On June 26, a 20 years old woman from the northeastern African country of Sudan was sentenced to death by stoning for cheating on her husband. She was convicted on charges of adultery, being the first case of stoning in the country after almost a decade.
An honor-based family murder in a small town in the Fars province of Iran has once again sparked debates on the lack of laws to prevent “honor-killing” in Iran.
On June 27, the father of Ariana Lashkari shot the sixteen-year-old girl in the chest with a hunting rifle for allegedly laughing with a boy at a park, which he considered a disgrace to the family.
A 70-year-old man and two other gay men were sentenced to death by stoning in Bauchi, Nigeria. The accused were charged and convicted for engaging in acts of homosexuality. They were arrested by the religious police force of the state on June 14.
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.
