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NEWS & LETTERS, OCTOBER 2003Women Worldwideby Mary Jo Grey In a victory for Nigerian Amina Lawal and the international women’s movement, her conviction and sentence of death by stoning for adultery were overturned by the highest religious court in her state. Unfortunately her victory leaves intact the Sharia law that convicted her. Nevertheless her freedom, after a year of struggle, reveals the strength of the women’s movement and the depth of revulsion worldwide for the inhuman death sentence imposed on her. * * * The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 was passed unanimously in July by the U.S. Congress. It names a panel to establish national standards to prevent and prosecute prison rapes by and against incarcerated women and men--which were previously ignored by the criminal injustice system as an everyday hazard. States with prisons that continue high assault rates risk losing federal funding or accreditation. --Information from WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS ONLINE BULLETIN * * * Amnesty International is campaigning to stop Turkey’s sexual torture of women prisoners. Women in state custody are routinely forced to strip naked during questioning; are beaten severely; given electric shock treatment, and repeatedly raped. Women political prisoners, especially Kurdish women, are at increased risk of violence. Kurdish women are often denied medical and legal assistance. Despite Turkey’s despicable record of sexual torture, the U.S. is providing them with a $6 billion aid package. --Information from WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS ONLINE BULLETIN * * * More than 135 organizations have jointly sent a letter to President Bush demanding he work to ensure the immediate ratification of the UN Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. This Treaty for the Rights of Women guarantees women the right to: live free from violence, a basic education, to vote, access to health care, and the right to own and inherit property. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation that has failed to ratify it. |
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