In Ferguson, Missouri, on November 24, 2014, the grand jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. After the announcement of the grand jury’s decision, there were peaceful protests as well as rioting, with 61 people arrested in Ferguson on charges including burglary and trespassing. More National Guard were ordered to the areas, bringing the number to 2,200 troops.
November 24, 2014 – Grand Jury Rejects Call for Action After Michael Brown’s Death (Source: Independent)
Responsible for Equality And Liberty defend the right of equal justice for all people, and rejects the use of authority and oppression to belittle and deny justice to minorities and to all people in the United States of America, and anywhere in the world.
Ashiq Masih the husband of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian mother sentenced to death in under blasphemy laws, sitting with daughters Esham (right) and Esha at their residence in Lahore. (Source: AFP)
“The husband of a Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy four years ago has written to the president to ask for her to be pardoned and allowed to move to France.
Asia Bibi has been on death row since November 2010 after she was found guilty of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed during an argument with a Muslim woman.
A high court in the eastern city of Lahore confirmed the death sentence last month, dashing hopes it might be commuted to a jail term.
“We are convinced that Asia will only be saved from being hanged if the venerable President (Mamnoon) Hussain grants her a pardon. No one should be killed for drinking a glass of water,” husband Ashiq Masih wrote in an open letter dated Nov 17 and published by the New York Times.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has said the couple are welcomed in the city, and Masih quoted his wife as saying she sent her “deepest thanks to you Madame Mayor, and to all the kind people of Paris and across the world”.
Masih added his wife was not guilty of blasphemy.
The plea for being allowed to move to Paris comes days after the Hidalgo requested Hussain to grant her a pardon.
Senior opposition leader Bruno Retailleau on Wednesday asked French President Francois Hollande to intervene in the case.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in the majority Muslim country, with even unproven allegations often prompting mob violence.
Masih, 50, lives in hiding with two of his five children and has to keep his identity secret as he scrapes together a living as a daily labourer.
He visits his wife once a month, making a five and a half hour journey to her jail in Multan in southern Punjab.
The allegations against Bibi date back to June 2009, when she was labouring in a field and a row broke out with some Muslim women she was working with.
She was asked to fetch water, but the Muslim women objected, saying that as a non-Muslim she was unfit to touch the water bowl.
A few days later the women went to a local religious leader and put forward the blasphemy allegations.
Amnesty International has raised “serious concerns” about the fairness of her trial and has called for her release.
Pakistan has never executed anyone for blasphemy and has had a de-facto moratorium on civilian executions since 2008.
But anyone convicted, or even just accused, of insulting Islam, risks a violent and bloody death at the hands of vigilantes.”
In Nigeria, Fr. Gideon Obasogie, Head of Social Communications of the Diocese of Maiduguri, has provided news media with further updates on the destruction of Diocese of Maiduguri, with the fall of Mubi, with an estimated 2,500 Catholic Christians killed, 100,00 Catholics displaced, and over 50 churches destroyed
This was reported on November 19, 2014 by Agenzia Fides as follows: “Abuja (Agenzia Fides) – According to a note sent to Agenzia Fides by Fr. Gideon Obasogie, Head of Social Communications of the Diocese of Maiduguri, with the fall of Mubi the estimated figure of destruction caused by Boko Haram in the diocese of Maiduguri (whose territory includes Borno, Yobe States and some areas of the Adamawa) is as follows:.
Over 2,500 Catholic Faithful have been killed; Over 100,000 Catholic faithful are displaced; Out of the (46) priests currently working in the diocese (26) are displaced (other priests were welcomed by His Exc. Mgr. Dami Manza, Bishop of Yola); Over (200) Catechists are displaced while over (20) Rev. Sisters are displaced; Abducted women and Girls: Over (200).
Over (50) churches and rectories have been razed down, a good number were destroyed more than once and out of the (40) parish centers \ chaplaincies (22) are presently deserted and occupied by the terrorists. Out of the (5) convents, (4) have been deserted.
A good number of our faithful have been converted to Islam against their will. Most schools in the Northeast can’t commence regular activities not only because of the terrorists, but also because such school premises now serve as refugee camps.
Communities captured and occupied by Boko Haram:”
“In Borno State: Gomboru Ngalla and Bama, Gwoza, Maffa and Abadam. Askira Uba, Dikwa, and Marte. Maiduguri is completely surrounded by the terrorists. The one exit out of Maiduguri city is only the Maiduguri-Damaturu raod.”
“In Adamawa state: Madagali, Michika, Mubi. Others include Gulak, Kaya, Shuwa, Bazza, Yaffa, Betso, Mishara, Vimtim, Muchalla, Kala’a, Maiha, and Mataka.
In Yobe State: Buni Yadi, Gujba, Gulani, Kukuwa, Bularafa, Buni Gari, Bara, Bumsa, Taltaba. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 19/11/2014)”
In addition, the Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri reported on October 26, 2014, that the over 90,000 displaced persons in the troubled Northeast had been forced to feed on grass and insects to survive in their hideouts, according to a report by the Nigerian Daily Post.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has become aware of a new human rights report on the ongoing human rights crisis of Rohingya Muslims, which indicates that the Myanmar state security forces are “complicit in and profiting from” human trafficking of Rohingya Muslims refugees, seeking to flee from violence and persecution.
On November 7, 2014 the Fortify Rights group reported, “Myanmar state security forces are complicit in and profiting from the increasingly lucrative maritime human trafficking and smuggling of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar’s Rakhine State, Fortify Rights revealed in a briefing released today. Since 2012, Myanmar state security forces in Rakhine State have collected payments from Rohingya asylum seekers fleeing Myanmar by ships operated by transnational criminal syndicates, according to information obtained by Fortify Rights. In some cases, the Myanmar Navy escorted boats operated by criminal gangs out to international waters.”
“Local Rohingya brokers mostly deliver payments to members of the Lon Thein riot police, Myanmar Police Department, Navy, and Army in amounts ranging from 500,000 kyat ($500 USD) to 600,000 kyat ($600 USD) per shipload of Rohingya asylum seekers in exchange for passage out to sea. In one case documented by Fortify Rights, the Myanmar Navy demanded 7-million kyat ($7,000 USD) from a criminal gang operating a ship filled with Rohingya fleeing to Malaysia. In other cases, members of the Myanmar Police Department took up to 15,000 kyat ($15 USD) per person directly from individual Rohingya passengers.”
“From September 2013 to October 2014, Fortify Rights interviewed more than 90 Rohingya men and women in Myanmar, Thailand, and Malaysia, many of whom fled the country between 2012 and 2014. Thousands more have fled in recent weeks.”
“Tens of thousands of Rohingya in Rakhine State are now preparing to board 50-to-100-person occupancy boats on the western coast of Myanmar. These boats transport Rohingya asylum seekers to larger ships in the Bay of Bengal that hold as many as 1,000 people. The vast majority of Rohingya who depart by sea soon find themselves in the custody of abusive human trafficking and smuggling gangs, who detain them in conditions of enslavement and exploitation.”
“Most Rohingya are fleeing persecution in Myanmar. Before boarding ships, they are generally not fully informed and, in many cases, are deceived about the treatment they will endure, additional costs, and other aspects of the journey to Malaysia. Many are sold multiple times and for a myriad of reasons, including for labor and sexual exploitation. Nearly all endure or witness torture, deprivation of food and water, confinement in extremely close quarters, and other abuses throughout their journey.”
“In 2012, civilians and state security forces razed Muslim villages in 13 of 17 townships in Rakhine State. More than 300,000 people — predominantly Rohingya Muslims — are now in need of humanitarian aid in the state, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid. That includes 70,000 ‘food insecure’ people, 50,000 living in isolated villages, 50,000 in ‘host communities,’ and approximately 140,000 Rohingya and non-Rohingya Muslims living in more than 80 internally displaced person (IDP) camps. More than 100,000 Rohingya reportedly fled the country by sea in the last two years. Rakhine Buddhists also endured casualties and displacement in Rakhine State in 2012 on a lesser scale.”
“Scores of Rohingya who were displaced in Rakhine State told Fortify Rights that inadequate food, health care, and livelihood opportunities in the IDP camps as well as restrictions on movement and fear of future persecution contributed to their decision to flee Myanmar.”
“Moreover, more than 1 million Rohingya continue to be directly affected by persecutory state policies restricting their movement, marriage, childbirth, and other aspects of everyday life in Rakhine State. Rohingya who were not displaced by attacks in 2012 but still face persecution told Fortify Rights that they fled the country due to restrictions imposed by the state, including restrictions on freedom of movement, threats of violence, and ongoing pressure to abandon their ethnic identity.”
Fortify Rights’ report calls for action on Myanmar for the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report by the U.S. Department of State.
“Trafficking in persons is prohibited under international law, and states have a duty to take action to combat trafficking. Human trafficking includes elements of deceit, exploitation, and abuse. Human smuggling, on the other hand, involves a ‘client’ consenting and paying to be transported across an international border.”
“In June 2014, Myanmar maintained its place on the United States Department of State’s tier-two watch list in the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. Myanmar has remained on the tier-two watch list through a system of waivers. Unless demonstrable changes take place in the next year, the country could be downgraded to tier-three status — the lowest designation reserved for countries failing to adequately combat human trafficking.”
A Rohingya Muslim man who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh to escape religious violence, cries after he and others were intercepted in Taknaf, Bangladesh. (PHOTO AP)
A crowd of 1,200 in Pakistan burned a Christian couple alive, based on false claims of “blasphemy.” The Christian couple, Sajjad Maseeh, 27, and his wife Shama Bibi, 24, were murdered by the crowd as it chanted religious slogans from the Qur’an, their legs broken, and their bodies publicly burned in a kiln. Shama Bibi was four months pregnant, and since her body would not burn properly, it was wrapped in cloth, so the murderous mob could more readily burn her body.
NBC News reported that the Christian couple “set upon by at least 1,200 people after rumors circulated that they had burned verses from the Qur’an, family spokesman Javed Maseeh.” The Daily Mail further reported that their four-year old daughter Sonia Rami and her 18 month old baby sister Ponam were forced to witness the public torture and murder of her parents, and watch her mother’s body “twitch” while being publicly burned. The crowd then tried to burn the four-year old child.
The Daily Mail reported: “Chanting ‘God is great’, huge numbers gathered to watch the sickening murder, which took place in Chak 59 – a village situated in Kasur district, 60 kilometers from Pakistan’s second largest city Lahore.”
Their 11-year old cousin Muhammad Faryad reported the public atrocity: “I saw a young man with small beard who was wearing white clothes and a white cap and other man wearing blue clothes. They were both leading the assault. The man in white hit her belly with his axe. There was blood. People were very angry; they were shouting that they would teach lesson to the blasphemer Christians. The majority of them were young people carrying spades, hatchets and clubs in their hand.”
Sharma’s sister Yasmeen told World Watch Monitor that due to a bonded loan, the kiln owner, would not let the couple leave the area. The sister also reported that there was Shama Bibi and Sajjad Maseeh, had not burned the Qur’an, but that was what the crowd believed when they saw the Shama Bibi throw out some amulets that her late husband’s father had. She stated that some believed there were parts of a burned Qur’an in the amulets thrown out and this was what started the accusations against the couple.
Yasmeen told World Watch Monitor that originally there was just a small crowd, but then “she could hear announcements being made from mosque loudspeakers in nearby villages – that a Christian woman had desecrated the Qur’an.” The report stated that “Yasmeen said people from five surrounding villages – Chak 60, Rosey, Pailan, Nawan Pindi and Hatnian – were gathered together by the residents of Chak 59 and their brick kiln coworkers.”
“They beat them with wooden clubs on their heads, and hatchets, before they were both tied to a tractor and pulled out onto a road which was under construction, covered with crushed stones. They took some petrol from a tractor and doused their bodies and threw them in the kiln. Then I lost hope and fled with my children from there.”
Yasmeen said “says that during the entire violent attack, a police van was present, but because they were so few, the police did not take charge.” But the police were armed with weapons and the mob was not.
The rest of the police arrived after the couple was killed.
Shama Bibi and Sajjad Maseeh were killed by a mob in Kot Radha Kishan, Pakistan.
Update: Christianity Today reports that “After a fact-finding trip, the Church of Pakistan claims that “revenge for unpaid bills” was the real reason a Christian couple fell afoul of blasphemy rumors that led to a mob burning them to death.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) points to this atrocity as one in many such crimes against our fellow human beings, which begins with religious intolerance and the view that violence is an acceptable approach for those who view that they are religiously offended. Free nations must reject such views and such oppression of all people, especially religious minorities targeted by such violence and hatred.
