Women Living Under Muslim Laws Demands the UN Resolution
on Combating Defamation of Religions be revoked
The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) international solidarity network is deeply
concerned about the United Nations Resolution on ‘Combating defamation of religions’. On
18 December 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted this resolution recommended by its
Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), and long campaigned for by the
Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which has a permanent delegation to the
United Nations. In March 2009, the UN Human Rights Council once again passed the
Resolution, which urges the creation of laws in member states to prevent criticism of
religion; while it makes specific mention of Islam, the laws could be applied to all religions
and forms of belief. Members of the Human Rights Council voted 23 in favour of the
Resolution, 11 nations opposed the Resolution and 13 countries abstained.....read more
A STATEMENT OF BAOBAB FOR WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS ON THE SAME GENDER MARRIAGE (PROHIBITION) BILL 2008
BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights (BAOBAB) is appalled by the proposed Same Gender (Prohibition) Bill 2008, which has now passed the second reading on the floor of the National Assembly.
We are concerned that the legislative arm of the government saddled with the responsibility of making laws to promote peace, order and good governance as provided in section 4 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (The 1999 Constitution) is enthralled with a questionable legislation on issues that appeals to the morality and religious sentiments of some of the Legislators. This proposed bill is without consideration of the implication and impact of the general interest of Nigerians and its budding democracy as well as human rights efforts.....read more
Civil Society Associations Group and Women Members of the Political Parties, Celebrating the International Women's Day in Khartoum
Declaration
Mindful of the importance of exerting of all efforts, to enhance peace and stability in our country, we express our profound anxiety of the negative outcome resulting from the decision to halt the work of the local and international voluntary work organizations. We feel concerned and worried that this decision will lead to a gap in the health....read more
Update: Ten Women's Rights Activists Released, Two Remain in Detention (31 March 2009) Ten of the twelve women’s rights activists detained last week as they were planning private New Year visits have been released on bail. Two of them however, Khadijeh Moghadam and Mahboubeh Karami, remain in Evin prison.
The ten activists were released after judiciary officials set bail for them in the amount of 50 million toman ($50,000) that had to be posted by a government employee as a third-party guarantee.
The authorities refused to accept bail posted by Moghadam and Karami, without explanation. Those released have to report for interrogations on Sunday, 5 April. They have been charged with “disturbing public opinion” and “disruption of public order,” and a judicial case has been initiated based on these charges.
The Campaign called on the Iranian authorities to immediately release Moghadam and Karami, noting that there is no legal justification for these detentions.
31st March, 2009 The Hague – Netherlands
Afghan Civil Society Hague Conference Recommendations.....read here
Iran: Twelve Women’s Rights Activists Arrested for Planned New Years Visit (Change for Equality)
27/03/2009 Ten of those arrested are members of the One Million Signatures Campaign. The activists were arrested on 26 March 2009, on Sohrevardi Avenue in Tehran, while meeting up to go for New Years visits of families of imprisoned social and political activists. http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd%5B157%5D=x-157-564089
25/03/2009 Kenya: Five People Accused of Witchcraft Burnt to Death
All the victims were older people (80 years and above), and four of the five burnt to death were women. About 10 days ago the people in Nyamataro in Kisii were accused of "witchcraft" by a crowd that set them on fire and watched while they died. http://www.wluml.org/english/newsfulltxt.shtml?cmd[157]=x-157-564060
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT
AI Index: IOR 40/003/2009 24 March 2009
UN Special Procedures June 2009 appointments: Help the UN find five independent experts it needs
In June 2009, the President of the United Nations Human Rights Council is to appoint five independent human rights experts to serve as Special Procedures mandate-holders.
The vacancies are for the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences; the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; the Western member of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; the Asian member of the Working Group on enforced and or involuntary disappearances; and the Western member of the Working Group on peoples of African Descent....read more
Cairo 19/3/2009 Press Release
Women are even deprived of their right to inheritance
A woman states that she and her children inherited a house and a piece of land from her deceased husband. She was surprised with her husband's brothers with the help of some policemen attempting to throw her and her children out of the house and ruining the plantations. They even forged a police report against her to force her to relinquish the house and the piece of land. She bled to them to leave her and her children in the house and take the land, but they wanted both. And now she is asking, who help her and her children from vagrancy?....read more
International Women’s Day: March 8 th 2009 BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights' Press Statement
Theme: “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men”
Press Statement
Every year March 8 th is set aside as a day to honour women’s struggles and achievements in the past years and to call attention to other areas of concerns that are critical to women’s life in particular and the society in general. BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights (BAOBAB) is joining other groups around the world to mark the day. BAOBAB’s theme for this year is “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men”.
It is now a reality that so much cannot be achieved without the collective recognition and contribution of women and men to development. From time immemorial women’s effort and contribution to development has not be duly recognized and appreciated except with a mention in passing. The choice of this theme for this year is to strengthen the call for urgent actions towards the equal sharing of responsibilities and the recognition of the contributions.....read more
VOLUNTEER ADVERT
Do you wish to volunteer with the BAOBAB team?
BAOBAB for Women’s human rights (BAOBAB) is a non-governmental, non profit-making, women’s human rights organisation with a mandate to promote and protect the human rights of women under customary, statutory, and religious laws in Nigeria. For full details of BAOBAB’s vision, mission, strategies and activities, please visit our website www.baobabwomen.org.
As a mentoring as well as a learning organisation, BAOBAB encourages volunteers who will contribute their skills, talents and time FREE OF CHARGE towards achieving BAOBAB’s vision. Details of logistics including time frame and work hours etc will be discussed and negotiated with respective volunteers prior to resumption.
We specifically seek volunteers with skills in any of the following - research, analytical report writing, networking and communication with substantive information and communication technology (ICT) skills, community mobilization, advocacy, and resource mobilization. If you are interested, kindly send us your resume and a brief cover note specifying your area of expertise and why you want to volunteer for BAOBAB.
What do I stand to gain as a BAOBAB volunteer?
You will be working with a diverse, dynamic, experienced and result-oriented team of women’s human rights activists
You will have an opportunity to gain more knowledge on human rights in general and women’s human rights specifically
You will further have an opportunity to network with other activists locally and internationally
Your valuable contribution will be well acknowledged in our widely disseminated publications –such as Annual report, journals and via our website
Your wealth of experience will impact both local and global quest for social change based on our core networking activities, and by the end of your work with BAOBAB, you would have contributed to our ultimate vision “that women’s human rights become an integral part of every day life.”
Chibogu Obinwa Senior Programme Officer BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights # 76 Ogudu Road, Ogudu GRA Ojota, Lagos Nigeria Web site: www.baobabwomen.org Blog: http://baobabwomen.blogspot.com/ Tel: +234-1-4747 931 OR +234-1-898-0834 Tel/Fax: +234-1-496-2302. Mobile -+234-803-300-7724 "It is not wrong to be different, But, it is wrong to be treated differently if you are." (UNHCHR)
March 5,2009 :: Gender dimensions in reporting religious fundamentalism
All over the world, women liberation and empowerment has assumed a front burner in social discourses. FRIDAY OLOKOR attended a forum organized for 25 journalists in Nigeria by BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Calabar, Cross River State and reports that the media, with necessary logistics, can be better used to fight against fundamentalism and violation of women’s rights....more
Campaign for the fulfilment of women’s human rights in Africa
CAMPAIGN DECLARATION.....Read
Farida Nekzad says she defies the warlords who have turned her native Afghanistan into a killing field of female journalists. She faces death threats to tell the stories of Afghan women; if she didn't, she wonders, "Who would?"
NEW YORK (WOMENSENEWS)--Farida Nekzad let the secret slip.
The vice president of the South Asia Media Commission and the managing editor of Afghanistan's sole independent news agency is pregnant and wants a baby girl.
During a visit to New York in November to accept two prestigious media awards--the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women's Media Foundation and the International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists--Nekzad told Women's eNews that she would want her daughter to be graced with a rare blessing for a woman in Afghanistan: freedom of speech.
"I want to break the silence," says Nekzad. "Whether I am dead or alive, the struggle should continue. Afghan women's voices should be heard."
Nekzad has been trying to break the silence over Afghan women's repression. Her stories speak of how Afghan women's human rights are subjected to discriminatory norms under warlords--local and regional military commanders--who have carved out their own fiefdoms and see themselves above the law in a country where corruption is the norm and a formal legal system is beyond the reach of locals.
"Warlords call themselves 'mujahedeen,'" says Nekzad, referring to their self-assumed role of a holy warrior, or mujahid. "They are not mujahedeen; they are criminals with ministerial positions" in the government of President Hamid Karzai.
Amid the continuing instability of the nation, Nekzad has written about what is happening to women under the reign of warlords, with a special focus on domestic violence against women and forced marriages.....more
BAOBAB for Women's Human Right’s 2008 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence In Commemoration of the UDHR @ 60
BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights is joining the rest of the world to mark this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender based violence. This year is remarkable because it also coincides with the 60 th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. BAOBAB’s commemoration of this year’s 16 Days will be centered on the 60 th Anniversary of the UDHR. The emphasis around the UDHR 60 is important because without the practical recognition of the human rights of women, the total realization of the human rights of all is still very far from us. The period is a great medium to further reiterate the call for a world of peace free from injustice and discrimination.
Advocacy around women’s rights issues in the last 6 decades has resulted in some significant but not sufficient changes.
Very good examples include the various international instruments at the United Nations level and at the African regional level. One persistent challenge has been the non domestication of these treaties at the National level.
For this year BAOBAB is organizing the under listed activities to reinvigorate the call for the domestication of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women by the Nigerian government as well as the implementation of all policies towards the promotion and protection of women’s human rights.
Launching of the Network of Journalist Against Violence Against Women on November 26 th
The network of Journalists against Violence against Violence Women (JAVAW) came into existence on December 8 th 2004 during a one-day workshop for journalists working in Lagos on using New Tactics to address Women’s Human Rights Issues in Nigeria. It was one of the activities carried out by BAOBAB to mark the “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. During the workshop, participants (mostly journalists) identified the need to utilize their professional expertise to reduce the occurrence of violence against women and young girls in Nigeria. The idea of forming the network according to the journalists was to ensure that journalists across Nigeria are actively engaged in the struggle. JAVAW identifies with BAOBAB’s vision and strategies and is set to work towards addressing issues of women’s human rights and in particular violence against women in Nigeria. BAOBAB in collaboration with the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists will on November 26 th launch the network at the National level. The sole objective of doing this is to broaden the scope of coverage of Violence against Women Issues by Nigerian Journalists and to introduce a significant change to reporting violence against women issues in Nigeria. In addition the launching will provide the space for an assessment of the Human Rights situation in the country in the eyes of the media so far.
The launching of the Network has been scheduled to take place as from 10 am at the Musa Ya ardua Centre, Abuja.
Volunteer Outreach Campaign to stop violence against women November 29 th to December 10 th
BAOBAB’s Volunteer Outreach Teams spread across Nigeria will be involved in the 16 Days of Activism in various ways all directed towards the recognition, promotion and protection of women’s human rights. Specifically there will be media campaign, walk and distribute IEC materials, participation in T.V talk shows, press interviews, sensitization workshops and enactment of plays on women’s human rights issues.
Men Defending Women’s Human Rights Defenders Walk November 29 th
Every year BAOBAB organizes a walk around selected major cities in Nigeria specifically to raise awareness on women’s human rights issues and to commemorate the internationally recognized day (November 29 th) for ‘Defending Women’s Human Rights Defenders’. It is also a period to distribute IEC materials like stickers with very powerful messages e.g. ‘Zero Tolerance to Violence against Women’ ‘Women’s Human Rights are Human Rights’
The AWID Forum 2008: The Power of Movements
From November 14-17, 2008, over 1,500 women's rights leaders and activists from around the world converged at the11th AWID International Forum to be held in Cape Town, South Africa to discuss the power of movements.
Each day, the Forum began with a plenary session that brought all the participants of the Forum together to explore key overarching questions.
Plenary 1: Women Organizing and Transforming the World
It's hard to believe that it has been three years since the 2005 AWID Forum in Bangkok - but the long-awaited 11th AWID International Forum on Women's Rights and Development began today, November 14, 2008, in Cape Town, South Africa.
Plenary 2: Making our Movements Stronger: A Look Inside
Day two of the Forum, and today's plenary (like our feminism) was interwoven with digital stories, song and poetry, creating a comfortable space for the interesting and perhaps awkward task of looking inside our movements.
Nigeria: Young Women In Nigeria protest against Naval beating of Lady
WE ARE NOT HAPPY :: A message from some Young Women in Nigeria in reaction to the beating of Uzoma Okere.....
We learnt recently about a case where six armed naval ratings attached to a Rear Admiral went berserk in Lagos , beating up and stripping a lady identified as Uzoma Okere. This is totally unacceptable and as citizens of this country, we believe that we have a responsibility to call on other Nigerians especially the governement, law practitioners and other relevant authorities to bring these men to justice. In a country where we are committed to protecting the human rights of individuals, we cannot fold our arms and do nothing. We were not there at the scene of the incidence to stop such distaseteful act but we can still do something and even if we cannot do anything, we will speak against it. This is totally wrong.
This young lady could be any one of us, our mother, our sister, cousin, aunty or someone close to us. She id the victim today. Tommorrow we do not know who it will be. Should we continue to live in fear? Is our country not safe enough? Can we not find refuge in our justice system? I don't think any of these is true.
We as young Nigerian women are not happy with what has happened and we are saying something about it now. We are also calling on our mothers, fathers, uncles, aunties, brothers, sisters and others who have the authority and resources to punish these culprits to do so. This is the time for change in the world and we have to contribute in our own little way to creating that positive change and making the world a better and safer place for us, our mothers and daughters.
Nigerians react to naval ratings‘ assault on lady
By Chinyere Fred-Adegbulugbe, Olalekan Adetayo and Victor Sam
Published: Wednesday, 5 Nov 2008
Angry reactions on Tuesday trailed the Monday assault by armed naval ratings on a lady, Uzoma Okere, in Lagos.
All those who reacted, including human rights activists and hundreds of online readers of THE PUNCH, described the act as barbaric and called for the prosecution of the perpetrators.
The reactions came at a time when some concerned Lagosians who witnessed and recorded the dastardly act on a camcoder released its video footage to the public.
Six armed naval ratings attached to a Rear Admiral identified as Harry Arogundade, went wild on Monday on Muri Okunola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, beating and stripping the lady naked.
According to eyewitnesses, the naval ratings hit the lady with their gun butts and beat her with horsewhips.
She was accused of not quickly giving way for the naval officer‘s convoy on her way home in her Mitsubishi Colt car.
By the time the rage ended, Okere, who was forcibly handcuffed and dragged into a private residence on the street in a humiliating assault, was left with a battered face, blood-shot eyes and bruises all over her body.
She was admitted at Kamorass Hospital on Victoria Island.
As at 6.30pm on Tuesday, 98 reactions had been posted to THE PUNCH‘s website by Nigerians (both at home and in the Diaspora) who were irked by the incident, making the news item top on the list of most read stories on the website for the day.
All of them agreed that no man, no matter his social status, had the right to infringe on another citizen‘s fundamental human right.
In her reaction, the Director, Gender Development Action, Ms. Ada Agina-Ude, described the assault on the lady as a display of raw power.
In a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, Agina-Ude called on lawyers, women and human rights activists, to rally round the lady with a view to getting justice.
She said, ”My first reaction is that what type of military personnel will beat a woman to that extent because of a traffic offence, assuming she even committed it. I don‘t understand that kind of mentality.
”She did the right thing by getting a lawyer. I plead with the lawyer to ensure that the case is pursued to the end.”
Another activist, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, while describing the incident as condemnable and barbaric, said all those involved should be brought to book.
She added that it was regrettable that a Rear Admiral who should be looked up to by junior officers for direction could allow his boys to misbehave in his presence.
Also, the Deputy Director, Women Advocacy and Documentation Research Centre, Mrs. Grace Ketefe, said the naval ratings‘ action was against the dignity of a woman.
Ketefe said because of her organisation‘s belief that the perpetrators should not go unpunished; it would soon address the public and petition policy makers on the issue.
But the Nigerian Navy, on Tuesday, attributed the incident to provocation from the victim.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, the Director of Information, Nigerian Navy, Commodore David Naibada, alleged that Okere provoked one of the naval ratings when she stepped out of her car that was in front of the admiral‘s convoy and seized the horsewhip he was holding.
Naibada accused the victim of making up stories to embarrass the admiral ”who incidentally was a junior officer to her father when the duo were in the military school together.
Somalia: Stoning to death of a 13-year old girl
4/11/2008
13-year-old Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was killed on Monday, 27 October 2008, by a group of 50 men who stoned her to death in a stadium in the southern port of Kismayu, Somalia in front of around 1,000 spectators. She was accused of adultery in breach of Islamic law but, her father and other sources told Amnesty International that she had in fact been raped by three men, and had attempted to report this rape to the al-Shabab militia who control Kismayo, and it was this act that resulted in her being accused of adultery and detained. None of men she accused of rape were arrested.
Some of the Somali journalists who had reported she was 23 have told Amnesty International that this age was based upon a judgement of her age from her physical appearance.
She was accused of adultery in breach of Islamic law but, her father and other sources told Amnesty International that she had in fact been raped by three men, and had attempted to report this rape to the al-Shabab militia who control Kismayo, and it was this act that resulted in her being accused of adultery and detained. None of men she accused of rape were arrested.
“This was not justice, nor was it an execution. This child suffered a horrendous death at the behest of the armed opposition groups who currently control Kismayo,” said David Copeman, Amnesty’s International Somalia Campaigner.
“This killing is yet another human rights abuse committed by the combatants to the conflict in Somalia, and again demonstrates the importance of international action to investigate and document such abuses, through an International Commission of Inquiry.”...read more
Congo :: October 31, 2008 || Goma, Congo --
Global Call for Action
DEMAND END TO WAR-RAPES IN GOMA DRC!
The 10-year civil war of the Democratic Republic of Congo battle has taken a turn for the worse this week, as fighting between several warring groups rages outside the city of Goma, long a safe haven for refugees of the war. The war has killed approximately 5.4 million people since 1998, and tens of thousands of women and many children have been systematically raped by warring groups. Today, as the war closes in on Goma, fresh atrocities are occurring, including rapes of women and vulnerable children by drunk soldiers. We must act to better protect residents from further violence and denounce sexual violence used as a 'weapon' of war.
We, the undersigned, urgently urge Congolese, UN and other key parties in and outside the DRC to act urgently to PROTECT, PREVENT and RESPOND to violence and brutal rapes of women and children in the embattled area surrounding the city of Goma, and to protect civilians of North Kivu, where there one million internally displaced people (IDP). With an estimated 20,000 refugees flooding into the area surrounding Goma, the situation there is a tinderbox, and hunger is driving the violence. The increased pitting of people against each other along ethnic lines represents a very dangerous reality. Since August, when the fighting began to escalate, mass rapes have increased – 40 a day by some estimates. We must stop the violence happening today– and tomorrow-- through our global action and voices.
Reports from Heal Africa in Goma, one of the few humanitarian NGOs still operating in Goma which helps rape survivors, stress the urgent need for UN troops tointervene to protect civilians from violence – and this includes sexual violence. Protection is also needed to help guard humanitarian and local hospitals who operate as impartial, independent professionals helping the displaced and wounded, including survivors of sexual violence. With hunger and looting on the rise, they are being targeted.
Recently a broad coalition of Congolese women and survivors groups in eastern Congo publicly denounced rapes in the Congo and issued a global call for solidarity action, and for their voices to be heard. We have heard their voices and we stand in solidarity with them, demanding world leaders, and belligerents in the DRC conflict act immediately to stop the violence, including rapes in Congo:
These actions include:
·Demonstrate via concrete action and public statements their recent global commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1820on women, peace and security, that demands the "immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians" and affirming that "rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide."
·Deploy increased UN Peacekeepers (MONUC) to protect civilians from attack – including gang rapes of women by drunk soldiers reported in Goma. MONUC must intervene to stop rapes!
Right now, all peacekeeping bodies are making what relief workers brand a 'half-hearted' and inadequate response to violence. The MONUC troops must be actively deployed to protect civilians. This action by MONUC and the international community would directly support SR Resolution 1820 and international laws that view these war rapes as'sexual war crimes.'
·Deploy MONUC peacekeepers to protect displaced civilians hoping to return to their homes.
·Provide US and UN representatives, along with Congo MONUC and State Dept African Affairs representatives, with the mandate, authority and resources to take clear actions to help broker a durable peace in North Kivu, and to demand that key warring actors support Sec Res 1820by stopping war-rapes and atrocities against civilians, and instead, actively protect civilians from violence and rapes.
·Create a Sexual Violence Rapid Response Unit within MONUC and create small teams at the different IDP centers that include local women to coordinate MONUC's and the humanitarian community's response to rapes, and assist raped survivors to safely access emergency medical and counseling services from HEAL Africa and frontline NGOs equipped to assist.
·Provide immediate increase of World Food Program donations to Goma, which now has ¼ of the rations needed, based on HEAL Africa's estimates. The lack of food is causing fierce competition for available resources, and threatens the relationship of communities being forced together in close proximity. Hunger is driving violence.
· Local Responses needed:
·Implement a coordinated local emergency planto respond to the current increase of rape that includes:
oUnits protected by MONUC forces who can reach raped women amidst fighting
oa central mobile telephone number for reporting rapes,
olinking relief workers at the few intl NGOs active around Goma (MSF Belgium, IMC, Norwegian Church AID, etc.) and at IDP centers in North Kivu to key contacts and staff who have mobile and fixed medical teams to assist rape survivors.
oSimilar steps are needed in South Kivu, where Panzi Hospital coordinates responses and care for survivors of sexual violence in Bukavu. Panzi has also been targeted by violence, and needs further support.
oSupport and equip relief teams to provide armedPROTECTION and FUEL, WATER and FOOD to internees in IDP camps in North Kivu, and to provide protection against sexual violence in the camps by recruiting women and men chosen by camp leaders to receive training in post- rape counseling and medical referral for rape survivors.
oRecruit and train local men and women from existing NGOs in Goma who have programs and trained counselors to work in the IDP camps, and refer survivors to these local NGOs for supportive services and shelter. Local NGOs are receiving survivors in their homes and villages and need to be directly linked to arriving emergency medical providers and camp managers.
NOTE: This petition will be sent to UN,US, Congolese and other key leaders and actors in government and civil society to demand action today to stop the violence in Congo.
Niger :: Woman wins slavery case against Niger
ABDOULAYE MASSALATCHI | NIAMEY, NIGER - Oct 27 2008 13:53
A West African regional court of justice convicted the state of Niger on Monday for failing to protect a 12-year-old girl from being sold into slavery in a case anti-slavery campaigners hope will set a precedent.
The regional Ecowas Court of Justice ruled that Niger had failed in its obligations to protect Hadijatou Mani, who says she was sold into slavery in 1996 for around $500 and regularly beaten and sexually abused.
"I am very happy with this decision," Mani, now 24, told reporters at the court. Her comments, in the Hausa language spoken widely in Africa's Sahel region on the southern fringe of the Sahara, were translated by an interpreter.
Mani was at one point jailed for bigamy by Niger's court system when her former master opposed her marriage to another man, insisting she had automatically become his own wife when he set her free in 2005.
The case against the state was brought with the help of British-based anti-slavery organisations as a test case to press African governments to stamp out slavery, which campaigners say is rife in some African countries despite legal prohibitions.......read more
Nigeria :: How immigration officials and voodoo aid human trafficking business in Nigeria
By Musikilu Mojeed
Punch on the Web
Published: Friday, 24 Oct 2008
They are supposed to be huge barriers to traffickers, but many in the anti-trafficking movement see some security agencies, embassy and airline officials as the major leak in the bid to drive the human merchants underground.
Mrs. Victoria Robert, with some victims
Most of those contacted in the course of this investigation were unanimous that human trafficking has continued to thrive in Nigeria because of collusion between bad eggs among security, immigration, embassy and airline officials and traffickers. These officials often take bribes in exchange for facilitating smooth passage across the borders for traffickers and their victims.
A source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told this reporter that France and some other European countries had complained bitterly and repeatedly “that some of our immigration and border officials and airlines had been looking the other way and allowing traffickers to have their way.”
Nigeria :: Women as Change Agents in Development
10.06.2008
Gender activists in Nigeria appear to have joined the global movement to properly position women as catalysts for development. Ahead of an international conference scheduled to hold in Abuja, this month, Olaolu Olusina examines some of the issues that are germane to the forthcomng forum
It couldn't have come at a better time and it is generally believed that the forthcoming Women in Politics and Government (WINPOGOV) Conference and Awards 2008 scheduled to hold in the Nigeria's capital, Abuja this month, really holds a lot for Nigerian women. An initiative of the Lagos-based Alpha Institute, a non-government, non-partisan and non-profit organisation, in collaboration with the Nigerian Network of Non-Governmental Organisations(NNNGOs), it is strategically designed to address issues that are germane to the global efforts at promoting gender equality and empowerment of women .The overarching objective, however, is to properly position women as catalysts for development.....read more.
Iran Parliamentary Committee Has Adjusted the "Family Support Bill"
Regarding Reference to Polygamy. Women's Rights Activists Consider a Victory.
Iran Panel Adjusts Bill - Reference to Polygamy
9/10/2008
REUTERS
TEHRAN • An Iranian parliamentary committee has thrown out a government proposal which women’s rights activists feared would have encouraged polygamy in the Islamic Republic, media reported yesterday. “It is a very positive move,” campaigner Sussan Tahmasebi said of the decision by the legal and judicial committee to change the bill on families. “We think it is great that parliament listened to women’s voices,” she said. Activists had lobbied against the measure, which they said would have allowed a man to take a new wife without the consent of the first one. The bill also covered other family issues and parliament is now expected to vote on the amended version. The conservative-controlled legislature was originally due to debate the “Family Support Bill” last week, but it was sent back to the committee for more work after it caused controversy.Newspapers quoted committee chairman Ali Shahrokhi as saying it had removed two articles which had angered activists and others—one dealing with polygamy and another on taxing money the husband agrees to pay his wife under a marriage contract.......Read More
SOUTHERN AFRICA:
SADC SIGNS GROUND-BREAKING GENDER PROTOCOL
By Zahira Kharsany
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 18 (IPS) - Gender activists breathed a sigh of relief when a long-delayed gender protocol was signed at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit this weekend. Women bear the brunt of social injustice and problems on the African continent, ranging from access to clean water, poor health care, access to economic opportunities or adequate protection before the law.
The protocol calls for 50 percent representation by women at all levels of government by 2015 and further calls for member states to put in place legislative measures which guarantee that political and policy structures are gender sensitive. It draws up a plan of action setting specific targets and time frames for achieving gender equality in all SADC countries as well as effective monitoring and evaluation.
The document covers 25 articles on different aspects ranging from access to justice and education as well as ensuring women's rights is included in member states' constitutions...Read More
India: When a Woman Conducts the Nikah - Muslim Marriage Ceremony
By Dr Syeda Hameed
New Delhi (Women's Feature Service) - I was taken by complete surprise when my friend, Naish Hasan, called me one day. "I want to give you good news. I am getting married. And I have decided that you will perform my 'nikah' (Muslim marriage ceremony)," she said. I have known Naish for several years for her activism on women's issues. Her request was unexpected. I had never thought that I would one day be a 'qazi'.
At my own 'nikah' there had been a male 'qazi' who, interestingly, also performed my son's 'nikah' 25 years later. I did not question the fact that my 'qazi' was a man but I always questioned my 'nikahnama' (marriage certificate) - a 'kora kagaz' (blank paper) in terms of the blandness of its content. I often asked myself why the conditions of marriage and divorce were not specified in it?
So I readily agreed.
I am sure I was not the first woman to perform a 'nikah' in the Islamic world. During the days of pristine Islam, when there were women 'muftis', 'qaris' (recitors of the Qur'an), and 'muhaddassin' (experts in Hadith i.e. sayings of the Prophet) there must have been women 'qazis'; but there is no historical record to prove or disprove their existence. The one inexorable fact is that with the revelation of Islam came women's empowerment in every sense - marriage, property, business and matters of religion. It is a tragedy that a religion, which spoke of women as equals of men in every respect, has come to be regarded as suppressive and dismissive of women.
I come from a family of religious scholars and reformists. Among the social reforms they propagated was giving status and dignity to women within the context of Islam and the Shariat (Islamic law). My most illustrious ancestor was a man whose name one hundred years ago was known in every Muslim household. Maulana Altaf Husain Hali's immortal work was a long poem 'Musaddas-e-Hali' (also called 'Ebb and Tide in Islam'). His other landmark works 'Chup ki Daad' ('In Praise of the Silent') and 'Munajaat-e-Bewa' ('Lament of the Widow'), on the status of women, decry patriarchy, lambast society for the plight of the widow and extol women for their hard work and superior intelligence. He is India's first feminist poet. Inspired by him and with the help of scholars like Dr Sughra Mehdi, former Professor of Urdu, JamiaMilliaIslamiaUniversity, I helped found the Muslim Women's Forum in the year 2000.
Before I agreed to perform Naish and Imraan's 'nikah', I looked through the Qur'an for injunctions pertaining to marriage and anything inimical to a woman performing the ceremony. I found nothing. I then consulted a friend who I regard as the most erudite and learned Islamic scholar; he is a doctor by profession and at age 94 is more intelligent and aware than scholars half his age. He told me that of the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence, Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafei, Maleki or the fifth Fiqah Jafariya, there is nothing that says a woman couldn't perform a 'nikah'. "Show me one line in the Qur'an and Hadith, which says that the 'qazi' should be a man," he challenged.
I knew that the only requirement for an Islamic marriage was the presence of witnesses and the fixing of 'mehr'. What I did not know then was that the presence of a 'qazi' is not an essential requirement. Since Islamic marriage is a civil contract, the man and woman can enter into it like any contract involving give and take, promise and performance. They can do it themselves as long as they do so according to the civil laws of contract. They must, however, have witnesses present from both sides.
Naish and Imraan had four women Sabira, Zakia, Noorjahan and Naaz, as witnesses in place of the mandatory two male witnesses enjoined in the 'Qur'an'. They also had one man, Nayyar Raza, as witness. Their 'nikahnama' had been prepared by the Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan and unlike mine and 99 per cent of 'nikahnamas', this one stipulated many conditions of marriage most of them pertaining to protecting the interest of the woman and dignity of the man. Among them was a condition that Imraan would not 'enter into a second marriage during subsistence of this first marriage as monogamy is the stated ideal in the Qur'an. These conditionalities were in keeping with Islam, which permits the two parties entering a 'nikah' to include in the marriage contract, any conditions they agree upon.
Islam requires the woman's 'mehr' to be agreed to at the time of marriage. 'Mehr' is the amount the man agrees as the woman's dower, which is payable immediately, but if deferred is compulsory payment in his lifetime. I have not known any man who paid 'mehr' at the time of marriage. When I announced the 'mehr', Imraan, the bridegroom, said he wanted to pay 'Mehr-e-Muwajjil' (immediate). The cheque was handed to the bride.
One more aspect of this 'nikah' was unusual; that a 'qazi' of the Shia sect performed the marriage of a couple of the Sunni sect. Frankly, it hadn't occurred to me that the Shia-Sunni question would come up in this context. In my family, Shia-Sunni marriages were common. My husband was a Sunni. Maulana Hali himself was a Sunni. My sister married a Sunni. In these cases, the 'nikah' was performed by either by a Sunni or a Shia 'qazi'. In my childhood, I saw Shias and Sunnis sit together during Moharrum to mourn the martyrdom of Hussain, grandson of the Prophet. In schools of Islamic jurisprudence there is nothing about the sect of the person performing the 'nikah'.
On August 12, 2008, history was made. A woman performed the duties of a 'qazi'. The media projected it before the world. Hard work by Muslim women's organisations, which have given due respect to the 'alims' (Muslim scholars), has resulted in most 'ulemas' (Muslim scholars) giving their seal of approval. Today, a new 'nikahnama' has been placed before the 'ummah' (community), which protects the rights of the Muslim women. Naish and Imraan are doubly blessed by Allah because they have become the instruments of restoring the true meaning of the Qur'an and Islam. All the current hype about Islam being anti-women and a patriarchal religion is negated by the courage of the couple, their friends and Muslim women's groups in showing what is real and meaningful about women in Islam.
I feel humble that I was part of this moment. It was an idea for which the time had come. Let this be a small beginning of restoring the image of Islam, which has become blurred and distorted over decades of misinterpretation and mystification.
Courtesy: Women's Feature Service
Article first appeared in Hindustan Times.
Bahrain -Campaign to Lift Reservations to CEDAW -CEDAW CommitteeReview
BAHRAIN: Women Call to Review Women's Rights- CEDAW Reservations
By REBECCA TORR
24th AUGUST 2008
BAHRAIN could be forced to pass a family law and other new regulations if the country lifts reservations it has to a UN convention on discrimination against women, say campaigners.
Bahrain joined the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2002, but submitted several reservations due to conflict with Sharia law, traditions and Islamic principles.
Since then women's activists and human rights groups have been campaigning for Bahrain to lift these reservations, saying women were still getting a raw deal.
"The implementation of CEDAW in Bahrain is not at the level it should be," Awal Women's Society and Bahrain Human Rights Society member and former president Dr Sabika Al Najjar told the GDN.
"If CEDAW is implemented in the correct way it means the state should review all the laws and regulations regarding women's rights to see which points are discriminatory and then they should implement new regulations for women.
"It should reform justice in education, health, at work and in issuing the family law.
"It should also make sure people and society are aware and convinced of the treaties and any social discrimination should be removed.
"I believe any development of women and any change in their status will develop the whole of the society because women are vital - they are the centre of the family."
Bahrain has five reservations on the optional protocol of the CEDAW, which refer to articles two, nine, 15, 16 and 29.
l Article two, paragraph two, states that a country should condemn all types of discrimination against women
l Article nine, paragraph two, states that women should enjoy the same rights as men in terms of giving citizenship to their children
l Article 15, paragraph four, states that women should be given the same rights as men in choosing their homes
l Article 16 states the need to provide equal marital rights for females and males, particularly in marriage contracts, raising children and custody
l Article 29, paragraph one, relates to disputes between two state parties.
Lifting these reservations could mean Bahrain would have to finally introduce a family law, which would stipulate in writing how family issues such as divorces and child custody cases should be resolved.
Such cases are currently handled by the Sharia Court, in which Sharia judges reach decisions based on their own interpretation of Islam - with critics saying they often favour men over women.
Objections
A draft family law was supposed to be drawn up by parliament in 2006, but it never saw light after Islamic clergymen voiced their objections.
Dr Al Najjar said Bahrain Human Rights Society was part of an Arab coalition of Equality Without Reservation, which aimed to push governments to accept the CEDAW protocol and lift all reservations.
The coalition is based in Morocco and the Bahrain Human Rights Society is involved in co-ordinating with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the Gulf and Yemen to eliminate discrimination against women.
"All of CEDAW's optional protocol should be implemented," said Dr Al Najjar, who is also Awal Women's Society information technology committee head.
"I hope Arab states will accept it and that NGOs will understand and use it to pressure the government."
The GDN reported earlier this month that Bahrain failed to make it onto an international UN body that monitors women's rights around the globe. Eleven countries including Afghanistan beat Bahrain to a seat on the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.A country report on Bahrain's implementation of CEDAW will be presented to the committee in October.
Women's groups and human rights societies will also submit shadow reports.
International: "Foul Ball: Muslim Women Banned from Sports Participation"14/08/2008
In this essay, Rochelle Terman considers the role of Muslim women in sports on the global scene, especially in light of the current Olympic Games. (WLUML Networkers)
"Mehboba Ahdyar, a 19-year-old sprinter from Kabul, has been an inspiration and role model to many Muslim women with a passion for sports. As the only woman representing her team from Afghanistan in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Ahdyar was considered by many to be the poster-child for everything the Olympics stood for. Not only did she symbolize the hope and resurgence of a country devastated by war, but her presence was meant to demonstrate a new, post-Taliban gender equality.
But just three weeks before the Games, Mehboba Ahdyar fled from an Italian training camp, giving up her dream to compete in Beijing to apply for asylum in Europe. She said she was too scared of reprisals from those disapproving of her sports career, and feared for her life....Read More
Malaysia: Statement from Sisters in Islam :: 11/08/2008
SIS statement against the disruption of Bar Council Forum on "Conversion to Islam : Article 121 (1A) of the Federal Constitution: Subashini and Shamala Revisited" held on 9 August 2008. (Sisters in Islam)
"Sisters in Islam (SIS) strongly protests the extreme actions by Muslim NGOs and political parties in halting the Bar Council Forum on "Conversion to Islam : Article 121 (1A) of the Federal Constitution: Subashini and Shamala Revisited" held on 9 August 2008.
SIS also strongly condemns the violent actions of throwing Molotov cocktails at the former residence of the President of the Bar Council, now the residence of Dato' Seri Shahrizat Jalil's family, and for the planting of two kerosene bombs in front of the Bar Council office.
Such violent acts only give a bad image of Muslims and Malaysian society surely does not tolerate these extremist or terrorist actions......Read More
What's not to like about the UN's new rights commissioner?
BARBARA CROSSETTE
Special to Globe and Mail Update
July 31, 2008 at 2:36 AM EDT
The world has a new United Nations high commissioner for human rights, a job that comes with built-in controversy. Right at the start, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's choice for the post, Navanethem Pillay, a South African judge now sitting on the International Criminal Court, seems to have caught a lot of people off-guard and provoked some unexpected reactions.
Judge Pillay, 67, is something of a star among international legal experts but was not widely known outside her home country, the UN and the war-crimes tribunals and courts. Beholden to no major human-rights organizations, she was criticized by some in the field for not being "accessible" to that community or not being a more outspoken rights advocate. (She says that was not her role as a judge.) In Washington , where George W. Bush's administration seems to have been prodded into a last-minute scramble to try to derail the appointment, it was discovered that she was — gasp! — a feminist.
That Mr. Ban held firm to his choice in the face of U.S. anxiety, if not actual opposition, is both interesting and important. By one measure, his ability to proceed with this appointment after nearly a week's delay may reflect a diminution of Washington 's clout within the always politicized UN system, especially in the area of human rights. Mr. Bush's administration not only refused to join the recently created Human Rights Council, but also worked actively to undermine the International Criminal Court, even removing the United States from the list of signers of the treaty that created it. And then there is Guantanamo , a target of criticism by Canadian Louise Arbour, who was Judge Pillay's predecessor as human-rights commissioner.
Mr. Ban's steadfastness may also indicate that at this moment of multiple crises on that continent, Africa — not just South Africa but also the larger African Union — cannot be trifled with. Africa, which strongly supported Mr. Ban's own election, may have trumped U.S. concerns. That's something of a watershed. Will Mr. Ban, thought by many diplomats to be too close to Washington , be emboldened to open a little more distance?
Various reports have indicated that Washington 's concern was that Judge Pillay was the candidate of South African President Thabo Mbeki, and as such, she might share his unwillingness to take a strong position against renegades such as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Omar al-Bashir of Sudan . That seems unlikely, given her track record for independence. But the real snag in the White House may have been the campaign waged by the anti-abortion lobby, with the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute at the forefront. Somewhere along the line, the anti-abortionists appear to have "discovered" that Judge Pillay was a co-founder of Equality Now, a New York-based nongovernmental organization that helps women around the world learn about and fight for their rights. The organization has played a leading role in supporting African women's campaigns against female genital mutilation and has battled successfully to stop sex tourism in New York , among other projects. It is not known as a pro-abortion lobby.
In any case, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters that the charges levelled against Judge Pillay had been checked out. "We didn't find substance to the allegations," he said July 23, as Mr. Ban made the South African's appointment official.
Mr. Khalilzad's attitude throughout the mini-crisis was noteworthy. >From the start, he insisted that the choice of a human-rights commissioner was the Secretary General's to make, and he seemed unwilling to join the Bushites who go on the offensive whenever women's reproductive rights come up at the UN. These are some of the same people who have backed a boycott of U.S. contributions to the UN Population Fund since 2002 and who side with the Vatican and conservative Muslim countries on international women's issues in the Economic and Social Council.
Washington had its own slate of candidates for high commissioner — assembled hastily, by most accounts. One of them, an Asian woman, has told a human-rights activist in New York that in an interview with U.S. officials she was asked about her views on abortion, which she refused to denounce. She never heard back. None of the American candidates made the UN short list. Runners up to Judge Pillay were Juan Mendez of Argentina , a human-rights lawyer who has been the secretary-general's special adviser on the prevention of genocide, and Hina Jilani, a Pakistani lawyer who, with her sister, is a leader in fighting for women's rights and civil liberties.
What is strange is that the qualifications Judge Pillay brings to the high commissioner's office were not applauded by the Bush team, which prides itself on having leaned on the Security Council in June to pass a resolution reiterating the doctrine now enshrined in law that rape and other forms of sexual abuse are recognized crimes of war. Before and during her time as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , Judge Pillay was among those who pushed to press such charges because rape had figured horrifically in the Rwanda genocide of 1994. In September, 1998, the Rwanda tribunal became the first of the war-crimes courts to punish sexual violence in conflict. It convicted a local government official, Jean-Paul Akayesu, of rape as an act of genocide. Is a jurist's view on abortion to be given a higher priority than this?
Navanethem Pillay is a woman for the era in other ways too. Born into an ethnic Tamil family in Durban , she grew up in a minority community no less victimized by apartheid than black South Africans. The daughter of a bus driver and an unschooled mother, she rose through the education system in South Africa to a place at HarvardLawSchool , where she took two degrees before returning to Durban and becoming the first woman to open a law firm in the province of Natal . She was known for her defence of political prisoners.
After Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa , she became the first non-white female justice appointed to the South African Supreme Court. A quiet, steady and focused lawyer and judge, she epitomizes the concept, so often honoured in the breach at the UN, that the talents of women are key to development. With the right tools, including better education and more reproductive health services, women can reduce poverty and slow the spread of HIV-AIDS across the global South. But women, especially in Africa and Asia , need to know their rights and find ways to raise their status in society. Judge Pillay, who understands this, will be there to support them.
Barbara Crossette, former foreign correspondent for The New York Times, was South Asia bureau chief from 1988 to 1991 and UN bureau chief from 1994 to 2001.
The United Nations General Assembly has confirmed the appointment of Navanethem (Navi) Pillay, of South Africa, to succeed Louise Arbour as High Commissioner for Human Rights -- the leading UN human rights official.
At a special meeting in New York on 28 July 2008, the Secretary-General's nominee was confirmed by consensus. Ms. Pillay's four-year term will start on 1 September 2008.
As a member of a non-white minority in apartheid South Africa, and as a front-line, grassroots lawyer who acted as a defense attorney for many anti-apartheid campaigners and trades unionists, Ms. Pillay has direct personal experience of many of the issues that a High Commissioner for Human Rights covers under her mandate. She has also been very active in supporting women's rights, and was one of the co-founders of the international NGO Equality Now, which campaigns for women's rights. She has also been involved with a number of other organizations working on issues relating to children, detainees, victims of torture, and of domestic violence as well as a range of other economic, social and cultural rights.
More recently, Ms. Pillay has served as a judge on two of the most important international criminal courts in the modern era, spending eight years with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, including four years as its President, and then the past five years on the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Both of these courts deal with the extreme end of the human rights spectrum -- war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and are at the cutting edge of the development of international law in these areas.
Judge Pillay will be the fifth UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to be appointed since the office was founded 15 years ago. She will head an organization that now has just under 1,000 staff working in 50 countries with a total annual budget of some US$ 150 million.
Biography
Born: 1941
Place of Birth and Nationality: South Africa
Education: University of Natal (BA & LLB); HarvardUniversity (Masters and Doctorate in human rights and international law )
Career
2003-2008 -- Appeals Division Judge, International Criminal Court in the Hague
1999-2003 -- President, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
1995-1999 -- Judge, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda 1995 -- Acting Judge, Supreme Court of South Africa
1995 -- Vice-President, University of Durban Westville
1985 -- Co-founded international women's rights group Equality Now
1980 -- Lecturer, University of KwaZulu-Natal
1967-1995 – Attorney and Conveyancer, High Court of South Africa
1967 -- First woman to start a law practice in Natal Province, South Africa. Defense attorney for many anti-apartheid activists.
SAfrican lawyer nominated as UN human rights chief
Thu Jul 24, 7:44 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS - One of South Africa's leading female jurists who won acclaim defending apartheid opponents was nominated Thursday to serve as the next United Nations high commissioner for human rights.
Navanethem Pillay was formally put forward for the job by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who cited her "outstanding credentials in human rights and justice." Pillay, who holds a HarvardLawSchool degree, serves as an appeals chamber judge with the Dutch-based International Criminal Court, where she has been since 2003. Pillay, who is in her mid-60s, is of Tamil descent.
Her selection now goes to the General Assembly for consideration where she is likely to be approved at a plenary meeting next Monday, U.N. officials and diplomats said. The world body previously elected Pillay as a judge to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1995. She became that court's president in 1999.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador, said Pillay will occupy a very important position.
"She has to be the voice for human rights, focus on the violations of human rights, speak clearly and focus world attention on the egregious violations of human rights that unfortunately still take place in many places around the world," he said. "We look forward to working with her."
In 1967, Pillay became the first woman to establish a law practice in South Africa's NatalProvince, where she defended apartheid opponents. She also became the first woman of color to serve on her country's High Court, whose divisions hear both civil and criminal cases.
She also co-founded Equality Now, a New York-based international women's rights organization.
During the selection process some nations, including the United States, had expressed reservations about Pillay, including her support for women's access to abortion, contraception and other reproductive freedoms, and how she might handle next year's follow up to the 2001 U.N. World Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa, which drew controversy due to anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli stands.
If confirmed to the job, Pillay will take over the fast-growing U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, based in Geneva, Switzerland. During the coming year, the office will have almost 1,000 employees and budget approaching $120 million.
She would succeed Louise Arbour, a former Supreme Court judge in Canada, who stepped down at the end of June. Pillay won out over two other finalists for the job, Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist Hila Jilani and Argentine human rights lawyer Juan Mendez.
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Forty-first session
30 June-18 July 2008
Working paper on reservations in the context of individual communications
1. At its fortieth session, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women requested information on the practice of other human rights treaty bodies in relation to communications concerning any provisions of their relevant treaties which are subject to reservations. The present report is in response to that request.
2. The Human Rights Committee, the Committee against Torture and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination have the competence to receive and consider individual communications from individuals or groups of individuals alleging violations of the respective treaties by States parties which have accepted that competence.
3. To date, only the Human Rights Committee had to pronounce itself on the legal effect of reservations in the context of individual communications.1 In the landmark case of Kennedy.....more
BRIEF REPORT ON THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR A BILL FOR AN ACT TO PUNISH AND PROHIBIT PUBLIC NUDITY, SEXUAL INTIMIDATION AND OTHER RELATED OFFENCES IN NIGERIA 2008 SPONSORED BY SENATOR EME UFOT EKAETTE AND A BILL FOR AN ACT TO PUNISH AND PROHIBIT SEXUAL OFFENCES AND OTHER RELATED MATTERS 2008 SPONSORED BY SENATOR CHRIS ANYANWU.
VENUE: National Assembly Complex, Senate Hearing Room One, FCT- Abuja
REPORT:
A Public Hearing was conducted for A Bill for an Act to Punish and Prohibit Public Nudity, Sexual Intimidation and Other Related Offences in Nigeria 2008 sponsored by Senator Eme Ufot Ekaette and A Bill for an Act to Punish and Prohibit Sexual Offences and Other related matters 2008 sponsored by Senator Chris Anyanwu. The public hearing witnessed a huge turn up of about three hundred members of the civil society organizations with a large crowd of women from different coalitions and networks. Championing the opposition protest were members of the women’s human rights community, representative of the academic staff union of university, the Nigeria bar association, religious leaders, rural women etc. The massive media presence was one of the highlight of the public hearing.....MORE
BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights' POSITION ON THE BILL FOR AN ACT TO PROHIBIT AND PUNISH PUBLIC NUDITY, SEXUAL INTIMIDATION AND OTHER RELATED OFFENCES IN NIGERIA 2007
BACKGROUND
Over the years, women have suffered untold hardship and disadvantages due to a lack of commitment of government and quality representation in bringing to the fore critical issues affecting them. In appreciating the concerns affecting women in Nigeria, such as the high maternal and infant mortality rate, food and water crisis, poor political representation, harmful traditional practices, domestic violence and unfriendly policies relating to their socio-economic and reproductive functions in the society, the proposed bill trivializes women’s demand for a just society founded on gender equality.
OBSERVATIONS
In light of the proposed bill, BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights (BAOBAB) has observed with great concern the following:
The wide discretionary power given to the Police authority under this bill.
The disproportionate level of discrimination the bill will promote to the disadvantage of women.
With the rising trend of violence in the society, human insecurity and domestic violence, the bill will create a road map leading to more violations of women’s rights.
The bill will impose a subjective moral code in Nigeria, a society that is not homogenous in its values and beliefs.
A continuing emphasis placed on presumed public nudity in this bill will lead to justification of criminal behaviours towards women from both state and non-state actors.
Considering the socio-economic classification of women based on education, religion, and status, the bill will indiscriminately affect the least empowered.
From a technical perspective, BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights (BAOBAB) also observed the following:
The ambiguity of certain terms in the bill such as “private part”, “reasonable suspicion”, “sexually seduce”, “indecent dressing” and “public nudity” among others are open to subjective interpretation.
The provision on the presumption of guilt as opposed to the presumption of innocence is contrary to natural justice.
The fine imposition is devoid of an economic consideration of the financial hardship faced by Nigerians, especially the most susceptible targets of the bill.
The issues of presumed public nudity and sexual intimidation are separate and distinct and should not be encompassed within the same bill.
Surprisingly, this bill unconstitutional in nature and seeking to legislate on morality has successfully passed the first and the second hearing on the floor of the Senate. At this point we plead with the distinguished Senators to consider the underlying detrimental effect of this bill and stop its final passage in to law.
BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights expresses its deep concern about the moral and human rights insensibilities of the proposed bill, its unconstitutionalities and the uneconomical channelling of legislative efforts to less important issues in the face of pressing national development and human rights concerns.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Senate should out rightly resist any attempt in compelling Senators to legislate on morality and imposition of a national law on dress code for Nigerians.
Legislate with a sense of urgency on thriving national development and human rights issues in relation to alleviating the plight of the masses and vulnerable in the society.
Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the national constitution, international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by Nigeria, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
Recalling, that Nigeria is the incumbent Chair of the United Nations Human Rights Councils, the country must set a standard in its obligatory role in the promotion of human rights commencing with the human rights situation of its citizens.
In the word of Martin Ihoeghian, President of the United Nations Human Rights Council, “the Council's main purpose is to uphold the dignity of the human person through the promotion and protection of human rights…failure to advance the aims and objectives of the Human Rights Council collectively by all nations, all peoples and all institutions will be a colossal failure of humanity to protect its own dignity and rights under the rule of law.”
The World is watching, Africa is expecting and Nigerians are appealing!
URGENT APPEAL - BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights
Proposed Bill on Public Nudity/ Legislating on Morality/ Gender Discrimination
Nigeria
June 24, 2008
BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights, Lagos, Nigeria requests your urgent intervention for the on-coming Public Hearing on the “Bill for an Act to Prohibit and Punish Public Nudity, Sexual Intimidation and Other Related Offences in Nigeria” on July 02, 2008.
This Bill unconstitutional in nature and seeking to legislate on morality has successfully passed the first and the second hearing on the floor of the Senate, a ccording to the information received, on June 06, 2008. This is an attempt to set a subjective standard to determine personal dressing and to criminize and penalize offenders.
A critical analysis of the bill depicted gross unconstitutionality of its provisions and clearly discriminatory against women disregarding the universally recognized principles of the presumption of innocence. In addition to legislating on morality which is distinct from law, it provides an expansive definition of public nudity beyond its ordinary meaning, overlooking the diverse cultural and belief systems in Nigeria.
The Bill is contrary to constitutionally and internationally guaranteed rights which prohibit discrimination on basis of gender. It also gives wide powers to police officers who have access to limited resources to fight crime to have reasons to harass people and invade their personal life.
BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights expresses its deep concern about the ongoing insensibilities of the Nigerian Parliament on legislating on unconstitutionalities and channelling legislative efforts to trivialities in the face of pressing national development issues and human rights situations particularly women’s rights. BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights will also immediately alert the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of Women’s human rights and the Special Rapporteur of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) on Women’s Human Rights in Africa.
BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights further recalls that Nigeria as the incumbent President of the United Nations Human Rights Councils has to set a standard in its obligatory role in the promotion of human rights commencing with the human rights situation of its citizens.
Background information:
On January 14, 2008, Senator Ufot Eme Ekaette, Senate Committee Chairperson on Women and Youth informed the members of the public through the medium of the News Agency of Nigeria on her desire to ensure that the moral attitudes, cultural and traditional norms of the Nigerian Society are preserved. This according to her, is in a bid to address indecency and immorality. In February, the Senators truly began to legislate on this Bill and this Bill that has generated a lot of controversy from the public has passed its first and second hearing at the moment.
Actions required:
Please write to the authorities of the National Assembly urging them to:
Conform to the constitution and all international and human rights instruments to which Nigeria is a signatory.
Resist the move by Senator Ufot Eme Ekaette, Senate Committee Chairperson on Women and Youth, in compelling legislators to legislate on morality and imposition of a national law on dress code for the Nigeria citizens.
Reconsider their position and reject the enactment of such a complicated moral issues into law for the benefit of females and Nigeria as a whole.
Realize that Nigeria is a secular state and not founded on any religious affiliation as imposition of dress code connotes a strong affiliation to religious tenets and principles as a result compelling Nigerians to be bound by tenets favouring religious sects.
Legislate with the sense of urgency on thriving national development and human rights issues in relation to alleviating the plight of the masses and vulnerable in the society.
Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the national constitution, international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by Nigeria
Addresses:
General Contact information for the Senate
National Assembly Complex
Three Arms Zone
P.M.B 141 Abuja
Nigeria
Please also write to the embassies of Nigeria in your respective country.
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken with regards to this appeal in your reply.
To contact us, write to or call:
BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights
76, Ogudu Road, Ojota.
P.O. Box 73630, Victoria Island Lagos.
Tel: +234 - 8980834, 4962302, 4747931, 08023330981 http://baobabwomen.blogspot.com/
UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND INDECENT: A LEGAL OPINION ON THE INDECENT DRESSING BILLby Alliances for Africa
This legal opinion is a reaction to a bill sponsored by Senator Eme Ufot Ekaette (MFR), Committee Chairperson on Women and Youth of the Nigerian Senate proposing that the National Assembly (The Nigerian Federal Legislative body) pass a Law prohibiting and punishing public nudity, sexual intimidation and other related offences in Nigeria.
The proposed bill is an attempt to set a subjective standard to determine personal dressing and to criminalise and penalise people who do not comply with the dress code. The bill by its nature is contradictory and invasive on the following grounds:
▪ It discriminates against women;
▪ It disregards the universally recognised presumption of innocence;
▪ It interferes with the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination;
▪ It will overburden the courts’ case load with frivolous allegations;
▪ It attempts to impose a highly unusual and clearly unjustifiable dimension to law-making in a constitutional democracy;
▪ It wrongly assumes that any enactment would have jurisdiction across the federation of Nigeria since as a criminal bill it can only be within the legislative powers of the States’ Houses of Assembly;
▪ It infringes on the fundamental rights protected in Chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
▪ It expands the definition of public nudity beyond its ordinary meaning;
▪ It legislates on morality which is distinct from law;
▪ It does not take into cognisance Nigeria’s diverse cultures and beliefs;
▪ The provisions on sexual intimidation are worded in such a way that can lead to blackmail and abuse;
▪ It appears to usurp the power of the Attorney General as provided for under the Constitution by stating that a fiat of the Attorney General is automatically granted to the Police on his behalf;
▪ It creates confusion by giving both the Magistrate Court and the High Court concurrent jurisdiction to hear and determine cases.
▪ It reaffirms the roles of religious bodies, the ministries of information and the National Orientation Agency which only makes it the more obvious that a law criminalising dressing or indecency is unnecessary.....more
UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO TABLE NEW RESOLUTION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE
June 18, 2008
Mavic Cabrera Balleza - IWTC
1. NEW UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE 2. ARRIA FORMULA MEETING ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT-AFFECTED COUNTRIES 3. OPEN DEBATE/ MINISTERIAL MEETING ON THE NEW SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE 4. NGO WORKING GROUP ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY RESPONSE TO THE RESOLUTION 5. WOMEN'S NGOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD OFFER MIXED RESPONSES
1. NEW UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE
A new UN Security Council resolution on sexual violence is currently being discussed by NGOs, UN member states, and UN agencies. This new resolution, which is expected to be debated and voted on by the Security Council on June 19, 2008, would require the Council to analyze and address the occurrence of sexual violence in all conflict-affected situations on its agenda. The Security Council has been the subject of criticism - especially from women's rights advocates - for failing to respond to the issue of sexual violence in a consistent and systematic manner. It was only recently that it issued strong statements on the appalling levels of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Cote d'Ivoire....more
Report of a Two-Day Workshop organized for Secondary Schools in Lagos State by Action Health Incorporated from June 9th – 10th, 2008
BAOBAB For Women’s Human Rights participated in a two day workshop organised for Secondary Schools in Lagos State by Action Health Incorporated. The workshop was part of the preparation for the Teenage Festival of Life that will be held in November, 2008. The topic of the workshop was Ensuring our Rights: Addressing Harmful Sexual Health Practices. The workshop was organised to expose young people to harmful sexual health practices and to enlighten them on their sexual and reproductive health and rights. The workshop was also aimed at equipping the students on how they can use creative art for advocacy against harmful sexual and reproductive health practices. It was also meant to deconstruct gender stereotypes and improve parent-child communication. The students were expected to use the knowledge gained at the workshop to produce poetry, music and drama to be presented at the Teenage Festival of Life in November. The two-day workshop was divided into 12 sessions, 6 sessions per day because of the large population of students from different schools across the state. Josephine Effa-Chukwuma, Executive Director of Project Alert made the first presentation on Harmful Sexual Health Practices. She spoke extensively on harmful sexual health practices and the consequence of such practices.....more
WOMEN DEMAND ACTION AND ACCOUNTABILITY NOW!
We, women's groups (including women living with and affected by HIV/AIDS and young women) present here at the High Level Meeting on AIDS, urge national governments and the UN system to keep their promises to women and girls who continue to be at an alarming risk of HIV infection and of receiving inadequate prevention, treatment, care and support as a result of persisting social, cultural and economic subordination, structural inequalities, as well as pervasive violence in their homes, communities, schools, workplaces, streets, markets, police stations hospitals, and situations of institutional confinement. We welcome the progress noted in the Secretary General’s Report relevant to women and girls such as the fact that, in 2007, “ More than 80 per cent of countries, including 85 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa, have policies in place to ensure the equal access of women and girls to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support”. However, the same report states that “only 53 per cent provide budgeted support for women-focused programmes”, a situation which we strongly denounce. It is time to move beyond the mere promulgation of laws and policies to their full and immediate implementation....more
We, the undersigned, representing international women's and human rights organizations, express our solidarity with Iranian women, on 12 June 2008. This is the day identified by women's rights activists in Iran as their national day of solidarity in objecting to laws that discriminate against women.
Four years ago, on this day, women's rights activists organized an unprecedented protest in front of Tehran University, demanding that laws which discriminate against women be revised. They pledged to keep up their activities until their demands were met by authorities. On 12 June 2006, Iranian women's rights activists took to the streets again and planned a similar protest in Haft-e Tir Square, in Tehran, with similar objectives and demands. The protest was violently broken up and over 70 persons arrested. This was the first major crackdown against peaceful women's activism in Iran.
Since then, scores of women's rights activists in Iran have been summoned, charged, arrested and sentenced in relation to their peaceful activism and their demands for equality. Last year, because of security pressures, women's rights activists celebrated their day of solidarity in their private homes. But as witnessed in the continued summonses to court and persecution of activists involved in the One Million Signatures Campaign, the security forces won't even tolerate the convening of meetings by activists in their private homes.
On this day, we the undersigned thus want to express our solidarity with women's rights activists in Iran and send them and their government the message that the international community is watching. We are watching closely their struggle for equality and admire their creativity, persistence and determination under difficult circumstances.
We urge the Iranian government to stop its harassment of equal rights defenders, to drop all charges against activists who have peacefully advocated for the human rights of women, especially those involved in the One Million Signatures Campaign, to allow women's rights activists to use civil means to address their concerns about discriminatory Iranian laws, and to raise awareness about their concerns among the public.
Lastly, we urge the Iranian authorities to take concrete steps to bring laws governing the lives of women in line with international human rights standards, and in line with Iran's own international commitments. We urge them to recognize that, while Iranian women have achieved a great deal socially, laws lag far behind the realities of women's lives in Iran.
And in closing, we urge the Iranian government to allow women to celebrate their day of solidarity unimpeded.
Ask ASEAN to Help the People of Myanmar
In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, tens of thousands of people have died and up to 2.5 million people have been severely affected and made homeless without essential food, shelter or healthcare. The survivors are not receiving the necessary assistance. Ask the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to urge the government of Myanmar to provide humanitarian aid throughout the areas affected by Cyclone Nargis. Please send an appeal to current ASEAN Chair Singapore through its ambassador to the United States.. .. More
Help Guatemalan Defenders Uncover the Past
On May 19 Fredy Peccerelli received an email that said that he would be killed and his wife would be raped, murdered, and sent to him in pieces. Peccerelli is a renowned forensic anthropologist who leads exhumations of mass graves. The scientific evidence he and his team uncover could enable the prosecution of those responsible for hundreds of massacres committed during Guatemala's armed conflict.Days earlier Judge Eduardo Cojulun also received death threats. He had just sent a report to the government stating that there was sufficient evidence for these crimes to be prosecuted in Guatemala.The Guatemalan government must now act to stop the intimidation of human rights defenders seeking accountability for past mass atrocities. Please send a letter to the Guatemalan government ....More
Bangladesh: Sharp rise in extrajudicial killings and rapes, NGO reports
In its monthly human rights report, Odhikar, a FORUM-ASIA member in Bangladesh, has expressed concern about the increase in the number of extrajudicial killings during April, in which the death toll was more than double that of the previous month. The NGO also reported alarming increases in incidences of violence against women, with 52 women and girls victims of rape. Odhikar has called on the government to put an immediate end to the extrajudicial killings and attacks on women, as well as ensure proper support and compensation for victims......
Four women's rights activists, Nasrin Afzali, Nahid Jafari, Zeinab Peighambar-zadeh, and Minou Mortazi, have been given suspended sentences of whipping (10 lashes) and six months imprisonment.
Four women's rights activists, Nasrin Afzali, Nahid Jafari, Zeinab Peighambar-zadeh, and Minou Mortazi, have been given suspended sentences of whipping (10 lashes) and six months imprisonment. They have been given this harsh sentence for having been part of a small group of people who gathered outside the Revolutionary Court in March, 2007 to register their objections to the trial of five other women activists earlier charged for taking part in a peaceful demonstration in 2006 to demand the removal of laws discriminating against women.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
You can contact to the Iranian authorities and the embassy of Iran in your home country via letter, email, fax and/or telephone.....More
Overview /Simplification of the Protection Against Domestic Violence Law 2007 by BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights.
The Protection Against Domestic Violence Law 2007, prohibits any person from committing any act of domestic violence (DV) against any person in Lagos State. A complainant under the law can apply for a protection order where an act of DV or a criminal offence that contains an element of domestic violence is committed against him or her. The complaint can be lodged with any of the following persons who, only after obtaining the consent of the complainant, may apply on his/her behalf:
Counselors;
Health Service Provider;
Social Worker;
Organizations;
Teachers; and
Police Officers.
There are instances where consent is not required such as when the complainant is a minor (a child or persons under 18 years) lunatic, unconscious, and persons incapable of giving consent or the court satisfied that the complaint is unable to provide the required consent....More
The WMD's DemocracyNews :: Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy
Special Issue - March 2008
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: "Defending Civil Society" Report Available in Six Languages
The World Movement's Website (www.wmd.org) now features the "Defending Civil Society" report in six different languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.
As announced in the February issue of DemocracyNews, the report, co-authored by the World Movement Secretariat at NED and the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), articulates long established principles, rooted in international law, that have served to protect civil society but have been increasingly violated by various governments that seek to restrict the space in which civil society groups-particularly democracy and human rights groups-carry out their work. the Report is being endorsed by a group of internationally-recognized civil society leaders, thus far by Vaclav Havel ( Czech Republic), Saad Eddin Ibrahim ( Egypt), and Anwar Ibrahim ( Malaysia).
All over the world, women liberation and empowerment has assumed a front burner in social discourses. FRIDAY OLOKOR attended a forum organized for 25 journalists in Nigeria by BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Calabar, Cross River State and reports that the media, with necessary logistics, can be better used to fight against fundamentalism and violation of women’s rights....
We, women's groups (including women living with and affected by HIV/AIDS and young women) present here at the High Level Meeting on AIDS, urge national governments and the UN system to keep their promises to women and girls who continue to be at an alarming risk of HIV infection and of receiving inadequate prevention, treatment, care and support as a result of persisting social, cultural and economic subordination, structural inequalities, as well as pervasive violence in their homes, communities, schools, workplaces, streets, markets, police stations hospitals, and situations of institutional confinement. We welcome the progress noted in the Secretary General’s Report relevant to women and girls such as the fact that, in 2007, “ More than 80 per cent of countries, including 85 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa, have policies in place to ensure the equal access of women and girls to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support”. However, the same report states that “only 53 per cent provide budgeted support for women-focused programmes”, a situation which we strongly denounce. It is time to move beyond the mere promulgation of laws and policies to their full and immediate implementation....
