Day: August 10, 2009

August 10, 2009 – Washington DC: National Press Club “Black Day” Press Conference Videos Online

August 10, 2009 – Washington DC: National Press Club “Black Day” Press Conference Videos Online – Calling for End to Pakistan Blasphemy Laws
— Part 1: Introduction by Ahmar Mustikhan and Jeffrey Imm of Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
— Part 2: Dr. Nazir Bhatti – Pakistan Christian Congress (PCC)
— Part 3: Jeremy Sewall, International Christian Concern (ICC)
— Part 4: Ahmar Mustikhan, AFB
— Part 5: Ahmar Mustikhan, AFB Continued – on Baluchistan

Pakistan: Christians remember victims of Gojra violence

UCAN Report: Christians remember victims of Gojra violence
— UCAN reports: “More than 500 people packed the Sacred Heart Church in Gojra recently to remember those who died in anti-Christian rioting”
— Father Hadayat: “I believe their blood will not go wasted and will bring about a revolt against the black (blasphemy) laws.”
— “According to Church sources, the death toll from the rioting has now risen to 10, including three children and three women.”

Pakistan Daily Times: “Blasphemy laws once again in the limelight”

Pakistan Daily Times: “Blasphemy laws once again in the limelight”
— Pakistan Daily Times: “Religious affairs minister says major amendments in blasphemy laws will benefit Taliban”
— Pakistan Daily Times reports:
— “When an angry mob of Muslims torched 40 houses and a church in the town of Gojra, two children, their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were burnt to death.”
— “Three days later, two people were killed in Muridke in what was a private employee dispute against a Muslim factory boss, but coloured by unfounded allegations that the businessman desecrated the holy Quran.”
— “Arbitrary law: ‘It’s an arbitrary law, which has been badly misused by extremists and influentials and should be abolished,’ Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Co-chairman Iqbal Haider said.”
— “‘There is no option but to abolish this law. More than that, the government should revive the secular nature of the state as our founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisaged, otherwise it will aggravate religious unrest,’ he said.”
— “The government moved quickly to try to limit the fallout of the anti-Christian killings, offering compensation but cabinet ministers have stopped short of pledging to scrap the blasphemy laws.”
— “‘A committee will [examine] the laws which are detrimental to religious harmony to sort out how they could be made better,” Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Christians during a solidarity visit to Gojra. Just one witness is enough to incriminate a ‘heretic.’ Anyone accused of blasphemy is immediately arrested and charged, before an investigation begins.”
— “In many cases, people take the law in their own hands and go for killing the alleged blasphemer and rights groups say this trend is increasing.”
— “Benefit: But Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said the government could not risk a ‘full-fledged review’ inciting a religious backlash.”
— “‘Any move for a major amendment in the law will generate another controversy that will benefit extremists and harm the cause of our Christian brothers.'”

Nigeria: Thirteen-year-old forced to watch Pastor hacked to death in Boko Haram deadly violence

Nigeria: Thirteen-year-old forced to watch Pastor hacked to death in Boko Haram deadly violence
— Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports: “A thirteen-year-old Nigerian Christian has told Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) sources how she was forced to watch her pastor’s murder, and has also spoken of her four-day ordeal as a prisoner in the besieged compound of Islamist group, Boko Haram.”
— “On 26 July, Mary was in church with her pastor, his brother and an older Christian woman when a group of fifty militants broke in. She and her pastor hid as the group killed the pastor’s brother and dragged the older woman out of the room. On discovering their hiding place, the militants cut off her pastor’s hand to stop him holding on to her, then hacked him to death with machetes before setting him on fire.”

Iran Continues Imprisonment of Christian Women for Religious Beliefs

ICC Report: “Iran Continues the Illegal Detention of Christian Converts”

— ICC reports:
— International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Iranian authorities told Maryam Rustampoor and Marzieh Amirizadeh, converts from Islam to Christianity, to recant their Christian faith during a hearing before a revolutionary court in Tehran on August 9.”
— “Maryam, 27, and Marzieh, 30, were first arrested on March 5, 2009, for leaving Islam.  Iranian authorities kept them in solitary confinement at the infamous Evin prison, deprived them of medical attention, and blindfolded and interrogated them for long periods of time.”
— “At the time of hearing before the court, the deputy public prosecutor, Haddad, asked Maryam and Marzieh about their faith and told them to recant their belief in Christ.  When he asked them if they were Christians, they replied, ‘We love Jesus.’ He then repeated his question, and they said, ‘Yes, we are Christians.'”
— “When he said, ‘You were Muslims and now you have become Christians,’ their reply was ‘We were born in Muslim families, but we were not Muslims.'”
— “During the questioning, when they made reference to their belief that God had convicted them through the Holy Spirit, the deputy public prosecutor said, ‘It is impossible for God to speak with humans.’ In return, Marzieh asked, ‘Are you questioning whether God is Almighty?’ The prosecutor replied, ‘You are not worthy for God to speak to you.’  Then Marzieh said, ‘It is God, and not you, who determines if I am worthy.'”
— “At the end of the hearing, the deputy prosecutor told them to take time to think about the option of returning back to Islam, but Maryam and Marzieh replied, ‘We have already done our thinking.'”
— “After the questioning, they were taken back to the prison.”

Congo: Voices of Grassroots Congolese Women on the Crisis in the DRC

Congo: Voices of Grassroots Congolese Women on the Crisis in the DRC
— Congo – Women speak out against misogynist violence and oppression of women…

— Clinton demands end to sexual violence in Congo
—- Clinton: “”We believe there should be no impunity for the sexual and gender-based violence committed by so many — that there must be arrests and prosecutions and punishment”
— Related reports: Congo: Hillary Clinton Pledges to ‘Banish Sexual Violence’
— “Women and girls in particular have been victimized on an unimaginable scale, as sexual and gender-based violence has become a tactic of war and has reached epidemic proportions. Some 1,100 rapes are reported each month, with an average of 36 women and girls raped every day.”
— Sec. Clinton Vows to ‘Banish Sexual Violence’
— Clinton Leaves Her Mark on Congo’s Rape Zone
— Clinton Puts Spotlight On Women’s Issues

— Rape in Congo: What got me was the laughter

—  A Broken U.N. Promise in Congo

According to V-Day reports on the Congo war, “[a]n estimated 5 million people have died here since 1996, with over 250,000 victims of rape.”  U.S. Department of State Secretary Hillary Clinton recently reported from a trip to the Congo: “Women and girls in particular have been victimized on an unimaginable scale, as sexual and gender-based violence has become a tactic of war and has reached epidemic proportions. Some 1,100 rapes are reported each month, with an average of 36 women and girls raped every day.”  This misogyny against women in Africa includes the use of rape as acts of war by military and terrorist organizations.  Regarding the ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations reports that “the Congolese army, security sector personnel, and several armed groups still use sexual violence as a weapon of war in the DRC. Further, international actors, including UN personnel, have been implicated in perpetrating sexual violence in the DRC.”  While the United States is providing funding for medical care and support for rape victims in the Congo, it must also set expectations for President Kabila to prosecute Congo military involved in such sexual violence, and U.N. Secretary Ban to ensure action against any UN personnel involved in such sexual violence.  The violence in the Congo is linked to violence in Sudan (where a human genocide continues to rage) and Uganda on its borders.  In addition, these rapes are also performed by the Uganda rebel terrorist organization, the “Lords Resistance Army” (LRA).  The LRA terrorist organization claims to seek to create theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments, while murdering and raping other Christians and destroying their churches.  In addition to setting expectations for the Congo and U.N. leaders, we must have a continued commitment against the LRA Ugandan terrorist organization, and Christian organizations must publicly and aggressively reject the actions of the LRA.  The continuing conflicts in the Congo, Uganda, and Sudan must be a priority for Africans, Christians, Muslims and human beings around the world.