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[fund] promotion and application of religious laws

Malaysia: Sisters in Islam condemns caning of 3 Muslim women under Sharia law

Sisters in Islam (SIS) is shocked that the Prisons Department has caned three Muslim women for shariah offences. Given that several issues on shariah and constitutional grounds, sentencing guidelines and Malaysia’s commitments to international human rights instruments that were raised on the Kartika case remain unresolved, we question the government's motive in proceeding with the caning of Muslim women.

Saudi Arabia: Son of Former Mufti says Women Should Be Allowed to Drive

The issue of women driving in Saudi Arabia is again a topic of public discussion,[1] following an extraordinary incident that took place during the recent flooding in the city of Jeddah. A 15-year-old girl named Malak Al-Mutairi managed to extricate herself from a partially submerged car, and then got in the family jeep and towed other vehicles and their occupants to safety, saving her own family and eight others.[2]

Vatican: Pope condemns gay equality laws ahead of first UK visit

Pope Benedict XVI has condemned British equality legislation for running contrary to "natural law" as he confirmed his first visit to the UK later this year.

Saudi Arabia: Judiciary Council overturns forced-divorce decision

Over four years after a judge in Jouf annulled the marriage of Fatima and Mansour at the behest of Fatima’s half brothers, the Supreme Judiciary Council in Riyadh on Saturday overruled the decision and ordered that the couple be reunited in matrimony. “The divorce ruling is void, therefore the return of the couple together is inevitable now and does not require (another) marriage ceremony,” Ahmad Al-Sudairi, who has been providing the couple pro bono representation, told Arab News. Fatima was pregnant with the couple’s second child when on June 20, 2005 a judge ruled in favor of Fatima’s half brothers and divorced her from Mansour Al-Timani in absentia.

Bangladesh: Court Orders Protection for Muslim Girl Punished for Being Raped

Bangladesh’s High Court has ordered authorities in an eastern district to protect and produce in court a 16-year-old girl who was lashed 101 times earlier this month after becoming pregnant as the result of a rape. The girl, who has not been named, received the punishment on the orders of village elders in the Brahmanbaria district who issued a “fatwa,” or Islamic ruling, declaring that she be flogged for immoral behavior. The elders pardoned the 20 year-old rapist. The incident occurred five months after the country’s highest court issued a ruling ordering authorities to investigate incidents of extra-judicial punishments and take action against those responsible.

Saudi Arabia: Free Nazia Quazi

In most countries, a woman in her mid-20s is legally an adult. And in most countries, foreigners are free to leave when they like. In its flagrant rejection of these two principles, Saudi Arabia is unique, and that is a big problem for 24-year-old Nazia Quazi.

Iran: Two at imminent risk of stoning to death for 'adultery'

The society for human rights in Iran, Southern California, urges Iranian authorities to immediately halt execution of Sarymeh Ebadi. Sarymeh Ebadi, 30 and BoAli Johnfeshani, 32 are at imminent risk of stoning to death after being convicted of “adultery” in the city of Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan province. According to the recent news, their sentences have been approved by the province court on January 6 (Day 16) without representation by a lawyer. Despite the moratorium imposed in 2002, stoning sentences continued to be implemented in Iran.

Somalia: IDPs on the run again after fighting between rival Islamist militias

Thousands of internally displaced in Somalia's central town of Beletweyne are on the move again following 10 days of fighting between rival Islamist militias, amid reports of continuing heavy shelling in parts of the town. According to a humanitarian bulletin covering 8-15 January by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA Somalia), at least 30 people have been killed and 50 injured, mostly civilians, with many artillery shells landing on residential areas. OCHA could not confirm the number of displaced.

Dubai: British woman arrested after reporting rape

A British woman who made a rape complaint in Dubai has been arrested for having illegal sex with her fiance, according to reports. The woman, a 23-year-old from London, said she was raped by a waiter in a luxury hotel after celebrating her engagement to her 44-year-old boyfriend, also from London. But when she reported the alleged rape to police in the Middle Eastern state she and her boyfriend were arrested for having sex outside marriage and illegal drinking outside licensed premises.

UPDATE: Saudi Arabia: Sentence on 75-year-old woman not yet carried out

The Hail Emirate has received official orders to implement the recent sentence handed down against the defendants in the case of Khamisa Sawadi, issued by members of the Committee to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice in the City of Shamli (170 kilometers south of Hail), which was known in the media as 'The case of the elderly woman of Shamli'. Saudi sources have confirmed to Emirati newspaper, Gulf News, that the woman is still in her house and the sentence has not been carried out yet.

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