Day: April 7, 2009

Pakistan: Study Finds So-Called “Honor Killings” a Major Portion of Pakistan’s Homicides

Study Finds Honor Killings a Major Portion of Pakistan’s Homicides
— “One in every five homicides in Pakistan is a so-called ‘honor killing,’
according to a new epidemiological study published in the European Journal of Public Health.”
— Dr. Muazzam Nasrullah: “this is often conducted by brothers or fathers”

Pakistan: Taliban whip 17 year old girl

Pakistan: Taliban flog 17-year-old girl for having ‘affair’: Govt orders probe into Swat whipping
— “Taliban spokesman says girl would have been stoned to death if a ‘serious view’ of her ‘crime’ was taken”
— “Govt says girl whipped in January, Taliban say 9 months ago, HR activist says in last 10 days”
— Video of flogging
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videoshow/4354254.cms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoXHXUu-6ow&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbWdJ0-477c
— ‘Please stop’: Taliban flog girl, 17, as she begs for mercy in ‘honour’ punishment
— Flogging in Swat outrages nation
— “Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told some TV channels that it
was the work of Taliban. He termed the action justified, saying that the girl
had been seen out of her house with a man who was not her husband and
it was enough to punish her for what he said was an ‘un-Islamic’ act.”
— Pakistan Taliban whip teen girl
— In Pak, Taliban flog 17-yr-old girl for ‘misbehaviour’
— Flogging video shakes Pakistan peace accord
—- “Pakistani authorities ordered inquiries Friday into a video showing the public flogging of a screaming woman in a northwestern valley where officials have yielded to Taliban demands for Islamic law”
— The Pakistani Spectator states “Don’t Criticize Islamic Punishments” – by Haris Hashmi
— regarding Taliban whipping of 17 year old girl
— The Pakistani Spectator: “Flogging and canning the males and females
according to the Shariah Law is very much right and we cannot call it ‘barbaric’
or such thing. That is equivalent to insult the Islam and to negate its teachings.”

Pakistani Taliban defends flogging, says Sharia permits it
— Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan: “the punishment awarded to the woman was just as she was of loose character”
— Khan: “No one would be allowed to interfere in Sharia (Islamic law) and if
any man or woman commits sin, we will punish them according to Sharia.”
— “He termed the video played in the media Friday ‘as fake and said
we will punish the man who filmed the video whenever we catch him'”
http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-16039.html
— Unrepentant Taliban say 17-yr-old ‘flogged’ girl should have actually been ‘stoned to death’
— Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan: “The actual punishment for
adultery was stoning to death. However, as there were no Qazis at that time, the girl was awarded punishment of 40 lashes”
http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-15964.html
http://www.geo.tv/4-4-2009/39039.htm

Man who made Swat flogging video speaks to Dawn News
— “Shaukat is the only eye-witness who has come forward and spoken
to Dawn News about the incident. He claimed that the incident took place two weeks ago.”
— “Shaukat said the allegation against and the treatment meted out to the girl
was actually a punishment against her for refusing a marriage proposal.”
— “The man who proposed to marry her joined the ranks of the Taliban after
the rejection and this was how he took his revenge from the 17-year-old girl”
— “When asked about the reaction of the people who had witnessed the
whole episode, Shaukat said the people in Swat are so scared that no one has
the courage to stand up and speak out against the Taliban and their verdicts.”

Chand is not the only Swat woman victim
— “the Taliban spokesman in Swat who defended the public flogging in several
interviews on Friday is also named Muslim Khan. He apparently mixed up the two incidents of public lashing of women in Swat on Taliban orders by saying that the girl videotaped during her canning was convicted of having illicit relations with her father-in-law. That incident happened in Ser-Taligram village in Charbagh tehsil while the videotape is of the girl belonging to Kala Killay in Kabal area.”

Canadian Woman Fears “Honor Killing”

Roohi Tabassum: ‘In 3 weeks I will be put to my death’ – Deportee fears honour killing
— “A Mississauga woman says she’ll be the victim of an honour killing by her
estranged husband, a Muslim extremist, when she’s deported to Pakistan at the end of the month.”
— “Roohi Tabassum, 44, says Faisal Javed, a businessman and Sunni community
leader, will be waiting for her in their native Pakistan when she’s sent back on April 28.”
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/04/03/8986241-sun.html#/news/torontoandgta/2009/04/01/pf-8968501.html

Afghanistan: Women Flee as Taliban Laws Return

Women choose exile as Taliban laws return
— “The first Afghan woman to appear on television after
the fall of the Taliban has fled the country, saying it is too
dangerous, as her husband was shot dead outside their house”
— “They told him, ‘You pimp, letting your wife on TV. If you’re a
real man you’ll beat her and kick her and take her back to Khost’.”

Women’s Rights Threatened by Talks with Taliban

Overtures to Taliban endanger women’s rights: activist
— Orzala Ashraf of the Afghans Women’s Network: “It was very disappointing to
hear the president of Afghanistan and most of the speakers this morning not
discussing the importance of women’s rights enough, when it comes to the reconciliation part of Afghanistan’s development”