Women Human Rights Defenders

UPDATE: Iran: Maryam Bahreman Still Held Despite Order for Release

Women’s rights activist Maryam Bahreman remains in detention despite an order from the Prosecutor’s office in Shiraz to release her on bail at the start of July. Amnesty International considers her to be a prisoner of conscience, held solely for the peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression and association. See WLUML's action alert here and/or follow the instructions in the Amnesty letter campaign.

Iran: Mondial de foot féminin : deux journalistes arrêtées

Alors même que vient de prendre fin le Mondial de football féminin, l'hebdomadaire allemand Der Spiegel annonce qu'une deuxième journaliste iranienne censée couvrir l'évènement a été arrêtée, information confirmée par le parquet de Téhéran. Les autorités Iraniennes n'ont communiqué aucun motif officiel concernant ces deux arrestations.

Iran: Refugees branded by their past association with MEK

As a human rights lawyer who defended scores of women unjustly condemned to death by stoning or other methods of execution in Iran, I am accustomed to hearing unpleasant news. However some stories still shake me. Ashraf Adelzadeh's ordeal is one of them. I came to know about Ashraf's case during my research in the "Justice For Iran" project that investigates rampant rapes and tortures of the women prisoners in Iran.

Iran: Maryam Bahreman Still Held Despite Order for Release

Women’s rights activist Maryam Bahreman remains in detention despite an order from the Prosecutor’s office in Shiraz to release her on bail at the start of July. Amnesty International considers her to be a prisoner of conscience, held solely for the peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression and association. Update on: Iran: Call for release of women's rights activist Maryam Bahreman

UPDATE: Iran: Women’s sports photographer, Maryam Majd, released on bail

Maryam Majd, a women’s sports photographer, arrested on her way to film the Women’s Soccer World Cup in Germany, has been released on bail, of 100,000 US Dollars, because of poor health. Maryam Majd disappeared on her way from Tehran, Iran, to Dusseldorf in Germany on the 17th of June 2011. She was held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, in ward 2A, controlled by the Revolutionary Guards. Ms Majd was expected in Germany for two months during the Women's Soccer World Cup 2011, in order to produce a photographic record of the different soccer teams.

Algérie: Attaque contre les femmes : des «actes barbares»

Les expéditions punitives contre les femmes continuent… Encore une fois, des femmes sont lynchées ! Après Hassi Messaoud, M’sila, où en l’espace de deux mois (El Watan du 5 juillet 2011), des hommes «honorables» s’en prennent à des femmes sans défense considérées par eux comme «des femmes de mauvaises mœurs» ! Nous nous élevons fermement pour condamner vivement les agressions dont sont, de plus en plus, victimes les femmes algériennes.

Fiji: Police Shut down Fiji Women's Rights Movement birthday retreat

Police closed down the Fiji’s Women’s Rights Movement’s (FWRM) retreat and planning at the Pearl resort in Pacific harbor this morning. At around 9.30am, a police officer, known as Tomu, from the Central Investigation Department asked the hotel event coordinator whether FWRM had a permit. The information was relayed to the FWRM Executive Director, Virisila Buadromo, who informed him that the event was an internal FWRM planning.

Uzbekistan: Oppressive political climate keeps women dependent on traditional social models

Interview with Marfua Tokhtakhodjaeva: In 1995, WLUML’s sister organization in Pakistan, Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre, published an English translation of Between the Slogans of Communism and the Laws of Islam by Marfua Tokhtakhodjaeva, which is available on the WLUML website here. The original appeared in Russian in 1992, just one year after the collapse of the USSR and the creation of an independent state of Uzbekistan. The book looks at the Sovietisation of Central Asia and argues that from 1917 the Soviet attitude to religion was confrontational and its goal was to destroy the Muslim religion through misleading tactics: while slogans regarding freedom of conscience were pronounced by the authorities, there were secretive directives ordering the suppression of the clergy.

WLUML a besoin de votre soutien !

WLUML a besoin, de toute urgence, des fonds pour couvrir ses frais de communication et de publication qui constituent les secteurs les plus importants de son travail, surtout avec les évènements politiques récents et les chances de promouvoir les droits des femmes et la démocratie dans les contextes musulmans.

Mapping of resources for women human rights defenders

AWID and the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition reviewed a broad range of urgent responses available to women human rights defenders Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) at risk around the world. This report describes the types of resources and strategies available to respond to urgent situations of violence against WHRDs as well as some of the organizations that offer them.