New Age Islam News Bureau
25 December 2020
• 26 Muslim Women Featured In the BBC’s 100 Women List
• Detention Centres In UAE Mass Graves For Female
Inmates, Right Organization Warns
• Germany: Police Cuff Muslim Woman for Not Wearing
Mask
• Singapore President Hails Saudi Initiatives to
Empower Women
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/afghan-women-rights-activist-freshta/d/123879
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Afghan Women's Rights Activist Freshta Kohistani
Assassinated
25th December 2020
Afghan women's rights
activist Freshta Kohistani — Picture courtesy of facebook.com/Freshta-Kohistani
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KABUL: An Afghan women’s rights activist was shot and
killed by unknown gunmen in northern Kapisa province Thursday, an Interior
Ministry official said.
Tariq Arian, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry,
said Freshta Kohistani was assassinated by unknown gunmen in the Kohistan
district of Kapisa. Kohistani’s brother was wounded in the attack, he said.
Kohistani, a former provincial council member,
organized protests and raised awareness on social media about violence against
women in Afghanistan.
The attack was the latest amid relentless violence in
Afghanistan even as Taliban and Afghan government negotiators hold talks in
Qatar, trying to hammer out a peace deal that could put an end to decades of
war.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for
Thursday's attack, but the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for
multiple attacks in Kabul in recent months, including on educational
institutions that killed 50 people, most of them students.
Violence in Afghanistan has spiked even during Taliban
and Afghan government peace negotiations, which began in September. The talks,
after some recent procedural progress, have been suspended until early January
and there is speculation the resumption could be further delayed.
At the same time, Taliban militants have waged bitter
battles against IS fighters, particularly in eastern Afghanistan, while
continuing their insurgency against government forces and keeping their promise
not to attack U.S. and NATO troops.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2020/dec/25/afghan-womens-rights-activist-freshta-kohistani-shot-dead-2240786.html
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26 Muslim Women Featured In the BBC’s 100 Women List
25th Dec 2020
Elham Asaad Buaras
Twenty-six Muslim women from 20 countries are featured
in the BBC’s 100 Women List of the most inspiring and influential women from
around the world.
This year’s list includes Hollywood actress and
climate activist Jane Fonda and Sanna Marin, who leads Finland’s all-female
coalition government. The first space on its list, titled Unsung Hero, is left
vacant in memory of ‘those who have lost their lives while making a difference.’
Among the Muslim women recognised is an award-winning
film-maker, a robotics team leader, a geneticist, a poet, several women’s
rights and peace activists as well as a chair of a space agency.
One of several African women to make the list is
Nigerian civil rights activist and co-convener of #BringBackOurGirls movement,
Aisha Yesufu. Yesufu has also been at the forefront of the #EndSARS movement, a
campaign that gained traction on social media globally against the excesses of
a deadly police unit called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
Numerous policymakers have also been acknowledged;
among them the UAE’s Minister for Advanced Technologies and current chair of
the country’s Space Agency Sarah Al-Amiri. She was previously science lead and
deputy project manager for the Emirates Mars Mission, which is set to be the
first interplanetary venture of any Arab nation. The orbiter, known as Hope (or
Amal in Arabic), is expected to land on the red planet in February 2021 and
collect data on, for example, its climate and weather.
At 82, India’s Bilkis Bano is the oldest woman on the
list. The protest leader was part of a group of women who peacefully protested
against a controversial citizenship law, which discriminates against Muslims.
She became the face of a long-running protest at the capital’s Shaheen Bagh,
the Muslim area where the protests were held. Indian journalist and author Rana
Ayyub described her as “the voice of the marginalised.”
Bilkis is quoted as saying: “Women should feel
empowered to step out of their homes and raise their voice, especially against
injustice. If they don’t leave their homes, how will they showcase their
strength?” Her fight against the Citizenship Amendment Act had already led to
her being included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in September.
In contrast, 17-year-old environmental campaigner,
Salsabila Khairunnisa, is the youngest woman on the prestigious list. The
Indonesian student from Jakarta is recognised for leading a school strike every
Friday against deforestation in front of the office of the Ministry of
Environment and Forestry.
Khairunnisa is not the only teenager to score
inclusion; she is joined by 18-year-old Somaya Faruqi who made headlines
earlier this year when she led an all-female Afghan robotics team in designing
low-cost ventilators to treat coronavirus patients.
The seven-woman “Afghan Dreamers” team took four
months to finalise the design of the ventilator, which is partially based on an
MIT design, and they received guidance from experts at Harvard University. The
device is easy to carry and can run on battery power for 10 hours and costs
$700 to produce, compared with the $20,000 price of a traditional ventilator,
and the team’s design could provide much-needed and affordable support to medical
professionals.
The arts and media world is also represented in the
list in the form of Syrian film-maker, activist and journalist Waad al-Kateab.
The award-winning film-maker has received numerous accolades, including an Emmy
for her news reports in Aleppo. This year her first feature documentary, For
Sama, bagged a Bafta win and an Oscar nomination.
Other Muslim women featured
Afghanistan: Women rights activist Laleh Osmany was
unhappy with the omission of women’s names from official documents in
Afghanistan. Osmany started the WhereIsMyName campaign. After a three-year
fight, in 2020 the Afghan government agreed to allow mothers to have their
names printed on their children’s national identity cards.
Bangladesh: Women rights activist Rina Akter and her
team of helpers have served around 400 meals a week to sex workers in Dhaka who
have found themselves without clients and are thus struggling to feed
themselves.
Bangladesh: Teacher Rima Sultana is a member of Young
Women Leaders for Peace in Cox’s Bazar. This programme, part of the Global
Network of Women Peacebuilders, aims to empower young women from
conflict-affected countries to be leaders and agents of peace.
Egypt: Campaigner Nadeen Ashraf is a philosophy
student who believes in social media as a tool for change. She is passionate
about spreading knowledge in a way that’s accessible to the general population.
Exiled Uyghur from Ghulja: Writer Muyesser Abdul’ehed
Hendan began making a name for herself as a poet and essayist while studying
medicine. By the time she completed her master’s degree in public health, she
had resolved to focus on writing.
France: Writer/illustrator Nadine Kaadan is an
award-winning children’s book author and illustrator from Syria. She has
published in several countries and languages. Her mission is to champion
empowered and inclusive representation in children’s books so that every child
can see themselves in a story.
Indonesia: Activist Febfi Setyawati is the founder of
Untukteman.id, an organisation that helps vulnerable people – especially ill
people with financial difficulties and those affected by Covid-19.
Iran: Computational geneticist Pardis Sabeti is a
professor at Harvard University, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and
the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She has contributed to human and microbial
genomics, information theory, and rural infectious disease surveillance and
education efforts in West Africa.
Iran: Human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh is a
lawyer advocating for the rule of law and the rights of political prisoners,
opposition activists, women and children in Iran. She is on temporary-leave
from a lengthy prison sentence for standing up against the country’s justice system.
Iraq/UK: Public health expert Nisreen Alwan is a
public health doctor and academic in the UK who researches the health and
wellbeing of women and children, focusing on pregnancy.
Kyrgyzstan: Disability activist Gulnaz Zhuzbaeva,
founder of the Kyrgyz Federation of the Blind has been working tirelessly to
make many important government documents available in Braille and improve
access to those with visual impairment.
Lebanon: Activist Hayat Mirshad is co-founder of
Fe-Male, a pioneer feminist collective. Unapologetic and uncompromising, her
mission is to ensure girls and women have access to justice, information,
protection and human rights.
Morocco: Rapper Houda Abouz known for her unique style
and lyrical songs. She stands up for women’s rights and gender equality in a
male-dominated industry; she considers her music a tool for change.
Pakistan: Actor Mahira Khan is outspoken against
sexual violence, refuses to endorse skin-lightening creams and supports the
fight against racism. She wants to tackle social issues in her native Pakistan
by changing the narrative in films and on TV.
Pakistan: Global health leader Dr Sania Nishtar is a
leader in global health and sustainable development. Since 2018, she has been
spearheading the transformative Ehsaas Poverty Alleviation programme, which has
improved the livelihoods of millions by providing mobile banking and savings
accounts, and other basic resources.
Somalia: Peace activist Ilwad Elman is a young female
leader at the forefront of the Somali peace process and a global authority on
ending the conflict.
Somaliland: Educator Ubah Ali is a co-founder of
Solace for Somaliland Girls, a foundation committed to eradicating all forms of
female genital mutilation across communities in Somaliland, through education
and empowerment.
Syria: Plant virologist Dr Safaa Kumari looks for
solutions to epidemics that destroy crops. After discovering seeds that could
safeguard food security in Syria, she risked her life to rescue them from
Aleppo.
Turkey: Social justice activist Gülsüm Kav is a
doctor, academic and co-founder of We Will Stop Femicide. Over the past year,
high femicide rates and parliamentary debates over whether to repeal the
Istanbul Convention (a legal framework designed to protect victims of domestic
violence) have drawn widespread criticism in Turkey.
Yemen: Microgrid manager Iman Ghaleb Al-Hamli manages
a group of 10 women who set up a solar microgrid, offering clean and low-impact
energy, just 20 miles from the front line of the devastating Yemeni civil war.
http://muslimnews.co.uk/newspaper/home-news/26-muslim-women-featured-bbcs-100-women-list/
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Detention Centres In UAE Mass Graves For Female
Inmates, Right Organization Warns
24 December 2020
An international human rights group has warned about
the appalling condition of women being held behind bars across the United Arab
Emirates, describing detention centers in the Persian Gulf country as “mass
graves” for female detainees.
The Arab Organization for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR
UK), in a series of posts published on its official Twitter page, stated that
inmates suffer from “extremely poor conditions of detention that pose a grave
danger to their lives.”
The organization described the UAE prisons as “mass
graves in which female detainees are subjected to slow and systematic killing
at the hands of security authorities, who are proficient in mental and physical
torture.”
According to testimonies of the women, Emirati
security forces enjoy harassing them as sick detainees fight their illnesses
without any medical care.
The AOHR UK said the UAE is holding hundreds of
detainees inside its prisons.
It cited the case of Alia Abdel Nour, a
cancer-stricken Emirati woman imprisoned on terrorism charges for raising money
online for Syrian refugees, stating that she died on May 4 last year as UAE
forces denied her adequate medical care and mistreated her for more than three
years.
The organization added that such examples are
“conclusive evidence of the extent of a decline in human rights conditions in
the UAE,” highlighting that female detainees in the country are forced to sign
papers without reading their contents that include unsubstantiated accusations.
It launched a campaign under the Arabic hashtags “We
will not forget” and “Female inmates in the UAE” to express solitary with the
detainees and demand their release.
The organization called on all media outlets,
journalists, politicians, jurists, civil society institutions and human rights
advocates to join the initiative.
International organizations have on occasions
criticized UAE authorities for arresting, torturing and forcibly disappearing
dissidents, as well as suppressing any voice denouncing the Abu Dhabi regime’s
behavior at domestic and regional levels.
They have also condemned the harassment suffered by
human rights activists in the country, and obstruction of their work to
investigate the situation on the ground.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/24/641440/Detention-centers-in-UAE-are-mass-graves-for-female-inmates-right-organization-warns
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Germany: Police cuff Muslim woman for not wearing mask
Mesut Zeyrek
24.12.2020
COLOGNE, Germany
Police in a Western German city handcuffed a woman in
a Muslim headscarf in front of her toddler and put her on the ground for not
wearing a mask, as seen in video that recently went viral.
According to the video taken by eyewitnesses in the
city of Wuppertal, there were seven police officers outside of the building the
woman left after visiting the dentist.
The video shows two police officers handcuffing the
woman in front of her toddler, putting her on the ground, and pressing on her
body while she screams for help.
When police tried to stop bystanders from filming, one
said: “You have no right to stop me from shooting this video. The phone is
mine. I can give my lawyer’s number.”
Police leave amid backlash
The video also shows a staffer from the dentist’s
office seeing the scene while leaving the office, saying that what the police
are doing is a crime.
As bystanders in the video make their opposition to the
scene clear, the police remove the woman's handcuffs and release her and leave
as if nothing happened.
German convert to Islam
According to information obtained by Anadolu Agency,
the woman seen handcuffed in the video was born in Germany and converted to
Islam.
The woman, evidently shocked by the incident, is
reportedly set to file a criminal complaint against the police.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/germany-police-cuff-muslim-woman-for-not-wearing-mask/2087838
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Singapore president hails Saudi initiatives to empower
women
December 24, 2020
RIYADH — Singapore’s President Halima Yaqoub extended
her country’s support for the transformation plans under Saudi Arabia’s Vision
2030 and hailed the Kingdom’s bold initiatives for the empowerment of women.
She expressed hope that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown
Prince Muhammad Bin Salman would visit Singapore soon.
In an interview with the magazine of the Saudi Embassy
in Singapore, Halima emphasized the commitment of the two countries to
strengthen and deepen their bilateral relations and continue to support and
facilitate cooperation between the people and business sectors of the two
countries.
She noted that her first state visit to the Kingdom in
November 2019, in response to an invitation from King Salman, was a milestone
that shed light on the warm, long, and diverse relations between the two
countries. “It was also a strong indication of our commitment to further
bolstering bilateral relations,” she said.
Halima stated that during the visit, she had an
excellent exchange of ideas with King Salman on how to deepen bilateral
cooperation, including two concrete proposals calling for the establishment of
a joint committee at the ministerial level for economic cooperation, and to revitalize
the Saudi Singapore Business Council.
She explained that the Kingdom and Singapore have
enjoyed regular exchanges between the two governments since the establishment
of diplomatic relations in 1977, and frequent exchanges at the people-to-people
level even before that date. Considering that her visit to the Kingdom last
year was an important milestone to revive what has been accomplished so far,
she expressed confidence that more reciprocal visits will follow over the
coming years, especially since the international community is working together
to combat COVID-19.
Halima expressed her happiness at the progress made at
the Saudi Singapore Joint Committee, which was proposed by King Salman during
their joint meeting, noting that business associations in her country look
forward to revitalizing the Saudi Singapore Business Council as soon as the
situation permits. She stressed that the governments of the two countries will
continue to support and facilitate cooperation between the people and their companies,
especially at a time when they overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
She emphasized that apart from the transport and
logistics sector, Singapore companies are also keen to explore more
opportunities in the Kingdom, in areas such as tourism, digital solutions,
education, and oil and gas sectors, in addition to looking forward to more such
partnerships in the future.
The president welcomed Saudi companies interested in
establishing their business in Singapore to communicate with the Economic
Development Board in Singapore and Enterprise Singapore, which has an office in
Riyadh, that can put companies in contact with the relevant agencies to start
the process of establishing businesses.
Halima said that Singapore had the honor to receive an
invitation for her to attend the G20 summit in Riyadh, which was held virtually
due to the pandemic. She thanked King Salman for the invitation, stressing that
just as Singapore did in the previous G20 summits to which she was invited, she
worked closely with the Kingdom to achieve a successful outcome at the G20
summit.
This included helping to foster stronger engagement
between the G20 and the Global Governance Group (G3), which Singapore chairs,
as well as with more United Nations members. She commended the Kingdom’s efforts
— during its presidency of the summit — to reach members from outside the G20,
and thus creating an impression that it is a comprehensive group representing
international concerns and perspectives.
Halima said: “With regard to Singapore, the COVID-19
pandemic has made the slogan of G20 under the Saudi presidency “Seizing the
opportunities of the twenty-first century for all” more relevant. As the
international community grapples with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,
international cooperation has become more important than ever before, and
Singapore commends Saudi Arabia for its leadership role in mobilizing
international efforts to face the challenges posed by the epidemic, which
included holding the virtual summit of G20 leaders in March 2020, and commended
the Kingdom for ensuring the important work of the G20 through virtual
meetings, as travel is still not possible during this period.”
Apart from the urgent priority of addressing the
health and safety consequences of COVID-19, Halima stressed that it was
important for the G20, as the premier international economic forum, to send a
strong message of support for the rules-based multilateral order as well as
global trade.
In the interview, the president also touched on the
Kingdom’s initiatives and opportunities for empowering women. “For Singapore,
empowering women and supporting them in the pursuit of their dreams and
aspirations is crucial to the country’s success,” she said while expressing at
the same time her happiness to see Saudi women keen to work and contribute to
the success of their country, and easily assume jobs in all levels of society,
including the government.
For this, she cited the example of Princess Reema Bint
Bandar, the ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States, who is also the
first Saudi woman to be elected as a member of the International Olympic
Committee. The president also expressed happiness over the fact that one of the
officials who coordinated and facilitated her visit to the Kingdom in 2019 was
an able young woman.
Halima observed that during her visit to Riyadh last
year, she was pleased to visit the King Abdulaziz Historical Center, saying
that the visit provided her with a detailed practical view of the Kingdom’s
development. “In view of its rich history and cultural diversity, Saudi Arabia
is an archaeologist’s dream come true. I look forward to more work being done
to showcase the rich and beautiful history of the Kingdom and its people over
the coming years,” she added.
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/601805/SAUDI-ARABIA/Singapore-president-hails-Saudi-initiatives-to-empower-women
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