Bartholomew's Notes

Afghanistan democracy “in peril”

Iraq law against Baha’is still on books

Commission says Department of State “has not yet acted on or responded” to recommendations on refugees

Li v. Gonzales slammed

It’s time for the new Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Here’s the state of play this year:

It recommended that eight countries remain on the CPC [Countries of Particular Concern] list: Burma, China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Eritrea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Vietnam. It also identified three countries not previously designated by the U.S. government: Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan…In addition to CPC recommendations, the Commission wrote that it was adding Afghanistan to its Watch List. Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, and Nigeria would remain on the Watch List.

The report also contains information about Georgia, Iraq, Laos, and Russia, as well as some assessment of how the USA has responded to the problems. It comes six months after the State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report, which was heavily criticized by various lobbies and individuals (including the committee’s chairman) that I discussed here.

The report is packed with information, and so resists a brief summary; however, I’ve cut and pasted what I found to be the most interesting points. So, a longer blog entry than usual:

Afghanistan

…The constitutional concerns are intensified by the fact that the task of interpreting many of these provisions has been left to the Supreme Court, currently headed by Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari, who has shown little tolerance for those who disagree with his hard-line interpretation of Islam. In August 2003, Chief Justice Shinwari told a visiting Commission delegation that he rejects three crucial freedoms—those of expression, religion, and equal rights for men and women—all of which are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As a consequence of his actions, a sitting Minister in the interim Afghan government was forced to resign after she was charged with blasphemy for questioning the role of Islamic law in Afghanistan, journalists have been jailed on charges of offending Islam, and during the October 2004 presidential elections, a presidential candidate was threatened with disqualification for purported “anti-Islamic remarks” on women’s rights and family law. These incidents suggest that despite the gains since 2002 and the adoption of a new constitution, religious freedom and other human rights, along with democracy itself, remain under threat from extremism.

These constitutional pitfalls have been extended to other legislation also. In 2002, Afghanistan adopted a new press law that contains a sanction against publication of “matters contrary to the principles of Islam or offensive to other religions and sects.” According to the State Department, the vagueness in the definition of what constitutes offensive material allows for the potential abuse of this clause with the aim of limiting freedom of the press and intimidating journalists. Indeed, incidents of this sort of abuse have already occurred, as when Chief Justice Shinwari in November 2004 successfully appealed to the Afghan government to have cable television taken off the air because of its “immoral” programs that insult religion. Earlier in that year, the Chief Justice had also protested the presence of female singers on radio and television and attempted to have the practice halted, though in this effort he was ultimately not successful. In January 2006, the Afghan Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism declared that though Afghan law allows citizens access to a free press, limitations exist that are “not imposed by the government but are in line with Islamic and national principles.” That same month, cable television was shut down in Balkh province for broadcasting films and music that were “against Islam and Afghan culture.” In February 2006, the Afghan government, through a special media commission, imposed a fine on Afghan TV, one of four private stations in Kabul, for broadcasting “un-Islamic materials.”

There is also mention of Abdul Rahman, a convert to Christianity from Islam who narrowly escaped the death penalty.

In her testimony, Commissioner [Felice] Gaer described the weak state of human rights protections in Afghanistan today, and cautioned that freedom and democracy are still in peril in that country.

Bangladesh

…In June 2005, there were arson or bombing attacks against Ahmadi mosques in three locations. In July 2005, two Bangladeshis working for a Christian NGO were murdered, allegedly because of showing a film on the life of Jesus. As of this writing, there have been no charges brought in this case or in the murder in September 2004 of a locally prominent Christian convert from Islam…Politically-motivated bombings, assassinations, and other terrorist acts, often ascribed to Islamic militants, have exacerbated partisan tensions and increased the vulnerability of minority communities.

…Anti-Ahmadi activists have been organized under the banner of a group known as the International Khatme Nabuwat Movement Bangladesh. (“Khatme Nabuwat” is an Arabic phrase meaning “finality of the Prophethood” of Mohammed.) There is reportedly a significant overlap of membership between this organization and Jamaat-e-Islami and other Islamic political parties. Anti-Ahmadi activists object to Ahmadi houses of worship being called “mosques” and on a number of occasions have organized mass demonstrations against Ahmadi mosques, have attempted to occupy the sites, and have forcibly replaced signs identifying Ahmadi places of worship as mosques, sometimes with the assistance of the police. In some instances, the anti-Ahmadi agitation has been accompanied by mob violence in which Ahmadi homes have been destroyed and Ahmadi converts held against their will and pressured to recant. Although the campaign against the Ahmadis has continued, the violence has diminished in recent months due to improved and more vigorous police protection for the Ahmadis.

Belarus

…Since coming to power in 1994, President Lukashenko has openly favored the Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC), an Exarchate of the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church, resulting in a privileged position for the BOC in relation to other religious communities. This relationship was codified in June 2003, when the Belarus government and the BOC signed a concordat setting out the Church’s influence in government affairs and other facets of public life. Relations between the BOC and the Belarus government have created difficulties for many religious minorities, which have sometimes been denied registration or permission to rent or build a place of worship by regional authorities who have been influenced by local Orthodox leaders. Several “independent” Orthodox churches that do not accept the authority of the Orthodox Patriarch in Moscow have been denied registration, including the Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the True Orthodox Church, a branch of the Orthodox Church that rejected the compromise with the Soviet government made by the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1920s. In March 2004, the Belarusian government granted the BOC the exclusive right to use the word “Orthodox” in its title.

…In January 2006, President Lukashenko reportedly awarded a medal for “spiritual development” to the editor of his presidential administration’s newsletter, a person who has argued that the notorious anti-Semitic forgery “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” is a genuine document. Anti-Semitic literature continues to be sold in government buildings, in stores, and at events directly and indirectly connected with the BOC. In addition, because the 2002 religion law states that religious organizations do not have priority in reclaiming property if a former worship building is now used for culture or sport, only nine of 92 historic synagogues in Belarus have been returned to the Jewish community since the country’s independence in 1991. Reportedly, in January 2006, some 30 neo-Nazis held a march in the city of Grodno and several bystanders were beaten; city police deny any knowledge of the incident.

Belarus has also been of particular interest to this blog several times recently.

Burma

…Tensions between the Buddhist and Muslim communities has resulted in outbreaks of violence over the past several years, some of it instigated by Burmese security forces against ethnic minority Muslims…In addition to violence, overt discrimination against Muslims, particularly ethnic Rohingya Muslims, is widespread and severe. The government has denied citizenship to Rohingya Muslims on the grounds that their ancestors allegedly did not reside in the country prior to British colonial rule…In Rangoon in 2001-2002, authorities closed more than 80 Protestant house churches because they did not have proper authorization to hold religious meetings…Since the 1990s, some Buddhist monks have been active in the pro-democracy movement, resulting in the imprisonment of more than 100 Buddhist monks for advocating democracy and encouraging dialogue between the government and pro-democracy forces.

China

…There are numerous credible reports…of Christian leaders having to refrain from teachings involving the second coming of Jesus, divine healing, the practice of fasting, and the virgin birth because these doctrines or practices are considered by the government to be superstitious or contrary to the Chinese Communist Party’s social policies…The Commission was informed that Uighur Muslims have not received permission to build new mosques for the past six years. The Commission was also told that all imams are required to undergo yearly political training seminars in order to retain their licenses. Commissioners learned of the existence of an “Islamic Affairs Steering Committee,” which is reported to author and approve sermons and censor religious texts and any material with religious content. The purpose of such oversight by the government is to create Muslim religious leaders who will “ardently love their country.”… In addition, Commissioners learned that monks and nuns are required to renounce the Dalai Lama as the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists.

…The Commission also asked to meet with several prominent religious figures whose detention or disappearance has raised international concern, including the Dalai Lama’s chosen Panchen Lama, Gendum Choekyi Nyima; Catholic Bishops Su Zhimin and An Shuxin; Tibetan Buddhist monk Ngawang Phuljung; Protestant “house church” leader Cai Zhuohua; and Uighur historian Tonti Tunyaz. The Commission also asked to meet with former Tibetan nun Phuntsog Nyidron, in light of reports that her freedom of movement and association remain highly restricted, despite her release from prison a year earlier.

…The campaign against “evil cults” has, in recent years, expanded beyond the Falun Gong and similar groups to those religious communities that have refused to register and become part of the system of officially-sanctioned religious organizations. This campaign has targeted leaders and members of newer, as well as long-established, Protestant and Catholic groups which, for various reasons, have not registered with the government. Religious leaders have been imprisoned and followers detained and fined for “cultist activity.”… There are at least 40 Catholic bishops or priests under arrest, imprisoned, or detained, including 74-year old Bishop Su Zhimin, who has been in prison, in detention, under house arrest, or under strict surveillance since the 1970s.

The report also discusses the case of Li v. Gonzales in the USA:

…In this case, the Fifth Circuit, deferring to arguments advanced by the DOJ, misconstrued religious freedom conditions in China, as well as international human rights law. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in August 2005 in Li v. Gonzales to uphold the order to remove a Chinese man who had been arrested, beaten, fired, and charged with the “crime” of organizing an unregistered house church in China. In so holding, the Fifth Circuit ruled that Mr. Li had been subject to prosecution for failing to register his church—not persecuted on the basis of his religious beliefs. The Fifth Circuit held, deferring to arguments advanced by the DOJ and adopted earlier in the case by the BIA, that China has the “sovereign right” to regulate unregistered religions, and that China’s treatment of unregistered churches is an issue for “oral judgment—not a legal one.” Subsequently, the Commission wrote to and met with officials at the DOJ to make clear that the Chinese government’s control over registered churches—and its prosecution of individuals for engaging in “unauthorized” religious activity—are clearly in violation of international law with regard to freedom of religion or belief.

Cuba

…Religious freedom conditions have been affected in part by the ongoing government crackdown on democracy and free speech activists, resulting in a generally deteriorating situation for human rights. In the past year, a new law on religion meant to “legalize” house churches has also affected religious freedom and reinforced the government’s efforts to increase its control over religious practice.

Currently, there are approximately 50 state-recognized religious groups, primarily Christian denominations, half of which are members of the government-recognized Cuban Council of Churches. Reportedly, the government in recent years has not granted recognition to any relatively new denominations, although it has tolerated the presence of some new groups, such as the Baha’is and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though they are not officially registered. Conditions for Jehovah’s Witnesses have improved substantially since 2004; however, there were sporadic reports of harassment and discrimination by local Communist Party and government officials. For example, in 2005, a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses reported being denied employment in a government-run factory due to her religious beliefs. Nevertheless, such reports continued to decline in number.

…Protestant house churches continued to be harassed and evangelical denominations reported evictions from houses used for worship (most of which were unauthorized and thus illegal). In March 2006, an evangelical pastor was jailed, allegedly for aiding emigrants who sought to leave the country illegally.

Egypt

…Despite a recent positive court ruling, the government has also not taken steps to provide identity cards and other important documents to members of the Egyptian Baha’i community or to combat widespread and virulent anti-Semitism in the government-controlled media.

…Article 98(f) of the Penal Code, which prohibits citizens from “ridiculing or insulting heavenly religions or inciting sectarian strife,” continues to be applied to prosecute alleged acts by purportedly “unorthodox” Muslims. These include Muslims groups, such as the Koranites—a group that does not accept as authentic hadith, oral traditions of the life of the Prophet Muhammad, or Sunna, accounts of the way the Prophet Muhammad lived his life—who are accused of practicing beliefs deemed to deviate from Islamic law.

…Although Egyptian government officials claim that there is no law or policy that prevents Christians from holding senior positions, the Coptic Orthodox Christian community faces de facto discrimination in appointments to high-level government posts.

…All Baha’i institutions and community activities have been banned since 1960 by a presidential decree…Egyptian government officials have stated that the rights of Baha’is are not protected under the Constitution, since, in accordance with Islamic principles, protection applies only to adherents of the three “heavenly religions.” In a positive development, in April 2006, an Egyptian administrative court ruled that Egyptian Baha’is have the right to have their religion recognized in official documents.

Eritrea

…Jehovah’s Witnesses were the first religious group to experience official persecution…In accordance with a Presidential decree issued October 1994, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been barred from obtaining government jobs, business licenses, and government-issued identity and travel documents. Lack of Eritrean identity cards effectively denies Jehovah’s Witnesses a range of government services, including legal recognition of marriages and land purchases. Jehovah’s Witnesses who have refused to serve in the military have been imprisoned without trial, some for over a decade…government spokespersons have cited Pentecostals, along with Muslim extremists, as a threat to national security.

…Security forces acted against reformist elements in the Orthodox Church, arresting religious activists and preventing their meetings. The government of Eritrea has also reportedly moved to tighten its grip on the highest levels of the Church. In August 2005, the Church’s Synod, allegedly acting on the government’s behest, stripped the Orthodox Patriarch of much of his authority, with his administrative duties being assumed by a government-appointed layperson. In January 2006, the Synod moved to depose the Patriarch. In a letter dated January 15, 2006, the Patriarch denounced the Synod’s actions as illegal under canon law and announced the excommunication of the government-appointed administrator.

Georgia

…In the past year, President Saakashvili, the National Security Council Secretary, and the Government Ombudsman have all advocated religious freedom and spoken out in support of minority religious groups. In late 2004, Georgian officials permitted the Jehovah’s Witnesses Watchtower Bible and Tract Society to operate legally in the country for the first time. Under a new registration process established by parliament in April 2005, two religious communities were approved for registration as noncommercial organizations. While the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) remains the only religious group with formal legal status as a religious organization and other religious freedom issues remain unresolved in Georgia, significant improvement in religious freedom conditions led the Commission to remove Georgia from its Watch List in 2004.

…Despite improvements, some religious freedom concerns remain. Although the primary leaders of the violent attacks against members of religious minorities have been convicted, many other of the people accused of participating in this violence—including local police officials— have not been held to account by the Georgian authorities, reportedly due to fears of offending the GOC hierarchy. Moreover, Orthodox communities other than the GOC and some other minority Christian denominations periodically encounter difficulties from local officials and the GOC in building places of worship or displaying their literature in bookstores.

India

…In addition to the steps taken by the Supreme Court, the government continued its efforts to redress a number of aspects of the Hindu nationalist agenda of the previous government. After a government-appointed committee of historians was tasked in June 2004 with removing the “distortions and communally biased portions” of the new textbooks, the latter were replaced in 2005 with revised editions. In addition, the government has continued to act decisively to prevent communal violence in situations where it has erupted in the past. In July 2005, six Muslim militants attacked a religious site in Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where in 1992 Hindu extremists destroyed the sixteenth century Babri mosque, resulting in nationwide riots that left up to 3,000 dead, mostly Muslims. There were protests organized by the BJP in response to the July attack, but police dispersed the crowds and no violence ensued. In February 2006, a mass rally of Hindu nationalists was held in the Dangs district of Gujarat calling on members of the indigenous “tribal” people to “reconvert” to Hinduism. In the weeks leading up to the event, the Hindu groups issued a number of highly inflammatory statements, particularly against Christians, and violence against local Christian communities was feared, as has happened in the past. However, the military was sent into the area to maintain peace; riot police were reportedly posted outside churches and temples and no violence occurred. In March 2006, after bombs exploded in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi killing 20 persons, allegedly instigated by Islamist groups, authorities reportedly acted swiftly to prevent retaliation against Muslims. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed for calm, and soldiers and police were deployed at holy sites across the country.

Despite the improved situation, concerns about religious freedom in India remain. Attacks on Christian churches and individuals, largely perpetrated by individuals associated with extremist Hindu nationalist groups, continue to occur, and perpetrators are rarely held to account by the state legal apparatus.

Indonesia

…In September 2005, the Islamic Defender Front (FPI) organized protests and intimidated lawyers and judges during the trial of three Christian women who were being tried for allegedly “proselytizing” to Muslim children. Through the intimidation of government officials and the instigation of mob violence, the FPI and another group, the “Alliance for Anti-Apostates,” effectively closed at least 50 Protestant churches in West Java during 2005, a significant increase from the previous year; churches were burned or destroyed by mobs or closed by government officials after intense community pressure…Attacks on Ahmadiyah religious communities followed the issuing of a fatwa in July 2005 by the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) condemning Ahmadiyahs as “deviants” from Islam. In addition to the Ahmadiyah fatwa, the MUI issued religious edicts banning interfaith prayer, marriage, and inheritance, as well as the notions of pluralism, liberalism, and secularism.

Iran

In recent years, hundreds of prominent Muslim activists and dissidents from among the Shi’a majority advocating political reform have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms by the Revolutionary Court, ostensibly on charges of seeking to overthrow the Islamic system in Iran; others have been arrested and detained for alleged blasphemy and criticizing the nature of the Islamic regime.

…Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of the Guardian Council, has publicly attacked non-Muslims and referred to them as “sinful animals” and “corrupt.” In November 2005, after publicly criticizing Ayatollah Jannati’s remarks, the lone Zoroastrian member of the Iranian parliament was charged with the “dissemination of false information, slander and insult” by Iranian authorities, though as of this writing, the case has not gone to trial.

…As of this writing, there are more than 60 Baha’is awaiting trial on account of their religious beliefs. In December 2005, Zabihullah Mahrami, a Baha’i who had been jailed for more than 10 years on charges of apostasy, died in prison under mysterious circumstances…In the past 15 years, numerous Evangelical Christians reportedly have been killed at the hands of government authorities and more than a dozen are reported missing or “”isappeared.”…According to the State Department, despite minimal restriction on Jewish religious practice, education of Jewish children has become increasingly difficult in recent years, and distribution of Hebrew religious texts is strongly discouraged.

Iraq

…Human rights organizations have asserted that the Iraqi government has failed to establish an effective mechanism for monitoring abuses by law enforcement personnel or the armed forces, and for bringing those accused of such offenses to justice.

…Amid this growing cycle of sectarian violence, religious minorities in Iraq continued to suffer a disproportionate burden of violent attacks and other human rights abuses. Minority communities, including Christian Iraqis, are forced to fend for themselves in an atmosphere of impunity, and lack any tribal or militia structure to provide for their security.

…Reports also alleged that the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) engaged in discriminatory behavior against religious minorities.

…Sabean Mandaean organizations continue to report that extremist Islamic elements are targeting individual members of the Iraqi Sabean community, solely on the basis of their religious belief.

…A 1970 law still on the books in Iraq effectively outlaws the Baha’i religion in the country and criminalizes any Baha’i activities. Despite constitutional protection of the religious freedom for all Iraqis, to date no action has been taken by the Iraqi government to repeal this law.

A footnote adds some details about this law:

Official Gazette of Iraq No. 1880, May 18, 1970. Among other things, Law 105 outlawed the approval or promotion of the Baha’i faith, as well as association with any Baha’i organization; banned the sale, distribution, printing, and possession of Baha’i literature; ordered all Baha’i institutions shut down; and seized properties and assets associated with these institutions. Anyone found in violation of the law was originally subject to a minimum ten-year imprisonment. Law No. 141 of 1979 increased the penalty to life imprisonment and, in some cases, the death penalty. Official Gazette of Iraq No. 2741, Nov. 19, 1979 and Decree No. 1447 of 1979 of the Revolutionary Council.

Laos

The Commission removed Laos from its Watch List in 2005.

…Many religious activities can be conducted only with government approval, and the decree contains a prohibition on activities that create “social division,” or “chaos,” reiterating parts of the Lao’s criminal code, including Article 66, used in the past by government officials to arrest and detain arbitrarily ethnic minority Christians. Thus, Decree 92 and several provisions of the criminal code could be used to restrict and suppress religious activities, rather than protect and promote the freedom of religion or belief. However, there are credible reports that the government is using the Decree to facilitate religious practice in some areas and to promote cooperation among religious communities.

Nigeria

As well as detailing the general strife created by the advance of Shariah in the north – which I discussed here – some information about Saudi Arabian influence is provided.

…A UN press report stated that a Sudanese man was arrested for spearheading the insurrection and that the Islamic foundation he headed, which builds new mosques in Nigeria, was funded by Saudi nationals. The man who heads the militant group reportedly fled to Saudi Arabia.

…Several observers inside and outside Nigeria have reported that financial support from Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan has been used to build mosques and Islamic religious schools in northern Nigeria. Some have suggested that the strict interpretation of Islam being preached in these mosques and religious schools is not a form of Islam that is traditional to Nigeria. Also, there are reports that an increasing number of Nigerian Islamic scholars and clerics are being trained in Saudi Arabia and have brought back with them a politico-religious ideology that explicitly promotes hatred of, and violence against, non-Muslims.

North Korea

This section kicks off with a nice quote from Kim Il Sung himself:

“…We learned later that those of religion can do away with their old habits only after they have been killed.”

However, despite perhaps the heaviest restrictions in the world, religion continues to manifest itself:

…Religious activity survives nonetheless, whether in government approved religious organizations operating a handful of places of worship in Pyongyang or in more clandestine venues. In recent years, the government has formed several “religious federations” to interface with co-religionists abroad. Three churches, two Protestant and one Catholic, were opened in Pyongyang between 1988 and 1992. Only a few interviewees were even aware of these churches, and even they believed that these churches operated as showcases for foreign visitors. However, according to South Korean religious leaders conducting exchanges with North Korea, these religious venues are open weekly and some genuine religious practice does take place among North Koreans at the churches. There are also reportedly three Buddhist temples and a Chondokyo shrine in Pyongyang. Although some of the interviewees had seen or were aware of Buddhist temples in North Korea, none had seen religious practice in these temples…

The interviews revealed the widespread re-emergence in North Korea of a remnant element of Shamanism, the ancient pan-Asiatic animistic belief system: “fortune telling,” or the belief that one’s destiny or fate is not under one’s own control (as in Juche), but lies in the stars or other natural phenomena. All the persons interviewed described fortune telling as an illegal activity. However, all said it was much too widespread for the authorities to eliminate it, and that even North Korean officials utilized the services of fortune tellers. Many interviewees associated the re-emergence of fortune telling with the onset of the famine and the severe deterioration in social conditions in the mid-1990s.

…A Russian Orthodox Church under construction since 2003 remains unfinished. Two North Koreans are reportedly receiving Orthodox theological training in Moscow. There are also reportedly three Buddhist temples and a Chondokyist shrine in Pyongyang. Government officials have claimed that Buddhist temples are cultural relics that need to be preserved. There is a department of religion at Kim Il Sung University; however, graduates and faculty are said to be involved in training security forces to identify repatriated refugees who may have become Christian adherents during their time in China.

The North Korean government reports that some 500 house churches operate in North Korea with government approval. Until recently, it was not possible to verify who attended these house services and whether they existed outside of Pyongyang. Reports, including the Commission’s study, are emerging that indicate that house church participants are largely made up of individuals whose families were Christians before the Korean War and that some do in fact operate outside of Pyongyang. It is impossible to ascertain the number of operating house churches or the extent of their activities and membership, as visiting religious leaders and scholars are repeatedly denied access to such gatherings in rural areas…According to press reports, an estimated 6,000 Christians are incarcerated in “Prison No. 15” located in the northern part of the country.

Pakistan

…In March 2006, it was reported that, in an attempt to persuade people in the regions bordering on Afghanistan not to support Islamist militants, the Pakistani military dropped leaflets claiming that those militants were fighting against Pakistan “in connivance with Jews and Hindus.”…Despite President Musharraf’s repeated calls for religious moderation and tolerance, religiously motivated violence, much of it committed against Shi’a Muslims by Sunni militants, remains chronic in Pakistan.

…Ahmadis, who number between 3 and 4 million in Pakistan, are prevented by law from engaging in the full practice of their faith. Pakistan’s constitution declares members of the Ahmadi religious community to be “non-Muslims,” despite their insistence to the contrary. Barred by law from “posing” as Muslims, Ahmadis may not call their places of worship “mosques,” worship in non-Ahmadi mosques or public prayer rooms which are otherwise open to all Muslims, perform the Muslim call to prayer, use the traditional Islamic greeting in public, publicly quote from the Quran, or display the basic affirmation of the Muslim faith. It is also illegal for Ahmadis to preach in public, to seek converts, or to produce, publish, and disseminate their religious materials. In August 2005, Pakistani authorities banned 16 Ahmadi-run publications in the Punjab province.

…Pakistan’s Hudood Ordinances, Islamic decrees introduced in 1979 and enforced alongside the country’s secular legal system, provide for harsh punishments, such as amputation and death by stoning, for violations of Islamic law. Rape victims run a high risk of being charged with adultery, for which death by stoning remains a possible sentence. In October 2003, the National Commission on the Status of Women in Pakistan issued a report on the Hudood Ordinances that stated that as many as 88 percent of women prisoners, many of them rape victims, are serving time in prison for violating these decrees, which make extramarital sex a crime and adultery a criminal offense.

Russia

The report notes the rise of anti-Semitism and persecution of groups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses – subjects which have been blogged by me on several occasions. Plus:

…ROC [Russian Orthodox Church] officials sometimes use their influence with regional authorities to restrict the activities of other religious groups. There are frequent reports, particularly on the local level, that minority religious communities must secure permission from the ROC before being allowed to build, buy, or rent a house of worship and that local authorities sometimes deny registration to minority groups at the behest of local ROC officials. In July 2005, reportedly in response to pressure from officials of the local ROC, the Sverdlovsk Regional Railway canceled a three-day congress of 5,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses, due to be held in a railway-administered stadium.

…In February 2003, the Russian Supreme Court reportedly met in secret and banned 15 Muslim groups because of their alleged ties to international terrorism. The evidence on which the Court made this decision has never been made public, but police, prosecutors, and courts reportedly have used the decision to arrest and imprison individuals from among Russia’s estimated 20 million Muslims.

…Casual anti-Semitic statements are reportedly so numerous in society that law enforcement bodies do not pay attention to them. While official investigations into anti-Semitic activity by individuals have increased, official efforts to combat chauvinist and anti-Semitic groups decreased in 2005…There continue to be official efforts to portray “foreign sects,” mostly Evangelical Protestants, as alien to Russian culture and society. Officials do little to counter libelous media attacks or discrimination.

Saudi Arabia

All that you would expect to read about is included. One particular detail caught my eye, though:

…Spurious charges of “sorcery” and “witchcraft” continue to be used by the Saudi authorities against non-conforming Muslims. Several individuals remain in prison on these charges.

Sri Lanka

…In the past two years, the Commission turned its attention to Sri Lanka in the face of two primary concerns: an increasing number of attacks targeting members of religious minorities and churches; and proposed legislation on religious conversion that, if enacted, would have violated international law norms and resulted in mandated abuses of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief in Sri Lanka…There have been an increasing number of violent attacks on churches, ministers, and other Christian individuals in the past few years reportedly carried out by members of, or persons affiliated with, extremist groups espousing Buddhist nationalism.

…In September 2005, the JHU [Jathika Hela Urumaya] put forward a proposed amendment to the constitution that would make Buddhism the official religion of Sri Lanka…Article 9.4 required that the inhabitants of Sri Lanka “professing Buddhism are bound to bring up their children in the same”; Article 9.5 stated that it is prohibited to convert “a Buddhist into other forms of worship or to spread other forms of worship among the Buddhists.” Both of these proposed articles, if enacted, would be in clear violation of international standards with regard to freedom of religion or belief. The proposed amendment was later found by the Sri Lankan Supreme Court to be “inconsistent” with the national constitution.

Sudan

As expected, the horrors of Darfur and other sources of strife are enumerated; the effect of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) is also considered:

…In the South, the Nuba Mountains, and other transitional areas formerly contested by government and Southern rebel forces, religious freedom conditions have significantly improved since the signing of the CPA.

Plus there’s mention of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a particularly unpleasant outfit:

…Suspicions remain, however, that at least some elements in the Sudanese military or security services that remain in the South continue to aid the LRA.

I discussed this particular accusation here.

Turkmenistan

As ever, the megalomania of the Turkmenbashi verges on black comedy, were the effects not so horrible. In particular, the Turkmenbashi wants all his citizens reading his book, the Rukhnama:

…A July 2002 law enjoins parents and guardians “to bring [children] up in spirit of …the unshakeable spiritual values embodied in the holy Rukhnama.” Credible reports indicate that mullahs in Turkmenistan were told in late 2005 to stop reading the Quran in mosques and restrict themselves to the Rukhnama. In March 2006, Niyazov announced on Turkmen state television that anyone reading Rukhnama three times “would be assured a place in heaven.” According to reports, the study of the Rukhnama has even replaced some subjects in the school curricula. The president’s books must be displayed in mosques and churches alongside the Quran and the Bible. Rukhnama quotations have also been carved alongside Quran citations in the country’s largest mosque. Turkmenistan’s former chief mufti, Nazrullah ibn Ibadullah, who opposed this requirement, was sentenced in a closed trial in March 2004 to 22 years in prison, reportedly for treason due to his alleged link to the alleged assassination attempt. The former chief mufti remains in prison, where, reports indicate, he is maltreated by prison guards. During a December 2005 police raid of a registered Baptist church in the town of Deynau, ethnic Turkmen congregants were released from detention only after they signed a statement promising to read the Rukhnama rather than the New Testament…No religious literature is printed in Turkmenistan and the import of religious materials is essentially impossible.

Uzbekistan

Despite the constitutional separation of religion and state, the Uzbek government strictly regulates Islamic institutions and practice through the officially sanctioned Muslim Spiritual Board. The Uzbek government has also closed down approximately 3,000 of the 5,000 mosques that were open in 1998…”Wahhabi” is a term that generally is used to refer to followers of a highly restrictive interpretation of Sunni Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia. In Uzbekistan, “Wahhabi” is a catchphrase used to refer to genuine extremists, Muslim individuals and groups that oppose the Karimov regime, and those who wish to practice Islam independently of government strictures.

…As with Muslims, members of Protestant and other minority religious groups have been arrested, sometimes on spurious drug or other charges. Several Christian leaders have reportedly been detained in psychiatric hospitals, severely beaten, and/or sentenced to labor camps and continue to have their churches raided, services interrupted, Bibles confiscated, and the names of adherents recorded by Uzbek officials.

Vietnam

In the past two years, the Vietnamese government has released a number of prominent religious prisoners, re-opened some churches in the Central Highlands, officially outlawed forced renunciations of faith, and issued new guidelines to help speed the process of registration of religious congregations. Reports of forced renunciation of faith continue to emerge, particularly among ethnic minority Protestants and monks and nuns associated with UBCV, though there are fewer than in the past.

In February 2005, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai issued “Instructions on Protestantism,” which purport to allow Protestant “house churches” in the Central Highlands and northwest provinces to operate legally if they renounce connections to groups that Hanoi has accused of organizing anti-government protests.

*****

The report also includes recommendations for each country, and for appropriate action by the USA. There are also some criticisms of some US procedures and policies:

…As the Commission reported last year, the study found that expedited removal, a process implemented in 1997 to “expeditiously remove” certain improperly documented aliens without a hearing, was intended by Congress to protect the integrity of our borders while also protecting bona fide asylum seekers. The study, however, identified serious implementing flaws that place legitimate asylum seekers at risk of being returned to countries where they may face persecution.

…Since the release of its 2005 Annual Report, the Commission has called upon the Department of State to facilitate access for certain specific groups, including Afghan Hindus under threat of imminent deportation from Germany, ChaldoAssyrian Christians, Mandaeans, Yazidis and other religious minorities who fled targeted violence in Iraq, and Sudanese Christians who, due to the severity of past persecution or special vulnerabilities, will be unlikely candidates for voluntary repatriation. The Department of State has not yet acted on or responded to these recommendations, and the Commission renews its call that access to the U.S. Refugee Program be facilitated for members of these groups. Other groups that may warrant consideration include Jehovah’s Witnesses from Eritrea who have fled to Sudan, as well as ethnic and religious minorities from Burma—such as Chin and Karen Christians and Rohingya Muslims—who have no realistic hope of imminent integration into countries of first asylum or safe and voluntary repatriation to Burma.

…a legislative development in the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act (as amended in 2005 by the REAL ID Act) has inadvertently become a barrier for refugees and asylum seekers who have fled religious persecution at the hands of terrorists and terrorist regimes. Essentially, an alien is now held inadmissible if he or she provides any in-kind or monetary assistance (i.e., “material support”) to any group that advocates, conspires to commit, or commits an illegal act of violence, even if such support is provided under duress, or is directed toward a group supported by the U.S. government.

…Although section 604 of IRFA [the International Religious Freedom Act] holds any alien inadmissible who, as a foreign government official, was “responsible for or directly carried out…particularly severe violations of religious freedom,” the Commission has not seen any evidence that the Departments of State and Homeland Security have developed a lookout list of aliens who are inadmissible on this basis. This lifetime bar on admissions has only been invoked once to render an alien inadmissible. In March 2005, it was used to exclude Governor Nahendra Modi of Gujarat state in India for his complicity in the reportedly pre-planned riots in 2002 that resulted in the deaths of nearly 2,000 Muslims. The Commission had issued a statement urging such an action.

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Giles Fraser writes about Christian rejection of the BNP front group the “Christian Council of Britain” in the Guardian:

Last month, a media-watch organisation started spotting the same faces that appear at BNP rallies regularly appearing at protests over Jerry Springer – the Opera. Local BNP leader Graham Green said: “We are totally opposed to this theatre production, and our members have been helping to hand out pro-Christian leaflets.” But the BNP hadn’t quite thought through their new association. For fundamentalist Christians from organisations like Christian Voice are committed to the literal truth of Genesis: that all human beings are descended from Adam and Eve. Because of this, the human race is of “one blood” (Acts 17: 26).

…Within weeks of setting up the Christian Council of Britain, the alliance was in tatters. “If you don’t believe in Darwinian evolution then you are even dafter than you appear,” the BNP told the national director of Christian Voice, Stephen Green. The love affair was over.

The “media-watch organisation” which first noted BNP hijacking of the Opera protests was MediaWatchWatch; further details were provided by (ahem) me, and the story then got picked up and developed by Ekklesia. Stephen Green’s repudiation of the BNP was noted by the Church Times back in March:

“They’ve got a cheek. If we’d known they were connected with the BNP, we’d have told them where to go,” said Mr Green. “They aren’t sticking up for Christianity: it’s just a front for their racism. I’ve actually been told by someone at the BNP that black people are inferior because of evolution. Evolution doesn’t go down too well with us, either – but can you believe it? We want nothing to do with them.”

That article also noted that

No details of the Christian Council of Britain could be found. “It’s nothing to do with us or me,” said the BNP’s press officer, Dr Phil Edwards. “All I know is, they are a pro-British, British Christian group. It’s separate to the BNP.”

Neither could Dr Edwards furnish details of two churches in Wiltshire that had reportedly “snapped up in bulk” a BNP greetings card produced “in association with county Christians”; or of the “Revd Robert West”, who states that a multiracial society is “a transgression of God’s will”.

Of course, Edwards’ claim was somewhat misleading. Ekklesia quickly noted that the CCoB’s website had been designed by Steve Blake, the BNP’s webmaster, while the Observer reported in April that

Clive Potter, a leading BNP member who was expelled from the Unison trade union for far-right activities, is to be its president.

(Potter, it should be noted, has left at least one comment at MWW)

However, things are not looking good for the Christian Council. Over a month after its website was established, most of its pages still read “details to follow in due course”, while the mysterious “Revd” Robert West, having been suspended from the Tory party, has sunk back into the obscurity he deserves. The BNP appears to have become bored with the project, and has not mentioned it for a while on its own website. But perhaps we can understand why; the Churches Regional Commission for Yorkshire and the Humber has produced a report on the BNP that includes the following anecdote (link added):

During the trial of Nick Griffin in Leeds, members of the “Christian Council of Britain” – a BNP organisation – supported Griffin with placards and Christian symbols…They were singing, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…” Inderjit Bhogal, Director of the Yorkshire and Humber Faiths Forum approached these supporters and asked them, “Where do I fit into your vision of Britain?” “You don’t!” was their reply. He also asked them, “How many of you go to church?” They confirmed that none of them did.

UPDATE: West has now found his spiritual home with the BNP, after complaining about the number of “women, non-white and homosexual or lesbian candidates” currently being put forward by the Tory Party. However, West’s door-to-door campaigning for his new party has not been particularly successful; one unhappy householder decided to administer an icy baptism:

The Reverend Robert West was soaked after knocking on a door in Buttery Close, North Hykeham.

…The woman, who did not wish to be named, told the Echo she had no remorse for her actions.

“He was wearing a dog collar so I asked him whether he was a real reverend,” she said.

“He refused to enter into a debate about it. I had the jug of iced water because I was preparing for friends who were visiting that day.

…”If he comes here again I will empty a whole jug over his head.”

The woman said she had consulted her local vicar because she was concerned Mr West was masquerading as a member of the church while campaigning for the BNP.

(Hat tip: Islamophobia Watch)

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Football news from Ekklesia:

Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow Mario Conti has criticised European football’s governing body, UEFA, for its decision not to fine Rangers fans for anti-Catholic singing during the club’s recent Champions League matches against the Spanish club Villareal.

…The offending behaviours of Rangers fans included the anti-Catholic chants, insults to the Pope and a traditional song ‘Billy Boys’ which talks about being “up to our knees in Fenian blood.”

The UEFA report concluded that such songs were part of “Scotland’s social and historical background.”

…Football in Glasgow has for many years been divided between the mainly Protestant club Rangers and the mainly Catholic side Celtic – together known as ‘the auld firm’. The history of rivalry and bad blood between them has included employment discrimination.

Complaints about the chanting and UEFA’s decision were reported in the media last month, but my mental filter usually blocks out any headline to do with sport. A Sunday Journal report reposted here gives a bit more background:

Billy Boys was the marching song of a “razor gang” based in Bridgtown [sic: should be Bridgeton] in Glasgow in the late 1920s and ’30s, led by one Billy Fullerton. He wasn’t a run-of-the-mill anti-Catholic bigot but a committed supporter of Oswald Mosely’s British Union of Fascists. The targets of his gang were not only Catholics but “Reds”: they helped smash up trade union and labour meetings when they weren’t hunting “Fenians.” This was one of the reasons they were tolerated by a “respectable” element which combined distaste for Irish Catholics with fear of Scottish socialists, particularly in the aftermath of “Red Clydeside.”

An academic essay on the topic by Andrew Sanders adds:

Fullerton had formed branches of the Ku Klux Klan in Scotland and the aims of these groups formed the basis for the ‘Billy Boys.’ The gang formed after Fullerton was attacked after a football match, in which he had scored the winning goal. He was brutally attacked with hammers and quickly, like minded individuals organised themselves into a gang in order to prevent such an attack taking place again. The gang are immortalised in the terrace chant, ‘Hello Hello (The Billy Boys)’…in which blatant sectarian language is used.

A discussion of Fullerton and his gang appeared in the Scotsman in 2004.

Meanwhile, a more general discussion of British racist (including anti-Semitic) football chanting can be read here.

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Russian nationalists are unhappy with the religious activities of the US ambassador to Ukraine (link added):

The fact that US ambassador to Ukraine, John Herbst, has been delegated from the diocese of Odessa and Zaporozhie to the All-Diaspora Council, which is to consider the re-unification of the two parts of the Russian Church, is a provocation, stated Constantine Zatulin, State Duma deputy and director of the Institute for the CIS Countries.

‘The ambassador was really baptized according to the Orthodox rite. At the same time, the aim of his efforts as a person at the US State Department service is fairly evident. John Herbst acts in the interests of the USA’.

Zatulin believes that the USA’s plan is “fragmenting Orthodoxy”, in order to lessen the influence of Russia. “TV journalist” (actually a notorious nationalist pundit) Mikhail Leontyev shares his view:

‘Opponents of the unification [with Moscow] who accuse the Moscow Patriarchate of Sergianism, that is submission to the authorities, represent actually fierce neo-Sergianists of American making who have just chosen a different master’.

“Sergianism” was the adaptation by Patriarch Sergius to the atheism of the Russian Revolution.

Zatulin is a long-standing critic of Ukraine’s loosening of ties with Russia:

The people who carried out the Orange Revolution simply jeopardized the process of nation-building. After all, the real goal of the Orange Revolution – as last year showed – is not democracy, but “Ukraine above all” and a final separation from Russia…Russia’s objectives should be clear: To prevent Ukraine’s consolidation as a state that is hostile to Russia, under the influence of forces in opposition to Russia both within and outside Ukraine, thus preventing Ukraine from turning into another Poland and avoiding the return of the Time of Troubles.

Radio Liberty notes that Zatulin has similarly tough views on Georgia, and that he is an ally of the Motherland political bloc, which I discussed here.

Meanwhile, some background to the US ambassador’s involvement with Orthodoxy is provided by Orthodixie, which cites various sources. The ambassador is apparently a member of ROCOR, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, although for a time he was attending worship at a Ukrainian church linked to the Moscow Patriarchate, from which ROCOR split during the Soviet period. When Herbst stopped visiting this church, a Russian newspaper claimed this had been due to an order from the White House:

The President of the United States George Bush forbade the American Ambassador to Ukraine, John Herbst, to attend the Holy Protection Monastery in Kiev…The ambassador told the believers that the American leadership is unhappy with his visits to the monastery, which belongs to the “Moscow Church.”

Commentary follows from ROCOR member Fr Alexander Lebedeff:

[ROCOR] Bishop Agafangel reports that the same John Herbst, Ambassador of the United States to Ukraine, has been elected at the Diocesan Assembly of the Odessa diocese to be the lay representative of the Diocese at the All-Diasporan Council of the Church Abroad in San Francisco next year, as he is a parishioner of our Church in Malin.

…How can we then accuse the [Moscow Patriarchate] of KGB ties and close ties to the government, when we are electing our own high-ranking U.S. government officials with CIA connections to be delegates at our Church Councils?

To which a response is provided by non other than Herbst’s daughter Masha:

To what depths had this journalist sunk in order to get a “scoop?”…whatever you think about the president, he doesn’t give two hoots about where my family attends services.

…As for Pokrovsky Monastir’, my entire family attended Nativity services there in January 2004. But last winter, during the elections, the sermons there became filled with such anti-American bile that my family understandably became uncomfortable. So they stopped going to Pokrovsky, and began attending services at other churches in Kiev during the weeks that they did not make it to Malin.

And regarding the murky “CIA” allegation:

As a priest, you should know better than anyone that the Lord calls people to service not only in our churches and monasteries, but in other capacities as well. We don’t all have the opportunity to shed our secular lives and seek refuge in the Church, but it doesn’t diminish our ability or responsibility to participate in the life of ROCOR.

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A Turkish organisation has produced yet another report designed to fan paranoia about missionaries. The New Anatolian reports:

There’s more missionary activity in Istanbul than anywhere else in the country and the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses is on the rise, according to a recent Ankara Chamber of Trade and Commerce (ATO) report.

…Stating there are an overall some 50,000 Christian communities in Turkey, the report added that outside Istanbul Christians have over 300 places of worship, numerous bookstores, one library, six periodicals, dozens of foundations, numerous printing houses, five radio stations, several monasteries, two cafes, one gathering place, six commercial companies, one hotel, one translation office, seven newspapers, two museums, and dozens of associations dedicated to missionary activity. Underlining that in 2003 alone there were 190 instances of missionary activity, the report said that the Bahais were responsible for 27 of them, adding that the Bahais concentrate on Sivas and Erzincan, while Christians tend to focus on Nevsehir, Adiyaman, Adana, Bursa, Diyarbakir and Mersin. The report listed the various groups in Turkey involved in missionary activity as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Bahais, Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox and Syrian Orthodox.

The report includes the following details:

Protestants: Their headquarters are in Schormdorf, Germany. In Ankara there’s the Turkish Protestant Churches Union as well as 19 other Protestant churches established in 2000.

…Orthodox: They’ve been attempting to create an Orthodox separatist movement in the Eastern Black Sea region since the 1980s

…the activities of the Protestant community are organized by the 10 Protestant churches linked to Kurtulus church in Balgat, adding that they distribute books and leaflets to the public in Ankara.

This comes just over a year after a report on the same theme was produced by the Turkish army; I discussed that at the time. That report also claimed that Christians were involved in separatist activities on the Black Sea; the far-right Grey Wolves have made the same allegation, and this was probably a factor in the recent murder of the Catholic priest Andrea Santoro.

The Ankara Chamber of Trade and Commerce is the mouthpiece of Sinan Aygun, a prominent Turkish nationalist. Last year the Orthodox Patriarch himself was the target for his ire:

Leaders of Orthodox churches across the world gathered in Istanbul yesterday for a rare meeting to discuss whether or not to stop recognizing the embattled patriarch of Jerusalem, Irineos I…Istanbul-based Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartolomeos, recognized by the participating Orthodox leaders as the “ecumenical patriarch,” presided over the synod.

…In Turkey, nationalist critics say his acting as “ecumenical patriarch” is a breach of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, on which the independent Republic of Turkey was established.

Sinan Aygün, who heads the Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO), issued a call to state prosecutors to launch an investigation into the Orthodox meeting, which he called “a Christian Shariah tribunal.”

“The Patriarchate has no authority to bring together representatives of other churches and hold a religious trial. This is a breach of the Turkish Constitution and of the Lausanne Treaty,” Aygün said in a statement.

…Outside the meeting hall, about a dozen nationalist protestors shouted slogans and waved Turkish flags, accusing Bartolomeos of trying to form an independent state like the Vatican inside Turkey.

(The murky circumstances surrounding the Irineos dispute, meanwhile, have been covered by me here).

Soon afterwards, Aygun made news when he arranged for a DVD denying the Armenian genocide to be distributed through Time magazine:

A DVD attached to latest number of Time edition published in US denies the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey at the beginning of last century. The DVD recorded in Turkey informs that the “events of 1915 in Turkey was not genocide but exile and the Turkish authorities provided the Armenians with the daily meal and often they were fed better than the Turkish escort.” The film authors presented former Minister of Interior Talaat Pasha as a national hero. Azerbaijani representative in the film assures that Armenians, who once annihilated Turks, are annihilating Azeris at present. The film tells that “Armenians fought for Hitler and then committed terrorist acts against Turkish diplomats.” Head of the Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sinan Aygun informed that the film was shot thanks to $1 million collected as donation and the shooting lasted for half a year. This week 500 000 Europeans will watch the film, IA Regnum reports.

Time later apologized for “a one-sided view of history that does not meet our standards for fairness and accuracy”. In 2001 Aygun attempted to organise a boycott against France when the country officially recognised the genocide; in 2004 he tried to have Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movies banned when the governor declared 24 April as the official memorial date.

Aygun is also a prominent Euro-sceptic, and he has complained that

Europe…did not treat Turkey the same way it is treating other applicants.

In particular, he has spoken against any plans for Turkey to withdraw from Cyprus in return for EU membership, and he is unhappy that the Kurdish PKK and the Marxist DHKP-C are not included on the EU’s list of terrorist organisations.

Sinan also favours Turkish involvement with Iraq. A report on the Iraq News Wire from 2002 relates that:

In a meeting held by the Iraqi Turkoman Intellectuals’ Association…President of [the] Turkish Chamber of Commerce in Ankara Sinan Aygun mentioned the efforts to establish a Kurdish state in the region and said: ‘With God’s will, we will take the lost territory back. We would want nothing but to have Mossul and Kirkuk back as our land.’

(Hat tip: Cult News Network)

(Name variations: Ankara Trade House; Ankara Trade Chamber)

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More complaints about anti-Semitism in Poland, via the Daily Telegraph:

Poland was again forced on to the defensive over its attitude towards Jews yesterday after the Simon Wiesenthal Centre complained of the “anti-Semitic tenor” of a Good Friday procession.

…Beards and Stars of Davids worn at the Way of The Cross ceremony at the Kalwaria Zebrzydowska sanctuary “perpetuated medieval stereotypes of Jews”, Shimon Samuels, the centre’s head of international relations, said in a letter to the foreign minister. It also contravened Poland’s responsibility to combat anti-Semitism under its obligations to the European Union, Mr Samuels said.

A Krakow tourist information site gives a bit of background to the site:

In 1600 Poland’s first Calvary sanctuary was established in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, a town in the Carpathian Foothills 33 km southwest from Krakow, to provide pilgrims with a substitute of Jerusalem lost to the Muslim Turks and thus unavailable. With its 42 churches and chapels of all shapes and sizes in addition to the central basilica and the Franciscan monastery, the vast complex of buildings scattered among woods on the slopes of the 527-meter Zar mountain grew to be the biggest such compound in Europe. It is also Poland’s second most important destination for pilgrims. Over ages the pilgrimage to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska influenced millions of Poles…And the Good Friday feasts, when the famous traditional lifelike Passion plays are enacted in the scenery of the sanctuary, draw huge crowds every year.

An article in Krakow Life, meanwhile, makes mention of

the surreal case of the synagogue in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska which is now a furniture store.

An anti-Semitic painting at the site had been removed at some point in the past, as noted in Magda Teter’s book Jews and Heretics in Catholic Poland:

One…controversy centered around a painting, formerly known as Infanticidia or “Ritual Murder by Jews,” in the cathedral church in Sandomierz…Following the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Poland and Israel in the 1990s and the appointment of a Jewish-Catholic committee on reconciliation, a demand arose that this painting be removed from the church, as other paintings of this sort had been in Poland, as in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, near Pope John Paul II’s hometown of Wadowice.

Of course, this sort of thing is not just a Polish phenomenon; a while ago I wrote a blog entry which discussed the Great Passion Play established by the American anti-Semite Gerald L.K. Smith in the Ozarks. I’ve also made mention of the yearly pope-burning that takes place in Lewes, not far from my home town in the UK.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph report has a worrying postscript (link added):

The fraught Polish-Jewish relations were not helped by reports yesterday that Andrzej Lepper, who is in line to become deputy prime minister, has received an honorary degree and supported a private Ukrainian university with a reputation for anti-Semitism.

This is the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP), which I discussed in detail here; the institution and its head have links with David Duke. These new concerns come shortly after reports of anti-Semitic rhetoric emanating from the popular religious radio station Radio Maryja.

Meanwhile, Doug Ireland over at Direland continues to chart how the Polish far-right is targeting Poland’s gays in acts of violence. One of the groups inciting the attacks is the anti-Semitic League of Polish Families, which I discussed here.

(Hat tip: Christianity Today Weblog)

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Interfax-Religion reports that Belorussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko has delivered a bullish Easter message, in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Minsk:

Lukashenko stated ‘those who seek world domination try to trample down our country and make the Byelorussians reject their religious roots, traditions and culture.’

‘We are not going to blindly copy an alien experience and way of life, especially today when it is evident that many principles imposed on us do not fortify but rather destroy our moral and religious values’.

…He also gave a high appraisal to the role of the Orthodox Church, ‘which in all times has always been with her people, sharing with them the joy of gains and the bitterness of losses, always defended the interests of the Fatherland and served the cause of unity and consolidation of society’.

Well, the Orthodox church has certainly “defended the interests” of Lukashenko: a few weeks ago I noted that Moscow Patriarch Alexy II had in 2002 awarded him with the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, “for strengthening unity of Slav peoples”.

So how is “Father” protecting Belarus from the malign influences of outsiders? Christian Solidarity Worldwide has the low-down:

A prominent human rights activist in Belarus was arrested, tried and sentenced to 10 days imprisonment, on Friday, 24 March, for organizing an “illegal religious activity.”

Sergey Shavtsov, a lawyer who represents most of the Protestant church unions in Belarus, and who authored the “White Book,” issued in 2002 which documented violations of international law on religious freedom in Belarus, was detained by state security forces after taking responsibility for organising an inter-denominational conference featuring an American humanitarian aid worker.

Further charges may lock up Shavtsov for two years, while the other conference participants are at risk of six-month sentences. Also,

…Shavtov, who is married and has two children, is the second person in Belarus to be convicted for this offence which was made a crime under legislation passed in October 2002 and later amended in November 2005. The first was Pastor Georgi Vyazovsky of the Minsk-based Christ’s Covenant Reformed Baptist Church who was sentenced to 10 days imprisonment for conducting religious worship in his home on March 3.

Meanwhile, Forum 18 notes that a Pentecostal leader is facing a fine for organising a Bible study in his own home, and that other church leaders have suffered harassment. To get the full story, Forum 18 called up Tatyana Zhitko, head of the local “Ideology Department”:

“Why are you calling me?” she complained. “I don’t know your publication and I’m not prepared to give you any information.”

As I noted previously, satire is also seriously circumscribed in the country. For example, this cartoon is one of several accused of “offending the honour of Lukashenko”:

Further details about what is going on in the country can be found at the Belarusan American Blog.

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From the Harare Herald (via AllAfrica):

WITCHCRAFT practices will, with effect from July this year, be legally recognised in Zimbabwe following the amendment of some sections of the Witchcraft Suppression Act.

Until the amendment, it was a criminal offence to brand anyone a witch or wizard or to accuse someone of meddling in the supernatural, even where there was tangible evidence. In an interview yesterday, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Patrick Chinamasa, confirmed the amendment of Part VI of Chapter V of the Witchcraft Suppression Act, which will be implemented in the courts of law with effect from July 1, 2006. “Yes, the Witchcraft Suppression Act was amended and is now at the criminal courts. “Judicial officers are currently being trained so that they can easily implement it.

…”Any person who engages in any practice knowing that it is commonly associated with witchcraft, shall be guilty of engaging in a practice commonly associated with witchcraft if having the intention to cause harm to any person. “Such practice inspires in the person against whom it was directed, a real fear or belief that harm will occur to that person or any member of his or her family, and be liable to a fine not exceeding level ten or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or both,”…

Apparently the law has now been reworded to clarify that witchcraft that is not aimed at causing harm is allowable.

The law in fact addresses a serious problem. A recent report from over the border in South Africa provides a salient example of what can happen when someone claims to have a magical power to cause harm:

Hlalaleni Ndimande was hacked to death on April 2 at her home in the Umvuzane Reserve in Umbumbulu, in front of her three children, by her father, Mkhishelwa John Ndimande, 72, and her brother-in-law, Frederick Khethukuthula Njapha, 37.

The court was told last week that Hlalaleni had allegedly been practising witchcraft and that she had threatened family members with her “good muthi”.

However, in the case of Zimbabwe, Mugabe is in large part dealing with the symptoms of a society he has himself created. Way back in 1999, the Detroit Free Press spoke to traditional healers in the country, who observed that:

…the black-market demand for human body parts, which are used in making evil potions, has been soaring since the country’s economic decline started in 1997.

…”Witchcraft and tokoloshis [a kind of goblin] are making a comeback,” said Gordon Chavanduka, chairman of the 50,000-member Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association. “It’s obvious the cause is economic. The worse the economy gets, the more political tension there is in society, the more frustrated and frightened people get. They turn to witchcraft to gain riches or to hurt their enemies.”

A 2001 report in the Sunday Times adds that senior Zanu-PF members have a real fear of the supernatural:

Emmerson Mnangagwa, the much feared former head of the secret police and Mugabe’s designated successor, was visibly troubled when he went on television last week to discuss recent setbacks, including the deaths of two ministers in separate road accidents.

“We don’t know what is hitting us,” he lamented. “It’s not natural. Something else must be happening.”

A regional leader of the ruling Zanu-PF party went further, saying: “We fear the hand of Lucifer is at work.”

…Although Mugabe is notionally a Catholic, he has increasingly fallen back on the tribal religions that many Zimbabweans combine to a greater or lesser degree with Christianity.

…many of Mugabe’s rural supporters belong to the Va Pastori church, whose followers proclaim a brand of Christianity but are frequently caught up in witchcraft rituals.

On the other hand, it has also been reported that

President Mugabe has refused to meet with leaders of some native African churches outside the traditional mainline denominations for several years because he suspects them of being subversive.

Mugabe has also himself invoked the supernatural. In 2002 he made a dire warning about the forthcoming election:

“EVEN IF I DIE, I will turn in my grave if the MDC wins the presidential election. Let me warn you that even goblins will be unleashed on you if Morgan Tsvangirai wins.”

For what it’s worth, WND carries the claim that Mugabe once “staged a witchcraft ceremony asking for rain” during which he claimed to be possessed by the spirit of “Murenga”; accusations of occult interests also appear on some evangelical Christian websites.

Using witchcraft for harm is not just illegal in parts of Africa. Writing in British pagan magazine White Dragon, Barry Walker warns that when it comes to casting spells against someone

…you have to be very careful about choosing a single person as your target, forget all that bad karma stuff, you could end up in Court as actions you take might be interpreted as, “Threatening Behaviour” if your target found out what you were doing… It would be too easy for things to get out of control real fast which could result in people finding them looking at the sharp end of British Justice. Because of the risks involved I would not advise these type of actions being taken.

The last trial for witchcraft in the UK took place in 1944, although the prosecution couched its case in terms of the person “pretending” to have a supernatural power. The law under which she was prosecuted was repealed in 1951.

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Those of us brought up to believe that truth was an absolute justification in the matter of libel may be caught up short by section 8 of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Magazine Law: A Practical Guide has the following piece of information that will be of interest to any blogger based in the UK (or indeed, who deals with subjects based in the UK):

Truth is a complete defence to an action for libel…The two possible exceptions to this principle are convictions regarded as ‘spent’ under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974…and cases of criminal libel…But even in such cases the defence of truth will be defeated only if the plaintiff can prove that publication was malicious; that there was no justifiable reason for reporting them; and that the journalist was simply being spiteful or had some other improper motive.

How this Act relates to the internet age is a question that remains unanswered. For example, here’s a report from the BBC News from 2004:

A cyclist who slashed 1,728 car tyres after being soaked by a motorist has been jailed for 16 months.

Ashley Carpenter, who admitted slashing the tyres in 10 days, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Thursday.

The jailing for 16 months means that Carpenter’s conviction will be “spent” in 2014. Anyone using this information after that date risks actions against them based on the Act, even if it continues to be freely and widely available on the BBC website and elsewhere! In fact, even the BBC and this site might be liable. Even trickier is this example, from 2002:

A solicitor who stole and defaced road signs because they were in metric has been found guilty of theft and criminal damage…

However, bloggers beware: the conviction for theft was later quashed, while the conviction for criminal damage was later reduced from 50 hours community service (which would become spent after five years) to an absolute discharge (which would become spent after six months). Even giving his name today might therefore be libellous, even though it appears on the BBC site. Of course, a defence in this case could be that the person concerned was undertaking a political act, which is therefore part of the public historical record. But how can we be sure the judge would see it like that?

Of course, the Act was actually designed to protect private individuals from being forever tainted by past indiscretions. If I say “Ms X was convicted of shoplifting some years ago, as I discovered in an old newspaper”, and it is clear that all I want to do is to damage Ms X’s reputation, then the law will apply (although free-speech campaigners may find it an objectionable restriction). I’m currently not sure what would happen if I just wrote “to find out something interesting about Ms X, see the Evening Standard 6 Nov 1982!”

But what about a public figure whose past entanglement with the law might be of current political interest? Well, you may be able to make a strong case that you are not motivated by “malice” in revealing the details, but if the plaintiff is determined that information about an old conviction should not re-enter the public domain, then you’re going to need deep pockets if you want to stand your ground.

However, with so much old information now readily available online, this is clearly an antiquated Act in need of serious reform…

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