Back in April, Humanists International wrote an online open letter to Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje regarding the unjust conviction and sentencing of Atheist activist Mubarak Bala. The open letter still welcomes signatures to show support and gather more attention.
On April 3, the Taliban announced that they would ban the cultivation of opium poppies. A spokesman from the Taliban warned that farmers might be “jailed and their crops burned if they harvested poppy,” DW reported.
The Taliban has ordered government officials to wear a beard and adhere to dress codes, as provided by their hardline interpretation of Islam. On Monday, March 28, representatives of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice visited government offices, enforcing the new order.
Raif Badawi, a prominent Saudi blogger and human rights advocate, arrested in 2012, is finally free after ten years in prison. Ensaf Haidar, Badawi's wife, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that her husband called her about his release.
"Raif called me. He is free," she said. Haidar is living in Quebec, Canada, along with their three children.
A Mexican Muslim woman who was employed to help organize the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar was forced to leave the country after being sexually assaulted. Paola Schietekat worked in Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy when a colleague sexually assaulted her last June.
A 17-year old was killed by her husband on February 5, in yet another case of honor killing in Iran. Mona Heydari was beheaded by her husband after being brought back from Turkey. In southwestern Iran, the incident took place in Khuzestan’s capital, Ahvaz.
On January 30, Iran executed two men after finding them guilty of charges related to homosexuality. An Iran Human Rights Watch tweet identified the victims as Mehrdad Karimpour and Farid Mohammadi.
The two were charged with "sodomy by force," a term used as legal gymnastics by the Islamic Republic of Iran to detain and eventually murder homosexuals. Before the execution, both Karimpour and Mohammadi spent six years in Mehrdad Prison.
After a stabbing incident in Sefton Park, Australia, a young Muslim woman was left recovering in an intensive care unit. ABC News reported that the 21-year old suffered a "perforated kidney, lacerated liver, and significant internal bleeding."
