Sudanese woman in trouser case banned from travel
— “Sudan has barred Lubna Hussein, a woman who faces 40 lashes for wearing trousers in violation of decency laws, from travelling abroad, she said on Tuesday.”
Day: August 11, 2009
Pakistan: Christians rally on ‘black day’ against Gojra killings
Pakistan Daily Times reports:
— “Christians took out a protest rally on Tuesday, as they observed a ‘black day’ against the Gojra killings, and demonstrated against the police for not arresting the accused.”
— “Different minority groups and leaders, including the Pakistan Christian National Party (PCNP), the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), Father Morris Jalal, Father Joseph Francis and a large number of minority representatives took part in the march. PCNP and CLAAS members marched from the Lahore Press Club to the Punjab Assembly (PA). The protesters chanted slogans condemning the Gojra killings, and demanded that the accused be arrested.”
— “Francis said the state had failed to protect the minorities and he would raise the issue in the human rights conferences of the European Union and United Nations. He said August 11 was a significant day, as the Quaid-e-Azam had delivered a speech on the day saying the minorities would be protected. He said the government had failed the minorities. He said the minorities demanded that the local district coordination officer (DCO) and the Gojra district police officer (DPO) be arrested for failing to protect the Christians. CLAAS Programme Officer Katherine Sapna said clauses like 295(b) and (c) were not only discriminatory against the Christians, but were also used against Muslims, and the government should look into the matter immediately.”
— “Another protest of the minorities, led by Father Morris Jalal started from Bihar Colony and reached the Press Club. The protesters held placards and banners, and chanted slogans against the government for failing to protect the minorities. The protesters said they would continue to protest if the government did not arrest the accused. Later, a special prayer was held in memory of the victims of Gojra.”
Pakistan Christian Post reports: Pakistani Christians Protest Violence with ‘Black Day’
“Pakistani Christians shall observe ‘Black Day’ on August 11, 2009, instead Independence Day of Pakistan on August 14,2009′ Bishop Ijaz Inayat announced here today in Karachi.”
Somalia: Islamist Extremist Behead Four Christian Orphanage Workers in Somalia
ICC Report: Extremists Behead Four Christian Orphanage Workers in Somalia
ICC reports:
— “International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Somali extremists beheaded four Christians after kidnapping them on July 27 in the coastal town of Merca, 56 miles from Mogadishu.”
— “Fatima Sultan, Ali Ma’ow, Sheik Mohammed Abdi, and Maaddey Diil were killed by members of Al-Shabab, an extremist organization. The Islamists kidnapped and eventually beheaded the Christians after they refused to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ.”
— “On August 4, a junior Al-Shabab militant notified all the families of the victims that the four Christians had been beheaded for apostasy. He described the Christians as promoters of ‘fitna,’ a Muslim term for religious discord. The militant, who called himself ‘Seiful Islam’ (‘the Sword of Islam’), told the families that the bodies will not be given to them ‘as Somalia does not have cemeteries for infidels.'”
— “One eye witness account said, ‘All the four apostates were given an opportunity to return to Islam to be released but they all declined the generous offer.'”
— “The four Christians had been working for a local NGO that helps orphans in southern Somalia.”
— “A Somali church leader who monitors the persecution against the Somali church described the latest beheadings as a desperate attempt to ‘purify’ Somalia by eliminating all Christians from what the Al Qaeda linked terror group considers an Islamic Republic. The church leader added that such murders will only serve as a rich seedbed from where many more house-churches will form.”
— “Al-Shabab is a radical Islamic organization fighting to establish an Islamic state in Somalia and enforce Wahhabi/Salafi Islam, an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam practiced by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. The Islamist group controls large parts of Somalia and seeks to overthrow the internationally recognized transitional federal government of Somalia.”
— “The Islamists have been carrying out ruthless attacks against the Christian minority in Somalia. Last year alone, members of the group killed more than a half dozen Somali Christians. In July 2009, Al-Shabab beheaded seven people in the southwestern town of Baidoa after accusing them of converting to Christianity and spying for the transitional federal government of Somalia.”
— “Jonathan Racho, ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa and the Middle East, said, ‘Al-Shabab has once again demonstrated its utter disregard for the dignity of human life. The majority of Muslims in Somalia, who are also the victims of Al-Shabab’s cruelty, do not support their ideology or practices. It is high time for the international community to take robust measures to end the heinous crimes that Al-Shabab and other extremist groups are committing against the people of Somalia.'”
Additional Reports:
— July 22, 2009: Somalia – Christian Convert from Islam Shot Dead
— July 11, 2009: Somalia: Extremists behead 7 Somalis for ‘abandoning Islam’
— July 2, 2009: Somalia – Islamists Extremists Behead Two Sons of Christian Leader
Petition Calling for End of “Blasphemy Laws” in Pakistan
Responsible for Equality And Liberty today has posted an online petition calling for an end to the “blasphemy laws” and defying the institutionalized hate in Pakistan that has allowed such religious discrimination and oppression.
Please sign this online petition today and let others know that you too seek Pakistan to end such unjust laws and institutionalized hate in Pakistan today.
End Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan Petition
We call for an end to the unjust and discriminatory “blasphemy laws” in Pakistan that are used to rationalize religious discrimination, oppression, violence, and murder of others. Such “blasphemy laws” are used to justify violence against both non-Muslims and Muslims throughout Pakistan today.
We believe that such institutionalized oppression of our fellow human beings is against our universal human rights and must be rejected by all people who support any religion of peace.
We call on the government of Pakistan to abandon these “blasphemy laws” today, review the deep divisions within its nation that has allowed such hate against its own citizens, and defend the universal human rights of all of its citizens.
We also call on the government of the United States of America, which has given millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to Pakistan, to demand that the Pakistan government end these “blasphemy laws” and support the universal human rights of its citizens. Finally, we call on our fellow human beings on our shared Earth to call upon all organizations and nations of the world that seek to use such unjust forms of religious discrimination to end such practices and recognize our universal human rights.
Related Reports:
Pakistan Christians to Observe “Black Day” on August 11; DC Press Conference on August 10, NYC U.N. Protest on August 12
Pakistan: 17,000 in Pakistan Christian Post Poll to Observe “Black Day” Challenging Religious Discrimination
Pakistan: ‘Black Day’ shall be show of Christian power to repeal blasphemy law
Pakistan, a Catholic activist: petition for the abolition of blasphemy law
Pakistan: Christians protest against deadly violence
“Pakistan Muslim Groups Threaten More Violence”
Pakistan – Report of Mob Burning Christian Homes for Alleged Extremist “Blasphemy”
Pakistan: Blasphemy laws, a pretext to attack Pakistan’s religious minorities
Pakistan: Mob attacks home of 60-year-old woman in extremist “blasphemy” charge
Pakistan: More “Blasphemy” Killings – Because Calendar Taken Down
DC: Full Text of Dr. Nazir Bhatti Press Conference Statement on Pakistan Blasphemy Law and Attacks on Christians
Iran: French student Clotilde Reiss’ ‘confession’ at Iran court sparks outrage
Iran: French student Clotilde Reiss’ ‘confession’ at Iran court sparks outrage
— “Images of a French woman in an Iranian court confessing to spying for France sparked outrage in her homeland yesterday, with President Sarkozy coming under fire for allegedly neglecting her case”
— “Iran has decided to make an example of Ms Reiss, a research student from Lille, and a French-Iranian employee of the French Embassy.”
July 7, 2009 – Iran: France demands release of student Clotilde Reiss by Tehran
Florida: Ohio Girl Says Family Threatens to Kill Her for Converting from Islam to Christianity
— Muslim Teen Who Converted to Christianity Says Family Threatened to Kill Her
— Girl Says Family Wants To Kill Her For Being Christian
— “An Ohio girl ran away to Orlando because she said her family threatened to kill her for converting to Christianity. Rifqa Bary, 17, said she was threatened by her family because she converted from Islam to Christianity.”
— “‘What did your father say to you?’ WFTV reporter Mary Nguyen asked.”
— “‘He said he would kill me!’ replied Bary.
— Channel 10TV reports: “Rifqa Bary, 17, says her father, a Muslim, has threatened to kill her because she converted to Christianity, 10TV’s Cara Connelly reported.”
— Florida: “Muslim Faith, Christianity Clash In Orlando Courtroom”
— “An Ohio runaway teenager, Christianity and the Muslim religion met head-on Monday during a custody dispute in an Orlando courtroom.”
— “The girl, 17-year-old Rifqa Bary, recently converted from her family’s faith to Christianity and she is worried about her family’s reaction to her change in faith”
— “‘She says her life is in danger and she could be killed in an honor killing,’ Rosa Gonzalez, the teen’s lawyer, said after the hearing. ‘Unfortunately it happens every day in the U.S.'”
— “The teen, a non-citizen, told Lorenz she was fearful that her father would send her to Sri Lanka.”
Chechnya Human Rights Violations: “Russia is still getting away with murder” and threats to human rights workers in Grozny
Russia Is Still Getting Away With Murder
— “The paradox is that Mr. Putin has succeeded in creating exactly what his predecessor Boris Yeltsin first went to war in Chechnya in 1994 to prevent: a lawless quasi-autonomous region run by a gangland-style warlord who rules through a manipulation of clan rivalries, vendettas and elements of Islamic Shariah law”
— ACPC Exclusive: Adam Delimkhanov threatens human rights workers on Grozny TV
Chechnya: Head of children’s charity shot dead in Chechnya – Zarema Sadulayeva and husband Alik Dzhabrailov
(Russia) Chechnya: Head of children’s charity shot dead in Chechnya
— Reuters reports:
— “The kidnapped head of a children’s charity and her husband were found murdered in the boot of a car in Russia’s Chechnya on Tuesday in the latest in a string of killings in the troubled Muslim republic.”
— “The bodies of Zarema Sadulayeva and husband Alik Dzhabrailov were found with multiple bullet wounds hours after they were seized from the office of the Save the Generations charity in the regional capital Grozny, prosecutors said in a statement.”
— “The attack comes a month after leading Chechen rights activist Natalia Estemirova was kidnapped and murdered by unknown assailants, triggering international outrage.”
— Also Gulf Times report