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23/5/2011
Saudi Arabia: Call for release of activist challenging ban on women drivers

The international solidarity network, Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) calls for the immediate release of Manal Al-Sharif. Saudi authorities have arrested an activist who launched a campaign to challenge a ban on women driving in the conservative kingdom. The media spokesman of the Directorate General of Prisons in Saudi Arabia, Colonel Dr Ayoub Ben, has confirmed that Manal Al-Sharif has been charged with breach of public order and security, and with ‘deliberately inciting the media and other Saudi women’ to drive cars. She will be detained for a further five days pending investigation. There are reports that Al-Sharif has signed a pledge in prison not to drive again in Saudi Arabia. UPDATE: Al-Sharif’s prison sentence has been extended for a further ten days, starting from Thursday 26 May. Women’s rights activist Wajeha al-Huwaider was called in for questioning by her employers, Saudi Aramco, regarding her support for Manal, and forced to sign a pledge not to support the 17 June campaign. Al-Huwaider added the disclaimer that she will continue demanding the right of women to drive through different channels until it is codified into law.

22/3/2011
UK: Appeal for Expressions of Solidarity with Dr Usama Hasan

A recent hate campaign has been waged against the London-based academic and imam, Dr Usama Hasan. He has been victimised, accused of apostasy and has received death threats for his comments on evolution and the woman's right to choose whether or not to wear hijab. The Board of the Muslim Women’s Network-UK (http://www.mwnuk.co.uk/) strongly condemns the bullying and harassment of Dr Hasan. 

19/4/2010
Algeria: Ongoing massacres of women: Call on authorities to ensure protection of women in Hassi Messaoud!

For several WEEKS now, women have been subjected to murderous attacks in the South of Algeria; this has provoked international protests and calls for the intervention of the United Nations Special Rapporteurs. It is crucial that these initial protests are relayed and supported by a large number of organisations across the world.

7/4/2010
UPDATE: United Kingdom: Hold Amnesty International Accountable

On Friday 9th April, 2010 Amnesty International announced Gita Sahgal's departure from Amnesty International. You can read her statement in full here. On 29 March 2010, the initiators of “The Global Petition: Restoring The Integrity of Human Rights” responded to Amnesty International's letter in which Claudio Cordone, Interim Secretary General of Amnesty International (AI), stated "Moazzam Begg and others in his group Cageprisoners also hold other views which they have clearly stated, for example on whether one should talk to the Taleban or on the role of jihad in self-defence. Are such views antithetical to human rights? Our answer is no, even if we may disagree with them...". Reiterating the imperative today for the public accountability of an organization such as Amnesty International, the initiators of the Global Petition set out why they believe that AI's attitude to defensive jihad raises very serious concerns: "The call for ‘defensive jihad’ is a thread running through many fundamentalist and specifically ‘salafi-jihadi’ texts. It is mentioned by Abdullah Azzam, mentor of Osama bin Laden, and founder of Lashkar e Tayyaba. It is the argument of ‘defensive jihad’ that the Taleban uses to legitimise its anti human rights actions such as the beheading of dissidents, including members of minority communities, and the public lashing of women..." 

25/3/2010
United Kingdom: Take Action in Support of Gita Sahgal

The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) international solidarity network expresses its solidarity with Gita Sahgal, a longstanding ally of the network who is active in various organisations, collectives, and movements committed to upholding universal human rights. WLUML has learned that she has repeatedly raised internal inquiries into Amnesty International’s association with the organisation Cageprisoners, headed by Moazzam Begg, around the Counter Terror with Justice Campaign. On 7 February 2010, Sahgal was suspended from her position as Head of the Gender Unit at Amnesty International. You can take action by signing the Global Petition in support of Gita Sahgal which now has over 1,800 signatories.

29/3/2009
Saudi Arabia: Imprisonment and Whipping of 75 year-old Woman
WLUML, and its allies, demand that Saudi Arabia demonstrate its commitment to human rights and release Khamisa Sawadi, Fahd al-Anzi, and Hadiyan bin Zein and revoke the order of deportation.
19/4/2007
Iran: More women's rights defenders summoned to the Revolutionary Court; two arrested
Fariba Davoudi Mohajer and Sussan Tahmasebi, two of the eleven women’s rights activists summoned by the Revolutionary Court, were sentenced to prison on April 18 for threatening “national security.” The two activists were organizers of the peaceful protest on June 12, 2006 and the “One Million Signatures” campaign demanding an end to discriminatory laws against women. Davoudi Mohajer, who was tried in absentia as she is currently abroad, was sentenced to one year in prison and three years suspended sentence. Tahmasebi was sentenced to six months in jail and one year suspended sentence. Their lawyers are appealing the sentences.
15/3/2007
UPDATE: Iran: Offices of two remaining prisoners shut down by the Revolutionary Court
The NGO offices of Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh and Shadi Sadr, the two Iranian activists still imprisoned after women's peaceful demonstration in Tehran on 4 March, were closed down by the Revolutionary Court on Thursday evening.
4/3/2007
Iran: Campaign to Free Women's Rights Defenders
Dozens of women's rights defenders were arrested in Tehran on Saturday during a peaceful gathering in front of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran. The gathering was to protest the recent state pressures on women's rights defenders. Sign the petition condemning the arrest and detention of the women activists.
18/11/2003
UPDATE: Bahrain: The case against The Committee of Women’s Memorandum
On 11 November 2003, the High Court of Appeal decided not to transfer the case to the Constitutional Court but that the case would continue to be dealt with in the High Penal Court. The next hearing date has not yet been announced.