a barbaric person. He violated people in such a brutal way that some never thought that the spirit of Iraq could arise again. We never felt that way here in this administration. We felt that people innately love freedom and if just given a chance, if given an opportunity, they will rise to the challenge.

Three women now serve on the Iraqi Governing Council -- you just heard me praise one. The historic document that was written recently guarantees the basic rights of all Iraqis, men and women, including freedoms of worship, expression and association. The document protects unions and political parties and outlaws discrimination based on gender, ethnic class and religion. It's an amazing document that's been written.


Certainly, no-one would deny the brutality of Saddam's regime and its scant regard for the most basic human rights. However, there still remains the question of gender equality in Iraq and Bush's claims about the improvement and the protections that have been put in place for women in Iraq. Before examining the present situation for women in Iraq, it is worth examining the situation of women in Iraq before the invasion.

Life Before Invasion

In 1970, the Iraqi government enacted the Iraqi Provisional Constitution which formally guaranteed equal rights to women and enshrined the rights to vote, own property and run for political office (unless indicated via hyperlinks, all information comes from Human Rights Watch). Women in Iraq had, in actual fact, been the envy of women across the Middle East thanks to the rights that were protected by the constitution. Furthermore, unlike many Arab neighbours, the government passed a compulsory education law mandating that both sexes attend school through the primary level. Laws were also passed that ensured the protection of women within the workplace and guaranteed maternity rights as well as alterations to the divorce proceedings. When Saddam came to power in 1979, many of these laws were consolidated. In 1980, women attained the right to run for office and, in 1986, Iraq became of the first countries to ratify the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Furthermore, as a result of the national literacy campaign, approximately 75% of Iraqi women were literate, a figure favourable compared to other staes in the region. However, these improvements in gender equality diminished shortly after the first Gulf war.

After Saddam's defeat at the hands of the first Bush government, and with his grip on power weakening, attempts were made to consolidate power by seeking to attract the support of Islamic groups within the country. This courting of traditional Islamic groups within Iraq subsequently saw a marked decline in women's rights within Iraq. Many of the advancements that were made after the Iraqi Provisional Constitution, were rolled back. After massive legislative changes affecting the rights of women, the UN reported that an estimated 4,000 women and girls had been the victims of "honor killings" and, due to legislation passed in 1990, men were immune from prosecution for such killings. So, after initial progressive measures by the Ba'ath party, the situation did indeed begin to deteriorate. But has the situation really improved in Iraq after the invasion by 'coalition forces' in 2003?

Two Steps Back

The first opportunity that the 'coalition' had to distance the 'new' Iraq from the final years of the Saddam regime, was the introduction of a new constitution. This constitution was hailed as a breakthrough for equality across Iraqi society. Sadly, like much of the advances that the coalition claimed, this was nothing more than a fraud. When the constituion was hanging by a thread in 2005, the American government chose to back down over their opposition to an Islamic state and supported a group of relious conservatives who sought to destroy the talks unless Islam was the primary source of law. The American government, through it's ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, proposed that Islam be named a primary source and supported a wording which would give clerics authority in civil matters such as divorce, marriage and inheritance. As a result of these developments, "dozens of women gathered in central Baghdad to protest against what the organiser, Yanar Mohammad, feared would be a 'fascist, nationalist and Islamist' constitution. 'We are fighting to avoid becoming second class citizens,' she said'. The constitution effectively imposed religious restrictions on women's rights and individual rights, which gave the document a decidedly conservative bent on personal and social matters. Despite it's high ideals for the people of Iraq, the American government had failed the Iraqi women who longed for a progressive Iraqi society. In fact, life has become increasingly dangerous for women in Iraq.

Women Burnt to Death

Peter Beaumont, of The Observer, recently exposed the reality of life in Iraq for the majority of women:

Iraqis do not like to talk about it much, but there is an understanding of what is going on these days. If a young woman is abducted and murdered without a ransom demand, she has been kidnapped to be raped. Even those raped and released are not necessarily safe: the response of some families to finding that a woman has been raped has been to kill her.

Iraq's women are living with a fear that is increasing in line with the numbers dying violently every month. They die for being a member of the wrong sect and for helping their fellow women. They die for doing jobs that the militants have decreed that they cannot do: for working in hospitals and ministries and universities. They are murdered, too, because they are the softest targets for Iraq's criminal gangs.

Iraq's women live in terror of speaking their opinions; of going out to work; or defying the strict new prohibitions on dress and behaviour applied across Iraq by Islamist militants, both Sunni and Shia. They live in fear of their husbands, too, as women's rights have been undermined by the country's postwar constitution that has taken power from the family courts and given it to clerics.

He adds:

After a month-long investigation, The Observer has established that in almost every major area of human rights, women are being seriously discriminated against, in some cases seeing their conditions return to those of females in the Middle Ages. In areas such as the Shia militia stronghold of Sadr City in east Baghdad, women have been beaten for not wearing socks. Even the headscarf and juba - the ankle-length, flared coat that buttons to the collar - are not enough for the zealots. Some women have been threatened with death unless they wear the full abbaya, the black, all-encompassing veil.

Similar reports are emerging from Mosul, where it is Sunni extremists who are laying down the law, and Kirkuk. Women from Karbala, Hilla, Basra and Nassariyah have all told The Observer similar stories. Of the insidious spread of militia and religious party control - and how members of those same groups are, paradoxically, increasingly responsible for the rape and murder of women outside their sects and communities.

There have also been reports of women being burnt to death as punishment for adultery or other offences relating to marriage. From The Guardian:

They lie in the Sulaimaniyah hospital morgue in Iraqi Kurdistan, set out on white-tiled slabs. A few have been shot or strangled, some beaten to death, but most have been burned. One girl, a lock of hair falling across her half-closed eyes, could almost be on the point of falling asleep. Burns have stretched the skin on another young woman's face into a fixed look of surprise.
These women are not casualties of battle. In fact, the cause of death is generally recorded as "accidental", although their bodies often lie unclaimed by their families.

"It is getting worse, especially the burnings," says Khanim Rahim Latif, the manager of Asuda, an Iraqi organisation based in Kurdistan that works to combat violence against women. "Just here in Sulaimaniyah, there were 400 cases of the burning of women last year." Lack of electricity means that every house has a plentiful supply of oil, and she accepts that some cases may be accidents. But the nature and scale of the injuries suggest that most were deliberate, she says, handing me the morgue photographs of one young woman after another. Many of the bodies bear the unmistakable signs of having been subjected to intense heat.

"In many cases the woman is accused of adultery, or of a relationship before she is married, or the marriage is not sanctioned by the family," Khanim says. Her husband, brother or another relative will kill her to restore their "honour". "If he is poor the man might be arrested; if he is important, he won't be. And in most cases, it is hidden. The body might be dumped miles away and when it is found the family says, 'We don't have a daughter.'" In other cases, disputes over such murders are resolved between families or tribes by the payment of a forfeit, or the gift of another woman. "The authorities say such agreements are necessary for social stability, to prevent revenge killings," says Khanim.

In October the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (Unami) expressed serious concern over the rising incidence of so-called honour crimes in Iraqi Kurdistan, confirming that 255 women had been killed in just the first six months of 2007, three-quarters of them by burning. An earlier Unami report cited 366 burns cases in Dohuk in 2006, up from 289 the year before, although most were not fatal. In Irbil, the emergency management centre had reported 576 burns cases since 2003, resulting in 358 deaths.

In fact, since the invasion in 2003, honour killings have increased year upon year.

Iraqi Women Feel Threatened

Women for Women recently published their report entitled 'Stronger Women, Stronger Nations: 2008 Iraq Report'. Their survey of women in Iraq produced some interesting results:

Hope for the Future

• 85.0% of respondents described the situation in Iraq as bad or very bad, and 88.8% expressed a great deal of concern that they or someone living in their households would become a victim of violence.
• Only 26.9% of respondents expressed optimism for the future, saying they thought the overall situation would get better in the year ahead. While there continue to be pockets of optimism throughout the country, and the overall situation may be on a slow ascent, the situation remains volatile, and the long-term sustainability of any improvements still remains to be seen.

Security
• 71.2% of respondents said they do not feel protected by U.S./U.K. soldiers and 65.3% of
respondents said that, overall, the presence of U.S./U.K. security forces in Iraq is
making security in the country worse.
• 67.9% of respondents stated that their ability to walk down the street as they please has gotten worse since the U.S. invasion.

Violence Against Women
• 63.9% of respondents stated that violence against women is increasing. When asked why,
respondents most commonly said that there is less respect for women’s rights than before,
that women are thought of as possessions, and that the economy has gotten worse.

Economy and Infrastructure
• 68.3% of respondents describe the availability of jobs as bad and 70.5% said that their families are unable to earn enough money to pay for daily necessities.

Social Services
• 76.2% of respondents said that girls in their families are not allowed to attend school, and 56.7% said that girls’ ability to attend school has gotten worse since the U.S. invasion.

Political Participation
• 70.2% of respondents thought that the citizens of Iraq have not been given a chance to contribute their input on the future of Iraq, and 52.0% did not know if Iraqis had the right to participate in the political process.
• 43.6% of respondents did not think that the circumstances of women were being considered by those making decisions about Iraq’s future. However, in the Central Iraq cities of Fallujah, Samarra and Rawa, the number jumps to 75.1% of respondents saying they did not think women’s circumstances were being considered.
• 72.7% of respondents said that in the future there should be one unified Iraq with a central government in Baghdad, and 88.6% of women thought that the separation of people along ethnic/religious/sectarian lines was a bad thing. However, only 32.3% of respondents thought there would in fact be one unified Iraq with a central government in Baghdad in five years. This is another indication that women do not feel as though their opinions are being considered in decisions about their country’s future.


Compare this to the recent poll conducted by the BBC. Despite the above statistics, a poll recently conducted by the BBC (alongside other media outlets) proudly proclaimed that Poll suggests Iraqis 'optimistic'. The evidence for this perceived optimism? According to the poll, 62% of those polled claimed that security in the local area is good. This contrasts starkly with the findings of the report published by Women for Women. And yet, in the run-up to the anniversary of the disastrous invasion, the BBC sees fit to put a positive spin on the situation in Iraq. This should really come as no surprise given the situation the BBC has found itself in post-Hutton. The government has clearly put the BBC back in its place and the organisation is playing the role of government propagandist.

Government Complicit in Abuses

The Iraqi government, alongside coalition forces, has also played a massive role in endangering women in Iraq. Prime Minister al-Maliki’s response to one twenty year old woman’s allegations of rape by Iraqi Special Forces, underlines the lack of respect shown for women in this new Iraq. After initially calling for an investigation into the allegations, Maliki’s government reversed its position, labelling the woman a liar and wanted criminal and stating it would instead “reward” the officers involved. Maliki accused the woman of fabricating the rape in order to undermine the ‘security sweep’ in Baghdad. He then released her name (which gave away her religious identity - Sunni), which had profound implications for her given that the Iraqi police force is dominated by Shiites. In behaving in such an irresponsible manner, Maliki showed that this new government was not concerned with women’s rights and that, although the ‘rape rooms’ no longer officially existed, sexual assault was still part of the make-up of Iraq. So much so, that a US State Department assessment conducted during 2005 and 2006, found that brutality was “rampant in Iraq's police force, with abuses including the rape of female prisoners”. The report added:

“…female detainees are often sexually assaulted. According to the documents, the commander of a detention centre in the Karkh neighborhood of the capital raped a woman who was an alleged insurgent in August. That same month, two lieutenants tortured and raped two other female detainees.”

[article here: http://tiny.cc/Z4yzA – source is subscription only but referred to here: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0607/09/le.01.html]

And yet, Bush claims that women in Iraq are better off than ever before. Can you see the difference?

A Better Iraq?

So, here we are, five years on from the illegal invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation. An invasion that was supposed to bring greater freedom and a new sense of equality for women in Iraq and what have we now? A situation far more dangerous than people previously imagined. Women are being persecuted and murdered as a matter of course. In a country where women were equal partners in Iraqi society, now they are treated as second class citizens. Over 60% of Iraqi women feel that violence against them is increasing and, with increasing numbers of women burnt to death or victims of honour killing, it is not hard to see why. It is hard to see how anyone can seriously claim that women are better off in Iraq after the invasion of 2003. Clearly they are not. And they are not alone in Iraq. Homosexual men and women have also seen increased persecution in Iraq since the fall of Saddam.

The United Nations has recently taken the opportunity to remind the Iraqi government and the United States of their obligations regarding the persecution of women in Iraq. In particular, the report points out the rise in women being burnt to death as well as the increase in female circumcision, particularly in areas of Kurdistan. After five years of occupation, it seems hard to believe that such practices are continuing when promises of increased gender equlaity were being made in the run-up to the invasion.

There is no doubt that women in Iraq have seen a massive assault on their liberty and freedom over the last five years. Violence and oppression have become regular features of their continued struggle in Iraq. There are many other disturbing consequences of the illegal invasion in 2003, the Iraq Oil Law to name but one, but there is a real danger that the plight of women in Iraq will be forgotten in amongst the propaganda from the 'coalition'. They may talk of the massive improvements for women in Iraq, the reality is quite different.

For more information see the following:

MADRE - Sister organisation to The Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq

Act Together - A group of UK-based Iraqi and non-Iraqi women. Formed in 2000 to campaign against the economic sanctions on Iraq and, since late 2001, also campaigned against the US/US invasion of Iraq. Focus is on the occupation and the support of independent grassroots women’s initiatives in Iraq.

WAFDI - The Women's Alliance for a Democratic Iraq - an international non-partisan and not-for-profit women's rights organization.

Read other Blogswarm posts on the anniversary of the Iraq War via March 19 Iraq War Blogswarm

Rice Apologises For Conduct of US Forces in Japan

Remember when the Bush administration claimed that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were down to few individuals? That this wasn't part of a wider problem within the US army? Well, think on.....

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, apologised yesterday for a string of crimes involving American troops based in Japan, amid warnings that failure to improve discipline risked damaging relations between Washington and one of its closest allies.

Resentment towards the US military presence erupted this month following the arrest of a marine for the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl on the island of Okinawa, home to more than half of the 50,000 US troops in Japan.

Since then, US soldiers on the island have been arrested for trespassing and drink driving, and another is being questioned about the alleged rape of a Filipino woman in a hotel room.

The rape allegation has echoes of the 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US servicemen, which brought 85,000 people on to the streets in protest and international attention to the US base.

When a government figuratively rapes whole nations, is it really a surprise when it's people do it literally?

Mike Huckabee - Woman Hater

Scary stuff from The Guardian a couple of days back. Turns out one of the frontrunners is a bit of a woman hater:

Staunchly opposed to abortion (which he has compared to the Holocaust), one of Huckabee's first acts as governor was to block Medicaid, the health scheme for people on low incomes, from funding an abortion for a 15-year-old with learning disabilities who had been raped by her stepfather. This went directly against federal law, which requires states to fund abortions in cases of rape.

As the article rightly claims, this could be 'one of the most terrifying presidential candidates in memory', and he is up against some pretty stiff competition.

Abortion in Nicaragua - A Warning

With the election of Daniel Ortega, there was much to be positive about the future of Nicaragua. At last, there was a leader that responded to the needs of the poor, rather than pandering to the rich, American loving elites. Certainly there have been encouraging developments since his election, in part due to the development of close ties with Chavez, Morales et al. However, not everything is rosy in Nicaragua. Last November it became a crime for a woman to have an abortion, even if her own life was at risk. Since the law was passed, nearly 100 women have died. Rory Carroll has written a heart-breaking account in The Guardian of the fight to have the law changed in Nicaragua. Here's an extract:

María de Jesús González was a practical woman. A very poor single mother, the 28-year-old's home was a shack on a mountain near the town of Ocotal in Nicaragua. She made the best of it. The shack was spotless, the children scrubbed. She earned money by washing clothes in the river and making and selling tortillas.

That was not quite enough to feed her four young children and her elderly mother, so every few months González caught a bus to Managua, the capital, and slaved for a week washing and ironing clothes. The pay was three times better, about £2.60 a day, and by staying with two aunts she cut her costs. She would return to her hamlet with a little nest-egg in her purse. She bought herself one treat - a pair of red shoes - but she would leave them with her family in Managua, as they were no good on the mountain trails she had to go up to get home.


During a visit to Managua in February she felt unwell and visited a hospital. The news was devastating. She was pregnant - and it was ectopic, meaning the foetus was growing outside the womb and not viable. The longer González remained pregnant, the greater the risk of rupture, haemorrhaging and death.

What González did next was - when you understand what life in Nicaragua is like these days - utterly rational. She walked out of the hospital, past the obstetrics and gynaecological ward, past the clinics and pharmacies lining the avenues, packed her bag, kissed her aunts goodbye, and caught a bus back to her village. She summoned two neighbouring women - traditional healers - and requested that they terminate the pregnancy in her shack. Without anaesthetic or proper instruments it was more akin to mutilation than surgery, but González insisted. The haemhorraging was intense, and the agony can only be imagined. It was in vain. Maria died. "We heard there was a lot of blood, a lot of pain," says Esperanza Zeledon, 52, one of the Managua aunts.

This is just one example of the butchery that has emerged in Nicaragua since the passing of this law. A further 81 women were victim to similar circumstances as Maria. If nothing else, these heart-breaking stories emphasise the consequences of any action to take away the right to abortion. It is a right that is worth protecting.

Women in Zimbabwe Facing Increasing Repression

Zimbabwe: Women at the forefront of challenging government policy face increasing repression

Zimbabwean women are suffering increasing repression as they mobilize to confront the government in the face of a spiralling economic and social rights crisis in Zimbabwe, according to a new report released today by Amnesty International.

In the report, the organization released the findings of a three-week research mission during which Amnesty International's delegates interviewed scores of women of all ages throughout Zimbabwe, from both townships and rural areas.

"The Zimbabwean government needs to address the underlying economic and social problems that are motivating women to protest -- rather than attacking them and criminalising their legitimate activities in defence of human rights," said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

While in Zimbabwe, Amnesty International spoke to women activists who make up the majority of the hundreds of Zimbabwean human rights defenders who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained for engaging in peaceful protest marches or meetings in the last two years. Delegates spoke to many women who became human rights defenders following repeated violations of their rights by the Zimbabwean government.

Most women interviewed by Amnesty International reported being subjected to beatings and other ill-treatment while in police custody, in some cases amounting to torture. Much of the abuse has included sexist verbal abuse and derogatory accusations aimed at discrediting their character and work. Some have been detained with their children or while pregnant in deplorable conditions falling far below international human rights standards.

"Zimbabwean women have demonstrated incredible resilience, bravery and determination in the face of increasing government repression. They are aware of the dangers they face but refuse to be intimidated into submission," said Irene Khan.

Women activists told Amnesty International that police often accuse them of being used by the British and American governments to overthrow the Zimbabwean government and of being agents of regime change. This is often followed by random beatings, with some women suffering serious injuries, including broken limbs.

"The Zimbabwean government is not only making false accusations against women activists, it is also failing to acknowledge its role in creating the desperate situation in which these women find themselves," said Irene Khan. "One way in which the government is doing this is by trying to deny a direct causal relationship between its policies and the deepening poverty and spiralling human rights crisis in the country."

Clara, a 60-year-old widow in Masvingo province, is a member of the Women's Coalition -- a national women's human rights organization. In 2003, Clara spoke out against discrimination against perceived supporters of opposition parties in food aid distribution in her village at a community meeting. She was accused by local ruling party officials of being a member of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). To this day, Clara is still not allowed to buy Grain Marketing Board (GMB) maize.

"Women in Zimbabwe are demanding respect and protection for their own human rights and the rights of members of their communities -- often in the face of severe repression, including arbitrary arrest and torture," said Irene Khan.

"The treatment of women human rights activists while in custody has had dire consequences for the women and their families -- particularly for the children left behind without care."

Women from both rural and urban areas in Zimbabwe are finding it increasingly difficult to buy food, pay for medical care and earn a living to support their families. The majority of those affected by the government's clampdown on the informal business sector in 2005 are poor women.

Amnesty International delegates witnessed the desperation caused by daily increases of prices of basic goods such as food and transport, while most people's wages remained static. In every location visited by the organization, women were desperately trying to sell their goods, while at the same time trying to avoid being arrested and having their goods confiscated by police.

Many women human rights defenders are not allowed to buy maize from the GMB simply because they belong to human rights organizations or speak out against discrimination or other violations in their communities -- in violation of their right to adequate food.

"Heads of state in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) need to redouble their efforts to end human rights violations in Zimbabwe," said Irene Khan. "At their next summit meeting in Zambia in August 2007, SADC leaders should insist that President Mugabe immediately stop the intimidation, ill-treatment, torture and harassment of critics of government policies."

"Women activists are an important resource for the development of Zimbabwe and must be seen as such by the government. They play a pivotal role in addressing the many human rights challenges the country is facing. The government must acknowledge the legitimacy of their work and stamp out any discrimination against women."

Note to editors:


Amnesty International delegates made several requests for meetings with government officials to discuss their concerns -- both in person and in writing -- but were refused an interview on all occasions.

To see a copy of the full report, Zimbabwe: Between a rock and a hard place - women human rights defenders at risk, please go to: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engafr460172007


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The Enemy Within

Once more, religious extremists are attacking our liberties.

A senior Vatican cardinal said yesterday that Catholics should stop donating to human rights group Amnesty International because of its new policy advocating abortion rights for women if they had been raped, were a victim of incest or faced health risks.

Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, accused Amnesty of turning its back on its mission to defend human rights.

There have been increasing moves by Christian zealots to undermine our liberties, aided by the anti-Islamic covering fire provided by the right. While the general public are distracted by the repeated attacks on Islam, the Christian church steps ever closer towards fundamentalism. In recent months they have even threatened elected officials in their attempts to force politicians to criminalise abortion. And while these zealots continue to threaten our democracy, how does the right respond? With a noticeable silence. Perhaps our liberties and democracy aren't that important after all.

Pakistan - Media Crack Down

Normally, I wouldn't post a comment from an earlier thread, but I think this comment demands it:

Instead of strenghtening the content and quality of Pakistan's newly established news channels, the government instructed cable tv operators since 31 May not to carry those covering events it considers "unfavourable".

Just a fornight after threatening attacks on Aaj TV, three senior journalists - two working for Agence France Press and one for Associated Press - have received envelopes containing gun bullets as clear death threats on 29 May in Karachi. This happens just four days after a council of ethnic extremists openly declared putting those journalists on a 'black list'. There is a constant climate of coercion against all norms of civility at the hand of some ethnic extremists. One after another, the judiciary, the local media and now even those working for international media are being meted out blatant intimidation.

The Media Retribution Council of pro-MQM elders has issued list of ‘chauvinist’ journalists complaining that such elements expose the wrongdoings without being intimidated. http://tinyurl.com/343qeg

Threatening media personnel is not an aberration for MQM. http://tinyurl.com/343qeg

It is a persistence posture of intimidation evident for the past five years that MQM is a coalition partner in Sind province and at the centre.

A number of senior MQM leaders continue to enjoy freedom in the world's capital for independent media, but they haven't learnt the significance and value of empowering the middle-cleass and the down-trodden with free expression. On the contrary they have launched a campaign to silence and punish those who have the ability to raise voice on behalf of the voiceless. MQM claims that it champions "moderation" in Pakistan. MQM has 42 MPAs in the Provincial Assembly of Sindh and 07 Provincial Ministers and 8 Advisors in the Province of Sindh. Why then the country's educationally and professionally enlightened and most moderate legal personnel have fallen totally out of line with them? Was it really necessary to harass the Karachi's lawyer community?

Maltreatment of female journalists

All boundaries of civility were trampled when a female reporter of Daily Times was held on the roadside on gun-point not far away from a police patrol. http://www.teeth.com.pk/blog/2007/05/14/a-tt-to-my-head-a-press-pass-in-my-pocket/#comments

The Urooj Zia episode is a telling evidence of what kind of treatment is meted out to eduated female professionals by groups claiming to be the vanguard of moderation!

It also speaks of the attitude accorded to journalists even when they happen to pass by a street. The fact that a gun was placed on Urooj Zia's head speaks for itself the sanctity of a peaceful citizen disregarded and disgraced. What adds salt to the injury is the indifferent, unhelpful and rather shameful attitude of those expected to enforce law and order and provide all possible protection to law abiding citizens.

* Some weeks earlier, worrisome reports surfaced how women representatives are manhandled by MQM thugs in local assembly sessions:http://karachi.metblogs.com/archives/2007/04/the_language_of_1.phtml

Media activists should demand from MQM how much it has has helped Pakistan move towards pluralistic, tolerant and accomodative polity?

In addition to the timely notice by the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), International Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders too has voiced serious concerns over threats issued to Pakistani reporters covering the causes and consequences of the 12 May tragedy in Karachi.

The International Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders have voiced serious concerns over threats issued to Pakistani reporters covering the causes and consequences of the 12 May tragedy in Karachi. See related links below:
http://www.neurope.eu/view_news.php?id=73934
http://www.ifex.org/eng/layout/set/print/layout/set/print/content/view/full/83610
http://www.pfuj.info/contants/news/morenews25.htmhttp://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=57432
http://www.teeth.com.pk/blog/2007/05/25/mqm-threatens-20-journalists
http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?p=27187
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?179108

In effect, a free hand was given to mobs to mercilessly quell moderate lawyers and quashing enlightened journalists who were covering the events. There are sad indications that irreparable blows have been inflicted on key components of the civil society in Pakistan that mostly comprise of, represent and cater to vastly moderate elements of Pakistan’s society:

Was it really necessary to harass and intimidate the Karachi's lawyer community?

In fact, Altaf Hussain's policies and actions are a disservice to Western efforts to promote moderation in Pakistan. Why then Altaf Hussain has launched a confrontation with the country's educationally and professionally enlighted and most moderate legal personnel?

While Musharraf claims to be in coalition with forces of moderation but in deeds it is open collision with the country's civic actors, judiciary and the media.

* This section was added later as the comment was incomplete and the author was kind enough to email the whole message through to me again.

17 Year Old Girl Stoned to Death in Iraqi Kurdistan

Doa was stoned to death in the centre of the town of Bashiqa, Iraqi Kurdistan, in front of hundreds of people and the authorities did not prevent this crime from happening. On the contrary, they were present and paving the way for this horrific crime to be carried out.

Doa was a 17 year old girl from a family of Yazidi faith; she was snatched from her house by some Yazidi men who discovered that she was in love with a Muslim Arab man and had visited him. They stoned her to death in public on 7th April 2007 in the town of Bashiqa.

It is known that women in Kurdistan and Iraq are oppressed. The few rights they do have are very limited and in most cases they are treated as sub-humans.

Killings, suicide, and violence against women are an every day occurrence in this region. Although a crime of this nature is very new to Kurdistan, this is an indication that such crimes against women are now tolerated. Doa’s killers are still free.

The government’s failure to protect women, and enforce laws against criminals, has created a situation where thousands of women become victims of so called “honour killings”. Violence has risen as result of patriarchal and religious traditions.

We strongly condemn this barbaric act, and call upon all human rights and women’s rights organisations, political parties, and activists in Kurdistan and globally to condemn this crime.

In the 21st century, for such crimes to be carried out in broad daylight is not only a shame on society as whole, but most of all, it is a shame on a government that is unable to protect women from such inhumane and backward practices. The stoning of Doa sets a dangerous precedent for more women to become victims of stoning.

We hold the Kurdistan Regional Government responsible for the lives and protection of women in this region, and we believe that the brutalisation and victimisation of women must come to an end.

We the undersigned therefore demand:

That the Kurdistan Regional Government brings the killers to justice and punishes them.

The Kurdistan regional Government should set laws against terror, killings and oppression of women, and punish criminals.

To avoid this barbaric crime from becoming a norm and a practice in Kurdish society, the Kurdistan Regional Government should criminalise stoning to death.

The initiators of this campaign are:

Houzan Mahmoud: Representative abroad of Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq and campaign coordinator

Raga Rauf: Writer and women’s rights activist and campaign coordinator

Samera Mohammed: Editor of Rasan women’s newspaper in KurdistanYanar Mohammed: President Of Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq

Aram Ali: Coordinator of the Kurdish website

Baker Ahmad: Writer and poet

Dler Colnadar: member of executive board of CHAK organisation

Omar Faris: coordinator of a Kurdish website

Dina Nammi: International Campaign against Honour Killings

Amal Almas: (Iraqi Women’s League) Gothenburg -Sweden

Federation of Workers councils and unions in Iraq/ Kurdistan representative

Chro Sabir: Director of Rasan women’s organisation in Kurdistan

Hana Shwan: Journalist and women’s rights activist in Kurdistan

Hamza Abd: The Iraqi Cultural House in Gothenburg-Sweden

To join this campaign or to show your support pleases contact: Campaign Coordinators: Houzan Mahmoud and Rega Rauf.

To sign this petition, Click here.

Hat-tip to Renegade Eye and Anglofille.

USA: Authorities fail to protect Indigenous women from shocking rates of rape

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International

24 April 2007

Washington, D.C.) – Native American and Alaska Native women in the United States suffer disproportionately high levels of rape and sexual violence, yet the federal government has created substantial barriers to accessing justice, Amnesty International (AI) asserted in a 113-page report released today. Justice Department figures indicate that American Indian and Alaska Native women are 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than women in the United States in general; more than one in three Native women will be raped in their lifetimes.

The United States government has created a complex maze of tribal, state and federal jurisdictions that often allows perpetrators to rape with impunity -- and in some cases effectively creates jurisdictional vacuums that encourage assaults. It is necessary to establish the location of the crime and the identity of the perpetrator to determine which authorities have jurisdiction, during which critical time is lost. This leads to inadequate investigations or a failure to respond.

Further complications are the lack of trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) at Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities to provide forensic exams, and the potential for law enforcement to mishandle evidence when rape kits are used. The result is that Native women often:

• Do not get timely – or any – response from police.
• May not get forensic medical examinations.
• May never see their cases prosecuted.

“The high levels of sexual violence experienced by Indigenous women in the USA are compounded by failures at every level of the justice system. Amnesty International stands in solidarity with Indigenous women’s demands that the United States Government provide them the protection and justice they deserve,” said Kate Gilmore, Executive Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International.

“Native women are brutalized at an alarming rate, and the United States government, a purported champion of women’s rights, is unfortunately contributing to the problem,” said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). “It is disgraceful that such abuse even exists today. Without immediate action, an already abysmal and outrageous situation for women could spiral even further out of control. It is time to halt these human rights abuses that have raged unfettered since this country was founded.”

The AI report, Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA, warned that government figures, as disturbing as they are, grossly underestimate the problem because many women are too fearful of inaction to report their cases. According to one Oklahoma support worker, of 77 active sexual assault/domestic violence cases involving Native American women, only three victims reported their cases to the police.

The U.S. Government has undermined the authority of tribal justice systems to respond to crimes of sexual violence by consistent under-funding. Federal law limits the criminal sentences that tribal courts can impose for any one offense to one year and prohibits tribal courts from trying non-Indian suspects -- even though data collected by the Department of Justice shows that up to 86 percent of perpetrators are non-Indian.

In addition, AI’s research suggests that there is a failure at the state and federal level to pursue cases of sexual violence against Native women involving non-Indian perpetrators. One former federal prosecutor told AI, “It is hard to prosecute cases where there is a Native American victim and a non-Native American perpetrator.” Once a case is denied at the state or federal level, there is no further recourse for survivors of rape under criminal law.

"When elders say, ‘too many of our women and children have been raped,' we know that we must come together to overcome the darkness and end the silence. What we don't acknowledge, we carry with us," said Denise Morris, executive director and CEO of the Alaska Native Justice Center and a speaker at the report launch. "The United States government has a legal and moral responsibility to provide resources to Native organizations so they can begin to develop solutions and promote healing and wellness at the community level."

The report focuses primarily on three regions that pose distinct jurisdictional challenges: Oklahoma, Alaska and Standing Rock Sioux Reservation (North/South Dakota). The report finds that regardless of the location or legal framework, the outcome is the same: many Native women who have experienced sexual violence are denied justice.

In addition to increasing levels of training, AI urged federal, state and local authorities to take other concrete steps to decrease sexual violence and increase services for Indigenous women who are raped:

• The U.S. Congress should fully fund and implement the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) -- and in particular Tribal Title (Title IX), the first-ever effort within VAWA to fight violence against Native American and Alaska Native women. This includes a national baseline study on sexual violence against Native women, a study on the incidence of injury from sexual violence against Native women and a Tribal Registry to track sex offenders and orders of protection.

• The U.S. Congress should increase funding for the Indian Health Service (IHS) and IHS contract facilities. Such monies should be used to increase the number of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners so that survivors may receive timely forensic medical examinations, at no charge, following sexual assault. Furthermore, the IHS should ensure that appropriate protocols are in place for the treatment of survivors of sexual violence.

• The U.S. Congress should recognize tribal authorities’ jurisdiction over all offenders who commit crimes on tribal land. The federal government must provide the necessary funding for police forces in Indian Country and Alaska Native villages, with particular attention paid to improving coverage in rural areas and the funding and resources to enable tribal authorities to develop and maintain tribal courts.

• Federal and state governments should consult and cooperate with tribal nations, and Native women in particular, to institute effective plans of action to stop sexual violence against Native women.

AI will continue to campaign in partnership with Native American and Alaska Native women in the USA to address the critical human rights abuses documented in this report. This report is part of AI’s global Stop Violence Against Women campaign.

From 24 April, the report Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the US, will be available at: http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maagiqFabx4MAcksvcKb/

A briefing on Amnesty International's concerns regarding sexual violence against Indigenous women in Oklahoma, Alaska and Standing Rock Sioux Reservation (North/South Dakota), will be available at: http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maagiqFabx4MBcksvcKb/

AI Index: AMR 51/071/2007

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