Palestinian Report on “Honor Killing” Strangulation of Child in West Bank
— Maan News Report: “According to the report, it was recorded last month, deaths and one against the background of the so-called family honor, took place in the West Bank and were as follows:”
— “On citizenship, the child died 30.9.2009 (E.. G. A. P) and aged 16, from Beit Oula village governorate of Hebron, was killed by strangulation by handkerchief, has been converted into the body by the public prosecutor and the police to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for autopsies to determine cause of death, according to information the Commission has recognized the mother to kill her for her daughter against the backdrop of the so-called family honor.”
Category: Childrens Rights Matter
Save Children Now
“Egyptian Police Arrest Christian Father for Attempting to Free Kidnapped Daughter”
— AINA reports: “Egyptian Police Arrest Christian Father for Attempting to Free Kidnapped Daughter”
— “At dawn on Saturday, October 3, 2009, Egyptian State Security forces arrested a group of Christian Copts in different parts of the city in Alexandria, after severely assaulting them in front of their neighbors. Their wives were also arrested, but because of intense objection protests by neighbors at the way they were handled and of the screams of their terrified children, they were released. The men who were arrested are relatives of Rafaat Girges Habib, a man who helped a Coptic father free his kidnapped daughter from her Muslim husband’s home. The arrests continued until Habib turned himself in to the police.”
— “Egypt4Christ, based in Alexandria, reported that what started this incident was a telephone call on September 30 from Myrna, the only daughter of Coptic accountant Gamal Labib Hanna, in which she begged him to come and save her from her Muslim husband, Mohamad Hefnawy.”
— “Myrna was abducted 10 months ago, forced to convert to Islam and married by a ‘customary marriage contract’ by Osama Hefnawy to his son Mohammad. Being 19 years old at the time, Myrna was under-age for a girl to be married. According to Islamic Sharia a woman cannot get married before she reaches the age of 21 years; she can only get married before through a mandate from her father or uncles alone. Those requirements can be waived for the benefit of a non-relative only through a court ruling, which was not obtained in Myrna’s case.”
— “On their way to free his daughter, the father, together with his brother and brother-in-law, passed by a cafe near St. George’s Church, Sidi Bishr, where Rafaat Girges Habib, a plumber who has done jobs in the father’s home, volunteered to accompany them to bring Myrna back.”
— “As they went to the apartment where Myrna was held, they were met by Osama Hefnawy, father of Mohamed and five other Muslims, who threatened them. A struggle ensued, and Myrna left with her father. She was taken away to an establishment dealing with abduction cases like hers, especially that it was found out that she was six months pregnant.”
— “Osama Hefnawy immediately filed a report with the police and the State Security Headquarters in Al-Farana, Alexndri downtown. Myrna’s paternal uncles were arrested and charged with abduction, together with her father. Myrna’s family apartment was broken into and the shop of Rafaat Girges Habib was completely demolished by the police.”
— “Myrna’s father was forced to go to the police station to negotiate the release of his relatives and ‘for matters to be resolved amicably’ as he was told by Lieutenant Ahmed Mekki, of the Police Department of Investigation, who contacted him on his cell phone.”
— “Myrna’s uncles were forced to go and bring her back to the police station, where she was handed over to Osama Hefnawy. In addition the police took the necessary commitments from her relatives not to harass him. Coptic father Labib was released Friday morning.”
— “Lawyers reported to Egypt4Christ that the arrested Copts were tortured and their clothes were smeared with blood, especially Romany, brother of Rafaat Girges Habib.”
Michigan Report: “Muslim Teen Violently Attacked in Michigan”
“Muslim Teen Violently Attacked in Michigan”
— New American Media news reports:
— “A 16-year-old Iraqi-American girl was violently attacked last week resulting in numerous injuries that required six stitches on her face, reports The Arab American News.”
— “According to the news report, the girl, who has requested anonymity, was returning from her first day of high school when she was grabbed and had her hijab pulled off as she was getting off the school bus. The news report says that an argument had erupted on the bus prior to the attack, but the bus driver believed it had been settled. The five-to-seven student attackers, allegedly made expletive remarks about Arabs and told her “Arabs are dirty” as they attacked her, finally dragging her near the front of her home.”
Yemen: Child-bride, 12, dies in Yemen after struggling to give birth for three days – Fawziya Abdullah Youssef
Yemen: Child-bride, 12, dies in Yemen after struggling to give birth for three days – Fawziya Abdullah Youssef
— “Youssef was only 11 when her father married her to a 24-year-old man who works as a farmer in Saudi Arabia, Ahmed al-Quraishi”
Jordan: ‘Honor killing’: brother on murder charge
Jordan: ‘Honour killing’: brother on murder charge
— AFP reports: “A Jordanian youth has been charged with premeditated murder after allegedly stabbing to death his divorced teenage sister because she ‘knew many men’, police said.”
— “The suspect, 18, ‘stabbed to death his 17-year-old divorced sister with a kitchen knife'”
— “Murder is punishable by the death penalty in Jordan, but in the case of so-called ‘honour killings,’ a court usually commutes or reduces sentences, particularly if the victim’s family urges leniency.”
Canada – Mississauga “honor killing”: “Father, brother to stand trial in girl’s killing”
(Canada) Mississauga: “Father, brother to stand trial in girl’s killing”
— Toronto Star Reports:
— “A Mississauga father and son have been ordered to stand trial next year in a slaying that has attracted international attention.”
— “Justice George Gage today decided there was enough evidence for Muhammad Parvez, now 59, and his son Waqas, now 28, to be tried for the planned and pre-meditated slaying of Aqsa Parvez. They were both committed to trial on a charge of first-degree murder in the strangulation death of Aqsa Parvez.”
— “The 16-year-old student at Applewood Heights Secondary School died on Dec. 10, 2007. Aqsa, known to her friends as “Axa” was the youngest of eight children in the family, which immigrated from Pakistan.”
— “The killing, which some have described as a carefully planned honour killing while others say was a horrible case of uncontrollable domestic violence continues to be the subject of world-wide Internet discussion involving a clash of Western and Middle Eastern cultures.”
— “Evidence presented at the lengthy preliminary hearing and the reasons behind Justice Gage’s decision remain under a court-ordered publication ban.”
— December 14, 2007: Teen’s slaying sparks ‘honour killing’ debate
— See also:
— August 6, 2009: Canada: Reports state Mississauga-based group promotes speaker who praises suicide bombers, condemns democracy
Saudi Arabia: “Save the child bride”
(Saudi Arabia) “Save the child bride”
— “I would have thrown away the Declaration of Human Rights in the wastepaper basket, torn off my clothes and gone into the street like Tarzan — it seems the world has turned into a jungle in which a father is willing to offer his child to a man in his 80s. It is totally disheartening that society is looking at this tragedy as a personal affair and questioning how they can object when the father has given his consent?”
Saudi Child Bride Turned Back Over to 80-Year-Old Husband
Saudi Child Bride Turned Back Over to 80-Year-Old Husband
— “A Saudi Arabian father forced his 10-year-old daughter to return to her 80-year-old husband Sunday, after she was found hiding at the home of her aunt for 10 days, Arab News reported.”
— “The young girl’s husband, who denies he is 80 despite family claims, accused the aunt of violating the terms of his marriage, allowed by Sharia Law.”
— “”My marriage is not against Sharia. It included the elements of acceptance and response by the father of the bride,” he told a local newspaper.”
Nigeria: Thirteen-year-old forced to watch Pastor hacked to death in Boko Haram deadly violence
Nigeria: Thirteen-year-old forced to watch Pastor hacked to death in Boko Haram deadly violence
— Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports: “A thirteen-year-old Nigerian Christian has told Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) sources how she was forced to watch her pastor’s murder, and has also spoken of her four-day ordeal as a prisoner in the besieged compound of Islamist group, Boko Haram.”
— “On 26 July, Mary was in church with her pastor, his brother and an older Christian woman when a group of fifty militants broke in. She and her pastor hid as the group killed the pastor’s brother and dragged the older woman out of the room. On discovering their hiding place, the militants cut off her pastor’s hand to stop him holding on to her, then hacked him to death with machetes before setting him on fire.”
Pakistan: Christians Burned to Death (including women and children), Mob Burns Houses, Church in Punjab’s Gojra – Korian Area
Compass reports: “Pakistan – Christians Burned to Death in Islamist Attacks”
— “14 believers reportedly killed; more than 100 homes burned in Gojra town, Korian village”
— “extremists today set ablaze more than 50 houses and a church in this town in northeastern Pakistan following an accusation of ‘blasphemy’ of the Quran, leaving at least 14 Christians dead, sources said.”
— “The dead include women and children, with several other burn victims unable to reach hospitals for medical care, according to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement.”
— “The attack came amid a protest by thousands of Muslim Islamists — including members of banned militant groups — that resulted in another six people dying when participants shot at police and officers responded with tear gas and gunfire.”
— “The same rumor of desecration of the Quran that led to today’s massive protest and attack in Gojra, 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Faisalabad, also prompted an arson assault on Thursday (July 30) by extremists on the village of Korian, seven miles from Gojra, that gutted 60 houses.”
— “Punjab Minister for Law Rana Sanaullah reportedly said an initial investigation of allegations of the Quran being blasphemed indicated ‘there has not been any incident of desecration.'”
Daily Telegraph reports: “Pakistan faces Christian protest after eight people ‘burned alive'”
— “Missionary schools across Pakistan closed on Monday in a three day protest against the deaths of up to seven Christians who were burned alive in clashes with Muslims”
— “Two children – a brother and sister aged six and 13 – their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were among those killed in violence that broke out in Gojra in Punjab province on Saturday”
— “One report said that six Christians died in flames, while two were killed by gunshots”
— “Muslims torched Christians’ homes following unsubstantiated allegations some of them had desecrated the Koran. Some 40 homes were burned down.”
— “Paramilitary troops and other security forces were patrolling the city Monday.”
— “Gojra is in Pakistan’s Faisalabad region, which is dotted with hard-line Islamist schools.”
— “Government officials have said preliminary investigations showed there was no desecration of the Koran and that a ‘rumour’ was being exploited by anti-state elements to create chaos.”
— “‘Christian schools will remain closed for three days from today to mourn the death of innocent people in Gojra,’ said Bishop Sadiq Daniel, head of the Church of Pakistan diocese in Karachi and southwestern Baluchistan province. ‘There is no proof of blasphemy, but if someone has done that he, and not the entire community, should be punished.'”
— “Desecration of the Koran is punishable by death in Pakistan.”
— “While Christian schools and colleges in Punjab are largely closed for summer vacation, they were set to reopen in Pakistan’s biggest city of Karachi on Monday.”
— “Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim country and religious minorities, including Christians, account for roughly 4 percent of the 170 million population.”
Dawn reports: Negligence of officials blamed for Gojra riots
— “They protested against attacks on their houses and burning alive of seven members of their community by a mob”
— “Violence had broken out in a Gojra village on Thursday after an alleged incident of desecration of the Holy Quran during a wedding ceremony”
— “The arrested men include Qari Abdul Khaliq Kashmiri, a leader of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan”
Pakistan Daily Times reports: Sipah Sahaba “used acid and petrol bombs to destroy property and kill Christian women and children, while the local government and police simply did nothing”
—- but Pakistan Daily Times does not condemn blasphemy law
Times of India reports: 9 killed in communal violence in Pakistan’s Punjab province
— “Hundreds of Muslims gathered this morning and marched towards Christian homes at Azafi Abadi village, 160 km from Lahore. Witnesses said at least three persons were killed and some others injured when police fired at a mob that was trying to forcibly enter the homes of Christians”
— “A mob had on Friday burnt over 70 houses of Christians at Azafi Abadi over an alleged incident of desecration of the Quran. Muslims set on fire another 15 houses of Christians on Saturday.”
Initial Report – July 31, 2009 – from UCAN:
Pakistan – Report of Mob Burning Christian Homes for Alleged “Blasphemy”
