Pakistan Wants U.N. Campaign To Counter Religious Defamation

Imran Khan, who used to be a cricket player and philanthropist but is now Pakistan's 22nd Prime Minister, seems to have his heart set on dragging the rest of the world into Pakistan's blasphemy hell. Pakistan still has barbaric blasphemy laws with the death penalty as punishment. And if the country's laws don't get you, vigilante hard-line Muslims will. Politicians have been killed for trying to bring Pakistan into the 21st century. In 2011, Punjabi governor Salmaan Taseer was murdered by his bodyguard for speaking out against blasphemy laws. His killer was hailed a hero. Now his son is a target of Islamists. And all it takes is for someone with a grudge to claim you have blasphemed. Mobs have taken the law into their own hands before it even gets to the court, like this poor Christian couple who were beaten to death for allegedly desecrating a Quran.

Khan now wants the U.N. to institute a global initiative against defaming religions. We know that really means Islam.

Speaking at the Eighth Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilization, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, said the premier had made a major announcement to counter Islamophobia and incitement to hatred being witnessed in some parts of the world.

“Hate narratives are spreading in several parts of the world; Islamophobia is on the rise and diversity is being seen not as a source of enrichment but as a threat, and politics of fear seem to be replacing politics of hope,” she asserted

So basically this post would be subject to whatever initiative they came up with. In other words, criticisim of blasphemy laws could get people in trouble.

Scary times ahead.

More on Tribune.pk

Pakistani Christian Woman Asia Bibi Still Waiting For Verdict On Final Death Penalty Appeal

Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman who has been rotting away in jail on Death Row since 2010 for blasphemy, will soon find out if the Islamist fanatics of that country will get their wish. Unbelievably, death for blaspheming Prophet Mohammad is still part of Pakistan's penal code.

Back in 2009 Bibi was working in the fields picking berries when an argument ensued after her Muslim coworkers took offense when she allegedly drank water from the same container. Or handled the bowl. Or something. Stories differ, so who knows what the actual truth is. But after the quarrel, the Muslim women ran to the local cleric claiming Bibi had blasphemed. Whether she did or not is irrelevant, it's a barbaric practice that should be abolished but continues to this day. In fact, hardliners are calling for stricter enforcement of the law.

 Over the past 8 years there have been a series of appeals all of which have failed. This was the final one, and though the Supreme Court has actually made a decision, they are waiting to announce the verdict. This could be good news, but considering the hardliners are gaining numbers, I tend to think it's not. According to the DailyMail:

On Wednesday Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a hardline religious political party -- which had a strong showing in nationwide elections earlier this year -- said in a press conference aired via YouTube that if she was freed the justices responsible would meet a "horrible" end.

That's not just an idle threat, people have been assassinated for trying to reform that part of Pakistani  law. And more often than not, angry mobs take the law into their own hands. Back in 2014 I wrote about a Pakistani Christian husband and wife who were beaten to death and then burned for allegedly desecrating a Quran. And a governor back in 2011 was killed for opposing the law and supporting Bibi.

There are some in Pakistan who believe that the blasphemy law needs to go the way of the dinosaurs, but few have the courage to lobby for change because they could wind up dead. That's what happened to Salmaan Taseer in 2011. The politician and businessman, who was governor of Punjab at the time, was murdered by Mumtaz Qadri, one of his bodyguards, because Taseer was very vocal about his opposition to the blasphemy law. Taseer was also asking for a pardon for Aasia Bibi. He was shot 27 times with a sub-machine gun. And who was considered the hero? Qadri. He even got a mosque named after him. In a middle-class neighbourhood, to boot.

She could ask the President for clemency, but there's no way she could remain in the country. She and her family would be sitting targets, but the hardliners are trying to prevent her from leaving.

Separately on Wednesday, a former spokesman for Islamabad's notorious Red Mosque moved to prevent Bibi from leaving the country by petitioning the capital's High Court to put her on the no-fly list.

Hard to believe that in the 21st century there are brutal, inhumane laws that still exist, supported by blood-lusting religious fanatics.

Read more at Christian Post, and News18.

Tunisian Cleric Who Praised Europe's Tolerance, Preaches Death For Cursing Mohammed

On December 27th, a video posted on the Internet shows Tunisian Sheikh Bechir Ben Hassen in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. He praises Europe for allowing Muslims the freedom to preach their faith in Islam, to wear what they want, for "unfettered" freedom of speech.

"One finds here a considerable measure of justice, which in many Muslim societies was lost under the pretext of fighting terrorism and fanaticism. They themselves have descended into anti-religious extremism and fanaticism. When freedoms are denied when people are oppressed, and when scholars and preachers are silenced, one should not wonder about the spread of extremism and takfir, which lead to terrorism."

I'm not sure what "societies" he's referring to, but it's the extremist preachers who are not silenced who are the ones radicalizing the youth of today.

He also talks about the importance of teaching children the notion of moderate Islam. Blablabla.Then MEMRI shows another clip posted on the Internet on December 24, where this 'moderate' Muslim talks about Tunisia being a Sunni country, and that the Shiites have no right to be there, claiming they pose a greater threat to Islam than the Jews and Christians. He also states that wherever there are Shiites, stability and security are

"shattered, and crimes, attacks, and bloodshed appear on the scene."

Really? Let's see what brand of Islam all the most violent extremist groups belong to:

ISIS are Sunni.
Al Qaeda are Sunni.
Taliban - Deobandi Sunni.
Boko Haram - Sunni.
Al Shabaab - Deobandi Sunni.

 MEMRI video here, with both clips back to back.

And then we see that same preacher- who stood in the snow in The Hague talking about the wonders of freedom of speech in Europe- preaching about death for anyone who curses the prophet Mohammed. He asserts that this is sanctioned in both the Quran and the Sunnah.

Islam needs to get rid of this kind of preacher, if it ever wants to evolve.

Mauritanian Muslim Sentenced To Death For Apostasy/Blasphemy

You don't hear much about Mauritania, the West African former French colony. It's a piss-poor Islamic Republic led by a military junta,that still allows slavery (though now illegal). Other abuses include:

-discrimination against its black population and women.
-child labor
-female genital mutilation (FGM).
-child marriage
-leblouh, the force feeding of young girls to make them obese- a sign of beauty and wealth.

And they love their sharia. They have sentenced a Muslim 30-year-old man, Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed, to death for apostasy, although it sounds more like blasphemy.

Mohamed has been detained since January 2 and pleaded not guilty to the charge when proceedings opened on Tuesday.

Mauritania has the death penalty but has not executed anyone since 1987, according to human rights organisation Amnesty International.

During the hearing the judge told Mohamed that he was accused of apostasy "for speaking lightly of the Prophet Mohammed" in an article which was published briefly on Mauritanian websites. In it he challenged some of the prophet's actions, the source told AFP.

Mohamed explained that it was "not his intention to harm the prophet", the source added.

His lawyer asked for leniency as he said his client was repentant but the judge agreed to the prosecutor's request for the death penalty.

Although it is said they rarely enforce strict punishments like death or floggings- and one can only hope it's the case with Mohamed- he's still going to rot in jail for the rest of his life for nothing.

More here.

Pakistani Christian Couple Beaten To Death And Burned For Desecrating Quran

Only in Pakistan would a Christian couple accused of desecrating a Quran be beaten to death and then hurled into a kiln and burned. And the tragic part is- who knows if the couple were actually guilty or not. It could have been any number of things, including the fact that they were Christian, or perhaps they had a falling out with one of their accusers. Accusations of blasphemy are often levied against people who are involved in some alleged dispute, and though Pakistan still has draconian blasphemy laws that will earn you the death sentence, mob justice usually takes care of the accused before the courts can.

The victims were only identified by their first names, Shama and Shehzad, and were a married couple.

Pakistan's brick kiln workers are often subject to harsh practices, with a study by the Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan estimating that 4.5 million are indentured labourers.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a three-member committee to fast track the investigation of the killings and ordered police to beef up security at Christian neighbourhoods in the province, an official from his media office told AFP.

Minorities are often targets, like Aasia Bibi, a Christian who was convicted of blasphemy, and then sentenced to death in November 2010.  She was accused by a Muslim woman after the two argued.

And 70-year-old schizophrenic Mohammad Asghar, a British/Pakistani man, has also been languishing in jail since 2010 for blasphemy. He was accused, after a dispute with a tenant, of writing that he was the Prophet Mohammad. No-one bothered to take into consideration his mental status. Asghar was then shot in the back by a vigilante prison guard in September, though he survived.

There are some in Pakistan who believe that the blasphemy law needs to go the way of the dinosaurs, but few have the courage to lobby for change because they could wind up dead.  That's what happened to Salmaan Taseer in 2011. The politician and businessman, who was governor of Punjab at the time, was murdered by Mumtaz Qadri, one of his bodyguards, because Taseer was very vocal about his opposition to the blasphemy law. Taseer was also asking for a pardon for Aasia Bibi. He was shot 27 times with a sub-machine gun. And who was considered the hero?  Qadri. He even got a mosque named after him. In a middle-class neighbourhood, to boot.

It's heartening, though, to read the comments on the Dawn article I sourced this from. Most are appalled by what happened to the Christian couple.

And this editorial from March 29, 2014, was reposted on Dawn:

Editorial: Death for blasphemy

The reality of Pakistan today is that mere accusation of this crime, howsoever unsubstantiated, instantly imperils the life of the individual concerned, and that threat persists not only throughout his incarceration, but even after acquittal.

Minorities are particularly impacted by the blasphemy law. Firstly, they are disproportionately targeted as compared to their actual representation in the population.

Secondly, when one of them is accused, the entire community is made to suffer, as illustrated by the mob violence in Joseph Colony, Gojra, etc or in lesser known cases where communities have been intimidated into moving en masse out of the locality. In fact, the desire to grab land or settle personal scores often underlies blasphemy allegations. That is all the more reason the law needs to be revisited.

Good luck with that.  Unfortunately, Pakistan is getting more and more conservative, and I can't imagine reform happening any time soon.

Christian Woman Meriam Ibrahim Re-Arrested In Sudan After Being Released

Was amazed to read in the paper this morning that Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese Christian woman who was sentenced to death for apostasy, had been released.  World outrage usually relegates victims of barbaric Shariah law to years languishing in jail, like Asia Bibi, the Christian Pakistani woman who was imprisoned in 2010 after being sentenced to death for blasphemy.

It turns out Ibrahim was re-arrested at the Khartoum airport along with the rest of her family.

About 40 security agents detained Mrs Ibrahim - along with her husband, Daniel Wani and two children - at the airport, the sources said.

A top Sudanese official has told the BBC she would be freed "soon".

Abdullahi Alzareg from the ministry of foreign affairs told the BBC's Newshour programme that Mrs Ibrahim had been arrested because she did not have the correct travel documents.

Although she is Sudanese, she was using emergency South Sudanese papers with a US visa, he said.

She would be asked to get a passport and exit visa on her release, he added.

It appears the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) was not happy with the appeal court's decision.


The rest here.

Syrian Teen Shot Dead By Islamists For Blasphemy

The Syrian people might have had it bad under Bashar al-Assad's regime, but it will be a million times worse under Islamist rule, if and when that happens, especially for non-Muslims. 

According to an anti-Assad human rights organization based out of Britain- the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights- a 15-year-old street vendor, Mohammad Qataam, was brutally murdered as punishment for blasphemy by Al Qaeda-linked extremists. The boy was shot point blank in the face and throat, while his parents begged for his life. I refuse to post the photo. Just too graphic.

Even though the organization is anti-regime, group head Rami Abdulrahman said:

"The observatory cannot ignore these crimes, which only serve the enemies of the revolution and the enemies of humanity."

Apparently, the teen was selling coffee when he got into an argument with someone. He allegedly said,

"Even if the Prophet Mohammad comes down (from heaven), I will not become a believer."

Someone overheard what the kid said and ratted him out to the Islamists, who are now an amalgamation of Jabhat al-Nusra aka the Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq. The rebels then grabbed the boy, kept him overnight, apparently whipped him- since he was found with lash marks on his body- and then dragged him back to his parents.  According to Abdulrahman, who gathered information about the incident from witnesses:

"People gathered around him and a member of the fighting brigade said: 'Generous citizens of Aleppo, disbelieving in God is polytheism and cursing the prophet is a polytheism. Whoever curses even once will be punished like this'."

"He then fired two bullets from an automatic rifle in view of the crowd and in front of the boy's mother and father, and got into a car and left."

It seems the killers might not have been Syrian, but rather foreign fighters.

Ironically, the boy had participated in pro-democracy demonstrations in 2011, and was killed not by the government troops he was protesting, but by rebels who came to allegedly fight for democracy for Syria.

UPDATE:  Slightly different information about how it all went down. The mother has asked the FSA to help track down the boy's killers.

Egypt Courts Sentence 8 To Death Over Anti-Islam Film

Eight people directly or indirectly involved in the making or promoting of the anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims"- the video that sent the Muslim world into paroxysms of violence, and was initially blamed (by our government) for the deaths in Benghazi- have been sentenced to death for blasphemy by an Egyptian court. Yes, seven Egyptian Christian Copts, and even American Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville, Florida were sentenced in absentia.

Jones, who leads a fringe Christian congregation of no more than 50, said in response to the sentencing that it "shows the true face of Islam."

"we can speak out here in America,” Jones said. “That freedom means that we criticize government leadership, religion even at times. Islam is not a religion that tolerates any type of criticism.”

And he's right. They've proved exactly what he's been rallying against with his Quran burnings.

Others sentenced were, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (aka Mark Basseley Youssef, aka Sam Bacile) the producer of the film who is back in jail, for another year, in the U.S. for probation violation. The guy was a scam artist, and all those aliases he used before they finally tracked him down: not a good thing. Then there's Morris Sadek, who claims he had nothing to do with the film other than post it on his website. He too is a Coptic Christian activist living in the Chantilly, Virginia. Sadek said of the ruling:

“ [it] shows the world that the Muslim Brotherhood regime wants to shut up all the Coptic activists, so no one can demand Copts’ rights in Egypt.”

He too is right.

Not much is known about the other five defendants, and/or how they were involved with the film.

 They include two who work with Sadek at a radical Coptic group in the U.S. that has called for an independent Coptic state, a priest who hosts TV programs from the U.S. and a lawyer living in Canada who has previously sued the Egyptian state over riots in 2000 that left 21 Christians dead.

The other person is a woman who converted to Christianity and is a staunch critic of Islam.

Calling for an independent Coptic State warrants the death penalty?  Not surprising, I guess.

The arrest warrants for the eight individuals were issued back in September, and according to Egypt's official news media:

.. the court found the defendants guilty of harming national unity, insulting and publicly attacking Islam and spreading false information - charges that carry the death sentence.

Apparently, there could be a reprieve when a final verdict (after review) is pronounced on January 29, 2013.

Good luck carrying out the sentence, since none of the accused live in Egypt.

Pakistani Man Sentenced To Death For Blasphemy

They love their Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan, even though most of the accusations are simply a way of getting back at someone you have a grudge against.  You'd think they'd learn after they discovered that the cleric who accused  a young 14-year-old Christian girl, Rimsha Masih, of burning the pages of a Quran, was actually the one who framed her by planting evidence. But they've now fined and sentenced to 10 years in prison, plus death, 25-year-old Hazrat Ali Shah who was accused by fellow villagers  of  blaspheming Mohammed after an argument in early 2011.

According to prosecutors, Hazrat Ali Shah uttered something blasphemous against the Holy Prophet (pbuh) in March 2011 in his village of Barenis, which was testified by many villagers.

Police registered a case under Sections 295 –(a), (b) and (c) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The convicted man allegedly stood on the roof of his house and spoke loudly and inappropriately against the Prophet (pbuh) about one and a half year ago, creating a tense situation in the village, after which police arrested him and lodged a case.

A Christian woman, Aasia Bibi (aka Aasia Noreen), is also on death row after she too was accused of blasphemy in 2010.  She's still waiting on appeals.

What a shameful, pathetic law.

Sources; Tribune, Dawn

Charlie Hebdo Magazine Staff Threatened With Death By Muslims

Now they're after the  head of Stephane Charbonnier, the editor of Charlie Hebdo, for publishing those Mohammed cartoons this past Wednesday.

French police on Saturday arrested a man for apparently calling on a jihadi website for the decapitation of the editor of a magazine that published cartoons mocking Mohammed, a judicial source said.

The man was detained in the western city of La Rochelle for calling on the radical website for the head of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which on Wednesday published cartoons of a naked Prophet.

“The essential thing is not to let him live in peace,” the man allegedly wrote.
Police have opened a preliminary probe on charges of incitement to commit murder, the source said.

But that wasn't the first threat from the religion of the perpetually offended. Some 18-year-old posted on his Facebook page that he was ready to slit as many throats as possible at the Charlie Hebdo offices.

Police detained a young man in southern France on Thursday on suspicion that he was planning a revenge attack on the staff of a satirical magazine which published cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammad.

Anti-terrorism magistrates near the Mediterranean port city of Toulon questioned the 18-year-old after he threatened in a message on Facebook to cut the throats of anyone he could find at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a judicial source said.

Charbonnier defended  his decision to print the cartoons in the latest edition:

Charbonnier, who goes by the pen name “Charb,” defended the cartoons to the AP in part by telling reporters that Muhammad isn’t sacred to him.

“I don’t blame Muslims for not laughing at our drawings,” he said. “I live under French law. I don’t live under Quranic law.”

He also said he doesn’t regret publishing the cartoons, nor does he take responsibility for any violence that may ensue.

“We’ve had 1,000 issues and only three problems, all after front pages about radical Islam.”

Unfortunately, they don't seem to care that the rest of us are not subject to their religious laws, and that they need to join the 21st century where civilized folk (i.e. not sociopathic mental cases) don't threaten to chop off someone's head because they happened to feel offended by something that person said or did.

Salman Rushdie's Head Worth 3.3 Million Now

Salman Rushdie, the British Indian writer, has lived with a fatwa on his head for the last 23 or so years. In 1989 Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini placed a death fatwa on Rushdie for writing the so-called 'blasphemous' novel "The Satanic Verses". And that fatwa is still going strong.  Rushdie had to cancel an appearance at a literary festival in India early this year because of death threats, and now the bounty on his head has increased some $500,000 for a whopping $3.3 million total, thanks to the Iranians.  

Cleric Hassan Sane'i, and his Khordad Foundation, seems to think that had Rushdie been killed, no-one would have dared  make the anti-Islam film "The Innocence of Muslims", and so it is imperative to snuff him out, and there's no better time than now.  Otherwise, “the movie offending the prophet will not be the last contemptuous attempt."

Sanctioned murder in the name of religion.  How charming. Oh yes, definitely a religion of peace.

Kuwait Parliament Approves Death Penalty For 'Cursing God'

Jail time for insulting Islam isn't enough for the Kuwaiti government, they now want your head, so the parliament just passed a provisional amendment that mandates the death penalty for blasphemy. Now if you curse God, Mohammad or his wives you'll pay with your life.

Forty-six MPs, including cabinet ministers, voted for the key amendments that will come into effect only after another round of voting and government approval. The second and final vote will take place in two weeks.

Four Shiite MPs voted against the law, a pro-Shiite Sunni lawmaker abstained, while two MPs refused to vote.

Shiite MPs have demanded that the new amendments also enforce the death penalty for anyone who curses their sect’s 12 revered Imams, but the Sunni- dominated parliament rejected their requests.

Apparently, they want to take major steps backwards by joining their Saudi and Pakistani brothers in instituting the death penalty.  The move was prompted by the arrest of a Shiite man, Hamad al-Naqi, who allegedly cursed Mohammad (and others) on his twitter account, although he denies it. Al-Naqi has yet to go to trial, but I'm sure those MPs would be pretty darn happy to get this law in place before he gets his day in court.