IRFN (April 3-8): Egypt Votes to Criminalize Protests in Religious Venues

 

Feature:  Angela C. Wu, International Director of the Becket Fund, briefed Congressional Human Rights Caucus staff members, diplomats, and reporters Tuesday April 8 on the impact of March 2008 elections on rule of law and religious freedom in Malaysia. 

 

Read report here.

 

Update:  Istanbul's Second Penal Court acquitted Turkish publisher Erol Karaaslan of "inciting the public to hatred and hostility" for his involvement in the publication of a Turkish translation of Richard Dawkins' book "The God Delusion", Bianet reported on April 2^nd. Karaaslan, who was accused of "denigrating religious values", faced up to four years in prison if convicted. Ali Emre Bukagili, who filed the original criminal complaint against Karaaslan, has said he would appeal the court's decision.

 

 

CAIRO - The Egyptian Parliament voted to criminalize protests held in places of worship, imposing a one-year prison sentence and fines on anyone convicted of inciting, participating in or organizing such an event Reuters reported on April 2^nd. Protests in Egypt are illegal without government approval, and in practice, places of worship have provided some of the only venues where large groups can assemble without warranting immediate police intervention. Both Muslim opposition groups and Egypt's Coptic Christian minority have previously used mosques and churches to hold protests.

 

 

SHANGHAI - Following on the heels of coverage of the Chinese government's recent treatment of two ethnic and religious minorities - Tibetans and Uighur Muslims (Wall Street Journal), the Falun Dafa Information Center has received a series of reports that Falun Gong adherents are dying in jail at the hands of Chinese authorities as reported on April 2^nd. In what is believed to be an effort to eradicate Falun Gong prior to the Beijing Olympics, adherents are maltreated and reportedly even killed within days or hours of being taken into custody by Chinese officials.

 

 

LAOS - Persecution of religious minorities in Laos has increased dramatically in recent months, according to a report compiled by the Center for Public Policy Analysis on April 3^rd. A spokesman for the Lao Human Rights Council alleges that Laotian and Hmong Christians, as well as animists, are targeted by Lao and Vietnamese security forces, who are reported to have tortured and killed members of both groups. The Laotian junta is reportedly opposed to the spread of Christianity and the free exercise of Buddhism in the country, although ethnic identity is thought to play a contributing role.

 

 

MALAYSIA - Malaysia's non-Muslim minority expressed serious concern Friday at rumors that certain aspects of Shari'a law would be applied to non-Muslims as well, AFP reported on April 4^th.

 

Bangkit explains that non-Muslims who commit "khalwat", or close proximity, would be considered criminally liable. The proposal apparently arose out of a recent seminar, at which Malaysia's Shari'a Judiciary Department and the Islamic Institute of Understanding Malaysia conducted a review of Shari'a laws. Those who had attended the seminar expressed differing viewpoints, according to AsiaNews, with some participants distancing themselves from the idea .

 

 

SICHUAN PROVINCE - Eight women from a group of Chinese house church members remain in detention after a March 30th raid, China Aid reported on April 7^th. The women, all members of the evangelical Lao Ma Tou Church in Sichuan Province, were arrested during a raid on a Sunday school class, and have been accused of participation in an "evil cult" and of spreading an evil cult to children. There is fear that the women could be sentenced to up to three years of re-education through labor, or suffer maltreatment at the hands of prison authorities.

 

 

SHYMKENT - Kazakhstan's Muslims report that they face difficulties in obtaining fair trials and sentences, often for crimes they had no involvement in, as reported by Forum 18 on April 8^th. Many suspect that the Kazakh government deliberately hands down heavy sentences in order to "discredit Islam and believers", by making examples out of certain members of the Muslim community. In February, fourteen Muslims were given prison sentences ranging from 14 to 19 and a half years, while a fifteenth received a sentence of three years of "corrective labor". Kazakhstan's secret police, the KNB, claim that the fifteen were plotting to blow up a KNB office in Shymkent, an allegation which has never been proven.