WUNRN
Blasphemy is the act of
insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for a religious deity
or the irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy
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Apostasy - The abandonment or renunciation of a
religious or political belief. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1QJDB_enIT612IT612&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Apostasy
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http://www.clarionproject.org/news/pakistani-supreme-court-stays-christian-womans-execution
Pakistan – Supreme Court Stays Christian Woman’s Execution for Blasphemy
July 22,
2015 - Asia Bibi was framed by women in her village and charged with blasphemy,
a capital offense for refusing to convert to Islam.
The cover
of Asia Bibi's book, Blasphemy.
The Supreme
Court in Pakistan stayed the execution of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who
was charged with blasphemy and sentenced to death.
As early as
last year, a high court in Lahore upheld the sentence. The Supreme Court also
suspended that decision.
The
50-year-old mother of three daughters was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 after
Muslim women in her village provoked a confrontation with
her when Bibi refused to convert to Islam.
The incident
occurred when Bibi complied with a request by a Muslim woman to bring her
water. The woman then insulted Bibi, saying that Muslims could not drink water
brought by non-Muslims. Bibi replied by asking the woman whether all people are
not human beings, a question which caused an uproar in the village.
Not long
after, a Muslim mob led by a local cleric viciously attacked Bibi and her
family. She was saved by police who took her to their station and charged her
with blasphemy on the basis of a complaint lodged by the cleric. Bibi was
subsequently put on trial and sentenced to death by hanging.
Bibi told
her story in a book called Blasphemy, where she described her ordeal as well
as her experineces in prison. The book was dictated to her husband and then
written by French journalist Anne-Isabelle Tollet. Proceeds from the book are
used to support Bibi’s family, which has been forced into hiding.
Bibi is the
first woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy laws. While no
one has been executed by the courts, many Christians accused of blasphemy have
been killed by Muslim mobs either in prison or after they have been released.
Bibi’s case
made international headlines after two members of the Pakistani government, who
voiced their support for her, were assassinated. Minister for Minorities
Shahbaz Bhatti was shot by the Taliban who labelled him an “infidel Christian”
and the governor of eastern Punjab, Salman Taseer, was killed by one of his
bodyguards after visiting Bibi in prison.
During his
trial, Taseer’s killer was showered with rose petals in court by lawyers. The
judge who ended up convicting him was forced to flee the country to save his
life.
Despite the
danger, hundreds of thousands of people have signed a petition calling for
Bibi’s release. Protests have also been held in support of her release.
Pakistan’s
blasphemy laws are often exploited by those with personal vendettas against the
accused. Blasphemy has no specific definition in Pakistani law. Further, the
accused is often prevented from knowing his offense since the offending
statements or actions may not be brought to court (since that may be considered
blasphemy as well).
Oftentimes,
the accused are left to languish in prison with the hope they will be killed by
a mob or poisoned while their cases are purposely delayed during the appeals
process.
Asia has
been held in prison since 2009. In June, when her family visited, they reported
that Bibbi’s failing health had taken a turn for the worse.
Bibi
is suffering from intestinal bleeding, vomiting blood and is was said to be so
weak that she can hardly walk. In addition, she is having trouble eating
and has a constant pain in her chest.
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http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/05/28/which-countries-still-outlaw-apostasy-and-blasphemy/
WHICH COUNTRIES STILL OUTLAW APOSTASY & BLASPHEMY?
By Angelina Theodorou – May 28, 2014
Apostasy
and blasphemy may seem to many like artifacts of history. But in dozens of
countries around the world, laws against apostasy and blasphemy remain even
today.
Earlier
this month, the U.S. embassy in
Khartoum said it was “deeply disturbed” that Sudan had sentenced a
pregnant woman to death for apostasy, the act of abandoning one’s
faith — including by converting to another religion. (The woman later gave birth in jail.) And
in Pakistan, the country’s most popular TV station was the latest
target in a rash
of recent government
accusations of blasphemy,
defined as speech or actions considered to be contemptuous of God or the
divine.
A new Pew
Research analysis finds that as of 2012, nearly a quarter of the world’s
countries and territories (22%) had anti-blasphemy laws or policies, and
one-in-ten (11%) had laws or policies penalizing apostasy. The legal
punishments for such transgressions vary from fines to death.
We found
that laws restricting apostasy and blasphemy are most common in the Middle East
and North Africa, where 14 of the 20 countries (70%) criminalize blasphemy and
12 of the 20 countries (60%) criminalize apostasy. While apostasy laws exist in
only two other regions of the world – Asia-Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa –
blasphemy laws can be found in all regions, including Europe (in 16% of
countries) and the Americas (31%).
We counted
and categorized reports of the presence of these laws in 2012 as part of an
extension of our research on
restrictions on religion around the world. Nearly three-in-ten
countries in the world (29%) had a high or very high level of government
restrictions in 2012 – these countries include about 64% of the world’s
population, according to our report.
This
research relied on 18 widely cited, publicly available sources from groups such
as the U.S. State Department, the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
International and the International Crisis Group.
Pakistan’s
blasphemy laws have their
origins in the country’s colonial past, when British colonial rulers
first introduced penalties for insulting religious beliefs. These laws remained
in effect after Pakistan’s independence in 1947 and have since increased in
severity. In 2012 alone, there were more
than two dozen blasphemy cases filed in the country.
But
Pakistan is not alone. Nine of the 50 countries in the Asia-Pacific region
(18%) had blasphemy laws in 2012, and in Europe such laws were found in seven
out of 45 nations (16%). In November 2012, the Dutch parliament dissolved
its blasphemy law,
which was drafted in the 1930s and had not been used for half a century.
In the
Americas, 11 out of 35 countries (31%) had blasphemy laws, including the
Bahamas, where the publication or
sale of blasphemous material can be punished with up to two years
imprisonment. The U.S. does not have any federal blasphemy laws, but
as of 2012, several U.S. states – including Massachusetts and Michigan
– still had anti-blasphemy laws on the books. However, the First Amendment to
the U.S. Constitution would almost certainly prevent the enforcement of any
such law.
In South
America, Peru’s federal law does not formally prohibit blasphemy, but local
government authorities have enforced penalties for it. In October 2012, a
district mayor in Lima closed a public art exhibit that featured a naked statue
of Christ after religious groups condemned it as
blasphemy. According to the U.S. State Department’s International
Religious Freedom Report, representatives of the local art community
“expressed concern over censorship and freedom of speech” after the incident.
Blasphemy
laws are least common in sub-Saharan Africa (three of 48 countries), according
to 2012 data. In April of 2012, anti-slavery activists in Mauritania
were charged and imprisoned for
blasphemy after publicly burning religious texts to denounce what
the activists viewed as support for slavery in Islamic commentary and
jurisprudence.
Apostasy
laws are less common worldwide – found in 21 countries, in only three regions
of the world. Including Sudan, anti-apostasy measures were in effect in more
than half the countries in the Middle East-North Africa region as of 2012.
Five of
the 50 countries (10%) in the Asia-Pacific region had apostasy laws. For
instance, in the Maldives, all citizens are required to be Muslim, and those
who convert may lose their
citizenship. In sub-Saharan Africa, just four of the 48 countries
(8%) have laws prohibiting apostasy. There were no laws against apostasy in any
countries in Europe or the Americas in 2012.
http://www.pewforum.org/2015/02/26/religious-hostilities/
February 26, 2015
Latest Trends in Religious Restrictions & Hostilities