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Tuesday, July 13, 2004 |
Sudanese Refugees Overwhelm Chad Villages (AP). AP - Along Chad's border with Sudan, tens of thousands of villagers have slaughtered their last sheep, shared their last water and given up their own clothes to help the more than 1 million Sudanese refugees driven from their homes by fighting in Darfur. U.N. officials estimate some 100,000 Chad villagers are in as desperate need of food, water and help as the refugees. [Yahoo! News - World]
. 11:38:02 PM 
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PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT DRAFTS BILL TO REVISE DISCRIMINATORY LAWS
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
PAKISTAN (ANS) -- In the face of a growing international campaign for the repeal of the blasphemy laws and the Hudood Ordinances, the Pakistani Government announced last week that it would introduce a new bill to revise these laws.
According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) the draft 'Criminal Law (Amendment) Act' will revise the Hudood Ordinances and the blasphemy laws, and criminalize so-called 'honour' killings.
The news was announced on July 8 by Pakistan's Justice Minister, Raza Hayat Hiraj, who said the draft would be presented to the Cabinet for approval. It was subsequently tabled in the National Assembly, and, according to CSW's source, is now with the Council of Islamic Ideology. The bill was drafted with input from the Supreme Court, which has already ruled that 'honour killings' should be considered as murder.
CSW reports the Government's move to reform these laws comes after the killings of several Christians in recent months, including Samuel Masih, accused of blasphemy, and Javed Anjum, murdered by maulvis (mullahs) at a madrassah (Islamic school). International pressure has mounted on the Pakistani authorities to take action to curb religious intolerance, and last month President Pervez Musharraf called for 'scrutiny' of the blasphemy laws and the Hudood ordinances, and an end to 'honour killings'.
According to CSW, the Hudood Ordinances, introduced in 1979, deal with Islamic laws relating to criminal acts. These include the requirement that a married woman who has been raped must provide four Muslim male witnesses otherwise the rape is considered adultery.
Cecil Chaudhry, a leading campaigner for human rights and religious freedom in Pakistan, and a member of the Catholic Church's Justice and Peace Commission, told CSW that the proposed draft bill does not go far enough: "The stand of the women of Pakistan, and the non-Muslim minorities, has been to call for the total repeal of the blasphemy laws and the Hudood ordinances. The total repeal of these laws was also the recommendation of the Women's Commission formed by the government itself."
CSW said that in regard to the move to declare 'honour killings' as a crime, Mr Chaudhry said there was no need for new legislation. Existing laws under section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code already provided for the crime of murder, punishable with the death penalty. "Murder is murder, and honour killings are murder, so Section 302 already covers this crime," he argued.
The move to reform the law is likely to draw fierce opposition from Islamic militant groups, CSW said. The Majlis- -Amal (MMA), an alliance of six Islamic parties in the National Assembly, urged the Government not to table a bill until a consensus had been reached, although a spokesman said he opposed the custom of 'Karo-Kari' or 'honour killings'.
Mervyn Thomas, CSW's Chief Executive, welcomed the draft bill, but urged the Pakistani Government to go further. "Hundreds of people of all religions, including Muslims and Christians, have suffered unimaginable injustices and danger as a result of the blasphemy laws and the Hudood ordinances. We are pleased that the Pakistani authorities are now taking steps to address the discrimination, persecution and killings that have resulted from these unjust laws, but we do not believe that the laws can be revised or reformed. We stand with the women and the minorities of Pakistan in urging the Government to completely repeal these laws, and create a new atmosphere of religious freedom and tolerance."
BACKGROUND TO THIS DECISION
Pakistan has a population of 150 million, 96 per cent of whom are Muslim. Islam is the state religion, but the Constitution provides for religious freedoms. About two percent of the population are Christians and two percent are Hindus.
CSW reports that for more than 20 years, the blasphemy laws under Section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code have been widely misused and caused fear and suffering. It is not only Christians whose security is jeopardized by these laws. Other minorities, such as the Ahmadis, and indeed Muslims themselves are affected by the legislation. It only requires the testimony of one Muslim man to bring charges against another person for blasphemy, and so the law has been used as a tool in disputes that have nothing to do with religion. The ultimate penalty is death, although no one has been executed under the laws.
There are currently 75 blasphemy cases awaiting or undergoing trial, CSW said. These include 59 Muslims, three Ahmadis, three Hindus and ten Christians. The Christians include Parvez Masih, Anwar Kenneth and Augustine Ashiq 'Kingri' Masih.
Since 1986, a total of 579 people have been charged under the blasphemy laws. The majority of these, at least 289, are Muslims, while 203 are Ahmadis. At least 79 Christians have been charged, including Tahir Iqbal, a Christian convert from Islam, arrested in 1992 and poisoned to death in jail.
Although the death penalty has never been carried out by the authorities, blasphemy suspects face danger from extremists, even if they are acquitted. Niamat Ahmer, a teacher, poet and writer, was murdered by extremists in 1992, while Bantu Masih, aged 80, was stabbed and killed in the presence of the police in 1992, and Mukhtar Masih, aged 50, was tortured to death in police custody. In 1994, Salamat Masih, aged 12, and Rehmat Masih, aged 42, and Manzoor Masih, aged 37, were fired on in front of the Lahore High Court by extremists, after the former two had been acquitted of blasphemy. Manzoor Masih died on the spot, while Salamat and Rehmat sustained serious injuries. One of the judges in that trial, Arif Iqbal Bhatti, was later murdered. The Senior Judge of Lahore High Court, Justice Nazir Akhtar, has said in a public statement that "it is a religious obligation to kill the blasphemer on the spot without trial". That illustrates how dangerous the climate is in Pakistan under this law. The Government and police have failed to protect those accused, and the law has only led to an increase in religious intolerance and violence.
. 11:31:56 PM
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Confirmed Death Count of Falun Gong Practitioners in China Exceeds 1,000 [FDI]
Actual Deaths at 5,000 or Higher
The verified deaths of Falun Gong practitioners in China, which began with 18-year-old Ms. Chen Ying on August 16 1999, surpassed the 1000 mark this past week. Based on statistics from Chinese Government sources, however, the actual death toll is at least 5,000, or even much higher. [more]
. 11:27:19 PM
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'Just Wrapped Her Up in a Black Plastic Bag' [Irrawaddy]
By Punnisa Nimmanaheminda
Ying, an HIV positive Tai Yai, or Shan, woman, recalls the harrowing death of an AIDS afflicted friend at the hands of village elders at her home in Shan State. Meanwhile, Ying has found refuge at the Community Health Centre in Mae Rim, Chiang Mai Province in northern Thailand. [more]
. 2:44:51 PM
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Beijing Violated Its Promise To Hong Kong 157 Times in 7 Years [The Epoch Times]
Internal materials from Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council show that after Hong Kong’s handover, China has made several major violations of its promise to Hong Kong. By the end of June 2004 there were 157 major controversies related to... [more]
. 2:36:56 PM
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MORE EVIDENCE OF PEACETIME ATROCITIES UNCOVERED IN SOUTHERN SUDAN
Extrajudicial killing, rape, forced displacement and abductions still threaten tens of thousands of Christians in southern Sudan
UPPER NILE (ANS) -- Sudan—Persecution Project Foundation announced today the release of new photo and video documentary evidence of atrocities against civilians in southern Sudan’s oil region.
During its June Sudan relief mission co-sponsored by The Voice of the Martyrs in Bartlesville, OK, a team led by Persecution Project Foundation president Brad Phillips encountered more than 700 Shilluk survivors of a recent government-sponsored massacre in the remote village of Payuer in Northern Upper Nile - Sudan.
Reports had leaked out of Renk County in the nation’s oil region that, from March 26, 2004 through until the second week of April 2004, 22 Shilluk villages had been burned and hundreds of people murdered while Government of Sudan (GoS) troops looked on.
“They did more than look on,” said Phillips. “Survivors told us that GoS soldiers in motorboats had fired on them from the Nile while government-sponsored militia attacked from the bush. We received testimonies that between 300 and 1,000 people were killed during these attacks. More died afterward from wounds and disease. Hundreds were abducted. Twenty thousand people were driven out of their homes, their villages burned. At the beginning of June, 700 Shilluks who had fled these attacks reached our distribution site in Payuer, where more than 85,000 internally displaced Christians have taken refuge this year. We knew the situation was desperate when we arrived, because we found the people eating ‘apam’ (leaves from the Acacia trees),” Phillips said.
These excerpts from video-taped interviews document survivors’ testimonies.
“The soldiers came in the middle of the night,” said a man named Odatti. “They came from Malakal. Everybody ran. Some into the bush. Others into the river. Many drowned. They shot everyone. They killed blind old ladies who could not run away.”
“My husband was killed right away,” Elizabeth told us. “I ran with the kids. Two of them drowned in the river and the other two I don’t even know where they are. You tried to grab one child here and there, but you could only do so much.”
“We started running,” said another woman. “They kidnapped my older daughter and my husband. I came here by myself. One of the raiders came and talked nicely to my sister, politely at first, and tried to have intercourse with her. When she refused, he raped her and took her with them. I don’t know if she is still alive.”
“All of this evidence is denied by Khartoum and ignored by the international community,” Phillips said. “The only change in Sudan we can measure is a major shift in the focus of the GoS’s genocidal campaign from the south to the west. The bombardments, systematic killing, abductions, rape, forced displacement are continuing in Sudan, and in some cases, as our team observed in Upper Nile, they are still happening in the south. If Bashir’s National Islamic Front is not stopped, as many people as they have killed in 21 years may die in Sudan during the next six months.”
Persecution Project Foundation is a nonprofit Christian ministry serving and assisting the victims of persecution and genocide in Africa. For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact Brad Phillips at 540-829-5353 or email at info@persecutionproject.org.
Google It!. 2:16:04 PM
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Novel to go. A Chinese author is combining text messaging with literature, according to the Associated Press. He's written a 4,000-word novel about an extramarital affair that readers will download to their cell phones, one 70-word chapter at a time. "The plot develops just like that of an ordinary novel," author Qian Fuchang said. No word on whether the novel has a worthy moral message, but Qian -- or his employer -- stands to make big bucks: More than 300 million Chinese use cell phones, and they like high-tech bells and whistles. Qian's employer, the Guangdong Literature Academy, is planning an auction to sell the novel to short message services.... [World Magazine Blog]
. 1:55:56 PM
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© 2004 Radio Free China
Last Update: 7/31/2004; 11:51:14 PM
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