Quick picks

[the_future_modernes]

CANADA

B.C. inmates attempt to form first prison labour union in Canada

Inmates at a B.C. prison are in the final stages of applying to create a labour union, saying the historic event would be a first in Canada.

Their lawyer Natalie Dunbar says organizers at Mountain Institution in Agassiz are trying to sign up members for ConFederation, Canadian Prisoners' Labour Union, Local 001.

But Ms. Dunbar says prisoners are facing resistance from administrators.

She says the inmates are not trying to create another prisoners' rights group but want the right to assemble as any other workers to vote about forming a union that will deal with their various complaints.MORE

Canadian government falls, election set for May

(Reuters) - The opposition toppled Canada's Conservative government on Friday, accusing it of sleaze and mismanagement, and set the scene for a May election that polls indicate the Conservatives will win.

Opposition legislators threw papers in the air in glee after voting 156-145 in the House of Commons to defeat the minority government, which they also say has mismanaged the economy and is overly secretive.

The defeat paves the way for an election that will likely be fought on two main themes -- ethics and the economy. Likely dates are May 2 or May 9.MORE

USA

Protesting the 'Heavy Haul': Andrea Hektor reports on a struggle against environmental devastation and for the rights of Native American tribes that spans the states of the Pacific Northwest.

MORE THAN two dozen activists and members of local Native American communities gathered March 20 at the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers in Portland, Ore., to protest the use of the Columbia to ship large pieces of equipment toward a new Alberta tar sands refinery currently under construction.

The demonstration was organized by Indigenous People for Sustainable Lifestyles, based in Eugene, Ore., and was timed to coincide with a walk/march at the Heart of the Monster--birthplace of the Nez Perce tribe--in Kamiah, Idaho.MORE

AFGHANISTAN AND USA

Let Malalai Joya speak

THE UNITED States has denied a travel visa to Malalai Joya, an acclaimed women's rights activist and former member of Afghanistan's parliament. Ms. Joya, who was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in 2010, was set to begin a three-week U.S. tour to promote an updated edition of her memoir, A Woman Among Warlords, published by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

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In 2005, Joya--then age 27--was the youngest woman elected to Afghanistan's parliament. Because of her harsh criticism of warlords and fundamentalists in Afghanistan, she has been the target of at least five assassination attempts.

"The reason Joya lives underground is because she faces the constant threat of death for having had the courage to speak up for women's rights--it's obscene that the U.S. government would deny her entry," said Sonali Kolhatkar of the Afghan Women's Mission, a U.S.-based organization that has hosted Joya for speaking tours in the past and is a sponsor of this year's national tour.
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GRITtv: Malalai Joya: Raise Your Voice (1/2)

I don't fear death, I fear political silence against injustice," says Malalai Joya, the youngest person elected to the Afghan parliament and a delegate to the Loya Jirga, the constitutional convention.

GRITtv with Laura Flanders brings participatory democracy onto your computer screen and into your living room, bridging the gap between audience and advocates. www.grittv.org

GRITtv: Malalai Joya: Raise Your Voice (2/2)

I don't fear death, I fear political silence against injustice," says Malalai Joya, the youngest person elected to the Afghan parliament and a delegate to the Loya Jirga, the constitutional convention.

GRITtv with Laura Flanders brings participatory democracy onto your computer screen and into your living room, bridging the gap between audience and advocates. www.grittv.org

Why is the U.S. afraid of Malalai Joya?Khury Petersen-Smith writes about Malalai Joya and her struggle to speak out.

UPDATE: After a pressure campaign mobilized in the U.S. and beyond, Malalai Joya was finally granted a visa to travel to the U.S., after a week's delay. She arrives in the U.S. today.

Joya's first meeting in person will be in Boston, where she will speak alongside Noam Chomsky. Their meeting is on March 25 at 5:30 p.m., at Memorial Church at Harvard University, across from the Harvard Square T-station. Student admission is free, there is a $5 suggested donation, and no one will be turned away.


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Announcing Spring 2011 U.S. National Tour for Malalai Joya








Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)

RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, was established in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1977 as an independent political/social organization of Afghan women fighting for human rights and for social justice in Afghanistan. The founders were a number of Afghan woman intellectuals under the sagacious leadership of Meena who in 1987 was assassinated in Quetta, Pakistan, by Afghan agents of the then KGB in connivance with fundamentalist band of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar . RAWA’s objective was to involve an increasing number of Afghan women in social and political activities aimed at acquiring women’s human rights and contributing to the struggle for the establishment of a government based on democratic and secular values in Afghanistan. Despite the suffocating political atmosphere, RAWA very soon became involved in widespread activities in different socio-political arenas including education, health and income generation as well as political agitation. MORE

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan(RAWA)News


Patriotic and Revolutionary songs of RAWA

2009:Grit TV: A Voice from RAWA: Zoya on Afghanistan (Part1/2)

Grit TV: A Voice from RAWA: Zoya on Afghanistan (Part2/2)

Rethink Afghanistan War (Part 5): Women of Afghanistan

CAMBODIA

Women in Garment Factories Help Cambodia Out of Poverty

PHNOM PENH, Mar 25, 2011 (IPS) - Cambodia’s rise out of poverty continues to depend on the nimble fingers of young women like Khiev Chren.

She has spent the last three years in a garment factory on the outskirts of this capital city, churning out clothing for international name brands such as Levis, Dockers and GAP. "This is my first job and I need the money to help my family in the province," the 23-year-old said, barely pausing as her fingers guided the left leg of a white trouser under the needle of her electric sewing machine.

Around her rose a hum from nearly 2,000 sewing machines, behind which sat women stitching garments from jeans to shirts, in a well-lit cavernous hall. "This is a more secure job than working in the rice fields back home," Chren admitted, alluding to the hardship of life in her rural-rice-growing province of Takeo, south of Phnom Penh.

The increasing dependence on women like Chren for this Southeast Asian country’s journey out of poverty was brought home Monday by the World Bank’s ‘East Asia and Pacific Economic Update’.
MORE

Cambodia bans women's day rally: organisers

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia has banned a public rally to mark International Women's Day, organisers have said, amid growing concern about a crackdown on freedom of expression in the country.

Phnom Penh municipal authorities rejected a request by trade unions and non-governmental organisations to mark the day's 100th anniversary with a large gathering in the capital, the Cambodian Women's Movement Organisation said.

No reason was given for the refusal, organisers said.

"It's a sad commentary on the current state of human rights in Cambodia," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).MORE

NEPAL

Nepal's Ex-Princesses Have Found Paying Work

(WOMENSENEWS)--When Nepal, once the only Hindu kingdom in the world, became a secular republic two years ago, the former crown prince and heir to the throne, Paras Bir Bikram Shah, chose self-imposed exile in Singapore.

But the younger princesses have proven more adaptable, with four forging distinct new roles.

Sheeba Shivangini Shah, 34, married to the former king's nephew, is an author.


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Pramada Shah, married to Sheeba Shivangini Shah's husband's youngest brother Ashish Bir Bikram Shah, is a veteran figure in Nepal's public life. In 1992, at age 32, along with a group of friends and relatives, she founded Saathi, Nepal's first organization to advise and protect victims of domestic violence.

"Domestic violence exists in all sections, among the rich as well as the poor, among the educated as well as the illiterate," says Pramada Shah. "But it was considered a taboo subject and nobody wanted to talk about it, even the victims, for fear of social stigma."

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LEBANON


Lebanon Protesters Take Aim at Family Law System

In the third and latest major demonstration in Lebanon, protesters of the sectarian or "confessional" system took special aim at religious family laws that prevent civil marriages and discriminate against women in various ways.

BEIRUT, Lebanon (WOMENSENEWS)--The demonstrations held here on March 20 marked the third time in four weeks that protesters gathered to demand an end to the "confessional" or sectarian system that divides Lebanon's government and society along religious lines.

But this time the focus of protesters' anger broadened to include the country's system of family laws that are governed by religious authorities and often discriminate against women.

Signs echoing ongoing protests across the Middle East, including "Game Over," mixed in the streets with new ones such as "Civil Marriage Not Civil War."MORE