“The churches still seem to relegate violence to the private sphere, and still understand violence as only physical,” the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, declared.

“The first and most obvious [effort] is to acknowledge that the violence actually exists,” said Kobia at the opening of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) women’s workshop on Transformation Leadership for Peace, Healing and Reconciliation in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“This means taking it out of the private arena and placing it squarely at the altars of our churches, in the seats of our parliament and in the halls of our academies,” said Kobia.

Churches in the DRC report that as rebel groups continue their activities in the country, women and girls continue to suffer sexual violence by armed men. Some have been brutally gang-raped, often in front of their families and communities. In numerous cases, men have also been forced at gunpoint to rape their own their relatives.

“Those women are traumatized. We keep asking ourselves: what can we do to stop the violence,” said Dr Christine Amisi, the coordinator of the HIV and AIDS programme of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, South Kivu. The hospital specializes in handling cases of sexual violence. In 2008, for example, it has been handling 3500 case of sexual of violence each year.

“But those who have power seem to have a deaf ear,” Amisi added.

Kobia’s speech coincided with an ecumenical delegation visit sponsored by the WCC. The visit is part of the Living Letters series of visits where delegations visit churches in countries where there is conflict to listen, learn and show solidarity.

From 8-11 July 2009, Kobia and the Living Letters delegation formed five groups which travelled to different parts of the DRC, before coming together in the city on 12 July. They visited communities and projects in Goma and Bukavu in the east, Bas-Congo in the west and the central Kasai province, as well as the area around Kinshasa.

“We have seen and heard stories of women and children who not only
disproportionately bear the hardships and burden of poverty but
sometimes with their bodies and life pay for the egos of violent men,”
said Kobia.

“While these stories ring loud and clear in our ears and their pain bleeds in our heart, we still find the myopia or perhaps complete blindness of the churches and communities to recognize and acknowledge this violence,” he said.

Kobia said women were asking how many stories of pain they needed to tell before the church began to listen.

At the workshop, leaders of the Church of Christ in Congo (ECC), said the Living Letters visit was crucial to them, since, as they knew the WCC had helped other countries, it could also help the DRC.

“We would like your assistance so that you can [knock] on the right door,” Bishop Jean-Luc Kuye Ndondo, South Kivu’s ECC president.

The ECC wants the WCC to help lobby the international community to put pressure on the leaders of the armed groups, who they say are based in western countries, to end the fighting. They are also asking those countries which purchase the minerals mined and sold by the rebels to stop doing so.

Injustice on Women

Khulna, Bangladesh, June 26 — Various organizations and individuals have been fighting for decades to ensure justice for women and children in Bangladesh. While progress has been nominal, violence continues to be notable.

Innocent souls are crying for justice. From January to March 2009, 73 women and children were the victims of rape or attempted rape; among those, 29 were gang raped and 13 were between ages 7 and 12. In May alone, 33 women and girls were the victims of rape. Among those, 16 were women and 17 were children under the age of 16. Out of the 16 women, five were victims of gang rape and three were killed after being raped. Out of the 17 girls, five were victims of gang rape and two were killed after being raped.

Between January and March 2009, six serious acts of violence against women were instigated by fatwas. When I discussed this issue with the law minister, he denied the necessity of introducing a specific law to ban fatwas. I repeatedly insisted on the necessity of a specific law to fight fatwa, as well as a law to identify the paternity of a child in cases where it is disputed.

Dowry is another social disease in Bangladesh. From January to March 2009, 44 women faced dowry-related violence; among these women, 23 died.

Bangladesh has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world: 440 per 100,000 live births, according to UNICEF, and more than 20,000 women in Bangladesh die annually from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth.

In Bangladesh, women do their best to fulfill their duties and take care of all their men’s needs; yet, from January to March 2009 alone, 45 women were abused by their husbands or their husbands’ relatives. Very recently, a woman, Parul Akter, who was seven months pregnant, was killed and her body thrown in a river; her two other children are still missing. This is the reality that many women in Bangladesh face.

We can name thousands of ways that women and children are facing oppression and repression in Bangladesh. Confucius said, “We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression.” I do agree with that. For almost two decades, Bangladesh’s prime ministers have been women. The number of people who oppose and oppress woman and children are larger than the number of people who are oppressed or suppressed.

Women’s empowerment alone will not solve the problem; we need to treat women as human beings first, rather than simply as women. We need to break the silence and stand up against religious and cultural traditions that encourage the repression of women and children. I dream of a day when a woman will be treated as a human being first, when women will really be empowered and lead the nation toward a more humane way, as they are the source of the human race.

The whole system in Bangladesh is male-dominated, inspired by common prophet religions that have a culture of suppressing woman historically. We need to deal with these oppressors first. Many aw and wonderful steps had taken to bring an end to the suppression to woman and children but hopefully none of them succeed.

Sometimes, a police officer who oppresses his wife in the home is used to investigate a case of oppression against a woman. In this case, the police officer should be brought to trial before anything else. Bangladesh even has cases where, after being raped, the woman gets raped again in the police station by police officers.

More than anything, the religion of Islam encourages the majority of people in Bangladesh in the historical cultural traditions of oppressing women. Laws can change, while religion inspires adherents through heaven and hell; in this light, how will jail or capital punishment be able to make any significant change?

The Prophet Mohammed said, “I was standing at the edge of the fire (hell) and the majority of the people going in were women.” When the Quran and the Prophet Mohammed guide the majority of people in Bangladesh, and the Quran (4:34) orders a man to beat his wife if she doesn’t obey him, how will the law prevent the beating of women? Laws and conventions contradict the holy sayings of the Prophet and Allah and will surely fail to ensure the rights of women.

I silently cry for justice for women like Parul, Rahima, Rebeka, Shima, who was raped in front of her father, and Mili Rani, a minority girl who was raped and later committed suicide. All this happened inside of the society before you and me.

We need to break the silence and step up a revival for humanity and justice.

Fatwa on a Woman

Comilla, Bangladesh, July 08 — Piara Begum (age 40), a widow, and Mamun Miah (age 25), from the Debidwar Upazila (subdistrict) in the Comilla district in southeastern Bangladesh, were mercilessly whipped after a fatwa decree.

Piara Begum’s husband had died five years earlier, leaving behind five children. Locals said that, after the death of her husband, Piara developed illegal intimate relations with her neighbor, Mamun Miah. On June 19, late at night, some young people of the Khaiyar village found Piara in an intimate situation in Mamun’s room, locals said.

The villagers called for arbitration the night of June 20, and the assistant super of the Debidwar Dakhil Madrasa, Mawlānā Md Manirul Islam, ordered a fatwa (religious edict) that both Piara and Mamun be fined Tk 30,000 each, that Mamun will marry Piara, and that, for their alleged involvement in activities against society, Piara be whipped 202 times and Mamun 101 times, locals said

On June 20, at night, Piara was whipped 202 times and Mamun 101 times. Piara was whipped mercilessly until she lost consciousness. After her public ordeal and soon after the lashings, she was taken to the Debidwar Upazila Health Complex. The doctor that treated Piara said, “Her condition was critical. I was shocked at the brutality of the treatment.”

The arbitration council was presided over by Dudmiah, while Wahed and Jalil executed the whippings, locals said.

Piara Begum filed a case with the Debidwar police station, accusing 8 people specifically and 10 to 12 unidentified people.

The arrestees are Dakhil Madrasa Assistant Super Moulana Mohammad Manirul Islam, Dudmiah, Ibrahim, Wahed, Jalil, and Mamun, the victim. All six were produced before the Comilla court.

In a landmark judgment in 2001, the Bangladesh High Court declared that fatwas were illegal, resulting in violence.

Gomes Investigating Parul's Case

Rupgonj , Bangladesh, July 07 — Parul Akter, a 30-year-old woman living in poverty, was missing for five days. Her mother, Nur Jahan Begum, told Asia News, “I went to visit my daughter in her husband’s house in Rupgonj on June 12th, but her husband’s relatives said that my daughter had a fight with her husband and left for my house on June 9th. But I wondered about their response. My daughter, Parul Akter, was tortured by her husband and their relatives many times in this year. I said to Karim, the husband of my daughter Parul, that my daughter did not come to my house.”

Rob Mia, the brother of Parul Akter, told Asia News, “I rushed to the Rupgonj police station on June 12th and filed a general report. From the police station, they called me and said that a body was found in the nearby Sitolokha River. After searching the river, we find my sister’s body. I cannot stop my tears. Why did this happen to my sister?”

A young girl, Shuma Akter, told to Asia News, “Last week, we saw another body in the river. The police did not even come, but some people informed the police.”

Begum, the victim’s mother, said, “I doubt that Karim, the husband of my daughter, and his relatives tortured and killed my daughter.”

The Rupgonj police chief told Asia News, “Parul Akter’s brother filed a murder case with our police station, and we are working on the case.”

Parul Akter had two children: Rohan (age 6) and Shorna (age 3). The family fears that her husband’s relatives may even have killed the children, said Begum.

She went on, “My daughter had 15,000 dollars, and Karim and his relatives were trying to get that. My daughter always refused to give it to them; that is why they brutally tortured her several times.”

“My daughter always told me, if she files a police complaint, then how will she live with her husband, and that she needed to think of the future of her two children.”

“The brutal people not only killed my daughter, they even killed the seven-month-old unborn baby of Parul, which was inside her womb.”

Human rights activist Dipal Barua said, “I highly condemn such violence against woman and children. It’s not only murder, it’s double murder and it’s the killing of humanity.”

Several human rights organizations have highly condemned this inhuman act and have demanded justice.

The petitioner of the case Faruk hossian alleged that the police officials forced them to bribe to search for the accused.

On the other side the greedy older brother of parul Rob Mia seems to be attached with the local police officials and mislead the case into different dimension. Our investigative had traced a telephone conversion, where the greedy man is bargaining for a huge amount to lead the case into wrong way.

Read the news here

Part 2 of the video