Violence against women
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Kurdish Women Were Sold As Sex-Slaves to Egypt 22-03-2006 C.H.A.K After
the fall of the Iraqi régime, we found this document in the main
seat of MOKABARAT, Center
Halabja against Genocide and Anfalization of the Kurdish people N°1601. Date : 10.12.1989. In the name of God. Secret and fast. From:
MOKABARAT Administration in
TAMIM. To:
MOKABARAT General Administration. When
we received the presidential order to put to execution the
operations ANFAL 1 and ANFAL 2, we stopped several groups of people.
One of these groups was constituted of girls from 14 to 29 years.
According to the presidential order, we sold some of them to the
Egyptians for their nightspots, because they needed prostitutes and
dancers. Here are their names and their ages:
MOKABARAT
Administration in Tamim, 20.12.1989. To The Universal General Opinion Our requests from Egypt State Anfal
Operation process is the name these attacks which the Baath regime
carried out against the kurds nation in the southern of Kurdistan.
The operation began in 18/2/1988 and ended in
6/9/1988. This
operation was carried out by eight stages. If we consider to the
ways of planning, appointing the people whom they were attacked from
the operation, the width of the action, human and material losses
and separating a certain kind of people and killing them …this
is genocide. In
Anfal brutal attack 182.000 Kurdish human-being were buried alive,
their bones and bodies have not sent to their relatives. Thousands
of villages were destroyed and the remaining people were compulsory
migrated to the collect township. Life in these
compulsory collect
township is exactly the same as the life in military
township. Baath regime prevent living outside main roads between
cities. In
the same process, eighteen Kurdish chaste girls were sent to
Egyptian prostitution houses, according to an Iraqi Intelligence
Agency. This is slavery by every measures. We
often and formally asked Egypt State the fate of these eighteen
girls. Sorry, Egypt has chosen the silence and has not given us a
written answer. Egypt is afraid of written answer, merely told us an
oral denial. Beside that crime, Egypt helped the Baath regime by all kinds of gun, especially the chemical weapons in strangling our nation. For this reason Egypt is guilty by co partnership in genocide Kurd nation. We demand from Egypt State : -
Describe
its attitude towards Anfal process and the fate of these eighteen
girls formally and by written. - Confess that all the actions had been done in the Anfal process and chemical bombed against Kurd , which took part in them by normal guns and forbbiden chemical weapons , are genocide. -
Apologize to the Kurdish nation formally ,those were
bombed and killed by the guns Egypt had given to the Iraqi regime.
The Centre of Halabja Against Anfalization and Genocide of the Kurds C.H.A.K 22/3/2006
Justice
for Grace! Remove
irresponsible government officials for their neglect! Grace
(not her real name) was raped by an Emirati identified as Khalifa
Hassan Khalifa on May 16 in a desert area in Sharjah, UAE, 50 km
from Dubai. She was hospitalized for 10 days after which she pursued
the case against Khalifa. In a tragic twist however, she was the one
who was put in jail on May 26 on trumped up charges of Illicit
Relationship (Adultery), and Under the Influence of Alcohol. Justice
should be served to the real criminal. The imprisonment of Grace is
an affront to justice, fairness, rights of women, and the rights of
migrant workers. The
Philippine government officials in UAE are culpable to the crime as
the abductor and rapist of Grace. She
was denied assistance to pursue her case that forced her to raise
the needed funds for her defense. Her lawyer did not even show up
during the hearing – conducted in Arabic – that made her admit
to charges she did not commit. We
are outraged by the statements of Labor Secretary Patricia Sto.
Tomas and Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople who said that they
were aware of the case but chose not to publicize it to supposedly
“protect the victim and not to prejudice the case” because it is
a “matter of policy and simple decency.” We
see in her thousands more of OFWs who suffer abuses, unjustly
imprisoned, stranded in foreign countries, and victimized by human
rights violations. Grace
must be given full assistance for her release from prison. Her
abductor must be prosecuted and she must be given just compensation. We
demand no less. Please
return or mail back accomplished forms to: Woman who marries to get rid of father beating, battered and put on street by her husband YASAR AKGUN
........................................................................................................ Attack against Kurdish women rights activist On 14 June 2003 Gülbahar Gündüz, a board member from the Women’s Section of the Democratic Peoples` Party DEHAP in Istanbul, was arrested, tortured and raped by four plain clothed policemen. Being arrested the policemen threatened her with the words: “Why are you women playing a leading part in the Campaign for a General Amnesty? You think that we won’t touch you on the streets, because you are women. But this should be a lesson to all of you women! Being kidnapped in front of the DEHAP-building in Istanbul Gülbahar Gündüz was blindfolded and beaten up till she became unconscious. As she stated at a press conference, which was organised by the Human Rights Association IHD yesterday: “When I came back to conscience I found myself in a very hot room in the celery. There I was interrogated, while my eyes were blindfolded and I was tortured. They hit me with a very hard thing on my head. By using another metallic thing they tore off the skin at my back and other parts of my body. They extinguished cigarettes in my face and I raped me by oral penetration. After 8 hours they put me in a car and dropped me off on a highway near Gaziosmanpasha (…)”
As
it was made clear by the threats of the offenders, this attack
against Gülbahar Gündüz is at the same time an attack against all
women who are longing for peace and democracy. In
hundreds of cases the Turkish State has not only been sentenced for
its human right abuses by the European Human Rights Court, but
international human rights organisations reported repeatedly on the
massacres and tortures, the policy of assimilation and
discrimination against the Kurdish people. In these days Turkish
government wants to add a further step to this policy by presenting
a new “Act of Remorse”, which aims at turning the victims of
state oppression into offenders. By organising themselves Kurdish
women have played a leading part in the struggle for peace,
democracy and justice in Turkey during the last years. This they
also carried on in the recent campaign for Social Peace and
Democratic Participation, which was started by a huge number of
civil organisations and NGOs opposing the “Act of Remorse”. As
the Turkish authorities also realized that women are the essential
strength of the democratisation process, they are aiming with
inhumane, sexist attacks at all women. We know; the torture and the
violence used by Turkish state forces against Gülbahar Gündüz are
a result of the patriarchal system, its mentality and institutions.
By these means they want to prevent women from speaking out,
developing their strength and free identity. They want to prevent
women from playing an active role in creating a democratic and
peaceful society. The
patriarchal system can neither stand the political and social
engagement of women that aims on developing a new live in peace and
justice, nor respect women’s choice towards their own live.
So-called hour killings still punish behaviours or relationships
that do not fit into the restrictive and conservative religious
pattern, and they are directly or indirectly supported by the state
and its law. Not only in Nigeria, but also in Kurdistan and Turkey
women are still confronted with this reality. Only 6 days ago Semse
Allak died in Diyarbakir Hospital due to the stoning
punishment carried out by her own relatives 7 month earlier. She had
been found “guilty” of crossing the boarders of the religious
construction of “honour”. Therefore she had to die. (Sources: mha - mezopotamya news agency; Özgür Politika ) Is women's struggle for peace and democracy truly that much of a threat? Impressions
from a member of the international
women's delegation The
army, the police, the secret services and the numerous political
parties in Turkey are bound to answer 'yes' to that question. They
do pose a threat, because there are so many of them. They build
networks and join forces in close co-operation and support. And even
if we arrest them, and torture or even rape them, they will not be
silenced. I did not pose this question,
because in effect I already knew the answer. The Turkish state
blocks each and every process intended to bring about peace,
democracy and human rights. It makes feints to remain on friendly
terms with the European countries and the USA. Laws are modified a
little and big words are spoken. But at the same time, there is no
lessening of either repression or state terror. It is just that the
state exercises a little more caution. Kidnapping, placing a bag
over the victims' head, torturing them and eventually dumping them
in the middle of nowhere is a tried and tested tactic. The victim
has no idea who attacked him, nor where. Which makes it very
difficult to take matters to court. Threats and intimidation on the
phone are another. Very frightening, but hard to put a stop to. And
lately, a third way of imposing high fines has become a popular
method. Can't pay? Then prison awaits. Imposing fines is mild
punishment, is it not, EU? But the effect is the same. It disrupts
organisations as the victims are, for a time at least, unable to
perform their jobs. Also, murders by unknown perpetrators are on the
increase. This was a well-known method in the 1990s. It stands to reason that
people are asking questions or taking to the streets. It is
encouraging that women too are getting more and more organised to
actively promote change. In the
past, they were all too often reduced to 'nameless, faceless
victims'. However, it is equally
important that Kurds and Turks join forces in their campaign for
social peace. In fact, it's a dire necessity! In Turkey, anyone belonging to the democratic
opposition has always run the risk of being arrested, threatened,
put in prison, tortured, of disappearing or even being murdered. I
myself am not convinced this has suddenly changed. Especially when I
read and hear the stories from women's organisations, and civil and
human rights groups both in and outside of Turkey. I also know that the repression of the Kurds has not
abated. On the contrary. Of late, the situation seems to have taken
a turn for the worst. In my view, the situation has been brought to
a head once again with the preparations for war in Iraq by the USA
and the UK. The Turkish state immediately set itself up to form a
buffer in the north of Iraq. The Turkish authorities and the Turkish
army still fear that a possible regime change could affect the
position of the Kurds in their neighbouring country. Which in turn
might have repercussions on the Kurds living in Turkey. Well, they
might have a point… For several decennia, the Kurds in Turkey have fought
for recognition, rights and respect. Many have risked their necks in
this struggle and paid for it with their freedom or their lives.
Several civil and political organisations labouring for this cause
were banned. The PKK opted to continue the struggle by different
means. But the cease-fires - the last one dating from 1999 - did not
lead to any tangible results. No attempts at conciliation were made
by the Turkish state. Is Turkey really willing to risk KADEK taking
up the armed struggle once again? Is that truly what they want? It
appears so. I joined the international women's delegation partly
out of helpless indignation. But at the same time I felt motivated
by an enormous respect and sympathy for Kurdish and Turkish women.
From a position of virtual invisibility, they have managed to become
a formidable force. Over the past years, they established several
organisations, each in their own way contributing to the struggle
against patriarchal oppression and other forms of repression. Many
organisations have found each other in the struggle for human
rights, social stability and democracy. Our encounters with Gulbahar Gunduz, DEHAP's Women's
Movement, Armagi, 'The Rainbow' Women's Centre, lawyer Fatma
Karatas, Mothers for Peace and the IHD made a profound impression on
me. They spoke about their aims, their actions and their plans with
great frankness. They shared with us their experiences and the
problems they encountered. None of them doubted the justice of the
women's struggle and the campaign for social peace. The various
organisations and individuals may express different motivations,
their mutual support is boundless. The international women's delegation presented
Gulbahar with a letter of support and a gift from the International
Free Women's Foundation.
We also presented her with a booklet, composed by CENI,
the Kurdish Women's Agency for Peace, which is situated in Germany.
This contained several declarations of support from women's
organisations from various countries, as well as from the well-known
media critic Noam Chomsky. We informed various Dutch political
parties, individual politicians in Germany and several state
departments in Austria about the situation and our presence in
Istanbul by fax. We personally met with the Dutch consul and a
representative of the German consulate. Back in Europe, we try to give voice
to the women's struggle by getting in touch with the media, with
politicians and interested parties. To express my international
solidarity, this is the least I, as a woman, can do. July 2003 Andrea Sturkenboom,
Safe Women`s Lives! Human rights organisations and women initiatives have started an international campaign, in order to safe the lives of Negerian women, who are threatened by being stoned to death. It is important to take immediate action. The following article and call for action was published by amnesty international: Several Northern States in Nigeria have introduced new Sharia Penal Legislation. Thus, they opened the door for the application of death sentences, torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments. This despite the fact that Nigeria recognises human rights standards and has signed and ratified many international human rights legal instruments. Join the campaign to spare dozens of people in Nigeria from being victims of human rights violations under the new legislation:
UPDATE: The Office of the Commissioner of Justice of Bauchi
State has filed a case to the State Council to apply for an
appearance on behalf of the State in Chiyawa's case, based on the
fact that the case involves a capital offence. Thus, the State
Government is requesting to take the case to the High Court of the
State and remove it for the Sharia Penal jurisdiction. The Council
of Sharia of Bauchi State opposes the case to be withdrawn from the
Sharia jurisdiction. Adultery does not attract death penalty in the
Penal Code of Northern Nigeria, applied in the Magistrates' courts
of the north of the country. Amnesty International has no
confirmation that this conflict of jurisdiction has put the process
against Chiyawa on hold; therefore, our organisation fears that
there might still be a risk of Chiyawa being executed.
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Amina
Lawal © BBC