UPDATED::41 writers return Indian award, cite climate of intolerance

 UPDATE::  A bit more context from Beenish Ahmed writing for ThinkProgress:

“People are being murdered for their beliefs and opinions,” read a letter signed by a dozen filmmakers who returned one of India’s top awards on Wednesday. “There seems to be no attempt to unravel the larger picture and bring to book extremist groups that believe in ruthless violence to eliminate those who hold a counter view from theirs. There has been no official condemnation of these groups and we question this silence.”

The group also expressed solidarity with students at India’s top film school who have protested political appointments to their school’s administration. The students ended a four-month long strike but vowed to continue protesting the appointments from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right wing, Hindu nationalist party in other ways.

The movement first gained momentum when a group of more than 40 writers gave back award’s from a government-supported literary association earlier this month.

The protest is not just limited to those engaged in the arts, however.

On Thursday, prominent Indian scientists returned awards, including the country’s third most prestigious recognition for science.

The move was meant to condemn what one of the scientists called “the government’s attack on rationalism, reasoning, and science.”

Now I feel no sentimental attachment to [the award] when the government tries to institutionalize religion and curtail freedom and scientific spirit. 

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Many in India's literary community are disgusted. Dozens of writers say every day brings more evidence of intolerance and bigotry going mainstream — a man lynched allegedly for eating beef, an atheist critic of Hindu idol worship gunned down — all met by a deafening silence from the government.

As of Wednesday, 41 novelists, essayists, playwrights and poets had returned the awards they received from India's prestigious literary academy to protest what they call a growing climate of intolerance under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

The writers are also angry that India's Sahitya Akademi, or National Academy of Letters, has said little about the murder of the well-known rationalist Malleshappa Kalburgi, an award-winning Kannada-language writer, gunned down in August for his writings against superstition and false beliefs.

The government has dismissed the writers' protests, questioning their motives and accusing them of being politically motivated.

"If they say they are unable to write, let them stop writing," culture minister Mahesh Sharma told reporters.

41 writers return Indian award, cite climate of intolerance

Saudi Blogger Raif Badawi Gets Sakharov Prize, Top E.U. Human Rights Award - NYTimes.com

Raif Badawi, a blogger and activist who has been imprisoned and flogged publicly for criticizing Saudi Arabia’s religious establishment, was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the European Union’s top human rights award, on Thursday.

Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, who announced the award, called Mr. Badawi “an extremely good man, an exemplary man who has had imposed on him one of the most gruesome penalties,” one that “can only really be described as brutal torture.” Mr. Schulz urged the Saudi king to “immediately grant mercy to Mr. Badawi and to free him so that he can accept the prize.”

He added, “In the case of Mr. Badawi, fundamental human rights are not only not being respected, they are being trodden underfoot.”

Saudi Blogger Raif Badawi Gets Sakharov Prize, Top E.U. Human Rights Award - NYTimes.com

Kenya: Pervasive Homophobic Violence in Coastal Region | Human Rights Watch

A report by Human Rights Watch detailing Kenya's treatment of the LGBTQ community by police in the coastal region of that country.

Mobs in Kenya’s coastal region have repeatedly attacked people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, PEMA Kenya and Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. In at least six incidents between 2008 and 2015, mobs in the coastal counties of Mombasa, Kwale, and Kilifi have attacked or threatened lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people or health workers serving the LGBT community, without sufficient response from authorities.

The 70-page report, “The Issue is Violence: Attacks on LGBT People on Kenya’s Coast,” is based on research conducted in 2014 and 2015 by Human Rights Watch and PEMA Kenya, a community organization in Mombasa that provides support to gender and sexual minorities on human rights, health, HIV/AIDS, and economic well-being. The groups documented rights abuses against members of sexual minorities in Kenya’s coast region, including mob violence, assault, rape, incitement to violence, and inadequate protection. The groups identified ways the Kenyan authorities could improve their response to these abuses.

“For many LGBT people in the coast region, safety is a daily concern,” said Esther Adhiambo, executive director of PEMA Kenya. “While police treatment of LGBT people has improved in recent years, discrimination remains a major problem. LGBT peoples’ justified fear of reporting hate crimes to the police means that violence continues with impunity.”

The authorities’ response to mob attacks and other forms of anti-gay violence has been limited. Officials rarely condemn the attacks. Police, even in the few instances in which they provide protection to victims, have not arrested anyone for participating in or inciting these attacks.

Kenya: Pervasive Homophobic Violence in Coastal Region | Human Rights Watch

Militant group publishes global hitlist of bloggers, activists and writers | World news | The Guardian

“Our weapon is [the] pen, and we can use it without hurting anybody. We just want to make people conscious about their rights. So that nobody can use them to fulfill bad intentions.”

Ananya Azad

 
An Islamic militant group in Bangladesh has issued a hitlist of secular bloggers, writers and activists around the world, saying they will be killed if its demands are not met.

The list will raise fears that Islamic militant violence within the unstable south Asian country could take on an international dimension.

The targets in the list include nine bloggers based in the UK, seven in Germany, two in the US, one in Canada and one in Sweden. Some are Bangladeshi citizens living overseas. Others are dual nationals or citizens of the western nations.

The list was issued in a statement on the internet by the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a group that has been blamed for a series of murders of bloggers and activists in Bangladesh over the last 18 months. All those killed have been prominent critics of extremist religious doctrines, especially in Islam.

The acting leader of the ABT and two close associates were arrested earlier this month in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, on suspicion of involvement in the murder of a secular blogger earlier this year. 

Individuals on the new list have told the Guardian they intend to keep writing and blogging.

“Our weapon is [the] pen, and we can use it without hurting anybody. We just want to make people conscious about their rights. So that nobody can use them to fulfill bad intentions,” said Ananya Azad, a Bangladeshi blogger who has been forced into exile in Europe and is on the list.

There has been no previous indication that the ABT was targeting bloggers overseas and the list will worry security authorities in Europe and the US.

Militant group publishes global hitlist of bloggers, activists and writers | World news | The Guardian

Anger after Saudi Arabia 'chosen to head key UN human rights panel' | World | News | The Independent

There are no words to describe the utter shock this news has generated:

The Saudi regime makes a mockery of every single American ideal. It bans freedom of speech, prohibits religious liberty, and executes accused adulterers and gays. By giving a pass to one of the cruelest dictatorships on Earth, we betray the very essence of the American experience.
,,,
In its slavish, bi-partisan and seemingly bottomless appeasement of Saudi Arabia, the free world is exacerbating an already dangerous situation. The Saudi regime will fall, radicalism will rise, and terror will continue to spread. The West could improve the chances of stability and peace by supporting moderates, defending political prisoners and linking arms to improvements in human rights. The more open the society, the less it will threaten the world.

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The United Nations is coming under fire for handing Saudi Arabia a key human rights role even though the Kingdom has “arguably the worst record in the world” on freedoms for women, minorities and dissidents.

Critics, including the wife of imprisoned pro-democracy blogger Raif Badawi – sentenced to 1000 lashes for blogging about free speech – say that the appointment is “scandalous” and means that “oil trumps human rights”.

Mr Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, who is leading an international campaign to free her husband, said on Facebook that handing the role to Faisal bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, was effectively “a green light to start flogging [him] again”.

UN Watch, an independent campaigning NGO, has discovered that Mr Trad, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador at the UN in Geneva, has been elected as chair of a panel of independent experts on the UN Human Rights Council.

Anger after Saudi Arabia 'chosen to head key UN human rights panel' | World | News | The Independent

ADDENDUM::For wife of imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi: ‘It’s a life of waiting’ - The Washington Post

Haidar, who lives in exile in Canada with their three young children, is in Washington this week, meeting with members of Congress and officials at the State Department trying to persuade the U.S. government to put more effort into seeking her husband’s release.
,,,
“He is just a blogger,” said Haidar, 36, a tiny woman whose speech is careful and contained, and without any trace of anger. “He has been away from his kids and his family for four years, and there is no valid reason for that. He’s just a very peaceful writer.”
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“It’s time for the White House to make human rights in Saudi Arabia a top priority,” he said. “For too long the U.S. government has put geopolitics and the energy relationship over the basic freedoms and human rights of the Saudi Arabian people.”

Badawi’s case is seen by human rights groups as part of a campaign by the Saudi government to punish activists, bloggers, journalists and anyone else who challenges the country’s political or religious establishment.

He is the best known of about a dozen or so activists currently in Saudi jails, including Mohammad al-Qahtani, a human rights activist with a doctorate from Indiana University, and Waleed Abulkhair, a human rights lawyer who has represented Badawi. Qahtani is serving ten years, and Abulkhair is serving 15.

For wife of imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi: ‘It’s a life of waiting’ - The Washington Post

ISIS throws 9 homosexuals from tall building in Mosul - Iraqi News

According to a local source in Nineveh province, ISIS organization threw nine civilians from a tall building on charges of homosexuality in the city of Mosul.

The source said in an interview for IraqiNews.com, “gunmen belonging to ISIS threw on Sunday nine civilians from the top of a high building in the city of Mosul after being accused of homosexuality.”

The source, who asked anonymity, added: “ISIS militants rounded up a number of citizens in the city to see the implementation of the judgment of the so-called Shariah judge.”

ISIS throws 9 homosexuals from tall building in Mosul - Iraqi News

10 Years in Jail & 1,000 Lashes: In Conversation with Ensaf Haidar - YouTube

As I am fairly certain I am "preachin' to the choir" in regards to those of you who visit Havoc and Chaos, it is still a good to reminder as to who Raif Badawi is and why he sits in a Saudi jail.**

In 2013, ",,,a court in Saudi Arabia handed down a shocking sentence to a young man named Raif Badawi: seven years in prison and 600 lashes. Badawi's crime,"Founding a website, Liberal Saudi Network, that was dedicated to fostering debate on religion and politics; and calling on his country to respect freedom of religion, belief, and expression, and women's rights. According to the Saudi court, Badawi, 30, was guilty of "insulting Islam."

As CFI noted, citing Amnesty International, "Badawi's sentence was overturned by an appeals court, and his case was sent for review to Jeddah's Criminal Court."  BUT, in May of 2014 CFI reported, ",,,we have received bad news: the Criminal Court has sentenced Badawi to ten years in prison, 1,000 lashes, and a one million riyal fine (USD $266,631)."

In September of 2014, CFI as well as others reported that Raif's sentence was upheld. Meaning, "Badawi's sentence is final, and that Saudi officials could begin to impose lashes on Badawi within several weeks. According to the final decision, Badawi will receive 50 lashes per session, with a break of no less than a week between sessions. The lashings will be carried out in public after Friday prayers in front of al-Jafali mosque in Jeddah."

As of now, 11:51 AM (EDT) 8/28/2015,Raif has only received one round of lashes.  But it is Friday and fear remains.  Which all of the preceding brings me to this, Ensaf Haider, the wife of Raif Badawi.

I have no words to described what is contained in this video other than devotion, courage and strength.  It is those same qualities that make this video all the more incredible as Ensaf can't answer a couple of questions regarding Saudi Arabia out of fear that it might jeopardize Raif's fate.  It is all the more amazing that Ensaf continues to travel and share Raif's plight, most recently The Non Conference held in Kitchener, Ontario (August 21-22).  Although I was not able to attend, my partner in crime was.** 

My take away from VICE's interview, besides needing a tissue and awe at this amazing woman, Ensaf's thoughts concerning the apparent hypocrisy of the Canadian government [7:50 mark] - Raif's imprisonment and punishment yet maintaining a important trade relationship with Saudi:  "Raif's cause has nothing to do with issues of political or economic exchanges between states, it is an exclusively humanitarian cause."  That to me is grace under pressure.

10 Years in Jail & 1,000 Lashes: In Conversation with Ensaf Haidar - YouTube

**Please note that in regards to Raif's plight I am a "noob", hence the mini history lesson. As I have stated before, the debauchery surrounding Islam for some reason never "interested" me.  My bias of "it doesn't affect me" clouded the humanist in me to the point of total ignorance.  That changed as I "met" new people, specifically my friend and fellow host of Beyond the Trailer Park, Deborah McTaggart, who has a keen interest in Islam and all its atrocities.

Over the course of the past 2 months, BTTP has been graced by the presence (directly and indirectly) of many ex-Muslims affected by the horrible ideology espoused by various Islamic regimes.  It was through talking with these individuals that I realized I can't ignore the human rights abuses any more.

As of this writing details are still being finalized to have Ensaf join us on BTTP.  Regretfully our first attempt fell through due to issues with translation.  Ensaf does not speak English and Deb's French suks (her words, not mine).  So hopefully in the near future I will be able to post my impressions and experience.

Former Brethren set to slam church with 'abuse' lawsuit - National - NZ Herald News

"We're building worldwide momentum for a class action," Forrest told NZME News Service today.
 
He said the group comprised "several hundred" ex-Brethren members planning to challenge the impact of church dogma and doctrine on people's lives.

"Forced indoctrination, denial of basic human rights, denial of rights to tertiary education - there's a whole raft of things but that should give you an idea," he said.

"All I can say is, there's people involved right across the world and it's something that's being slowly developed."
Forrest said a discussion paper in circulation was intended to foster debate over how aggrieved ex-Brethren could sue the church over alleged human rights abuses.

He said the case would possibly raise claims Brethren used threats of excommunication and damnation to hell to allegedly dissuade members from acquiring tertiary education.

Mr Forrest said any class action would aim to improve the lot of children who were "through no choice of their own" stuck in unpleasant situations.
 
He said the class action would aim to force "regulation and oversight" of various Brethren activities including education and "discipline practices."

Nobody from the Brethren could be immediately be reached for a response to claims about the possible class action.

Former Brethren set to slam church with 'abuse' lawsuit - National - NZ Herald News

Islamic State beheads first women civilians - Telegraph

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant jihadists have beheaded two women in Syria for sorcery, an extension of the punishment which is normally reserved for men.

The women and their husbands were all accused of witchcraft, one couple in the town of Mayadeen, in eastern Deir Ezzour province, and one in Deir Ezzour city, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, which monitors the conflict.

Five people in all in Mayadeen were beheaded, the others on charges of “banditry” and “drugs”, with two of the men then crucified.

The case marks the first time a woman civilian is recorded as having been beheaded, though the punishment has been inflicted on women soldiers from the Kurdish militia, the YPJ, the female version of the YPG.

Islamic State beheads first women civilians - Telegraph

ISIS Celebrates Gay Love by Tossing 4 Gays from Roof of Building - The Gateway Pundit

ISIS celebrated gay love today by tossing four more gays from top of a highrise.

 Of course a crowd gathered below to watch the execution.

#Syria #ISIS Executed a gay man in #DirZour by throwing him from High building in front of the people #LoveWins #IS pic.twitter.com/dHvj7Jmku4

— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_Sl) June 26, 2015

Several Islamists tweeted out #LoveWins – the same hashtag that was used today after the Supreme Court ruling.
Of course this wasn’t the first time…
A massive crowd assembled to watch ISIS rebels throw another gay man off a building top earlier this month.
Hundreds of spectators came out to watch the brutal public execution.
ISIS Celebrates Gay Love by Tossing 4 Gays from Roof of Building - The Gateway Pundit

'I Do Not Construe Homosexual Rights As Human Rights' Says GOP Human Rights Subcommittee Head - The New Civil Rights Movement

U.S. Congressman Chris Smith earlier this week announced gay rights are not human rights. "I am a strong believer in traditional marriage and I do not construe homosexual rights as human rights," Smith said. He also suggested that the Obama administration’s "views on LGBT rights affected or hindered our support for Nigeria to defeat Boko Haram."

The conservative Republican from New Jersey is now under attack by LGBT groups in his home state and nationally, by the Human Rights Campaign.

Heightening the impact of his anti-gay statement is that Rep. Smith is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, and made his comments at a meeting of that subcommittee, which is a part of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congressman Smith's remarks were made on Wednesday, perhaps ironically, during a hearing he chaired on Nigeria. That same day, Nigerian law enforcement arrested twelve men accused of holding a same-sex wedding.

'I Do Not Construe Homosexual Rights As Human Rights' Says GOP Human Rights Subcommittee Head - The New Civil Rights Movement

allAfrica.com: Ghana: Govt Struggles to Reintegrate 'Witches'

Wumbie is one of five women held captive there. She was accused of having caused the death of a woman who was giving birth.

People had called her to assist the woman, 70-year-old Wumbie recounted, sitting in her room, cracking groundnuts with her bare hands. "When I got there, she was struggling ... so I assisted her until the baby came out dead," she told DW's Maxwell Suuk. Everybody had seen it, she said. "So I went home, and they called me later and told me that the woman wasn't feeling well," Wumbie continued. "When they were taking her to hospital, she died."

Wumbie was accused of having had a hand in the woman's death - an accusation she completely denied. Still, she was eventually banished.

She had been a traditional birth attendant in her community and had successfully delivered babies for the past 20 years, she told DW.

She said she had previously helped the woman who passed away deliver six children consecutively without any complications. She cannot understand what made people think she would want to kill anyone.

Back in Yong, Wumbie's village, which is located in the vicinity of Tamale, Wumbie's children have been calling for their mother to be brought home. Azara Sulemana, one of her seven children, is worried. "There's no one preparing her food," she says. "How to even wash her clothes is a problem, because she is too old."

Whenever Azara came home from visiting her mother at the camp, she was so troubled that she would have difficulty sleeping. She thinks their community is not being fair to her mother.

"They threatened to stone her if she comes back," Azara told DW.

allAfrica.com: Ghana: Govt Struggles to Reintegrate 'Witches'

Fighting for the Human Rights of Alleged Witches. | Feature Article 2014-07-31

You may have heard that there are plans by the government of Ghana to close down the witch camps. These camps exist in the Northern region of the country. The move to shut down the camps is a reaction by the government of Ghana to reports of the deplorable situation, exploitation and human rights abuses in the these camps. The government is reportedly embarrassed by these reports and now wants to disband these places of refuge. Recently, the United Stated embassy in Ghana announced that it was funding a research program aimed at closing down these camps.

Now let us think about this. What is actually embarrassing in this case? Is it the belief in witchcraft or these refuge centers? What's the real problem here-is it the witch camps or witch beliefs? What the government of Ghana should be preoccupied with- is it disbanding the witch camps or educating and enlightening the people, helping reorient their minds so that they abandon these superstitious beliefs in magic and sorcery?

Actually the situation in these camps is difficult and many of the alleged witches are suffering terribly.The alleged witches live in huts. They have no access to clothing, water or food. Some of them have their family members visit them occasionally to bring them money and food. Others depend on charity and support from NGOs. Others have resorted to begging for survival. But is that a reason why they should be denied a safe space to be? Is that why they should be forced to go back home where they are likely to be murdered by their accusers?

Fighting for the Human Rights of Alleged Witches. | Feature Article 2014-07-31

Bayard Rustin to be Posthumously Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom | Human Rights Campaign

The White House today announced Bayard Rustin, the late civil and human rights advocate will be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. An aide and confidant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Rustin was the main organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, an iconic moment in the history of our nation. HRC President Chad Griffin wrote President Obama a letter earlier this year urging him to posthumously grant the medal to Rustin. Griffin today made the following statement:

“Bayard Rustin’s contributions to the American civil rights movement remain paramount to its successes to this day,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “His role in the fight for civil rights of African-Americans is all the more admirable because he made it as a gay man, experiencing prejudice not just because of his race, but because of his sexual orientation as well.”

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with the comparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States. It recognizes those individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors”.

Bayard Rustin to be Posthumously Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom | Human Rights Campaign

Evidence Shows That Illegal Female Genital Cutting Is a Growing Phenomenon in US | Alternet

Female genital cutting (FGC), also known as female genital mutilation (FGM) and female circumcision, is an increasing international concern to human rights activists and feminists across the globe. An estimated 140 million girls have been subjected to the practice worldwide and it is still prevalent in at least 28 countries according to the World Health Organization Progress Report in 2011.

In Western culture, mere mention of FGM sends feminist activists up in arms, generating intense negative feelings and evoking discussion about sexism, brutality and gender-based violence. However, while FGM is mostly practiced in African and Middle Eastern countries and classified as an “off-shore problem,” many Americans are unaware of the cultural complexities embedded in the custom and the fact that it is happening right under our noses.

[,,,]
It's difficult to estimate exactly how many girls have been exposed to the practice in the United States. The procedure is heavily under-reported and shrouded in secrecy by communities and family members who are aware of the legal ramifications of revealing that they have committed FGC. According to De Palma, anecdotal evidence suggests that the figures of those at risk of FGM in the United States are a lot higher than initially indicated.

[,,,]
Human rights activists and feminists view such examples of FGC as mutilation, a barbaric practice that violates women’s fundamental human rights—a position that is backed by international treaties, medical documentation and United Nations resolution. However, at the other end of the spectrum are hundreds of thousands of women who see such objections to FGC as ethnocentric and racist and wish to honor the custom, which has been passed down through generations.

In many cultures, it is inconceivable to think that a woman has not undergone some sort of cutting, with many women not considered “fully female” and ostracized by their communities for failing to undergo the procedure. The practice is said to pre-date religion and is linked to femininity, honor, social status and marriageability.

Cultural relativism plays an important role, as those who disagree with the ideology that FGC constitutes a human rights violation advocate for the right to cultural self-determination. While cultural relativism has shifted over time as human rights arguments gain momentum, there are a number of groups that view the international response as one-sided and ignorant of the culture complexities that underlie the practice.

[,,,]
“My experience is rare," she told AlterNet. "My parents were African immigrants and interested in preserving our culture and traditions whilst providing me with an education in the United States. When I returned to Sierra Leone, I was greeted by a supportive, embracing feminist society of women in my community. The practice was celebrated and girls were pampered and spoiled prior to the cutting. It was an opportunity for me to join a larger movement and I wanted to go through this experience because of the notion of empowerment.“

When asked her opinion on the consent issue, Ahmadu said, "Why do African girls have to give consent, when males circumcised at birth do not? Why are we singling out and stigmatizing African girls? I have a problem with the fact that we are treating these girls differently in a negative way. As a result, these girls are internalizing this negativity and believing that they are inadequate whereas once before, this procedure marked their sexuality and empowered them sexually. The standard of consent should be applied equally across the board and not just to Africans."

Ahmadu’s perspective rarely rears its head in human rights discussions, as we generally only hear about girls who are subjected to FGC against their wishes or who suffer irreparable harm,,,


Evidence Shows That Illegal Female Genital Cutting Is a Growing Phenomenon in US | Alternet

Republican Delegate Says Children With Disabilities Are Punishment For Past Abortions | Addicting Info

This story speaks for itself,,,

Republican Delegate Says Children With Disabilities Are Punishment For Past Abortions | Addicting Info