Replies

Actually, you are mistaken.

I stated that in Pakistan, the punsihment for rape is hanging. Pakistan is run by a military junta. They have pronounced the penalty for rape. That punishment has nothing to do with Islam, nor sharia (and I noted previously that sharia calls for 100 lashes for an unmarried man found guilty of rape).

There have been several cases of hanging of rapists in both Pakistan and neighbouring Iran - the most recent in Pakistan, now under appeal, is the infamous case of a woman gang raped on the order of a village council.

And, I never stated ONLY men face the death penalty. Again, that is your assumption. As an Amnesty International activist and woman, I am very aware of the fact that where sharia is law, women do face the death penalty for adultery - even if they are raped.

So perhaps, before you begin responding, you should read my posts.

As for my comments on intoxication, you are again incorrect. None of the terrorists who were drinking, or living openly with women were devoted to Islam. There is a difference between a terrorist and an Islamist.

Four witnesses are required to prove adultery by a woman against a man under sharia. Google it.

Rape is not permissable in the Koran. And gang rape occurs in every culture. Read about Nanking. Or post WWII Berlin.

As an Amnesty International activist and woman...

STOP RIGHT THERE!

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

External Document

AI Index: ORG 10/010/2002 (Public)
News Service No: 190
24 October 2002

Information for Journalists

Irene Khan - Biography

Irene Zubaida Khan joined Amnesty International as the organization’s seventh Secretary General in August 2001.

Taking the helm in Amnesty International as the first woman, the first Asian and the first Muslim to guide the world’s largest human rights organization, Irene brought a new perspective to the organization. As an individual, she brought experience and enthusiasm for putting people at the heart of policy.

Irene took up the leadership of Amnesty International in its 40th anniversary year as the organization began a process of change and renewal to address the complex nature of contemporary human rights violations, and confronted the challenging developments in the wake of the attacks of 11 September.

In her first year in office, Irene reformed AI’s response to crisis situations, personally leading high level missions to Pakistan during the bombing of Afghanistan, to Israel/Occupied Territories just after the Israeli occupation of Jenin, and to Colombia before the Presidential elections in May 2003. Deeply concerned about violence against women, she called for better protection of women’s human rights in meetings with President Musharraf of Pakistan, President Lahoud of Lebanon and Prime Minister Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh. She has initiated a process of consultations with women activists to design a global campaign by Amnesty International against violence on women.

Irene has been keen to draw attention to hidden human rights violations. In Australia, she drew attention to the plight of asylum seekers in detention. In Burundi, she met with victims of massacres and urged President Buyoya and other parties to the conflict to end the cycle of human rights abuse. In Bulgaria, she led a campaign to end discrimination of those suffering from mental disabilities.

Interested in working directly with people to change their lives, Irene helped to found the development organization, Concern Universal, in 1977, and began her work as a human rights activist with the International Commission of Jurists in 1979.

Irene joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1980, and worked in a variety of positions at Headquarters and in field operations to promote the international protection of refugees. From 1991-95 she was Senior Executive Officer to Mrs. Sadako Ogata, then UN High Commissioner for Refugees. She was appointed as the UNHCR Chief of Mission in India in 1995, the youngest UNHCR country representative at that time, and in 1998 headed the UNHCR Centre for Research and Documentation. She led the UNHCR team in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia during the Kosovo crisis in 1999, and was appointed Deputy Director of International Protection later that year.

Irene studied law at the University of Manchester and Harvard Law School, specialising in public international law and human rights. She is the recipient of several academic awards, a Ford Foundation Fellowship, and the Pilkington "Woman of the Year" Award 2002.

YOUR BIAS IS CLEAR. THANK YOU. PLEASE DO NOT ADDRESS ME AGAIN. EVER.

As an Amnesty International activist

That goes a very long way towards explaining why so you have so many misconceptions and incorrect facts. Welcome to FR, it is good that you are here to learn.

None of the terrorists who were drinking, or living openly with women were devoted to Islam.

This is again, utterly false. Read the diaries and letters of the islamist september 11th terrorists, with extensive exhortations to the koran, full of promise of the 72 virgin afterlife. They were absolutely islamist, and they drank alcohol.

There is a difference between a terrorist and an Islamist.

99% of the time today, there is no difference whatsoever, they are one and the same. The overwhelming majority of terrorists are islamist.

And, I never stated ONLY men face the death penalty.

Yes you did! Look at post #23, and your response in #27. When asked point blank whether it is the woman or man who faced the death penalty in rape cases, you only replied that men face the death penalty. That was the entirety of your misleading response. A dishonest half truth at best. Only when caught in this error did you repeat the caveats others had pointed out -- the harsh reality that women in Muslim countries face the death penalty for complaining about rape. Yet you incredibly say Muslim countries are on the cutting edge of womens rights. The cutting edge women face in muslim countries is gang rape at knife point.

Four witnesses are required to prove adultery by a woman against a man under sharia.

You are weaseling out of what you originally said, nice try. You had falsely claimed that four men are not required to prove rape by a woman against a man. Your exact words were, " No - The four witnesses are required to prove adultery, not rape." This wrong -- yet another falsehood you are perpetuating here. See post 99 for absolute proof that you are incorrect on this point.

I am very aware of the fact that where sharia is law, women do face the death penalty for adultery - even if they are raped.

Then why your misleading propagandist half truth suggestions that only men face the death penalty? (post #23 and 27) Though you know better, you are quite content to leave false positive impressions of islamic countries, and only back down with appropriate caveats with faced with an educated audience who knows the falseness of your claims.