Day: March 6, 2010

DC: Women’s Day Public Awareness Event – Georgetown

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) plans to hold a public awareness street corner event in Washington DC’s Georgetown on Saturday March 6 from 4 to 6 PM regarding women’s human rights, in recognition of International Women’s Day on March 8.  The event will be held on the corner in front of the PNC Bank at 1201 Wisconsin Avenue, on the corner of Wisconsin and M Streets NW.

Join our sisters in support of:

— Call for an End to Rape as Weapon of War and Violence against Women!
— Over 1,000 women raped per month in the Congo – destroying families!
— Help now at GabkulFoundation.org

— Demand Constitutional Equality for all American Women in the United States!
— Call for Your Legislators and State Govt to Support the Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.)!
— See ERA NOW Web Site at http://bit.ly/eranow

— Educate Others on the Continuing Plight of “Honor Killings,” Stonings, and Religious Extremist Hate and Violence against Women!
— DVD of “The Stoning of Soraya M” on March 9!
— Find Out More at RealCourage.org

Share our flier with others!

We will be addressing challenges to women’s rights issues around the world, including violence and hate against women in the United States and the world, the crimes against women in the Congo, the Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.) still not ratified in the United States to ensure Constitutional equality for women in America, religious extremist oppression of women around the world, honor killings and stonings of women, and Communist oppression of women in China.

Washington DC's Georgetown: Corner of Wisconsin and M Streets NW
Washington DC's Georgetown: Corner of Wisconsin and M Streets NW

Logistics for Georgetown Public Awareness Event
— Georgetown Site – 1201 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, DC 20007-3221 – in front of PNC Bank (aka Farmers and Mechanics)
— (Note PNC Bank: closes Saturday at 4:00)
— click on link for “street view”
— Transportation by Car: There is a Colonial Parking Lot at 3222 M St. NW – Shops at Georgetown Park — allow plenty of time for parking, or prepare to be “dropped off” – don’t count on any streetside parking.  The lot is essentially half a block away (north) from PNC Bank event location
— Transportation by Subway: Good 15-20 minute walk. Take subway to Foggy Bottom Metro Stop (same stop we used for April 4 Lincoln Memorial rally)

Walking Directions from Foggy Bottom (click for map)

1. Exit station through FOGGY BOTTOM METRO STATION entrance.
2. Walk approx. 1 block N on 23rd St NW.
3. Turn left on Washington Circle NW.
4. Walk approx. 1 block W on Washington Circle NW.
5. Bear left on Pennsylvania Ave NW.
6. Walk approx. 4 blocks NW on Pennsylvania Ave NW.
7. Bear left on M St NW.
8. Walk approx. 3 blocks W on M St NW.

Buffalo “Honor Killing” Beheading Trial: Muzzammil Hassan Plans “Psychiatric Defense,” September Trial

Buffalo area media report on the trial preparations of Muzzammil Hassan who beheaded his wife Aasiya in February 2009, in what many believe to be an “honor killing.” Attorneys for Muzzammil Hassan are now planning a “psychiatric defense” for the former owner of Bridges TV.  His trial is currently scheduled for September 2010.

Aasiya Zubair Hassan - Suspected Victim of "Honor Killing" in Buffalo, NY
Aasiya Zubair Hassan - Suspected Victim of "Honor Killing" in Buffalo, NY

WVIB reports “Man seeks court psych defense
Muzzammil Hassan accused of beheading his wife”
— “Attorneys for an Orchard Park man accused of beheading his wife want to pursue a psychiatric defense.”
— “They’re asking the courts to give their client, 44-year-old Muzzammil Hassan, access to his bank accounts to pay for experts.”
— “Investigators said Hassan beheaded his wife, Aasiya, in February of 2009.”
— “Her body was found at the studios of Bridges Television, a Muslim TV network that the couple operated.”
— ” ‘The reality is that based on his name, based on the color of his skin, and based on the fear and the panic of all Americans of terrorists and Muslims. This man’s got a difficult time as it is,’ Hassan’s Attorney, Julie Atti Rogers explained.”
— “Jury selection could get underway in September.”

Buffalo News reports “Hassan lawyers eye psych defense”
— “Attorneys for Muzzammil S. ‘Mo’ Hassan Friday said the media and public have misconstrued Hassan’s actions in the beheading of his estranged wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan.”
— “Many have wrongly come to regard Hassan as an Islamic terrorist, and the general public is suffering from ‘Islamophobia,’ defense attorneys Julie Atti Rogers and Frank M. Bogulski said after a court appearance Friday.”
— “Hassan is ‘a nonpracticing Muslim,’ Rogers said, while Bogulski stressed that Hassan ‘doesn’t pray five times a day’ as an obedient Muslim would.”
— “Hassan, 44, is accused of killing and beheading his 37-year-old wife on Feb. 12, 2009, soon after she began divorce proceedings against him.”
— “Erie County Judge Thomas P. Franczyk has scheduled a May 4 hearing to consider defense challenges to an alleged confession Hassan made to Orchard Park police about an hour after his wife was killed in the office of their Bridges cable television station.”
— “During a brief court session Friday, Franczyk kept in place his order barring a psychiatric defense for Hassan, but he agreed to reconsider if Hassan’s attorneys file motions in coming months.”
— “Bogulski recently claimed that the victim drove her husband into an uncontrollable homicidal rage, and he and Rogers said Friday they are confident they can convince the judge of the propriety of their defense strategy. They acknowledged they need the court-approved release of some of Hassan’s funds to finance their effort.”
— “The defense attorneys said they will go to Erie County Surrogate’s Court on Tuesday to fight for the release of money from Hassan’s bank accounts to pay for his proposed psychiatric defense.”
— “The two attorneys also said they will begin court action to try to get Hassan’s two children returned from Pakistan, where they were taken by Aasiya Zubair Hassan’s relatives.”
— “Hassan fears the children ‘will be radicalized’ in Pakistan, Bogulski said.”

Trial in NY decapitation killing now likely Sept.
— AP reports: “The founder of an Islam-oriented television station who’s accused of beheading his wife will likely be tried in September after a change of lawyers added to delays.”
— “Muzzammil ‘Mo’ Hassan (moo-ZAHM’-mel moh HAH’-sahn) was arrested in February 2009 and charged with second-degree murder following the death of Aasiyah (AH’-see-ya HAH’-sahn) Hassan in the studios of Bridges TV near Buffalo.”
— “Since then, various factors, including wrangling over his assets in surrogate court, have slowed progress toward trial. An initial January date was moved to March. During a brief court session Friday, the judge said it’s now likely the trial won’t be until September. Hassan recently fired his lawyer and hired two others with a different strategy.”

Related Reports:

— January 22, 2010: Buffalo Beheading Case: Muzzammil Hassan Attorney to Claim Murder of Wife “Was Justified”
— October 30, 2009: Buffalo Beheading “Honor Killing” Trial: Muzzammil S. “Mo” Hassan “gets more time to pay for psychiatric expert”
— August 8, 2009: Man accused of killing wife to get mental examination — Lawyers may seek insanity defense
— March 7, 2009: NY NOW President Stands by Statement on Killings
— February 17, 2009: Buffalo: Possibility of ‘honor killing’ mulled in Orchard Park slaying

Muzzammil S. "Mo" Hassan -- Accused of Honor Killing Beheading of Wife Aasiya Zuair Hassan
Muzzammil S. "Mo" Hassan -- Accused of Honor Killing Beheading of Wife Aasiya Zuair Hassan

Congo women taught to take rape cases to court

SOS Children’s Villages reports:
— “Rape victims in the south east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, can usually be paid off with five goats and some money to forget an act. This is why, in a six month drive to re-shape attitudes towards the crime, United Nations staff are telling women they can go to court. One of the stops on the campaigns tour is the village of Mwitwobe in Katanga province. There about 100 men and women gathered to hear UN human rights workers tell them about their rights in cases of sexual violence.’Rape is a crime. It is important for you to break your silence and denounce it,’ said the UN’s Ashraf Sebbabi, who works for the organisation’s human rights division in Congo.”
— “In 2008, some 1,200 cases of rape were reported in the nations Katanga province, which is the same size as France. ‘I’d like to know if you know that sexual violence is punishable by law in the DRC,’ Sebbabi asked Mwitwobe villagers. Rapists, in the West African country can be sentenced to terms of five to 20 years in prison or to life, if the victim dies because of the assault, according to the Congolese Penal Code in his hand. But even though it is illegal to come to an arrangement when a rape case is brought, the Congolese traditionally settle of sexual assault cases through their own customs. Also, a victim’s parents can force the rapist to marry her, after having been compensated both in kind and in cash. These kind of arrangements also bring the added problem that they can encourage rapists to rape again. ‘Here, you pay money, five goats, a rush mat and a loincloth to purify the image of the girl who has been dishonoured,’ a young man told Associated Press news agency.”