Amnesty International and Women's Human Rights

Amnesty International has urged the Iranian authorities to stop harassing human rights lawyers amid continuing uncertainty over the whereabouts of the defence counsel in a recent controversial stoning case and the arrest of two of his relatives.

Mohammad Mostafaei’s whereabouts have been unknown since shortly after he was released from questioning by judicial officials last Saturday.

Late that evening, the Iranian authorities detained his wife and brother-in-law, prompting fears that they are being held to put pressure on Mohammed Mostafaei to turn himself in to the authorities, if he is not already being detained.

The acclaimed lawyer is defending Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose case became the subject of an international outcry when it was reported that she was soon to be executed by stoning.

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Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today applauded the passage in the House of Representatives of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, a groundbreaking piece of legislation that tackles the complex jurisdictional maze that allows violent crime against American Indians to continue unabated. The Tribal Law and Order Act, a long overdue effort to address public safety issues would enhance the criminal justice system by improving coordination and communication between federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.

The legislation addresses disturbing rates of sexual violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women, a subject that Amnesty International drew national attention to in its 2007 report, Maze of Injustice: The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA.

Maze of Injustice exposed the disproportionately high levels of rape and sexual violence that Native American and Alaska Native women suffer in this country - 2.5 times higher than for non-native women in the United States. The complex maze of tribal, state and federal jurisdictions often allows perpetrators, 86 percent of them non-Native men, to rape with impunity. To navigate this maze, authorities need to establish whether the crime took place on tribal lands and whether the perpetrator was Native or non-Native to determine which law enforcement agency has jurisdiction, during which critical time is lost. This leads to inadequate investigations or a failure to respond.

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On July 16, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) release a report on housing and domestic violence in Latin America.  The report, entitled A place in the world: The right to adequate housing as an essential element of a life free from domestic violence, documents how women facing domestic violence in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia are unable to escape the violence due to a lack of adequate housing, including emergency shelter.

Read the COHRE press release

Read the COHRE report: A place in the world: The right to adequate housing as an essential element of a life free from domestic violence

Photo Credit: Representatives of civil society organizations attended a meeting on women's rights in Afghanistan with Dr. Sima Samar (4th from left).

On July 14, 2010, Amnesty International hosted a discussion on women's rights in Afghanistan with Dr. Sima Samar, Chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.  The meeting was organized by the Canadian Federation of University Women, as part of their annual meeting, which included a focus on Afghanistan.

Plans for a peace deal with the Taleban in Afghanistan could seriously jeopardize the rights of the Afghan people, in particular Afghan women, unless concrete human rights benchmarks are incorporated, said Amnesty International.

An open letter has been sent out by the Amnesty International to representatives of more than 70 partner countries, international donor institutions and national delegates from across Afghanistan, who are meeting to build on commitments made in London in January 2010, including drawing up plans for a peace process with the Taleban and other armed groups.

In areas under Taleban control today, as when in government, the Taleban have severely curtailed the rights of girls and women, including the denial of education, employment, freedom of movement and political participation and representation.

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Photo Credit: 2009 vigils to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women in Lethbridge, Vancouver and Ottawa.

On Monday October 4, 2010, communities across Canada will hold vigils to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across the country.

According to a Canadian government statistic, young Indigenous women are five times more likely to die as a result of violence than any other women of the same age in Canada.

Since 2006, Amnesty International has been partnering with the Native Women’s Association of Canada, KAIROS and communities across Canada, to host vigils calling for an end to violence and discrimination against Indigenous women and girls in Canada. In 2009 over 70 vigils were held.

Join us!  Take action and get involved with vigils in your community!  For more information visit the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) website, Amnesty International's Stolen Sisters webpage, or contact Amnesty International to find out more by emailing demanddignity@amnesty.ca.

Amnesty International has condemned an overwhelming vote by the lower house of the French parliament to ban the wearing of full-face veils in public.

336 parliamentarians voted for the measure on Tuesday, with only one opposing it.

“A complete ban on the covering of the face would violate the rights to freedom of expression and religion of those women who wear the burqa or the niqab as an expression of their identity or beliefs,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s expert on discrimination in Europe.

The law, which must still be approved by the French Senate, prohibits the wearing anywhere in public of any form of clothing intended to conceal one’s face.  Breach of the law would be punishable by a fine of up to 150 Euros and / or the requirement to complete a community rehabilitation programme.

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Today, the Star Phoenix newspaper in Saskatchewan covered a story entitled "Relay raises awareness of missing women" about a relay to Onion Lake First Nation, to highlight the high levels of violence against Indigenous women and girls and to call for justice.

The story profiles the annual walk started by the family of Daleen Kay Bosse in 2005 to remember her and other missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across Canada.

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More information on the annual October Sisters In Spirit vigils is coming soon.

Amnesty International today urged the Iranian authorities not to execute by any method a 43-year-old woman convicted of adultery, following an official statement that she will not be executed by stoning.

The Iranian Embassy in London announced on Thursday that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani would not be stoned to death. However, fears remain that the mother-of-two could be hanged, as she has been convicted of “adultery while married”. 

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted in May 2006 of having an “illicit relationship” with two men and received 99 lashes as her sentence. Despite this, she was then also convicted of “adultery while being married", which she has denied, and sentenced to death by stoning.

Read the Media Release