Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
A Volunteer Human Rights Coalition – Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins
— Deutsche Welle: “Relatives of Holocaust victims tell of their grief in Demjanjuk trial”
— Deported from Cleveland area, John Demjanjuk is alleged to have assisted in the murder of 27,900 people. Up to 250,000 Jews are thought to have died at Sobibor.
— Demjanjuk unmoved as Holocaust survivors testify
Somalia: West warns that Somalia is becoming a haven for international terrorists
— London Times: “Its Sharia courts have ordered public floggings, the chopping off of hands and feet of thieves, the stoning to death of adulterers and beheadings of apostates and spies.”
CNS reports:
“The latest in a string of religious defamation resolutions considered by the General Assembly and human rights bodies over the past decade saw more countries than ever oppose the measure.”
“The resolution passed by 80 votes to 61 against, with 42 countries abstaining. The result is the worst ever for the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member states and their allies, many of them not free democracies. It marks a continuing decline since 2007, when in the wake of the Mohammed newspaper cartoon furor a similar resolution passed by a vote of 108-51, with 25 abstentions.”
“Not only has the number of countries opposing the move climbed (see graph), but several member states in the developing world have moved from supporting the resolutions to abstaining.”
“The drive to have defamation of religion outlawed has triggered a growing counter-campaign by freedom of expression groups, humanist organizations, and advocates for the rights of Christians and other non-Muslim minorities in the Islamic world, including coverts from Islam who are considered ‘apostates.’ ”
“Although the resolutions are non-binding, they are taking place in conjunction with a separate OIC-led push to have an existing, legally-binding anti-racism treaty, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), amended to cover speech deemed as religiously defamatory.”
“In a letter written to member states ahead of the vote, Angela Wu, international law director of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty – a leading opponent of the resolutions – argued that the measures ‘provide international support for domestic blasphemy laws that have been used by oppressive regimes to silence, rather than protect, vulnerable minorities and dissenters.’ ”
“Wu contested the very concept of religious defamation, saying the human rights law systems is meant to protect individuals, not ideas or religions.”
UK’s Poorna Shetty: “Stop tiptoeing around ‘honour’ killings”
— Poorna Shetty: “‘Honour’ killings, which tend to feature in Middle Eastern, Turkish and south-east Asian communities, derive their motivation from the idea of shame and honour within conservative and religious frameworks. The key problems are that because it’s perceived as a ‘cultural issue’ and communities are reluctant to come forward, progress has been slow.”
— Quoting ICAHK posting, Poorna Shetty states: “The Association of Chief Police Officers estimate that 17,000 ‘honour’ crimes are committed each year.”
International Campaign Against Honour Killing (ICAHK) web site relaunch — after attacks, hacking over the summer
— R.E.A.L. and ICAHK had joint rally at U.S. Capitol against “honor killings”
Indonesia’s Jakarta Globe: “Dressing to Impress Aceh’s Shariah Police”
— Jakarta Globe: “Women are revamping their wardrobes in West Aceh to conform to the new Shariah regulation.”
— ” ‘I have to replace my clothes with skirts and Muslim outfits [that are long-sleeved and loose],’ 20-year-old Rahma said last Tuesday. ‘I don’t want to be arrested by the Wilayatul Hisbah [Shariah police] when they really implement the new law.’ ”
— But another woman tells Jakarta Globe: “I’m not afraid of the Shariah police. I believe that a person should not be judged by what they wear. It is the heart that matters, not a piece of cloth.”
Other reports on Indonesia:
World AIDS Day: Hizb ut-Tahrir Calls for Stonings, Whippings, Islamic Caliphate
Indonesia: 1500 Sharia Police Harrass Men, Women in Aceh
Indonesian Extremists Bully Villagers into Revoking Church Permit
Indonesia: Women Banned from Wearing Jeans and Pants — Sharia Police Plan Raids and Patrols
Indonesia: Sharia Bill Calling for Stoning, Now Officially Law in Aceh
Asia: Shariah Asia Spread Appeases Islamists, Risks Rights
Indonesia: Muslim cleric cleared of sex abuse over 12 year old child bride
Indonesia: Two Indonesian Churches Receive Bomb Threats
Indonesia: Home-Based Christian Worship Shut Down by Extremists
Indonesia’s Jakarta Post: “Questioning stoning to death as a punishment for adultery”
Indonesia: Church protests as law on stoning for adultery approved
Indonesia: Students demand harsher sharia law implementation
Indonesia — Christians Call for Rejection of Sharia-Inspired Bills
Indonesia: Christian congregation threatened with sticks, protests – every Sunday – for praying
Indonesia: West Java, Protestant church demolished by local government
Saudi Arabia: “Domestic abuse goes unreported due to sensitivity”
— Arab News: “women and children still find it difficult to report abuse to the authorities or accept there is a problem in the first place”
— “How can abused children and women report their cases when society accepts such behavior?”
BosNews reports: “Christian Man Languishing In Pakistan Jail”
— “A Christian man has been languishing for over three years in a Pakistan jail on charges of “blasphemy against Islam” and his family has expressed concerns over his health, BosNewsLife has established.”
— “Qamar David, a 50-year-old married father with four children, was arrested in 2006 for allegedly sending blasphemous messages against Islam, charges he strongly denies, his defense team told BosNewsLife.”
— “Khalid Gill, a regional leader of rights group All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), said David was taken into police custody in May 2006 and eventually moved to Karachi Prison in Pakistan’s Punjab province. He said his family was not allowed to see him for two years.”
— “Gill linked the controversial case to a business dispute with Muslims. Rights groups say David is among several innocent Christians who have been detained across Pakistan, where blasphemy legislation has often been misused to settle personal grievances.”
“Pakistani Muslims Gun Down Christian Friend”
— CDN reports: “A group of Muslims shot their Christian friend dead this month on the outskirts of this town after saying they would spare his life only if he recanted his faith, according to the young man’s father.”
— “The friends of Patras Masih, who died from gunshot wounds on Dec. 3 in Karol village, Punjab Province, issued the ultimatum to him after accusing him of the murder of their friend Anees Mahammad. An autopsy reported showed Mahammad died from toxic alcohol earlier that day.”
— “Patras Masih’s father, Gulzar Masih, said his son was at home on that day, had no contact with Mahammad, and that his friends accused him of the murder only because he refused to recant Christianity and embrace Islam.”
UK: “Tulay Goren honour killing: When tolerance is deadly” – by Eleanor Mills
— “Officially there are a dozen ‘honour killings’ a year in Britain, but experts know this is the tip of an iceberg. Thousands of teenage girls go missing from schools in areas with large Asian populations such as Luton and Bradford, often sent home for arranged marriages.”
— “The suffering of women like my friend and girls like Tulay — not to mention their oppressed mothers — is the shameful side of tolerant Britain.”
