Amnesty slams US on detentions, executions

The US human rights record has been marred by indefinite detentions at Guantanamo Bay and in Afghanistan and by a flawed capital punishment system, Amnesty International said Friday.

In its annual global human rights report, the London-based organisation said US authorities executed 46 people over the past year, despite doubts in several case about the defendants' guilt and questions in others over legal representation or mental impairment.

At the Guantanamo Bay detention center on a US naval base in Cuba, 174 men were still being held at the end of the year, "including 3 who had been convicted under a military commission system which failed to meet international fair trial standards," the report said.

"Scores of men remained in indefinite military detention in Guantanamo as President (Barack) Obama's one-year deadline for closure of the facility there came and went," it said.

"Military commission proceedings were conducted in a handful of cases, and the only Guantanamo detainee so far transferred to the US mainland for prosecution in a federal court was tried and convicted."

Additionally, the report said "hundreds" were being held at the US airbase in Bagram, Afghanistan, without due process and some were "subjected to torture or other ill-treatment, including prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation and exposure to extreme temperatures."

Amnesty said US authorities also "blocked efforts to secure accountability and remedy for crimes under international law committed against detainees previously subjected to the USA's secret detention and rendition programme."

It said there were questions about "crimes under international law of torture and enforced disappearance," under the CIA program where detainees were transferred from one state to another "by means that bypass judicial and administrative due process."

It also noted that former president George W. Bush acknowledged in his memoirs that "he had personally authorised 'enhanced interrogation techniques' for use by the CIA against detainees held in secret custody."

In other criticisms of the United States, Amnesty said "excessive force" by US law enforcement was a concern, with 45 people killed during the past year after being struck by police Tasers -- 450 deaths since 2001.

"Most of the deceased were unarmed and did not appear to present a serious threat when they were shocked," it said.

Amnesty also expressed concern about an immigration law passed in Arizona which could allow police to demand proof of legal status, fearing it would increase "racial profiling."

It also said "hundreds of women continued to die from preventable pregnancy-related complications" because of a lack of health care coverage.

Source: Agence France-Presse, May 13, 2011

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China: 26-year-old female executed for drug trafficking

April 13, 2011: Mao Ran, 26, was executed in Xiamen, China, for ordering others to conduct large-scale drug trafficking at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport.

Mao asked two women, Huang and Wu, to bring drug raw materials to China via the airport. On July 26th, 2009, Wu was seized carrying 2358.3 grams of heroin.

The following day, Huang was seized carrying 993.6 grams of heroin.

Source: Whatsonxiamen.com, April 14, 2011

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The Netherlands: 'More help for Dutch nationals facing death penalty'

The Netherlands is to become more proactive in helping Dutch nationals jailed in countries where they could face the death penalty, foreign affairs minister Uri Rosenthal is quoted as saying in the Telegraaf.

The news follows the execution of Dutch Iranian woman Zahra Bahrami earlier this year.

Some 2,500 Dutch nationals are being held in foreign prisons, of whom around 500 are in countries with the death penalty.

Source: dutchNews.nl, April 13, 2011

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Iranian lawyer revives Delara: who is responsible for her death?

The following is a recent letter on *Delara Darabi’s execution that occurred two years ago, from the blog of Mohammad Mostafaei, one of Delara Darabi’s lawyers. Delara (left) was executed in Iran on May 1, 2009.

*An alternate spelling to the name Delara is Delaram. “Del” in Persian means heart, “aram” means calm.

Who is responsible for Delara’s death?

Written by Mohammad Mostafaei, Modafe, Translation by Siavosh Jalili, Persian2English

In Norouz (March) 2009, I decided to spontaneously go to Rasht prison and visit a girl [artist/painter] on death row. I was feeling very anxious, but I wanted to see Delara Darabi, the girl who was arrested when she was only 17 years old and charged with murder. I wanted to do something for her. I had read about her in the newspaper several times. I entered the visitation room after gaining permission from the judicial assistant supervisor of the prison. Several officers were also present. When I showed one of them the Judge’s order, the official looked at me and asked, “Are you Mr. Mostafaei?” I replied, “Yes, why?” He said, “Nothing. I have heard a lot about you. I hope you can do something for Delara so that she will not be executed.” The official knew that there was nothing more anybody could do. Delara Darabi’s fate was execution because a powerful person made it his mission to execute her. Her execution was certain.
The person in charge of the office picked up the phone and told the person on the other side of the line to bring Delara to the visitation room. I was really stressed out. I was about to see the girl whom I had already told the press my opinion on her case. I waited half an hour when, from behind the window, a girl with dyed hair and a bright [fair] face walked toward the room. She was accompanied by a lady who was evidently a prison guard. The closer she reached, the faster my heart palpitated.

The meeting room door was opened. The girl looked and recognized me. She could not speak. She was laughing and shedding tears of joy. “I did not think anybody would come visit me. You’re the first person who has visited me in the New Year,” [she told me]. I asked her what I could do to help. She replied, “I want you to also be my lawyer as Mr. Khorramshahi works on the case.” I asked her to tell me her story one more time.
Delara began to recount the story. She said that she was not the murderer. [She said] it was Amir Hossein (her boyfriend) who committed the murder. “I agreed to take the blame for the murder, because I was young and really liked him,” she said, [and added] that she lied to her father and said she was the murderer. [Delara] cried as she told the story. She said no one believed her, [but swore] that she did not commit the murder. She also said that the Rasht Prosecutor pulled her aside several times and threatened to execute her.
Delara’s innocent face told me that she was not the killer. She was different form all the clients I had before. She put make up on and always dyed her hair. She said that she spent most of her time drawing, [because she loved it]. She also studied. She never thought that one day she would be executed. She had suffered so much in prison that one could see the reflection of her pain and agony. I left the prison that day, and she stayed behind in the place where she was eventually executed.
The ignoble Rasht Prosecutor along with his mercenaries visited the prison [early morning] on [Labour Day] (May 1, 2009). They called Delara’s name [for execution] on a holiday, like they had gone to hunt a beautiful gazelle. Violent beasts wanted to devour this beautiful gazelle like wolves to prevent her from ever drawing again. They took her to the execution hall. They cackled, passed her the phone, and told her to call her mother to tell her that she would be executed in a few moments. She took the phone handle while her hands shook. She begged them and said, “I am not the murderer. Do not kill me.” Everybody knew she was not the murderer, but they needed to have fun on their days off. And no game was better than Delara: a stunning gazelle with excited eyes, a bright face. She called her mother and, in a shaky voice, told her about what was to happen. Her mother hung up the phone, took a copy of Qur’an and rushed to Rasht prison. She banged on the closed gates of the prison with both fists. She begged. She screamed, but nobody opened the door. The hunters had their game. The large gates of the prison opened up and an ambulance took Delara away. The [young woman] with the calm heart did not rest in peace…
I had taken part in execution ceremonies before, and I could imagine how she was executed. She could not believe that she would be hanged. She lost control. She could not think. The wolves surrounded her. She had no choice but to beg…the begs that went unanswered. They took her two hands and led her to the stool. Delara continued to implore. She was only 17 years old when the murder took place. Even if she was the murderer, given her age, she did not deserve to die; the same way no human being deserves to die.
They put a thick blue rope around her neck. The wolves indulged in the sight of Delara’s death. The Rasht Prosecutor ordered the stool to be drawn from beneath her feet. Delara was hanged. She shook, then she was in peace…the world cries in sorrow and bereft.

Many months passed. Nobody could believe that this beautiful gazelle fell victim to the violent hunting wolves.
Several days ago, I heard that Amir Hossein, who was the real murderer in the case of Delara, hung himself in Rasht prison. I knew one of his cell mates who was recently released. I was able to obtain his phone number and talk to him. He said, “Prior to Delara’s death, [Amir Hossein] had told the Rasht Prsoecutor several times that he was the [murderer, not] Delara. After Delara was executed, he wrote a letter and said that she was innocent. One time, the Prosecutor went to the prison and threatened to kill [Amir Hossein] if he said anything. Nobody wanted to hear Amir Hossein’s words. He was depressed after Delara’s execution and was having a hard time. Finally, and to ease his conscience, he hung himself”.
Delara was not a murderer, and there are hundreds of other defendants who are accused of murders they have not committed. I have seen many cases in Iran, but the violence of the leaders of the Islamic Republic [consists of] executing and killing innocent people.

Who is responsible? Who will [provide an] answer [for] this injustice? How can one revive Delara? She was innocent. Her crime was drawing paintings and playing in her [youthful] world, but her fate was execution. Was her crime being an Iranian or being in love?

Related articles: "Iran: Delara Darabi has now been scheduled for execution", Amnesty International, April 18, 2009; "Iran: Delara Darabi executed", Amnesty International, May 1, 2009

Source: Persian2English, March 31, 2011 - Click here to read this article in Persian.
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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2011 - PART TWO

In the 1960s before they were outlawed, there was a TV cigarette commercial that proclaimed,

You've come a long way, baby

To get where you got to today

You've got your own cigarette now, baby,

You've come a long, long way.

Aside from the fact that calling a woman "baby" is demeaning and having a cigarette for women is a very dubious advancement, I got to thinking how far have we come as women, both in the West and in India.  (I thought about posting the commercial from YouTube here, but I was afraid some readers would accuse me of promoting tobacco, which, of course, I would never do.)

Politically, I suppose we have come a long way.  Names of women in politics come to mind.  Hillary Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, Carolyn Parrish (I love her!) and, of course, Indira Gandhi (I do not love her).   Politically, I guess we have come a long way.

Socially?  In the West there have been huge changes in many ways.  Spousal abuse, which up until the 1970s was considered a family problem that the law should stay away from, has become unacceptable to most people and the perpetrators are prosecuted and jailed sometimes.   Oftentimes, still, however, the woman refuses to prosecute her abuser for various reasons.  Although perhaps understandable, this is very sad on numerous levels.  It is bad for the woman. it is bad for the society and it is especially bad for the children.  The boys learn to punch and the girls learn to be punching bags, thus perpetuating the cycle of violence.  There has been progress, but not enough.  One area where I have seen progress is in the attitudes toward rape.  Rape is now recognised as a crime of violence against women, not just the boys having a good time because "she asked for it."  Having sex with a woman who cannot resist because she has been drugged or is asleep is also recognised as rape.  Marital rape, where a husband forces his wife against her will has likewise been criminalised.  I remember reading a very influential book called Against Our Will:  Men. Women and Rape.  Although published in 1975 and a bit dated, this book is still one of the best analyses of the subject that I have read.  I do find her condemnation of men in general too harsh. 

This is the cover I rermember.  I believe it has been updated.

India, as is often the case seems to be in a state of confusion.  Societal issues, in general, far favour men over women.  Thr double standard is in full force.  (A boy is just sowing wild oats, a girl is a slut or whore.)  Eve-baiting occurs everywhere to the point that many young women dread going out.  A woman who has been raped is often said to have been "dishonoured," although she is the victim and the male perpetrator is the one who has dishonoured himself, if indeed, he had ever had any honour to dishonour.  (This leads into izzat, which is a topic for another post.)  Some laws, I am told,  favour women to the point that a simple accusation without supporting evidence can land a man in jail, I am told.

This article from today's (7 March 2011) Times of India is a real eye opener:

Printed from

Indian men lead in sexual violence, worst on gender equality: Study

Neha Bhayana, TNN | Mar 7, 2011, 12.30am IST

NEW DELHI: Nearly one in four Indian men has committed sexual violence at some point in their lives and one in five has admittedly forced his wife or partner to have sex. The findings of a recent International Men and Gender Equality Survey reflects a new low for Indian men. Only 2% Brazilian males and less than 9% of men in Chile, Croatia, Mexico and Rwanda were found to have indulged in sexual violence.

The survey was conducted in six developing countries across four continents to map attitudes and practices related to gender equality. Researchers from the International Centre for Research on Women ( ICRW in US and India) and Instituto Promundo in Brazil, who led the survey, interviewed more than 8,000 men and 3,500 women, aged 18 to 59, from these countries.

Indians, who are known to excel in competitive examinations globally, were ranked last on the 'gender equitable men' scale, given that only 17% of men here qualified to the 'highly equitable' (gender-just) category. The percentage was the lowest for this category among the six countries. On sexual violence, 24% said they had committed some form of it in their lives.

While Croatia topped the test, with 82% 'gender-just' men, more than 50% men in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico made the grade. Rwanda, which is among the least developed nations in the world, in fact, fared better than India, with 30% males qualifying as 'highly equitable'.

Rwanda, however, joined India with highest rate of domestic violence, with 38% men admitting they had physically abused their partners. Worse, more than 65% Indian men also believed that women should tolerate violence to keep the family together and that women sometimes deserved to be beaten.

And although Indian men were the most sexually and physically violent at home, they were not involved in violent or criminal behaviour outside. Only 4% Indian men had participated in robbery and 7% had been involved in fights with weapons, compared to 36% men in Croatia and 22% men in Brazil.

The findings, released in Washington last month, reiterated that although India may be on its way to becoming the world's fastest developing economy, it figures at the bottom of the pile when it comes to gender equality. "Indian men are far more traditional, to put it mildly. Even young, educated men are not changing as rapidly as women. They are still living in the old ages," said Ravi Verma, director of ICRW's Asia regional office in Delhi.

Verma added that they would soon present the survey findings to the ministry of women and child development and other policy-makers to urge them to make appropriate changes in policies and programmes to better foster gender equality.

In the survey, which found Indian men to be the worst offenders in terms of sexual violence, more than 1,000 men from the 1,500 interviewed in India were from Delhi. The findings mirrored the high incidence of sexual assault in Delhi: the capital witnessed 489 rapes last year.

"Although the survey has focussed on violence in the privacy of homes, it reflects the situation in public places, too," said Kalpana Vishwanath, project director of the Gender Inclusive Cities project run by Jagori NGO. South Asia does fare quite poorly in terms of gender equality.

Vibhuti Patel, a women's rights activist, blamed the repression of sexuality in India for the high rate of sexual violence. "All the other countries surveyed have more sexual freedom than India. Rwanda, too, has tribal culture so people are more open and women's role in the economy is recognized," said Patel, who heads the economics department at Mumbai's SNDT University.

"In India, the age-old code of conduct has been to keep men and women separate. So women are only viewed as sex objects," she added.

I can think of no better way to end this post than to remind all my readers of the beautiful words of Guru Nanak Dev ji.  Most of us say this words each morning.  I think it's time we listen closely and take to heart what he wrote.

    

ਭੰਡਿ ਜੰਮੀਐ ਭੰਡਿ ਨਿੰਮੀਐ ਭੰਡਿ ਮੰਗਣੁ ਵੀਆਹੁ 
  ॥From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married.

ਭੰਡਹੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਦੋਸਤੀ ਭੰਡਹੁ ਚਲੈ ਰਾਹੁ ॥ 
Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come.

ਭੰਡੁ ਮੁਆ ਭੰਡੁ ਭਾਲੀਐ ਭੰਡਿ ਹੋਵੈ ਬੰਧਾਨੁ ॥ 
When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound.

ਸੋ ਕਿਉ ਮੰਦਾ ਆਖੀਐ ਜਿਤੁ ਜੰਮਹਿ ਰਾਜਾਨ ॥

 So why call her bad? From her, kings are born.

ਭੰਡਹੁ ਹੀ ਭੰਡੁ ਊਪਜੈ ਭੰਡੈ ਬਾਝੁ ਨ ਕੋਇ ॥

 From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all.

ਨਾਨਕ ਭੰਡੈ ਬਾਹਰਾ ਏਕੋ ਸਚਾ ਸੋਇ ॥

 O Nanak, only the True Lord is without a woman.

ਭੰਡਿ ਜੰਮੀਐ ਭੰਡਿ ਨਿੰਮੀਐ ਭੰਡਿ ਮੰਗਣੁ ਵੀਆਹੁ 

  ॥From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married.

ਭੰਡਹੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਦੋਸਤੀ ਭੰਡਹੁ ਚਲੈ ਰਾਹੁ ॥   

Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come.

ਭੰਡੁ ਮੁਆ ਭੰਡੁ ਭਾਲੀਐ ਭੰਡਿ ਹੋਵੈ ਬੰਧਾਨੁ ॥ 

When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound.

ਸੋ ਕਿਉ ਮੰਦਾ ਆਖੀਐ ਜਿਤੁ ਜੰਮਹਿ ਰਾਜਾਨ ॥

 So why call her bad? From her, kings are born.

ਭੰਡਹੁ ਹੀ ਭੰਡੁ ਊਪਜੈ ਭੰਡੈ ਬਾਝੁ ਨ ਕੋਇ ॥

 From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all.

ਨਾਨਕ ਭੰਡੈ ਬਾਹਰਾ ਏਕੋ ਸਚਾ ਸੋਇ ॥

 O Nanak, only the True Lord is without a woman.

Arizona justice: Shawna Forde death sentence a rebuke to border vigilantes

Shawna Forde

An Arizona jury on Tuesday handed down a death sentence for Shawna Forde, leader of Minutemen American Defense. She was convicted in the killings of 2 border residents in 2009 – a case Latinos say should have prompted greater outcry from political leaders.

Arizona is known for its tough stance against illegal immigrants, but this week a jury here sent a strong message of rebuke to anti-immigrant vigilante groups as well, sentencing the leader of a border watch group to death for her role in the 2009 home-invasion murders of a 9-year-old Hispanic-American girl and her father.

Latinos in Arizona had decried politicians' lack of attention to the brutal slayings, contrasting it with the more intense reaction to the murder of a white rancher in Cochise County last March, allegedly at the hands of an illegal border-crosser.

The death sentence handed down Tuesday in Tucson is against Shawna Forde, a resident of Washington State who headed the Minutemen American Defense group. She was convicted Feb. 14 of first-degree murder for orchestrating the killings of Brisenia and Raul Junior Flores of Arivaca, Ariz., a small community just north of the Mexican border.

“I think that the nation as a whole sees us as the wild, wild West, that things like that are going to be OK with us,” says Angie Thomas, who sat on the jury. “And they’re not.”

The case has drawn back the curtain to reveal the dark side of the debate raging in Arizona over illegal immigration.

Ms. Thomas and fellow jurors were told during the trial that Ms. Forde and accomplices gained entry to the Flores home with the expectation of finding drugs there, which could be sold to finance Minutemen American Defense's border-control operations. Finding no drugs, the intruders made away with inexpensive jewelry but, prosecutors said, not before fatally shooting young Brisenia and Mr. Flores. Both victims were American citizens born in the US.

“I see Shawna Forde as someone who would have liked to have been the face of a movement,” Thomas says.

Arriving at the death sentence was difficult, Thomas says, but it was aided by a picture of Brisenia presented during trial that was etched in her mind: “A little girl, with bright red fingernails; she’s wearing a white T-shirt and turquoise-colored pajama bottoms. She’s on a love seat. It’s a perfect, innocent picture until you realize that half of her face has been blown off.”

Brisenia’s mother and Mr. Flores’s wife, Gina Gonzalez, was wounded during the shooting but survived. She testified that her daughter was shot point-blank as the girl pleaded for her life.

To some here, the lack of public attention to the double slaying has left a bitter taste. When rancher Robert Krentz was killed in Cochise County last March, politicians quickly demanded increased border security, says Carlos Galindo, a community activist and radio talk-show host in Phoenix, who followed the Forde murder trial closely.

“We have failed leadership: They won’t speak up, they’re silent,” Mr. Galindo says. “To not say that it’s tragic for a child to die – that leaves it as acceptable to continue harming immigrants or Hispanics here in Arizona.”

The Krentz murder, which remains unsolved, has been largely blamed on an unknown illegal immigrant. A month later, Gov. Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1070 into law to clamp down on people living in the state without legal status. A federal judge put on hold key provisions of the law, and it remains in legal limbo.

Jennifer Allen, executive director of Border Action Network, a human rights group, concurs with Galindo. “We didn’t see a commensurate response after the shooting of Brisenia and her father, calling for zero tolerance of hate crimes or anti-Latino violence or zero tolerance for anti-immigrant groups.”

But even amid Arizona’s heated climate over illegal immigration, shootings like the one that took the lives of father and daughter are relatively uncommon, Ms. Allen says.

“Tragically, more common is the complacency on the part of government officials to attack it at its heart and call it for what it is: that it’s hate crimes,” she says. “These are anti-immigrant groups that have violent undertones and overtones.”

William Simmons, a border expert and political scientist at Arizona State University, views the Forde case as an exception – one of someone on the fringes. Forde’s group is an offshoot of the Minutemen movement launched in Arizona.

“These fringe elements get in the way of having civil dialogue about these issues,” he says.

Forde’s codefendants, alleged gunman Jason Bush and Albert Gaxiola, are expected to go to trial later this year. They also face the death penalty.

Source: Christian Science Monitor, February 24, 2011

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Iran confirms Bahrami death sentence

Zahra Bahrami

The Iran government has confirmed that the Dutch-Iranian woman Zahra Bahrami has been sentenced to death. A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry made an official announcement over the weekend. Insiders say it is unusual for the death penalty to be announced in advance. 

Iranian Human rights activist Sadegh Naghaskar told Radio Netherlands Worldwide on Monday that the death sentence was referred to in an interview with the state news agency Irna. The Dutch Foreign Ministry has confirmed this to RNW. 

Pressure 

Naghaskar is concerned about the fate of the 45-year-old woman who was found guilty of possessing cocaine. "In principle she could be executed any moment now, but it could just as easily be several months." He says she has been transferred to an isolation wing of the prison known as 'Methadone'. This houses a number of political prisoners accused of possessing drugs. 

Speaking from Tehran, Bahrami's daughter Banafsheh Najebpour told RNW of her fears about her mother. Her only hope is that the Dutch government is prepared to put pressure on Iran. Officially, an appeal against the conviction still has to be heard. 

Hangings 

The prosecution claimed Bahrami was carrying 500 grams of cocaine, while the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said it was more than a kilogram. Human rights activist Naghaskar regards the charge as ridiculous: "The accusation was only made to make the death penalty more acceptable to the West. In reality she will be hanged for contacting the opposition during last year's demonstrations." 

2 people were executed in Iran on Monday: Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Hajaghaei were hanged for filming the demonstrations against President Ahmadinejad last year. Sadegh Naghaskar says 97 people have been hanged in the last 3 weeks. 

Source: Radio Netherlands Worldwide, January 24, 2011

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'Thousands rally over blasphemy law in Pakistan'

KARACHI — More than 20,000 people rallied in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi on Sunday, police said, against proposed amendment to blasphemy laws that were recently used to sentence a Christian woman to death.

The protest follows Tuesday's assassination of the governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer, by one of his bodyguards, after the politician sought to reform the law that gives the death penalty for defamation of the Prophet Mohammad.

Pakistan's most high-profile political killing in three years has bitterly divided the country, horrifying moderates but winning praise from religious scholars and lawyers who festooned the presumed killer in garlands.

Two senior police officers in Karachi said more than 20,000 protesters had joined the rally and more were arriving, while senior police official Irshad Sehar told AFP that more than 30,000 people were taking part.

Banners at the event included some supporting Taseer's presumed killer, police commando Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, who has been praised by religious conservatives for shooting his boss outside an Islamabad coffee shop.

"Mumtaz Qadri is not a murderer, he is a hero," said one banner in the national Urdu language.

"We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the dignity of the Prophet Mohammad," read another.

Activists at the rally, which has been organised by conservative religious groups, called for "Jihad" or holy war.

The protest forced the closure of the city's main road and all markets in the teeming southern metropolis.

Controversy over the law flared when former information minister Sherry Rehman tabled a private member's bill in November, calling to end the death penalty for blasphemy, after a Christian mother-of-five was sentenced to hang.

Rights activists also say the law encourages Islamist extremism in a nation already beseiged by Taliban attacks.

Politicians and conservative clerics have been at loggerheads over whether President Asif Ali Zardari should pardon Asia Bibi, the Christian mother who was sentenced to death under the blasphemy law.

Pakistan has yet to execute anyone for blasphemy, but Bibi's case has exposed the deep faultlines in the conservative country

Bibi was arrested in June 2009 after Muslim women labourers refused to drink from a bowl of water she was asked to fetch while out working in the fields.

Days later, the women complained that she made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed. Bibi was set upon by a mob, arrested by police and sentenced on November 8.

Most of those convicted of blasphemy in Pakistan have their sentences overturned or commuted on appeal through the courts.

Rights activists and pressure groups say it is the first time that a woman had been sentenced to hang in Pakistan for blasphemy.

Only around three percent of Pakistan's population of 167 million are estimated to be non-Muslim.

Source: Agence France-Presse, January

Below: Video: Thousands rally in Pakistan over blasphemy law, Al Jazeera

Iraq has executed 257 since 2005: Minister

The derelict Khan Bani Saad Correctional
Facility, about 12 miles northeast of Baghdad

December 16, 2010: Iraq has executed 257 people, including six women, since 2005, deputy justice minister Busho Ibrahim told AFP on Thursday, amid calls from the United Nations for Iraq to abolish capital punishment.

Ibrahim also said the country was embarking on a major prison rebuilding and renovation programme that would see all of its 33 jails upgraded to what he said would be international standards by 2015.

"Executions began in August 2005, and 37 people are presently ready to be executed, following approval from the presidency council," Ibrahim said.

He said 251 men and six women had been executed since Iraq lifted the moratorium on the death penalty it adopted after the 2003 US-led invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein.

This year, Iraq has executed just 17 people, sharply down on 2009 when it put 124 people to death, four of them women.

Ibrahim gave no explanation for the fall but Iraq has been without a government for much of this year and under the constitution all executions have to approved by a member of the three-man presidency.

Ibrahim also said that Iraq was embarking on a massive prison revamping programme, due to be completed in 2015.

"There are some plans to build new prisons because most of our current prisons are very old," he said. "Only the prisons that were built by the Americans are of good quality. All of the Saddam-era prisons, except for Badoush in Mosul (northern Iraq), need to be rebuilt, renovated or modernised.

"By 2014 or 2015, all prisons in Iraq should be fully updated or rebuilt," Ibrahim said, putting the current capacity of the 33 prisons operated by the justice ministry, two of which are not being used, at 28,530.

Iraq's fractured penal system means that while all convicted prisoners are sent to justice ministry jails, the ministries of interior and defence operate their own pre-trial detention facilities.

Ibrahim said that as of December 9, a total of 24,783 people were being held in justice ministry prisons, including both convicts and remand prisoners.

Among them are 130 minors convicted of offences and 45 awaiting trial. A total of 341 adult women are serving sentences, while 241 are on remand.

Overall, he put prison operating costs at between 180 and 190 dollars per prisoner per month -- 150 dollars a month for food, with the remainder being spent on clothing, healthcare and other basic services.

Related article: 'Iraq has 835 prisoners on death row', AFP, December 13, 2010

Source: AFP, December 16, 2010

Iran executes Shahla Jahed

Shahla Jahed

Shahla Jahed, convicted of murdering the wife of an Iranian footballer, was hanged before morning call to prayer, reports say

An Iranian woman convicted of murdering the wife of her football player lover was hanged in Iran early today, state news agencies reported.

"A few minutes ago, Shahla Jahed was hanged in the courtyard of Tehran's Evin prison after 3,063 days of being kept in prison," the Fars news agency said.

Islamic Republic Student Agency (ISNA) said that Jahed was hanged at 5am, in the presence of the murdered wife's family. According to Iranian law, her life could have been spared if the family of the murdered woman pardoned her. Iran executes those sentenced to death before the Islamic morning call for prayer.

Jahed was found guilty of the 2002 murder of Laleh Saharkhizan, the wife of Naser Mohammadkhani, a football legend who rose to fame in the mid-1980s and coached Tehran's Persepolis club.

Jahed, who was held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison for nine years, was sentenced to death on the basis of her confession, which she later repeatedly retracted at her public trial.

Her execution is a defeat for human rights activists around the world who campaigned in the past nine years to stop Iran from carrying out her sentence. Last night, Amnesty International and several human rights campaigners called on Iran to stop her execution.

In 2008, the then chief of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, ordered a fresh investigation and did not sanction her execution to be carried out. But today Iran defied the international and domestic outcry by hanging her.

Activists in Iran widely suspect that Jahed was forced to confess to the stabbing. Karim Lahidji, the president of the Iranian League for Human Rights, described her as "a victim of a misogynous society" and said: "Shahla Jahed has never had a fair trial in Iran and has always insisted that she is innocent. Although Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's case is about adultery, her case is similar to that of Shahla Jahed because both are victims of the flaws of the Iranian judicial system."

He added: "We are approaching the Human Rights Day on 10 December and once again Iran is executing another woman. That's a clear signal that Iran wants to challenge the world on human rights issues."

Following the murder, Jahed was arrested as the prime suspect, but she refused to talk for nearly a year. Mohammadkhani was also imprisoned for several months on charges of complicity but was finally released after the authorities said Jahed had confessed to committing the crime alone.

Jahed told the judge at her public trial: "If you want to kill me, go ahead … if you send me back there [where her confessions were taken], I'll confess again and not only will I confess to killing her but I'd also confess that I killed those who have been killed by others." She then repeatedly reiterated that she was innocent and that she had not committed any crime.

Mohammadkhani was in Germany when the killing happened, but it emerged later that he was "temporarily married" to Jahed, a practice allowed under Shia Islam. Temporary marriage or "sigheh", as it is known in Iran, allows men to take on wives for as little as a few hours to years on the condition that any offspring are legally and financially provided for. Critics of the tradition see it as legalised prostitution.

Shahla Jahed's case drew huge attention when Iran took the unprecedented decision of holding her trial in public.

In 2005 a documentary about her case and her affairs with the footballer showed footage from her public trial. The documentary, Red Card, was subsequently banned by Iran.

Source: The Guardian, December 1, 2010

Member of European Parliament condemns 'inhumane' execution of Iranian woman

Senior Greens MEP Barbara Lochbihler has condemned the decision of the Iranian authorities to execute the "temporary wife" of an Iranian footballer for the murder of the man's permanent wife.

"The hanging of Khadijeh 'Shahla' Jahed is an act of inhumane and cruel punishment, which should be condemned in the strongest possible terms," she said.

Khadijeh Jahed, known as "Shahla", was reportedly executed by hanging on Wednesday in Tehran.

Amnesty International suggested she might have been wrongly convicted and had called for the punishment to be halted.

She "confessed" to the killing in pre-trial detention after 11 months in jail but withdrew her "confession" in court.

The head of the judiciary in Iran stated in early 2008 that there had been "procedural flaws" and that it was necessary to reinvestigate her case.

Speaking before the reported execution, Amnesty director for the Middle East and North Africa Malcolm Smart said, "Shahla Jahed must be spared execution. The death penalty represents the ultimate denial of human rights."

"As well, in this case, there are good reasons to suggest that she may have been wrongly convicted."

Amnesty said Jahed, who had contracted a temporary marriage with Nasser Mohammad Khani, a former striker for the Iranian national team, was convicted of stabbing to death her husband's permanent wife eight years ago.

In the Shiite faith that is the majority religion in Iran, men and women can marry for an agreed period of time. Afterwards, the marriage is null and void, although it can be renewed.

Men can have up to four permanent wives, and any number of temporary wives. Women can only be married to one man at a time.

Smart said there are "strong grounds to believe that Shahla Jahed did not receive a fair trial, and may have been coerced into making a 'confession' during months of detention in solitary confinement.

"She retracted that confession at her trial but the court chose to accept it as evidence against her."

Lochbihler, a Green MEP and chair of parliament's Iran delegation, was swift to respond, saying the Iranian authorities had "ignored the protests of many activists, politicians and human rights groups against her execution."

She added, "It is truly sad that Iran has become the country with the highest number of executions per capita.

"There are still hundreds of Iranians on death row, waiting for their execution in terrible prison conditions. The Iranian authorities should not allow this situation to continue and should cancel all scheduled executions."

Source: TheParliament.com, December 1, 2010

Related coverage: "Iranian Regime Commits Another Murder, Former Case Detective Speaks Out on Shahla Jahed", Persian2English, December 2, 2010

Amnesty International: Shahla Jahed, the Iranian footballer's wife, was executed on 1 December 2010 in Evin Prison, Tehran, Iran

Shahla Jahed, the Iranian footballer's wife, was executed on 1 December 2010 in Evin Prison. She was sentenced to death for the alleged murder of her husband's permanent wife. Khadijeh Jahed, known as "Shahla", was hanged at dawn in the courtyard of Evin Prison, Tehran.

The family of her husband's permanent wife did not pardon her and, according to a report by the Iranian Students' News Agency, the victim's brother kicked away the stool from her feet. In Iran, a convicted murderer has no right to seek pardon or commutation from the state. This is in violation of Article 6(4) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party. The family of a murder victim has the right either to insist on execution, or to pardon the killer and receive financial compensation (diyeh).

Shahla Jahed's mother lamenting outside
Tehran's Evin prison after her daughter's
execution. Source: Persian2English

Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, Shahla Jahed's lawyer, attended her execution and told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran afterwards: "I just can't believe it. I'm not feeling well. Shahla just kept crying; she didn't say anything. I went forward and told her to talk, but she only cried. The victim's family did not give their consent until the last minute. All the people who were there asked them to forgive her, but unfortunately they didn't accept. Nasser Mohammad-khani was there, too, and said nothing."

Shahla Jahed, who had contracted a temporary marriage with Nasser Mohammad-khani, a former striker for the Iranian national football team and former manager of a team in Tehran, was accused of stabbing to death Laleh Saharkhizan, her husband's permanent wife, on 9 October 2002. Under Iranian law, men and women can marry either permanently or temporarily. In a temporary marriage, men and women can commit to be married for an agreed period of time, on payment of an agreed sum of money to the woman, after which the marriage is null and void. Men can have up to four permanent wives, and any number of temporary wives. Women can only be married to one man at a time.

Shahla Jahed was initially sentenced to death by Branch 1154 of Tehran General Court in June 2004. She had "confessed" to the killing during 11 months of pre-trial detention, but withdrew her "confession" in court, saying, "Everyone knows the conditions under which I confessed," leading to fears her "confession" may have been coerced, a common occurrence in Iran. Nasser Mohammad-khani, abroad at the time of the murder, was himself initially suspected of complicity in the murder and detained for some months, but was later released after Shahla Jahed "confessed" to the murder. She was also sentenced to three years in prison.

Shahla Jahed's sentence was upheld by Branch 15 of the Supreme Court. Shahla Jahed's lawyer requested a review of the execution order and, in November 2005, the then Head of the Judiciary ordered a stay of execution so that the case could be re-examined. The death sentence was upheld in September 2006, but was again overturned in early 2008 and a fresh investigation was ordered. Shahla Jahed was sentenced to death for a second time in February 2009 by Branch 1147 of the General Court. On 13 September 2010, she wrote to the current Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, asking for a final decision in her case. By 6 November 2010 her death sentence had been sent "for implementation". On 16 November 2010, reports said her execution was set for 1 December 2010. On 30 November 2010 her lawyer said he had received official notice that his client was to be executed the next day.

Shahla Jahed spent over eight years in prison. Amnesty International campaigned for Shahla Jahed's death sentence to be overturned from 2005 (see Urgent Action UA 283/05 and updates and UA 243/10, 23 November 2010, http://amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/105/2010/en ).

Source: Amnesty International, December 3, 2010

Blasphemy case splits Pakistanis

PAKISTAN'S President faces mounting pressure to intervene in the case of a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy.

The case has drawn the Vatican's attention and sparked street protests in this Muslim-majority nation.

In a report delivered to President Asif Ali Zardari, Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti recommended that the woman, Asia Bibi, 45, be pardoned or released from prison if her pending appeal is not quickly addressed.

Mr Bhatti said he also recommended amendments to the nation's controversial blasphemy law.

The report followed calls for clemency by Pope Benedict XVI, rights groups, newspapers and the governor of the province where Bibi became the first woman condemned to hang for blasphemy.

But opponents have been equally loud, and the response of Mr Zardari's government will be viewed as a barometer of its will to stand up to hard-line religious groups, including some political allies.

Hundreds of Muslim demonstrators in Lahore threatened violence this week if Bibi is released.

Her ordeal began last year when Muslim women in her village near Lahore accused her of speaking ill of the prophet Muhammad. Human rights organisations have long urged a repeal of the blasphemy law, and Mr Zardari's Pakistan People's Party - whose government depends on a fragile coalition with conservative religious parties - has vowed, but done little, to prevent its abuse.

''All Pakistanis, no matter what their religion, are equal under the law,'' said Farahnaz Ispahani, a spokeswoman for Mr Zardari. ''President Zardari has followed the case of Asia Bibi closely and will take appropriate action, if necessary, to issue a pardon or grant clemency.''

Several people have been sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan, but none have been executed. Instead, rights activists and lawyers say the law is widely used to ostracise religious minorities or settle personal scores.

Though police are supposed to investigate cases, lawyers say that accusers often do little more than gather an intimidating group to lodge a claim and police make an arrest to avert an uprising.

That is what happened in Bibi's case, according to Mr Bhatti, who is a Christian. He said Bibi drew the ire of fellow farmhands after a dispute in June 2009, when they refused to drink water she collected and she refused their demands that she convert to Islam.

The women complained to a cleric, who gathered a crowd that forced her to the police station, Mr Bhatti said. He said police did not investigate and a court, without hearing her full account, handed down a death sentence four months later.

Mr Bhatti said he had concluded that Bibi, a mother of five who has been in prison for 17 months, never criticised Islam and the case against her was riddled with flaws.

People accused of blasphemy are frequently so threatened that they must leave their towns, and several convicted blasphemers have been killed in jail, said Ali Dayan Hasan, a researcher for Human Rights Watch.

''The cases that go to trial are really the tip of the iceberg,'' Mr Hasan said. ''The law creates this legal infrastructure which is then used in various informal ways to intimidate, coerce, harass and persecute.''

Bibi's husband and children were in hiding, Mr Bhatti said.

''We are frightened,'' Bibi's husband, Ashiq Masih, a brickmaker, told reporters in Islamabad on Wednesday. ''We are receiving threats, especially from clerics.''

Sahibzada Fazal Karim, the leader of the Sunni Ittehad Council, a key Muslim body, said he agreed that the law should be amended - but not towards leniency. Instead, he said, it should make blasphemy against other religious figures, such as Jesus, also punishable by death.

''Death is the only punishment for a person who commits blasphemy,'' Mr Karim said. ''If such a man or woman is set free by the President, ignoring the decision by the judiciary, it will have a ruinous effect on peace and harmony in the country.''

Source: theage.com.au, November 27, 2010

No quick pardon for Pakistani Christian

Pakistan's president will not immediately pardon a Christian woman sentenced to die for insulting Islam, but may do so later if an appeals court delays her case too long, an official said on Thursday.

The case against Asia Bibi has inflamed religious passions in Pakistan. Hard-line Muslims demonstrated again on Thursday against any pardon for her, and minority Christians held their own protests calling for abolishment of the blasphemy law, which critics say is misused by some to settle personal scores and persecute minorities.

Pope Benedict XVI has appealed for the release of Bibi, a 45-year-old mother of five who has said she was wrongly accused by a group of Muslim women with a grudge against her. The Pope said her case highlights the persecution of Pakistani Christians, who make up less than 5 per cent of the country's 175 million people.

Bibi, 45, is the 1st woman condemned to die under the blasphemy law. She has been jailed for 18 months and was sentenced November 8 to hang for insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammed.

Her lawyer has filed an appeal with the Lahore High Court, and President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to let the appeal process play out instead of immediately pardoning her, said Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, who met with Zardari on Thursday.

Pardoning Bibi would carry political risk for Zardari, whose broadly secular ruling party relies on the support of Islamist groupings in parliament.

However, the president agreed to pardon Bibi later if the appeal case is unduly delayed, said Bhatti, who delivered a report to the president on Thursday recommending Bibi be immediately freed. Zardari's spokesman could not be reached on Thursday.

Bhatti said Zardari did not specify any deadline but he believes the president "will not wait months or weeks."

About 100 Muslim demonstrators rallied on Thursday in the central city of Multan, warning against any presidential pardon for Bibi and burning an effigy of the Punjab provincial governor who has supported her appeal.

"We will resist if the government moves against the court verdict and attempts to amend the blasphemy law," warned Tariq Naeemullah, a leader of Citizen Front of Multan.

Dozens of Christians held their own protest in the southern city of Karachi, carrying a large crucifix and placards reading Down with Black Law and Stop Discrimination Against Religious Minorities.

Pakistan's higher courts have always struck down lower courts' death penalties in past blasphemy cases. Still, Bhatti said many who are falsely accused are unjustly jailed for months and often targeted by violence. 2 Christian brothers in Punjab were gunned down earlier this year as they were leaving a court hearing on a blasphemy charge.

The minorities minister acknowledges that repealing the blasphemy law is politically unfeasible but has proposed changes to it including making it a crime to falsely accuse someone, abolishing the death penalty for the crime and requiring initial cases to be heard by higher courts instead of local ones.

Source: Associated Press, November 27, 2010

Hard to find

Two men are out just fishing quietly and drinking beer.

Almost silently, so as not to scare the fish, Bob says, ‘I think I will divorce my wife. She hasn’t spoken to me in over 2 months.’

Charles continues slowly sipping his beer then thoughtfully says,

‘You better think it over, Bob. Women like that are hard to find.’

HOW TO TELL A SIKH FROM A TALIBAN, ILLUSTRATED EDITION

Before I start, let me say that in writing about the Taliban, I am not indicting the Muslim community, which has many good, upright adherents, some of whom I am honoured to include among my friends. Please do not construct anything I say about Taliban to apply to the millions of Muslims who are peaceful, constructive and valued citizens of countries all over the world.

Do to a certain shallow, outward physical resemblance to some Muslim extremists, our Sikh community has been under attack since the 9/11 terrorist attacks by those who don't know any better. Now events in Pakistan, where the Taliban has attacked the Sikhs of the SWAT Valley, forcing them out of their homes, make a comparison of the two groups mandatory for anyone who really wants to understand world events. (And to stop picking on innocent Sikhs, as well.)


First, what exactly happened in Pakistan? The government there has effectively turned over control of a region in the north of the country, the SWAT Valley, over to the Taliban. In a region of this valley called Orakzai live - or rather lived - a few Sikh families. These were poor Sikh farmers who had lived in peace with their neighbours for generations, who had chosen to stay in Pakistan when most Sikhs left to move to India in the Partition of 1948. These are people with few material resources who clearly love their homes and simple way of life.




These were destroyed when the Taliban demanded that they pay a tax on non
Muslims, called a Jaziya. I have read that jaziya was originally paid by nonMuslims in lieu of military service. I have also read that it was originally a financial inducement to convert to Islam. Whatever the original purpose, in this instance, it is clearly simple extortion, not unlike "protection money" paid by business owners to organised crime to insure that the Mob will leave their businesses alone.

The amount demanded by the Taliban, was beyond the means of the community and when it was not paid, the houses of the Sikhs were razed and Sikh businesses were occupied. The Sikhs, seeing yet another massacre looming, fled with little more than the clothes on their backs and a few meager possessions.

In summary:

Lahore: The Taliban has expelled at least 50 Sikh families from the
Orakzai Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) after
they failed to pay 'Jazia'. The Taliban had demanded 12 million rupees ($242,840, GBP 161,271)
as protection money from the Sikhs, who have living in the region from
hundred of years, but they could arrange only 6.7 million rupees.($135,586, GBP 87,355)

Later, it was reported that the extremists occupied houses and shops
of the Sikhs in Qasim Khel and Feroz Khel areas of the Agency and
auctioned their valuables for 0.8 million rupees ( $16,190, GBP 10,750), The Daily Times
reports. Earlier, the Taliban had also demolished houses belonging to
the Sikh community in the region.

The Taliban's Orakzai Agency chief Hakeemullah Mehsud ordered the
demolition of the houses after the Sikhs failed to meet a deadline
fixed for payment.

Having established, I hope, that Sikhs are not Muslim extremists, who then are Sikhs? Briefly, a Sikh is a follower of Sikhi or Sikhism, a panentheistic (look it up!), monotheistic religion that originated in Punjab, in what is now northeastern India and southwestern Pakistan. Rather than summarise the beliefs, which is really beyond the scope of this article, I suggest you go to about.Sikhism and look around. It's interesting and educational.
The religion sprung up and developed at a time when Mughals (Muslims) had imposed a brutal dictatorship on the people of part of what is now called "the Asian subcontinent," that is India and Pakistan. I will now compare some aspects of Taliban and Sikhs.
Since people are generally more visual than verbal, I have included a picture gallery of major differences between the two groups below.
There is a certain superficial physical resemblance. The men of both groups grow beards and wear turbans. The majority of members of both groups are brown. The Taliban, however, are by and large Arabs, with Middle Eastern origins.   I stand corrected.  The Taliban are, by and large Pushtans of Afghan origins.  Although there is a growing number of Sikhs of European and African descent, most Sikhs today are still either
Punjabis or descendants of Punjabis.

Taliban discriminate against women in many ways: imposing Muslim dress which completely covers her, denies her education, restricts her movements so she is not allowed to go outside unless accompanied by a male relative. (I wonder what happens to a woman who has no male relatives?)
Sikhi teaches that men and women are equals. In fact, the Sikh Rehat Maryada - the Sikh Code of Conduct - forbids a woman to cover her face.

Here is an example of Sikh music, a sort of hymn called a kirtan. Notice that it has a happy sound and is a joy to hear! Also notice that it is sung by a woman!
.

I cannot give an example of Taliban music, since the Taliban ban music entirely, even to the point of killing songbirds when they controlled Afghanistan.
I cannot give a current example of Sikh government, since the Sikh Empire (1799-1849) governed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh is no longer around. However, two big differences between Sikh rule at that time and Taliban rule now are that capital punishment did not exist in the Sikh Empire, while it is common among the Taliban. And a huge difference, different religions were not only tolerated in the Sikh Empire but were actually respected, while the Taliban not only lack respect or tolerance for other religions, but also condemn all other forms of Islam, their own religion.
But enough of words. I have written enough to tell about the differences, now a few pictures to show the differences.

Note: Should anyone wish to reproduce this post, I will be happy to send you the html to make it easy for you. Just leave your e-mail in a comment or e-mail me at simayanan [at] gmail [dot] com. MHK