Orchid Project recently received word from a friend and activist based in Iran. Whilst we have not been able to verify the source material, we have been told that:
“ISIS have issued a Fatwa stating that Female Genital Cutting is obligatory for every girl and women living in their Caliphate, because they consider it to be an Islamic obligation. Shia online reported and published a picture of Fatwa of Daesh (ISIS) which orders the cutting of girls everywhere that they have occupied. This has been condemned elsewhere.
The representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Party reported that Daesh has implemented forcibly circumcising girls in Mosul which increases fear and worry among women and their families.
The international community tries every day to increase awareness of the dangers of this practice; only a few hours have passed since the Girl Summit 2014 which called for a future free from FGC and child, early and forced marriage. The world needs to take note that this is happening.”
Whilst FGC is known to already happen in Iraq, Iran and other Middle Eastern and Asian countries, such a large scale call to cut girls is extremely worrying. We are sure that this story will develop and will keep you updated.
References:
http://fararu.com/fa/mobile/
http://shia-online.ir/article.
http://basnews.com/en/News/Details/ISIS-enforces-female-circumcision-/27970
Update: This has just been reported internationally
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28466434
http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-07-24/isis-orders-women-of-mosul-to-undergo-genital-mutilation/
Update: Fatwa disputed
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikegiglio/un-official-says-isis-has-ordered-female-genital-mutilation
Update: Whether the Fatwa is real or not, it is believed to be true; police are ready to carry out the Fatwa and cut girls, according to The Times article quoted below:
Islamist militants have ordered all women and girls in the Iraqi city of Mosul to undergo female genital mutilation as they impose their brutal interpretation of Sharia, the United Nations said yesterday.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the al-Qaeda splinter group Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (Isis), was said to have issued a fatwa as “a gift to the people” ordering all females aged 11 to 46 to submit to forced circumcision.
The unprecedented edict has sparked fears that Isis could impose the practice throughout the territory it has seized in Iraq and Syria, potentially affecting millions of women. The UN said the initiative was deeply troubling.
A UN resolution banning the practice of cutting women’s genitals as a preparation for adulthood was adopted by all member states in 2012. This week David Cameron hosted a global conference in London calling for the eradication of FGM.
“This is something very new for Iraq, particularly in this area, and is of grave concern and does need to be addressed,” Jacqueline Badcock, a UN official in Iraq, said yesterday. “This is not the will of Iraqi people, or the women of Iraq.”
Isis seized large swathes of northern and western Iraq during a campaign in May and June. The group has announced an Islamic state, or caliphate, across territory it controls in Iraq and Syria, with al-Baghdadi declared the leader of all Muslims.
There were claims yesterday that a document outlining the fatwa and circulated online was a fake. Imposing FGM is unprecedented among al-Qaeda or its affiliates.
Police in Mosul appeared ready to carry out the order, however. “Al-Baghdadi’s decision to have all women circumcised is to prevent immorality and promote Islamic attitudes among Muslims. The decision was made by al-Baghdadi as a gift for people in Mosul,” Ahmed Obaydi, a police spokesman, said. It is not clear if Isis plans to round up the female population of Iraq’s second city. Up to four million women could be affected.
“The group is now showing its true colours,” Theodore Karasik, of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai, said. “It goes far beyond the most conservative doctrine that al-Qaeda or any related group has done before. This goes beyond the Taliban, beyond Boko Haram.”
Supporters of Isis dismissed the story as propaganda.
