DTN News: Malaysia TODAY February 19, 2010 ~ First Malaysian Women To Be Caned Make Statements

DTN News: Malaysia TODAY February 19, 2010 ~ First Malaysian Women To Be Caned Make Statements *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - February 19, 2010: The first Malaysian women to be caned under Islamic law for having illicit sex have reportedly said they regretted their actions and welcomed the punishment. The three women, whose identities were not revealed, gave the first account of the caning which took place earlier this month, drawing condemnation from human rights activists and applause from some Muslim groups. "On the day I was caned, I was scared but, at the same time, I knew I deserved it and was willing to take the punishment," said one of the women, a 25-year-old who went by the name of "Ayu". She told the New Straits Times that the punishment -- administered while they were fully clothed and by a female prison officer wielding a thin rattan cane -- did not hurt. "Those out there who are having sex before marriage should really consider the consequences and not only think about momentary pleasure," she told the daily. The three women said they turned themselves in to religious authorities after being wracked by guilt over having pre-marital sex. "Ayu" has a one-year-old daughter with her boyfriend, who she plans to marry, and the other two women also gave birth out of wedlock. Human rights campaigners, who were stunned by the caning of the three women which had not been foreshadowed by authorities, were sceptical over the comments published in several Malaysian newspapers. "These three women are just normal people who have been surrounded by all kinds of legal mumbo jumbo and pressured into agreeing to be caned," one activist told AFP, declining to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. Islamic authorities triggered uproar last year when they sentenced mother-of-two Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno to six strokes of the cane after she was caught drinking beer in a hotel nightclub. Her case, which was to have been the first time a woman was caned under Islamic law in Malaysia, is still under review after she was given a last-minute reprieve amid intense media coverage. Malaysia's Bar Council has said it was "shocking" that the caning of the three women went ahead while the Kartika case was unresolved. Legal commentators have said that the Islamic courts -- which operate in parallel to the civil system in Malaysia -- are becoming increasingly confident, threatening Malaysia's status as a secular nation. The Sharia courts have been clamping down on rarely enforced religious laws that apply to Muslim Malays who dominate the population -- including a ban alcohol and sex between unmarried couples.

U.S. President Barack Obama And NATO Pressure Afghan Leader Hamid Karzai Over Law On Women

U.S. President Barack Obama And NATO Pressure Afghan Leader Hamid Karzai Over Law On Women

(NSI News Source Info) STRASBOURG, France - April 5, 2009: U.S. President Barack Obama piled pressure on Afghan leader Hamid Karzai on Saturday to scrap an "abhorrent" law which critics say would legalise marital rape. Afghan women pray for justice and security of the country during a gathering to mark the International Women's Day in Kabul, Afghanistan. Human rights groups and some lawmakers criticized Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday, April 2, 2009 for signing into law legislation that some believe legalizes the rape of a wife by her husband and prevents women from leaving the house without a man's permission. Other leaders meeting at a NATO summit joined in the chorus of disapproval, warning that support for the military alliance's Afghan mission would suffer if the Shi'ite Personal Status Law was not dropped. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown personally phoned Karzai to complain and Western officials said the Afghan leader had ordered a review of the draft law, which would apply to the country's Shi'ite minority. "I think this rule is abhorrent ... We have stated very clearly that we object to this law," Obama told a news conference after a NATO summit. "It is very important for us to be sensitive to local culture but we also think there are certain basic principles that all nations should uphold ... (including) respect for women and respect for their freedom and integrity." The former Taliban regime, overthrown by U.S.-led forces in 2001, discriminated strongly against women and girls, and NATO leaders have justified their continued presence in Afghanistan partly by saying they were defending human rights. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said if Afghanistan compromised the pursuit of fundamental human values "there will be clear diminishment in Allied support for this venture." Shi'ite Muslims account for some 15 percent of mainly Sunni Muslim Afghanistan. Karzai is facing an election in August and Shi'ite support could be crucial to his chances.

KARZAI SEES MISINTERPRETATION Karzai said on Saturday the West's criticisms were based on a wrong translation or misinterpretation of the law, which has not yet come into force. His comments did not satisfy Canada, whose troops have paid a heavy price fighting in the south of Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgents are at their strongest. "I'm not sure the Alliance is prepared to accept simply soothing reassurances," said Harper. He acknowledged a contradiction between the West insisting Afghanistan was a sovereign country that could not be told what to do and then telling Kabul to scrap the law. "Clearly the Afghan government is a sovereign government. That said, (it) understands the involvement of international forces in their country ... is based on our adherence to certain principles," he said. Brown told reporters he had called Karzai and "demanded assurances" that the law would not infringe women's rights. (Recently approved version of law also mandates that a woman ask a male relative to leave the house.) "He (Karzai) has promised there will be a statement made by his Justice Department tomorrow and he has promised that, if necessary, this will return to the Afghan parliament rather than being enacted in practice," Brown said.