Year: 2009
Iran Ordered to Pay $310 Million to U.S. Embassy Bombing Victim
UN: Military campaign in Congo to continue despite bad results
Philadelphia: Bristol candidate involved in racial incident
Philadelphia: Bristol candidate involved in racial incident
— Philadelphia Inquirer reports: “Last month, David Marucci was convicted of disorderly conduct, accused of cursing and using racial slurs over the prospect of African Americans buying the house next door to his. Next month, Marucci stands a good chance of being elected to the Bristol Borough Council as a Democrat.”
Pakistan’s Punjab: Christian Girl Attacked For Saying She’s Pakistani
Pakistan’s Punjab: Christian Girl Attacked For Saying She’s Pakistani
— BOSNEWS reports: “A Christian schoolgirl in Pakistan’s Punjab province was recovering Sunday, October 11, after she was allegedly “ruthlessly beaten” with a bamboo stick by a Muslim headteacher for saying she is ‘a Pakistani’ citizen.”
— 11 year old Nadia Iftikhar: “Our teacher was teaching us about the culture of Pakistan and Pakistani people and quoted a sentence from the text book saying ‘We are Pakistani and all of us are Muslims’. At this point I interrupted and said: “Madam, I am also a Pakistani, but not a Muslim instead I am a Christian.”
— “The teacher, identified as Humaira Hassa, ‘got furious and grabbed a bamboo stick and started thrashing in a barbarian way and kept saying all Pakistanis are Muslim, you are not a Pakistani but a Christian,’ the girl said. ‘Your home land is some where in Europe or America,’ the teacher allegedly said.”
— “Nadia added showed scars of the wounds at her back. Classmates said the girl briefly became unconscious, but was eventually brought home. The teacher could not be reached for comment.”
— “Local Christians in Punjab province have also complained of police complicity in attacks against Christian believers.”
Philippines: Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Members Identified Among Kidnappers of Elderly Irish Priest Fr. Michael Sinnott
— Philippine Daily Inquirer – “Kidnappers call superiors of Irish priest”
— Philippine Daily Inquirer reports: Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino: “But we cannot divulge their names. The only thing I can [say] now is that two of them are MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) rebels based in Lanao del Sur.”
Asia: Shariah Asia Spread Appeases Islamists, Risks Rights
Asia: Shariah Asia Spread Appeases Islamists, Risks Rights
— Bloomberg reports: “A 32-year-old mother may soon be caned in Malaysia as punishment for drinking a beer. Lawmakers in Indonesia’s Aceh province last month approved the stoning to death of adulterers and flogging of gays.”
— “These are only the most recent signs of growing support among local governments for Islamic Shariah law in two countries the U.S. cites as models of moderate Muslim democracies. Clerics in both nations have also sought to ban yoga, Facebook and concerts by such artists as the Black Eyed Peas and Beyonce.”
— “The spread of fundamentalist Islam across a swath of Southeast Asia is testing the ability of policymakers to appeal to devout Muslims while simultaneously protecting the rights of Buddhist, Christian and Hindu minorities.”
Iran: US Secretary of State Clinton urged to discuss religious rights with Iran
Iran: US Secretary of State Clinton urged to discuss religious rights with Iran
— AFP reports: “‘It is vitally important that Iran be called to account for its deplorable human rights record, including egregious violations of religious freedom,’ the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) wrote in a letter to Clinton.”