Updated 5 April, 22:00 hours
April 4 was our day to defend our Amina. The 19 year old Tunisian FEMEN activist whose only “crime” was to post a topless photo of herself saying: “my body belongs to me, and is not the source of anyone’s honour” and “fuck your morals”.
Whilst she has done nothing wrong, she has been effectively detained incommunicado by her family with the help of the police, and the latest reports say she has been drugged and beaten.
Amina says though that she has no regrets.
Our beloved Amina, this day is for you…
Some of the actions taken and statements made in support of Amina have been posted below.
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- On 4 April, there were actions in Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Brussels, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Kiev, London, Malmo, Milan, Montreal, Paris, Rio De Janeiro, San Francisco, Stockholm, Vancouver, Warsaw and more to mark 4 April, the International Day to Defend Amina. You can see reports and photos from various events here as well as below:
- A committee made up of Mina Ahadi, Nesan Nodinian, Gaby Schmidt, Eduard Von and Ahmad Rahmani met with the head of the Tunisian Consulate in Bonn to raise the demands of the International Day to Defend Amina.
- Here are some photos from the Gothenburg protest:
- Here is a television report and photos from Stockholm protest. Also another piece on Stockholm protest and here too. There are more photos on this site:
- Here is a photo of the protest in Vancouver:
- Here are photos from Frankfurt protest:
- Here is a photo from the London protest:
- Here is a piece on the Malmo protest and some photos:
- Here is footage on the protest in Milan. Also here and here:
- Photos from the protest in Paris:
- A photo from the protest in Brussels:
- Here’s a photo from protest in Kiev:
- Here’s a photo from Berlin:
- Here’s a photo from another protest in Berlin:
- 109,000 people have signed the petition in support of Amina!
- Countless individuals posted photos in support of Amina: (You can see many more on FEMEN’s Facebook page)
- Greta Christina blogged about Amina here and posted the below photo:
- A large numbers of personalities have written in to express their solidarity with Amina including: Farideh Arman, Chairman of Women’s Right Association; Djemila Benhabib, Journalist and Writer; B.A.Parikh of Satya Shodhak Sabha, a Rationalist Organisation in India; Amanda K. Metskas, Executive Director, Camp Quest; Philip Bone, executive director of the International Experimentations’ Documentation Center (Paris); blogger Rebecca Watson of Skepchick; Lloyd Newson, Director of DV8 Physical Theatre; Writer Lila Ghobady; Maryam Jamel of the Organisation of Women’s Liberation of Iraq; Samir Noory of the Northern Iraq representative of the Iraqi coalition against death penalty; Imad Iddine Habib, founder of the Moroccan Council of Ex-Muslims; Pierre Galand, President of the Centre d’Action Laïque (Belgium) and the European Humanist Federation; Michael Schmidt-Salomon, Philosopher, Spokesperson of the Giordano Bruno Foundation; comedian Shabana Rehman; Nazanin Boroumand of Council of Ex-Muslims of Germany; author David Maidment; Arash T. Riahi Iranian-Austrian director, golden girls film production and researcher Nicole Gabriel.
- Taslima Nasrin has blogged in support of Amina here.
- Scientist PZ Myers has written a blog post on Amina here as has blogger Dana Hunter here.
- Sonya Sonja Eggerick, President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union has issued a statement in support of Amina.
- Jaya Gopal, International Coordinator, wrote the “International Committee to Protect Freethinkers stands in support of the Tunisian Amina for her courage and act of protest against the oppressive misogynistic ethos and archaic laws across the globe. We condemn the Islamic cleric Adel Almi for his Fatwa calling for flogging and stoning Amina to death. The cleric deserves immediate prosecution.
- Elisabeth van der Steenhoven, Director of WO=MEN Dutch Gender Platform (the largest network in Netherlands on women’rights internationally) sent a message saying they support Amina.
- Algerian sociologist Merieme Helie Lucas is at a conference in New Delhi today speaking on women using nudity against the Muslim Right as a new form of resistance by women and youth. She will stress the need for solidarity with Amina.
- Swapna, Convener, writes “Let the world understand that Woman is a Human who has her own body and mind and that she should be respected and loved. The Tunisian Amina is right in posting a topless photo of herself bearing the slogan: ” MY BODY BELONGS TO ME AND IS NOT THE SOURCE OF ANYONE’S HONOR”. Her message is a human protest against a misogynistic inhuman social system. The Islamist cleric Adel Almi’s call for flogging and stoning Amina to death reflects such a system and ethos. Our Scientific Students Federation (SSF) unequivocally stands in defense of Amina.
- Ligue du Droit International des Femmes, Association créée par Simone de Beauvoir, Regards de Femmes and Femmes Solidaires, Maison des Ensembles submitted this protest COMMUNIQUE to the Tunisian embassy today in support of Amina; Anne Marie Lizin, honorary president of Belgian senate submitted the same letter to the Tunisian embassy in Belgium.
- Zari Asli and Lily M prepared this postcard for distribution at rallies and future events. POstcard_FRONT POstcard_back_other_places.
- Yesterday, Tunisian Merieme and FEMEN burnt an Islamic flag in front of a mosque in Paris to symbolise women’s fight against Islamism:
- Actions that took place prior to the 4th include Palestinian blogger Waleed Al-Husseini’s Facebook page Let’s Breast Them:
- Ex-Muslim @godlessyndicate made a banner for the day:
- Kiki Brill from Norway made a Facebook badge for Amina.
- And artist Molly Crabapple sketched Amina:
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