Such UK groups, attacked by 5Pillars, have promoted religious freedom, which is part of our universal human rights, while rejecting radical extremism and violence and providing a counter-extremist voice of British Muslims. It is disappointing that 5Pillars has chosen to attack these non-theological groups that advocate civic engagement, peaceful co-existence, counter-extremism, social inclusion, and harmony, free speech, human rights, individual liberty, and the value of open, democratic and diverse societies. 5Pillars has attacked these non-theological human rights and social harmony groups led by British Muslims for seeking to try “change Islam.”
5Pillars released a YouTube video on November 16, 2017, and then posted this on their website on November 18, 2017, generally condemning such groups without any specifics or details, with a title “10 aspects of Islam ‘Muslim reformers’ want to change.” Among the non-specific attacks by 5Pillars in their video, 5Pillars states that the non-theological groups seek to “change” in Islam are a “physical jihad” and a geographical “caliphate.” The actual focus of these British Muslim human rights and social harmony groups are counter-extremism, rejecting violence, and promoting social inclusion and respect in societies.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) respects the efforts by human rights and social harmony groups in seeking to make progress in our shared universal human rights, pluralism, and respect for one another. Such human rights begins with a shared commitment to human dignity for all, including those with different views, while finding pluralistic ways of co-existence and peaceful harmony. We may not always agree with every human rights campaign or activist, which is also part of the individual liberty that we defend – the right to disagree. But the misguided and disappointing effort by 5Pillars to broadly attack those British Muslims seeking to promote pluralism and peaceful co-existence, as somehow unfaithful to Islam, is misguided, mean-spirited, and counter-productive. We urge 5Pillars to reconsider, and R.E.A.L. stands by these groups attacked by 5Pillars’ campaign. With the growing struggles against hate and violence in the world, such attacks on these British Muslim human rights and social harmony groups is particularly disruptive to our shared global society. Those Muslim groups promoting human rights, counter-extremism, and social harmony must be defended by responsible human rights activism.
R.E.A.L.’s mission is the support of universal human rights for ALL, including our Muslim brothers and sisters around the world. We call for the same universal human rights in the U.K., U.S., and around the world that we call for every other human being. As with all of our fellow human beings, Muslims’ human rights matter.
R.E.A.L. has longstoodwith Muslim groups in the U.S., U.K., and other parts of the world that seek to promote our universal human rights, counter-extremism, pluralism, and peaceful co-existence. We urge all to Choose Love, Not Hate. Love Wins.
R.E.A.L. Stands with Muslims and All People in Support of Universal Human Rights and Dignity
On July 6, 2015, two minority Shia Muslims were gunned down in the street in Quetta, Pakistan, in a continuing terrorist campaign to kill religious minorities. Police officer Ajab Khan Kakar stated: “It is a sectarian targeted killing.” The July 6 attacks included killing the two Shia Muslim men outside of a passport office, as well as police officer. The two Shia men were part of the Hazara community, which is a predominantly Shi’ite Muslim ethnic group.
July Attack in Quetta on Shia Muslims by Terrorist (Source: Reuters/Naseer Ahmed)
A second attack also happened on July 6. According Samaa News, “Hours later, a manager of local NGO was gunned down by unknown assailants outside his residence in Jinnah Town area of Quetta. The victim was identified as Abdul Rauf. Police said all the murders were result of ‘targeted attacks’.”
The attack on minority Muslim Shi’ite houses of worship and individuals has been continuing throughout this year, with over 100 killed this year. This has included a terrorist attack on Shia Muslim killing 45 on a bus in Karachi in May 2015, as well as killing 62 in a suicide bombing on a Shia Muslim mosque in January 2015. Minority Shi’ite Muslims comprise about 20 percent of the Pakistan population of 180 million.
Senior police officer Abdul Razzak Cheema stated that he blamed Muslim extremists for the attacks, saying the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi extremist group was possibly involved. He stated that “The boys, in their twenties, were killed in the shooting while their parents were wounded and a policeman who was passing by the site was also killed after he shot and wounded one attacker.”
ISIS terrorists launched a string of terrorist attacks in multiple nations on June 25 and June 26, 2015 to murder Muslims, women, children, elderly, and tourists – in Syria, Kuwait, Tunisia, France, during the Islamic holiday of Ramadan. The vast majority of the 153 murdered in these ISIS terrorist attacks were Muslims. This is also the case in another 50 killed by ISIS ally Al-Shabab today, June 26. Combined, the ISIS terrorist and terrorist ally Al-Shabab attacks killed over 200, targeting mostly Muslims.
In Syria, the ISIS terror group killed at least 145 civilians in an attack on the Syrian town of Kobani and a nearby village on Thursday, June 25. Reuters reported the “attack on the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobani and the nearby village of Brakh Bootan marked the biggest single massacre of civilians by Islamic State in Syria since it killed hundreds of members of the Sunni Sheitaat tribe last year.” The gruesome images of Muslim children’s bodies destroyed into pieces and row after row of children’s bodies after the ISIS terror attack in Kobani is heart-rending.
ISIS terror group killed at least 145 civilians in Kobani, Syria, including children, women, elderly
YPG spokesman Rami Abdulrahman told Reuters 46 civilians had been killed. The YPG spokesman said at least 145 had died in the assault launched by a group of Islamic State fighters estimated to number in the dozens. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said an estimated 50,000 people had been displaced within Hasaka city while 10,000 had left northwards toward Amuda town, close to the Turkish border. It warned that up to 200,000 people could eventually flee.
In Kuwait, on June 26, ISIS terrorists bombed the the Shiite mosque of Al-Sadiq on the Muslim day of prayer, in the middle of Ramadan, the holiest month in Islam. The ISIS terror group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of the mosque. CCTV camera images showed the ISIS terrorist entering the mosque, during the Friday prayers, then using a cowardly suicide bomb to murder the unsuspecting Muslim worshippers. The gruesome photos of the killings in the mosque included young children who had gone for Ramadan prayers. The terrorist attack on Muslims left at least 8 dead, and many injured. The ISIS terrorist group bragged that it had killed and injured dozens in the attack on the Kuwait mosque. The Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah condemned the “cowardly terrorist act.”
ISIS Cowards Attack Shiite mosque of Al-Sadiq during Muslim Ramadan Prayers
In Tunisia, a reported ISIS terrorist attacked the Hotel Imperial Marhaba in Sousse, opening fire on beachgoers, and killing at least 39 people and injuring at least 39. At least five victims were British, according to the U.K. Foreign Office. An ISIS report stated that one of their terrorist used as a suicide bomb and that two of their terrorist members opened fire with guns on tourists at the beach resort. One of the reported ISIS cowards gunning down people on the beach includes the now dead attacker named as Abu Yahya Al-Qayrawani (from Kairouan/Tunisia), who was shot by police during his rampage against helpless people. One courageous man Matthew Jameswas shot three times as he used his body as a human shield to protect his fiance.
Cowardly ISIS Terrorists Shoot at Beachgoers in Sousse, killing at least 39 people and injuring at least 39.
In France’s Saint-Quentin-Fallavier (Isere region) near Grenoble, a terrorist sought to explode gas cylinders at an American gas products company, Air Products, and beheaded a man. The alleged killer has been arrested and named as Yassine Salhi, 30, with the victim believed to be his employer. The French victim’s (Hervé Cornara) body was mutilated, labeled with Arabic lettering, and staged with two Khilafah shahada Arabic flags next to his body (one black and one white) next to his body, with the victim’s head posted on a fence. FRANCE 24 and the NYT reported that Yassin Salhi was being monitored since 2006 due to his association with “very radical” extremist groups. Police authorities arrested a second individual (Frédéric Jean Salvi), said to be “close” to him and is reportedly a radical cleric sought by Indonesian authorities, and his wife was also questioned, but has since been released. The president of the company targeted in the attack, Air Products, is a Shia Iranian named Seifi Ghasemi. Authorities believe Salhi may have been influenced or connected to ISIS.
Cowardly Terrorist Beheads Unarmed Man in France, Then Praises Khilafah
On Friday June 26, the ISIS ally of Al-Shabab killed 50 in Somalia, in an attack on an African Union base in military base in southern Somalia, with another 20 soldiers and 40 civilians missing and feared kidnapped for Al-Shabab’s slavery. This followed a June 24 attack by Al-Shabab on a UAE diplomatic convoy by a suicide bomber killing six Muslims.
ISIS Ally Al-Shabab in Somalia Kill and Kidnap Unarmed Civilians, Enslave Women
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) extends its prayers and sympathy to all those whose loved ones and lives were tragically impacted by such cowardly terrorist attacks. These attacks demonstrate, once again, that the only real ideology such cowardly terrorists have is a commitment to the destruction of our universal shared human rights of freedom of religion, security, dignity, equality, and liberty.
These cowards who target those in prayer, those on the shore, and those simply going about the daily lives are not the “warriors” that claim to be. They are sick, cowardly thugs who seek to snuff out the lives of children, women, elderly, and those who can’t defend themselves, because this is the only type of “fighting” capable by such cowards. They rationalize their attacks on houses of worship, our children, mothers, and families as promoting an ideology, but the only ideology they have is cowardly hate. We call for all those who glamorize such cowards to see them for who they really are in these attacks, mostly on Muslims, during Ramadan.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty is committed to our shared universal human rights, dignity, security for all people around the world, and in opposition to such criminal gangs who seek to rob us of our shared human rights. We urge all people to defy such enemies of human rights, and to be responsible for equality and liberty.
Multiple news sources have been reporting updates on the human rights crisis and ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims, including mass graves in multiple countries, as a result of refugees fleeing from oppression in Myanmar to Malaysia, Thailand, and other countries. This includes a new report of the discovery of new mass graves on Monday, June 23, 2015, near the Thailand immigration offices and half a mile from a Thailand police office. Both Thailand government officials and Malaysia police officers have been arrested as co-conspirators.
Australia broadcasting media reported that this human rights atrocity begins with the responsibility of Myanmar government actions to force the Rohingya out of the country by destroying their homes and businesses, burning them down and bulldozing them. “About 140,000 Rohingya were forced away from the city, into an area of dried up mud flats near the sea now known as the Sittwe internally displaced people camp. They live on rations provided by the United Nations and the area has been fenced so they cannot leave.” Australia reporter Mark Davis stated “A Buddhist extremist mob turned on them very violently, their houses were burnt down, their businesses were burnt down, their wealth was taken away from them and they were pushed out of Sittwe and fled to the coast.”
As we have previously posted, the news media has reported on Myanmar Buddhist extremists’ burning alive of Rohingya Muslims within Myanmar, including a March 2013 atrocity at Meikhtila, where 36 Rohingya Muslims, mostly teenagers, who were slaughtered before the eyes of police and local officials who did almost nothing to stop it. The Associated Press reported on such atrocities of burning people alive, including burning 36 children: “Their bones are scattered in blackened patches of earth across a hillside overlooking the wrecked Islamic boarding school they once called home. Smashed fragments of skulls rest atop the dirt. A shattered jaw cradles half a set of teeth. And among the remains lie the sharpened bamboo staves attackers used to beat dozens of people to the ground before drowning their still-twitching bodies in gasoline and burning them alive.” According to Radio Free Asia, seven were arrested for this atrocity. This is the level of persecution and atrocities against human rights in Myanmar which drove these refugees to flee their country.
A man stands among the rubble of a burned building in Meikhtila. Myanmar, where 36 Muslims were burned to death in March 2013 (Source: RFA)
New reports have provided details on mass graves found in Thailand and Malaysia, as a result of human trafficking of such refugees who fled from Myanmar. Mass graves have been the result of Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar, and becoming victims of mass murder at the hands of human traffickers. Reports of military atrocities waged against the Rohingya Muslims have included rape and forced labor, and the Post Media network has reported Rohingya Muslim Abdul Hashim saying that men have even been known to be burned alive.
Rohingya Muslim Mass Graves in Malaysia and Thailand (Source: The Guardian)
In Malaysia, the Post Media Network reported on mass graves on June 5, 2015, stating “Thrust under the spotlight this week by the discovery of 139 graves in Malaysian jungle camps used by suspected human smugglers, the Rohingya are stateless in their own southeast Asian nation, denied citizenship, their movements and even marriages severely restricted by the government.” The Guardian reported that “Malaysian police say they have uncovered 28 suspected human trafficking camps located about 500 metres from the country’s northern border, a day after authorities reported the discovery of multiple mass graves.”
Thailand: A child’s shoe abandoned at a smuggling camp for Rohingya refugees, with torture facilities and graves (Source: ABC)
The Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has also sent reporters who have found additional mass graves and torture camps. On June 11, 2015, Australia Broadcasting reported on a smuggling camp where people were put in cages, reporting that “small children are believed to be among up to 1,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled a filthy Thai people-smuggling camp where people appear to have slept in bamboo cages and been punished in a torture chamber.” “The ABC’s 7.30 program visited the camps near the southern Thai town of Padang Besar, where residents knew about the trafficking of Rohingya Muslims but kept quiet for fear of retribution from smugglers. Some locals financially gained from the trade in human misery.”
On Monday, June 23, 2015, Australia Broadcasting had a new report on a mass grave discovered just minutes from the Thailand immigration offices. ABC stated that “As Thai and Malaysian authorities continue their hunt for hidden graves of refugees in a remote border jungle, the biggest gravesite of all may have been discovered hidden in plain sight. Just 800 metres (half a mile) from the front door of the police centre in the Thai border town Padang Besar, and a five-minute stroll from the Thai immigration office, lie dozens of concealed graves of Rohingya refugees who have fled abject persecution in their homeland Myanmar. More than 100 secret graves might lie in the small cemetery, and overlooking the site just metres away is the house of the smuggler believed to have put them there.”
Young Rohingyan man ‘Buraq’ shows where the bodies of his friends are buried in a mass grave site in Padang Besar, Thailand, near the border crossing into Malaysia from Thailand (Source: Australia Broadcasting)
Australia news reporter Mark Davis interviewed Rohingya victims, and stated “If families didn’t pay the men were beaten to death, the women were raped to death in many cases, and the children were not spared.” A former guard of one of the Thailand human trafficking camps reported showed the reporter where additional bodies were buried. “The former guard led Davis to a mass grave in the nearby town of Padang Besar where he had personally buried about 20 Rohingya bodies in a field of about 100 graves. The site was located behind a police station and overlooking this graveyard was the newly built mansion of one of the smugglers.”
Australia news reported “Shockingly, most people around the camps must have known about their existence. Davis said the camps were not that remote. ‘One guard said there were 50 camps that had thousands of people in them, these were surrounded by villages and roads, this has been happening on an industrial scale for the last three years,’ Davis said. Hundreds of people, sometimes 500 in one day, would be transported to these jungle camps in trucks and cars. ‘The idea that someone didn’t know about this is laughable now,’ Davis said. The mayor of Padang Besar and his deputy have recently been arrested for their involvement in the trade and a senior Thai general has also been arrested but Davis said this was just the tip of the iceberg of who was involved.”
In Malaysia, the Rakyat Post met with Rohingya Muslim victims of the camps in Perlis (Malaysia) and Thailand who managed to secure their freedom from their captives. They interviewed one of the camp victims, Aminah Khatu, who stated “Before I left, they started burning down our homes. People kept saying ‘go to Malaysia, there people live happily’. This is why I got on the boat. I got on a small boat for a few days before being transferred to a ferry where we were left at sea for two months. Later on, we were transferred into a small boat to reach Thailand. I was in the Thailand jungles for a month.” According to the Post, “she said the conditions in the camp in the jungle were terrible and the ground they were placed on was always watery.” The Post reported that she stated ” ‘My children felt sick and one of them passed away there after he fell ill. I called my husband who was in KL (Kaula Lampur) at that time and told him that one of our children had passed away so he must get us out of the camp quick.’ She said her husband told her that he did not have money to do so immediately. ‘My husband told me he did not have enough money, but he later managed to gather RM5,000 by borrowing it from his friends. I passed the money to the agent and he took it, but he still refused to let us go. He cheated us and we remained in the camp for another 15 days. After that, my husband had to find another RM6,000 and paid that sum to them before they released us.’ She said her experience at the camp was horrible and they fed them very little. ‘We had nothing there. They fed us a little rice and curry and a little jelly. When someone died, they just threw the body in the jungle. Those who were very sickly were also thrown into the jungle to die.'”
In Malaysia, 12 police officers were arrested in connection with the Perlis, Malaysia mass graves and human rights atrocity. Malaysia Deputy home minister Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar stated that “12 police officers have been arrested, four by the police and eight by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). ”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports the universal human rights of all people, including their right to freedom of religion, security, dignity, as well as their right to protect their nationality, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 15. The Rohingya Muslim refugees must be given human rights, dignity, and a sanctuary from their oppression in Myanmar.
In a follow-up from our report last year on Myanmar refugee resettlements, the U.S. Department of State Refugee Processing Center indicates a number of Myanmar Muslim refugees are finding resettlement options.
The U.S. Department of State Refugee Processing Center indicates that 3,000 Myanmar Muslims refugees have been resettled in the United States of America in the past year, with over 13,000 resettled in the United States since 2002. While it is progress that an increasing number have found refuge in the United States, the deep and horrific problems of Myanmar Rohingya Muslims require the attention of the world’s nations, and support for this human rights and refugee crisis. On June 6, we reported that the UNHCR is seeking an additional $13 million to deal with the Southeast Asia boat crisis.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports the universal human rights of all people, including their right to freedom of religion, security, dignity, as well as their right to protect their nationality, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 15.
The world must continue to respond to the human rights crisis in Myanmar, and the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar (Burma). A year ago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Resolution 418 urging the Burmese government to end the persecution of ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims. But in dealing with such human rights crises, words are not enough and the Rohingya Muslim refugees must be given human rights, dignity, and a sanctuary from their oppression in Myanmar.
The progress stands in stark relief to magnitude of the ongoing human rights problem, with literally hundreds of thousands stateless refugees seeking safe conditions, who have fled to Asian countries including Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Rohingya Muslims seeking to cross the Naf river into Bangladesh are turned away by border guards. (Source: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images)
As the U.S. Campaign for Burma states, “The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority living in northern Arakan/Rakhine State in western Burma. They have faced severe persecution and violence at the hands of the state and national governments for decades. There are approximately 1.33 million Rohingya in Burma, but the country’s 1982 Citizenship Law denies them citizenship in spite of the fact that Rohingya have lived in Burma for generations.” “On January 13, 2014, Rakhine mobs and security forces entered Du Chee Yar Tan, Maungdaw Township, and slaughtered over 40 Rohingya. A UN report confirms the gruesome deaths – severed heads of at least 10 Rohingya, some children, were found bobbing in a water tank.” “Forced to venture by boat to trafficking camps on remote Thai islands, the Rohingya are faced with violence, lack of food and water (often forced to drink their own urine), and those who have fallen victim to disease are thrown overboard if dead or close to dying.”
As we previously reported in November 2014, the Fortify Rights group did research concluding that, “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.”
“Of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya that have fled to Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia to escape persecution and adversity, approximately 300,000 Rohingya live in squalid conditions in Bangladesh where they are denied access to food supplies, medical aid, and education.”
We lead in human rights solutions with our hearts and our conscience. These suffering Myanmar Rohingya Muslims must have the same universal human rights as as all other people around the world.
R.E.A.L. reports that the UNHCR is seeking $13 million to step up response to Southeast Asia boat crisis. The UNHCR spokeperson Melissa Fleming provided a press briefing, on June 5, 2015, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva seeking funds for refugees and migrants from Southeast Asia, specifically mentioning the plight of Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing from Myanmar.
“UNHCR is seeking US$13 million to help with the needs of new boat arrivals in South-East Asia, where thousands of refugees and migrants have been crossing the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The appeal was launched yesterday, and is aimed at beefing up our work to do with protection for the nearly 4,800 people from Myanmar and Bangladesh who have been disembarked from smugglers’ boats in the last month. In the latest incident, earlier this week, over 700 people were landed in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. They included some 120 women and children who said they had been at sea for at least three months. With the monsoon season imminent, it’s estimated that thousands of people may still be at sea.”
“UNHCR’s appeal follows from last Friday’s regional meeting of affected States held in Bangkok. It also reflects elements of a 10-point plan of action proposed by UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. The funds will allow UNHCR to step up its response in three main areas: Firstly by helping meet the international protection needs of new boat arrivals, secondly by enhancing information available to people considering the journey, and thirdly by targeting some of the root causes of these movements in source countries. To date, UNHCR’s teams have registered just over 1,000 Rohingya new arrivals in Indonesia. In southern Thailand we have distributed relief supplies and are counseling dozens of new arrivals, while in Malaysia we are scaling up to meet the needs of arrivals once consistent access is provided.”
“Additional resources are needed to set up mobile multi-functional teams to quickly identify and help people with specific protection needs. Refugees who cannot return home will need assurance that they can stay in host countries temporarily with access to legal work until conditions are conducive for voluntary return or until other solutions are found. Where possible, UNHCR will support livelihood programs within national structures to serve the needs of both refugees and host communities.”
“The appeal envisages training for the region’s search-and-rescue officials on international legal principles and protection, and exploration of predictable disembarkation options. UNHCR will also expand its monitoring and reporting on maritime movements to include information campaigns providing factual information to potential travelers about the risks and mistreatment at the hands of smugglers and traffickers. To reduce incentives for people to undertake these dangerous sea journeys, UNHCR will seek legal alternatives such as programs to transition from refugee to migrant status in host countries in need of temporary migrants. A key part of the appeal focuses on mobilizing support for humanitarian, human rights and development needs in source countries to address the root causes of movement. UNHCR is ready to work with the governments to address issues of citizenship and documentation of people in Bangladesh and in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.”
In a display of anti-Islam fever, a group of nearly 200 had a protest in front of the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix mosque in Phoenix, Arizona. The group was led by former U.S. Marine soldier Jon Ritzheimer. While the protest did not result in injuries or deaths, the image of numbers of individuals armed with weapons in front of a house of worship is a disgrace to America’s commitment to our Constitutional rights and our Universal Human Rights.
The media debate about the protest largely was centered on Mr. Ritzheimer and his supporter’s views on Islam. But that is not the real issue in this debate. The unanswered question is his view and his supporters’ views on the Constitution of the United States and our shared universal human rights. Our Constitution’s Bill of Rights protects our freedom of religion (under the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment); the same Constitution which Mr. Ritzheimer made a solemn vow to support and defend. America also is committed to freedom of religion under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 18, signed by the United States on December 10, 1948, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Part III, Article 18, signed by the United States on October 5, 1977, and ratified on June 8, 1992.
In the United States of America, and in international law, freedom of religion is not simply a “good idea.”
Freedom of religion is THE LAW.
Freedom of speech and protest is also THE LAW.
But freedom of speech and protest, while holding an automatic weapon, is no longer “public protest.” It is nothing less than cowardly, despicable threats, which are a disgrace to all Americans, our Constitution, and our universal human rights.
Phoenix, Arizona Protests in front of Islamic Community Center on May 29, 2015 – with Cowards Holding Automatic Weapons (Source: Twitter)
According to the reports, this protest was the result of a terrorist attack on a Texas school earlier in May, during a “Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest,” designed to insult Muslims. As CNN reported, “The Islamic Community Center of Phoenix is the mosque that Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi attended for a time. They’re the men who drove from Arizona to a Dallas suburb to shoot up a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest there. Both were killed by police early this month.” But the rest of the story is that Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi shot at a security guard in an attempted terrorist attack there. That is the violence we have seen from other pro-violent jihad extremists. Those criminals paid the price for their criminal violence with their lives. This does not discount that there may be other extremists supporting Simpson and Soofi; there must continue to be a human rights call to challenge extremists, and even terrorists in every area of this nation. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) reported on and condemned the terrorist acts by Simpson and Soofi in Garland, Texas, and we defended the right to unpopular, contemptible speech by those they attacked. But there is a difference between respecting the freedom of such unpopular speech, and those extremists who take automatic weapons to protest in hate in front of a house of worship.
The idea that over 100 individuals believe that it is acceptable in the United States of America to hold an “armed” protest outside of a house of worship is an insult to the Constitution, and a slur against the laws of this nation and our shared human rights.
If this were any other nation, the images of armed individuals protesting outside of any house of worship would bring the voices of outrage and disgust from human rights activists, the United Nations, and those committed to religious freedom. So it must be, of course, with the United States as well. The number of “armed individuals” appear to be a small minority of the total protesters. Does this matter? If 100 protested outside of a Pakistan Christian church, a European Jewish synagogue, or any other house of worship anywhere in the world, but only a “small minority” of the protesters held machine guns, would this still not be a source for human rights outrage? Of course, it would, and it must, in the United States of America as well.
Furthermore, the vicious language of some of the protesters show their contempt towards the United States’ Constitution and our commitment to universal human rights of freedom of religion. The protest organizer’s call for protesters to bring guns to the event – “[p]eople are also encouraged to utilize there second amendment right at this event” – is an embarrassment to all patriotic Americans who respect our Constitution and our shared freedoms. We were lucky that no one got injured or killed – THIS time. But the failure to be consistent in our support for Constitution and our human rights remains an issue where we must continue to make change.
An Arizona Muslim activist also reported that the Arizona protest supporters included extremists advising participants to bring ammunition “coated in pig blood and fat.” R.E.A.L. has confirmed this with our own investigation as well. This path to hate, depravity, and violence can be reversed. It begins with a consistent support by all Americans for the truths that we hold self-evident, our commitment to our shared human rights, shared human dignity, and in America, our support for the Constitution.
It begins by being Responsible for Equality And Liberty – everywhere, for all of our fellow Americans, and for all of our brothers and sisters in humanity.
In Saudi Arabia, a terrorist bombed the the minority Shia Imam Hussein mosque, the only Shia mosque in the region, resulting in four killed. This terrorist attack comes just a week after another device was detonated by ISIS terrorists in the nearby village of al-Qudeeh, killing 21 mostly Shia Muslims. The ISIS terrorist group since claimed responsibility for the attack on the Facebook page of member stating that a “soldier of the caliphate,” blew himself up among “an evil gathering of those filth in front of one of their shrines in Dammam.”
The four people were killed outside the Shia mosque, by the terrorist, reportedly dressed in a burka, who tried to drive into the mosque and kill worshipers, but was stopped by security. The terrorist detonated the bomb in the car while in the parking area outside of the women’s entrance to the mosque.
Saudi Arabia: ISIS Terrorist Attack on Minority Shia Imam Hussein mosque – Dammam (Source: Reuters)
Terrorist and extremist violence which seeks to deny our universal human rights, our human dignity, and religious freedom has no boundaries. It can strike anywhere against anyone of any faith. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges people of all faiths to stand together united for our shared Universal Human Rights and defy those terrorists of every kind who would deny us the inherent freedom that we share together.
Honorable Eliana Marengo
Court of Québec
Montréal
1 rue Notre-Dame E.
Montréal, Québec H2Y 1B6
Phone: 514-393-2370
Fax: 514-873-8950
Judge Eliana Marengo –
My name is Jeffrey Imm. I am with the volunteer human rights group Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.). I am an American citizen, but our activist efforts for human rights have supported the human rights, dignity, and security for our fellow human beings in Canada before, and we are doing so again in this case.
I am writing you regarding the human rights of Rania El-Alloul, and your ejection of her from the Montreal courtroom until she removes her hijab. This was not a case of someone covering their face or hiding their identity. This was simply a matter of someone with a head-covering, which was part of their religious beliefs.
I am certain you have heard at this point from Canadian Prime Minster Harper’s office on your decision to prevent this Muslim woman from testifying in a Canadian court of law.
I will address this issue to you based on the Montreal court’s responsibility to respect international law, human rights, religious freedom, and standards of legal justice, based on United Nations’ agreements and treaties signed by Canada. Based on such international standing, Responsible for Equality And Liberty requests your court to allow Rania El-Alloul to proceed with the court proceedings, while respecting her religious freedom and associated dress.
A. Montreal Court’s Responsibility to Respect International Law, Treaties, and Human Rights Agreed to by Canada
The Montreal court certainly has its rules and regulations, as do all courts. But the courts of law of our world must begin with a shared understanding and commitment to our universal human rights.
Your nation, Canada, is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) accepted by the United Nations and your country on December 10, 1948. This includes Canada’s May 19, 1976 accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171.
Our standing on this matter is as fellow global citizens within the community of nations who are also accountable to our nations’ agreements on the UDHR and the ICCPR.
If the Montreal court rules are used to reject these international treaties and standards of human rights, then the United Nations and countries of the world need to seek accountability for change in Montreal through the Canadian government. I urge you to reconsider your position on the case of Rania El-Alloul, as a responsible Canadian and citizen of the world, who respects and defends law and order.
Based on Canada’s commitment to the UDHR and the ICCPR, it is the responsibility of Canadian courts of law to recognize and respect the international human rights standards and treaties that your nation has agreed to.
The UDHR and ICCPR are not for some nations, some people, some religions, and some instances. As stated in Article 28 of the UDHR, which Canada is a signatory to, you have a responsibility to recognize the rights of the UDHR in your nation. Canada’s commitment to UDHR includes UDHR Article 28, which states: “Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.”
Canada’s international treaty commitment in the ICCPR Article 3 includes that: “The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set forth in the present Covenant.”
B. Montreal Court’s Responsibility to Respect Religious Freedom Defined in International Law, Treaties, and Human Rights Agreed to by Canada
Canada’s commitment to the UDHR also respects the religious freedoms of all people, per Article 18. UDHR Article 18 states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
Canada’s commitment to the ICCPR Article 18 echoes this message: “1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.” and “2. No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.”
These articles of the UDHR and ICCPR apply to all nations, all cities, and to all courts, including the Montreal courtroom. Rania El-Alloul’s religious freedoms should not be abrogated because she seeks law and order in a Montreal courtroom. This is a rejection of Canada’s commitment to the UDHR, a rejection of law and order under the ICCPR treaty, and a rejection of the standards of legal fairness which must be the basis for such courts of law.
C. Montreal Court’s Responsibility to Respect International Standard of Law and Court Proceedings Agreed to by Canada
Canada’s commitment to the UDHR also respects the standards of fair equitable hearings and court proceedings for all people, per Article 10. UDHR Article 10 states: “Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.”
Canada’s commitment to the ICCPR includes ICCPR Article 14, which states: “1. All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.” ICCPR Article 14 also states numerous other guarantees, which are required to ensure fairness and impartiality in any criminal trials.
In addition, Canada’s commitment to the ICCPR includes ICCPR Article 26, which states that “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
Furthermore, Canada’s commitment to the ICCPR includes ICCPR Article 27, which states that “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.”
Your honor, these are not my subjective views or my opinions, which I am sure you have heard plenty of. These are the written standards and treaties, which the Government of Canada has agreed to in its role within the community of nations of the world.
Honorable Eliana Marengo, I send this letter to you with my respect for your authority. We must have rules to have order in our society. That is precisely the point that I making here in my letter to you. We must have rules. If we ever hope to any semblance of justice in Canada or anywhere else in the world, we must have consistency in those rules that is in accordance with the international law and treaties accepted by our nations, in this case the ones signed by the Canadian government, under which Montreal and its courts gets their authority.
Rules are rules, your Honor, and the law is the law. This is not just for the rest of the world, but also for Canada, and also for Montreal. That law is defined and constrained not only by regional and parochial regulations, but also by the international commitment which our countries have made as a civilized and unified community of nations. Those international rules are rules, your honor, and those international treaties and laws are law.
A position for consistency cannot merely argue that we are consistent with the standards we consider important; they must also be consistent with the standards which our nations and our collective community of nations agree to and accept for the people of the world.
I send you this letter with respect for your position and your authority, as well as your sense of honor in respecting the law, not just Montreal law, not just Canadian law, but all of the law our nations have agreed to. Rules are rules. The law is the law.
I am available to speak further with you on this. I am sure there are plenty of individuals well qualified to speak with you on this, but in support of our universal human rights, an “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” As previously mentioned, our standing on this matter is as fellow global citizens within the community of nations who are also accountable to our nations’ agreements on the UDHR and the ICCPR. We share your responsibility for upholding the law and rules that our nations have agreed to. We are all responsible for equality and liberty.
I look forward to your commitment to consistency on our shared law and our shared rules, and your court allowing Rania El-Alloul to proceed with the court proceedings.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Imm
Founder, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
United States of America
————————————————————–
Rania El-Alloul says she was told by a Quebec judge to remove her headscarf immediately or apply for a postponement in order to consult a lawyer. (Source: CBC)
BBC reports on an atrocity in western Iraq Al Anbar Governate’s town of al-Baghdadi. BBC reports that “Violent Extremist militants from Islamic State (IS) have burned to death 45 people in the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, the local police chief says.” BBC also indicates “The fighting and poor communications in the area make it difficult to confirm such reports.”
If confirmed, this is likely the burning to death of 45 Muslims (Sunni) by a global terrorist organization which claims its goal to create an “Islamic State.” Wikipedia reports that: “Nearly all the inhabitants of the province are Sunni Muslims and mostly from the Dulaim tribe.”
As more information is available, R.E.A.L. will update this posting. It is astounding that such a gruesome mass murder likely of Sunni Muslims is going with limited reporting.
This demonstrates again the priority of our defending our human rights and human dignity for all of our fellow human beings. Those who reject such shared human rights will sink to any level to deny and degrade our fellow human beings.
