Hanging the womb of Iraq

 

Stop the executions!

Statement of Hana Albayaty, Ian Douglas, Abdul Ilah Albayaty, Iman Saadoon, Dirk Adriaensens and Ayse Berktay (14 Feb 2007)

[Français] - [Arabic] - [Spanish] - [Turkish] -  Click here for list of endorsers.

We hope all endorse, distribute widely, organize and act. Please reply to hanaalbayaty@gmail.com

 

* Take Action ! Now ! Click here to read what you can do.

* Selected statements and actions against the imminent execution of 3 Iraqi women.

* Update on actions to stop the execution of three Iraqi women (01 March 2007)

*  CALL FOR WORLDWIDE INTENSIFYING MOBILIZATION - Second update on efforts to stop the summary execution of three Iraqi women  (03 March 2007)

*  Third update on the three Iraqi women facing imminent execution - Dernières informations sur les condamnées à mort irakiennes - Situación actual de las tres condenadas a muerte iraquíes - İdam Cezası verilen Üç Iraklı Kadının Durumu Hakkında Son Bilgiler  (09 March 2007)

 

Wassan Talib, 31 years old, Zainab Fadhil, 25 years old, and Liqa Omar Muhammad, 26 years old, face imminent execution in Iraq, all charged with “offences against the public welfare” by a government that cannot even provide electricity but fills the streets with dead bodies. All are in Baghdad’s Al-Kadhimiya Prison. Two have small children beside them. The 1-year-old daughter of Liqa was born in prison. All women deny the charges for which they face hanging.

 
Paragraph 156 of the Iraqi Penal Code, under which they were judged, reads: “Any person who wilfully commits an act with intent to violate the independence of the country or its unity or the security of its territory and that act by its nature, leads to such violation is punishable by death.” Iraq’s “puppet” government charges these women with its own crimes.
 
None of the three women was permitted to see a lawyer. The trials to which they were subject are illegal under international law. All three are prisoners of war with protected rights under the Third Geneva Convention. Their execution would not only be illegal and summary, it would be utterly immoral. Civilization around the world reviles the death penalty while Iraq’s feudal leaders make a public spectacle of executions.
 

In a country where it is evident there is no state or judicial system, the occupation and its puppet government use, as all repressive regimes in history, fake tribunals to exterminate those who oppose them. No legal judgement can be issued while there isn’t the civilised conditions of due process, at least the presence and security of lawyers.

Iraqi women are testament to the life of the nation of Iraq. By contrast, the US-installed government, in its backwardness, imposes only a culture of death. Whereas Iraq was the most progressive state in the region for women’s rights, with the US invasion protective legislation was cancelled. The United States and its local conspirators, in creating hundreds of thousands of widows and reducing life in Iraq to a struggle for bare survival, have placed women in the crosshairs and now on the gallows.
 
Women are always the first and last victims of war. We celebrate the numberless acts of resistance of Iraqi women, whether their resilience in the face of a culture of rape, torture and murder by US and Iraqi forces, their fortitude in continuing to give life amid state-sponsored genocide, their dignity as they try to maintain a semblance of normality for their children and families, their courage in burying their husbands, sons, daughters or brothers, or in direct action against an illegal and failed military occupation.
 
We demand the release of Wassan, Zainab and Liqa and all political prisoners in Iraq. We call upon all persons, organisations, parliaments, workers, syndicates and states to withdraw recognition from this pro-occupation, sectarian Iraqi government. We call for immediate protest in front of every Iraqi embassy worldwide. There is no honour in murdering women. Occupation is the highest form of dictatorship. It is not these three women who should be prosecuted; it is this government and its foreign paymaster.
 

Hana Albayaty

Ian Douglas

Abdul Ilah Albayaty

Iman Saadoon

Dirk Adriaensens

Ayse Berktay

First endorsers:

 
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, chairman of the Perdana Global Peace Organisation, honorary member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Ramsey Clark, former attorney general of the United States, founder of the International Action Center – USA
Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat,  former Chief of Naval Staff — India
Hans Von Sponeck, former UN assistant secretary general & UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, 1998-2000 – Germany, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Susan George, director of the Transnational Institute – France
Eduardo Galeano, Essayist, journalist, historian, and activist – Uruguay, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Ahmed Manai, director of the Tunisian Institute for International Relations – France
Aida Seif El Dawla, founding member and chairperson of the Egyptian Association Against Torture, El–Nadim Centre for the Psychological Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence – Egypt
Ali Al-Sarraf, author  – Iraq
Amalia Pereira, dirigente de Promepar Irene Celis, dirigenta del Sindicato del Arzobispado de Santiago, 
Amy Bartholomew, professor of law – Canada, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Anna Karamanou, former member of the European Parliament, former chairwomen of the Committee of Women’s Rights of the European Parliament
Carlos Varea, coordinator and Spanish Campaign against Occupation and for the Sovereignty of Iraq, CEOSI – Spain, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Corinne Kumar, Secretary General of El Taller International - Tunesia / India, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Dahlia Wasfi, Anti-war activist, speaker, Global Exchange – Iraq / USA, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Dr Barbara Nimri Aziz, executive producer, “Tahrir”, Pacifica WBAI Radio, NY – USA
Dr Chris Busby, Scientific Secretary to the European Committee on Radiation Risk. Expert and author on DU – UK
Dr Curtis Doebbler, international human rights lawyer, professor of law at An–Najah National University – Palestine, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Dr Esmail Nooriala, Iranian-American writer and Lecturer on Islam University of Denver – USA
Dr Fadhil Bedran, author – Iraq
Dr Herman De Ley, emeritus professor, Department of Philosophy and Moral Science, Ghent University – Belgium, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Dr Jean Bricmont, scientist, specialist in theoretical physics, U.C. Louvain-La-Neuve – Belgium, member of the BRussells Tribunal Executive Committee
Dr Lieven De cauter, initiator of the BRussells Tribunal, philosopher, K.U. Leuven / Rits – Belgium
Dr Paola Manduca, Professor of Genetics, Anti–war movement – Italy, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Dr Suhair Abbas, senior lecturer at the University of Sains, Malaysia – Iraq
Eman Ahmed Khammas, former co-director of Occupation Watch, journalist, translator – Iraq, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Fabio Marcelli, Vice secretary of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers – Italy
Fatma Salah Uthman, Spokeswoman Makhmour Organization for Human Rights and Social Questions, Baghdad, Iraq 
Felicity Arbuthnot, Journalist - UK, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Gilles Munier, secrétaire général des Amitiés franco-irakiennes – France
Graciela Álvarez, Presidenta Rama de la Asociación de Juristas Latinoamericanos 
Hussein Al-Alak, chair of The Iraq Solidarity Campaign – UK / Iraq, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee 
John Catalinotto, International Action Center – USA, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
José Reinaldo Carvalho, Brazilian Center for Solidarity with the Peoples’ in Struggle for Peace – Brazil, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Karen Parker, Attorney, Association of Humanitarian Lawyers – USA, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Khaled Mouammar, National President of the Canadian Arab Federation – Canada
Laith Saud, journalist, college lecturer in social sciences - Iraq / USA, member of the Brussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Ludo Abicht, University of Antwerpen – Belgium
Magdalena Castillo, dirigenta Central Autónoma de Trabajadores, CAT 
Maria Ligia Centurion Prieto, member of La Unión de Mujeres Paraguayas (Paraguay-Sud América) – Paraguay
María Rozas, Vicepresidenta Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Chile, CUT
Michel Chossudovsky (Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa, founder of Centre for Research on Globalisation - Canada), member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Michel Collon, writer, journalist, Belgium
Mireya Baltra, ex Ministra del Gobierno del presidente Salvador Allende, Chile
Mona Baker, professor of translation studies, University of Manchester – UK
Mondher Adhami, research fellow at Kings College London – Iraq / UK, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Nilofer Bhagwat, vice president of Indian Lawyers Association – Mumbai / India, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Paola Pisi, founder of Uruknet, Italy
Patricia Coñoman, Presidenta Confederación de Trabajadores Textiles, CONTEXTIL 
Petros Constantinou, national coordinator, Campaign Genoa 2001 – Greece
Saadallah Al-Fathi, former head of the Energy Studies Department at OPEC – Iraq
Sabah Al Mukhtar, President of the Arab Lawyers Association — UK, member of the Brussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Salah Omar Al Ali, former representative of Iraq at the UN, Al-Wifaq – Iraq
Samia Mehrez, professor of Arabic studies – Egypt
Sara Flounders, International Action Center – USA
Sarah Meyer, independent researcher – UK, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee 
Sigyn Meder, member of the Iraq Solidarity Association – Sweden, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Socorro Gomes, president of the Brazilian Center for Solidarity with the Peoples’ in Struggle for Peace – Brazil, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Sr Anne Montgomery, Christian Peacemakers Team, member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee
Wafaa Al-Natheema, founder of the Institute for Near Eastern and African Studies – USA
Yiannis Sifakakis, coordinator, Stop the War Coalition Greece – Greece
Organizations
AFFI-Associazione Federativa Femminista Internazionale
Agir Contre la Guerre (ACG)
Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition - NY
Americans Against War (AAW)
Arab Women's Solidarity Association-Belgique/ AWSA-Belgique
Asian Women’s Human Rights Council, India
associaçaõ de favelas em são josé, Brazil 
Association of Humanitarian Lawyers – USA
Australian Peace Committee (SA Branch) Inc.
Black people Union for Equality - UNEGRO, Brazil
BRussells Tribunal Committee
Campaign Genoa 2001 – Greece
Canadian Arab Federation – Canada
Centre for Development Studies, India
Centro Brasileiro de Solidariedade aos Povos e Luta pela Paz Cebrapaz – Brazilian Center for Solidarity with the Peoples’ in Struggle for Peace – Brazil
Coalition de Quebec pour la paix, Canada
Comite de lutte contre la barbarie et l’arbitraire – France
Comité pour l'Annulation de la Dette du Tiers Monde (CADTM)
Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche Orient, Luxembourg
Communist Party of Brazil 
Conlutas - National Coordination of Struggles, Brazil
Coordination des Groupes de Femmes Egalité, France
Current The Work, from the Workers Party (PT) , Brazil
El Taller International, Tunis
Filastiniyat
Gender Equity Unit, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Gerald and Maas
Institute of Philosophy, Cuba
International Action Center – USA
International Anti-Occupation Network
International Movement for a Just World (JUST)
Intersindical – Inter Trade Unions Association, Brazil
Iraq Solidarity Association – Stockholm
La Unión de Mujeres Paraguayas – Paraguay
le comité de la femme/cnops  (Maroc)
le comité de la femme/redal, (Maroc)
les organisations de femmes de l'umt/rabat (Maroc)
Lola Kompanyera, Phillipines
l'organisation de la femme du secteur agricole, Maroc
l'organisation de la femme ouvriere, Maroc
l'union des femmes fonctionnaires, Maroc
Makhmour Organization for Human Rights and Social Questions Baghdad, Iraq
MIR - IRG
New Jersey Solidarity- Activists for the Liberation of Palestine
Planète Non-Violence
Radical Women, USA
RAND Group of Consultants Nablus — Palestine
Representatives of the PSOL, Socialism and Liberty Party, Brazil
Representatives of the PSTU, Unified Workers Socialist Party, Brazil
Resistance & Alternative
Spanish Campaign against Occupation and for the Sovereignty of Iraq, CEOSI
Stop The War Coalition – Greece 
StopWar Coalition, Vancouver, Canada
The CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF AMERICAN BASES - CAAB (website: www.caab.org.uk)
The Women in black of Portland Or
Tunisian Institute of International Relations – France
UEE – SP –    São Paulo State Students Union, Brazil
Women in Black - Seattle Washington USA 
Women in black from Caen ( Normandy ) France

 

Click here for more complete list of endorsers.


Statement by Abdul Ilah Albayaty 

(11 February 2007) 
 
Wassan Talib, 31 years old, Zainab Fadhil, 25 years old, and Liqa Omar Mohammed, 26 years old, accused of belonging to and participating in the Iraqi resistance, summarily judged in a simulacra of a trial, in the absence of lawyers, will be executed 3 March 2007 in Baghdad.
 
Lawyers, persuaded that your very presence is the guarantee of justice
Syndicates and workers who celebrate the international feast of 1 May in memory of the American workers judged on false accusations
Religious of all religions who carry in you the suffering of Christ, crucified after a false trial
Marxists revolted by the false trials fabricated by powers like the one of Rosa Luxembourg
Militants conscious that this could happen to you whatever is your cause
Defenders of human rights, in particular the right to fair trial
Women who give life and of whom the flesh shakes in front of the atrocity of such executions
Arabs, proud and in solidarity with the sacrifices of the Iraqi people against the barbarity of the occupation and its puppet government
Civilised beings, human beings who refuse the so-called “legal” murders perpetrated by states
 
ALL, let’s unite ourselves, raise our voices to scream our indignation, refuse the horrors and the regression of our civilisation, and prevent the assassinations of Wassan, Zainab and Liqa.
 
Abdul Ilah Albayaty
 
We hope all endorse, distribute widely, organize and act. Please reply to hanaalbayaty@gmail.com
 
! إعدام لرحم العراق!
 
أوقفوا هذه الإعدامات 

 
وسن طالب، 31 سنة؛ زينب فاضل ، 25 سنة؛ و لقاء عمر محمد، 26 سنة 
يواجهن الموت شنقا في العراق. فجميعهن متهمات بـ "جرائم ضد الصالح العام" من قبل حكومة غير قادرة حتى على توفير الكهرباءوإن كانت قادرة على ملء الشوارع بالجثث. ان الثلاثة محتجزات في سجن الكاظمية في بغداد. اثنتان منهن محتجزات مع أطفالهن: فلقاء أنجبت ابنتها ذات العام الواحد في السجن. والثلاثة ينفين قيامهن بالجرائم التي سوف يشنقن من أجلها. 
الفقرة الـ 156 من القانون الجنائي العراقي، والتي حوكمن بناء عليها، تنص على أن "أي شخص يؤتي فعلا عمدا بنية انتهاك استقلال البلاد أو وحدته أو أمن أراضيه يؤدي هذا الفعل، بحكم طبيعته ، إلى انتهاك يعاقب عليه بالموت".  والآن تقوم الحكومة العراقية التابعة  للإحتلال  باتهام هؤلاء النساء بما ترتكبه هي من جرائم. 
ان النساء الثلاثة لم يسمح لأي منهن بتوكيل محامي، كما ان المحاكمة التي حوكمن بها هي محاكمة غير شرعية حسب القانون الدولي. فالنساء الثلاثة هم في واقع الأمر أسيرات حرب