The people we pray to do not need us to wave our upraised fists; they need us to set an example by our outstretched hands, even to those who offend us.
Pakistan: Human Rights, Religious Freedom, and Pope Francis’ Remarks
To those who have actively shared the struggle for our universal human rights within Pakistan and around the world, we have seen how those “offended” by comments regarding their religion can lead to denial of freedom, imprisonment, violence, and death, including denial of freedom of religion itself. Our universal human rights and the laws of free nations must reject any acceptance of violence as a “normal” response against those who feel their religious views are offended.
On January 16, 2015, in response to a question on the recent terror attacks in Paris, CBS News and other media have reported that Roman Catholic Pope Francis made remarks that “One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith.” Pope Francis continued, “If Dr. Gasbarri, a great friend, says a swear word against my mother, he’s going to get a punch in the nose. That’s normal, it’s normal. One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith.” Pope Francis concluded that: “There are so many people who speak badly about religions, who make fun of them… they are provocateurs. And what happens to them is what would happen to (my dear friend) if he says a word against my mother.”
Many would like to dismiss Pope Francis’ comments as unimportant, given the Pope’s condemnation later that “one cannot make war (or) kill in the name of one’s own religion.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) respectfully disagrees with Pope France that insults to other people’s faith could “normally” expect a “punch in the nose.” With all due respect to Pope Francis and his 1.2 billion Roman Catholic worshipers, R.E.A.L. disagrees, based on our universal human rights, and based on the laws in free nations. Moreover. we have seen what happen in nations which abandon such universal human rights and who reject such freedoms, such as Pakistan.
The reality is, certainly in Pakistan, that those “offended” by debate over religious views have led to rules of blasphemy to control public discourse. These rules of blasphemy have been used to conduct a war on other faiths, and have allowed “killing in the name of one’s religion.” Yet it started with the simple view that such violence against “provocateurs” who offended your religious views was “normal” and somehow acceptable.
Pope Francis’ statement that such violence is a “normal” response to those who “insult other people’s faith” is a serious challenge – especially for Pakistan Christians and other religious minorities struggling for freedom and survival in Pakistan. In Pakistan, we have seen the human rights and religious freedom challenges that result from the type of thinking Pope Francis suggests, and how it has migrated into an oppressive blasphemy law and religious oppression and violence. This has included oppression and violence against Roman Catholics, among other people of faith.
In the nation of Pakistan, those who “insult” the Islamic faith (as defined by the government) are subject to criminal prosecution of “blasphemy,” under the oppressive Pakistan penal code Section 295-C. There is no real definition for what such “blasphemy” is; this allows it to become the opinion of whoever chooses to use this law to oppress others’ human rights. This “blasphemy” law and the social environment it promotes has been used to oppress, harass, and kill people of various religions, all “in the name of one’s own religion.”
Pakistan government minister Shahbaz Bhatti opposed this Pakistan law within the government. He was the only Christian member of the Cabinet in Pakistan. For his stand, Shahbaz Bhatti was shot to death in March 2011. In January 2011, the governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer (a Muslim), was also murdered for speaking out and challenging the Pakistan blasphemy law. Salman Taseer was shot 27 times by his own security guard, and 500 Pakistan clerics sought to ban public attendance at his funeral.
Pakistan Christian woman Asia Bibi (Aasiya Noreen) was convicted of “blasphemy” by a Pakistan court and has been on death row for over four years, despite the efforts of decent and courageous individuals struggling for her freedom. She was imprisoned because of an argument with some other women who were offended that such an “unclean” minority Christian would be drinking the same water as the Muslim women. When her religion was offended, she argued with them, and she was threatened with being charged with blasphemy if she did not convert to Islam. She refused this threat, and refused to renounce her religion. She was then charged with blasphemy. Since as a non-Muslim, her testimony was not as valuable as a Muslim’s testimony, she was convicted, and given the death penalty.
People around the world continue to struggle for her Asia Bibi’s freedom, and the former Pope Benedict spoke out for her. In respecting her oppression for religious freedom and her personal struggle for survival, surely her fellow Christians and Christian leaders can stand firm in rejecting the idea that it is never “normal” for violence and oppression against those who “offend” someone’s religious views.
Governor Salman Taseer spoke out in support of calling for her freedom, which cost him his life. This is what happens when it becomes “normal” in a society to allow violence to those who offend one’s religion, Pope Francis. This is the cost.
The blasphemy law took part in what many human rights activists have called the “Black Day” in Pakistan, when a false blasphemy charge was issued against two teenage brothers in the Punjabi city of Gojra. But the charges never made it to court. A mob of 20,000 “religiously offended” individuals marched to Gojra, Faisalabad and in the nearby village of Korian, known as “the Christian Colony” in 2009 and burned it to the ground, burning churches, homes, and killing the elderly, women, and children, most burned to death. More than 60 homes were destroyed, and 8 Christians murdered, with many more injured.
In response, human rights activists and Christians protested at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, and a year later an interfaith group held a remembrance to reject the blasphemy law in Washington DC. But over four years later, the lessons of Gojra have still not be learned. As of 2013, the Pakistan Christian Post reported that the murders who were “religiously offended” and who murdered Gojra Christians continued to remain free.
In November 2014, another Pakistan mob of 1,200 people claimed “blasphemy” that they were “religiously offended” as a justification to publicly torture and murder a Christian couple, Sajjad Maseeh and Shama Bibi, in front of their young children. They tortured the couple, broke their legs, and burned them alive, while the murderous mob chanted religious slogans from the Qur’an. The armed police stood by and did nothing to the unarmed crowd, and the remainder of the “police response” came after the couple was dead.
Christian brothers Pastor Rashid Emmanuel and his brother Sajid were arrested for blasphemy because a pamphlet had their name on it, and was allegedly disrespectful. They never made it to court. They were shot down in broad daylight while on the court steps. Those Christians who protested their murder were tear-gassed to silence them.
Pakistan Christians Shagufta Kausar and her disabled husband Shafqat Emmanuel were given a death sentence on blasphemy based on claims that blasphemous text messages were issued on a mobile phone that she had lost. The Pakistan Christian Post reports that during court hearings it was learned that the couple are “not educated and unable to send text messages in English and police failed to produce any forensic evidence of cell phone record and police tortured to get guilty plea from their clients.”
The Pakistan’s blasphemy law is also used to oppress other Muslims and people of other faiths.
British Ahmadiyya Muslim man, Masud Ahmad, was targeted for blasphemy as a member of a minority Muslim faith, and his “crime” was being tricked into reading the Qur’an in a public space. Thankfully, he was freed in April 2014, but he has a first hand memory of the ordeal of what religious intolerance will do to people.
Muslim Muhammad Asghar was also arrested and faced death penalty for letters he had which were viewed as “blasphemous,” and he was shot in jail by a police officer.
After being released from “blasphemy” charges, another Muslim, Abid Mehmood, was shot to death 25 miles from Pakistan’s capital.
Nor does this blasphemy” oppression only extend to the average person, Pakistan’s Ambassador to U.S. Sherry Rehman was accused of “blasphemy” in 2013.
Pakistan courts are also calling for the arrest of individuals living in foreign countries for “blasphemy” such as actress Veena Malik, who is living in the United Arab Emirates.
In recent years, there have been many others oppressed by Pakistan’s blasphemy law, including
— Hector Aleem a Christian human rights activist in Pakistan
— Raja Fiaz, Muhammad Bilal, Nazar Zakir Hussain, Qazi Farooq, Muhammad Rafique, Muhammad Saddique and Ghulam Hussain – who were imprisoned for blasphemy and “forced to parade naked, and were suspended from the ceiling and beaten.”
— Shahid Nadeem in the missionary school of Faisalabad
— Ayub Masih, Pakistan Christian
— Dr. M. Younus Shaikh M.D.
— Mohammad Younus Shaikh of Kharadar, Pakistan.
At the moment you read this, there are people hiding, running for their lives, and living in daily oppression because of wild accusations of “blasphemy” made against them by someone with a grudge or someone who rejected them because they had a different religious faith. Many are Christians or other religious minorities living in oppression, in fear, and perhaps fleeing for their lives. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has been contacted directly about such Pakistan individuals in hiding due to their fear of blasphemy charges. I would urge Pope Francis to hear their cries, and consider the oppression that such a view that violence is “normal” for those whose religious views are offended.
In this context, how does the argument by Pope Francis sound that it is “normal” to seek to respond with violence to those who “offend” your religious views? It is not a “theoretical” issue to our brothers and sisters suffering in Pakistan today. It is the painful reality for Christians, Hindus, minority Muslims, Sikhs, and all other people oppressed in Pakistan.
But the oppression of religious minorities and others by those whose religious views are “offended” does not end with only blasphemy charges and mob violence.
“Provocations” by words and pictures are not the only source of “offense” to some who view their religion is “offended.” In fact, we know that there are those who claim they are “offended” and “provoked” simply by the practice of another religion in their city, their state, their nation. Acts of worship by people of other religions are viewed by some as a “provocation,” “insult,” and “offense” to some. As I have described in other articles, the view by some extremists is that the very act of worship by another, different religious faith is an “offense” and “provocation” to the extremist religious groups and individuals.
Throughout Pakistan, we have seen minority religious groups’ houses of worship attacked, burned, and bombed by those “offended” by the act of worship by others – by a wide range of groups rationalizing sectarian violence based on “offense” to their religion, Christians, Ahmadis, Shiites, Hindus, and other faiths.
In Peshawar, the All Saints’ Church was attacked during a Sunday Christian worship service, by two suicide bombers, who murderous attack resulted in 80 dead and 150 injured.
In Gojra, the “Black Day to Freedom” attacks included burning of a Christian church as part of the mob of 20,000 attacking that Christian area.
In Karachi, the Nasri Pentecostal Church in Shah Latif Town was attacked, vandalized, with Bibles burned, with another church bombed in Cantonment Area of Mardan City.
In Wah Cantt, the St. Thomas Roman Catholic parish was attacked, and attempts were made to burn it down.
There are so many more attacks on Christian houses of worship in Pakistan – attacks on the St. Dominic Church Bahawalpur, Islamabad Protestant Church, Chianwali-Daska Sialkot Church, Sangla Hill Church, churches attacked in Karachi and Sukkur, St. George Grecian Church. The grim list of terrorist intolerance by those who are “offended” goes on and on. This is not an encyclopedic study, nor is it intended to be. But the point is that human rights and security problems in a nation which legalizes “blasphemy” become nearly endless.
For the sake of my Catholic Christian friends, I first pointed out how this perspective on “religious offense” is a life and death struggle for their fellow Christians. But such oppression certainly does not end only with Pakistan Christians, and it continues to other religious minorities and people in Pakistan.
The attacks on houses of worship of religious minorities extends to Ahmadiyya, Shia, Hindu, Sufi, and other houses of worship. In addition to this violence, the sectarian violence throughout Pakistan extends to every part of the state: targeted killings, violence in markets, processions, other public areas, as well as kidnappings, and forced religious conversions.
This has included:
— In Lahore, terrorist attacks on two Ahmadiyya Muslim mosques, with grim and horrific casualties during Friday prayers by two suicide bombers, killing nearly 100 worshipers
— In Parachina, near a Shi’ite mosque, suicide bombers killed 8 and wounded 7
— In Rawalpindi, terrorist attack during worship in the Chitian Hatian area at a Shia Imambargah mosque and worship hall.
— In 2010 and 2011, 128 people were killed and 443 were injured in 22 attacks on Sufi shrines and tombs of saints and religious people in Pakistan, most of them Sufi in orientation
— In Sindh, the burning of a Hindu temple in the Tando Mohammad Khan area
— In Larkana, the burning of a Hindu temple and a dharmashala in Jinnah Bagh Chowk area
— In Hyderabad, the burning of a Hindu temple near Fateh Chowk in Hyderabad, Sindh
It is notable, that when those “offended” by the religious practices of others burn and bomb the houses of worship of other faiths, the burned out remains look very much alike.
Such bombings and burning of diverse house of worship are all “terrorist” violence, which all sane people reject. This includes, of course, Pope Francis and all rational leaders who reject offensive comments to our religions also condemn. Pope Francis has specifically spoken against such terrorist violence and condemned this.
Pope Francis’ comments only indicated that someone who was provoked by those offending their religion, could reasonably expect a “punch in the nose,” for their offense, and that this was “normal.” Such comments may seem “harmless” to some.
But the pathway from the religiously pious offended giving a “punch in the nose” and the silencing of remarks considering offensive to religious leaders is a very short path to legalized and social “blasphemy” oppression. That is what has become “normal” in Pakistan.
When this becomes “normal” in a society, the next steps to routine terrorist violence against those whose other religious practice “offends” others becomes yet a new and more destructive “normal,” as we have sadly seen in Pakistan and other parts of the world. Then, burning a Christian church and blowing up a minority Muslim faith’s mosque becomes “normal” in such oppressive societies which lack the universal human rights which all human beings must have, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the human rights of security and dignity.
We must learn the lesson of the mistakes in Pakistan of how wrong this path is for our shared human rights, human dignity, and security.
There has been blood literally running in the streets in Pakistan and in nations around world – all based on the view – that if someone offends your religious beliefs, there is a right to deny their human rights, there is a right to commit violence against them, there is a right to kill such individuals.
The nations of the world, the religious leaders of the world, and the government leaders of the world must reject such views without question and without qualification.
We don’t have to “imagine” what a world would look like where it is considered “normal” to use violence in response to an offense against your religious views. We already know what that world looks like today. We see it Pakistan, we see it in Saudi Arabia, and we see it in far too many other nations. But with Pakistan, the “blasphemy” law makes it very clear what will happen when we choose to silence anyone who “offends” your religious views.
Certainly, we need to continue to press for change and reform in Pakistan and around the world to promote religious and social liberty, freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and yes, even the freedom to offend and be offended. When the “normal” answer to every offense is violence, then violence will destroy every freedom we have.
We must urge our brothers and sisters in Pakistan to rise above the oppression that they have imposed upon themselves and others, and accept that our religious faiths all have the strength and resilience to accept criticism, diversity, and even offense. Our faiths and their pious believers can be stronger, wiser, and patient enough to let their actions of peace and dignity speak for themselves.
We must have change in Pakistan to release its people from the prison that intolerance has created. The rejection of our shared freedoms and the intolerance in Pakistan have turned the nation into a giant prison. Imagine a prison without walls. A prison where religious extremist laws and extremist social peer pressures can be used to oppress and harass people of any religious minority. A prison where people may have the illusion of freedom, but where mobs are allowed to burn down their homes, cities, and even kill them in the streets without fear of the authorities. A prison where the barbed wire, cell bars, and concrete walls are made up of religious extremist blasphemy laws intended to oppress any individual in the name of a religion.
This is where Pope Francis’ comments lead us – starting with the idea that it is “normal” to seek violence against those who insult one’s religion. It is easy to laugh off the “punch in the nose” comment, until you see where this thinking leads. This approach leads to the people in jail, the people shot in the street, the people burned alive, the churches and mosques burned and bombed, the neighborhoods attack and burned. That is why it is so important to challenge these views.
As a Christian myself, Christians must reject Pope Francis’ comments based on the Christian Bible teachings in Romans 12:17-21. Since I am a Christian, and I have the struggled for an end to the suffering of my brothers and sisters in Christianity and other religions, I am profoundly troubled by the pontiff’s remarks. I do not presume to represent myself as anything other than the meekest and poor excuse for a Christian that I know. But I do know the words of the Bible, and the direction of Jesus Christ on such matters. I know Pope Francis does as well. They do not support his position on this topic. We all make mistakes and say things that we regret. With all respect for his religious learning and wisdom, I will pray for Pope Francis to see that his remarks were not correct and not in keeping with his own faith, and that he will publicly retract such remarks.
To my Roman Catholic friends, I apologize if my comments have insulted your religious leader Pope Francis. I am a long time defender of the Roman Catholic Church’s religious freedom both publicly and privately. So I am uncomfortable with disagreeing with Pope Francis, and giving the inaccurate impression that I don’t stand with my brothers and sisters in humanity within the Catholic Church. Nothing could be further from the truth.
But I don’t know how one could know about all the oppressed people imprisoned or running for their lives, all the destroyed and burned down houses of worship, and all the caskets of the innocents, who have suffered because of such views on “blasphemy” and “religious offense,” and remain silent. I don’t how I could have prayed with my Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and other religious friends for an end to such violence and for those suffering and killed as a result of such views on “blasphemy” and remain silent when such world religious leader states that it is “normal” for violence as a result of an insult against one’s religion.
Based on my interfaith discussions with many people of different religions, I really don’t see how God, how our religious leaders and symbols, would be so insecure that they need us to “punch” for them due to some offensive remark, some cartoon, or someone else’s worship. I don’t see how people of faith can honor their holiness by unholy acts of hatred, strife, and violence.
Pope Francis, as a Christian myself, I know that Jesus Christ does NOT need me to “punch someone in the nose” for him. I would ask my Catholic friends and all of our religious brothers and sisters of any faith to make a similar statement on Twitter at #Religion4Peace.
The people we pray to do not need our upraised fists; they need us to set an example by our outstretched hands. That is the real courage they seek from us to demonstrate in this world.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) calls for the promotion of our shared universal human rights in every part of the world, we support our religious freedoms, and call for our social tolerance and respect for one another as part of these universal human rights, as defined by the nations of the world.
To our brothers and sisters in humanity in Pakistan and around the world, we offer our outstretched hands, not an upraised fist – responsible for equality and liberty.
Pope Francis: Religious Offense Does Not Justify Violence – Per Our Laws and Universal Human Rights
We cannot respond to offense to our religious views with violence. It is against our universal human rights and the laws of free nations who respect these rights This is the unequivocal statement we needed by all of our religious leaders. The comments by his Holiness, Pope Francis used to rationalize violence are wrong and must be rejected by human right leaders, and hopefully all Catholics. The leader of a religious branch with 1.2 billion followers rationalizing violence for offense against religion is a major human rights challenge. We cannot live together on this Earth when every offense is justified by violence.
Let us be clear in our support on human rights, public calls for violence against others is not acceptable as a demonstration of our universal human rights, because that rejects the universal human rights of security. It is also typically against the LAW in most nations. There is a big difference between criticizing an ideology, a group, and even a religion – versus calling for violence. When we do criticize ideologies involving religious views, responsible people need to be careful not to attack all. But there is a difference between disagreeing with or challenging a religion or its views, and calls for violence.
Even when we challenge those who will make blanket attacks on a religious identity group, we must challenge a view that violence is acceptable. There is a difference between views against a religious group and calls for violence against adherents of that faith. In most nations, it is the law. So when Pope Francis suggests that we have no right to challenge and even mock religious views, I understand his personal opinion on that, but this is not in conformance with our universal human rights, where in fact we do have freedom of speech to challenge the views of others.
But when Pope Francis tries to use an analogy, regarding offensive remarks to one’s religious views, that “if you curse my mother, I will punch you,” no I am sorry that is exactly what is wrong in the world today.
On January 16, 2015, in response to a question on the recent terror attacks in Paris, Roman Catholic Pope Francis made remarks that “One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith.” Pope Francis continued, “If Dr. Gasbarri, a great friend, says a swear word against my mother, he’s going to get a punch in the nose. That’s normal, it’s normal. One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith.” Pope Francis concluded that: “There are so many people who speak badly about religions, who make fun of them… they are provocateurs. And what happens to them is what would happen to (my dear friend) if he says a word against my mother.”
In fact, religious violence is not “normal.” It is wrong, it rejects our universal human rights, and let us be clear – it is criminal.
Tolerance of calls for violence should have no place for religious leaders, and no place those supporting our universal human rights. Furthermore, rationalizing violence against those who offend the religion of others is not only wrong, it is a threat to our shared universal human rights.
Now as a private individuals, we very much understand how offended and angry one would get from someone else “cursing your mother,” as Pope Francis states.
Pope Francis states that “One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people’s faith, one cannot make fun of faith.” Well, in this world Pope Francis this does and will happen. We cannot expect that we have right to use violence against those who do.
Pope Francis can indeed “punch” Dr. Gasbarri for his offense to the Pope, but then Pope Francis, according to the law, can expect to be arrested as a criminal. In fact, that is the point. That is why we have laws to protect our fellow human beings from violence.
Now in the same statement, Pope Francis “One cannot make war (or) kill in the name of one’s own religion.” But indicating that violence is acceptable for offense to one’s religion leads directly to that path, which too many have taken over time, and which has led to terrorist murders around the world. It started with the idea that violence was acceptable in response to words and behavior viewed offensive to others.
People of faith and compassion reject the offensive defamation and mockery of the religion of others.
People of compassion also know that violence is never a “normal” response to anyone perceived “offense” of their religious views. Not even a “punch in the nose.”
When violence becomes an acceptable “normal” response, the freedom and rights of all people to practice their faith is endangered. We have seen this around the world with people of faith and houses of worship attacked, bombed, and burned by those extremists who view another religion’s worship is “offensive” to their faith. This is the ultimate result of accepting a view that any violence would be “normal” to those religious views are offended.
Furthermore, in the nation of Pakistan, those actively following the human rights oppression of Christians and people of other faiths have seen the human tragedy that an institutional view of blasphemy creates.
But this tragedy begins with the view that violence can be perceived as a “normal” response to those who “offend” one’s religious views. We have learned how this thinking has led to the torture and murder,destruction of families, and attacks and destruction of houses of worship.
The world does not need, and human rights leaders must be consistent in rejecting threats from any religious leader that seeks to call for violence in response to offense to their religious views.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L) urges you to reach out within the Catholic faithful and religious leaders to call to his Holiness, Pope Francis on this. Our human rights group, Responsible for Equality And Liberty, calls for Pope Francis to retract his January 16, 2015 comments, where he indicates that it is “normal” for people to use violence when our religious views are offended. R.E.A.L. calls upon our Catholic brothers and sisters to reject such a view and for Pope Francis to retract his comments and renounce violence in every case for those would use it justify it by offense to their religious views. We further urge his Holiness, Pope Francis, to retract his comments based on his knowledge and teaching of the Holy Bible itself, particularly as referenced in John 13:34-35 and Romans 12:17-21. Every Christian knows the “new commandment” instructed to all Christians.
R.E.A.L. has long defended the human rights, dignity, and freedom of worship of our Catholic brothers and sisters in humanity, and we call upon the Catholic faithful to stand united behind the words in their Holy Bible on such subjects and in defense of fellow Christians and Catholic Christians around the world.
Acting with violence because we are offended may seem justifiable to those who are outraged, but in our world we have laws. The use or call of violence for those who are offended is against the laws of most nations, but most importantly it is against our shared universal human rights of all people.
To those who have witnessed and shared the struggle for our universal human rights around the worldwide, we have seen how those “offended” by comments against their religion can lead to denial of freedom, imprisonment, violence, and death. We have seen people arrested and killed for “blasphemy.” We have seen those whose view of “provocation” and “insult” to their religion is no more than someone else practicing their religion.
Most of all, the Catholic people have been victims of those who are “offended” that Catholic have freedom of worship, which “insults” extremists who believe that worship by Catholics is an insult to their religion. We have seen this with different religious extremists and we have seen this around the world. Someone need to make Pope Francis aware of this, as apparently he is not. Catholics have suffered and are oppressed around the world – specifically because of this line of thinking, which Pope Francis now expresses, that those who feel their religion is offended can result to violence.
What type of “punch in the nose” have Catholics received by those offended by the practice of their faith?
— In Pakistan, Roman Catholic church attacked in Punjab town with 15 worshipers dead.
— In India, Roman Catholic St. Sebastian Church in Delhi burned to the ground, by neo-Hindu extremist against Catholics.
— In the Congo, a crowded Roman Catholic Church set fire in the Congolese village of Tora, by the LRA, with their unique combined mysticist and Christianist views.
— In Nigeria, Roman Catholic St. Theresa Catholic Church Madalla, Suleja, just outside Nigeria’s capital Abuja, bombed and burned down, killing 40 worshipers, and St. Charles church bombed killing Catholic worshipers, among other attacks.
— In Malaysia, Roman Catholic St, John Britto Catholic Church, Church of the Assumption, Church of St. Elizabeth, and other churches attacked by mobs offended by the use of the word “Allah” in a Roman Catholic newspaper.
— In Pakistan, attacks and attempts to burn down the the St. Thomas parish, located in Wah Cantt
— In Indonesia, attacks on the Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung, West Java.
— In Egypt, a Coptic Catholic church in the Egyptian town of Kafr el Sheij was burned to the ground by extremists.
Pope Francis your comments that violence is a “normal” reaction to offense against your religion are dangerous to all people of faith. They do not represent our shared universal human rights. They do not represent the laws of free nations. They do not represent guidance in the Holy Bible itself. As a representative of a faith of 1.2 billion, your comments must be retracted – not just for the public, but especially for Catholics and Christians, who have a struggle for religious freedom and security around the world.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty calls upon Pope Francis to retract for his statements on this subject, based on our respect for our shared human rights and security for all people of all faiths and all conscience.
Those who the faithful pray to do not need us to wave our upraised fists; they need us to set an example by our outstretched hands, even to those who offend us.
Pakistan: Sindh Human Rights Officer Reports on Peace Marches
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has been informed by the Human Rights Officer with Government of Sindh, Pakistan, Riaz Bhutto, of recent marches in support of peace and in solidarity with minority Christians.
Riaz Bhutto has provided the following photographs of: ” ‘Walk for Peace’ on the occasion of International Day for Human Rights on 10 December 2014, and other one picture of Solidarity with Christian at Ghotki, Sindh Pakistan.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) welcomes and supports the efforts of all of our brothers and sisters in humanity, who are in support of our universal human rights.
We offer the challenge of an outstretched hand to all of our brothers and sisters in humanity to respect and be responsible for our universal human rights for all of our fellow human beings, of every identity group.
We urge all to be – responsible for equality and liberty.
France: Anti-Semitic Activist Arrested for “Defending Terrorism” Comments
French anti-Semitic activist and comedian Dieudonné (French for “God Given”) M’Bala M’Bala has been arrested by French prosecutors for”defending terrorism,” after a Facebook posting indicating that he sympathized with a terrorist, Amedy Coulibaly, who murdered a black Paris policewoman on January 8 and who murdered four people at a Paris kosher supermarket on January 9.
On Facebook social media, French activist and comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala stated “Tonight, as far as I’m concerned, I feel like Charlie Coulibaly,” (“Je Suis Charlie Coulibaly”) in reference to the terrorist killer Amedy Coulibaly, who was the source of two terrorist attacks in France last week. The posting has been taken down.
The New York Times reports that Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala frequently makes anti-Semitic hate comments as part of his performances. The Times reports: “Mr. M’Bala M’Bala generally points to a supposed cabal of Jewish ‘slave drivers,’ secret rulers who cloak themselves in the memory of the Holocaust.” The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has reported that: “Dieudonne had called Jews “the world’s biggest crooks,” mocked the Holocaust, and called for the release of Youssouf Fofana, whose Gang of Barbarians had kidnapped, tortured, and murdered Ilan Halimi in 2006.” French commentators have been concerned about the growing anti-Semitism in France.
RFI, part of France Médias Monde, has been reporting on the investigation, along with AFP.
RFI has reported that French Interior Minister called French comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala’s comments “despicable.” The French Interior Minister stated at the end of December 2014 that there would be efforts to ban Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala’s performances in France, due to the comedian’s comments on the Holocaust and anti-Semitic remarks. In 2008, Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson appeared in one of his shows. Dieudonné has described Holocaust remembrance as “memorial pornography”. Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala has been convicted seven times for defamation and race hate. Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala has traveled to Lebanon for meetings with Global Terrorist Organization Hezbollah, and he has publicly stated that he has friends and supporters in the Hezbollah and the Hamas terrorist organizations.
The New York Times reports that “Mr. Valls’s decision followed the broadcast of a video in which Mr. M’Bala M’Bala laments that a prominent Jewish journalist (Patrick Cohen) did not die in ‘the gas chambers.’ Under French law, those words will probably be deemed ‘incitement to racial hatred.'”
France’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls, stated “From one comment to the next, as he has shown in several television shows, he attacks the memory of Holocaust victims in an obvious and unbearable way.”
RFI has also reported that others praising the terrorist acts have faced legal action in France.
Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala’s anti-Semitic remarks and actions have been defended by extremist “Nation of Islam” organization’s website led by extremist Louis Farrakhan. During a campaign for president in 2007, Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala’ had convicted Holocaust denier Serge Thion writing for his campaign web site under the pseudonym “Serge Noith”, as did also the longtime secretary of the Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy, Maria Poumier. Wikipedia reports that “On 26 December 2008, at an event at the Parc de la Villette in Paris, Dieudonné awarded the Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson an “insolent outcast” prize [prix de l’infréquentabilité et de l’insolence]. The award was presented by one of Dieudonné’s assistants, Jacky, dressed in a concentration camp uniform with a yellow badge.”
In 2013, anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala made news for popularizing a form of a downward Nazi salute called the “quenelle,” which also the name of a French fish dish. A year ago, on December 31, 2013, Dieudonné released a 15 minute video proposing that “2014 will be the year of the quenelle! “This anti-Semitic “salute” was increasingly performed near synagogues and other Jewish areas in France, as a promotion of hate speech. Some individuals have posed photos of themselves performing the “quenelle” salute at the Auschwitz concentration camp and at the Berlin Holocaust memorial.
Given all of the reprehensible history of Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala’s anti-Semitic remarks and actions, it would requires a lot of explanation as to how professional athletes from France who are his “friend,” could not possibly understand his stand on human rights, and the context of this anti-Semitic “salute,” which he chose to popularize.
Sports stars have performed the anti-Semitic “salute,” including French-Belgian Tony Parker who has played for the American basketball team San Antonio Spurs. After public criticism by the Simon Wiesenthal Foundation and the Anti-Defamation League, American basketball player Tony Parker apologized for the salute. Tony Parker claimed ignorance of the anti-Semitic nature of this “quenelle” salute, and apologized.
The San Antonio Spur’s Tony Parker had been photographed performing the “quenelle” salute with French anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala. Tony Parker was received at the White House on Monday, January 12, 2015, and along with his team presented the U.S. President with a jersey.
In addition, French soccer player Nicoloas Anelka, playing for the English Premier League’s West Brom team, has also been criticized for performing the “quenelle” salute. He stated that the gesture was “just a special dedication to my comedian friend Dieudonné.”
It should deeply troubling to this human rights group that sports figures and performers can promote such obvious anti-Semitic hatred, promotion of hatred, and even praise of terrorist attacks. In addition to the acts by the government of France to protect its citizens by the obscene and outrageous comments of those defending terrorism, we must recognize that such violence begins with the dehumanization of people of other identity groups.
The shameful efforts by anti-Semitic extremists to deny the tragedy of the Holocaust and to de-humanize the suffering of Jewish people and any other people, as part of a campaign of hatred, must be rejected by all those in support of our universal human rights.
We call upon the President of the United States of America, who has such time for various sports activities and honors, to also find the time to make a statement rejecting the anti-Semitic comments of individuals such as Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala. We call upon President Obama to make a statement rejecting such those anywhere in the world praising terrorist actions. We call upon President Obama to make a statement rejecting this anti-Semitic “salute,” as another form of bigotry and contempt for other religions and identity groups that all those supporting our universal human rights must reject. None of these actions by President Obama would be difficult or burdensome. They are actions which could much to clarify his views as a world leader.
We call for Tony Parker to use his position in sports to do more than make a meek apology about his involvement with Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala, being photographed making an anti-Semitic salute together. We call for Tony Parker to publicly and aggressively reject and condemn the ideology, the hate, and praise of terrorist activities by Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala. We call for the city of San Antonio, Texas, not to look the other way on this matter, but to hold Mr. Parker accountable to defending the human rights and human dignity values that all those in American should represent.
To Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala, we have an invitation to him to reject his praise of terrorist violence, and his anti-Semitic views. We remind him that the terrorist actions that he defends included the murder of a black French policewoman. We remind him that those who live by the standard of hatred and violence threaten not just one identity group, but threaten all of our human identity groups.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)’s position is that calls for hatred and violence against our human identity groups are a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Such anti-Semitic hatred and praise of violence is particularly despicable, given the context of the creation of United Nation’s Declaration of Universal Human Rights after the defeat of Hitiler’s Nazi Germany. The UDHR was in response to the “barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind,” by the Holocaust and crimes against humanity by Nazi Germany. This is the same Holocaust which such individuals seek to mock and deny. This is the same promotion of “barbarous acts” which such individuals seek to promote.
Article 3 of the UDHR states that “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” Article 7 of the UDHR states that “All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.” Article 28 of the UDHR states that “Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.”
Fundamentally, Article 1 states that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
We believe that living in accordance with the UDHR provides the pathway for resolving the hatred against identity groups, oppression, and violence.
We urge all to be: Responsible for Equality and Liberty.
Nigeria: Tens of Thousands Flee after Recent Terror Attacks – 135,000 Have Fled Nigeria Due to Terrorism – Mostly Women and Girls
Reports from the United Nations and nations neighboring Nigeria are reporting that as many as 20,000 have fled Nigeria after recent Boko Haram terrorist attacks. This diaspora of Nigerians fleeing their nation have gone to neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. Nigerians have fled their nation over the past 10 days after the Boko Haram attack on the Nigerian Borno state and the town of Baga. Refugee status on Nigerians fleeing the Boko Haram terrorism have been coming in from the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR), neighboring nations to nations, and the news media.
The Boko Haram terrorism has led to 135,000 Nigerians fleeing their nation, and 850,000 displaced individuals from Nigerian areas attacked by terrorism. The majority of the refugees are women and girls fleeing the terrorist violence of their Nigerian homeland.
Reuters is reporting that “In the past 10 days, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates 6,000 Nigerian refugees have fled east into Cameroon and a further 1,500 have gone north to seek shelter in Niger. Chad estimates 13,000 people have entered its western Lake Chad region. Some have drowned in their attempt to flee, others have been left stranded on lake islands awaiting rescue boats.
The UNCHR has reported that more than 7,000 Nigerians have fled the Boko Haram terrorism for the nation of Chad, as a result of the recent attacks in the past 10 days in Nigeria’s Borno state. Chad is now hosting more than 10,000 refugees from Nigeria.
At the end of November, the UNCHR reported that Boko Haram terrorism in the northern Nigerian town of Damassak left 50 people dead and forced at least 3,000 to flee to the Diffa region in neighboring country of Niger. Most of the refugees were women, children, older people, and some injured.
During the beginning of November, the UNCHR reported that 13,000 Nigerians fled Boko Haram terrorism for the nation of Cameroon in late October: “according to Cameroonian authorities, some 13,000 Nigerian refugees crossed from Adamawa state after insurgents attacked and captured the town of Mubi in late October. The refugees fled to the towns of Guider and Gashiga in the North region of Cameroon and to Bourha, Mogode and Boukoula in the Far North.”
The News Nigeria reports: “The United Nations on Tuesday said that the latest wave of Boko Haram’s ‘vicious, ruthless attacks’ in northeastern Nigeria had sent 11,320 people fleeing into Chad in a matter of days. The Islamist group stormed the town of Baga on January 3, and subsequently razed it and at least 16 surrounding settlements. While it has been impossible for aid workers to enter the area to verify accounts of the slaughter and of corpses rotting in the streets, the attack is feared to have been the worst massacre since Boko Haram’s deadly insurgency began in 2009. Some 20,000 people are said to have fled their homes in the area since the attack, and the UN refugee agency said Tuesday that some 11,320 people had arrived in neighbouring Chad alone. A full 60 percent of the new arrivals in Chad were women and girls, UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told reporters, adding that 84 unaccompanied children had also crossed over. Another 2,000 people had become stranded on an island in Lake Chad during their desperate escape, he said, adding that UNHCR was working to transport them to the mainland.”
The UNCHR states “the conflict in north-east Nigeria has led to the exodus of 135,000 people – around 35,000 Nigerians to Cameroon and 10,000 to Chad and the displacement of at least 850,000 people within Nigeria’s Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.”
Unité
Unity March to show solidarity for human rights against terrorism. We support the people of the world in the united march to defy terrorism and hatred, and to stand in support of our universal human rights. By standing united, we can show those who defy human rights and dignity that their war on human rights will not win. We can show those who believe that we will live in fear, that we will never bow to their terrorism, and that our shared universal human rights will remain defended by the people of the world.
Germany: Terrorist Firebomb Attack on Newspaper for Cartoons
German and European media are reporting on a new terrorist attack against our universal human rights of freedom of speech. This latest attack was against the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper in Hamburg, Germany, which last week had republished some of the cartoons from the French magazine Charlie Hebdo. The terrorist attack happened in the very early Sunday morning hours on January 11, 2015, with an “incendiary device” thrown into the building as well rocks smashing basement windows of the building. It is reported that this was believed to be a “Molotov cocktail.” Newspaper files have been burned, but reportedly no one was harmed.
Acccording to the Hamburger Morgenpost, “two men (35 and 39) had behaved suspiciously in the area , have been arrested , according to police.” The Morgenpost also reports that “‘There is no knowledge, no claim of responsibility or other evidence,’ police spokeswoman Karina Sadowsky said this morning.” They are seeking those with information to contact the police in Hamburg, Germany at: 42 865 67 89. We must stand with the Hamburger Morgenpost in defense of our shared universal human rights.
The terrorist campaign against a free press, free speech, and our universal human rights must never be allowed to win. We must continue to defy such terrorists and their extremist ideologies which reject our shared universal human rights.
We call for all of our fellow human beings to defy such hate and violence, and be responsible for equality and liberty.
Pakistan: Terror Attack by Taliban on Minority Shiite Muslim Mosque Kills 8, Wounds 17
On January 9, 2015, in Pakistan’s Punjab’s Rawalpindi area, a terrorist attack by a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) against Shia minority Muslims has left eight people killed and 17 injured. The attack was in the Chitian Hatian area at a Shia Imambargah mosque and worship hall. The attack happened when a Taliban suicide bomber was unable to enter the Shia house of worship at around 9:20 PM local time. The terrorist attack happened during a Shia religious service.
Pakistan’s Geo TV reports that “[e]yewitnesses said the explosion that took place outside the Imambargah was so intense that windowpanes of nearby buildings were shattered,” and that “[t]he injured were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital where some of them were in critical condition.” The Jamat-ul-Ahrar faction of Taliban took credit for the terrorist attack on the minority Shiite Muslims. The Pakistan News reported that Ehsanullah Ehsan, the spokesman of the Taliban’s Jamat-ul-Ahrar faction, stated in an email “We claim responsibility of the attack on the Imambargah and vow to continue such attacks against enemies of Islam.”
Dawn also reported that “[a] bomb targeting Shias at a volleyball match killed at least five people and injured 10 in Pakistan’s restive northwest last Sunday.” The January 4 terrorist attack against Shiites by the Taliban was an attack on a child’s playground in Orakzai.
The Taliban has continued a war against religious minorities in Pakistan and other Muslim religions, as part of its rejection of our universal human rights for all people of all religions and all identity groups. Such terrorist hate and violence will target any individuals and deny their human rights of anyone in humanity.
This is continuing terrorist war by the Taliban against the people of the world and an attack on the universal human rights, including terrorist attacks and murders against other Muslims.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) calls for the support of our Universal Human Rights for all people around the world, and a rejection of this violence and hatred.
Paris: Three Day Campaign of Terror Ends with Kosher Supermarket Killings
The past three days has seen a rapid and fluid campaign of terror against the people of Paris, which we have been reporting on Facebook due to the frequent changes. This began with the January 7 terrorist attack on the free press by terrorists Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi.
On January 7, the terrorist brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi killed cartoonists, writers at the Paris-based Charlie Hebdo magazine, as well as killing a visitor, a caretaker, and police. They killed 12 individuals and wounding 11, including killing two police officers (including one police officer who was a Muslim). The 12 victims of this terrorist attack in Paris were: Stephane Charbonnier, editor of Charlie Hebdo; Jean Cabut, cartoonist; Georges Wolinski, cartoonist; Bernard Verlhac, cartoonist; Philippe Honore, cartoonist; Bernard Maris, economist; Elsa Cayat, psychoanalyst and columnist; Mustapha Ourrad, copy editor; Michel Renaud, visitor; Frederic Boisseau, caretaker; Ahmed Merabet, policeman; Brigadier Franck Brinsolaro, police bodyguard.
On January 8, the terror campaign continued in Montrouge, with a terrorist murder of a black Paris policewoman Clarissa Jean-Philippe, who was dealing with a traffic accident. She was murdered by terrorist Amedy Coulibaly. The Daily Mail is reporting that “[i]t has now been suggested this attack may have been an aborted attempt to attack a Jewish school.”
On January 9, it has come to its third day with dual hostage taking in Dammartin-en-Goële and Porte de Vincennes boulevard areas.
In northern Paris, the terrorists Cherif and Said Kouachi brothers cornered by police and took at least one hostage at a printing shop in Dammartin-en-Goële, about 7.5 miles from Charles de Gaulle airport. French police launched an assault killing both of the terrorists, and releasing the hostage.
In eastern Paris, terrorist Amedy Coulibaly went to a Jewish kosher supermarket to take hostages of women and children at the Hyper Cacher (“Super Kosher”) in Paris, near Porte de Vincennes boulevard. We have learned that the terrorist killed hostages, and police stormed the supermarket to free the remaining hostages. It has been reported that children and babies were among the hostages held by the terrorists. According to French President Francois Hollande, four hostages were killed at the siege of the kosher supermarket. An Israeli government official has stated that 15 hostages were rescued. A YouTube video of the police raid on the Hyper Cacher supermarket where the hostages were held, clearly shows the bodies of dead hostages laying on the ground before the Paris police raided the building. At this time, the names of the victims have not been released.
French President Francois Hollande described the terrorist attack as “appalling anti-Semitic act.”
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Update (January 10, 2015). The French publication JSS News has published the names of the victims of the Hyper Cacher supermarket attack, and has asked us to share this information.
The January 9 terror attack victims were: 1. Yohan Cohen ( 22 years old), 2. Yoav Hattab (21 years, son of the Chief Rabbi of Tunis), 3. Philip Braham (forty years), 4. François-Michel Saada (sixties).
JSS News also states that: “In Judaism, we ask the faithful to pray for their souls. So be it. Thank you to share their names with the largest number so that we can never forget. And if you can, turn this evening a candle in their memory.”
We have also received numerous reports on those had to hide with small children in the supermarket freezers and other parts to protect themselves from the terrorist violence.
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In addition, there has been a report that police have police shut down central Paris’s historically Jewish Marais neighborhood, due to concern over other anti-Semitic terrorist threats.
On January 9, terrorists Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi were killed in a shoot-out with police during a police raid to release hostages in Dammartin-en-Goële. The Daily Mail reports that during conversations with police, Cherif Kouach stated: “I am a defender of the prophet. I was sent by Al Qaeda of Yemen. I’m financed by Imam Anwar al Awlaqi. Anwar is a (preacher).”
Also on January 9, terrorist Amedy Coulibaly was killed in a shoot-out with police during a police raid to release hostages at the Hyper Cacher supermarket in Parks. The Daily Mail reports that during separate conversations with police, Amedy Coulibaly “confirmed that he was in contact with the Kouachis and that the attacks had been ‘synchronized’. He said that he had swore allegiance to Islamic State in Iraq and had targeted the shop because ‘it was Jewish’.”
However, it is reported that Amedy Coulibaly had a female terror accomplice, Hayat Boumeddiene, with a birthdate of 6/26/1988. She remains at large.
The Independent reports that “It is believed that Ms. Boumedienne attended a suspected jihadist training camp in Cantal, a mountainous area of central France.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) calls for all of our fellow human beings to denounce the terrorist attacks against the people in Paris, and anywhere in the world.
We know this terror campaign is not limited to France, but is a world war against all of humanity and all human freedoms and rights. Those who perform terrorist actions and those who support such terrorist activity attack our universal human rights. They represent a global threat to our shared universal human rights, which must be recognized and challenged by all human rights groups.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges our fellow human beings responsible for our shared universal human rights to continue to aggressively challenge and condemn such extremist groups and individuals – anywhere in the world, and using any language. Our shared universal human rights, as described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), is essential for peace, harmony, respect, and security for all of our fellow human beings of every identity group, every nationality, and every religious view and conscience.
Due to the fluid and changing nature of this report, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has been reporting this campaign of terror against human rights on Facebook.