Campaign to defend the life and safety of Marywan Halabjaye

international | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Monday March 27, 2006 14:41 by pat c

Please read the story below, this is not a normal petition appeal. For a start it has more than a couple of lines of text, it tells a story. The Story of a brave Secular Kurdish author who has written a book which questions the status of women in islam and according to the text of the Quran. the book is entitled “Sex, Sharia and Women in the History of Islam".

The Kurdishish Islamofascists are now trying to bring about his death. You can a little thing to save him: read the plea below and sign the petition. This is a petition that WILL go to the Kurdish Government; the Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq will ensure this.

pat c

To: Kurdish Authorities

Campaign to defend the life and safety of Marywan Halabjaye

Defend this secular writer against the threats of Islamists in Iraqi
Kurdistan!

Marywan Halabjaye is secular Kurdish writer who recently published a Book entitled “Sex, Sharia and Women in the History of Islam”. In this book he discussed the status of women in Islam and according to the text of the Quran. The book has received an overwhelming response from the secular, progressive masses of Kurdistan.

Three of Kurdistan’s Islamic parties, the United Islamic Party, the Islamic League and the Islamic Movement, have started to threaten Marywan Halabjaye and mobilise the Kurdish media against him and his book. They have filed a complaint against the writer in a Sulaymania court and are using mosques in many towns and villages to provoke people against him.

This is part of the ongoing drive of political Islam to attack Freedom of expression across the world and silence the voices of those who are critical of the treatment of women in Islam. It is our task to defend the right of secular, progressive and enlightened writers and thinkers to express their ideas and thoughts without fear or intimidation.

We the undersigned condemn the reactionary attack on Marywan Halabjaee and secularism in Kurdistan and argue strongly for the Kurdish authorities to:

- Provide unconditional protection for Marywan and his family, who are now in hiding.
- Guarantee protection of freedom of thought, expression and Association in Kurdistan.

Houzan Mahmoud
Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq - UK Branch