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Wednesday, April 28, 2004 |
In N. Korea, scene said bleak. BEIJING -- The humanitarian aid groups that are helping North Korea recover from last week's horrific train explosion are getting a peek into a nation that's so isolated and poor it is known as the Hermit Kingdom. [Boston Globe -- World News]
. 11:17:23 PM 
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Lets look at this explosion.. and the official story..critically... Reader Chris W sends in this comment. This is what we have been saying here for days.. Something happened in this 'accident' that does not resemble the media spin in the media more than superficially.. "unrelated comment: how come our supposed free and enlightened liberal media acritically publish the North Korean dead count (161) of the Ronchon rail accident? The number of the dead can't be lower than 2,000 and possibly much bigger if you consider that 1850 homes were flattened, 6350 homes were badly damaged, 30 public buildings destroyed, a train at the station with 500 Chinese passengers inside disappeared, acres of devastation, debris flying 4 km or more around. A preliminary (under)count of the wounded was 3,000. Does... [Free North Korea!]
Google It!. 11:10:34 PM
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DEFECTOR SAYS CHINESE POLICE TRAFFIC IN NORTH KOREAN WOMEN [RFA]
SEOUL—Police in northeastern China near the border with North Korea are involved in human-trafficking, selling starving North Korean women who cross the border looking for food, a North Korean defector told RFA’s Korean service. Ki-sook Lee, 43, was born in Moosan, North Hamgyung Province of North Korea, and forcibly repatriated twice before finally settling in South Korea. “When I first went to Yanbian, China, with my husband to get some rice in return for our labor, I was almost sold by Chinese policemen,” Lee said in an interview. “Chinese policemen sell young North Korean women for money..." [more]
. 10:18:47 PM
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CHINA: Religious Freedom and the Legal System: Continuing Struggle |
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By Magda Hornemann, Forum 18 News Service |
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The Communist party-state remains determined to maintain control over society, using over the past 20 years an increasing number of laws and regulations as a means to this end. In the field of religion, Ye Xiaowen, Director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, has publicly stated that "The purpose…of strengthening the administration of religious affairs according to law is actively to guide the religions to adapt themselves to socialist society." There is a complex web of laws and regulations on religion under which, to take one example, children may not receive religious education, whatever their parents think. The state claims the exclusive right to decide on what are "normal" religious activities and is effectively pursuing a policy of divide-and-rule towards religious communities. Some religious communities de facto accepted this policy, not forseeing that the state's repression of Falun Gong would also lead to measures against, for example, the unofficial Protestant community. The Chinese state's relationship with religion can only improve if the state accepts that laws are supreme – even over the party - and protect individuals and society from arbitrary actions by those in power. [read more...] |
. 10:12:43 PM
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VIOLENCE BREAKS OUT ONCE MORE IN AMBON
Christian Leader Decapitated, Situation Deteriorates
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
INDONESIA (ANS) -- New clashes in Ambon leave as many as 36 dead and look set to flare into a situation as serious as that of 1999, according to the U.K-based Barnabas Fund.
The Barnabas Fund reports that at least 36 people have now died as a result of violence which began on Sunday 25 April in Ambon, South Malukus.
"Police and army personnel deployed on the streets to watch a political procession were stoned by a mainly Muslim crowd and fired shots to disperse the crowd. Fighting then broke out. Four UN cars and a UN office in Ambon were set ablaze on Sunday by Muslim mobs wielding knives, machetes and homemade guns. A church and a Christian university were set alight, and several and several refugee shelters were also heavily damaged. Many residents fled the area as some 200 homes were burned, reminiscent of scenes in 1999 when serious anti-Christian violence first broke out," Barnabas Fund reported.
"The violence was ostensibly sparked off by a flag-raising event in commemoration of a failed bid at independence which took place 54 years ago. About a dozen members of a little known and mostly Christian separatist movement, Republic of South Maluku (RMS), attempted a parade in the city. As such the violence is being portrayed as clashes between separatist rebels and unionists whose response to an intentionally provocative demonstration is entirely patriotic. However, it is clear that hard-line Muslims responsible for the violence used the demonstration to attack Christians as part of the systematic Islamisation of Indonesian provinces. Yet the violence continues to be misrepresented as a sectarian conflict with equal atrocities committed on both sides," Barnabas Fund said.
A late report on Monday suggested there were 10 Muslim deaths out of a total of 29.
"There are clear indications that these deaths were largely the result of police attempts to stop the Muslim mob by firing at the crowd. In apparent confirmation, the head of a hardline Jakarta-based Islamic organisation said his men would take over from the police 'who have killed our children there.'
The Barnabas Fund report said that Husein Al-Habsyi, head of Ikhwanul Muslimin, threatened on Monday to send thousands of jihad fighters to Ambon because the police there are said to have tolerated the existence of Christian separatists by escorting their procession.
CHRISTIAN LEADER DECAPITATED
On Sunday 25 April, Septer Sanabuky, the director of a leading evangelical seminary in Ambon, the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Indonesia, was travelling on a motorcycle with one of his students, Mr. Berti Manopo, when they were surrounded by a mob and abducted. Their bodies were later found; both men had been tortured and beheaded.
Further incidents include an attack against 25 Christians as they made their way through the Muslim dominated harbor area into the city after disembarking from a ship that arrived from Kupang. The passengers were met by police trucks to carry them to safety; however, the 10 accompanying police officers could not prevent all 25 Christian passengers from being stoned and even stabbed. All of them were taken for treatment to the Bakti Rahayu hospital and the GMP Hospital, which has been relocated for security reasons.
SITUATION DETERIORATES
On Monday the Indonesian government sent two companies of paramilitary police (around 200) to augment the 1,000 or so security forces already present in and around Ambon. In addition, some 450 soldiers were dispatched from Jakarta. The violence was thought to have been quelled late Monday, with the atmosphere tense, yet stable, Barnabas Fund said.
However, a sniper shot dead at least two policemen Tuesday, April 27 as Islamists used the rooftops of evacuated city-centre buildings as perches from which to scout out victims. This continued violence in the face of peacekeeping efforts by security forces indicates that the response to Sunday's commemoration was indeed a cover used by militant Islamists to carry out systematic attacks and further their agenda of radical Islamisation for the province.
Gunfire and explosions continued to be heard throughout Tuesday night, and a Protestant church and many homes were torched overnight. The Minister of the Interior Sabarno arrived in Ambon early on Wednesday 28 April, to assess the situation for himself. He insists that the situation is under control, yet reports of further acts of violence continue to come in.
OUT OF CONTROL?
In a serious and potentially far-reaching turn of events, the Islamic militant group Laskar Jihad has announced a comeback. Laskar Jihad was responsible for most of the 9,000 deaths that occurred in the Malukus between January 1999 and October 2002. Just days after the Bali bombings that killed 202 people on 12 October 2002, the paramilitary group claimed to have disbanded in Maluku. However, the group's leader, Jafar Umar Thalib, was quoted on Tuesday,April 27 as saying, "Laskar Jihad will again become involved in Ambon if the government is deemed unable to overcome the situation."
Barnabas Fund said this is highly ironic since it is militant Muslims that the government security forces are trying to overcome. Everyone else has either fled or been sent away from the area by the military. According to a crisis centre operated by a Muslim student body, more than 2,000 Muslims and Christians have fled their homes.
Further details, quotes and photos on this and other stories may be available for news editors on request to Barnabas Fund.
Barnabas Fund works to support Christian communities mainly, but not exclusively, in the Islamic world where they are facing poverty and persecution.
Barnabas Fund, The Old Rectory, River Street, PEWSEY, Wiltshire, SN9 5DB, UK. Tel: +44(0) 672 564938, Fax: +44(0)1672 565030, E-mail: info@barnabasfund.org Web: www.barnabasfund.org.
. 10:11:25 PM
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Situation for Christians in Ambon, Indonesia Deteriorating
Wire Service Reporting Faulty Information
Christians face intense and growing persecution in Ambon, the provincial capital of Indonesia's Maluku islands.
Violence here three years directed at Christians killed more than 9,000 people.
Associated Press Blames Christians for recent Violence
According the Associated Press (4/28/04), recent "...fighting erupted after several members of the region's small, largely Christian, separatist movement rallied in the city center. Muslims, who view such public displays as a provocation, assaulted the demonstrators, touching off the sectarian clashes."
Associated Press is Wrong
Not true according to our sources in Ambon. As one CFI source said today, "The skirmishing is not between those who fight for Moluccas independence and those who defend the undivided republic of Indonesia."
A source in Ambon told CFI today, "Ambon's Siwalima a daily newspaper appropriately calls the attackers 'terrorists.' A number of Muslims are using the opportunity to create havoc, enrich themselves by plundering and enjoy the 'thrill' of sadism. Those attacked are Christians who likewise reject independence aspirations."
A CFI source said Christians seldom retaliate.
Eyewitness Account
According to a CFI, on-the-ground source, "Yesterday, starting at about 3.00 a.m. and going on until the afternoon, several hundreds of houses were burned in the Tanah Lapang Kecil (Talake) and Batugantung neighborhoods in the city of Ambon. Also the Protestant UKIM University, which had been rebuilt after having been destroyed in 2000, again became a prey of the flames. The alternative Governor's Office building - situated in the Tanah Lapang Kecil area - was abandoned as soon as the riots started, and up to now has been used as snipers' nest. One of their victims today was a Brimob policeman, yesterday arrived from Jakarta, today sent back in a body-bag. A comrade of his was seriously wounded. Yesterday two other Brimob policemen were killed. Today the destructive activities of burning and destroying continued in a lesser way, thanks to more significant performance of security forces."
Disembarking Christian Passengers Attacked by Muslim Militants
A CFI source said, "twenty-five Christian passengers coming from Kupang, having disembarked from the MS Doloronda ship, were met by police trucks to take them to safety through the Muslim dominated harbor area. However the ten accompanying police officers could not prevent all passengers being thrown at with stones and even stabbed with knives. All of them are being treated now in the Bakti Rahayu hospital and the GMP Hospital (which - by the way - for security reasons, has been evacuated to the Baileo Oikumene building)."
Blame Terrorists, not Christians
Members of Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaida-linked extremist group blamed for a series of deadly bombings in Indonesia, may ultimately be behind the recent violence.
www.christianfreedom.org
. 10:08:15 PM
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© 2004 Radio Free China
Last Update: 5/1/2004; 10:20:33 AM
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