Extremit organization Hizb ut-Tahrir has activated a “media office” arm to further spread its press releases against democracy and freedom using the Twitter Internet messaging tool
Year: 2009
North Korea Detains American Activist Robert Park Who Calls for Human Rights; NKFC Calls for Humanitarian Consideration
North Korea confirms detention of US citizen
— London Times reports:
— “A brief report by the Korean Central News Agency yesterday noted the arrest of an unnamed US citizen, thought to be Robert Park, a 28-year-old of Korean descent, who walked across the frozen Tumen River that divides China from North Korea.”
— “He carried with him letters addressed to Mr Kim, asking him to step down as leader, release political prisoners and open the isolated country to foreigners.”
— ” ‘I am going in for the sake of the lives of the North Korean people,’ he told Reuters news agency before traveling to China from the South Korean capital, Seoul, last week.”
— ” ‘If Mr Kim kills me, in a sense, I realise this is better. Then the governments of the world will become more . . . embarrassed and more forced to make a statement. Until the concentration camps are liberated, I do not want to come out. If I have to die with them I will. These innocent men, women and children … as Christians, we need to take the cross for them.’ ”
— “Supporters and relatives of Mr Park, whose border crossing was filmed by Christian activists, expressed relief that he was alive, despite a discrepancy in the date in the state media report.”
— North Korea Detains U.S. Activist
— North Korea holding American
— Washington Times: “The report did not identify the American, but activists believe he is 28-year-old Christian missionary Robert Park, who they say slipped across the frozen Tumen River into North Korea from China on Christmas bearing letters calling for a change in North Korea’s leadership and an end to political prison camps.”
North Korea Freedom Coalition Appeals for Humanitarian Consideration for American Robert Park
Washington, DC (December 30, 2009) The North Korea Freedom Coalition has sent urgent appeals today for humanitarian consideration for American Robert Park, a devout Christian, who crossed into North Korea on Christmas Day in his words “to proclaim Christ’s love and forgiveness” and to call upon North Korea to open its borders so food and medicine can be delivered and to close down its political prison camps. NKFC sent appeals to Dr. Jakob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross; Sweden’s Ambassador to North Korea Mats Foyer (the protecting power for United States in the DPRK); and Ambassador Sin Son Ho, North Korea’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Citing Robert Park’s motivation for entering North Korea as an expression of his great love and compassion for the North Korean people, NKFC specifically requested Dr. Kellenberger and Ambassador Foyer’s help to ensure that Park is treated humanely. In their letters to Kellenberger and Foyer, they noted that international attention to the detainment of American activists Euna Lee and Laura Ling was critical and led to their eventual return home, while permanent American resident Reverend Kim Dong Shik starved to death while detained in North Korea.
In their letter to North Korean Ambassador Sin appealing for Park to be given humanitarian consideration, the non-denominational NKFC, which has Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, and Muslim members, wrote, “We know that Robert Park entered North Korea illegally, but we know him to be a man of great love and compassion for humanity and especially for the people of North Korea…We appeal to the authorities in North Korea to consider that this man’s actions were totally motivated by his love for them and that his behavior is modeled on the teachings of Jesus Christ, who Christians believe laid down his life for mankind. Certainly, this was what motivated Robert to cross the border on the day that Jesus’ birth is celebrated around the world.”
Park has been spearheading efforts in South Korea including prayer vigils and mass demonstrations to call attention to the suffering of the North Korean people and has led the worldwide campaign Freedom and Life for all North Koreans. He has not been heard from since he crossed the border on Christmas Day, but North Korean authorities have confirmed that he is in their custody.
“He knew fully the risks of going to North Korea,” said NKFC Chairman Suzanne Scholte, “but was willing to lay down his life for the North Korean people who are the most persecuted people in the world today. We need to honor his commitment by redoubling our efforts to promote freedom and human rights for North Koreans. “
The NKFC released a report this month entitled “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and North Korea” that examines the thirty articles of this document to conclude that North Koreans are denied every single one of these universally accepted human rights standards. The document is available at nkfreedom.org.
For further information, visit nkfreedom.org or call 703-534-4313 703-534-4313 .
Communist China to lift Internet, phone bans in Xinjiang: state media
Communist China to lift Internet, phone bans in Xinjiang: state media
— AFP reports: “China plans to restore online access and lift a ban on text messages and international calls in Xinjiang, state media said Tuesday, months after deadly ethnic unrest prompted a communications shutdown.”
— “The official Xinhua news agency quoted the regional government as saying it had restored access to part of the wire’s website as well as parts of the website of the state-run People’s Daily newspaper.”
Czech Republic: Former Ku Klux Klan Leader David Duke to Return to Czech Republic – Visit Organized by Nazi-Linked Activist
Prague Daily Monitor reports “Former Ku-Klux-Klan head to revisit CR in Jan”:
— “Duke’s forthcoming visit is again organised by Filip Vavra who is often linked with the neo-Nazi organisation National Resistance, Tyden.cz writes.”
— “The exact date of his visit is not known as yet, but it is supposed that he will arrive in the latter half of January, Vavra said.”
— ” ‘He has two reasons for his visit to the Czech Republic. First, he will demand that the (Czech) state give him a satisfaction for the detention and accusation for which [he says] the police had no reason. Second, he has been embarrassed about that about a half of the people who saw him in April are in prison,’ Tyden.cz quotes Vavra as saying.”
— History on White Supremacist David Duke
— “David Duke’s My Awakening not punishable – Czech police”
— SPLC Summer 2009 Report: Share and Share Alike – Neo-Nazi and Academic Have Much in Common
— Heidi Beirich reports: “His website brims with criticisms of plagiarism — although they come, naturally, in the form of repeated attacks on civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., who is characterized as a ‘world-class plagiarist.’ Plagiarism, Duke’s site adds piously, is ‘theft,’ a rip-off that the site suggests amounts to ‘a serious felony.’ ”
— “Which brings us to Duke’s last book.”
— “When Duke published his self-proclaimed ‘world-wide Bestseller’ Jewish Supremacism: My Awakening to the Jewish Question in 2002, he promised that the book’s ‘amazing documentary evidence’ would challenge ‘your most cherished beliefs’ about who is threatening the existence of ‘European-Americans.’ Duke’s thesis was simple: Jews oppose all ethnic solidarity other than their own and ‘they consistently oppose all organizations seeking to preserve the interests and heritage of Europeans.’ In a nutshell, Jews undermine the white race.”
— August 21, 2009: Prague Daily Monitor: “Three plead guilty in Vitkov attack – Three of four men accused in an arson attack earlier this year on a Romani family in Vítkov have pleaded guilty to the accusations. The four are currently being represented by court-appointed attorneys, but an ultra-right group led by Filip Vávra is collecting money to hire a lawyer for them.”
— Summary of neo-Nazi organizations in the Czech Republic: “this group, known as Narodni Odpor Praha (National Resistance Prague), organized a demonstration to pay tribute to the memory of the ‘last victim’ of World War II—the Nazi Rudolf Hess…. Filip Vavra still claimed that the NO could become an alternative for disappointed Republican voters”
— Background on Czech Nazi Group Odpor (National Resistance) — additional background on Resistance groups
— July 23, 2009 – Vavra refused to testify against David Duke
Additional Resources:
— 1991: Duke: The Ex-Nazi Who Would Be Governor
— How Czech Nazis Promote Events
— How U.S.-hosted Stormfront Neo-Nazi Group used to Coordinate Czech Nazi Events for David Duke
Iran: Reuters reports mass “pro-government” rallies, calls for punishment under Sharia law
Reuters: Tens of thousands at pro-government rallies in Iran
— Reuters: “Tens of thousands of government supporters rallied in cities across Iran on Wednesday swearing allegiance to the clerical establishment and accusing opposition leaders of causing unrest in the Islamic state”
— ” ‘You should repent … otherwise the system will confront you as a ‘mohareb’ (enemy of God),” cleric Ahmad Alamolhoda told reformist leaders at a Tehran rally, state TV reported. Under Iran’s Islamic sharia law the sentence for a mohareb is death.”
— “In Tehran, crowds burned American and British flags.”
Iraq: Bombs kill more than 30 in Iraq — attacks on Sunnis and Shiites
Iraq: Bombs kill more than 30 in Iraq — attacks on Sunnis and Shiites
Germany – Gulsum Semin “Honor Killing”: Father Gets Life in Prison
German court gives father life jail for honour killing of daughter — Gulsum Semin
— DPA reports: “A German court imprisoned a Kurdish man, 50, for life on Tuesday for ordering the “honour killing” of his own daughter after being told she had lost her virginity. A son and an Azeri friend lured the 20-year-old woman, Gulsum, to a lonely country road near the Dutch border, throttled her with a rope and clubbed her to death, inflicting horrific injuries to her face.”
— “The state court at Kleve sentenced Gulsum’s brother, 20, to nine and a half years in youth prison, just short of the maximum youth sentence of 10 years. He and the victim were two out of three triplets. He had confessed to the killing after he was arrested.”
— “His helper, 37, was jailed for seven and a half years.”
— “Judges said they were convinced the only motive to murder Gulsum had been that she was no longer a virgin and had secretly undergone an abortion.”
— “They said they were also convinced the father of 10, who denied the murder, had ordered his son to kill the sister.”
— “The trio were accused of jointly murdering her in March.”
— “Gulsum had rebelled against the family’s Muslim-oriented rules and after suffering several beatings at home, requested help from German social workers. They arranged for her to live in an apartment, but she later moved home to her family again.”
Germany: ‘Honour killing’: father beat daughter in face with club — Gulsum Semin
Deutsche Welle: German court hands down life sentence in honor killing
EuroNews – Video and Text: Kurdish father jailed for daughter’s ‘honour killing’
— Lawyer of victim’s brother Hans Reinhardt says that killer “was bound by a value system that allowed no option” other than murdering Gulsum Semin
— Report in German – Berliner Umschau
Pakistan: Bomb Attack on Minority Shiite Muslims
Nigeria: Bauchi Violence and Killings After Islamic Sect Kala Kato Confrontations
Nigeria: “Death toll from Nigeria clashes climbs to 70”
— AFP reports: ” The clashes erupted Monday between suspected members of a radical Islamist sect and security forces.”
— “The Kala-Kato sect, also known as Maitatsine, has been present in several Muslim-dominated states in northern Nigeria for decades.”
— “It led religious uprisings in 1980 and 1992 which claimed thousands of lives in the northern cities of Kano and Yola.”
— BBC: Nigeria police in deadly clash with sect in Bauchi
— “At least 38 people have died in clashes between security forces and members of a religious sect in the northern Nigerian state of Bauchi.”
— “The dead were mainly from a group calling itself Kala Kato. Two soldiers and a policeman were also killed.”
— “The fighting came after local people told authorities they were alarmed by open-air preaching by sect members.”
— “Such preaching was banned in the state after an uprising by another sect, Boko Haram, earlier this year.”
— “Hundreds of people were killed in the subsequent fighting across northern Nigeria.”
— “The BBC’s Caroline Duffield reports from Lagos that Kala Kato is a non-conformist Muslim sect made up of poor tradesmen, labourers and other working people.”
— “Some residents in Zango, just south of the city of Bauchi, have said that in recent days the mood of their preaching had become aggressive.”
— “The violence there began on Sunday morning. After some initial shooting the security forces retreated, before returning in greater numbers.”
— “Members of the group had armed themselves with machetes and cutlasses, and appeared ready to fight armed police and soldiers, she adds.”
— “A spokesman for the Bauchi state governor said the local military had been deployed, though other accounts spoke of a feared police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.”
— “The Associated Press news agency cited Bauchi state official Mohammed Maigari as saying sect members had gone on the rampage to demand the release of their leader.”
— “The sect leader had been arrested in connection with the killings of several Boko Haram members, AP reported.”
— Nigeria’s The Vanguard Reports: “2 soldiers, 6 others die in fresh Bauchi violence”
— “At least eight people were killed in Bauchi today as another Islamic religious sect, Kalo-Kato struck in Zango area throwing the state capital into pandemonium. The sect was demanding the release of its leader said to have been arrested by security agents.”
— “Among those reported killed were two soldiers and two security operatives who were among those deployed to quell the uprising as well as four children said to have been burnt when their house was torched by the rampaging Kalo-Kato sect members.”
— “The rampaging sect members dominated by youngsters of between 10 and 15 years torched some houses and attacked anyone who dared to stand in their way. The sect is said to be claiming link to the Maitasine sect of the 1980s.”
— “A resident of the area said they sensed trouble when the preacher of the sect during today’s morning prayers started denouncing other Islamic sects as infidels and condemning the action against the Boko Haram sect members when according to him, ‘they were preaching the truth.’ ”
— “An eyewitness, Kamal said the sect members descended on a listener who challenged the preachers before they went wild attacking anyone in sight and burning houses.”
— “Speaking to Vanguard on phone, Special Assistant to Governor Isa Yuguda on Media Affairs, Sanusi Mohammed said the situation has been brought under control.”
— ” ‘The problem was caused by some religious extremists fighting among themselves. It was not an inter-religious thing and it happened in Zango area and did not spread beyond there because government reacted promptly to bring it under control.’ ”
— ” ‘The situation is now calm and we have been calling on people not to panic or start relocating to barracks as is usually the case when things like this happen’, he said.”
— “Spokesman of the Bauchi State Police Command, Mohammed Barau also told journalists that the situation was under control and that a combined team of regular and anti-riot policemen have been deployed to the area.”
London Times: Nigeria: extremists unleash new ‘terror’
— “A desperate text arrives suddenly from the Rev Yanusa Nmadu, director of CSW Nigeria.
— “‘Bauchi boils again as a Muslim sect known as the Kalikato-Maitastene unleash terror on all those that do not belong to their sect,’ he says. ‘Reports reaching CSW Nigeria says there are deaths already including some members of the security agencies. We urge all to pray.'”
Nigeria: Christian Group Seeks Plot to Bomb Churches Probed
— Nigeria’s The Vanguard Reports: “Plateau PFN wants alleged plot to bomb churches probed”
— “Jos — The Plateau State Chapter of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, has called on the state government and security agencies to investigate alleged plans by some people to bomb churches in the state.”
— “Chapter Chairman, Rev. Sam Alaha, made the call at a press conference, yesterday, saying since previous crises in the state were preceded by similar rumours, necessary action should be taken to forestall any threat to the fragile peace in the state.”
— “He said the alleged plans to bomb some churches had been accompanied by the rumoured importation of mercenaries from neighbouring countries to be used to execute the plan.”
— “The body said it could not wave off the rumours because similar ones in the past had resulted in innocent citizens being caught napping when the miscreants struck.”
— “According to the PFN, ‘in February 2002, there was a rumour that the Jos Ultra-Modern Market would be burnt. Nothing was done and one day we all woke up to find the market in ruinous flame. In November 2008, rumour again filled the air that some miscreants had perfected plans to use the occasion of the local government elections in the state to wreak havoc on the good people of the state. Again, when nothing was done, they struck. That is why we cannot treat the present rumour as mere speculation.’ ”
— “Alaha called for vigilance from the state government, security agencies and the people to avoid being taken by surprise again, adding that special attention should be paid to known trouble spots.”
— December 11, 2008 – Compass: Nigeria – Six Pastors Killed, 40 Churches Razed in Jos Violence
— “As smoke clears, mayhem ignited by Muslim attacks leaves 25,000 people displaced.”
— “The murderous rioting sparked by Muslim attacks on Christians and their property on Nov. 28-29 left six pastors dead, at least 500 other people killed and 40 churches destroyed, according to church leaders.”