Women Rights
More Than 1 Million People Join Global Campaign Demanding Iranian Rights Lawyer Sotoudeh’s Release
Amnesty International says more than 1 million people in over 200 countries and territories across the world have signed a petition calling on the Iranian authorities to release prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh.
She has been sentenced to a total of 38 1/2 years in prison and 148 lashes following what the London-based human rights watchdog called “two grossly unfair trials.”
To mark one year since her arrest, Amnesty International says it is organizing on June 13 a handover of the signatures collected to Iranian embassies around the globe.
Sotoudeh’s detention “has exposed the depths of the Iranian authorities’ repression on an international stage,” Philip Luther, the group’s research and advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.
“Today we are sending them a clear message: the world is watching and our campaign will continue until Nasrin Sotoudeh is free,” Luther added.
Sotoudeh, the co-winner of the European Parliament’s 2012 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, was arrested at her home in Tehran on June 13 last year.
The human rights lawyer and women’s rights defender was sentenced in March to 33 1/2 years in prison and 148 lashes.
In September 2016, Sotoudeh had been sentenced in her absence to five years in prison in a separate case.
Taking both cases together, the total prison sentence against the lawyer is 38 1/2 years. Under Iran’s sentencing guidelines, she is due to serve 17 years in prison.
Sotoudeh’s case is “emblematic of a wider crackdown by the Iranian authorities in the last few years to quash Iran’s civil society and silence those advocating for human rights” in the country, according to Amnesty International.
Sotoudeh last year represented several of the women detained for removing their head scarves in public to protest against the country’s Islamic dress code.
An outspoken critic of the Iranian establishment, she previously spent three years in prison after representing dissidents arrested during mass protests in 2009 against the disputed reelection of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.
She has denied all charges against her.
LGBTQ rights, women’s health at center stage in 2020 race
LGBTQ rights, women’s health at center stage in 2020 race
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke unveiled a plan to protect LGBTQ rights on the morning he led a Pride Run through a New York City park
The former Texas congressman promises to use executive orders to overturn the Trump administration’s transgender troop ban and reverse the practice of discharging HIV-positive service members Recommended Video O’Rourke wants to work with Congress to pass the Equality Act, which he says would ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people can “fully participate in public life without discrimination” in employment, housing and “public spaces and services The plan released Wednesday includes a universal health care system that would guarantee LGBTQ people access to hormone “and other gender-affirming treatments O’Rourke also pledges to make it easier for LGBTQ refugee seeking U.S. asylum Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood is calling on the Democratic candidates to confront another contentious issue The organization is set to host a forum on reproductive rights for the Democratic primary field this month, as the issue of abortion emerges as a central topic in the 2020 presidential race The forum, hosted by the organization’s political arm, is the first event in recent presidential campaigns singularly focused on women’s health. The candidates will be individually questioned for 15 minutes about their positions and records on issues like abortion rights, access to health care and contraception.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece rebukes Gillibrand on abortion: ‘Civil rights begin in the womb’
Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece rebukes Gillibrand on abortion: ‘Civil rights begin in the womb’
Dr. Alveda King, the niece of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., strongly rebuked Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s, D-N.Y. comments comparing pro-life views to racism.
“I need for her to understand that abortion is a civil wrong,” King told “Fox and Friends” on Wednesday. “And of course, if you’re pro-life, you can’t be racist because you’re defending life for the most defenseless population on the planet — the little babies in the womb.”
She also accused Gillibrand, a 2020 presidential candidate, of “misleading” people and “advocating killing our youngest and our weakest people who happen to be in the wombs of their mothers.”
Dr. Alveda King, the niece of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., strongly rebuked Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s, D-N.Y. comments comparing pro-life views to racism. “I need for her to understand that abortion is a civil wrong,” King told “Fox and Friends” on Wednesday. “And of course, if you’re pro-life, you can’t be racist because you’re defending life for the most defenseless population on the planet — the little babies in the womb.” She also accused Gillibrand, a 2020 presidential candidate, of “misleading” people and “advocating killing our youngest and our weakest people who happen to be in the wombs of their mothers.”
Crowd presents ‘a united front’ against racism in Terre Haute
Crowd presents ‘a united front’ against racism in Terre Haute
TERRE HAUTE — Near 80 people came together at the Vigo County Courthouse on Wednesday evening to show racists who recently propagated anti-Semitic literature in Terre Haute and Paris, Illinois, that they will not forsake their personal creeds of universal love and inclusion in the face of hateful intimidation.
Because if there’s anything they know for sure, it’s that love trumps hate Demonstrators were protesting fliers recently distributed in Terre Haute and Paris, Illinois, with “White Power” written across the top of the page and “Get Some!” across the bottom. In the center was a swastika, a symbol that should be seen as offensive to any patriotic American, one speaker said on Wednesday A second page attached to most fliers featured a list of racist propaganda sites that spelled out the warped teachings of supposed racial superiority Carrying signs that read No hate in our state,” and “We all belong here,” those demonstrators, from a host of community groups pledged to defend one another and to denounce hate speech at every turn Arthur Feinsod, president of the Interfaith Council of the Wabash Valley .
Women attacked for trying to watch football match in Iran
Women attacked for trying to watch football match in Iran
As the Women’s World Cup kicks off, female football fans in Iran’s capital have been attacked by security guards for trying to watch a men’s football match between Iran and Syria
The women managed to buy tickets to watch the game after the official website of the Iranian football federation initially put tickets on sale without blocking the option for women, despite the fact Iranian women are forbidden from watching football matches However, the federation then blocked the option for women to buy tickets the next day, without providing any explanation While Iranian women were blocked from entering the stadium and violently attacked by the state security force despite holding tickets, Syrian women were allowed to enter At least two of those women were arrested and taken into custody but their fate remains unknown, according to the women’s committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran Several of the women who were attacked were interviewed by the sports reporter of the state-run daily Etemad One of the troops placed his foot on the chest of one of the ladies, took away her cellphone and tore away her purse.
Lesbian couple viciously beaten in homophobic attack on London bus
Lesbian couple viciously beaten in homophobic attack on London bus
Four teenagers have been arrested in connection with a homophobic attack on two women on a London bus that prompted widespread condemnation in the UK
The attack took place on a night bus on May 30 as the couple, Melania Geymonat and her partner Chris, were traveling home from an evening out together Geymonat posted a photograph on Facebook of the aftermath of the attack, showing the pair sitting on the bus, covered in blood In the accompanying account of the attack, in English and Spanish, Geymonat said that at least four men began harassing the couple when they saw them kissing. The group made lewd comments, demanded that they kiss and eventually assaulted and robbed them, Geymonat said They started behaving like hooligans, demanding that we kissed so they could enjoy watching, calling us ‘lesbians’ and describing sexual positions,” she wrote. Geymonat said she started making jokes in an attempt to defuse the situation. But the men “kept on harassing us, throwing us coins and becoming more enthusiastic about it The next thing I know is that Chris is in the middle of the bus fighting with them,” Geymonat said. “On an impulse, I went over there only to find her face bleeding and three of them beating her up. The next thing I know is I’m being punched.
IRAN CONTINUES TO ALLOW YOUNG GIRLS TO BE FORCED INTO MARRIAGE
IRAN CONTINUES TO ALLOW YOUNG GIRLS TO BE FORCED INTO MARRIAGE
The Iranian regime is known for its nuclear program and its spread of chaos and terrorism across the Middle East. There has been a lot of focus on the relations between the United States and Iran in the past few weeks because of the heightened tensions that many feared would result in military conflict.
Since taking office, President Trump has made it clear that he is not going to shy away from the Iran threat. He pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and he re-imposed tough economic sanctions. He put major restrictions on countries importing Iranian oil and it caused a bit of a ruffle around the world.
However, very little attention has been paid to the domestic situation in Iran. The regime, for the past four decades, has been terrorising its own people. They have denied the people the most basic of freedoms and human rights. The regime has committed some of the most horrific abuses and crimes against humanity. But very little attention is paid to this.
Freeing of Iranian Hijab ‘Rosa Parks’ Hailed as Victory For Women: ‘She Has Broken This Huge Taboo
Freeing of Iranian Hijab ‘Rosa Parks’ Hailed as Victory For Women: ‘She Has Broken This Huge Taboo
Iranian activists have called the early release of Vida Movahedi a “huge victory” for women in the Islamic Republic after the protester was arrested in March for her opposition to compulsory hijab laws
Omid Memarian, Deputy Director at the Center for Human Rights in Iran, told Newsweek that Movahedi, like the African American civil rights figure Rosa Parks, had reset the expectation for what was acceptable in Iran with her protest What she did was enormous, in any movement the first one who stands up, like Rosa Parks, breaks a huge taboo. Then it is possible to stand up to oppression Memarian said This protest has cascaded down throughout the country. It has encouraged many women to think they can do the same thing,” he added The image of Movahedi brandishing a white hijab from a stick during street protests that rocked Iran at the end of 2017 into the beginning of 2018 became a rallying call on social media for other women to protest mandatory dress laws in the Islamic Republic.
Budget Cuts May Undercut the U.N.’s Human Rights Committees
Budget Cuts May Undercut the U.N.’s Human Rights Committees
Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, has told the committees that oversee rights treaties that they will probably need to cancel hearings planned for later this year
GENEVA United Nations’ human rights officials and other experts have criticized planned budget cuts by the international body that would force the cancellation of hearings to monitor government compliance with human rights standards While the savings would be modest, about $2 million, the cutbacks would have disproportionately serious consequences on the implementation of international human rights law said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Bachelet has told the committees that oversee compliance with 10 core multilateral treaties that they will probably need to cancel hearings set for later this year Six of the committees likely to be affected oversee adherence to treaties that uphold children’s rights and combat civil and political repression, discrimination against women torture and racial discrimination The proposed cuts are the result of some member states delaying payments to the United Nations Ms. Bachelet’s office said
Human rights experts who serve on the committees which are known as treaty bodies, said they were appalled by the planned cuts.
In Kabul’s Liberating Cafes, ‘Women Make the Culture Here, Not Men
In Kabul’s Liberating Cafes, ‘Women Make the Culture Here, Not Men
KABUL, Afghanistan On some days, life as a young woman in Kabul can feel suffocating for Hadis Lessani Delijam, a 17-year-old high school senior
Once, a man on the street harangued her for her makeup and Western clothes; they are shameful he bellowed A middle-aged woman cursed her for strolling and chatting with a young man She called me things that are so terrible I can’t repeat them Ms Delijam said For solace Ms. Delijam retreats to an unlikely venue the humble coffee shop This is the only place where I can relax and feel free even if it’s only for a few hours Ms. Delijam said recently as she sat at a coffee shop, her hair uncovered and chatted with two young men The cafes are sanctuaries for women in an Islamic culture that still dictates how they should dress, behave in public and interact with men. Those traditions endure 18 years after the toppling of the Taliban, who banned girls’ education, confined women to their homes and forced them to wear burqas in public Trendy new cafes have sprung up across Kabul in the past three years, evolving into emblems of women’s progress.
