— Indonesia’s Aceh passes law on stoning to death
— AP reports: “Adulterers can be stoned to death and homosexuality is punishable by steep prison terms under a new law passed unanimously by lawmakers in Indonesia’s devoutly Muslim Aceh province Monday.”
— “The law, which reinforces the province’s already strict Islamic laws, is to go into effect within 30 days. Its passage comes two weeks before a new assembly led by the moderate Aceh Party is sworn in following a heavy defeat of conservative Muslim parties in local elections.”
— “Aceh, where Islam first arrived in Indonesia from Saudi Arabia centuries ago, enjoys semiautonomy from the central government. A long-running Islamic insurgency in the province ended in 2005 in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 130,000 there.”
— “A version of Islamic law, or Shariah, that had been introduced in Aceh in 2001 already bans gambling, drinking alcohol and makes it compulsory for women to wear headscarves. Dozens of public canings have been carried out by the local Shariah police against violators of that law”
— “… the most hotly disputed article was on adultery and states that offending married couples can be punished by a minimum of 100 lashings and a maximum of stoning to death.”
— “‘The stoning to death is the toughest punishment included in the (new) Shariah law,’ said Bahrom Rasjid, one of the drafters and a member of the United Development Party, after its passage.”
— “It also imposes severe prison terms for other behavior considered morally unacceptable, including homosexuality, which will be punishable by public lashings and more than eight years in prison.”
— “Aceh Vice Governor Muhamad Nazar said that even though his office opposed the clause on stoning to death it has no legal power to block it. “Whatever law is passed we have to enforce it,’ he said.”
— AFP report – Indonesia: Adulterers face stoning — “The law replaces elements of the civil code with sharia or Islamic law. It stipulates punishments of up to 100 lashes of the cane for an unmarried person who commits adultery and death by stoning for a married person.”
— AFP: “The Islamic code was introduced under a broad autonomy package granted by Indonesia’s central Government in 2001 to pacify the hardline Muslim region’s demand for independence.”
Turkish father goes on trial over son’s gay “honour killing”
— DPA reports: “A Turkish father accused of murdering his homosexual son in a so-called ‘honour killing’ went on trial in the Uskudar municipality of Istanbul Tuesday.”
— “Yahya Yildiz, 49 – who is on the run and is being tried in absentia – is accused of shooting his 26-year-old son Ahmet in June 2008 after the latter told him about his relationship with a man from Cologne in Germany. ”
— “Ibrahim Can, the victim’s German-Turkish boyfriend, demanded that those who had helped the murderer also be prosecuted. But, he said, ‘my expectations from the trial are minimal’. ”
— news reports:
— “On Sunday, August 23, the St. Elmo United Methodist church on St. Elmo Avenue in Chattanooga went up in flames.”
— “Church members suspect that hate had something to do with what the 70 federal, state, and local officials are investigating.”
— “St. Elmo resident Charles King told Chattanooga News Channel 12 that ‘KKK’ was spray painted on the church’s sign just months ago.”
— BBC: Anti-gay attacks on rise in Iraq
— “So-called honour killings also account for deaths where families punish their own kin in order to avoid public shame.”
— “Witnesses say vigilante groups break into homes and pick people up in the street, interrogating them to extract the names of other potential victims, before murdering them.”
— “Recently, posters appeared in Sadr City – a conservative, Shia area of Baghdad – calling on people to watch out for gay men and listing not only their names but also their addresses.”
— “One gay man in Baghdad described the killing campaign as a witch-hunt.”
— “Nearly 90 gay men have been killed in Iraq since the beginning of January and many more are missing, local gay rights campaigners say.”
— “The report, called They want us exterminated: Murder, Torture, Sexual Orientation and Gender in Iraq, says horrifically mutilated bodies of gay men have been left on rubbish tips.”
— “Sometimes their bodies are daubed with offensive terms such as ‘pervert,’ or ‘puppy’ which is a hate word for gay men in Iraq.”
— “The report contains detailed testimonies of a range of brutal treatment of gay Iraqi men.”
— “‘We’ve heard stories confirmed by doctors of men having their anuses glued and then being force-fed laxatives which leads to a very painful death,’ says Ms Moumneh told the BBC.”
Compass reports: “Pakistan – Christians Burned to Death in Islamist Attacks”
— “14 believers reportedly killed; more than 100 homes burned in Gojra town, Korian village”
— “extremists today set ablaze more than 50 houses and a church in this town in northeastern Pakistan following an accusation of ‘blasphemy’ of the Quran, leaving at least 14 Christians dead, sources said.”
— “The dead include women and children, with several other burn victims unable to reach hospitals for medical care, according to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement.”
— “The attack came amid a protest by thousands of Muslim Islamists — including members of banned militant groups — that resulted in another six people dying when participants shot at police and officers responded with tear gas and gunfire.”
— “The same rumor of desecration of the Quran that led to today’s massive protest and attack in Gojra, 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Faisalabad, also prompted an arson assault on Thursday (July 30) by extremists on the village of Korian, seven miles from Gojra, that gutted 60 houses.”
— “Punjab Minister for Law Rana Sanaullah reportedly said an initial investigation of allegations of the Quran being blasphemed indicated ‘there has not been any incident of desecration.'”
Daily Telegraph reports: “Pakistan faces Christian protest after eight people ‘burned alive'”
— “Missionary schools across Pakistan closed on Monday in a three day protest against the deaths of up to seven Christians who were burned alive in clashes with Muslims”
— “Two children – a brother and sister aged six and 13 – their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were among those killed in violence that broke out in Gojra in Punjab province on Saturday”
— “One report said that six Christians died in flames, while two were killed by gunshots”
— “Muslims torched Christians’ homes following unsubstantiated allegations some of them had desecrated the Koran. Some 40 homes were burned down.”
— “Paramilitary troops and other security forces were patrolling the city Monday.”
— “Gojra is in Pakistan’s Faisalabad region, which is dotted with hard-line Islamist schools.”
— “Government officials have said preliminary investigations showed there was no desecration of the Koran and that a ‘rumour’ was being exploited by anti-state elements to create chaos.”
— “‘Christian schools will remain closed for three days from today to mourn the death of innocent people in Gojra,’ said Bishop Sadiq Daniel, head of the Church of Pakistan diocese in Karachi and southwestern Baluchistan province. ‘There is no proof of blasphemy, but if someone has done that he, and not the entire community, should be punished.'”
— “Desecration of the Koran is punishable by death in Pakistan.”
— “While Christian schools and colleges in Punjab are largely closed for summer vacation, they were set to reopen in Pakistan’s biggest city of Karachi on Monday.”
— “Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim country and religious minorities, including Christians, account for roughly 4 percent of the 170 million population.”
Dawn reports: Negligence of officials blamed for Gojra riots
— “They protested against attacks on their houses and burning alive of seven members of their community by a mob”
— “Violence had broken out in a Gojra village on Thursday after an alleged incident of desecration of the Holy Quran during a wedding ceremony”
— “The arrested men include Qari Abdul Khaliq Kashmiri, a leader of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan”
Pakistan Daily Times reports: Sipah Sahaba “used acid and petrol bombs to destroy property and kill Christian women and children, while the local government and police simply did nothing”
—- but Pakistan Daily Times does not condemn blasphemy law
Times of India reports: 9 killed in communal violence in Pakistan’s Punjab province
— “Hundreds of Muslims gathered this morning and marched towards Christian homes at Azafi Abadi village, 160 km from Lahore. Witnesses said at least three persons were killed and some others injured when police fired at a mob that was trying to forcibly enter the homes of Christians”
— “A mob had on Friday burnt over 70 houses of Christians at Azafi Abadi over an alleged incident of desecration of the Quran. Muslims set on fire another 15 houses of Christians on Saturday.”
IPT: DC – “‘Mainstream’ Islamist Convention Features Hate Speech” — ISNA Convention
— IPT reports: “During a “meet the authors” session, Imam Warith Deen Umar, former head of the New York state prison chaplain program managed to:”
— “Argue that key Obama aides are ‘Israeli,’ proving Jews ‘have control of the world'”
— “Malign the motives of Jews active in the Civil Rights movement”
— “Portray the Holocaust as punishment of Jews for being ‘serially disobedient to Allah'”
— “Insinuate that Hurricane Katrina was a result of tolerance for homosexuality”
(India) Muslim leaders unite against move to repeal Section 377 — a “development that could sap the government’s enthusiasm for a relook at the law criminalising homosexuality”
— India Muslim leaders: “We are shocked to see reports in the media that the Union government is considering the repeal of Section 377 of the IPC, which means making homosexuality legal”
— India ends ban on homosexuals
— “An Indian court has overturned a 148-year-old colonial law banning homosexual relationships saying it was an affront to human dignity.”
