UN to Afghan Taliban: No peace or prosperity until women’s rights are restored
New Age Islam News Bureau
18 March 2025
· UN to Afghan Taliban: No peace or prosperity until women’s rights are restored
· Two Women Executed in Iran’s Urmia Prison
· Iran: Authorities target women’s rights activists with arbitrary arrest, flogging and death penalty
· Karnataka lawyers urge Bar Council to allow Hijab during enrolment
· Syrian women must have a seat at the transition table
· Merrachi's controversial Hijab ad featuring Eiffel Tower sparks debate in France
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/afghan-taliban-prosperity-women-peace/d/134907
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UN to Afghan Taliban: No peace or prosperity until women’s rights are restored
March 18, 2025
Women are banned from most jobs, public spaces, and education beyond the sixth grade. (File Photo)
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The United Nations Security Council has told Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers that the country cannot achieve peace and prosperity unless they lift restrictions on women and girls. These bans prevent them from obtaining education, working, and speaking in public.
The Security Council strongly condemned terrorist activities in Afghanistan and called for more efforts to tackle the country’s severe economic and humanitarian crisis. The resolution, passed unanimously by all 15 members, also extended the UN’s political mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) until March 17, 2026.
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 after US and NATO forces withdrew following 20 years of war. However, no country recognises them as the official government due to their harsh policies against women. Women are banned from most jobs, public spaces, and education beyond the sixth grade. They must wear full veils and are not allowed to speak in public.
The Security Council urged the Taliban to “swiftly reverse these policies and practices”.
UN special envoy RozaOtunbayeva, who leads UNAMA, told the Security Council last week that the Taliban must decide if they want Afghanistan to be part of the international community. “If so, they must be willing to take the necessary steps,” she said.
The Taliban’s chief spokesman, ZabihullahMujahid, posted on X that the “dignity, honour and legal rights of women” are a priority under Islamic law and Afghan culture. However, Islamic scholars and Muslim countries have stated that Islam does not forbid women from education and work.
Otunbayeva also said many Afghans are unhappy with the Taliban’s strict rules and fear further isolation. “They have indeed welcomed an absence of conflict and greater stability, at least for men,” she said. “But this is not a peace where they can live in dignity with their human rights respected and with confidence in a stable future”, reported by AP.
Afghanistan is facing a severe humanitarian crisis. More than half the population—around 23 million people—need urgent aid due to years of war, poverty, climate shocks, and a growing population, Otunbayeva said. She warned that declining funding is making things worse, with over 200 health centres closing in the past month alone, affecting 1.8 million people, including malnourished children.
On security, the UN urged the Taliban to take stronger action against terrorism. It condemned all terrorist activity and insisted Afghanistan must not be used to threaten other countries.
Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have risen, as attacks by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), who are allied with the Afghan Taliban, have increased in Pakistan. At the same time, militants from the Afghan branch of the Islamic State group, which opposes the Taliban, have carried out deadly bombings across Afghanistan.
Source:indianexpress.com
https://indianexpress.com/article/world/un-to-afghan-taliban-no-peace-womens-rights-are-restored-9891724/
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Two Women Executed in Iran’s Urmia Prison
MARCH 17, 2025
Azarpisheh, 31, from Urmia, and Baghernejad, 24, from Naqadeh, had been sentenced to death in separate cases on charges of "premeditated murder"
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Two female prisoners, MojganAzarpisheh and KoswarBaghernejad, were executed at dawn on Sunday in Urmia Central Prison, human rights groups reported.
Azarpisheh, 31, from Urmia, and Baghernejad, 24, from Naqadeh, had been sentenced to death in separate cases on charges of "premeditated murder."
Azarpisheh had been in custody for six years, while Baghernejad had been imprisoned for four years, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.
Two men were also executed on the same day.
Source:iranwire.com
https://iranwire.com/en/women/139850-two-women-executed-in-irans-urmia-prison/
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Iran: Authorities target women’s rights activists with arbitrary arrest, flogging and death penalty
17 March 2025
From left to right: Baran Saedi, Soma Mohammadrezaei, Leila Pashaei, Sohaila Motaei four Kurdish women’s rights activists were arrested after they participated in IWD events © Private
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Iranian authorities have escalated their crackdown on women’s rights defenders, journalists, singers and other activists demanding equality or who defy compulsory veiling using arbitrary detention, unjust prosecution, flogging, and even the death penalty in a bid to quash Iran’s women’s rights movement, Amnesty International said today.
Since International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March, the Iranian authorities have arbitrarily arrested at least five women’s rights activists. These arrests come amid an intensified crackdown that has included summoning women’s rights activists and journalists for interrogation, and arresting women singers for performing without the mandatory hijab while shutting down their social media accounts. In the lead up to IWD, the authorities flogged a male singer 74 times for performing a protest song against Iran’s discriminatory compulsory veiling laws and, in February 2025, sentenced a women’s rights activist to death.
“In the wake of the Woman Life Freedom uprising of 2022, the Iranian authorities consider the widespread defiance of women and girls demanding their rights as an existential threat to the political and security establishment. Instead of addressing systemic discrimination and violence against women and girls, they are attempting to crush Iran’s women’s rights movement,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office.
“Ahead of a key UN Human Rights Council session tomorrow to deliver findings on the human rights situation in Iran, and in the context of the Council’s ongoing negotiations to extend the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on Iran and the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, the international community must stand up against impunity and for the rights of women and girls in the country.
“States must use their leverage to press the Iranian authorities to stop harassing women’s rights activists and immediately release those arbitrarily detained. They must also pursue legal pathways to hold accountable Iranian officials reasonably suspected of committing widespread and systematic human rights violations against women and girls, including through the implementation of compulsory veiling.”
The mandates of the Fact-Finding Mission and the Special Rapporteur are set for renewal at the ongoing 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council (24 February to 4 April 2025). On 18 March, the Council is set to hold a joint interactive dialogue with both mandates.
Women’s rights activists arrested for participating in IWD events
In the lead up to IWD, the Iranian authorities threatened women, warning them against gathering and demanding their rights.
Since 10 March 2025, Ministry of Intelligence agents arrested four Kurdish women’s rights activists, namely Leila Pashaei, BaranSaedi, Sohaila Motaei and Soma Mohammadrezaeiafter they participated in IWD events in Kurdistan province. They are being arbitrarily detained in solitary confinement cells at a detention centre in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, and have been interrogated without their lawyers.
BaranSaedi was arrested from her family home in Sanandaj on 10 March 2025. She was previously detained during the Woman Life Freedom uprising of 2022 and released on bail after two months.
Soma Mohammadrezaei was arrested at her workplace in Sanandaj on 10 March. Security forces had previously summoned and threatened her on multiple occasions in relation to her women’s rights activism.
Sohaila Motaei was arrested in Dehgolan on the evening of 10 March. She was previously briefly arrested in January 2025 for protesting death sentences against women prisoners. She was also detained during the Woman Life Freedom uprising and sentenced to five years in prison for charges including “spreading propaganda against the system.”
Leila Pashaei was arrested from her home in Sanandaj on 10 March 2025 after speaking against compulsory veiling, child marriage, violence against women, and executions of women in Iran during an event on IWD. During the speech she said: “Women in Iran are held captive by authorities who fear the power of women…The women’s movement has passed the point of no return…. Women worldwide, especially in the Middle East, will never be silenced again.”
Pattern of Suppression and Intimidation
The recent arrests occurred within the context of a broader campaign to suppress women’s rights activism and defiance of compulsory veiling through a range of coercive measures. Activists, journalists, singers and other public figures are among those targeted through arbitrary detention, torture through flogging, coercive interrogations and threats, and shutting down social media accounts.
On 11 March 2025, Nina Golestani, a writer and women’s rights activist, was arbitrarily arrested at her parents’ home in Gilan province by the Intelligence Unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to a statement by her husband, JavadSajadi Rad, on Instagram, IRGC agents stormed her parents’ home, searched it and confiscated her personal belongings. They then took her away for interrogations and subsequently transferred her to Lakan prison in Rasht, Gilan province. She was released on bail on 16 March 2025.
On 7 March 2025, a day after several women journalists participated at a media event in Tehran without headscarves, the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency issued a statement calling their actions “contrary to public decency”. The journalists were interrogated at the office of the prosecutor in Tehran’s Evin prison and judicial cases were opened against them.
On 5 March 2025, singer Mehdi Yarrahi’s flogging sentence of 74 lashes was carried out in connection to his song called “Your Headscarf (Roosarito)” commemorating the first anniversary of the Woman Life Freedom uprising.
On 27 February 2025, singer HiwaSeyfizade was arrested during a live performance in Tehran. An official announced that she was arrested for “unauthorized solo singing”, which is banned for women in Iran. She was released on bail on 1 March 2025. Her Instagram account has since been closed, with two posts from the Public Security Police on her page stating: “This page has been blocked [by order of the judicial authorities] due to the production of criminal content.”
In February 2025, imprisoned women’s rights activist SharifehMohammadi was sentenced to death for a second time on the charge of “armed rebellion against the state” (baghi), solely in relation to her human rights activities, including supporting women’s rights. The Supreme Court had overturned a prior death sentence by a Revolutionary Court in October 2024, sending the case back to lower courts.
On 14 December 2024, singer Parastoo Ahmadi was detained after she livestreamed a concert in which she appeared unveiled in public in a shoulder-baring dress. The video went viral, amassing two and a half million views. She was released on bail several hours later.
On 13 December 2024, Reza Khandan, a human rights defender, was arrested to serve an unjust prison sentence in relation to his campaigning against compulsory veiling. Reza Khandan, who is the husband of lawyer NasrinSotoudeh, was sentenced to six years in prison by a Revolutionary Court in January 2019.
Background
Iran’s compulsory veiling laws, which apply to girls as young as seven, violate a whole host of rights, including the rights to equality, freedom of expression, religion and belief, privacy, equality and non-discrimination, personal and bodily autonomy. These laws also inflict severe pain and suffering amounting to torture or other forms of ill-treatment.
In its March 2024 report, the Fact-Finding Mission found that the Iranian authorities have “committed a series of extensive, sustained and continuing acts that individually constitute human rights violations, directed against women [and] girls…and, cumulatively, constitute what the mission assesses to be persecution.”
Source:amnesty.org
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/03/iran-authorities-target-womens-rights-activists-with-arbitrary-arrest-flogging-and-death-penalty/
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Karnataka lawyers urge Bar Council to allow Hijab during enrolment
18 Mar 2025
Over 100 advocates practicing in Karnataka have appealed to the Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC) to ensure that law graduates wearing the hijab are not forced to remove it during their enrolment as advocates.
In a representation dated Monday, March 17, a total of 124 advocates urged the KSBC to take necessary steps to prevent such incidents, citing a recent case where a law graduate was asked to remove her hijab during the enrolment process.
The incident reportedly took place on March 7 at the Karnataka High Court, where a Muslim law graduate was instructed to remove her hijab during the interview, which is part of the enrolment procedure. While women candidates were generally advised to tie their hair back or keep it neatly tucked, the Muslim candidate was specifically asked to remove her hijab “without any clear reason,” according to the signatories.
The advocates asserted that the candidate was not in violation of the dress code prescribed for women advocates under Clause 2, Chapter 4, of the Bar Council of India Rules. They stressed that this clause “specifically enables” women advocates to wear a dupatta and/or traditional dress along with a black coat and bands.
“We raise our voice against this incident, especially in the current socio-political climate. As members of the legal fraternity, we view this as an affront to the Constitutional guarantee of dignity,” the advocates stated in their representation.
Drawing parallels with Sikh advocates who wear turbans without objections, the signatories argued that Muslim women should also be permitted to wear the hijab without it “impacting the quality of their practice.”
Additionally, the advocates urged the KSBC to take proactive steps to encourage more women to enter the legal profession. Citing data from the Bar Council of India across 15 states, they pointed out that only 15% of enrolled advocates in 2023 were women. Similarly, statistics from the Supreme Court indicated that just 14% of high court judges were women.
“If any of our sisters from any community surmount all obstacles and seeks to be a practitioner of law, the KSBC as a responsible body must encourage the same,” the signatories stated.
Source:thenewsminute.com
https://www.thenewsminute.com/news/sc-slams-delhi-hc-order-directing-wikipedia-to-remove-ani-defamation-case-page
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Syrian women must have a seat at the transition table
MARCH 17, 2025
Syrians have endured 14 years of profound loss but continue to rebuild and seek accountability. Enforced disappearances, torture, and war crimes persist. Over 202,000 civilians have been killed, nearly 100,000 disappeared, and 15,000 died from torture in regime prisons.
The fall of the Assad regime in December 2024 opened a path for transition, but challenges remain, demanding justice-based accountability. Clashes near Jableh on March 6, 2025, and rising sectarian tensions forced thousands of Alawites to flee to Lebanon, exposing Syria’s fragility. In response, the EU has taken a measured “step-for-step” approach, gradually easing sanctions while monitoring human rights progress.
Monday's (17 March) high-level meeting featuring the 27 ministers of foreign affairs and the Brussels Ministerial Conference on Syria will further determine the EU policy decisions and reconstruction funding commitments. Syrian-led civil society organisations, the actors closest to the reality on the ground and crucial for the transitional period, are often put in the margins of such conversations.
EU member states must ensure that those responsible for war crimes and human rights violations in Syria are held accountable through robust legal and judicial mechanisms, preventing impunity and reinforcing the principles of international law.
There is an urgent need for accountability for crimes committed by not only the Assad regime but also extremist groups such as Isis.
However, justice cannot be limited to the courtroom alone.
This must be part of a broader transitional justice framework focused on victims and their families. These initiatives, along with reparations and psychological support, must accompany formal legal processes.
Justice also needs to be local, there is an urgent need to support community-led initiatives, local truth commissions, and reconciliation efforts alongside international trials.
Investing in Syrian civil society (CSOs) and infrastructure today safeguards Europe’s future security and stability. The EU’s support for justice and democracy in Syria is crucial to preventing extremism, state collapse, and mass displacement, challenges that will inevitably affect Europe. Investing in Syrian CSOs today not only upholds human rights but also reinforces regional stability and protects Europe’s long-term security interests.
Civil society in Syria needs to be actively involved in the reconstruction of a post-Assad Syria. CSOs are the curial forces who advocate for accountability preserving historical memory and demanding democratic governance.
The National Dialogue that took place in Damascus showed the difficulties of politically meaningful incorporation of civil society into political decision-making.
And while the event was pitched as an inclusive initiative, not all of Syrian society was represented. The exclusion points to the necessity of a more representative process in which all segments of Syrian society, particularly marginalised communities, should have a place at the table.
Syrian women
A truly inclusive transition requires a framework in which civil society is not only consulted in but also plays an active role in shaping policy decisions, constitutional reforms and governance structures.
Otherwise, Syria will find itself in a cycle of past patterns of political exclusion that severs its population and local entities’ relations with central power.
This engagement of civil society must be structured, with mechanisms for continuous dialogue, independent oversight of government actions and formal power to rebuild institutions in accordance with human rights and democratic principles.
Syrian women have long been on the front lines of grassroots activism, humanitarian assistance, and community rebuilding. But they are also facing fresh challenges in post-conflict Syria, including the risk of gender-based violence and political marginalisation.
The EU must ensure that women have a seat at the table and are key players in the transitional period.
Any transitional justice process in the future cannot be limited to addressing gender discrimination in relevant legislation but must address the systemic discrimination against women, legal barriers to the economic and social participation of women, as well as independent mechanisms towards combatting gender-based violence and justice for survivors.
The road ahead for Syria is fraught with challenges, but it is also one of opportunity. The EU has the power to shape Syria’s transition in a way that prioritises justice, not just stability.
Source:euobserver.com
https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ar351b7761
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Merrachi's controversial Hijab ad featuring Eiffel Tower sparks debate in France
Mar 18, 2025
Dutch fashion brand Merrachi has stirred up controversy in France with its latest advertisement featuring the Eiffel Tower draped in a hijab. What was intended as a creative expression has instead sparked a fierce backlash, with many critics viewing it as an affront to French culture and values.
The advertisement, posted on Merrachi’s official Instagram account, depicts the iconic Eiffel Tower swathed in a hijab. While the brand likely aimed to make a bold statement on inclusivity and freedom of expression, the ad has been condemned by a number of French political figures, who have called it a “deliberate provocation.”
Lisette Pollet, a Member of Parliament from the far-right National Rally party, expressed her disapproval on X, labeling the ad an “insult” to the Eiffel Tower. “By wrapping it in an Islamic hijab, Merrachi has deliberately tried to provoke us,” she stated. Fellow National Rally member Jérôme Buisson also criticized the ad, calling it a “dangerous political move.” French economist Philippe Murer, co-founder of the Citizens Political Movement, went as far as suggesting that Merrachi’s stores in France should be shut down and their website blocked.
However, not everyone shares this view. On social media, many users have defended Merrachi, seeing the ad as a powerful artistic statement that sparks conversation about Muslim women’s right to wear the hijab. One commenter celebrated the ad with the phrase, “From Eiffel Tower to Hijabi Power! The Eiffel Tower says: ‘My tower, my choice.’” Another user praised it as “Genius! The Eiffel Tower has finally received the modesty it always needed.”
This controversy comes amid ongoing debates in France over Islamic attire. The country has a history of restrictive laws around Muslim clothing, including a 2004 ban on hijabs in schools, a 2010 ban on burqas and niqabs in public spaces, and more recently, a 2023 ban on abayas in state schools. These laws are framed within the context of France's strict secularism, which many see as conflicting with religious expression.
The uproar over Merrachi's advertisement reflects deeper tensions in France over freedom of expression, religious rights, and national identity, making this ad not just a fashion statement, but a political flashpoint.
Source:indiatimes.com
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/fashion/buzz/merrachis-controversial-hijab-ad-featuring-eiffel-tower-sparks-debate-in-france/articleshow/119143765.cms
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/afghan-taliban-prosperity-women-peace/d/134907