Jordan should reform penal code provisions that effectively reduce or eliminate punishment for violence against women instead of establishing special tribunals to hear “honor killings” cases, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the Jordanian Ministry of Justice on August 10, 2009.

Hamas authorities in Gaza should suspend all orders that violate personal freedoms, including imposition of an Islamic dress code for female students.

Afghanistan’s influential international supporters should insist that President Hamid Karzai act to amend the notorious law that formalizes discrimination against Shia women.

The Syrian government should treat all murders alike and not make exceptions for so-called “honor killings,” Human Rights Watch said today. On July 1, 2009, President Bashar al-Assad abolished Article 548 of the Penal Code, which had waived punishment for a man found to have killed a female family member in a case “provoked” by “illegitimate sex acts,” as well as for a husband who killed his wife because of an extramarital affair.

We are writing to express our support for your decision, as reported in the media, to set aside the draft personal status law, which would have continued the unequal treatment of Syrian women.

Saudi officials continue to require women to obtain permission from male guardians to conduct their most basic affairs, like traveling or receiving medical care, despite government assertions that no such requirements exist.

President Sarkozy of France has reignited the debate about how Muslim women in Europe should dress by calling for a ban on clothing that, as he puts it, imprisons women and undermines their dignity.

Political parties and candidates in the June parliamentary elections should outline their plans to improve Lebanon's human rights record and promise to enforce the country's obligations under human rights law.