Posted by: “Taimur Rahman” 175286@soas.ac.uk redpak2000
Sat Mar 28, 2009 4:05 am (PDT)

The attitude of a Pakistani judge toward a teenage gang rape victim
has caused widespread outrage, throwing the training of the country’s
judicial figures into question. On March 25, 2008, additional
district and sessions judge Nizar Ali Khawaja conducted the trial of
four men who allegedly gang-raped 13-year-old Ms Kainat Soomro in
2007, over a three day period in Dadu district, Sindh. The girl, who
was expecting an in-camera trial (one in the judge’s private
chambers), was asked by the judge to describe and even demonstrate
her rape in detail in front of the accused, Mr Shahban Sheikh, Mr
Sheikh Ehsan, Mr Roshan Aleem and Mr Kaleemullah, all influential men
who have all allegedly threatened and bribed Somroo’s family to
settle out of court. About a hundred spectators were also present,
according to court journalists. “The room was jam-packed, people
crowding at the back because everyone knew it was a rape case.” noted
a reporter from TheNews International.

Although public prosecutor Mr Maroof, asked that anyone unrelated to
the case be told to leave, the judge sided with the defense counsel,
which argued that he had no legal obligation to bar citizens from an
open court. According to journalists and the prosecution, the cross-
examiners and judge started to ask a string of invasive questions
about the rape, which the teenager, who has had an extremely
sheltered, conservative upbringing, struggled with. Sources at the
trial noted that she was asked when certain items of clothing were
removed, and exactly what actions were done to her when. When the
girl replied, in a few instances, that she couldn’t remember and felt
out of her senses (having fainted), the judge berated her; speaking
harshly about reports made by her family to the media. Witnesses have
noted that he appeared to enjoy the invasive nature of the questions
and the humiliation of the girl.

Objections from the special public prosecutor and assisting lawyers
triggered an argument with the defense; the judge simply quelled them
with a warning and adjourned the hearing to a later date, according
to the Daily Dawn. In the years leading up to this trial the family
have been forced to leave their home town due to threats, and have
fought fiercely to get the case this far (police originally refused
to register the FIR and public and media pressure saw it taken up).

Since the Women’s Protection Act in 2006 reformed the law surrounding
rape cases, more women have been encouraged to use the legal system,
but the experience continues to be harrowing, partly due to the
attitudes of those within it. Pakistan is already a harsh,
patriarchal environment for women and this is no different within the
courts.

“Judges have not been trained or sensitized to gender issues,” says
former Supreme Court Judge Nasir Aslam Zahid, who now runs the Legal
Aid Office for women and children in prison in Sindh. “They say: ‘how
is this woman allowed to come to court?’ The law has been made by
men, courts are men, police are all male and when a court case
involves a women, everything is against that woman.” This attitude is
a big deterrent; judicial and police figures are often unresponsive
to female victims reporting crimes. Others go further: figures for
the physical abuse of women in custody are high (117 were reported
last by the Aurat Foundation but the number unreported cases are
thought to be much greater). Female victims of rape or domestic
violence are frequently too scared to go to court or seek redress,
and so their general situation gets no better.

Soomro’s case is just another warning cry, reminding Pakistan’s women
not to expect justice or fair treatment in court.

The cabinet of President Asif Ali Zardari considers itself committed
to women’s issues in Pakistan, but to be truly committed it must
assess and take stronger measures. Just as police should be taught to
deal professionally with sexual and gender-based violence, judges
clearly need training so that they abandon old prejudices and are
able to act humanely towards victims.

This is an obligation, rather than a choice. States are duty bound to
protect and promote the rights of women and children under
international human rights law. Pakistan has ratified the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),
which among other things, obliges it to protect those under the age
of 18 “from all forms of physical or mental violence… negligent
treatment, maltreatment or exploitation” and “take appropriate and
effective measures to overcome all forms of gender-based violence,
give adequate protection to all women and respect their protection
and dignity.”

When a judge cannot or does not show himself able to do this in his
court for the most vulnerable of plaintiffs, one wonders what he is
doing in the profession in the first place.

[cmkp] Digest Number 1799

Press Release, March 5

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned a bombing at the mausoleum of renowned poet Rehman Baba on the outskirts of Peshawar.

In a statement issued on Thursday, HRCP said: “The bombing at the mausoleum cannot be condemned strongly enough. Rehman Baba is the national poet not only of the Pashtun people, but of the whole of Pakistan. It is ironic that the mausoleum of a poet revered for opposing oppression and advocating peace and tolerance has been targeted by the militants. But then may be it is not that strange after all. The bombing demonstrates the kind of country Taliban fanatics want to turn Pakistan into.

Militants had apparently asked people to stop women from visiting the shrine. Barring women stepping out of their houses is apparently something that no agreement with the government can talk the militants out of. Today it was Rehman Baba’s mausoleum. Tomorrow it will be girls’ colleges. Girls’ schools are already a regular target.

The deterioration of the security situation across the country is alarming. It is not a simple law and order issue any more, but needs much greater attention and urgency.”

Asma Jahangir
Chairperson

Press Release of the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign
Date: 2009/01/10

During the last week of December, 3 men were stoned to death in Behesht Reza Cemetery in Mashhad for the crime of adultery. One of them, an Afghan citizen by the name of Mahmoud, managed to forcibly escape from the stoning pit and survived. Unfortunately, the other two men, one of whom is named Hushang Khodadaeh and another who remains unidentified, were killed, pounded mercilessly with stones. This is the latest such case since the stoning deaths of Jafar Kiani in June 2007, and Mahboubeh M and Abbas H in May 2006.

For the last three years ago, the Head of the Iranian Judiciary has repeatedly stated that although the punishment of stoning remained under Iranian law, the execution of such sentences were not enforced; at the same time, a moratorium on stoning has been in effect for the entire country Nevertheless, we have witnessed at least 6 cases of stoning in the last 3 years. Clearly, as long as the penalty of stoning remains under the Penal Code and sanctioned by Iranian law, such words by the Head of the Judiciary are worthless.

In July of this year, several women’s rights defenders, lawyers, and activist held a rpess conference announcing the names of nine women who were currently awaiting stoning sentences. Since then, spokesman for the Judiciary Alireza Jamshidi announced in August that the stoning sentences of four women (Layla G., Azar and Zohreh Kabiri, and Shomameh Malak Gharbani) would be commuted to whipping and imprisonment. However, Azar and Zohreh Kabiri has not been released yet and a retrial planned for January 12 which will judge whether they are guilty for adultery or not.

In addition, there are presently at least ten others locked up in several prisons around the country who are in danger of being stoned to death:

1. Kobra Najjar, imprisoned in Reja’i-shahr- Karaj
2. Iran A., imprisoned in Sepidar Prison- Ahvaz
3. Kheirieh V., imprisoned in Sepidar Prison- Ahvaz
4. Ashraf Kalhori, imprisoned in Evin Prison-Tehran
5. Abdollah Farivar, imprisoned -Sari Prison
6. Ghilan Mohammadi, imprisoned in Central Prison -Isfahan
7. Gholamali Eskendari, imprisoned in Central Prison – Isfahan
8. Afsaneh R., imprisoned in In ‘Adel Abad Prison -Shiraz
9. The woman M.J., imprisoned in Vakil Abad Prison – Mashhad
10. The woman H., imprisoned in Vakil Abad Prison – Mashhad

Furthermore, the Majlis, or Iranian Parliament, is currently reviewing a new draft of the Islamic Penal Code. In it, the punishment for adultery is, once again, stoning. The only difference in this new act from the current law is that “based on the prosecutor’s discretion, if the implementation of penal measure such as stoning causes mafsadeh [degradation and disgrace], he can submit a revision and request an alternative measure such as lashing or execution to the Head of Judiciary.”

However, many women’s rights defenders, including the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign, are deeply troubled the revised law. Most notably, the penalty of stoning has not been omitted. In addition, implementation of such a verdict has been left to the discretion of the local prosecutor, who may decide to carry out the verdict or ask for alternative action to be taken, and who can base his judgment on his personal beliefs even if he may be considered a religious fundamentalist.

The Stop Stoning Forever Campaign was formed in August 2006 after news spread of the stoning of two people in Mashhad and the sentencing of Ashref Kalhari to stoning in Evin Prison. Its goal is to eliminating stoning unequivocally from the Iranian Penal Code. Since it began work, the Campaign, working predominately with the Network of Volunteer Lawyers, has saved eight women and one man: Hajieh Esmaeilvand, Parisa A., Najaf A., Soghra Molaei, Zahra Rezaei, Mokarrameh Ebhrahimi, Shamameh (Malek) Ghorbani, Azar Kabiri, Zohreh Kabiri, and Layla G. from death by stoning. In addition, the stoning sentence of one woman, Ashref Kalhari, has been suspended.

Even in light of these successes, the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign has grown deeply troubled by instances of stoning and the increasing number of executions that we have witnessed in Iran in the last few months due to extremist government policies and judicial trends. We urge the public to continue to register their protest with the inhumane punishment of stoning and to demand to the authorities of the Islamic Republic that they terminate this punishment once and for all.

Translated from Farsi by Rochelle Terman
To see Farsi version, please go to: meydaan.net

stop-stoning.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-060-2009
March 14, 2009

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

The law enforcement community in Pakistan has been shamed once more by an incident in which three officers arrested a boy, beat and raped him in custody, and distributed a video of the rape. A year later the boy is still in remand and the policemen have not been charged.

According to the national manager of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), Ms Sadia Baloch, seventeen-year-old Zeeshan Budd was picked up on the evening of January 17, 2008, between his grandmother’s and his parent’s house in the jurisdiction of Shah Lateef Town in Punjab. The boy says he had asked to hitch a ride on a motorbike and had been arrested along with the driver, who was apparently wanted by the police. Police tell a different story: that they responded to a complaint about a stolen bike and mobile phone, and picked up the boy alone.

Ms Baloch says that Zeeshan was not informed of his charges, his family was not told of his arrest that night and he was neither sent to a remand home nor appointed a probation officer, which is required under Pakistan’s Juvenile Justice System Ordinance. Instead he was stripped at the police station, beaten and interrogated, during which the three officers raped him, including Head Constable Arif Sharr and Constable Mohammad Ashraf. Video of the rape was recorded on an officer’s mobile phone. When the police contacted the family the next day, Zeeshan’s grandmother Kulsoom Akhter agreed to pay half the requested bribe — Rs 50,000 — so that he’d be released. However the boy was kept, sent to court and the officers distributed parts of the video of his rape to internet cafes close to the boy’s family’s home.

The officers’ actions are a clear and severe violation of child rights and human rights. They contravene the Constitution of Pakistan, the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance and the UN Conventions of the Rights of the Child, which Pakistan ratified in 1990. (Under the Majority Act 1875, a child is defined as a person under 18 years of age; the voting age is 18 years and the national identity card is also issued at this age.)

Akhter appeared at her grandson’s court case with evidence of his rape, but a medical check up ordered by the judge was delayed for a week by the police, reducing the chance of medical evidence being found. Despite harassment and a smear campaign from police, and despite being ostracised in their community, Zeeshan’s relatives filed petition 601-602 in the Malir Court at the end of 2008, demanding that an FIR be lodged against the officers. In the meantime eight cases of robbery were taken against Zeeshan, still in jail, which his family claims are clumsily fabricated. A judge has ordered an investigation into his abuse, but the FIR report has yet to be signed.

Since its formation, the AHRC has publicised countless violent crimes committed by Pakistan police officers against detainees and there are common threads running through them all: they are usually creatively brutal, the victims young and poor, and the crimes barely covered up; officers appear confident that their actions will not be called into question. This can be seen in the case of a 17-year-old girl last year who was kept offsite by a police station sub-inspector after her arrest and raped repeatedly (AHRC-UAC-164-2008), and in the case of Hazoor Buksh, who had his penis severed by a drunk officer in 2007 (UA-032-2007) before being forced to claim that he did it himself with a broken tea cup in a suicide attempt. Zeeshan’s case is remarkable only for the security clearly felt by police when they publicised the torture themselves on video.

The AHRC insists that an FIR be lodged against Zeeshan’s rapists, and against the officers in the vicinity of the crime who did nothing to stop it. A thorough investigation must be launched. The boy must be released and he and his family offered protection for the duration of the case, and given appropriate rehabilitation and compensation.

But much more must be done. The many rapes, torture and murders that happen in police custody in Pakistan must stop. A scrupulous and unremitting sweep of the policing system is long overdue. Individuals entering into police custody too often emerge brutally scarred — emotionally and physically — and the government must determine how the situation has become so bad, and what can be done to rectify it. Officers themselves must be placed under observation, and those implicated in brutal crimes must be fired, not transferred. A nation-wide clarification of acceptable interrogation methods is necessary, and strict re-training is clearly in order.

Without a legitimate police force — which is often the front line of the legal process — a country is weakened and its citizens made vulnerable. Without law and order, vigilante justice and corruption thrive; Pakistan has a reputation for both. The fact that children can be brutally raped by police on camera and still nothing is done, should be a matter of deep shame.

The authorities need to combat this widely held notion, in and outside the country, that being a policeman in Pakistan simply gives you a greater license to commit crime.

ahrchk.net

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

There were renewed calls Monday for the release of B.C. freelance journalist Khadija Abdul Qahaar, kidnapped in Pakistan three months ago, with Canadian government officials saying they are pursuing all avenues to secure her freedom.

Qahaar, 52, of West Vancouver was abducted in November while filming a documentary on the Taliban in the northwest Bannu district.

A convert to Islam, Qahaar, who changed her name from Beverly Giesbrecht, publishes her own online magazine called Jihad Unspun.

Her kidnappers have reportedly asked for a ransom of $150,000 and the release of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan in exchange for her return.

The Canadian Association of Journalists issued a press release Monday urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to “redouble efforts” to free Qahaar and another Canadian journalist kidnapped in Somalia.

Amanda Lindhout of Red Deer. Alta., was abducted in the East African country in August and is still missing.

Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Lisa Monette told CBC News Monday the department is continuing its efforts to secure Qahaar’s release, but she would not provide any further details, citing security concerns.

CBC News has obtained a video of Qahaar in which she is seen pleading for help in getting released.

In the five-minute video, Qahaar says she is cold and afraid.

“I have been in captivity now for almost three months,” she says. “I wake up in the dark, and I go to sleep in the dark. There is nothing for the wood furnace and not enough wood.”

In the video, Qahaar is flanked by what appear to be two Taliban fighters cradling Kalashnokovs. She is sitting outdoors on a folding chair wearing a padded camouflage jacket and a blue headscarf.

Just before she disappeared, Qahaar posted an appeal to Muslims on Jihad Unspun asking them to contribute money so she could finish her documentary. The documentary, she said, was going to counteract what she described as “biased coverage” in the Western media of the war in Afghanistan.

In the video, Qahaar says she had completed taping of the documentary but returned to Pakistan a second time to shoot a feature on an old man she met who had a valuable collection of ancient Islamic coins.

“So, I wanted to help him,” she said in the video. “I made arrangements to come back again for me to take pictures of it and take it to Sotheby’s [auction house] in London.”

On her way to or from the interview with the coin collector, Qahaar’s car was stopped by armed men who abducted her.

“I am not sure exactly [about] my location. I am [in] some place in the Afghan border area. There are air raids … This is a war zone,” she says in the video.

A Pakistani newspaper has reported that Qahaar is being held near Miran Shah, a city in North Waziristan, a mountainous region in Pakistan’s northwest bordering Afghanistan. For the past year, the U.S. has been launching cross-border missile attacks at suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters hiding there.

www.cbc.ca

Update on: Pakistan: Interference in the case of Mukhtar Mai

12/02/2009: Mukhtar Mai’s counsel, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, had moved an application for adjournment, which was considered the best course of action in the current circumstances. With no right to a further appeal, Mai’s rapists will stay in jail. However, the threat to the safety of Mukhtar Mai, and her family, from those implicated in the interference in her case remains.

A message of thanks from Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare Organization:

“Hats off to all of you for your efforts for all the interventions you made in support of Mukhtar! and to Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan for agreeing to appear for Mukhtar’s case because he has not been appearing in any case because of his principled stand believing the imposition of emergency and sacking of the judiciary in November 2007 illegal and unconstitutional. Barrister Ahsan is former President of Supreme Court Bar Association and is one of the main leader of the lawyers movement.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare Organization cautions that we have to ensure the perpetrators do not receive favourable treatment because of their political influence. It is much more important now because the threat to the lives of Mukhtar Mai, her family and colleagues has increased after exposing the minister’s act.

The Welfare organization recommend we continue our written interventions and ask the government of Pakistan to:

* Ensure that interference and political influence is not used in the proceedings of the case.

* Hold accountable the Federal Minister Mr. Abdul Qayyum Jatoi for his interference in a sub-judice matter and demand that he should be de-seated from his public office.

* Develop a security system for the safety and security of Mukhtar Mai, her family and colleagues, because of the increased threat to their lives, and that the police official should be directed to ensure that the security system is being implemented in letter and spirit.

ADDRESSES

His Excellency
Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President’s Avenue
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Phone: +92-51-9206069
FAX: +92-51-9203297 & +92-51-922 1422

His Excellency
Mr. Yousuf Raza Gillani
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Phone: +92-51-9206111
Fax: +92-51-9206907

Mr. Rehman Malik
Advisor / Minister for Interior
R Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Email Address: ministry.interior@gmail.com, interior.complaintcell@gmail.com
Tel: +92-51-9212026
Fax: +92-51- 9202624

Ms. Sherry Rehman
Minister for Women Development
1/F, State Building: 5
Ministry of Women Development
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
+92-51-920 1083

Mr. Salman Tasseer
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Lahore, PAKISTAN
Fax: +92-42-9200077

Pakistan: Interference in the case of Mukhtar Mai

9/02/2009: The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) international solidarity network is deeply concerned by the fact that a sitting Federal Minister, Mr. Qayyum Jatoi, has pressured Mukhtar Mai, the well-known women’s human rights defender, to drop charges against the accused in her case.

In 2002, 14 men from the dominant Mastoi tribe in Meeranwalla, Pakistan volunteered to rape Ms Mukhtar Mai as a way to settle a score after her 12-year-old brother Abdul Shakoor was seen walking with a Mastoi girl. The decision on retribution had been taken by a village court to preserve tribal honour. The jirga, or council of village elders, summoned Ms Mai to apologise for her brother’s sexual misdeed. When she apologised, they gang-raped her anyway.

After the atrocity was carried out, Ms Mai was paraded naked before hundreds of onlookers. Finally, her father covered her with a shawl and took her home.

Mukhtar Mai, an unmarried daughter from a low-caste family, was not about to go quietly. She fought back in the courts and at first the legal decisions appeared to go her way. Half a dozen men involved in her rape were punished, with two sentenced to death. But since that early success events have begun to take an increasingly sinister and depressing turn. In 2005, a court in Lahore refused to extend a 90-day detention order and 12 of the 14 accused were ordered to be released. The case has gone into appeal, and now is expected to go to the Supreme Court.

WLUML received news that Ms. Mukhtar Mai’s case will be heard in the Pakistan Supreme Court in the second week of February 2009. However, reports suggest that a Federal Minister, Mr. Qayyum Jatoi, has pressured Ms. Mai into dropping charges against the accused. This represents a serious miscarriage of justice.

We demand that the authorities ensure the trial of those accused of attacking Ms. Mai goes ahead without interference, and that Ms. Mai be protected from any pressure to drop her case.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Please send a letter based on the following to the Pakistani authorities, the embassy of Pakistan in your home country and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. Action is requested before 10 February, 2009.

SAMPLE LETTER

[Your Excellency / Dear Sir / Dear Madam]:

The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) international solidarity network is deeply concerned by the fact that a sitting Federal Minister, Mr. Qayyum Jatoi, has pressured Mukhtar Mai, the well-known women’s human rights defender, to drop charges against the accused in her case.

We believe that the Minister’s message is an indirect threat on the life and well-being of Mukhtar Mai and we fear that anything could happen and anyone can be used against Mukhtar, including extremists, outlaws, etc.

According to Mukhtar Mai, the Minister called her uncle, Ghulam Hussain, on 11th December 2008 to his place in Jatoi in order to have Mr. Hussain pass a message to Mukhtar. The Minister asked that Mukhtar drop all the charges against the thirteen accused of the Mastoi tribe who were involved either in the verdict against Mukhtar or had gang-raped her. The Minister threatened that if she does not comply, he and his associates will ensure that the Supreme Court finds against Mukhtar.

We have learned that Mukhtar Mai’s case is slated to be heard by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the second week of February 2009. The interference by Minister Qayyum Jatoi shows that the Mastoi clan has political influence of sufficient weight to bring pressure to bear on the Supreme Court.

We therefore urge your authority to:

• ensure Mukhtar Mai’s case is processed without any political pressure or influence;

• take special and urgent measures to ensure Mukhtar Mai’s safety and security before, during and especially after the hearing; and

• hold the Federal Minister accountable for his interference in an adjudicated matter and for threatening Mukhtar Mai.

We thank you in advance for your immediate attention to this grave matter.

Yours Sincerely,

[your name]

ADDRESSES

His Excellency
Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President’s Avenue
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Phone: +92-51-9206069
FAX: +92-51-9203297 & +92-51-922 1422

His Excellency
Mr. Yousuf Raza Gillani
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Phone: +92-51-9206111
Fax: +92-51-9206907

Mr. Rehman Malik
Advisor / Minister for Interior
R Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
Email Address: ministry.interior@gmail.com, interior.complaintcell@gmail.com
Tel: +92-51-9212026
Fax: +92-51- 9202624

Ms. Sherry Rehman
Minister for Women Development
1/F, State Building: 5
Ministry of Women Development
Islamabad, PAKISTAN
+92-51-920 1083

Mr. Salman Tasseer
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Lahore, PAKISTAN
Fax: +92-42-9200077,

Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders,
Mrs. Margaret Sekaggya
C/o Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Palais Wilson
United Nations Office at Geneva
CH 1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 93 88, email: MChingSimon@ohchr.org

Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
Room 3-042
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9615
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN)
High Commission for Pakistan
34 – 36 Lowndes Square London, ENGLAND
SW1X 9JN

BACKGROUND

For more background on this case please see here:

www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt

here: http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-187717

and here: http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-542952

wluml.org

23/02/2009: The empowering story of the ‘Women in Black’ movement. An organisation set-up by Israeli women, but now joined by women the world over, all trying to bring peace through non-violent direct activism. (Journeyman Pictures)

WIB is an organisation set-up by Israeli women, but now joined by women the world over, all trying to bring peace through non-violent direct activism. In this documentary, we see ordinary women from all sides going to extra-ordinary lengths to help and highlight the plight of the Palestinians. And we witness first hand the struggle to maintain normal life surrounded by tanks and snipers.

The documentary was shot in 2002, so it does not cover or reflect upon recent events in Israel/Palestine. However, the power and courage of the women’s movement, WIB, and the harsh opposition they face, is so beautifully captured that it serves as a reminder to us all as to what we can and must do NOW to stand up to the increasing militarisation and macho warmongering of governments and armed groups worldwide.

You can watch a clip of the 52-minute documentary on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com

You can order the dvd here: journeyman.tv

“Everyone in the Palestinian quarter has a story to tell. A girl pulls back her hair to reveal a large bruise. “They hit me because they wanted to step on the Koran and I wanted to stop them,” she claims, recalling the night Israeli soldiers ransacked her house. Another woman recounts how her young daughter discovered their neighbour’s body “splattered all over the wall.” An aid worker describes how Israeli soldiers fired at journalists to prevent them recording Israelis looting Palestinian shops. Every house bears telltale signs of snipers or bombs.

“Sharon may have come to power by championing an aggressive Palestinian policy but not all Israeli Jews agree with him. The Women in Black movement, founded by a group of Israelis in 1988, believe that ending the occupation is the only way that Israel will achieve peace. As the traditional view of Israel as a haven for the oppressed is challenged, many Israelis are struggling to come to terms with the actions of their government. Anna Colombo’s family were murdered at Auschwitz. Despite this, she declares that “ever since I learned what was happening here, I have been suffering terribly … I don’t want to cause Arabs to suffer because of me being here.” Israeli Batya Makover agrees. “I hate what we are doing now, I hate it. I am very worried about what this means to these soldiers as they destroy houses and kill people.”

“Enthusiasm for the movement rapidly spread and there are now over 150 groups worldwide. They have pioneered a way of encouraging a more humanitarian course of action. We spend five months with the London Women in Black (affectionately dubbed ‘Hell’s Grannies’ by one British newspaper) as they go to the West Bank to form a human shield around Palestinian civilians. As well as dismantling roadblocks and flypostering ‘Return to Sender’ on Israeli tanks, they become caught up in the attack of Jenin and the siege of the Nativity, braving mines and the army to take aid to besieged Palestinians.

wluml.org

“One of the main aims of the international Women in Black is to relay information about conditions in the occupied territories. “I have never seen such an injustice take place,” states member Liz Khan, describing the way of life that Palestinians have been reduced to. “How can you have peace when you’re blockading people within their villages?” questions member Julie Slowik. “Their families are hungry and they’re desperate. They’re absolutely desperate.” Unfortunately, not everyone is sympathetic to their plight. “God owns this land and he gave it to the Jewish people!” shouts one opponent. “How dare you be on the side of Hitler number two? … You’re the worst, you’re Jew haters, Nazis, self-hating Jews.”

“It is clear that the current stalemate is benefiting nobody. While most coverage of the situation focuses on extremists from both sides of this conflict, this thought-provoking documentary shows normal people caught up in a cycle of violence, trying to make a difference and lend their voice to the suffering Palestinians. It’s heartening to see that there are Israelis and Palestinians working together with the international community towards peace.

By: Donna Baillie

Source: Journeyman Pictures

wluml.org

SANAA, 23 February 2009 (IRIN) – Although Yemen’s parliament has agreed to set the minimum age for marriage at 17, there are concerns the decision may be rescinded as some members of parliament (MPs) say the amendments violate Sharia (Islamic) law.

On 11 February, most MPs agreed on amending some articles in the law regarding women and child rights.

However, Horiah Mashour, deputy head of the National Women’s Committee (NWC), a government body, said there was still some resistance to the amendments by a minority of extremist MPs.

“They want to bring the amendments into discussion again. They say there is no marriage age set by Sharia,” she told IRIN.

One MP, Abdulbari Dughaish, told IRIN that some MPs sought to re-open discussions on the new amendments.

“Withdrawing the agreed decision on setting the marriage age at 17 is possible. The MPs who agreed on it might change their minds,” he said.

The new amendments were meant to elevate the status of children and the family. Early marriage deprives a child from enjoying life, entertainment and education, he said.

He said Yemen and Saudi Arabia were the only Arab countries that had not legally set the marriage age.

Under the new amendments, children younger than 17 are not allowed to marry unless it is deemed by a judge to be in their best interests.

The new amendments stipulate that the husband or the girl’s guardian have to document the marriage contract, listing their ages, to the authorities within a month of marriage. Failure to do so would result in the husband and the girl’s guardian being financially penalised.

Horiah said that before the reunification of Yemen in 1994, the law set the marriage age at 15 in southern and northern parts of the country. But five years later the law was amended and a girl’s custodian had the authority to decide if a girl should marry.

Awareness needed

She said people, especially in rural areas, might outwit the new legislation by not revealing the true age of child brides.

“Although a birth registration certificate is issued [by the government] for free, there are still people who won’t get it at all. In this case, they can decide any age for the girl.”

Horiah pointed out that awareness campaigns were necessary to help spread news of the amendments, adding that “local radio can play a big role in educating people”.

In a recent study by the NWC and Sanaa University’s Gender Development Research and Study Centre on early marriage in the governorates of Hadramaout and al-Hudeidah, 52 percent of 6,000 female respondents were married underage.

A 2007 report by the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) ranked Yemen 13 out of 20 worst countries in terms of the prevalence of child marriage. The report said 48.4 percent of women were married before 18.

IRIN

stophonourkillings.com

Press Release, February 12, 2009

LAHORE: Five Ahmadis detained on charges of blasphemy in Layyah district have been held without virtually any proof or witnesses, the Human Rights Commission (HRCP) said on Thursday.

The commission, which had sent a fact-finding team to Layyah district last week, said its findings concluded that an investigation, mandated by law prior to the registration of a blasphemy case, was also not held.

The HRCP team learned that a prayer leader in the village had allowed Ahmadi students from a nearby tuition centre to offer prayers in his mosque. The students were later threatened by a government schoolteacher and never went to the mosque again. Around 10 days later, some villagers claimed finding blasphemous writings in the mosque’s toilet.

In the First Information Report (FIR), the complainant said: “Since these Ahmadis are the only non-Muslims coming to the mosque, therefore they must have committed the offence.” The ‘argument’ was heard time and again during the HRCP team’s interviews with the mosque administration, some villagers and the local police.

The police and villagers conceded that there were no witnesses or evidence of the Ahmadis’ involvement. The HRCP team found elements belonging to banned extremist organizations and a relative of the National Assembly member from the area had pressurised the police to register a case. “It is clear that a local politician has also used his influence” to book the Ahmadis, the commission’s report said.

HRCP said the complainant and his extremist supporters are adamant that the Ahmadis should be punished on the basis of presumption.

HRCP has demanded a prompt and transparent investigation into the matter to ensure that innocent people are not victimised. It has also demanded the government must ensure that the Ahmadiyya community in the village is not harassed or ostracized. The Commission has also asked the government to take prompt measures to rule out misuse of the blasphemy law.

The detailed fact-finding report can be accessed at the HRCP website: www.hrcp-web.org

FACT-FINDING REPORT: Filing of blasphemy charges against 5 Ahmadis in Layyah district

Asma Jahangir
Chairperson

Press release, February 11, 2009

Lahore: The recent string of target-killing of Shias in Balochistan and the government’s failure to bring any of the perpetrators to justice is a cause for growing alarm, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said on Wednesday.

A press statement issued by the Commission said: “The killing of Shia notables in Quetta has sadly become a frequent occurrence. Some of the killings have been owned by an extremist organization flying a religious standard. The number of the Shia community members killed there over the recent years has exceeded 300. The government’s failure to track down the culprits has understandably enraged the targeted community, and it has also emboldened the perpetrators to kill with impunity. Besides religious figures, liberal politicians, businessmen and government officials have been targeted.

The government must surely now know that the community is exasperated with the government’s inability to perform one of its basic functions, that of ensuring that the lives of the people are protected. The Sunni population also fears that unhindered killings of the Shias might cause sectarian strife in an area where the sects have generally coexisted peacefully for centuries.

HRCP fears that the state agencies’ consistent failure to track down the killers may prompt the targeted community to retaliate against members of other sects, which is perhaps the sort of violence those behind the target-killings want to trigger.

The province, which has been in the grip of an insurgency for many years and now faces a growing threat from the Taliban, cannot afford that. The government must act decisively to investigate the killings in an efficient manner before the situation slips into further chaos.”

Asma Jahangir
Chairperson