GENEVA — An Iraqi lawyer known for her work promoting
women’s rights has been killed by Islamic State fighters, the head of the
United Nations human rights office said on Thursday, continuing a pattern of
attacks on professional women.
The lawyer, Sameera Salih Ali al-Nuaimy, was seized from
her home by Islamic State fighters last week and tortured for several days
before a masked firing squad executed her in public on Monday, Zeid Ra’ad
al-Hussein, the United Nations human rights commissioner, said in a statement.
Ms. Nuaimy had posted comments on her Facebook page
condemning the “barbaric” bombing and destroying of mosques and shrines in
Mosul, a northern Iraqi city, by the Islamic State, the militant group also
known as ISIS or ISIL. She was convicted of apostasy by a “so-called court,”
Mr. Zeid said, adding that her family had been barred from giving her a
funeral.
The killing follows the execution of a number of Iraqi
women in areas under Islamic State control documented by United Nations
monitors, including two candidates contesting Iraq’s general election in
Nineveh Province, who were killed in July. A third female candidate was
abducted by gunmen in eastern Mosul and has not been heard from since.
United Nations monitors in Iraq have received numerous
reports of executions of women by Islamic State gunmen, some after perfunctory
trials, the organization said. “Educated, professional women seem to be
particularly at risk,” it added.
These killings, together with abductions and the
enslavement of women and children, illustrate the “utterly poisonous nature” of
the extremist group, Mr. Zeid said, drawing attention to the plight of hundreds
of women and girls of the Yazidi religious minority and other ethnic and
religious groups sold into slavery, raped or forced into marriage after the
group overran large areas of northern Iraq.
“The fact that such groups try to attract more people
to their cause by asserting their acts are supported by Islam is a further
gross perversion,” he said.
The high commissioner’s statement came as his deputy,
Flavia Pansieri, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that the situation in
Iraq had continued to deteriorate even since the start of the month.
At least 8,493 civilians are believed to have died in
the Iraqi conflict this year, half of them between the start of June and the
end of August, she reported, but the United Nations has warned that the real
number of casualties could be much higher.
Information gathered by United Nations monitors on the
situation in areas under Islamic State control “reveals acts of inhumanity on
an unimaginable scale,” she said.
Why do you consider this an example of an injustice? What does it make
you think about in your own life?
This is an example of injustice because the ISIS is bye executing
professional women, is saying that women shouldn’t be changing the world and
shouldn’t have any rights. This is a huge social issue because if such strong
hatred towards professional women still exists in the world, many women who
could benefit society will be limited and unable to make the world a better
place. Being young women in the world is a scary thing. So many people still in
this day and age think of women as lesser beings or people who should cook and
clean and not be given an education or any rights. This issue goes straight to
the heart for me personally because as a young girl, even in a place as liberal
as New York City, I face challenges and obstacles purely because of my gender.
What do you come across in your daily life that is unfair to human
rights?
Something
that I commonly come across is something know as “cat calling.” Cat calling is
something mostly men do. They whistle or make comments at women walking down
the street. I think although it is something small, I see it happen frequently
and I think it’s unfair that women can’t walk down the street without a man
making a rude comment. I think its degrading and make women feel smaller than
men. Part of the problem is that many kids are never learn that women shouldn’t
be called at.
Interview someone and ask them what they
think is good about our world and what is unfair
Katherine Anderson
What is good about our world?
People each other in emergencies. Relief organizations help people
in need and who are less fortunate than us. There are organization such as
doctors without borders, nature conservancy, and aid foundations.
What is bad?
Excess wealth, corporations more concerned with profit then
with the health and safety of their workers. Minorities are taken advantage of
and people are so concerned with how they are benefiting they forget to help
others. Also many are under educated so they aren’t given the same
opportunities that people of higher education are given, and don’t know any
better.
How could we improve
our word?
Live simply so that others may simply live.
How do you want to
change the world?
I want there to be liberty and justice for all.
Watch the news. Respond to something you see in the news by outing
yourself in the shoes of a news reporter.
On the news
I saw a reporter reporting from Ferguson, Missouri where a young man named
Michael Brown was shot and killed. The Supreme Court ruled that Darren Wilson,
the man who shot Brown, not guilty. Once the ruling was made, protesters across
the country were outraged. The reporter was reporting about the 120 mile march
that protesters are starting from Ferguson to Missouri’s capital. I think that
being a protester in Ferguson would feel very empowering. The protesters are
changing history and really making America, as well as the rest of the world,
aware of the racism that still exists in the country. It gives me hope seeing
people care so much about human rights and coming together to get their voices
heard.
Write about someone who inspires you
Someone who
inspires me is my great grandma. When my grandma was around nine years old she
was sent with her sister to spend the summer on Cape Cod while my great grandma
got her teachers degree. My great
grandma got her certificate and worked hard as a teacher to keep her family
afloat during the great depression and when her husband died at an early age.
She is inspiring because she was one of the first women to attend Cornell
University and never gave up, even when times got tough. She is also inspiring
because although she never had much, she always gave to charity and never
complained. I think she is very amicable and I hope that I am someday as good
of a person as she was.
Collect a poem or lyric that
expresses a significant issue about social issues
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
The song Imagine by John Lennon was
written in 1971. During this time the Vietnam War was in full swing. Many
people would protest the war and many were against the war. I think this song
was written as homage to peace and that John Lennon was against the Vietnam
War. Song lyrics are a way for the artist message to be heard and interpreted
in many ways.
Think about how people your age
are portrayed by Hollywood
In Hollywood puts teenagers in a
very negative light. If you turn on Disney channel you will see a teenager girl
either trying to win the affection of a boy, texting, or hanging out in the
mall. You will see the teenage boy scheming, playing a sport or trying to win
the affection of a girl “Normal” teenagers are skinny, acne free, Caucasian,
straight teeth and pretty hair. All the characters live in sprawling houses
that seem to have come straight from a Pottery Barn magazine. The families are
all well off and seem to not have a care in the world. Perfect looking teens
make me feel bad about myself, as if I’m doing something wrong. I think that
teenagers have more depth than Disney and Nickelodeon give them credit for.
Teens have more complex ideas and more complex lives then what is portrayed on
TV. I think when teens see characters on TV who are dumb or immature; it
pressures teens into acting that way even if it is subconscious. When I watch
Gossip Girl I see the skinny, rich, popular girls getting everything they want
and it makes me feel like I’m not good enough and that unless I’m stick thin,
rich and get invited to the most exclusive parties, I’m not worth it. Teenagers
are stereotypically very moody and immature. I think that Hollywood has a
misinterpretation of what it’s like being a teenager and how romance, clothes,
and friends are not all that we think about. I think stereotyping teens also affects
the way adults view teenagers. Adults don’t take teenagers seriously because
all they see are teenagers who are shallow and immature. I think that teenagers
shouldn’t be portrayed in such a negative light. I watched a show called
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