Islamisms, or diverse
representations of political Islam, have become very difficult to ignore and
even more difficult to categorize and explain satisfactorily. This is
particularly the case when addressing a western audience, which is unfamiliar
not only with the multifaceted aspects of Islam, but also with the crucial role
Islamic faith plays, in the everyday lives of Muslim people.
Willy Claes, the Secretary
General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), gave Western
misperceptions and misrepresentations of Islam and Islamisms a new twist.
CHRLA is greatly alarmed by
the Cairo Court of Appeals ruling of June 14, 1995, which ordered the divorce of
Nasr Hamed Abu-Zeid (the Cairo University professor) from his wife, Dr. Ibthal
Younis, on the grounds that he was an apostate because of the opinions contained
in his published research.
The argumentation of the
ruling raises problems related to freedom of thought, religious interpretation
and belief, and the privacy of family relationships.
An Egyptian man had been very
strict with his daughter, only permitting her to work outside the home on
condition that she be completely isolated from men. She found that ‘ideal’ job.
Many months later, in the spring of 1988, this same man brought his daughter to
the office of Nawal Al Saadawi to see her in her capacity as a psychiatrist. The
following is based on the young woman’s true story.
After spending most of the past 18 months in prison, Egypt's most prominent advocate for democracy and human rights, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, has been freed by the country's highest criminal court.
The second trial of 50 of the "Cairo 52" men continued in Cairo today. The 50 defendants include both those who were acquitted as well as those who were convicted in an earlier trial that ended November 14, 2001.
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has learned that the Egyptian government has decided to retry 50 of the defendants in the "Cairo 52" case.
An Egyptian appeals court in Damanhour, found the "Damanhour Five" not-guilty of all charges. The five men had been convicted in March 2002 of consensual homosexual conduct, and had been sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment and 3 years' probation.
