Today is 14 March 2012: International Day of Action to Defend Blasphemers and Apostates

Today is 14 March 2012: International Day of Action to Defend Blasphemers and Apostates

Post your actions and support here or on the Facebook page below.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/306432962752879/

Here is more information on the day and contact details where you can send your protests: Countless individuals face threats, imprisonment, and execution because of their criticism of religion and religious authorities. Blasphemy and Apostasy laws as well as uncodified rules imposed by both state and non-state actors aim primarily to restrict thought and expression and limit the rights of Muslims, ex-Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Such rules exist in a number of countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jordan, Morocco, Turkey, Yemen, Iraq and elsewhere.

On 14 March 2012, we, the undersigned, are calling for simultaneous events and actions in defence of the critics of religion in order to highlight medieval laws and exert pressure to save the lives of the women and men facing execution, imprisonment or threats.

Whilst there are countless people awaiting punishment under these rules and regulations, we are highlighting ten such cases, namely:

-Hamza Kashgari, Saudi Arabia: 23 year old Muslim, charged with blasphemy for tweeting about Mohammad and women’s status

-Alex Aan, Indonesia: 30 year old atheist, charged with blasphemy for saying there is no god on Facebook

-Asia Bibi, Pakistan: 45 year old mother of five, sentenced to death for blasphemy for ‘insulting Mohammad’

-Yousef Nadarkhani, Iran: 34 year old sentenced to death for apostasy for converting to Christianity

-Nabil Karoui, Tunisia: charged with ‘violating sacred values’ for showing the film Persepolis

-Saeed Malekpour, Iran: sentenced to death for ‘insulting and desecrating Islam’

-Muhammad Samiullah, Pakistan: 17 year old, charged with blasphemy, for ‘derogatory remarks’ about Mohammad on his exams

-Adel Imam, Egypt: comic actor jailed for three months for ‘insulting Islam’

-Sarwar Penjweni, Iraqi Kurdistan: threatened for researching Islam and Quranic texts.

-Lanja Abdulla, Iraqi Kurdistan: Director of Warvin Foundation for Women Issues threatened at a public meeting for challenging religious authority

The success of this international day and the very lives of those it hopes to save depend on the intervention of each and every one of us.

We call on groups and individuals to take action on this day by organising a protest or vigil, setting up a table in a city centre, writing a letter, signing a petition, drawing a picture, taking a photo, making a video – anything at all – to highlight these medieval laws and rules, defend free expression and the women and men whose lives are at stake.

You can also register your protests here below:

Saudi Arabia Ministry of Foreign Affairs E-mail address:

http://www.mofa.gov.sa/sites/mofaen/MAINCONTACTUS/Pages/ContactGeneral.aspx

Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs E-mail:

http://www.kemlu.go.id/Pages/ContactUs.aspx?l=en

Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

http://www.mfa.gov.ir/NewsShow.aspx?id=746&menu=87&lang=en

Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

http://www.mofa.gov.pk/mfa/pages/comment.aspx

Kurdistan Regional Government-Kurdistan-Iraq
http://www.krg.org/krg_contact.asp?lngnr=12&smap=01000000

Egypt-Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

http://www.mfa.gov.eg/English/Contact_Us/Pages/default.aspx

Tunisia- Ministry of Foreign Affairs

http://www.diplomatie.gov.tn/index.php?id=353&L=2

Initial signatories:

 Houzan Mahmoud, Spokesperson of Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq-UK

 Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson, One Law for All and Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women’s Discrimination in Iran, UK

 Evelyne Accad, Professor Emeritus University of Illinois and Lebanese American University, USA

 Mina Ahadi, International Committee against Stoning, Germany

 Sargul Ahmad, Women Organization in Iraq, Canada

 Mahin Alipour, Director, Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women’s Discrimination in Iran, Sweden

 Evan Darraji, Writer and Artist, Iraq

 Patty Debonitas, Iran Solidarity, UK

 Deeyah, Music Producer, Norway/USA

 Jani Diylan, Journalist, USA

 Tarek Fatah, Muslim Canadian Council, Canada

 Tahir Gora, Editor and Publisher, Canada

 Laura Guidetti, Feminist Activist (Marea), Italy

 Maria Hagberg, Chairperson of the Network against Honour Related Violence, Sweden/Iraq

 Asos Hardi, Director of Awene newspaper, Kurdistan-Iraq

 Farzaneh Hassan, Writer, Canada

 Marieme Helie Lucas, Secularism is a Women’s Issue, France

Sundas Hoorain, Pakistani Human Rights Lawyer, UK

Abbas Kamil, Unity Against Unemployment in Iraq, Iraq

Monica Lanfranco, Journalist (Marea), Italy

Nahla Mahmoud, Director, Sudan: Non-Religious out loud, Sudanese Humanists Group, UK

Hassan Radwan, Management Committee, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, UK

Gita Sahgal, Centre for Secular Space, UK

Nina Sankari, European Feminist Initiative, Poland

Sohaila Sharifi, Women’s Rights Campaigner, UK

Issam Shukri, Defence of Secularism and Civil Rights in Iraq, Canada

Fatou Sow, Women Living Under Muslims Laws, UK

Adnan Honarvar: Writter-Kurdistan

Gona Saeed: Political ad women’s rights activist-UK

Adilah Nasir: Human rights activist- Malaysia

Ciaran MacAoidh: Member of Atheist Ireland

Clara Connolly-London

Christiane Passevant: France

Yacoub abu-bakr: Palestine

Yacov Benyamin

Ha-kohen ben-arieh: Israel

Jason White: USA

Kerri Levine: USA

Jean Beaini: Milton Keynes-UK

Achintha:  Colombo'-Sri lanka

Soheila Dalvand: Canada

Wael Saleem : Riyadh

Deniz Günal:  Melbourne Australia

Christa Rihani Ooms: The Netherlands.

Naima Nash:  Eygptian in UK

Eric swinson:  Morocco

Toyer Khan: South Africa

Cathe Kidd:  U.S.A.

Sawsan Esbaitah: UAE.
Francesc Ferrero Herrera:  Alacant-Spain.

14 March 2012: International Day of Action to Defend Blasphemers and Apostates

read more here:

http://www.equalityiniraq.com/campaigns/151-14-march-2012-international-day-of-action-to-defend-blasphemers-and-apostates

Seminar organised by Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq and Feminist fightback to mark 8 March International Women's Day in London

My interview on Aljazeera about Women's qouta system.

The European Commission says the region is too slow in getting more women into top jobs. But as it suggests legislation, are quotas the best way to help them up the career ladder? Guests: Jo Sawicki, Ranjana Kumari, Patricia Rochford, Houzan Mahmoud

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDtT9D8c150&feature=player_embedded

My speech in Genoa-Italy June 2011 on Religion, Culture and cultrual relativism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek7n8w-WLfA

Petition to Free Hamza Kashgari Saudi writer

http://www.change.org/petitions/saudi-government-interpol-and-malaysian-government-freedom-for-hamza-kashgari

I took part in an International Conference on the Structures of Patriarchal Violence against Women: En-gendering Peace and Human Security in Beirut-Lebanon.

This conference took place on the 23rd and 24th of November, Many women's rights activists took part from different countries in Middle East.

I spoke about "Gender... Equality, public space, state and politics", the multi layered structures of violence against women in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan.

My interview on Al-Jazeera English on the Murder of Sardasht Osman

You can view my interview on Aljazeera English on the Murder of Sardasht Osman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIKs7YV_4iQ

Press Conference in London

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
11/06/2010
Press conference on the kidnapping and assassination of journalist Sardasht Osman in Iraqi Kurdistan
6.00-6.40pm, Tuesday 15 June
Abrar Foundation
45 Crawford Place, W1H 4LP
(Nearest Tube: Edgware Road)

Political activists, academics and writers from Iraqi Kurdistan are holding a press conference to expose the kidnapping and murder of Sardasht Osman and demand justice.
Sardasht Osman, 23, was a journalist and final year university student when he was abducted on 4 May in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Erbil. His body was found on 6 May in the city of Mosul. Sardasht had written articles criticising the Kurdish government, particularly the Barzani family.
This press conference will address violations against freedom of expression and political activism, and attacks on journalists and critical voices.We will address the media in three languages - English, Kurdish and Arabic.

Speakers:
Dr. Kamal Mirawdeli: political personality and writer
Houzan Mahmoud: political activist
Dashti Jamal: president of International Federation of Iraqi Refugees
Khalil Karda: Writer
For further information, contact Houzan Mahmoud and Peshawa Majid
Tel: 07534264481 & 07739337778

Do Iraq's Women Miss Saddam?

Do Iraq's Women Miss Saddam?


Published Sunday, April 04, 2010

Women's advocacy groups say the US courtship of conservative Islamists curtailed women's rights.

Benjamin Joffe-Walt / The Media Line

For some, it was an easier time.

http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=28472


Women could walk freely throughout the streets of the capital, wearing whatever they pleased. A high percentage of women had full-time jobs, women in government were given a year of maternity leave and public day care centers were set up. The country had one of the best education systems in the Arab world and women were well represented in most faculties.

While one would hardly go so far as to describe those times as 'the good ole' days', for many women Iraq under Saddam Hussein had its perks.

Today the situation is quite different. While the fall of Saddam Hussein has led to many overall improvements in personal freedoms and civil rights, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and subsequent courtship of socially conservative Islamic political groups has created quite a different picture for women.

Women no longer have many of the civil rights they were afforded under Saddam Hussein's regime. Sharia law has been written into Iraq's constitution, women have been barred from certain aspects of public life in many parts of the country, women's freedom of movement has been severely curtailed, sex trafficking, prostitution, abductions and assassinations of women have all risen and women in government no longer get a year of maternity leave - that has been cut to six months.

"In general women were living much better off under Saddam," Yanar Mohammed, a women's rights advocate with the Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq told The Media Line. "The Iraq that I grew up in was a very modern Iraq and we had basic human rights."

"It was more fashionable at the time to give more rights to women and even Saddam followed the more progressive tendency in the region," she said. "So the Personal Status Law of the time, passed [in 1959] even before Saddam, established a minimum age for marriage, made it very difficult for a man to take a second wife and one almost never saw clerics ruling on civil matters."

"But then the U.S. occupation created a political vacuum and allowed what they call the 'cultural groups' to have their way in Iraq," Mohammed continued. "These religious groups were able to gain access to the constitution and allow people to turn to Sharia instead of civil law. So there is no longer any strong civil law to protect us and there are now big parts of Iraq which are being ruled under Sharia, in which women have very little rights."

"The Americans just let the rule of the jungle go ahead - whoever is the strongest will rule - and the Islamists are the strongest," she said. "So now we are living in a new Islamist Iraq, with Islamic courts all over Baghdad and women totally vulnerable to religious law: a man can marry four wives, a girl that is twelve years old, it's almost impossible for women to get divorced. None of this was the case in Saddam's time."

Dr Haitham Numan, Director of the Baghdad-based Asharq Research Center, argued that the situation for women has significantly worsened since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

"We cannot say that education for women or the general situation for women is better today," Dr Numan told The Media Line. "On the contrary it is worse."

"We can see more general freedoms in Iraq since the fall of the Saddam regime, but at the same time we now have Islamic law, which forbids women's participation in many aspects of life," Dr Numan said. "Ten years ago Islamic leaders had no political clout and this is a major change."

"Political leaders today are interested in their own coalition, not in women's rights," Dr Numan added. "So there are simply no new projects for women."

But Nadya Khalife, Women's Rights researcher for the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch, argued that there was little utility to the comparison between women's rights before and after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"There are issues coming up that didn't come up in the same way before the U.S.-led invasion," she told The Media Line. "There has been a rise in honor crimes, the targeting of female professionals and politicians, the trafficking of women and children and prostitution. Personal status laws have also changed so there are efforts to legalize polygamy and women have even been killed for wearing the wrong type of attire or going outside wearing makeup."

"There is certainly a conservative push towards personal status laws," Khalife added. "But overall I think we can't compare if the situation for women has improved or not. For example, people say women used to be much more educated and now their levels of literacy is down and their access to education has been curtailed, but this is all affected by the political turmoil, a foreign invasion and the lack of freedom of movement. So things have changed, but there are many factors, so whether they have changed for the better or worse is hard to say."

Houzan Mahmoud, the Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq's representative abroad, agreed that the comparison was problematic.

"Both situations are horrible," she told The Media Line. "Just because we have a terrible situation at the moment doesn't mean we need to glorify Saddam's dictatorship."

"During Saddam's regime if you were not political you could lead a normal life, but for the majority of us who opposed the dictatorship, it was hell," Mahmoud said. "You were either for the Ba'ath party under Saddam or you were subjected to torture, persecution and abuse. There was no freedom of speech, no freedom of association, women did not have the right to establish women's organizations and he also started to bring socially conservative norms into the constitution. So I don't really like arguments that imply that Saddam Hussein's regime was great."

"Now America has invited the most tribalist, misogynist, Islamist extremist groups to join the government," she continued. "Warlords, ex-Ba'athists, you name it. It's a government of corrupt pullets that has nothing to do with people's aspirations for freedom or welfare and which hasn't brought any normalcy."

"As a result, there is a lot of gender-based violence at all levels," Mahmoud concluded. "We have one or two million women who have been widowed and have no access to social benefits. There is widespread violence and the majority of people live under the poverty line, particularly women. There is trafficking of women and young girls for prostitution both internally and externally. Sharia law has been implemented through the constitution and the enforcement of social conservatism has been brought back into the society."

Mahmoud's colleague in Baghdad Yanar Mohammed said that a law requiring a quarter of Iraq's legislature to be filled by women has made little difference.

"On the one hand it's a good sign because it does bring women to the scene," she said. "But almost half of the women who ended up in parliament came from religious parties. They claim to represent women's rights but in reality they do not want equality, do not demand equality and just support the oppression of women. Even if they try, the rest of the parliamentarians are clerics and don't listen to them."
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