On October 1, 2015, a terrorist who actively and publicly was a supporter of the Irish Republican Army (I.R.A.) terrorist organization and collector of Nazi icons, who called himself “ironcross45” murdered 9 individuals and wounded 10 individuals at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. The victims of the terrorist attack were: Lucero Alcaraz, 19; Treven Taylor Anspach, 20; Rebecka Ann Carnes, 18; Quinn Glen Cooper, 18; Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59; Lucas Eibel, 18; Jason Dale Johnson, 34; Lawrence Levine, 67 (teacher); Sarena Dawn Moore, 44.
October 1, 2015 – Victims of Terrorist Attack on Umpqua Community College
Limited news reporting on the terrorist attack has minimized information regarding the terrorist’s objective, as a local effort to avoid “glamorizing” the attack. However, Twitter reports indicated that Christians were targeted by the terrorist.
Stacy Boylan, identified by CNN as the parent of a wounded student, said the killer asked ” ‘Are you a Christian?’ ” He then asked Christians to stand and said, “‘Good, because you’re a Christian, you are going to see God in just about one second.'”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) published a Twitter report on the focus of the attack on Christians on October 1, 2015. Due to a news blackout on the terrorists’ objective, little other information has become available.
Twitter Report on Terrorist “IronCross45” Targeting of Christians in Roseburg, Oregon Attack (Twitter)
R.E.A.L. has additional information regarding friends of the terrorist, including those who shared his support for the I.R.A. terrorist campaign. The British-American terrorist came to the U.S. from the United Kingdom as a child, and previously lived in Torrance, CA before moving to Oregon. In both California and in Oregon, the terrorist had “friends” who shared his support and praise of the I.R.A. terrorist campaign, including a government employee involved in a public safety agency in Torrance, California. Due to the news blackout on the terrorist’s motivation, this and other information is not being explored.
However, we have multiple reports of the terrorist’s calling out people for their Christian faith and also specifically asking if they were Catholic Christians in some cases, before the terrorist murdered them.
In addition, the National Church Shooting Database recorded a total of 139 shootings in churches between 1980 and 2005. In all, 185 people died, including 36 children.
R.E.A.L. rejects all acts of terrorism as a violation and attack on our shared universal human rights of life, security, dignity, and all other human rights. R.E.A.L. notes that those terrorist attacks targeting people of a specific identity group, religion, or other affiliation, also is an attack on those shared universal human rights as well.
A Pakistan Christian man, Allah Dita, was shot and beaten for seeking to prevent the harassment by extremists of Pakistan girls trying to attend church.
Reports by the Pakistan Christian Post and Legal Evangelical Association Development (LEAD) state that Allah Dita was attacked by two extremist men, who reportedly drove up to his house on motorbikes and forcibly entered his home. One of the extremists allegedly shot him with a pistol and the other man allegedly hit him with a club. Reports state the shooting took place at Village 136/16-L , Mian Chanu, District Khanewal on Saturday, July 11, 2015 at about 06:30 PM. Allah Dita was rescued and taken to the hospital, and was transferred to Hishtar Hospital Multan where he is under treatment in serious condition.
According to the Pakistan Christian Post, the “case FIR No. 233/2015 was registered on July 12, 2015, under Section 324 and 34 PPC at Police Station Saddar Mian Chanu.” The Legal Evangelical Association Development ( LEAD)‘s Sardar Mushtaq Gill is providing legal assistance to the victim in this case.
The reports state one of the attackers remains in jail, while another has been released on bail prior to trial.
We praise the courage of minority Pakistan Christians who courageously stand in support of their religious freedoms in the face of such threats and adversity.
Christians Worshiping in Khanewal – Voice Of God – REG Ministries Khurampura Khanewal Pakistan (Source Facebook)
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) calls for the rule of law and end to such mob terrorist behavior against Pakistan Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan. R.E.A.L. supports our Universal Human Rights for all people, including the freedom of religion, equality, security, and dignity, as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
Pakistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)ratified as of June 23, 2010, as well as a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Religious oppression of minorities in Pakistan is in direct contradiction to its international agreement of ICCPR Article 18, which includes “1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”
We urge all – in Pakistan and around the world – to be responsible for equality and liberty.
The continuing injustice of Pakistan Christians struggling to seek asylum was publicized by the FOX News media on August 3, 2015 in an article entitled “Pakistani Christian refugees face ordeal in Thailand.” R.E.A.L. assisted the reporter Mary Kekatos in obtaining news sources and details. We urge the public to share this important information and to assist in obtaining financial assistance to Pakistan Christian refugees in Thailand.
March 2015: Approximately 100 Pakistani Christian refugees sleep in one room in Thailand’s Immigration Detention Center. (British Pakistani Christian Association)
“Pakistani Christians escaping to Thailand from persecution in their native country are not receiving the protection they so desperately need as they face poverty, arrest and possible deportation.
Thousands of Pakistani Christians have fled their homes due the country’s reported mistreatment of religious minorities. Fleeing to Southeast Asian countries due to how cheap and easy it is to maintain a tourist visa, these Christians soon discover they are not to be treated well in their new home either.
Because Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, and does not have a formal national asylum framework, the Pakistani Christians are not treated as refugees or asylum seekers but as illegal immigrants. Often, Thailand will not grant asylum status to those declared genuine refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“The poor can’t and don’t escape but the middle and upper classes flee to Thailand,” said Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, who has issued an appeal and a petition calling for help for the refugees. “[Back in Pakistan] they are doctors, lawyers, professors, politicians.”
“Pakistan’s blasphemy law has been used in a way to target religious minorities,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch in a separate interview. “There has been violence perpetrated against people accused of blasphemy. When facing that kind of persecution, many have no choice but to leave.”
Those fleeing Pakistan face tough roads. They are often stopped by border guards when suspected of being Christians even with a legal visa or plane tickets. Many are not allowed to cross the border until they have paid a bribe or a fine. When Raymond John and his family crossed the border, they had to pay the guards 112,000 Pakistani rupees ($1100).
“We refused twice and they would not let us pass but on the third time we finally paid,” John said.
In European countries and the United States, it can be an arduous and expensive process to apply for a tourist visa. Although easy to obtain one from Thailand, the Pakistanis’ stay is anything but easy. Upon arrival, the refugees realize they cannot attain citizenship and cannot buy property. Even if a Pakistani marries a Thai citizen, they are not granted legal citizenship and their status is returned to refugee upon their spouse’s death.
Farrukh Saif, head of the Farrukh Saif Foundation dedicated to helping persecuted Pakistani Christian refugees, has criticized the delay of the UNHCR to classify the Christians who have fled to Thailand as refugees, saying it affects the livelihood of those seeking asylum.
“According to a mandate, in 90 days they have to determine the status of these people as refugees, but in reality it can take four to five years,” he said. “If a minor, a child, cannot go to school for four to five years, what is his future? A whole generation of Pakistani Christians in Bangkok is being destroyed.”
UNHCR’s Field Media Officer for Thailand, Vivian Tan, said that by nature, refugee status determination (RSD) is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
“In many urban settings, the demand for RSD exceeds processing capacities. In Bangkok, UNHCR has been working to speed up processing times,” she said.
Refugees would agree that the process has been anything but speedy. Sunny Gil arrived in Thailand in August 2013 and was given an appointment with the UNHCR for an interview in May 2015 to be assigned refugee status. When the time came for the interview, however, it was postponed for a year.
“It is silly – the excuses that they give for postponing the interviews. It is such a big organization and they should be able to help us,” he said.
Additionally, because these Pakistanis do not have refugee status, they are not allowed to work and therefore have no legal income. They often make their money doing illegal jobs or begging and seeking charity from churches.
“We want to work and we want to earn and support our families on our own,” said Cyril Lamran of the Christian Asylum Seekers Association of Thailand and a refugee himself. “But they’re not giving us the opportunity for us to earn and not providing us basic human rights.”
Tourist visas last up to two months after which they can only be renewed if the applicant is working. Because, however, the Pakistani Christians are treated as illegal immigrants and are unable to work, their visas cannot be extended making them subject to arrest and detention at any point in time.
In March, upwards of 400 Pakistani Christian refugees were reported to have been arrested. Homes were raided by the Thai immigration police and the arrestees were taken to be held at the central jail or the Immigration Detention Center (IDC) in the capital of Bangkok.
Former inmates speak of horrendous conditions including cramped cells, inadequate nutrition and children being incarcerated with adults. In the central jail, the men are bound in shackles and forced to stand in the hot sun. In the IDC, up to 200 people can be packed in a room meant for 100 leaving very little space to properly sleep. Many have since been released for up to a year until they get a proper visa, otherwise they face being put back in the IDC or being deported back to Pakistan.
While Gil said he could perhaps see why people were being sent to the IDC (his own sister-in-law was held in central jail and the IDC for one month), he could not understand the need to send refugees to the former.
“The central jail is for criminals, not asylum seekers, but they put us in jail like we are criminals,” he said. “Even though they are not signatory, there is something called human rights.”
Other concerns also plague these families. The refugees do not have the money to cover medical costs and multiple families often are forced to share a single room because they cannot afford the rent.
Currently, there are an estimated 4500 Pakistani Christian refugees living in Thailand and while they wait for help, activists stress the dire need for action to be taken, requesting the international community to hasten the determination process of the UNHCR.
“The UNHCR is the mother of human rights but they’re essentially denying human rights,” John said. “The West has to know the persecution the Christians face in Pakistan and in Thailand. Who will speak for us when those who speak will speak for the government?” “
Another attack on a Pakistan Christian school by extremists was reported by Fides and by the Pakistan Christian Post on April 17, 2015. The attack was made by gunmen on the Christian Catholic St. Francis school. This was another in a repeated series of attacks on Christian organizations in Pakistan, and especially around the Lahore area.
Fides reported that the “St Francis High School” is a Catholic high school located in the district of Bahar, in the Anarkali area, near Lahore. According to Fides, a “student and two security guards were injured and were taken to hospital. The reasons of the attack have not yet been established, and investigations are being carried out.” Both the “St. Francis High School”, and the “St Mary High School” were closed.
According to the Pakistan Christian Post, “Unidentified gunmen began firing and as the guards on duty outside the school intercepted, they were caught in the firing and got injured. The students of the school have been directed to leave the school premises. The investigation is underway to find out the main reason of attack. The Churches and Christian institutions already have warned about security threat from hardliners. Behar Colony is the second largest Christian residential area in Lahore and Lahore is the second largest city of Pakistan.”
St. Francis School Attacked by Extremists in Lahore, Pakistan area
Those who believe in our universal human rights and accepts the rule of law for any society, must reject the extremist violence against minority Christians. We must all reject this violence and seek and end to the oppression in Pakistan.
A very sad update to this horrific story of an attack on a young Pakistan Christian boy, Nauman Masih, died of his injuries, after being set on fire. News reports and human rights groups have recorded a video declaration by this 14 year old boy as being attacked for his faith. In a video statement made while the child was in the hospital, the now dead boy Nauman Masih stated: “I work at a tailor shop. I was returning from the shop when two men on motorbikes stopped me and asked about my religion. When I told them I am a Christian, they started calling me names.” “When I asked them not to abuse me, one man poured kerosene on me and lit a match. I ran toward a heap of sand and lay down. A few people from the community put out the fire by putting sand on me. After that I fell unconscious.”
His funeral was held at the St Ignatius Catholic Church in Shera Kot, a district of Lahore, and was reportedly led Father Samson Dilawar and a number of other Christian leaders also attended. Christianity Today reports that 2,000 attended his funeral.
BPCA chairman Wilson Chowdhry issued a statement that “Nouman was brave throughout his pain and spoke of forgiveness for his attackers. He dies a martyr and will no doubt be with the Lord today.” “Please pray for his family who have had to endure 5 days of extreme heartache and can expect little justice.”
Nauman Masih – 14 year old Christian Boy Dies from Burns
The Catholic Herald reports that: “Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS-UK, said: ‘The perpetrators must be brought to justice for lessons to be learned and to act as deterrents. Other people, and if necessary the government, must introduce some stringent punishment.’
Another link to his video testimony is provided below.
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Other media in Pakistan have sought to promote a different story.
Those who support our universal human rights know that in every instance, the death of a 14 year old child is disgraceful and a shame to our responsibility to keep our young people safe from such harm. Every person of every faith knows what the moral consequences for burning a child to death will be.
In Lahore, Pakistan, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) originally reported of the attack which took place Friday, April 10, 2015. He was reportedly set on fire by two unidentified men on motor bikes, who threw kerosene oil on him and ran away after setting him on fire, after first asking him if he was a Christian or a Muslim. After he replied that he was a Christian, he was attacked. The child was admitted in Mayo Hospital Lahore for treatment.
Such a contemptible crime against the universal human rights of our children must be condemned by all people of human decency and all faiths. We urge their support in ending such vicious attacks on children in Pakistan.
We have learned that the Pakistan Christian Post has also reported on this horrific attack, where they have identified the child attacked, and has also provided reference to a report on this by The Voice Society. The Voice Society has provided a detailed report on the attack on this child, and The Voice Society reported that this child had burns over 55 percent of his body. Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress (PCC) raised a question “where is Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister of government of Pakistan Chowdhry Nisar Ali” when such attacks on Christian children are happening.
We urge support for our universal human rights, including security and religion for all people, and we call upon the government of Pakistan to end the oppression of Pakistan Christians in their country and use its law enforcement to punish these attackers.
The volunteer human rights group Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) extends its sympathies to the families who lost loved ones and calls for all human rights groups to make a public and international statement of outrage on the terrorist attacks on Pakistan Christian churches, killing 15 and injuring nearly 80, as of current news reports. The bombings on Christian churches during Sunday prayer services occurred in the Youhanabad neighborhood of Lahore on Catholic and Protestant churches. We have been reporting on the abuse of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan for years.
The Pakistan Christian Post reports that the churches attacked were the St. John Church and Christ Church in Youhanabad, where two suicide bombers attacked at the gates of the churches. The Post reported that the Punjab government has failed to provide adequate security for Christian churches in Punjab.
R.E.A.L. calls for the Pakistan government to provide security for Christians and all minority religions in Pakistan. R.E.A.L. also calls upon the United Nations to act to stop the genocide of Christians and religious minorities in Pakistan, including protecting their universal human rights and acknowledging their need for refugee asylum from this ongoing genocide.
The Pakistan Christian Congress (PCC) has denounced these terrorist attacks. The PCC’s Dr. Nazir Bhatti stated that “Violence is rising against Christians in Punjab province where incidents of burning alive Christian children, women and men happen on pretext to blasphemy law while setting on fire homes of Christians is matter of every week and culprits walk free on street.”
Bishop of Pakistan’s Sadiq Daniel condemned the blasts and termed them an attack on Pakistan. He said that all the missionary schools will remain closed on Monday against the attack.
GEO News reported that the blast was so powerful that “Windowpanes of the nearby buildings were shattered due to the explosions.” CNN reported that “CNN affiliate GEO News showed twisted metal, shattered glass and panicked residents outside a church compound. Ambulance and security personnel were seen moving in. Later footage showed water cannons arriving to disperse the crowd.” CNN also reported that the terrorist Taliban organization took responsibility for this atrocity. CNN reported “Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said by telephone that his group was responsible for the suicide bombings, declaring that such attacks would continue until Sharia law is implemented in Pakistan.”
R.E.A.L. calls for human rights and government organizations to reject and condemn the actions of the terrorist organization Taliban.
March 15, 2015 – Terrorist Attack Outside Lahore Area Church
Pakistan: Taliban Attack on Lahore Churches – Grief of Those Lost Loved Ones (Source: Associated Press)
In the Punjab village near Khanewal, minority Pakistan Christians are being persecuted over the marriage between a Christian man and Muslim woman in the village in October 2014. According to a report by Christians in Pakistan (CIP), minority Christians have been forced to flee their home due to threats. CIP reports that “since the secret of this marriage was revealed the couple no longer lives in the village and have fled” and that extremists opposed to the Muslim woman’s marriage to the Christian man, attacked the husband’s family’s home as well as the homes of other Christians in the area. CIP reports that there have been death threats against the village Christians. CIP also reports that “Seeing the gravity of the incident, the Christians are pleading for protection from the local police, but so far police has provided no protection or assistance to them. A Police official, from the Shahkot police said, ‘We have not arrested anyone yet due to the sensitive nature of this case. We will not take any further steps before undergoing a thorough investigation.’ ”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) calls for the rule of law and end to such mob terrorist behavior against Pakistan Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan. R.E.A.L. supports our Universal Human Rights for all people, including the freedom of religion, equality, security, and dignity, as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
Pakistan is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)ratified as of June 23, 2010, as well as a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Religious oppression of minorities in Pakistan is in direct contradiction to its international agreement of ICCPR Article 18, which includes “1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”
We urge all – in Pakistan and around the world – to be responsible for equality and liberty.
Responsible for Equality and Liberty has received a report of the human rights violations of two women in Lahore, Pakistan. International human rights sources have advised that Christian sisters, “Hina” and “Marina” from Lahore have gone into hiding, after attempts by extremist to kidnap them, to force marriage on them, and to forcefully convert them to deny their Christian religion.
The sources state that Hina and Marina are from Lahore city near the Nishter police station area. The reports state that Hina and Marina have been followed and harassed by extremists, including one individual with a “green turban.” The reports state that extremists have sought to abduct the two sisters, force the sisters into marriage, and to force the sisters to reject their Christian religion and convert them to Islam. The reports state that according to police sources, Mulan’a Abdul Attiq took his son and nephew Hafiz Nasir and Abid Attri to arrange a forced wedding to both Christian sisters. The forced wedding attempts have been rejected by the Christian sisters and their families.
As a result of the sisters rejecting such attempts at forced marriage and forced religious conversion, reports indicate that the Punjab police in Lahore have stated that those two sisters and family have committed blasphemy when Muslim clerics sought to talk about the wedding attempts. The report states that police have filed FIR (under Pakistan law 295-C) against the family.
In accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Responsible for Equality And Liberty continues to support the universal human rights, religious liberty, and freedom for all people, including religious minorities oppressed in Pakistan. We urge the Pakistan authorities to drop any charges against minority Christians being oppressed, harassed, and threatened, including these two Christian sisters, who have reportedly been threatened by attempts at abduction, forced marriage, and forced religious conversion. Responsible for Equality And Liberty also calls for the Pakistan government to end the oppressive blasphemy law used to oppress and harass religious minorities and so many other individuals. Responsible for Equality And Liberty also calls upon on our colleagues in human rights organizations to share this story and call for human rights protection for these sisters.
Pakistani government shows no sign of taking action over the Federal Shariah Court’s blasphemy law ruling – the Pakistan Christian Post reports that “Last month the Federal Shariah Court (FSC) of Pakistan ordered that the death penalty be the only punishment for a blasphemer, and that life imprisonment be removed as an option.” Report continued at Pakistan Christian Post.
