Fathimath Shamnaz Ali Saleem, Maldives Climate Minister Arrested Over ‘Black Magic’
New Age Islam News Bureau
27 Jun 2024
· Fathimath Shamnaz Ali Saleem, Maldives Climate Minister Arrested Over ‘Black Magic’
· Pakistan NCSW Chairperson Nilofar Bakhtiar: National Agenda for Women’s Rights Launched
· Iran Presses On with Crackdown Over Headscarf Ahead of Presidential Polls
· Mauling of Elderly Gaza Woman Raises Concerns About Use of Israeli 'Army Dogs'
· GarbiñeMuguruzaIs the New Tournament Director of The WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia
· CNN Arabic, UN Women in The Arab States Renew Ties to Promote Gender Equality
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New Age Islam News Bureau
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Fathimath Shamnaz Ali Saleem, Maldives Climate Minister Arrested Over ‘Black Magic’
UN 27, 2024
Fathimath Shamnaz Ali Saleem has been
remanded in custody for a week pending investigation, said Maldives police.
(Wikimedia Commons pic)
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MALE - Police in the Maldives have arrested a state environment minister, officers said on June 27, with media in the Indian Ocean nation reporting she was accused of performing “black magic” on the president.
State Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Energy, FathimathShamnaz Ali Saleem, was arrested on June 23 along with two others in the capital Male, the police said.
She has been remanded in custody for a week pending investigations, officers added, without giving details for her arrest.
“There have been reports that Shamnaz was arrested for performing black magic on President Dr Mohamed Muizzu,” said the Sun, a local media outlet.
Police would neither confirm nor deny the report.
Her position is an important job in a nation on the frontlines of the climate crisis, with UN environment experts warning rising seas could make it virtually uninhabitable by the end of the century.
Sorcery is not a criminal offence under the penal code in the Muslim-majority Maldives, but it does carry a six-month jail sentence under Islamic law.
People across the archipelago widely practice traditional ceremonies, believing they can win favours and curse opponents.
A 62-year-old woman was stabbed to death by three neighbours on Manadhoo in April 2023 after she was accused of conducting black magic ceremonies, the Mihaaru news site reported last week, after a lengthy police investigation.
It quoted police as saying that they had failed to find any evidence the murder victim performed sorcery.
In 2012, police cracked down on an opposition political rally after accusing organisers of throwing a “cursed rooster” at officers raiding their offices. AFP
Source: straitstimes.com
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/maldives-climate-minister-arrested-over-black-magic
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Pakistan NCSW Chairperson Nilofar Bakhtiar: National Agenda for Women’s Rights Launched
June 27, 2024
ISLAMABAD: A series of participatory
dialogues to bring together representatives from across Pakistan to deliberate
and determine the way forward on key issues related to health, climate change,
law and education has been organised by the National Commission on the Status
of Women (NCSW).
NCSW Chairperson Nilofar Bakhtiar said that the Commission is taking a lead in critical analysis and collaborative solutions seeking to address critical issues affecting women in Pakistan.
This comes in the year preceding the 30th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The main focus of the 69th Session to be held in March 2025 will be to review the implementation progress of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which Pakistan has committed to implement since 1996.
The NCSW will conduct sessions and group deliberations on health, climate change, law reforms, and education. Each session will explore specific thematic areas that have been prioritised with key stakeholders, including provincial government representatives, civil society, UN partners, and experts to collate specific immediate actions that the government should undertake to see improvement in gender indicators.
In partnership with UNFPA and Pathfinder, the health, climate and laws sessions will take into account intersectional issues that disproportionately impact women and girls. The final conference on education, which is in collaboration with UNICEF and the British Council, will examine barriers to education and propose strategies to promote inclusive and equitable learning opportunities.
Source: tribune.com.pk
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2474349/national-agenda-for-womens-rights-launched
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Iran presses on with crackdown over headscarf ahead of Presidential polls
June 27, 2024
Almost every afternoon in Iran’s capital, police vans rush to major Tehran squares and intersections to search for women with loose headscarves and those who dare not to wear them at all.
The renewed crackdown comes barely two years since mass protests over the death in custody of 22-year-old MahsaAmini who was detained for not wearing a scarf to the authorities’ liking.
MahsaAmini, the Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in police custody, is awarded EU human rights prize
Amini’s death in September 2022 sparked months of protests and a security crackdown that killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained, and for a time morality police disappeared from the streets. Now, hard-liners within Iran’s theocracy have pressed forward with a crackdown. Videos are emerging of women being physically forced into vans by police as lawmakers continue to push for harsher penalties. Meanwhile, authorities have seized thousands of cars over women having their hair uncovered while also targeting businesses that serve them.
The renewed hijab push, which police are calling the Noor (light) Plan, began before former President EbrahimRaisi died in a helicopter crash, and whoever wins a vote to replace the hard-line cleric on Friday will have an influence over just how intense it becomes — and how Iran responds to any further unrest.
The Noor plan
“An intervention ... under the Noor Plan will take us into darkness,” reformist presidential candidate MasoudPezeshkian recently told a group of female supporters.
Enforcement began ramping up in April, with videos spreading online showing women having violent encounters with female enforcers dressed in the all-encompassing black chador alongside uniformed police officers.
While police haven’t published arrest numbers about the crackdown and media haven’t given it major attention, it’s widely discussed in Iran. But still, many women continue to wear their hijabs loosely or leave them draped around their shoulders while walking in Tehran.
On a recent afternoon in northern Tehran, women sat in cafes and other public places, as a police officer in his 50s told those passing by: “Please cover yourselves, ladies,” and then muttered audibly: “My God, I am fed up repeating this without getting any attention.”
“We know the police are not eager to fight women, but they are under pressure to,“ said Fatemeh, a 34-year-old maths teacher who gave only her first name for fear of reprisal. “Sooner or later, the authorities will realise that it would serve their interests better to pull back.”
Hijab remains mandatory in Iran, Afghanistan
Iran and neighbouring Taliban-controlled Afghanistan are the only countries where the hijab remains mandatory — even conservative Saudi Arabia has dialled back on its morality patrols. While women attend school, work and can manage their own lives in Iran, hard-liners insist that the hijab must be enforced.
The garment has long has been entwined with politics in Iran. Former ruler Reza Shah Pahlavi banned it in 1936, part of his efforts to mirror the West. The ban lasted only five years, but many middle and upper-class Iranian women chose not to wear it.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, some of the women who helped overthrow the Shah embraced the even more conservative chador. But others protested a decision by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to order women to wear hijabs in public. In 1983, it became law, enforced with penalties including fines and up to two months in prison.
The government’s insistence on enforcing the hijab also reflects its conspiratorial view of the world. Iran’s national police chief, Gen. Ahmad Reza Radan, has alleged without providing evidence that the country’s enemies plan to transform the nation’s culture by encouraging women to avoid the veil.
The theology behind the Taliban’s misogyny
Already, “tens of thousands of women have had their cars arbitrarily confiscated as punishment for defying Iran’s veiling laws,” Amnesty International said in March. “Others have been prosecuted and sentenced to flogging or prison terms or faced other penalties such as fines or being forced to attend ‘morality’ classes.”
On Saturday, police said they would release some 8,000 vehicles held over women not wearing the hijab in them for the Eid al-Ghadir holiday marked by Shias.
“The Islamic Republic is using the distraction of its presidential ‘election’ to go after its women activists and cow them into silence through imprisonment and abuse,” said HadiGhaemi, the executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran. The centre said at least 12 women activists have been sentenced to prison since Raisi’s deaths for their work.
But there are signs that Iran’s government, and 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, know there are risks to escalating enforcement. A Bill passed by Iran’s parliament that could impose 10-year prison sentences for hijab violations has yet to be approved by the country’s Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists ultimately overseen by Mr. Khamenei.
So far among the presidential candidates, only Mr. Pezeshkian has criticised the hijab law. Others, including current parliament Speaker Mohammad BagherQalibaf, asked for the law to be implemented in a softer way. Candidate Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a Shia cleric, criticised the use of violence against women, saying police should use “the language of trust and gratitude” rather than the baton.
Meanwhile, the imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate NargesMohammadi, a prominent women’s rights activist, has issued a call from prison urging a boycott of the presidential vote, saying it only supports “a regime that believes in repression, terror and violence.”
Source: thehindu.com
https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/iran-presses-on-with-crackdown-over-headscarf-ahead-of-presidential-polls/article68339339.ece
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Mauling of elderly Gaza woman raises concerns about use of Israeli 'army dogs'
26 June, 2024
Video footage of an Israeli army dog mauling an elderly Palestinian woman in Gaza has sparked questions over the use of canines in the war and their potential use as weapons of torture.
The video footage, broadcasted by the Al Jazeera Network this week, showed a large dog viciously biting and dragging a 66-year-old Palestinian woman in her home in Jabalia, north Gaza. The leaked footage came from a camera attached to the dog.
The woman, identified as Dawlat Abdullah Al Tanani, said she refused to leave her home, with Israeli forces setting the dogs on her while she was still in bed. The mauling resulted in fractures and serious injuries.
Activists and campaigners used the footage to highlight a pattern of Israel using dogs to attack Palestinians.
In February, Israeli news site YediothAhronoth reported that the ministry of defence started the process of purchasing trained dogs from Europe to use in the war on Gaza.
According to the report, dogs from the Oketz unit were being sent inside tunnels in Gaza to help "soldiers a lot in identifying dangerous areas where militants are hiding, or where they plant weapons and rockets".
The report added that the trained dogs, mostly of the Malino breed, come from the Netherlands and Germany.
In October 2015, Dutch News reported that the Netherlands was supplying dogs to the Israeli army, based on research from the NRC news site, however exact figures on the number of dogs exported were not available as Amsterdam does not distinguish between animals used by the military and police, and pets, the NRC reported.
Dutch News reported that the Brabant breeder Four Winds K9 told the NRC that it has been the main supplier of dogs to the Israeli army.
The New Arab reached out to Four Winds K9 but did not receive a comment by the time of publication, but their website states the company has worked for at least 20 years for government agencies and multinationals all over the world.
"Four Winds works with an experienced team of professionals at the training professionals at the training facility in the Netherlands and many projects abroad, mainly in the African and Middle East region," the website states, although Israel is not mentioned.
The company previously compensated a Palestinian who was seriously injured in an attack by a dog supplied to the Israeli army.
The civil lawsuit was filed by Hamzeh Abu Hashem against the company and its directors in 2017 who agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to Abu Hashem towards his recovery as a "gesture of good will".
However, the company denied legal liability because the Israeli army trained the dogs.
Abu Hashem was attacked by two Israeli dogs in December 2014, suffering serious injuries, which came after confrontations broke out between Israeli forces and residents in the village of Beit Ommar. Abu Hashem's lawyers said Israeli soldiers unleashed two canines on young people, biting him in the legs, arms and shoulder.
Part of the attack was caught on video and published by Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, where soldiers can be heard taunting Abu Hashem before the dogs bite him.
Four Winds K9 director TonnyBoeijen later confirmed to NRC in 2015 that the dogs were indeed supplied by his company.
There is no indication that the dogs used in the mauling of the woman were linked to the company or if their animals have been deployed to Gaza.
Dog attacks condemned
The footage of the dog attacking the Palestinian woman has triggered a wave of condemnation from people online.
Some have highlighted that the dog attacks breach Israel's obligations under the Geneva Convention to protect civilians in occupied territory.
HusamZomlot, Palestine's ambassador to the UK, joined the criticisms, decrying it on social media platform X.
"Shocking footage of an Israeli army dog attacking and viciously biting 66-year-old Palestinian woman in her house in Jabalia city, north of Gaza. Cowards!" he wrote.
Source: newarab.com
https://www.newarab.com/news/israeli-army-dog-mauling-elderly-gaza-woman-sparks-concerns
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GarbiñeMuguruza is the new tournament director of the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia
June 26, 2024
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Two-time Grand Slam champion GarbiñeMuguruza, who recently announced her retirement as a player, will be the tournament director of the WTA Finals from 2024-26 in Saudi Arabia, the women’s tennis tour announced Wednesday.
Muguruza is the first former player to be in charge of the season-ending championships, an event she won in 2021.
The tournament for the top eight women’s singles players and top eight women’s doubles teams moves to Saudi Arabia for the first time this year. It will be held in Riyadh from Nov. 2-9.
Muguruza defeated Serena Williams to win the French Open in 2016, and Venus Williams to win Wimbledon in 2017, making her the only player to beat each sister in a Grand Slam final. Muguruza also reached No. 1 in the rankings.
Muguruza last played on tour in January 2023. She said in April that she would not come back to competition.
Source: apnews.com
https://apnews.com/article/wta-finals-saudi-arabia-muguruza-03cb0b048968ffaf072e9d985f52152c
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CNN Arabic, UN Women in the Arab States renew ties to promote gender equality
Jun. 26, 2024
CNN Arabic and the UN Women in the Arab States have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to renew their partnership, which began in 2022, to support the acceleration of gender balance, financial inclusion, and female employment throughout the Arab States through 2026.
Over the past two years, this partnership has witnessed the adoption of an evidence-based strategy and creation of editorial stories and videos, including the commemoration of the ’16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence’, which called for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls, and amplified the voices of domestic violence survivors and supported activists and women’s organizations globally.
Caroline Faraj, Vice President of Arabic Services at CNN Arabic, said: “The initial two years of this partnership have seen consistently high levels of engagement in the stories and projects we have undertaken together, which underlines the power, relevance and importance of our collaborative efforts. These have not only resulted in impactful storytelling but have also built and strengthened new and important bridges across our communities. We are excited to continue this work and amplify even more voices across the region.”
“Providing a platform where every voice can be heard and every story can be told is fundamental to the ethos of CNN Arabic. This partnership with UN Women in the Arab States exemplifies our commitment to this principle,” Caroline added.
This renewal builds on the strengths of UN Women’s technical expertise and CNN Arabic’s position as a powerful media house with widespread reach to reinforce their ongoing commitment to these crucial issues.
“A powerful two year partnership between CNN Arabic and UN Women is today celebrated, extended and expanded,” said Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen, Regional Director of UN Women in the Arab States. “Together, both entities commit to supporting a media landscape promoting women’s rights, with a focus on women’s employment. To jointly fight polarization based on misconceptions, women have long played a critical role in promoting bridge-building initiatives in their societies and beyond.”
For the next two years, CNN Arabic and UN Women in the Arab States will continue to focus on developing and sharing high-quality, data-driven content and engage in various strategic events and campaigns that underscore the importance of women’s economic empowerment and their integral involvement in peace and security matters.
The collaboration will also include capacity development and training initiatives for internal and external stakeholders, including UN Women’s staff and women journalists in the region, joint activity and knowledge-sharing products that aim to further enhance the visibility and influence of gender equality narratives across the Arab States.
Source: campaignme.com
https://campaignme.com/cnn-arabic-un-women-in-the-arab-states-renew-ties-to-promote-gender-equality/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/fathimath-shamnaz-maldives-climate-minister/d/132587