POEM FOR FARZANA PARVEEN, PREGNANT YOUNG WOMAN STONED TO DEATH IN PAKISTAN

- I am sorry Farzana your child could not see the Haven under your feet because it was killed in your womb with bricks when you were three months pregnant

- I am sorry Farzana you were killed by the followers of a religion that shocked the world 1400 years ago with the message “do not kill your daughters”

- Dear Farzana, I cannot stop thinking if you died from the pain from the bricks in your head or from the shock of seeing your brother and father pelting bricks on you ?

- I am sorry Farzana your Muslim family did not know that Islam allows an adult Muslim woman to marry with her own choice

- I am sorry Farzana there will be no mass protests for you in the streets of Pakistan by religious groups and political parties because you are not“the daughter of our nation”

- I am sorry Farzana that the 30 people who saw you being killed with stones did not come to help you in Lahore

- You know Farzana that most Lahoris would rush and get hurt to catch a kite if they see it falling

- But all of them saw you bleed to death but did not run to help you because it was your family’s private matter

- I am sorry Farzana that your brothers and father and cousins who stoned you to death will never get punished

- Because your murder is not a crime against the state – it is a crime against your family

- I am sorry to tell you Farzana that even if your mother files a case against your father she will be emotionally blackmailed to forgive her husband and sons and your case will be closed for ever under Qisas and Dyat law

- I am sorry Farzana no one will call you a Shaheed and no one will put flowers on your unnamed hole of a grave

- I am sorry Farzana that you were a woman in Pakistan where the laws and police protect the big and strong politicians when they go to visit their own villages

- I am sorry Farzana that the police in Lahore did not protect you knowing that you were under threat from your family members

- I am sorry Farzana you are not a front page news on any of Pakistani paper today because today’s top story is trade and your life has no value for any transaction in our country

- Do you know Farzana that all the TV channels are also discussing security situation in Pakistan and all the experts are wise men

- And you know Farzana the other most popular program on our TV is still more wise men reminding us that Islam respects women more than any religion in the world

- I am sorry Farzana you did not get any respect for your Islamic right to marry with your own choice

- I am sorry Farzana that what you did is not a crime but you were punished as a criminal

- I am sorry Farzana that many girls in villages across Pakistan will not sleep tonight due to fear after they hear the story of your death and their family tells them this is what happens to bad girls

- I am sorry Farzana you died at the age when most young women in the world are still enjoying youth

- Rest in Peace Farzana !

- May you always live long on the conscience of all those Pakistanis who have one !

- May the little girls in your village continue to dream !

29 May 2014 - From Sameena Nazir, Executive Director, PODA-Pakistan - www.poda.org.pk

Nasrin Sotoudeh wrote

Nasrin Sotoudeh, the human rights lawyer who spent 3 years in prison for defending female attorney clients, women's rights and prisoners' rights in general, wrote to the Stealthy Freedoms from Tehran and shared her thoughts on the call for women to have a choice over hijab
. 
This is what Nasrin Sotoudeh wrote:

Stealth Freedoms -- This is rather an ironic term to refer to the current surge of activity that is going on in Iran. Because, as we all know, if something is done stealthily, then it cannot be called FREEDOM. 
The term "Stealthy Freedom" is indicative of the pressures that exists within Iran. The issue of how women are covered up is something that is normally not taken seriously for several reasons. Now on the social media such activities do not have anything to do with being stealthy; and when thousands of women defy the hijab laws on social media, we cannot deny the existence of pressures for change
.

But let me recount an episode from when I was imprisoned: 
For many years, female prisoners have had to wear Chador (the long normally black sort of veil that covers a woman’s body fully), even though there is no such stipulation in the law. I'd like to point out that the kind of social pressure that exists outside the prison walls, exists many times more and exerts a lot more pressure on prisoners. In prisons, the wardens feel that they have complete power over the prisoners and that they can make them do whatever they want. That creates bitter feelings -

When I was in jail, I argued with the ones who were in charge that according to the law hey did not have the right to force us wear the Chador. The head of the prison, however, did not follow the letter of the law and in the end repeated that we had to wear Chadors. This went on till one day, I told my jailers that I am not wearing the chador anymore and I'd rather they chopped off my head right in front of the warden's office door. I wasn't going to wear chador
.

And I didn't
.

You know.. forcing female prisoners to wear the hijab and the resistance against such pressure is not a new thing. In fact, for the past 30 years or so, many women have objected to this compulsion of wearing the hijab --, it's just that such protests may not have got the publicity they deserved, for many reasons, such as absence of the Internet
. 

In our prison ward, there were also a few older women than the rest of us and wore Chador by their own choice. That was their choice, which I of course respected. During the time that I was forbidden to have any visitors, these women would come and see me whenever they had their own visitors and express their sympathy. They always emphasized that if they wore Chador it was because of their own choice and belief and not because of the do's and don'ts imposed by the head of the prison. I assured them every time that I respected their choice. 

As always, I wish the governments would allow greater freedoms for the people to live their lives. That would be the way for greater mutual respect
.
https://www.facebook.com/StealthyFreedom/photos/a.859102224103873.1073741828.858832800797482/867162266631202/?type=1&theater

Statement calling for immediate redress for violations of human rights of 234 Nigerian schoolgirls

IWRAW Asia Pacific is an international women’s human rights organisation working to achieve the full and effective realisation of the rights guaranteed to women and girls under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“CEDAW”). Nigeria ratified CEDAW in 1985 and is required to comply with its duties and obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of women and girls and to achieve gender equality. The recent kidnapping of 234 Nigerian schoolgirls from their boarding school in north-eastern Nigeria by religious extremists has outraged us and the entire international community. This conduct is a gross violation of the fundamental human rights of these girls to dignity, liberty, education, life and to their right to peace and security. Reports have emerged that they have been sold into slavery for paltry sums and that the kidnapping was prompted by resistance to the education of girls. Irrespective of the motivation this is criminal conduct which justifies the highest penalty.

We join the call to President Goodluck Jonathan to take every possible step to search for these girls and to ensure that they are immediately found and returned to the safety of their families unharmed. We call for the transgressors to be arrested and charged and reparations made to the families and the girls, as well as effective measures put in place to prohibit further transgressions of their human rights and those of any other girl in Nigeria. We call upon the international community, represented by the High Commission of Human Rights and the UN Secretary General, to utilise the remedies available in the UN Charter and international law to take immediate action to address this heinous criminal conduct. We call upon the business community to provide the necessary resources and means to ensure the facilitation of the search and restoration of rights of the girls.

Like girls the world over, these Nigerian girls deserve full and effective implementation of their human rights, including the right to personal security, and the right to receive education without fear. They deserve nothing less than the strongest international condemnation, as well as co-operation and strong mobilisation of resources to ensure their safe return and continued safety. We owe them this as human beings who care about injustice and humanity and who claim to be bound by the glorious principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Bring them home. Observe their rights. NOW!!!

Gladys Acosta

Gladys Acosta es una abogada feminista que ha trabajado por los derechos humanos de las mujeres, tanto en la comunidad de las ONG en el Perú y Colombia y para las Naciones Unidas (UNICEF y UNIFEM-ONU MUJERES) en varios países de América Latina. Ella jugó un papel destacado en la Campaña Global por los Derechos de las Mujeres en el proceso previo a la Conferencia Mundial de 1993 sobre Derechos Humanos en Viena, donde la ONU reconoció los derechos de la mujer como derechos humanos. Su contribución fue fundamental para la movilización de la región de América Latina y el Caribe, estableciendo relaciones duraderas con mujeres de todo el mundo. Esto se consolidó aún más en el proceso que condujo a la Cuarta Conferencia Mundial de 1995 sobre la Mujer en Beijing y en las décadas siguientes.

Gladys Acosta posee la integridad, la inteligencia, la pasión y la experiencia a tierra, para hacer de ella una candidata excelente para unirse al grupo de expertos del Comité de la CEDAW. Ella traería un profundo conocimiento del derecho internacional y el conocimiento de cómo traducir la Convención en las políticas y programas que pueden ayudar a guiar la acción de los gobiernos en la implementación de la CEDAW.

PS. CV Gladys 'en Inglés y Español en sí Adjunta A Este Mensaje.

Gladys Acosta Vargas_Peruvian Lawyer_UNICEF-UNWOMEN.pdf

http://www.unicef.org/argentina/spanish/overview_11126.htm

PAKISTAN : GIRL BURIED ALIVE FOR MARRYING HER OWN CHOICE

21 March, 2014 - The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a 17-year-old girl was buried alive for marrying by her own choice with a three wheeler driver. She was buried alive on the instructions of a Jirga, an illegal court run by tribal chiefs. She was buried in a Hindu graveyard and not in a Muslim graveyard as it was felt she had betrayed Islam. The local police have not registered a case of murder against the perpetrators but instead deputed the security guards on the grave so that people cannot visit.

The parents of the girl are involved in arranging the murder of their daughter and he was trying to get Diyat (the blood money) from tribal elders.

CASE NARRATIVE:

Sughra Brohi, aged 17 years, a resident of Jhol, Sanghar district married Muhammad Ali Khaskheli, a resident of Badin district, three months ago of her own choice and shifted to Badin with her in-laws. The boy, Ali Khaskheli, was a three wheeler driver and went to Mirpurkhas city from Badin, his ancestor’s village to get employment. He was running his eight seater three wheeler for the pick and drop of school students. During that time they fell in love with each other and decided to marry in Badin city. This was out of fear that the tribe and the parents of the girl will not tolerate the marriage and kill them in the name of an honour killing.

After learning about their marriage the elders of Brohi tribe were not happy and regarded it as usurping the pride of the caste by marrying with Khaskheli caste. Some three weeks ago the tribal elders pursued the parents of the girl and asked them to bring their daughter back and she would not be punished. Later on, she was forced to return by her family with the assurance on the Quran, the holiest book of Muslims, that she would not be harmed. After her return a Jirga, an illegal court, was held which was presided over by her uncle, Nazar Muhammad Brohi, which decided to punish her by burying her alive.

The elders and her father decided that she did not deserve a burial in a Muslim graveyard and according to a newspaper, the Kawish, they dug a hole in Bheel’s graveyard of the Hindu religion near Jhol police station in village Hakim Mari, near Sanjhoro and in midnight buried her alive in village Hakim Khan Marri, Taluka Sanjhoro, district Sanghar. Her cries did not stop the elders, her father and uncles from this heinous act.

Even after 15 days the police did not take the action as they thought the action was justified according to tribal norms and Islamic teachings.

The father of the girl approached the police and filed a First Information Report in Jhol police station, district Sanghar, for the murder of his daughter when he could not bargain with the tribal elders for blood money (Diyat).

The whereabouts of the boy is still not known and it is feared that he might have been killed.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The honour killing of girls are very common in the rural areas of the Sindh province where the feudal social system is very much entacted. The main reason for the honour killing is to deny the women and their husband their share from the properties. Though there is a law through which has declared honour killings as intentional murder but because of the poor rule of law and patriarchal attitude of the administration and government functionaries the menace of honour killings continued unabated.

In the Sindh province and southern part of Punjab province every year more than 300 men and women are killed in the name of honour. The state has also failed to stop the jirga as it serves the purpose of the state in the name of “instant justice” and not put the burden on the courts.

http://www.humanrights.asia/news/urgent-appeals/AHRC-UAC-040-2014

“Widowhood” should be the subject of the “Emerging Issue”

CSW 58 Declaración oral en nombre de los millones de viudas en el mundo, todas las edades, para la Defensa de los Derechos de viudedad, Temas, Justicia

Por Viudas por la Paz a través Democray, Mujeres por grupo de derechos humanos de las mujeres solteras, y la colaboración de las viudas 'Múltiple de ONG

Somos la organización que agrupa a las organizaciones no gubernamentales y asociaciones de muchas viudas en los países en desarrollo y afectadas por conflictos. Trabajamos para el empoderamiento de las viudas y la eliminación de la discriminación y la violencia que muchos millones de ellos sufren a diario. Voces de viudedad rara vez se escuchan. Ni siquiera están contados.

Hablamos en nombre de millones de viudas de todas las edades. Sus números, en las últimas décadas, han crecido de manera exponencial debido a los conflictos armados, revoluciones, violencia sectaria, el VIH y el SIDA, y la continuación de las prácticas tradicionales nocivas, como el matrimonio infantil. Se estima que, en algunos países afectados por la guerra, más del 60% de las mujeres son viudas o esposas de los desaparecidos, y el 70% de los niños dependen de dichas mujeres indigentes.

A pesar del hecho de que la viudez es una de las causas fundamentales de la pobreza, y el más descuidado de todos los temas de género y de derechos humanos, estrategias de los ODM existentes no han podido hacer frente a las causas y consecuencias de la baja condición social de las viudas. La violación de sus impactos en los derechos fundamentales desastrosamente en las generaciones futuras.

Es esencial que los gobiernos y la comunidad internacional se centran ahora en la situación particular de las viudas, y apoyar sus esfuerzos por "banda juntos", de modo que su voz colectiva se puede escuchar. Necesidades de las viudas tienen que tenerse en cuenta si los post 2015 ODM tienen alguna posibilidad de ser alcanzado.

La pobreza, la marginación y el estigma de la viudez provoca daños irreparables a los niños, especialmente las niñas. Una de las "estrategias de supervivencia" más comunes de las viudas empobrecidas es retirar a sus hijos de la escuela. Las hijas son los primeros en sufrir. Entonces son más vulnerables al trabajo infantil, el matrimonio forzado y el control potencial de los traficantes.

Viudas sí mismos, a menudo analfabetos, no pueden acceder a los sistemas de justicia. Sus vidas están determinadas por las interpretaciones discriminatorias de religiones y costumbres, y se les niega constantemente la herencia y los derechos sobre la tierra. La mendicidad, o cerca de la esclavitud en el trabajo doméstico, la agricultura y el sexo son una parte inherente de su condición.

Las viudas, las esposas de los «desaparecidos» y sus dependientes dominan en poblaciones de refugiados y desplazados internos. A menudo son los últimos en ser reubicadas debido a la falta de derechos a la herencia y la propiedad de la tierra. Esta ausencia de derechos de propiedad, junto a la alta incidencia de "perseguir-off" y "bienes acaparamiento" en muchos países debe abordarse en el mensaje 2015 marcos de los ODM para la implementación. Por consiguiente, celebramos referencia a estos temas en el proyecto de conclusiones convenidas. También pedimos a todos los gobiernos se pongan de acuerdo a la Meta autónoma sobre Igualdad de Género y pedir que el manto de invisibilidad se levanta de los problemas de la viudez, y que los datos desglosados ​​sobre "estado civil" se añadirá a las categorías habituales.

Viudas no deben ser vistos como víctimas pasivas de la violencia de género, pero reconocen para sus funciones vitales como únicas cuidadoras de las familias, las principales contribuyentes a las economías, agentes de cambio, sobre todo en la resolución de conflictos y las situaciones de consolidación de la paz.

Nos gustaría ver a los Estados miembros apoyar a las mujeres de las Naciones Unidas a crear un departamento especial para concentrarse en las cuestiones relativas a las viudas, y por el Secretario General de la ONU de nombrar a un representante especial de la ONU sobre la viudez.

Sugerimos que "viudez" debería ser el tema de la "cuestión emergente" para la 60 ª CSW en 2016

Manifesto on Women’s Rights and Security

10–Point Manifesto on Women’s Rights and Security

The Arab Regional Network on Women, Peace, and Security, which was launched in October 2013 and is composed of women from 14 countries from the Arab region, met in Amman, Jordan, during 1-3 April 2014 to deepen understanding of causes and consequences of issues related to women, peace, and security, and establish strategies and indicators for protection, prevention, participation, and promotion of women’s safety, inclusion, and security in peace and transition processes and conflict situations within the region.

In light of ongoing situations within the region (e.g. violence and discrimination against refugee women, violence against women committed as tools of war, women’s exclusion from peace talks and transition processes, women’s political exclusion from constitution-drafting committees and government bodies, and women’s lack of protection under national laws), the Arab Regional Network on Women, Peace, and Security strongly urges governments of the Arab League, the European Union, and the United Nations Development Programme and other UN bodies to consider and implement our 10-Point Manifesto: 

To develop national plans to implement requirements of UN SCRs 1325, 1820, 1888, 1889, and 2122 on women, peace, and security and create the necessary mechanisms and measures to enforce them, by virtue of a participatory approach with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the Crisis Management Unit at the League of Arab States, provided that women are main and active participants in this approach. 

To involve women in the national, regional, and global committees, task-forces and consultations pertinent to conflict resolution, peace building and reconciliation processes. 

To adopt a gender-sensitive approach in drafting of policies and national strategies in conflict and post-conflict situations. 

To review the educational system in the Arab region from a gender-sensitive and human rights lens, ensuring promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence. 

To foster professional media and communication policies and codes of conduct sensitive to gender, peace, and security. 

To call on national and local governments to adopt gender-responsive national and local budgets and ensure gender responsive recovery. 

To urge the Crisis Management Unit at the League of Arab States to incorporate a gender dimension in all program components. 

To ensure that women representatives are present on the ground as an integrated and respected part of groups and institutions tasked with creating security and stability, including women envoys and peacekeepers. 

To ensure that women representatives and gender experts are included in Expert Assessment Teams sent to evaluate countries in conflict. 

To ensure that women’s organizations and networks are strengthened to ensure responsiveness and accountability on gender issues in conflict and post-conflict situations.

http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/854027/fe76bd4906/TEST/TEST/