Date: Friday 24 August 2007
Subj: North Korea: ". . .though your footsteps were not seen".
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
NORTH KOREA: ". . .THOUGH YOUR FOOTSTEPS WERE NOT SEEN"
In June 2000, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il in a historic inter-Korea summit. It was the first rapprochement between the North and South since the border closed in 1953. At that June 2000 meeting in Pyongyang, the leaders signed a landmark document committing the two states to work toward reunification by (amongst other steps) facilitating the reunions of families separated by the Korean War, improving economic cooperation and building a railway line across the heavily patrolled border.
The situation improved to the point that when the then US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Pyongyang in October 2000 she was able to report: 'Kim Jong Il said I hope you'll figure out a way to send us some English teachers and if they're Korean-American, that's fine.' (Albright press briefing 26 Oct 2000: Link 1)
However, through 2002 US - North Korea relations soured and the North Korean regime retreated into a defensive posturing position, from where it has since been maintaining isolation and belligerently using the threat of nuclear weapons to ensure its survival and to extract concessions from the West.
Whilst North Korea is rated as the world's most severe abuser of religious liberty, there can be no question that, despite the souring of US - North Korea relations, North and South Korea have made significant strides towards fulfilling their historic commitment of June 2000.
* Family reunions have occurred.
* North Korea scrapped its centralised state rationing system and moved to a market economy. Public markets have been operating since 1 July 2002. Most significantly, this has enabled cross-border trade with China. (Link 2)
* During the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics, North and South Korea competed as separate nations but entered the stadium together under their 'Unification Flag'. At the 2006 Asian Games they competed as a single nation, as they will do again in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
* In May this year, two rail lines that now cross the demilitarised zone (DMZ) were given a test run. On Thursday 17 May, two trains carrying 150 passengers each - one train from each direction - crossed the border for the first time in over 50 years. A South Korean official said the test signified "re-connecting the severed bloodline of our people". A North Korean official said both nations "should not be derailed from the tracks" towards unification. (Link 3)
* Economic co-operation has also gone ahead with the opening of the Kaesong Industrial Park (Link 4) and the near-completion of the Christian-funded, English-language, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (Link 5) (Also see North Korea Economy Watch.)
FLOODS
A second inter-Korean summit scheduled for 28-30 August 2007 in Pyongyang has been postponed to 2-4 October due to the severe floods that have devastated North Korea. Associated Press quotes UN Assistant Secretary-General Margareta Wahlstrom, the deputy emergency relief coordinator, as saying (17 August): "'There are approximately 300,000 people who are homeless. About 58,000 houses (are) destroyed. We've seen over 90,000 hectares of farmland which is flooded and about 60 missing, 83 dead so far. About 10 percent of the population in the provinces in the south are affected.'
"In North Hwanghae, she said about 70 percent of arable land has been affected and 50 percent of the health clinics destroyed. According to an overview by UN relief officials in the region, more than 800 public buildings, 540 bridges, 70 sections of railway and more than 500 high voltage towers were destroyed, and more than 30 reservoirs and 450 agricultural structures were damaged. In addition, the heavy rains have ruptured river banks in more than 800 places and dikes in 10 places, the UN said." (Link 6)
Whilst this is not North Korea's first major catastrophe, it is the first time the regime has chosen not to hide it. Aid agencies have been surprised by the regime's new-found willingness to swiftly reveal information and seek assistance so that suffering may be relieved. (Link 7)
Of course sceptics would be forgiven for wondering if this response could be one of sheer political expediency. It could indicate merely that internal discontent is so palpable the regime is desperate to ensure suffering is alleviated quickly before there is a revolt! However, it could also indicate that the regime is waking up to reality, accepting the inevitable and beginning to "test the water" (so to speak) of openness.
INTERNET
There have been other tentative steps towards increasing openness and connection to the outside world. Koh Yoo-hwan, a professor at Dongguk University, Seoul, recently told the Korea Times that the Internet will be the first gateway to the outside world for North Korea when the tension on the Korean peninsula eases after the South-North summit. "Kim Jong-il has great interest in the information technology sector. Pyongyang has kept its network closed from the outside because it was concerned about the Web's possible influence on its regime. But if it wants to come out to the international society, it is inevitable to utilise the Internet, first of all.'' (Link 8)
Koh told the Korea Times that there already are broadband networks set up in North Korea and that Kim Jong-il has already established and opened a computer technology centre.
As noted by the Korea Times : " '.kp' has been allocated as North Korea's country code domain. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) clarifies: "At the present time there is no delegated operator for the KP domain, but ICANN has received a request to delegate the domain. This request was discussed by the ICANN Board at its meeting on 14 August 2007 . . the minutes will be published shortly." (Link 9)
As Professor Koh told the Korea Times, "Using of the domain suffix indicates that North Korea is now ready to jump into the ocean of information and it wants to prepare for the change. The opening can only be possible when the political climate gets warmer in the Korean peninsula. If the North Korea - US relations improve, reforms and opening will follow.'' (Link 8)
SECOND INTER-KOREA SUMMIT: 2-4 OCTOBER
The 2-4 October inter-Korea summit in Pyongyang is hugely important. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will travel to Pyongyang through a reconnected cross-border road. Reunification could and probably needs to take a long, long time. However if trust and confidence can be built - confidence that South Korea will not be swamped with destitute refugees and confidence for Kim that his position is secure - then openness and liberty need not be so far away. (Democracy, with its emphasis on equality, rule-of-law, separation of powers and such principles, has its roots in biblical Christianity; it grew out of the Reformation and is a fruit of Biblical truth. Religious liberty needs to come before democracy so that the foundations for democracy can be established.)
North Korea is presently the world's worst abuser of religious liberty, with extreme repression and Christian suffering. But the people of God have a lot of "handles" to take hold of in prayer for North Korea. This should not surprise us and we should not be too discouraged. Over the past 54 years the predominantly local (Korean) chorus of prayer for North Korea has grown into a global symphony. Why should we not expect great things from God?
"Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen." Psalm 77:19 (NIV)
Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. 26 October 2000
Press Briefing on plane en route Washington, DC from Seoul, Republic of Korea
As released by the Office of the Spokesman, US Department of State
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB164/10_26_00%20Albright%20Press%20Briefing%20on%20plane%20en%20route%20Washington,%20D.C.%20from%20Kor.pdf
2) North Korea: Reassessing self-reliance?
By Elizabeth Kendal. 31 July 2002
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
3) BBC. Korean trains in historic link-up.17 May 2007
4) A Capitalist Sprout In N. Korea's Dust
Industrial Park to Broach Free Market
By Anthony Faiola, Washington Post Foreign Service, 23 May 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48491-2004May22.html
ALSO North Korea Economy Watch, Kaesong category:
http://www.nkeconwatch.com/category/economic-reform/special-administrative-regions/kaesong-industrial-park/
5) Pyongyang University of Science and Technology http://www.pust.or.kr/eng/
ALSO: On a mission for God. By David McNeill. 15 Aug 2007
A Christian-funded, English-language university is being built in Pyongyang, writes David McNeill. "NORTH Korea seems set to take a giant leap out of the intellectual cold with the development of an English-language university, in which academics from across the world will teach the best of the country's graduate students."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22245921-27702,00.html
6) UN official says 300,000 homeless, 58,000 houses destroyed, 83 dead in North Korea floods. 17 Aug 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/17/news/UN-GEN-UN-NKorea-Floods.php
For more on the floods see: DPRK hit by floods
http://www.korea-is-one.org/spip.php?rubrique5
7) North Korea Opens Up Over Flooding
By Jennifer Veale, Seoul. 15 Aug 2007
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1653130,00.html
ALSO: N Korea changes tune on aid amid floods
By Jennifer Macey. 16 Aug 2007
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/16/2007215.htm
8) N. Korea to Connect to Rest of World via Web
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/08/123_8472.html
9) Clarification Regarding .KP Country Code Top-Level Domain.17 August 2007 http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-17aug07.htm
Friday, August 24, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
ALGERIA: Christians and the extremist threat.
Date: Monday 16 July 2007
Subj: Algeria: Christians and the extremist threat.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
On 13 June the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera published a column by Magdi Allam on the persecution of Christians and the lack of religious tolerance in Muslim countries. In the very last paragraph Allam names Algeria, just once, saying ". . .from Algeria to Pakistan, Indonesia to Nigeria, Saudi Arabia to Somalia", Christians are victims of persecution and discrimination. (Link 1)
Allam's assertion that Algeria is a nation where Christians are persecuted drew the ire of the Algerian government, with Liberte Algerie publishing an official response from Algeria's Religious Affairs Ministry on 8 July. MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) reports: "An official response by Algeria's Religious Affairs Ministry to an article in the Italian daily Corriere, which listed Algeria among the Muslim countries in which Christians are oppressed, stated that 'Christians in Algeria enjoy greater rights and liberties than do Muslims in Christian countries'. The ministry also asserted that a new Algerian law mandating two to five years in prison for anyone found guilty of trying to convert a Muslim to another religion was in accordance with international conventions." (Link 2)
These assertions by Algeria's Religious Affairs Ministry, that "Christians in Algeria enjoy greater rights and liberties than do Muslims in Christian countries" and that Algeria's religion laws are "in accordance with international conventions" should elicit a response from religious liberty monitors.
LAW AMENDED; CHRISTIANS ARRESTED
In March 2006, a presidential order that established new conditions for the exercise of non-Muslim religious practice was passed in both the Algerian Ummah council (Senate) and in the Algerian National Assembly (Parliament). The law is essentially an anti-missionary, anti-proselytising law that prescribed prison terms and hefty fines for anyone who "incites, constrains or uses seductive means seeking to convert a Muslim to another religion (. . .), or
who produces, stores or distributes printed documents or audio-visual formats or any other format or means which seeks to shake the faith of a Muslim". (For background see link 3).
On 4 June 2007 the government announced amendments to the religion law. Pursuant to Executive Decree 07/158 of 27 May 2007 all non-Muslim religious activities now fall under the auspices of the newly established National Commission for Non-Muslim Faiths which is chaired by the Minister for Religious Affairs and Wakfs or its representative (a wakf/waqf is a Muslim
trust). The commission is composed of representatives from the Ministry for National Defence, the Interior and local communities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Directorate-General of National Security, the Command of the National Police, the national advisory commission of the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
From now on non-Muslim religious activity may not take place except in recognised and approved associations and structures unless there is prior written permission from the civil authorities. This does not affect Sunday worship in recognised and approved churches but it does acutely restrict spontaneous worship, home fellowships, open air meetings and public ministry.
(Link 4)
According to an article by B Mokhtaria in Le Quotidien D'Oran the new commission now has authority over non-Muslim business and worship. It also has the right to contribute a preliminary opinion regarding the registration of religious associations and the approval of sites for worship. (Link 5)
The spokesman for and advisor to the Ministry for Religious Affairs, Mr Tamine, told Oran that the new laws were promulgated simply to fill in an existing gap in the law as the authorities have become aware of the origins of "extremists" in recent years. He said that the new laws will enable the authorities to crack down on foreign missionaries who enter Algeria on tourist
visas to seduce Algerians and convert them to Christianity by fraud and allurement. According to Mr Tamine, these missionaries act under the cover of religion while in reality, he alleges, their agenda is not religious at all. He maintains that Algeria must resist the activities of these non-Muslim "extremists". He asserts that the new law is not repressive, but protective, and will even protect the Christian expatriate working community from the consequences of religious demonstrations and reactions against Christian "extremism".
CHRISTIANS CHARGED WITH POSSESSION
On 20 June, five Algerian Christians faced court on charges of possession of Christian literature. (Link 6)
One believer appeared before the court for a second time on 27 June and will reappear in court on 19 December. He had been approached by two men pretending to be interested in the gospel on account of a satellite programme they had seen on El Hayat. The men asked the Christian if he could give them a Bible. When he did, the enquirers revealed themselves as police, arrested the believer and confiscated the box of Bibles he had in his possession. Two other believers were reportedly tricked into giving a Bible to a police officer at a road block. They will face court in September. According to sources the Algerian media did not cover the June trials.
Many believe that the Algerian authorities are overwhelmed and confused by the growing phenomenon of Muslims converting to Christianity.
Whilst this is doubtless true, it is also reasonable to question if the government's increasingly repressive policies regarding Christianity are in some measure being driven by a desire to appease increasingly threatening Islamic forces.
THE REAL EXTREMIST THREAT
Algerians know that the real threat to Algerian security and stability, progress and prosperity is Islamic "extremism" and fundamentalist militancy.
In late 2006 the Algerian Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda. On 24 January 2007, with the blessing of Osama bin Laden, the group changed its name to The Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb. On 11 April, around 30 people were killed and 22 wounded when this group detonated two bombs in Algiers, one at a police station and one which ripped the facade off the President's headquarters. (Link 7)
On Wednesday 11 July a 20-year-old jihadist from an al-Qaeda cell bombed an army barracks in Lakhdaria village, 120 km (75 miles) east of Algiers. This suicide truck bombing killed 10 soldiers and wounded 35. (Link 8)
A MEMRI article issued after the 11 April bombings in Algiers entitled "Reactions in the Algerian and Arab Press to the Al-Qaeda Attacks in Algiers" shows that Algerians are under no illusions about the real extremist threat.
MEMRI reports: "Hakim Outoudert, writing in the regional daily La Depeche de Kabylie, questioned the Interior Minister's assertion that the attacks were an isolated event, and called for an ideological battle against fundamentalism in order to dry up the 'terrorist matrix'.
". . . 'Where did these young people contract this evil, if not from within Algerian society, through a bigoted media literature, but above all within the mosques in subversive suburbs? . . . [Should we] do away with fundamentalism, the matrix of terrorism, by drying up [its] ideological ground, or maintain [its] destructive potential by ceding it the terrain of political initiative? One day we'll have to choose. The sooner the better.'" (Link 9)
Elizabeth Kendal
rl-research@crossnet.org.au
Links
1) Una manifestazione per i cristiani in Oriente perseguitati
Magdi Allam, 13 Giugno 2007
http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Esteri/2007/06_Giugno/13/magdi.shtml
2) Algerian Religious Affairs Ministry Denies Persecution of Christians In Country. MEMRI. Source: Liberte, Algerie, July 8, 2007
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/2084.htm
3) Algeria: severe new penalties for 'proselytising'
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
By Elizabeth Kendal. Friday 24 March 2006
http://www.worldevangelical.org/news/view.htm?id=408
ALSO, Algeria: Text of Presidential Order Concerning Religion.
http://ea.org.au/default.aspx?id=0b0bd037-22c5-442e-9f2d-6bd6120e1c5e
The Presidential Order was published in the Official Journal of the Algerian
Republic (Journal Officiel de la Republique Algerienne) Number 12, 1 March
2006. The direct link to that journal is:
http://www.joradp.dz/JO2000/2006/012/F_Pag.htm . The Presidential Order
concerning religion is on pages 23 & 24. (French)
4) Restriction de la liberte religieuse pour les Christiens. 18 Juin 2007
http://evangelique-kabyle.blog.mongenie.com/index/p/2007/06/388071
AND – with a clarification submitted from 'Liberte Algerie'
Les messes chrétiennes n'ont pas besoin d'autorisation des walis
Par Samar, Mercredi 27 Juin 2007, Liberte Algerie
http://www.blogdei.com/index.php/2007/07/06/2261-pratique-des-cultes-non-musulmans-en-algerie-les-reunions-chretiennes-n-auraient-pas-besoin-de-l-autorisation-des-walis
5) Une commission pour reguler la pratique des cultes non musulmans.
par B.Mokhtaria, 7 Juin 2007
http://www.lequotidien-oran.com/index.php?news=501222&archive_date=2007-06-07
6) Cinq Chretiens Algeriens devant la justice le 20 Juin.
22 Juin 2007
http://evangelique-kabyle.blog.mongenie.com/index.php?idblogp=391554
7) Al Qaeda claims responsibility for Algiers bombings
ABC, 12 April 2007
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/04/12/1894940.htm
8) Suicide Attack In Algeria Kills Ten, Wounds 35 Soldiers
12 July 2007. By Joseph S. Mayton - AHN Middle East Correspondent
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007888238
9) Reactions in the Algerian and Arab Press to the Al-Qaeda Attacks in Algiers
MEMRI, 17 April 2007, Special Dispatch Series - No. 1546
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD154607
Subj: Algeria: Christians and the extremist threat.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
On 13 June the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera published a column by Magdi Allam on the persecution of Christians and the lack of religious tolerance in Muslim countries. In the very last paragraph Allam names Algeria, just once, saying ". . .from Algeria to Pakistan, Indonesia to Nigeria, Saudi Arabia to Somalia", Christians are victims of persecution and discrimination. (Link 1)
Allam's assertion that Algeria is a nation where Christians are persecuted drew the ire of the Algerian government, with Liberte Algerie publishing an official response from Algeria's Religious Affairs Ministry on 8 July. MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) reports: "An official response by Algeria's Religious Affairs Ministry to an article in the Italian daily Corriere, which listed Algeria among the Muslim countries in which Christians are oppressed, stated that 'Christians in Algeria enjoy greater rights and liberties than do Muslims in Christian countries'. The ministry also asserted that a new Algerian law mandating two to five years in prison for anyone found guilty of trying to convert a Muslim to another religion was in accordance with international conventions." (Link 2)
These assertions by Algeria's Religious Affairs Ministry, that "Christians in Algeria enjoy greater rights and liberties than do Muslims in Christian countries" and that Algeria's religion laws are "in accordance with international conventions" should elicit a response from religious liberty monitors.
LAW AMENDED; CHRISTIANS ARRESTED
In March 2006, a presidential order that established new conditions for the exercise of non-Muslim religious practice was passed in both the Algerian Ummah council (Senate) and in the Algerian National Assembly (Parliament). The law is essentially an anti-missionary, anti-proselytising law that prescribed prison terms and hefty fines for anyone who "incites, constrains or uses seductive means seeking to convert a Muslim to another religion (. . .), or
who produces, stores or distributes printed documents or audio-visual formats or any other format or means which seeks to shake the faith of a Muslim". (For background see link 3).
On 4 June 2007 the government announced amendments to the religion law. Pursuant to Executive Decree 07/158 of 27 May 2007 all non-Muslim religious activities now fall under the auspices of the newly established National Commission for Non-Muslim Faiths which is chaired by the Minister for Religious Affairs and Wakfs or its representative (a wakf/waqf is a Muslim
trust). The commission is composed of representatives from the Ministry for National Defence, the Interior and local communities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Directorate-General of National Security, the Command of the National Police, the national advisory commission of the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
From now on non-Muslim religious activity may not take place except in recognised and approved associations and structures unless there is prior written permission from the civil authorities. This does not affect Sunday worship in recognised and approved churches but it does acutely restrict spontaneous worship, home fellowships, open air meetings and public ministry.
(Link 4)
According to an article by B Mokhtaria in Le Quotidien D'Oran the new commission now has authority over non-Muslim business and worship. It also has the right to contribute a preliminary opinion regarding the registration of religious associations and the approval of sites for worship. (Link 5)
The spokesman for and advisor to the Ministry for Religious Affairs, Mr Tamine, told Oran that the new laws were promulgated simply to fill in an existing gap in the law as the authorities have become aware of the origins of "extremists" in recent years. He said that the new laws will enable the authorities to crack down on foreign missionaries who enter Algeria on tourist
visas to seduce Algerians and convert them to Christianity by fraud and allurement. According to Mr Tamine, these missionaries act under the cover of religion while in reality, he alleges, their agenda is not religious at all. He maintains that Algeria must resist the activities of these non-Muslim "extremists". He asserts that the new law is not repressive, but protective, and will even protect the Christian expatriate working community from the consequences of religious demonstrations and reactions against Christian "extremism".
CHRISTIANS CHARGED WITH POSSESSION
On 20 June, five Algerian Christians faced court on charges of possession of Christian literature. (Link 6)
One believer appeared before the court for a second time on 27 June and will reappear in court on 19 December. He had been approached by two men pretending to be interested in the gospel on account of a satellite programme they had seen on El Hayat. The men asked the Christian if he could give them a Bible. When he did, the enquirers revealed themselves as police, arrested the believer and confiscated the box of Bibles he had in his possession. Two other believers were reportedly tricked into giving a Bible to a police officer at a road block. They will face court in September. According to sources the Algerian media did not cover the June trials.
Many believe that the Algerian authorities are overwhelmed and confused by the growing phenomenon of Muslims converting to Christianity.
Whilst this is doubtless true, it is also reasonable to question if the government's increasingly repressive policies regarding Christianity are in some measure being driven by a desire to appease increasingly threatening Islamic forces.
THE REAL EXTREMIST THREAT
Algerians know that the real threat to Algerian security and stability, progress and prosperity is Islamic "extremism" and fundamentalist militancy.
In late 2006 the Algerian Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda. On 24 January 2007, with the blessing of Osama bin Laden, the group changed its name to The Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb. On 11 April, around 30 people were killed and 22 wounded when this group detonated two bombs in Algiers, one at a police station and one which ripped the facade off the President's headquarters. (Link 7)
On Wednesday 11 July a 20-year-old jihadist from an al-Qaeda cell bombed an army barracks in Lakhdaria village, 120 km (75 miles) east of Algiers. This suicide truck bombing killed 10 soldiers and wounded 35. (Link 8)
A MEMRI article issued after the 11 April bombings in Algiers entitled "Reactions in the Algerian and Arab Press to the Al-Qaeda Attacks in Algiers" shows that Algerians are under no illusions about the real extremist threat.
MEMRI reports: "Hakim Outoudert, writing in the regional daily La Depeche de Kabylie, questioned the Interior Minister's assertion that the attacks were an isolated event, and called for an ideological battle against fundamentalism in order to dry up the 'terrorist matrix'.
". . . 'Where did these young people contract this evil, if not from within Algerian society, through a bigoted media literature, but above all within the mosques in subversive suburbs? . . . [Should we] do away with fundamentalism, the matrix of terrorism, by drying up [its] ideological ground, or maintain [its] destructive potential by ceding it the terrain of political initiative? One day we'll have to choose. The sooner the better.'" (Link 9)
Elizabeth Kendal
rl-research@crossnet.org.au
Links
1) Una manifestazione per i cristiani in Oriente perseguitati
Magdi Allam, 13 Giugno 2007
http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Esteri/2007/06_Giugno/13/magdi.shtml
2) Algerian Religious Affairs Ministry Denies Persecution of Christians In Country. MEMRI. Source: Liberte, Algerie, July 8, 2007
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/2084.htm
3) Algeria: severe new penalties for 'proselytising'
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
By Elizabeth Kendal. Friday 24 March 2006
http://www.worldevangelical.org/news/view.htm?id=408
ALSO, Algeria: Text of Presidential Order Concerning Religion.
http://ea.org.au/default.aspx?id=0b0bd037-22c5-442e-9f2d-6bd6120e1c5e
The Presidential Order was published in the Official Journal of the Algerian
Republic (Journal Officiel de la Republique Algerienne) Number 12, 1 March
2006. The direct link to that journal is:
http://www.joradp.dz/JO2000/2006/012/F_Pag.htm . The Presidential Order
concerning religion is on pages 23 & 24. (French)
4) Restriction de la liberte religieuse pour les Christiens. 18 Juin 2007
http://evangelique-kabyle.blog.mongenie.com/index/p/2007/06/388071
AND – with a clarification submitted from 'Liberte Algerie'
Les messes chrétiennes n'ont pas besoin d'autorisation des walis
Par Samar, Mercredi 27 Juin 2007, Liberte Algerie
http://www.blogdei.com/index.php/2007/07/06/2261-pratique-des-cultes-non-musulmans-en-algerie-les-reunions-chretiennes-n-auraient-pas-besoin-de-l-autorisation-des-walis
5) Une commission pour reguler la pratique des cultes non musulmans.
par B.Mokhtaria, 7 Juin 2007
http://www.lequotidien-oran.com/index.php?news=501222&archive_date=2007-06-07
6) Cinq Chretiens Algeriens devant la justice le 20 Juin.
22 Juin 2007
http://evangelique-kabyle.blog.mongenie.com/index.php?idblogp=391554
7) Al Qaeda claims responsibility for Algiers bombings
ABC, 12 April 2007
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/04/12/1894940.htm
8) Suicide Attack In Algeria Kills Ten, Wounds 35 Soldiers
12 July 2007. By Joseph S. Mayton - AHN Middle East Correspondent
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007888238
9) Reactions in the Algerian and Arab Press to the Al-Qaeda Attacks in Algiers
MEMRI, 17 April 2007, Special Dispatch Series - No. 1546
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD154607
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Egypt: Let the apostasy/liberty debate begin.
Date: Thursday 5 July 2007
Subj: Egypt: Let the apostasy/liberty debate begin.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
In April 2007 a lower court ruled against 45 Copts who had converted to Islam or been deemed Muslim on account of the conversion of a parent, but who wanted to officially return to Christianity. The lower court ruled that Muslims, even if they are converts from Christianity, could not be permitted to apostasise (leave Islam). The Copts decided to appeal. (For background see link 1.)
On 1 July 07, despite the government's efforts to get the case dismissed, Judge Essam Abdel Aziz of Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court ruled in favour of the Copts and agreed to consider the merits of their case. The appeal was successful and a retrial has been slated for 1 September 2007.
According to Middle East On-line, human rights groups welcomed the decision. "The decision by the Supreme Administrative Court to consider the case of Egyptian converts to Islam wanting to return to their Church is very positive," said Ramsis al-Naggar, the Coptic lawyer who represented 12 of the plaintiffs. "It proves there is still a window of freedom in Egypt." (Link 2)
"It is a step in the right direction," Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said. "We are hopeful and optimistic that the Supreme Administrative Court will eventually uphold the principles of religious freedom and non-discrimination, both of which are guaranteed under the Constitution and international law." (Link 3)
Associated Press reports, "Court officials said government lawyers objected to Judge Essam Eddin Abdel-Aziz's decision to accept the appeal, arguing the initial verdict issued in April was in line with the principles of Islamic Sharia law." (Link 3)
So let the apostasy/liberty debate begin.
Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Egypt: Egypt to rule on apostasy - 1 July 2007
WEA RLC News & Analysis, 29 Jun 2007
By: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
2) Egypt agrees to hear case of Christian converts. 2 July 2007
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=21283
3) Egyptian court accepts appeal from 45 Copts trying to reclaim their religion. 2 July 2007
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/02-07-2007/94407-Egypt_Copts-0
Subj: Egypt: Let the apostasy/liberty debate begin.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
In April 2007 a lower court ruled against 45 Copts who had converted to Islam or been deemed Muslim on account of the conversion of a parent, but who wanted to officially return to Christianity. The lower court ruled that Muslims, even if they are converts from Christianity, could not be permitted to apostasise (leave Islam). The Copts decided to appeal. (For background see link 1.)
On 1 July 07, despite the government's efforts to get the case dismissed, Judge Essam Abdel Aziz of Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court ruled in favour of the Copts and agreed to consider the merits of their case. The appeal was successful and a retrial has been slated for 1 September 2007.
According to Middle East On-line, human rights groups welcomed the decision. "The decision by the Supreme Administrative Court to consider the case of Egyptian converts to Islam wanting to return to their Church is very positive," said Ramsis al-Naggar, the Coptic lawyer who represented 12 of the plaintiffs. "It proves there is still a window of freedom in Egypt." (Link 2)
"It is a step in the right direction," Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said. "We are hopeful and optimistic that the Supreme Administrative Court will eventually uphold the principles of religious freedom and non-discrimination, both of which are guaranteed under the Constitution and international law." (Link 3)
Associated Press reports, "Court officials said government lawyers objected to Judge Essam Eddin Abdel-Aziz's decision to accept the appeal, arguing the initial verdict issued in April was in line with the principles of Islamic Sharia law." (Link 3)
So let the apostasy/liberty debate begin.
Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Egypt: Egypt to rule on apostasy - 1 July 2007
WEA RLC News & Analysis, 29 Jun 2007
By: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
2) Egypt agrees to hear case of Christian converts. 2 July 2007
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=21283
3) Egyptian court accepts appeal from 45 Copts trying to reclaim their religion. 2 July 2007
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/02-07-2007/94407-Egypt_Copts-0