[fund] resisting fundamentalisms

International: Conflict and Custom in the New World Order

"There is a struggle to be had. It is time to challenge the hegemony of the formal human rights movement and its uncritical embrace of identity politics". Gita Sahgal in conversation with Deniz Kandiyoti. Part two.

Algérie: Massacres de femmes à Hassi Messaoud : que s’est-il réellement passé ?

Au cours du mois d’avril 2010, des attaques criminelles ont eu lieu pendant plusieurs semaines contre les femmes de Hassi Messaoud - migrantes dans leur majorité, travailleuses dans les industries et structures économiques ; ces attaques ont donné lieu à des protestations internationales et à l’intervention des Rapporteurs Spéciaux auprès des Nations Unies. Pour comprendre ce qui s’est vraiment passé et pourquoi, l’AWID a interviewé Dalila Iamarene Djerbal, membre du Réseau Wassila, un regroupement d'associations et de professionnels qui luttent contre les violences faites aux femmes et aux enfants depuis 10 ans en Algérie. Le Réseau Wassila est très active sur cette histoire et fait partie du comité de soutien pour les femmes de Hassi Messaoud. Par Massan d’ALMEIDA

Algérie/France: L'ambassade d'Algérie choisit le déni

En Algérie, lorsqu'une femme est violée, c'est "une pute". Lorsqu'elle porte plainte, c'est "une manipulée". C'est assurément le raisonnement de l'ambassade d'Algérie qui, une fois de plus, choisit le déni. Près de 200 personnes se rassemblaient ce 10 mai 2010 aux abords de l'ambassade, pour demander à Alger de protéger enfin les femmes de Hassi Messaoud, victimes depuis près de 10 ans de lynchages, de viols, d'agressions multiples.

Saudi Arabia: Woman opens fire on religious police officers

In an unprecedented outburst toward Saudi Arabia's religious police, a married woman shot at several officers in a patrol car after she was caught in an "illegal seclusion" with another man in the province of Ha'il on Tuesday. "She shot at the officers to distract them and allow the man to escape instant detention," said Sheik Mutlak al Nabet, a spokesman for the religious police in Ha'il. He added that the unnamed woman's husband has filed an official report, asking for his wife to be punished and stripped of her Saudi nationality.

FES publication on Religious Fundamentalisms in Asia

In the new Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung publication, Religious Fundamentalisms and Their Gendered Impacts in Asia, Claudia Derichs and Andrea Fleschenberg (eds.), there is a chapter by WLUML board member, Zarizana Abdul Aziz: 'Malaysia – Trajectory towards Secularism or Islamism?' Abdul Aziz writes, "As the Malaysian legal system moves closer towards accommodating syariah, there has been an increase in inter-ethnic and inter-religious tensions.

Maldives: NGO's concern over Ministry of Islamic Affairs' campaign of intolerance

In two days, the UN will elect four members to represent Asia in its Human Rights Commission. The Maldives, as one of the candidates, is widely expected to gain a seat since only four member states are running for the four seats. But is the Maldives ready for a human rights position at the international stage? Here in the Maldives, human rights activists and civil society groups have been raising concerns about the threat to freedom of expression, gender equality and child rights from a sustained campaign being waged largely by the government’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs.

Uzbekistan: Government says promoting condoms is "immoral"

In Uzbekistan it seems that promoting condoms and sterile needles to stop the spread of HIV is "immoral" and deserving of imprisonment in its notorious jails. The country, ruled by dictator Islam Karimov – andrecently lambasted by the UN Human Rights Committee – has given one of its leading Aids workers a seven-year sentence.

Algérie/France: Rassemblement du 10 mai à Paris en solidarité avec les femmes de Hassi Messaoud

Hier, lundi 10 mai 2010 a eu lieu à 18 heures, en signe de soutien aux femmes de Hassi Messaoud, le rassemblement devant l'ambassade d'Algérie organisé par le Collectif de solidarité qui s'est créé le 20 avril 2010 pour dénoncer le lynchage des femmes, l'impunité des assassins et la complicité du pouvoir algérien.

Malaysia: Khalwat raids 'contravene several injunctions in the Quran'

Islamic religious authorities should follow procedures when they are carrying out khalwat raids. Non-governmental organisations said officers conducting the raids would not be accused of acting beyond their jurisdiction if they did so. They said this when asked to comment on the incident in which a 21-year-old college student fell to his death from an apartment in Gombak while trying to escape a khalwat raid. It was reported that the raid was carried out by several mosque committee members after residents complained of immoral activities at the apartment. Sisters in Islam (SIS) said khalwat raids shouldn’t be carried out in a way that degrades human dignity.

International: Resisting fundamentalist orders

In a televised sermon on April 16, 2010, a senior Iranian cleric, Hojjat ol-eslam Kazem Sediqi, declared a need for a “general repentance,” warning of the “prevalence of degeneracy” in the country. He pointed to the real consequences of immodesty and promiscuity among women, noting that “many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray and spread adultery in society which increases earthquakes.”