Pakistan: “Campaign Launched to Protect Christians from U.N. Resolution”
— Christian Post reports:
— “A ministry working with persecuted Christians launched a campaign Tuesday against a U.N. resolution that many human rights groups say can be manipulated to oppress religious minorities living in Muslim-majority countries.”
— “The Defamation of Religions Resolution, backed by the 57 Muslim-majority countries that make up the Organization of Islamic Conference, is expected to be proposed next month or later this year. It seeks to criminalize words or actions that are deemed defamatory towards a particular religion.”
— “Rights groups, however, warn the resolution could be used to legitimize anti-blasphemy laws and intimidate human rights activists and religious dissenters. Critics say instead of protecting adherents of religions, including religious minorities, the resolution protects religions themselves.”
— “Open Doors, the group that launched the new campaign, pointed to the recent anti-Christian rampage in Gojra, Pakistan, where Muslim mobs killed and burned Christian homes based on a blasphemy rumor. At least seven Christians were killed and more than 100 homes were looted and burned in the Gojra attack.”
Month: October 2009
Egypt: Christian Arrested for Distributing Tracts in Egypt
Egypt: Christian Arrested for Distributing Tracts in Egypt
— COMPASS reports
— “An Egyptian Christian arrested in Cairo for handing out gospel leaflets and held in prison illegally for four days has been released, the freed Protestant Copt told Compass.”
— “Abdel Kamel, 61, was arrested on Sept. 23 in downtown Cairo for handing out copies of a Christian leaflet. As they arrested him, police told Kamel it was ‘unlawful’ to hand out religious information on public roads. When Kamel countered that Muslims commonly hand out Islamic literature, police told him it was “more unlawful” for Christians. Kamel also didn’t have his identification card with him.”
— “Nabil Ghobreyal, an attorney who worked to gain Kamel’s release, said there is no law in Egypt forbidding the distribution of religious material.”
— “Police handcuffed Kamel, put him into a police car and seized his leaflets. Authorities then took him to a police station for interrogation. While in custody, Kamel said, he remained in handcuffs for hours, was thrown to the ground, spit upon and threatened with violence.”
India: Youth kills sister over love affair — “honour killing”
India: Youth kills sister over love affair — “honour killing”
— Times of India: “In a shocking incident of honour killing, a 22-year-old boy murdered his 16-year-old sister in the middle of the local market in full public view in Mawana township of Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday morning. ”
— Shahana Qureshi murdered by Shahana’s brother Maan Qureshi
Uganda: Key Rwandan genocide suspect arrested in Uganda
Uganda: Key Rwandan genocide suspect arrested in Uganda
— “A Rwandan former intelligence officer, Idelphonse Nizeyimana, suspected of playing a key role in the 1994 genocide, has been arrested in the Ugandan capital Kampala, sources said on Tuesday”
Communist China: UN Development Programme (UNDP) Lists Communist China as “Improved” Place to Live
— AFP: “China moved up seven places on the list to rank as the 92nd most developed country due to improvements in education as well as income levels and life expectancy”
— human rights not taken into consideration in UN study
— BBC: “China has become one of the most improved because of rising income levels and life expectancy rates”
Zhao Ziyang: A Major Opportunity Lost for China
US Epoch Times Reports: ‘Gao Zhisheng, My Husband — Where Are You?’
US Epoch Times Reports: ‘Gao Zhisheng, My Husband — Where Are You?’
— Epoch Times: “Geng He wrote an open letter to her husband on the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival”
— “Gao is known for representing a range of groups being persecuted by the Chinese regime, particularly Falun Gong. Arrested in February, Gao’s current whereabouts are unknown. Geng He and their two children escaped to the U.S. earlier this year.”
Germany: Demjanjuk trial set for November 30
Pakistan: Extremists Justify Bombing U.N. World Food Program
Media reports on extremists’ rationalization of bombing of U.N. World Food Program in Pakistan as being “in the interests of Muslims”
— AKI: “Taliban claim responsibility for deadly UN blast”
— AKI reports Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq quoted as stating: “We proudly claim responsibility for the suicide attack at the U.N. office in Islamabad. We will send more bombers for such attacks,” he told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location. “The U.N. and other foreign (aid groups) are not working in the interest of Muslims. We are watching their activities. They are infidels.”
— AP reports: “Taliban militants claimed responsibility Tuesday for the deadly suicide bombing at the U.N. food agency’s heavily fortified compound in Islamabad, saying international relief work in Pakistan was not in ‘the interest of Muslims'” — “Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq confirmed his group was behind the bombing and lashed out at foreign aid workers.”
Guinea: “In a Guinea Seized by Violence, Women Are Prey”
— In a Guinea Seized by Violence, Women Are Prey
— NYT reports: “Cellphone snapshots, ugly and hard to refute, are circulating here and feeding rage: they show that women were the particular targets of the Guinean soldiers who suppressed a political demonstration at a stadium here last week, with victims and witnesses describing rapes, beatings and acts of intentional humiliation”
— “The exact number of women who were abused is not known. Because of the shame associated with sexual violence in this West African country, victims are reluctant to speak, and local doctors refuse to do so. Victims who told of the attacks would not provide their names because they were afraid of retribution.”
— NYT describes Guinea as a “Muslim” country
— IslamOnline reports story as “Horrific Mass Rapes in Muslim Guinea”