Woman’s group calls for action against the continuing
victimisation of Pakistan’s
gang rape victim, Mukhtaran Mai
Dear friends,
WLUML (Women Living Under Muslim Laws) strongly urges you to
take action in support of women’s rights campaigner Ms. Ghada Jamsheer. Ms.
Jamsheer is the head of the Women’s Petition Committee (WPC), a network of
Bahraini women activists campaigning for the codification of Bahrain’s family
laws and the reform of Shariah family courts.
Ms. Jamsheer faces three trials for publicly criticising family
court judges and, if convicted, faces up to 15 years in prison. The trials are
scheduled for June 15 and 19 and July 2, 2005.
It is therefore vital that you respond immediately to this
urgent call for action.
There are many recent cases where the authorities have used
restrictive laws, such as the Penal Code 1976 and Law on the Press 2002, to
suppress public criticism by bringing human rights activists and journalists
before the courts.
Ms. Jamsheer is accused of slander, calling family court judges
in Bahrain "corrupt, biased, and unqualified" and calling a specific judge "rude
and unfair". She is also being criminally prosecuted by the ex-husband of a
divorced woman whose case was adopted by the WPC.
The criminal charges against Ms. Jamsheer are an effort by the
authorities to put pressure on activists and NGOs to cease or reduce their
activities. The taking of such legal action is a reversal of the political and
constitutional reforms currently taking place in Bahrain, and is an attempt to
prevent the establishment of political, social and civil rights for Bahraini
women.
We urge you to act to ensure that Ms. Jamsheer, NGOs and
activists can continue to make their positive contribution to the promotion and
protection of women’s rights and human rights, and to the overall development of
Bahraini society.
It is WLUML’s view that this is one more example of a global
trend to control progressive groups and voices.
In solidarity,
Women Living Under Muslim Laws
International Coordination Office
BACKGROUND
Bahrain: A women’s rights activist faces trial and imprisonment
3/06/2005: The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) is
concerned about three criminal charges made against women’s rights campaigner
Ms. Ghada Yusuf Jamsheer, accusing her of foul language, abusing a Shariah
family court and a former Shariah judge.
According to restrictive laws, Ms. Jamsheer could face a
sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment. She will face three trials in June and
July 2005. BCHR appeals to national and international organisations to intervene
urgently and to do whatever necessary.
Ms. Jamsheer has been campaigning for reforming the general
prosecution and Shariah family courts. There are many recent cases where the
authorities used restrictive laws, such as the Penal Code of 1976 and Law on the
press of 2002, to bring activists and journalists before the courts. BCHR states
that another of their concerns is that the general prosecution and the judiciary
in Bahrain are far from independent.
Hence, BCHR considers the criminal charges against Ms. Jamsheer
as related to freedom of expression and peaceful activities, and an effort by
the authorities to keep pressure on Ms. Jamsheer to cease her activities. The
BCHR appeals to drop all charges against Ms. Jamsheer, to decrease pressure on
activists concerned with women’s rights and to amend laws which hinder activism
and criminalise the practice of basic rights.
Ghada Yusuf Jamsheer, a Bahraini businesswoman, aged 38, lives
in Muharraq. She is the president of Women’s Petition Committee (WPC), which has
been debating complaints and cases violating the rights and dignity of women in
the Shariah family courts, and calling for urgent need to appoint qualified
Shariah court judges. She is also the president of the Bahrain Social
Partnership for Combating Violence Against Women which is under the supervision
of Amnesty International.
For the last four years Ms. Jamsheer has continuously organised
protests and vigils in support of reforms of Shariah family jurisdiction in
Bahrain. A call by Ms. Jamsheer to dismiss the general prosecutor Sheikh A.
Rahman Bin Jabr Al Khalifa, who was the head of the abolished state security
court, could be the real reason behind the current cases. The call was declared
in a statement issued when Women’s Petition Committee (WPC) members and
supporters gathered outside the Justice Ministry in a show of solidarity against
discrimination.
The first case
The general prosecution has forwarded Case 8610/2005 to the
higher penal court and allocated a hearing commencing June 4, 2005. The trial
has been rescheduled for July 1, 2005. The general prosecution charged Ms.
Jamsheer for committing criminal acts during the period commencing from October
2002 to June 2003 as follows:
1. She has criticised publicly the Shariah judges in Bahrain as
"Corrupted, Personalised and Unqualified" through a publication distributed to
the public;
2. She has criticised a judge of the higher Shariah court, named
Jassim Mutlaq Al Thawadi, for his rudeness and not being fair during practising
his duties;
3. She abused the above-mentioned Shariah judge during his
practices of his task, by using abusive language as per records of
documentation.
Accordingly, the general prosecution decided that Ms. Jamsheer
has committed a crime, which should be penalised according to Article Nos. 2/76,
3-1/92, 107/item 1, 216, 222/1, 365/1, 3-1/366 of the Penal Code and Article
70/B from Law Decree No. 47 for the year 2002 on Press and Publishing.
The second case
Case No. 1793/2005 was raised against Ghada Jamsheer by one of
the Shariah judges for abusive language with reference made to Article Nos. 2/92
and 2/1/365 of the penal law in front of the primary penal fifth court. A
session for litigation has been appointed for the forthcoming date, June 15,
2005.
The third case
Case No. 3938/2044 was raised against Ghada Jamsheer through the
general prosecution by an ex-husband of a divorced woman whose case was adopted
by the Women’s Petition Committee (WPC) headed by Ms. Jamsheer. Criminal charges
were based on Article Nos. 2/92 and 2/1/365 of the penal law. Litigation date
will be on June 19, 2005 before the primary first penal court.
Furthermore, an older case, which was raised by eight Shariah
court judges against a group of journalists and activists including Ghada
Jamsheer, is still pending.
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