Thursday, 28-March-2024 12:14
 
comments in
"Articles"
A message to woman engaging in political battlefields
I can't Agree more
Relations Between Regime and Opposition
thank you for this site GUYS.We need it sincerely
Democracy could not jump
Thanks dearfor your intellectual aspects about DEMOCRACY.you are always great EBTIHAG
Articles
Wednesday, 07-May-2008
Zeina Zaatari Project Syndicate - BAGHDAD – Iraqi women’s organizations and international observers point to an escalating war against women in Iraq, aided by the widespread chaos and lawlessness under the US occupation. In addition to violence by US troops inside and outside of prisons, women in Iraq face daily violence from militants under the guise of religion and “liberation.”
In Iraq’s second largest city, Basra, a stronghold of conservative Shia groups, as many as 133 women were killed last year for violating “Islamic teachings” and in so-called “honor killings,” according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The methods are brutal evidence of a backlash by previously subdued tribal forces that have been unleashed by the occupation: women strangled and beheaded, and their hands, arms and legs chopped off.
With US forces in Iraq now funding both Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in an effort to stabilize the country, conditions for women grow deadlier by the day. Islamist leaders have imposed new restrictions on women, including prohibitions on work, bans on travel without a muhram (male guardian), and compulsory veiling.
According to the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), formed in Baghdad in 2003, women are harassed if they appear in the streets of most Iraqi cities and towns, educational institutions, or work places. Now there are even “no woman zones” in some southern cities controlled by Islamist parties and tribal leaders.
Honor killings of Iraqi women are justified by alleged promiscuity or adultery. In fact, the practice targets holders of PhD’s, professionals, political activists, and office workers. “Politically active women, those who did not follow a strict dress code, and women human rights defenders were increasingly at risk of abuse, including by armed groups and religious extremists,” Amnesty International said in its 2007 report.
Indeed, a top police official in Basra reported that as many as 15 women are killed every month in the city. Ambulance drivers in Basra, paid to “clean the streets” before people go to work, pick up many more bodies of women every morning.
Ironically, the forces leading this assault on women had little or no power under Saddam Hussein. But, following the US-led invasion in 2003, southern Iraq was opened to forces known as Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV) – militant gangs and individuals committed to archaic Islamic rule and suppression of women’s rights.
Some members of these groups now serve in government, others in militias or as self-appointed vigilantes or hired guns. The goal of the PVPV is to confine women to the domestic realm and end all female participation in public and political life.
To date, Iraqi officials have not been willing to deal with this escalating violence against women, or even to discuss it. But, as elected representatives, they are obligated to address these crimes. So must the US. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, the responsibility for protecting civilian populations in an occupied country belongs to the occupying forces, which, in this case, are clearly failing to protect Iraqi women.
Two measures are urgently needed. First, the Iraqi government must immediately establish “Protection of Women” security patrols in Iraq’s southern cities. These patrols must receive gender-sensitive training and prioritize women’s security over tribal or fundamentalist religious values.
Second, pursuant to its obligations under the Geneva Convention, the US must immediately take steps to protect the lives and freedoms of Iraqi civilians. Unless the US does so, it must withdraw from Iraq, because the occupation would merely continue to sustain a breeding ground for violence against women.
The timetable for action is not subject to debate. It must begin today.

Zeina Zaatari is senior program officer for the Middle East and North Africa for the Global Fund for Women.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2008.
www.project-syndicate.org
More from "Articles"

Other titles:
Tuesday, 17-October-2017
The United Arab Emirates acknowledged on Tuesday that two of its pilots were killed when their military aggression plane crashed over Jawf province, a military official said

The official added that the aggressive crashed plane was an apache that was
Tuesday, 17-October-2017
Three citizens were killed and four others wounded in two Saudi air strikes hit Majza district of Saada province, an official said on Tuesday.

The strikes hit a citizen's car in al-Jamalah area in the district, the official added.
Tuesday, 17-October-2017
Artillery of the army and popular shelled a gathering of Saudi-paid mercenaries in al-Moqadra area in Serwah district of Marib province, a military official said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, dozens of Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed and others injured in Wadi al-Theek in the district, the official added.
Monday, 16-October-2017
The army and popular forces carried out on Monday unique military operations in Taiz province.

A military official said that a number of Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed at the hands of the army and popular forces in al-Jazami Hill in al-Kadaha area in al-Ma'afer district.
Monday, 16-October-2017
A Saudi aggression fighter jet targeted a citizen's car driving in Fara area of Kutaf district in Saada province overnight, killing the driver and injuring his friend, a security official said on Monday.
Monday, 16-October-2017
The army artillery and popular committees launched a fierce attack on Saudi-paid mercenaries' sites in Jawf province, a military official said on Monday.

The attack destroyed a military vehicle belonging to the mercenaries and killed all on board in Sabran area in khab and shaaf district.
Sunday, 15-October-2017
Scores of Saudi enemy soldiers were killed and injured on Sunday when the army and popular forces repelled a Saudi military attempt to sneak into Shurfah site in the border province of Najran, a military official said.

The operation was accomplished successfully against the Saudi
Sunday, 15-October-2017
The army and popular committees have killed a total of 18 Saudi-paid mercenaries in sniper operations over the past hours in the central province of Marib, a military official said on Sunday.

Ten mercenaries were killed in Nehm district and eight others were killed in Serwah district, said the official.
Saturday, 14-October-2017
Saudi aggression warplanes have launched more than 49 airstrikes over the past hours on several residential areas across Yemen, a security official said on Sunday.
The airstrikes targeted the areas of Malahiz and Husama in Dhahir district, and areas Thuban, Masahif and Sdad in Bakim district of northern Saada province.
Thursday, 12-October-2017
The army and popular forces carried out an operation attack on Saudi-paid mercenaries' sites in al-Hawal area in Nehm district.

A local official said that the operation attack resulted in killing and injuring mercenaries, adding they also incurred heavy losses at their ranks

who we are     |    Advertising     |    contact us
All rights reserved © Almotamar Net, Developed by