Wisconsin: Waukesha Teens Appear In Court For Hate Crime
— ABC reports: “Police said Kurtis Hickey, Dylan Barnett, and Thor Eggum burned a swastika and the letters KKK into a Waukesha basketball court.”
— “Police said the three didn’t like African Americans playing on the courts.”
— TMJ Channel 4 reports: “Three Teens Charged with Racist Vandalism in Waukesha”
— “Kurtis Hickey, Dylan Barnett and Thor Eggum all faced a judge on the same criminal charge.”
— “Police say in the criminal complaint that Hickey started the fire ‘due to his hate for blacks.'”
— “He goes on to say he knew the ‘KKK’ and swastika would ‘bring about a bad feeling when black people saw these symbols.'”
— “The complaint also reveals that Hickey and Eggum admitted to being racist.”
Category: Uncategorized
Congo: UN criticized on Congo offensive
Congo: UN criticized on Congo offensive
— BBC reports: “A joint report by several international aid agencies said the mission had had ‘disastrous’ humanitarian consequences.”
— “It said the offensive against ethnic Hutu rebels in eastern DR Congo had caused widespread killings and rape.”
— “The Congolese and international lobby groups said the UN needed to take immediate action to protect civilians.”
— “The Congo Advocacy Coalition report said disarming the Hutu rebels is a top priority – but that for every rebel who has been disarmed this year, one civilian has been killed, seven women or girls raped, and 900,000 people made homeless.”
— DR Congo: Civilian Cost of Military Operation is Unacceptable
Iranian Journalists Flee, Fearing Retribution for Covering Protests
Iranian Journalists Flee, Fearing Retribution for Covering Protests
— NYT reports:
— “Mr. Maleki, 29, is one of dozens of reporters, photographers and bloggers who have either fled Iran or are trying to flee in the aftermath of the disputed June presidential election. Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based organization that promotes press freedom and monitors the safety of journalists, said the number of journalists leaving Iran was the largest since the years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.”
— “The wave of departures reflects the journalists’ anxiety over the retribution many of them have faced for reporting on the government’s violent suppression of the post-election protests. As bloody clashes unfolded in the streets of Tehran, the government went to great lengths to restrict the flow of information to the outside world. Foreign journalists were banned, and local reporters and photographers were warned to stay at home.”
UK: “Honor killing girl ‘wanted love'” — Tulay Goren trial – reportedly tortured by father before killed
— BBC: “Honour killing girl ‘wanted love'”
— “A teenager allegedly murdered by her father in a so-called ‘honour killing’ hated her family and wanted to run away, a court has heard.
— “Tulay Goren, 15, a Kurdish Turk from Woodford Green, north London, vanished in 1999 and her body has never been found, the Old Bailey has been told.”
— “Her boyfriend at the time, Halil Unal, 41, told the jury she said she wanted ‘a man who will love me and marry me'”
— “He recalled the time he met Tulay at Stratford bus station, in east London after she had been beaten.”
— “‘I saw that she had bruising to her eye. She told me that her father tortured her and beat her and that her uncle Cuma was pressuring her.'”
— “Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, said Tulay was killed ‘to restore the so-called honour’ of the family, who originate from Turkey.”
— “The court heard Mr Unal was brought up as a Sunni Muslim while the Gorens were from the Alevi branch of the faith.”
— BBC reports: “He added: ‘In our honour customs, they are either going to finish off, kill the girl, or they are going to kill both of them. That is definite.'”
— BBC reports: “The prosecution says Tulay was killed ‘to restore the so-called honour’ of the family, as a relationship between she and Mr Unal – who are from different sects of Islam – ‘would not have been tolerated'”
— Daily Mail: “Schoolgirl ‘was tortured by her father’ before she was murdered in honour killing”
Women in Alevism
— “According to Australian anthropologist Dr. Sevgi Kilic, while Alevi women do not experience gender segregation in the private and public domain they are subject to traditional male values about women’s sexuality and constructed within the honour/shame paradigm”
Philippines: Elderly Irish Priest Kidnapped ‘By Muslim Gunmen’ — Father Michael Sinnott — Missionary Group Calls for Your Action
Missionary Society of St. Columban report: “Fr. Michael Sinnott Kidnapped in the Philippines”
Missionary Society – Microsoft Word Report on Fr. Sinnott Kidnapping
“Dear Friends,
“As some of you may already know, Columban Fr. Mick Sinnott was kidnapped in the Philippines on Sunday. We ask for your prayers and your action. We have attached two letters, one to send to the Philippine Ambassador and one for Secretary of State Hilary Clinton requesting that peaceful measures be taken to negotiate for his release. We ask that you respond in all due haste, as Fr. Sinnott has a heart condition and is, as far as we know, without his medication.”
“We have received word that actions are being taken in the Philippines. Bishop Manny Cabajar has attended a crisis meeting of various provincial/ government/police personnel and was informed that an intensive search is underway. ”
sinnot_action_alert_letter_clinton
sinnot_action_alert_letter_gaa
“Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach”
“Missionary Society of St. Columban”
“1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 405”
“Silver Spring, MD 20910”
“301-565-4547”
Recommended Action Alert Faxes to Secretary of State Clinton and Ambassador Gaa
October 12, 2009
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Fax: 202-647-8947
Dear Secretary Clinton:
It is with deep concern that I write to inform you of the recent abduction of an Irish missionary priest, Columban Fr. Michael Sinnott in Pagadian, Philippines. According to reports, he was kidnapped from his home on October 11, 2009 at approximately 7:20 p.m. local time. Fr. Sinnott was taken away in a vehicle by 4-6 men. The vehicle was later abandoned and burned. It is believed that the abductors took Fr. Sinnott to a speed boat and fled across Pagadian Bay.
I am writing as a person deeply concerned for Fr. Sinnott’s safety. Columban missionaries are deeply committed to the well-being of the people of the Philippines. Fr. Sinnott has lived for 40 years in the Philippines, and one of his most recent ministries has been in a school for children and young adults with special needs in Pagadian City.
We ask that all peaceful measures be taken to locate Fr. Sinnott and negotiate his release.
Thank you in advance for your attention to this most urgent request.
Yours sincerely,
October 12, 2009
Ambassador Willy C. Gaa
Fax: 202-467-9417
Dear Mr. Ambassador Gaa,
It is with deep concern that I write to inform you of the recent abduction of an Irish missionary priest, Columban Fr. Michael Sinnott in Pagadian, Philippines. According to reports, he was kidnapped from his home on October 11, 2009 at approximately 7:20 p.m. local time. Fr. Sinnott was taken away in a vehicle by 4-6 men. The vehicle was later abandoned and burned. It is believed that the abductors then took Fr. Sinnott to a speed boat and fled across Pagadian Bay.
I am writing as a person deeply concerned for Fr. Sinnott’s safety. Columban missionaries are deeply committed to the well-being of the people of the Philippines. Fr. Sinnott has lived for 40 years in the Philippines, and one of his most recent ministries has been in a school for children and young adults with special needs in Pagadian City.
We ask that all peaceful measures be taken to locate Fr. Sinnott and negotiate his release.
Thank you in advance for your attention to this most urgent request.
Yours sincerely,
October 13 News Media Reports:
Navy tries to seal off Irish priest’s kidnappers
— AFP: “Philippine navy gunboats were deployed and road blocks set up Tuesday to block the escape route of suspected Islamic militants who abducted an elderly Irish priest, authorities said.”
— Inquirer.net: “Military reports indicating the priest, who is two months short of his 80th birthday, was alive came amid concerns from his colleagues that Sinnott, who had a quadruple heart bypass several years ago, may not survive the ordeal.”
— London Times: “An Irish priest who was kidnapped in the southern Philippines earlier this week has been seen alive in an area known to be a stronghold of Muslim militants, a military official said. ‘The victim and his kidnappers were sighted in Lanao del Sur,’ General Dolorfino told reporters, but he declined to give specific details so as not to jeopardise a rescue attempt.”
— London Telegraph: “Father Michael Sinnott, an elderly Irish priest kidnapped in the southern Philippines, has been seen alive in an area known to be a stronghold of Muslim militants, a military official has said”
— Chronology of Abu Sayyaf kidnappings
— Manila Bulletin: “MILF denies involvement in Irish priest’s abduction”
October 12 News Media Reports:
Daily Mail: Irish priest, 78, taken hostage ‘by Muslim gunmen’ in Philippines — Father Michael Sinnott
— Daily Mail reports: “Six gunmen dragged the Rev. Michael Sinnott into a van in front of his horrified aides at his compound in Pagadian City on Mindano island in the south of the country”
— Search operations for abducted Irish priest underway in Mindanao
— London Times: “Irish missionary Michael Sinnott kidnapped from convent in Philippines”
Pakistan Christians Call for Justice while Extremists Oppose Changes in “Blasphemy Law”
Pakistani Christians reject US aid, demand justice
— Christianity Today reports: “Gojra Christians in Pakistan, the victims of the recent attacks by Islamic militants have rejected U.S. aid, and instead demanded that case registered against 129 of them be withdrawn first and justice restored.
Karachi: Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) stages rally to oppose changes in blasphemy law
Jordan: Jail for Jordan ‘honour killing’
Jordan: Jail for Jordan ‘honour killing’
— BBC: “A 21-year-old Jordanian man has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for killing his married sister over an alleged affair, court officials said”
— “He was charged with premeditated murder for stabbing his 18-year-old sister 26 times with a kitchen knife last year.”
— “He claimed he wanted to restore his family’s honour.”
Georgia: Billboard outside Georgia restaurant uses N-word to deride Obama health care policy plan
Canada: Anti-racism group protests alleged neo-Nazis
Canada: Anti-racism group protests alleged neo-Nazis – in Calgary neighborhood of Bridgeland
California: Youths suspected of anti-Semitic vandalism
California: Youths suspected of anti-Semitic vandalism
— Orange County Register reports:
— “MISSION VIEJO Authorities suspect that local juveniles were responsible for vandalizing two stop signs in a gated Mission Viejo neighborhood with anti-Semitic symbols.”
— “Overnight, a swastika was spray-painted onto a sign at Rustic Oak and Woodcreek, and “KKK” was painted on a sign at Applegate and Canyon Crest, Sheriff’s Sgt. Rich Himmel said.”