Iraqi women's rights champion murdered (Kirkuk)

[Barrett808]

KIRKUK, Iraq (AFP) - Gunmen broke into the house of an Iraqi women's rights campaigner and shot her dead in front of her three children, police have said.

Human rights activists say the lives of women in Iraqi society have worsened dramatically since the US-led invasion of March 2003, amid a general break down in law and order and the rise of conservative Islamist militias.

Captain Imad Khudhir of the Kirkuk police said Saturday 38-year-old Halima Ahmed Hussein al-Juburi was killed late on Friday by 10 unidentified attackers who broke into her home in the northern town of Hawijah.

"We do not know the motive behind the crime," he said.

Juburi was the head of the Human Rights organisation of Maternity and Childhood in Hawijah, a lawless town in an area plagued by violent Sunni insurgent groups.

Her husband was not at home at the time of the attack.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061028/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestwomen

[donsu]

1. another woman murdered in the war against women

I can't thank her for fighting for women's rights but I can tell her family how much I appreciate her fighting for us women and our daughters.

[ronnie624]

5. And to think Iraqi women

under the regime of Saddam Hussein enjoyed a far greater degree of equality, and a higher rate of college education than any other country in the region. How Ironic.

We may have devastated Iraq, poisoned their soil and water, stolen their possessions, murdered hundreds of thousands of people, and set women's rights back centuries, but look at the bright side: at least Saddam is no longer in power.
:sarcasm:

[barb162]

19. Generally agree, but

"set women's rights back centuries" look at the Islamic fundies/militias for that.

[ronnie624]

23. Ah, I see.

It was the "Islamic fundies/militias" who invaded and destroyed Iraq, creating the atmosphere in which chaos and extremism would fester.

Thanks for the clarification.

[Rose Siding]

2. "We do not know the motive"?

:eyes:

[Norquist Nemesis]

6. That caught my eye, too! n/t

[femrap]

3. I'd like to send Laura, Lynne and their

daughters over there to stop this violence against women.

This is such sad and maddening news. Damn.

[RetroLounge]

4. You just do not understand the cultural differences

between US and Iraq and cannot project your ideals on a foreign country where murder of women is a religious right...

:sarcasm:

RL

[FlaGranny]

8. Good one. n/t

[Withywindle]

9. No, it's not religious, it's not in the Quran, it's a "cultural tradition"

So it's every bit as important though and there's nothing we can do about it anyway, and besides, how do we know the women over there feel oppressed by being occasionally shot and tortured for speaking out? Maybe they choose it to feel safe and empowered. It IS their culture after all.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[LostinVA]

26. And, hey -- freedom isn't free, right?

[Shakespeare]

25. oh....

:pals:

[MaineDem]

7. Come on, Laura, time to step up and support the Iraqi women

Wasn't she going to champion women's rights in Afghanistan way back when??? Did that go anywhere?

And now this. This is going way too far.

[krkaufman]

18. Exactly what I was thinking. Pickles was out there championing ....

... the improved conditions for women in Afghanistan immediately after the invasion, so I'd like to see some interviewers followup with her, now.

[Withywindle]

10. Horrible...

Bush and his war are in part responsible for this. (Not totally - there is no circumstance in which the actual trigger-puller gets absolved completely).

Iraqis better off now then when Saddam Hussein was in power? Well, half the population sure isn't!

[barb162]

21. The women are in terrible shape there now

And the average man is in bad shape too.

[judaspriestess]

11. in front of her children?

that is so vulgar. Sad, sad, sad

RIP

[deadparrot]

12. Iraqi women's rights leader killed at home

KIRKUK, Iraq, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Iraqi police Saturday investigated the murder of a prominent women's rights leader in the northern city of Kirkuk, 150 miles north of Baghdad.

Faliha Ahmed Hassan, the head of a women's rights group in Hawija, a Sunni Arab town near Kirkuk, was shot to death by gunmen who stormed her Kirkuk home, CNN reported.

Separately, an Iraqi soldier died and three others were wounded Saturday in Hawija -- considered a stronghold of resistance to U.S. intervention in Iraq -- after gunmen opened fire at a joint Iraqi army and police patrol.

In eastern Baghdad, two Iraqi police officers guarding an oil industry facility were wounded when a roadside bomb targeting their patrol exploded Saturday, an Iraqi police spokesman said.

http://www.market-day.net/article_35670/20061028/Iraqi-womens-rights-leader-killed-at-home.php

[LynnTheDem]

13. The (very tragic) irony is mind-boggling.

Another nail in The New America's coffin.

[aquart]

14. Thanks, George.

Another great thing you've done for women and all mankind.

What will you do tomorrow, George?

[Amonester]

15. Don't tell Pickles her 'honest' (truth-telling, uh-um...) husband is...

directly responsible for the death of this brave woman (and for the deaths and suffering of tens of thousands of others).

Her 'beautiful mind' might not believe it... :mad:

[Erika]

16. What we've done to the Iraqis is unforgiveable

W should not only be impeached but also tried for war crimes.

[SoCalDem]

17. "..."We do not know the motive behind the crime," he said...."

WTF???

Do they think she cut in line at the post office??

:grr:

[barb162]

20. Maybe she showed her ankle when she walked down the street

[PsychoDad]

22. May Allah accept her martyrdom.

From Allah we come and to Allah we return. May this sister smell the sweetness of paradise.

Truly she was living her religion as an advocate for the weak and voiceless. May she serve as an example to others through her service.

She was killed because she was a leader and a light of hope in a lawless area.


Peace.

[NuttyFluffers]

24. i say Negroponte Death Squad Hit. how about you?

could be violent Sunni insurgent groups, but ever since Negroponte came and left there's been a meteoric surge in these home assassinations. so... instead of accepting the proposed corporate media blame of "them thar is 'cuz of evil terr'rist bastards -- that's why we fight 'em over there!" i'm going to keep repeating "Negroponte Death Squad Hit" because that's what i think it is. seems far too convenient, efficient, and reminiscent of his previous work. besides, nothing like this scale of chaos was going around during Saddam, or immediately after his ousting. only curiously after some "training" came in around Negroponte...

yup, Negroponte Death Squad Hit. freedom, truth, and light set back again because of American Imperialist Dreams. your tax dollars at work -- because in chaos you can steal!

[donsu]

27. kick

nt