Category: Women’s Rights Matter

Gaza: Woman Killed in al-Shati Refugee Camp to “Maintain Family Honor”

Gaza: Woman Killed in al-Shati Refugee Camp to “Maintain Family Honor”
— Palestinian group reports:
— “On Friday afternoon, 27 November 2009, Rifqa Ghazi ‘Abdullah Salama, 29, from al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City, was killed allegedly ‘to maintain family honor.’ ”
— “According to police sources in al-Shati, at approximately 13:30 on Friday, 27 November 2009, the woman’s brother, two uncles and two cousin strangled her using a wet towel while she was sleeping at home near Hmaid intersection in al-Shati refugee camp.  The police initiated an investigation into the murder and arrested the 5 accused persons.  Initial investigations indicate that the woman was killed allegedly to ‘maintain family honor.’ ”

swn

UK – Tulay Goren “Honor Killing” Trial: Prosecution Says Accused Lying About Not Killing Tulay Goren

UK – Tulay Goren “Honor Killing” Trial: The three brothers accused of killing Tulay Goren are lying, Old Bailey jury told

Waltham Forest Guardian reports:

— “THREE brothers accused of killing a teenager in a so-called honour killing are lying to escape jail, a court heard.”

— “Tulay Goren, 15, disappeared from her home in Glastonbury Avenue, Woodford Green, in January 1999.”

— “The teenager’s father Mehmet Goren, 49, of Navestock Crescent, Woodford Green, and her uncles Ali Goren, of Brettenham Road, Walthamstow and Cuma Goren, of Evesham Avenue, Walthamstow, all deny murder.”

— “At the Old Bailey today, Jonathan Laidlaw, summing up the proscution case, said all three men were lying to try to escape conviction.”

— “He reminded the jury that Tulay’s mother had told the court that Ali was the most senior member of the family and fed and clothed Memet’s family both in Turkey and the UK, yet Ali denied being involved in Mehmet’s family’s affairs.”

Tulay Goren
Tulay Goren

Columbus, Ohio – Rifqa Bary Case: “Runaway convert told to talk religion with Muslim parents”

“Runaway convert told to talk religion with Muslim parents”
AP reports:
— “A case-management plan filed Monday said Rifqa Bary and her parents should hear what each has to say about Islam and Christianity as a step toward a possible reunification.”
— “But the plan, written by Margaret Shirk, a Franklin County Children Services Board caseworker, also said ‘severe differences’ exist between the 17-year-old girl and her parents over what led Rifqa to run away to Florida over the summer.”
— “The girl has said she feared her father would harm or kill her for leaving Islam. Her father has denied the claim.”

— Plan offers way to reunite runaway teen convert and family

— Religious rift still keeping Rifqa, parents apart
— Columbus Dispatch: “Everyone involved in the Rifqa case, including Children Services employees, is under a gag order. O’Leary spoke in general terms about case plans.”
— “A caseworker developed the plan with Rifqa and her parents, but only Children Services workers signed it. Rifqa and her parents disagree with the plan, and so does the guardian the court appointed for her, according to the paperwork filed with the court on Monday.”

Rifqa Bary, 17 - reports say she is threatened with death by her family in Ohio for converting from Islam to Christianity
Rifqa Bary, 17 - reports say she is threatened with death by her family in Ohio for converting from Islam to Christianity

Sudan: 50 lashes for a minor Christian in Sudan to “wearing a skirt”

AP reports:
— “A 16-year-old Christian girl from southern Sudan said Friday she was lashed 50 times for wearing a skirt deemed indecent by the authorities in the north who enforce a strict version of Islamic law. The girl, Silva Kashif, said she was arrested by a plainclothes police officer in a Khartoum market last week for wearing a skirt that fell below her knees. She was convicted of offending public morality and received 50 lashes in the courtroom. Ms. Kashif’s ordeal follows the high-profile case of Lubna Hussein, a female journalist who was sentenced to 40 lashes for wearing trousers deemed indecent.”

Translated report from Al-Arabiya:
— “Lawyer said a girl from southern Sudan and her family, Friday, 27/11/2009, said the girl whipped with 50 lashes because they wore a skirt a judge ruled it obscene, and in the latest issue highlights the application of Islamic law in Sudan.”
— “…the girl’s mother detector Silva, aged 16 years, it intends to sue the police who arrested her daughter and the judge who issued the verdict, adding that her daughter, a minor and a Christian.”
— “The Douro, which her family hails from the town of Yambio, southern Sudan, said her daughter was arrested while on the way to the market near her home in the suburb of Kalakla in Khartoum last week.”
— “She added that her little girl but the policeman pulled in the market as if it were a criminal and that this is true, and pointed out that Silva was taken to court where Kalakla convicted and punished by the police before a judge.”

Canada: “Don’t dismiss honor killing claim: judge” — Roohi Tabassum case

Canada: “Don’t dismiss honour killing claim: judge” — Roohi Tabassum case
National Post reports:
— “A Federal Court judge has ordered the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration to consider the credibility of a woman’s claim that she will be the victim of an “honour killing” if deported to her home country of Pakistan.”
— “Justice Michael Kelen found that an immigration officer reviewing evidence in the case of Roohi Tabassum, a 44-year-old Mississauga hair stylist who has been fighting to stay in Canada since 2001, made a mistake by characterizing as “not threatening” letters purportedly from Ms. Tabassum’s husband in which he promised to “finish” Ms. Tabassum if she returned to Pakistan.”

— Canada immigration, discrimination of honour

— April 7, 2009: Refugee fears death in Pakistan

Roohi Tassabum Roohi Tabassum (photo: Aaron Harris / Toronto Star)
Roohi Tassabum Roohi Tabassum (photo: Aaron Harris / Toronto Star)

R.E.A.L. reports:

Canada: ‘Landmark case’ of Pakistani woman facing honor killing — Roohi Tabassum

Canada: She can stay, for now — Roohi Tabassum “Faces possible honour killing if deported to Pakistan”

Canadian Woman Fears “Honor Killing”

Pakistan: Horrific Violence Against Women Continues – 4,514 Cases in First Half of 2009 – “Honor Killings,” Acid Attacks, Other Violence Rampant

— The News: “4,514 incidents come to light in first half of 2009”
— “Presenting the report findings, Arifa Mazhar said among the total violence cases, 691 were cases of murder, 293 cases of honour killing, 1,046 cases of abduction, 332 cases of domestic violence, 388 cases of suicide and 466 cases of rape and gang rape. There were 1,086 cases of miscellaneous nature, which included ‘vanni’, ‘swara’, custodial violence, torture, trafficking, child marriages, incest, threat to violence, attempted murder, and sexual harassment.”
— “Indicating that the tradition is still alive in our society, the list also includes 37 most horrific cases of stove burning. Research shows that major motives behind stove burning are demand of dowry and divorce and other domestic conflicts. Around 27 cases of acid throwing were also reported in the first half of the year, with 21 of them occurring in Punjab.”
— “Arifa said out of the total 3,067 incidents of violence in Punjab, there were 901 cases of abduction and kidnapping, 393 of murder, 119 of honour killing, 412 of rape and gang rape, 253 of suicide, 129 of sexual assault, 24 of stove burning, and 21 cases of acid throwing.”
— “In Sindh, out of the total 835 incidents, there were 132 cases of honour killing, 135 of murder, 79 of abduction and kidnapping, 103 of suicide, 19 of rape and gang rape, 75 of domestic violence, 18 of sexual assault, eight of stove burning and six cases of acid throwing.”

Arizona Noor Almaleki “Honor Killing”: Father Pleads “Not Guilty” in Murdering Daughter

— Arizona Republic: “Glendale father accused in ‘honor killing’ pleads not guilty”
— “An Iraqi immigrant has pleaded not guilty to charges that he killed his daughter, claiming she had become ‘too Westernized.’ ”
— “Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, is accused of running over his daughter, 20-year-old Noor Almaleki, and another woman in a Peoria parking lot in October. His daughter later died of her injuries.”
— “Almaleki was arraigned in Maricopa County Superior Court Monday morning. He previously missed two scheduled arraignment hearings because he was under suicide watch in a county jail.”
— “Prosecutors have labeled Noor Almaleki’s death an ‘honor killing,’ saying the elder Almaleki killed his daughter because she dishonored the family by not following traditional Iraqi or Muslim values.”

20 Year Old Noor Almaleki - Died on November 2, 2009 - A Victim of An Ideological Violence Against Women
20 Year Old Noor Almaleki - Died on November 2, 2009 - A Victim of An Ideological Violence Against Women