Australia: Jordanian Refugee jailed for strangling ‘too Australian’ wife
— The Age reports: “A man who killed his wife by using her veil to strangle her in their Melbourne home did so in the belief he was entitled to dominate her, a Supreme Court judge has found.”
— “Soltan Azizi was today sentenced to 22 years’ jail by Justice Betty King, who said the Afghani refugee had been physically abusive towards Marzieh Rahimi throughout their 14-year marriage.”
Month: April 2010
Pakistan: Reports on Axe Murder of Rasheed Masih for Refusing to Convert to Islam
Pakistan Christian Post: “CLAAS reveals facts about Brutal Murder of Rasheed Masih with axes by four Muslims”
— COMPASS report: “Rival merchants threatened to kill potato seller if refused to convert to Islam.”
Pakistan: Extremist lawmakers Object to Domestic Violence Law for Women’s Rights
R.E.A.L. summarizes reports on a new proposed domestic violence bill in Pakistan, opposition to it, and reports on domestic violence in Pakistan. In August 2009, a similar bill was reportedly “passed” by the Pakistan National Assembly, but was rejected due to inaction by the Pakistan Senate and the rest of the Pakistan government by December 2009. In January 2010, the U.S. government announced plans for $7.5 billion in aid for Pakistan.
— April 8, 2010: AP reports: “Pakistan edges closer to banning domestic violence”
— after acid attack on her face, destroying her left eye, wife Zakia Perveen said “I just thought it was my destiny, my fate.”
— “Rights advocates hope a proposed law banning domestic violence will chip away at such attitudes, giving women a more even playing field and bringing Pakistan in line with a growing number of developing nations that have outlawed spousal abuse.”
— “But Islamist lawmakers in Parliament are objecting, claiming the law could tear apart the social fabric by undermining families.”
— “In 2008, there were at least 7,571 incidents of acid attacks, rapes, spousal beatings and other violence against women, according to The Aurat Foundation, a women’s rights group. Because the group relied mostly on media reports, the figure is likely a vast undercount.”
— “Other surveys have shown up to 80 percent of wives in rural parts of Pakistan fear physical violence from their husbands, while 50 percent of women in urban areas admit their husbands beat them, according to a 2009 U.S. State Department report on Pakistan.”
The February 1, 2010: Aurat Foundation – Statistics of violence against women in Pakistan in 2009. report states that:
“The number of cases of violence in different categories of offenses and their province-wise breakdown is as follows. There were:
— 1384 cases of murder:
(752 in Punjab; 288 in Sindh; 266 in NWFP; 39 in Balochistan; 39 in Islamabad);
— 604 cases of honor killing:
(245 in Punjab; 284in Sindh; 14 in NWFP; 59 in Balochistan; 2 in Islamabad);
— 1987 cases of abduction/kidnapping:
(1698 in Punjab; 160 in Sindh; 64 in NWFP; 13 in Balochistan; 52 in Islamabad);
— 608 cases of domestic violence:
(271 in Punjab; 134 in Sindh; 163 in NWFP; 22 in Balochistan; 18 in Islamabad);
— 683 cases of suicide:
( 448 in Punjab; 176 in Sindh; 43 in NWFP; 10 in Balochistan; 6 in Islamabad);
— 928 cases of rape/gang-rape:
(786 in Punjab; 122 in Sindh; 7 in NWFP; 4 in Balochistan; 9 in Islamabad);
— 274 cases of sexual assault:
(227 in Punjab; 44 in Sindh; 0 in NWFP; 2 in Balochistan; 1 in Islamabad);
— 50 cases of stove burning:
(33 in Punjab; 10 in Sindh; 4 in NWFP; 1 in Balochistan; 2 in Islamabad);
— 53 cases of acid throwing:
(42 in Punjab; 9 in Sindh; 1 in NWFP; 0 in Balochistan; 1 in Islamabad);
— 1977 cases of violence were of miscellaneous nature (vanni/swara, custodial violence, torture, trafficking, child marriages, incest, threat to violence, sexual harassment, attempted murder, suicide & rape) in the four provinces and Islamabad.”
A year ago, similar media reports stated efforts were in progress on a new domestic violence law in Pakistan. In August 2009, Dawn reported that a “private bill” on domestic violence had passed in the Pakistan National Assembly, which required approval by the Pakistan Senate. The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) in Pakistan has previously warned that a law against domestic violence will “push up divorce rates,” according to Dawn. But by December 25, 2009, ANI reported “the [Pakistan] Government has seemingly lost sight of it.” On December 25, 2009, ANI reported: “when the bill was sent to the Senate, Mohammad Khan Sheerani, of the JUI-F, raised some objections, leading to a deferment of hearing, and then the Government slept on the matter and now the bill has lapsed… to make it a law the Government was required to get the bill passed through the upper house within 90 days of its receipt.”
— In another report by Shirin Sadeghi, Pakistan group Women Protection Project’s Dr. Khola Iram states “When you talk about domestic violence in Pakistan, some men in the educated classes, for instance, say that women are not the ones who are dying, it’s the police officers, they are all males… They don’t consider citizen security as security of women also.”
— Shirin Sadeghi reports “Dr. Iram is subdued as she explains that Pakistan, a nation of over 90 million women and girls, does not have a domestic violence law.”
— Shirin Sadeghi also tells of how Pakistani women have been “married” to inanimate objects and even pigeons to save their inheritance. Shirin Sadeghi reports: “The concept of marrying a female family member to an inanimate object, such as the Koran, or an animal, is too often employed to ensure that the inheritance will never be lost. ‘We had a case in Bhawalpur where the lady was married to a pigeon just to save the inheritance. I mean, what kind of Islam is that?’ Dr. Iram says.”
— March 2009 report – Pakistan woman Irshaad asks: “Is it really a punishable crime to beat or scold one’s wife?” She says she is not beaten as often now that her husband has gotten sick.
— See also Google search on “domestic violence bill in Pakistan”
Other R.E.A.L. postings on Pakistan women:
March 11, 2010: U.S. State Department Human Rights Report on Women in Pakistan
Pakistan: 647 women killed in the name of ‘honor’ last year
Pakistan: Latest Honor Killing:How A Deleted Cellphone Video Led To Murder
Pakistan: Violence against women increases by 27 percent: official
Pakistan Women Acid Victims Seek Hope — Women “Treated Like Commodoties”
Pakistan: Man kills wife over ‘honor’
Slavery in Pakistan: “Girl sold in open auction”
Pakistan: Taliban kill two female teachers in Bajaur
Pakistan: Bombing in Peshawar Targets Women, Children
Pakistan: Acid burn victim seeks help to fight her misery
Pakistan: Suicide Attack Targets Women’s Cafeteria at Pakistan University
Pakistan — Karachi: “Man slays sister’s husband over honor” for being married
Pakistan: “Mother of nine killed over honor”
Pakistan: Top Pakistan university to ban kissing
Pakistan Federal Shariat Court acquits rape convict
Pakistan “Honor Killing”: “Bodies of couple found in well in Gadap Town”
Pakistan “Honor Killing” based on “Karo-Kari” — Kubra Bibi — mother of two, strangled
Pakistan: Human rights group hails new law for Pakistani women — PCC states it will “provides protection to working women at workplace from sexual advances and intimidation”
Pakistan Mob Tortures Women, Forces Them to Walk Naked in Public
Pakistan: “7 more girls escape from Women Crisis Centre” — fear to be killed by relatives
Pakistan: “Honor Killing” of Daughter and Boy
Pakistan: Suspected “Honor Killing” of Pregnant Wife, Two Teenage Daughters
Pakistan Christian Post: “Honor killing of 40 women in month of May, 2009, in Sindh”
Pakistan — 60-year-old woman charged with “blasphemy”
Pakistan “Honor Killing”: Bride’s family accused of double murder
Pakistan: Man kills cousin for ‘honor’
Pakistan: Jirga orders marrying off three minor girls
Pakistan: “Honour killings in Sindh rise in second quarter: report”
Pakistan: “122 cases of women being burnt were reported in Lahore”
Pakistan: Another “Honor Killing” of Eloped Couple — Barki
Pakistan “Honor killings”: Couple, including teenage bride, mother, sister murdered
Pakistan high court orders release of “honor killing” convict
Pakistan: 16 year old girl sold to 62 year old man
Pakistan: Wider cooperation stressed to fight women trafficking
Pakistan: ‘Violence against women on rise as perpetrators go scot-free’
Pakistan’s Lahore: Man kills sister in the name of ‘honor’ — in front of other family members
Pakistan: Update on Tasleem Solangi “honor-killing” case
Pakistan Karachi: When a woman’s right becomes a ‘sin’
Pakistan: Report on Al-Huda International – “Many girls have been ‘transformed’ by Ms Hashmi who now believe in limiting their existence to the four walls of the house”
Pakistan: “Karo-Kiri” used to justify so-called “honor killings”
Pakistan: woman forced to kidnap because of misogynist hate against women
Canada’s Roohi Tabassum “Faces possible honor killing if deported to Pakistan”
Pakistan: “Brother kills girl for honor”
Pakistan: Honor Killing in Pakistan takes lives of two men one woman
Pakistan: Female Pakistani Singer Killed In Peshawar — Ayman Udas
Pakistan: “honor killings” in Sindh
Pakistan: “Brother kills girl for honor”
Pakistan: Pashto female singer killed
Pakistan: Taliban gunmen shooting couple dead for adultery caught on camera
Pakistan: NWFP: Couple shot dead on jirga’s order – Kala Dhaka
Pakistan: Eloping Niece Murdered by Extremist Uncle Over “Honor”
Pakistan: Daughters Murdered by Extremist Father
Pakistan: Study Finds So-Called “Honor Killings” a Major Portion of Pakistan’s Homicides
Pakistan: Taliban whip 17 year old girl
Pakistan: Taliban destroy over 100 girls’ schools in Swat
Pakistan: Husband chops off wife’s nose on alleged infidelity
Pakistan woman asks – is it a crime for her husband to beat her?
Pakistan – Fear of death stalks women in Swat
Other R.E.A.L. postings on Pakistan religious minority women:
Pakistan: Pregnant woman killed for changing sect — from Sunni to Shia Islam
Pakistan: 25 Hindu girls abducted every month; forcibly converted to Islam
Pakistan Report: Christian Woman Raped, Tortured — Protests Denied
Pakistan: Report of Attack on Christian Family to Get Withdrawl of Rape Cape — Muneeran Bibi
Pakistan: Reports of Christian Girl Burnt Alive After Rape
Pakistan: Activists warn, the murder of a 12-year-old Christian girl could go unpunished
Pakistan: Violent Death of Girl in Pakistan Spurs Push for Justice
Pakistan’s Punjab: Christian Girl Attacked For Saying She’s Pakistani
Pakistan — ICC report on rape of Christian minority girl
Pakistan — ICC Report: “Pregnant Christian Dragged Naked through Pakistani Police Station”
Pakistan — Muslim Forces 12-year-old Girl to Convert, Marry Him
Pakistan: Lahore Christian woman threatened with “blasphemy” charge
Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) Urges End to “Palestinian Authority Glorification of Terror”
Israel – SWC to President Obama: Halt Palestinian Authority Glorification of Terror
— SWC: “For the second time in less than a month, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has moved to publicly glorify mass murderers of innocent Israeli civilians.”
— “Just today, a street next to a Presidential compound in Ramallah was renamed in honor of Yehiye Ayash, Hamas’ arch terrorist and chief bomb maker, whose advanced techniques of suicide bombing led to the murder and maiming of hundreds of innocent Israelis on buses and in bus depots throughout the State of Israel.”
— “Join the Simon Wiesenthal Center in urging President Obama, who has focused all of his recent demands on Israel, to immediately and publicly denounce the PA’s hypocritical and dangerous embrace of Hamas heroes.”
Virginia Governor Proclaims April as “Confederate History Month” to Praise of White Nationalists
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell proclaimed April as “Confederate History Month” initially without condemning slavery – a move that was met with support from the members of the “white nationalist hate group” Stormfront and Virginia “white nationalist hate groups”.
Update: Governor McDonnell has recanted, after criticism and after defending not including a condemnation of slavery in the initial proclamation, and has issued an update denouncing slavery as an “abomination” and not mentioning it as a mistake.
The members and supporters of “white nationalist hate groups” supporting Governor McDonnell’s proclamation for “Confederate History Month” speaks volumes about America: Stormfront, Virginia-based VDARE and their contributor Patrick Buchanan, commenters to the blog of Virginia Fairfax County headquartered American Renaissance, and Virginia-headquartered Occidental Dissent. Clearly there are a number of white nationalist hate groups” that seek Virginia’s new slogan to be viewed as “Virginia is for haters.”
At the the blog of Virginia Fairfax County headquartered American Renaissance, commenters defended the Civil War as merely the right of Southerners to govern themselves, and called the Civil War the “War of Northern Aggression.” One commenter “Herb” wrote at the Virginia-based American Renaissance: “I love to see the black leaders cringe when there is any celebrations of the Confederacy.”
Virginia’s Occidental Dissent leader stated: “I have come to dream about the glorious day when White Southerners wake up and sever our ties with these loathsome hypocrites forever… The Confederacy had the right idea in striking out on its own. Too bad we lost. I passionately despise our national government for similar reasons.” This is the same Virginia Occidental Dissent leader who on March 6, 2010 stated that he sought to commit a “hate crime,” using profanities and racial slurs about black Americans.
Virginia Governor McDonnell’s move was also popular with the “white nationalist hate group” Stormfront forum members.
One Stormfront forum member wrote “After living through a decade of attacks against the Confederate battle flag and school administrators suspending students who wear Dixie regalia, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) is, like a true Johnny Reb, fighting back.”
Another Stormfront forum member wrote “For 8 years we went without it, but its back again. Any WN [white nationalist] ought to consider themself [sic] a confederate – my people are from the North, but we all know where our allegiances would lie today.”
On March 29, 2010, Stormfront forum member Daniel Cowart pleaded guilty to a terrorist plot that sought to kill 102 Americans, including beheading 14 black Americans.
Initial Media Reports and Resources:
Washington Post: McDonnell’s Confederate History Month proclamation irks civil rights leaders
— Washington Post reports: “Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, reviving a controversy that had been dormant for eight years, has declared that April will be Confederate History Month in Virginia, a move that angered civil rights leaders Tuesday but that political observers said would strengthen his position with his conservative base.”
— “The two previous Democratic governors had refused to issue the mostly symbolic proclamation honoring the soldiers who fought for the South in the Civil War. McDonnell (R) revived a practice started by Republican governor George Allen in 1997. McDonnell left out anti-slavery language that Allen’s successor, James S. Gilmore III (R), had included in his proclamation.”
— Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s Web Site: Confederate History Month
— Dot.Comments: “Civil War, Confederacy, Virginia, McDonnell”
— “RealConservative” states: “This is not a question of left or right, conservative or liberal, black or white.The Confederacy is in the history books as a misguided and failed experiment and that is where it should remain.Treason and racism should not be honored…this is an insult to those who sacrificed for the ideals of Democracy and Justice for All.”
Related Reports by R.E.A.L:
August 28, 2009 – Virginia: Call for End to Racial Hate and Division at Robert E. Lee Memorial
We Have A Responsibility
— Jeffrey Imm in Arlington, Virginia: “We have a responsibility to challenge those who would use symbols of division to continue to spread hate and to challenge our shared values of equality and liberty. Reverend Timothy James of the Disciples of Christ recently stated that ‘for African Americans the confederate flag is a system of terror, oppression, separation, and racism.’ We shouldn’t need to be reminded of this. We have seen the use of the Confederate symbol of division used over and over again in our nation. We have seen the Confederate symbol of division used by the Ku Klux Klan. We have seen the Confederate symbol of division used by white supremacist organizations. Most recently, we have seen the Confederate symbol of division in the tragic terrorist attack in June on the Holocaust Memorial Museum. In Virginia and throughout our nation today, there are over 90 Neo-Confederate hate groups that use that symbol of our past divisions to spread hate and to attack our shared values of equality and liberty.”
DC: Witnesses Say Holocaust Memorial Museum Attacker Wore Confederate Soldier’s Cap
South Carolina: Confederate Flag Causes Christian Convention to Cancel
Minnesota — Report: “Old South Slavery Defender to Speak at Conference”
South Carolina: “Symbol connected to hate should be rejected”
South Carolina: ACC moves tourneys over Confederate flag dispute
Mississippi: The Tangled Web of Hate — Neo-Confederates and White Supremacism
Maryland: Halt to Distribution of Brochures with Confederate Flags in Schools
“Dear President Obama: Please Don’t Honor the Arlington Confederate Monument”
White Nationalist Hate Group Seeks to Take Away Women’s Voting Rights
— the Virginia-headquartered, white nationalist hate group Occidental Dissent today called for taking away the rights of women to vote in America in a report “Why Voting Should Be Male Only”
— the white nationalist Occidental Dissent group argues that “unlimited democracy with universal suffrage is a terrible idea, and largely responsible for the problems we face”
— the white nationalist group concludes that “regardless of the other failings of society, any state constructed in the future must restrict the vote to men only. A failure to do this will result in disaster.”
— see also screen shots of the Occidental Dissent white nationalist group calling for taking away women’s suffrage: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
— the mission of the white nationalist Occidental Dissent group is the “the creation of a Jew-free, racially exclusive White ethnostate in North America”
— the Occidental Dissent’s efforts have recently been praised by a group called “The Alternative Right,” whose members have included “VDARE friend” Richard Spencer and Youth for Western Civilization (YWC) leader Kevin DeAnna. Alternative Right’s Kevin DeAnna is also a Deputy Field Director with the “Leadership Institute.”
Both the Occidental Dissent and VDARE have been supporters of the “white nationalist hate group” American Renaissance (AmRen) to hold events in the Washington DC area; Alternative Right has also interviewed AmRen’s Jared Taylor to defend his views on “white nationalism.”
We urge all those who promote racial hate or misogyny to support our universal human rights. Choose Love, Not Hate. Love Wins.
Louisiana: May 3 is latest trial date in Ku Klux Klan (KKK) killing
Louisiana: May 3 is latest trial date in Ku Klux Klan (KKK) killing
— AP reports: “The latest trial date for the man charged with second-degree murder in the death of a would-be Ku Klux Klan recruit is May 3, according to the district attorney’s office in St. Tammany Parish.”
— “Raymond Foster of Washington Parish is the suspect in the November 2008 shooting death of Cynthia Lynch of Oklahoma.”
Ohio: Christian convert Rifqa Bary fights to stay in US
AP reports: “Ohio Christian convert fights to stay in US”
— AP reports: “A teenage girl who converted to Christianity and ran away from home is being blocked by her Muslim parents from fighting the possibility of deportation, her attorney told a judge Monday in an ongoing custody dispute.”
— “Rifqa Bary, 17, who fled home last year and stayed with a Florida minister whom she met on Facebook, is an illegal immigrant and does not want to be returned to her native Sri Lanka because she fears being harmed or killed by Muslim extremists.”
— “Her attorney, Angela Lloyd, asked a judge to sign an order stating that reunification with her parents is not possible by her 18th birthday in August.”
— “The order would allow Bary, who is in foster care, to apply for special immigration status without her parents’ consent.”
— “Omar Tarazi, an attorney for the parents, objected, telling the judge that he had been unaware of this latest maneuver by Bary’s attorney to apply to an immigration court. He said the parents previously filed an immigration application for the whole family.”
— “Franklin County Juvenile Court Judge Elizabeth Gill declined to issue the order without first holding a hearing next month. She also declined to remove a gag order that prevents attorneys from discussing the case publicly.”
— “Bary and her parents, Mohamed and Aysha Bary, have agreed to follow a counseling plan drawn up by a county child welfare agency to try to resolve the family’s conflict. It requires both sides to work with individual counselors and to try to attend join counseling.”
— “But a face-to-face meeting remains unlikely any time soon.”
— “Jim Zorn, a children’s services attorney, told the judge that Bary continues to believe that a reconciliation with her parents is impossible. Bary’s counselor has indicated that contact with her parents would be premature, he said.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty’s Activism in Columbus, Ohio for Rifqa Bary
Other R.E.A.L. Postings on Rifqa Bary
Rifqa Bary Case: Judge Dismisses Motion for Trial, Motion to Set Aside January 19 Agreement
Ohio — Rifqa Bary to parents: We’re done; Runaway convert says reconciliation impossible
Rifqa Bary Case: Agreement between Rifqa Bary, parents to settle conflict short-lived
Ohio — Rifqa Bary Case: Counseling next for Rifqa, family
Columbus, Ohio — Rifqa Bary Case: “Runaway convert told to talk religion with Muslim parents”
Columbus, Ohio: November 13 — R.E.A.L. Public Awareness Activities on Religious Freedom
R.E.A.L. Outreach to Public at CNN Washington DC on “Honor Killings”
Why Extremist Honor Killings Represent Ideological Violence Against Women
Ohio: Rifqa Bary returns to Columbus — Bary’s Internet, Phone Usage to be Monitored
Florida: Judge orders Fathima Rifqa Bary to return to Ohio
Rifqa Bary Case: Runaway Rifqa Bary could be one step closer to returning home
U.S. — CNN iReport Says Rifqa Bary Case Indicative of Human Rights Threats to Thousands
Florida: Updates on Rifqa Bary Case
Ohio: Columbus Dispatch — “Family of runaway files court complaint” — Rifqa Bary case
Florida: Fathima Rifqa Bary Case — Judge keeps girl in Florida, orders mediation
Florida: Rifaq Bary Case — Additional Reports
Florida: Judge says 17-year-old Christian convert Rifqa Bary must stay in Florida
Florida Governor’s Office Replies on Rifqa Bary Case
Florida: Ohio Girl Says Family Threatens to Kill Her for Converting from Islam to Christianity
R.E.A.L. at Ohio State University on “Honor Killings”
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Saudi Citizen’s Appeal on Sexual Abuse, False Imprisonment Conviction
Court won’t give Saudi citizen new trial — Homaidan Ali Al-Turki
— AP reports that Saudi Arabian citizen Homaidan Ali Al-Turki appeal to Supreme Court rejected; Al-Turki blamed anti-Muslim sentiment for his conviction
— AP: “He was convicted of false imprisonment, conspiracy, criminal extortion, theft and unlawful sexual contact.”
— “Al-Turki was convicted of sexually abusing his Indonesian housekeeper and paying her less than $2 per day.”
— “He complained that he wasn’t allowed to question a potential juror about potential anti-Muslim sentiment.”
— “Supreme Court refuses Muslim’s case about possible juror bias”
— Saudi Arabian government files amicus curiae brief in Al-Turki’s defense
— PDF file on Homaidan Ali Al-Turki’s case
— Saudi Arabian amicus curiae brief (PDF)
— Homaidan Ali Al-Turki’s Web Site
April 4 – We Remember… Dr. King’s Sacrifice
On April 4, 1968 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered – he was the ultimate individual “responsible for equality and liberty,” who gave his life for his nation, and for freedom itself.
On this day, April 4 – we ask all Americans, and all freedom loving people around the world – to take a moment – and say a prayer of thanks for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and imagine where our world would be today, without his love for all of us, and his courage to be responsible for equality and liberty.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “I Have A Dream”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Last Speech on April 3, 1968 – “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top”
