Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Sudan: Khartoum's rulings are totally consistent with Islam
By Elizabeth Kendal
The Case of Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag
Professing Christians, Daniel Wani (a South Sudanese US citizen) and Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag were married in Khartoum, Sudan, in 2012.
In August or September 2013, a man claiming to be Meriam's Muslim brother, lodged a criminal complaint against her in Halat Kuku Court of Khartoum North, claiming that Meriam was a Muslim and therefore illegally cohabiting with a Christian man. Meriam was charged with adultery under article 146 of the Sudan Criminal Code while Daniel was accused of proselytising a Muslim.
While Daniel was found to be innocent of proselytising, Daniel and Meriam's marriage was deemed null and void on the grounds that it is illegal for a Muslim woman to marry a Christian man. Meriam (27) was subsequently charged with adultery and sentenced to 100 lashes. When she countered the adultery charge by insisting that she was a Christian, the charge of apostasy was added, and on 17 February the now pregnant Meriam was imprisoned in Omdurman Federal Women's Prison along with her first-born son, Martin Ibrahim (now 20 months).
On 11 May, the court informed Meriam that she would be given three days to recant and return to Islam, warning her that if she failed to comply she would be found guilty of apostasy and sentenced to death by hanging.
At her sentencing on Thursday 15 May, a Muslim cleric asked her again to return to Islam. After Meriam replied, "I am Christian not apostate", the judge sentenced her to death by hanging. According to the Sudan Tribune, "[Meriam] Ibrahim for her part, didn't show any reaction to the judge’s ruling" (i.e. she understood the consequences of her choice and was fully prepared and unsurprised). The 100 lashes for adultery will be delivered once Meriam has recovered from giving birth. The death sentence will be delivered in two years time, after Meriam has finished nursing the infant.
Now 8-months pregnant, Meriam's health has deteriorated in prison, as has Martin's, and Daniel is deeply concerned about the conditions under which she will give birth.
Despite being found innocent of the charge of proselytising, Daniel still stands to lose everything he loves. As he explains: "The revoking of this marriage means that my son is no longer my son and the one coming is not my son too, will not be my son - so this innocence means nothing and I will appeal for myself and I will appeal for my wife."
According to reports, Daniel's appeals to the US Embassy in Khartoum, went unheeded for far too long. He told Al-Jazeera, "Considering I am an American citizen, I am disappointed with the American Embassy's position from the beginning of the whole case. At the start of the issue, I reported it to them but they didn't take much interest, particularly the consulate. They said they didn't have time. In fact last time, they said they didn't care much about the case. They came late - they intervened when they saw the issue was getting press attention - but the intervention was late."
Rattled by the international outcry, Sudanese authorities have opened an escape hatch. Speaking on Radio Omdurman on Friday 16 May, Sudan's parliamentary speaker, al-Fatih Izz Al-Din, downplayed the ruling, noting that the death sentence was a preliminary ruling which could be appealed in the various stages of the judicial process. Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abu-Bakr Al-Sideeg assured Reuters that Sudan is committed to human rights and religious freedom.
Eut even if Meriam is acquitted on appeal or released on compassionate grounds, this family will remain gravely imperilled, at risk of Islamists prepared to take the law into their own hands, sparing no effort to ensure Islam and Sharia are not mocked. This family needs to be rescued from Sudan.
Khartoum's rulings are totally consistent with Islam
Islam is a political and material religion, advancing political goals (the imposition of Sharia, the constitution of Islam) and promising material rewards (as the call to prayer states, twice: "hasten to success"). Ultimately everyone will submit to Islam and Sharia, either willing or by compulsion / force. "And to Allah prostrates whoever is within the heavens and the earth, willingly or by compulsion, and their shadows [as well] in the mornings and the afternoons." (Qur'an, Sura 13:15) As such, Islam knows no separation of religion and politics. Islam is a political religion.
According to the Qur'an, fitna -- that is anything that "averts people from the way of Allah"; anything that "causes disbelief" and therefore chaos -- is to be regarded as the greatest of all evils. Fitna is worse than killing (i.e. killing is the lesser of the two evils) -- and fitna must be purged (Sura 2:217). Be assured, nothing generates fitna like the presence of joyful, thriving apostates. Furthermore, apostasy is regarded as a betrayal of the Muslim nation akin to treason. According to Islam and Sharia, the penalty for apostasy is death. This is backed up by the famous Hadith (saying of Muhammad): "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him" (Sahih Bukhari vol 9, book 84, number 57).
Concerning Men: All schools of Sharia (Islamic law) agree that an adult male convicted of apostasy must be killed (unless he is not of sound mind), and that boys convicted of apostasy must be imprisoned until they are of age and then, if they persist in their apostasy, they must be killed.
Concerning Women: Three of the four main Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence -- the Hanbali, Maliki and Shafi'i schools -- teach that women apostates must likewise be executed. Only the Hanafi (from Kufa, Sth Iraq) and Shia schools teach that women apostates should be imprisoned until they recant. [This is essentially because they view women as so insignificant that they are actually incapable of generating fitna, and therefore do not require elimination.]
Sudanese Islamic jurisprudence follows the Shafi'i school.
Generally, scholars interpret Sura 4:137 as grounds for a Muslim having three chances or three days to repent / recant before forgiveness is denied.
For an excellent study on apostasy in Islam, see:
Political and Legal Status of Apostates in Islam
BY Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (published Dec 2013)
Unlike Christianity, where religious identity is a matter of personal faith, in Islam, religious identity is a political matter, a matter for the Islamic state or nation.
In Islam, a child inherits their religion from their father and is registered as such from birth. Consequently, Muslim men are free to marry Christian women; in fact in some quarters, Muslim men are actually encouraged to marry Christians -- sometimes they are even financially rewarded for marrying Christian women -- for this not only removes child-bearers from the Christian community, it also ensures the children of Christian women are deemed Muslim from birth.
Conversely, Islamic law bans Muslim women from marrying Christian men. Any Christian man who wants to marry a Muslim woman must first convert to Islam to ensure her children are born Muslim.
When a Muslim parent abandons Islam, they automatically lose custody of their children because it is imperative that the children be raised Muslim.
When a nominal-Christian father converts to Islam in order to take a Muslim woman as a second wife, his Christian children are deemed and registered Muslim upon his conversion. From that point, his forcibly converted daughters are obliged by law to marry Muslim men and bear Muslim children, while his forcibly converted sons, even though free to marry Christian women, will produce Muslim children that must be raised as Muslims following Islam and Sharia.
Add to all this, the fact that Muslims are captives for whom leaving is forbidden upon penalty of death, and you have a truly brilliant (albeit insidious) strategy for permanent exponential growth of the Muslim community; growth that is guaranteed not only at the expense of other religious communities, but even in the virtual absence of religious conversions.
Clearly, anyone who says the rulings in Khartoum are a "blatant violation . . . of Islam and Sharia" (WEA RLC, 16 May) is either misinformed or is seeking to misinform.
"Most Muslims believe the Qur'an is about justice, which is also the purpose of Sharia," says WEA RLC's Godfrey Yogarajah.
Well, maybe it's time for "most Muslims" to wake up! Doubtless there are just as many Qur'anically illiterate Muslims who have no idea what Allah demands, as there are Biblically illiterate Christians who have no idea what the God of the Bible demands. There is a lot of ignorance, fantasy and wishful thinking all around.
Islam underpins not only these rulings out of Khartoum, but much Islamic violence, much Islamic repression and many thousands of honour killings committed annually along with the impunity afforded the perpetrators.
According to Islam and Sharia (as distinct from individual Muslims), Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag is a Muslim because she was born to a Muslim father. According to Islam and Sharia, Daniel Wani should have converted to Islam before marrying Meriam in 2012. Had Daniel complied, submitting to Sharia, then the marriage would have been legal, the children would be Muslim, and Muslims and the state would be happy. While Daniel may have failed in his responsibilities according to Islam and Sharia, the Islamic state will ensure that wrongs will be set right by denying Daniel custody of his own children and ensuring they are raised as Muslims.
Let the debate begin
Some sources are at pains to point out that Meriam was raised as a Christian by an Ethiopian Christian mother, making the ruling unfair and unjust as she never apostasised because she was never a believing Muslim. Others say Meriam was raised Muslim by a Muslim mother from a Muslim tribe and that she disappeared for several years before turning up again professing Christ and married to a Christian man.
The details however are totally irrelevant and must not be allowed to become a distraction. Every human being -- no matter how or where they were raised and irrespective of their occupation or status -- must be free to seek after God.
The debate must be about Islam's total lack of liberty, its inherent inhumanity and its gross unreasonableness in suggesting that a good God would compel people to worship and serve him against their heart and conscience.
-------------------------------
for suggest prayer points: see
SUDAN: Christian woman faces death for apostasy
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 261 | Wed 21 May 2014
--------------------------------
Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah speaks to Christians today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Ukraine's Neo-Nazis Win Senior Government Posts
By Elizabeth Kendal
This post updates the earlier post:
Anti-Semitism rises as Neo-Nazis hijack 'Euromaidan'
By Elizabeth Kendal for Religious Liberty Monitoring, 6 Feb 2014
Neo-Nazis get senior posts in new government
Svoboda -- formerly known as the Social National Party of Ukraine (the symbol of which was the neo-Nazi wolfsangel) -- is an anti-Russian, anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi party. In the 2012 elections, Svoboda gained ten percent of the vote and secured 37 parliamentary seats. It also rose to play a prominent, leading role in the Euromaidan protests in Kiev. The Svoboda flag uses the colours of the Ukrainian flag: blue with a yellow three-finger salute.
Established in 2013, the Right Sector is an umbrella organisation bringing together a number of ultra-nationalist paramilitary groups, including the Patriots of Ukraine, Trizub, SNA, UNA-UNSO and White Hammer. Many of these hardline nationalist street fighters have been training for armed revolution in Ukraine for years.
The paramilitary known as Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian National Self Defense (UNA-UNSO) dress in uniforms modelled on Hitler's Waffen SS and have been fighting Russia for years, including in Chechnya.
Appointments
Oleksandr Sych: appointed Deputy Prime Minister. Sych is a member of Svoboda Party.
Andriy Parubiy: appointed Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council. Parubiy founded the Social National Party of Ukraine which went on to become Svoboda. Parubiy will oversee national security.
Dmytro Yarosh: appointed Deputy Secretary of National Security. Yarosh leads the Right Sector and served as "security commandant" during the Euromaidan protests.
Dmytro Bulatov: appointed Minster for Youth and Sports. Bulatov is reportedly connected to UNA-UNSO.
Tetyana Chernovol: appointed chair of the government's anti-corruption committee. An activist journalist, Chernovol is reportedly connected to UNA-UNSO.
Andriy Mokhnyk: appointed Minister for Ecology. Mokhnyk is the deputy head of Svoboda.
Ihor Shvaika: appointed Minister for Agriculture. Shvaika is a member of Svoboda.
Oleh Makhnitsky: appointed acting prosecutor general. Makhnitsky is a member of Svoboda.
First post-revolution legislative action
The new parliament's first post-revolution legislative action was to repeal the law "On State Language Policy" -- a law passed in 2012 that allowed the use of "regional languages" -- including Russian, Hungarian, Romanian and Tatar -- in courts and certain government functions in areas of the country where such speakers constituted at least 10 percent of the population. Thirteen out of Ukraine's 27 regions, primarily in Eastern Ukraine, subsequently adopted Russian as a second official language, while two western regions introduced Romanian and Hungarian as official languages. The annulment, which left Ukrainian as the only official language of Ukraine, was a direct attack on the cultural and linguistic rights of the Russian-speaking minority. After the European Parliament protested, demanding the new Ukrainian regime respect the rights of minorities, Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov (a Baptist) vetoed the repeal. The episode sent alarm bells ringing through the ethnic minorities.
Further to this, moves are afoot to overturn a law that forbids "denying or excusing the crimes of fascism".
As noted in the earlier post, some 1.7 million Jews were shot in Ukraine during WWII under supervision of the Nazis. In 2010, Ukraine's then US-backed President Viktor Yushchenko pronounced World War II-era nationalist leader Stepan Bandera a national hero. (Bandera was an ally of Nazi Germany whose followers participated in massacres of Ukrainian Jews.)
On 1 Jan 2014, some 1500 Euromaidan protesters marched in a Svoboda-run torchlight procession in honour of Bandera.
What makes this Reuters photograph so profoundly disturbing is the fact that the Bandera-honouring, Svoboda flag-bearing marchers are not scary skinheads; they are families and priests. [NB:The red and black flag represents an ultra-nationalist paramilitary. ]
Here is another disturbing photograph from the blog: Revolution A Euromaidan protest with Svoboda flags everywhere and anti-Semitism on open display.
Meanwhile, as if totally blind and brain dead, Western media just brushes this off as scaremongering and propaganda. Some media has even reported that there is no evidence of anti-Semitism rising in Kiev.
"It doesn't help Ukraine to be selective and ignore this problem."
Pers Anders Rudling, extremism expert
Below I have listed some alternative analysis to help counter the Russophobic scaremongering and propaganda being peddled by the EU-US-influenced mainstream media.
In closing -- some food for thought.
Peter Lee writes: "It seems America needs monsters to fight, and if they don't exist, we invent them." (Asia Times online, 4 March)
But, considering that America and Europe do have monsters to fight -- why are they so keen to create a new and different one? Are they looking for a diversion?
Islamic terrorism has multiplied massively since 9/11 (2001). Terror training bases have proliferated -- in Pakistan, Bosnia, Somalia, the Margreb, northern Iraq, eastern Syria just to name a few. Amongst those being trained for jihad and terror are youths with European and American passports. Meanwhile, Europeans are staring down the barrel of Islamisation and intifada. So why are Europe and America so keen to make Russia the enemy?
Russia is not the enemy!
This is all a distraction, a pointless, dangerous distraction.
ALTERNATIVE ANALYSIS
Ukraine's Mess: Made in the EU
by Peter Martino, 3 March 2014
Gatestone Institute
Ukraine Transition Government: Neo-Nazis in Control of Armed Forces, National Security, Economy, Justice and Education
By Greg Rose, Global Research, 2 March 2014
How the far-right took top posts in Ukraine's power vacuum
In the new Ukrainian government politicians linked to the far-right have taken posts from deputy prime minister to head of defence.
5 March 2014, Channel 4
Why is the Mainstream Media Ignoring the Rabid Anti-Semitism of the New Ukraine Government?
By Michael Snyder, Global Research, 5 March 2014
Putin's army salutes a Nulandized Kiev
By Peter Lee, Asia Times online, 4 March 2014
Reading Putin's mind over Crimea
By Mikhail A Molchanov, Speaking Freely, Asia Times online, 6 march 2014
$1 Million From Interfaith Group To Aid Ukraine Jews Amid Turmoil
Community on edge as parliament installs interim leader.
By Talia Lavin and Cnaan Liphshiz, 25 Feb 2014
-------------------------------------
Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)
This post updates the earlier post:
Anti-Semitism rises as Neo-Nazis hijack 'Euromaidan'
By Elizabeth Kendal for Religious Liberty Monitoring, 6 Feb 2014
Neo-Nazis get senior posts in new government
Svoboda -- formerly known as the Social National Party of Ukraine (the symbol of which was the neo-Nazi wolfsangel) -- is an anti-Russian, anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi party. In the 2012 elections, Svoboda gained ten percent of the vote and secured 37 parliamentary seats. It also rose to play a prominent, leading role in the Euromaidan protests in Kiev. The Svoboda flag uses the colours of the Ukrainian flag: blue with a yellow three-finger salute.
Established in 2013, the Right Sector is an umbrella organisation bringing together a number of ultra-nationalist paramilitary groups, including the Patriots of Ukraine, Trizub, SNA, UNA-UNSO and White Hammer. Many of these hardline nationalist street fighters have been training for armed revolution in Ukraine for years.
The paramilitary known as Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian National Self Defense (UNA-UNSO) dress in uniforms modelled on Hitler's Waffen SS and have been fighting Russia for years, including in Chechnya.
Appointments
Oleksandr Sych: appointed Deputy Prime Minister. Sych is a member of Svoboda Party.
Andriy Parubiy: appointed Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council. Parubiy founded the Social National Party of Ukraine which went on to become Svoboda. Parubiy will oversee national security.
Dmytro Yarosh: appointed Deputy Secretary of National Security. Yarosh leads the Right Sector and served as "security commandant" during the Euromaidan protests.
Dmytro Bulatov: appointed Minster for Youth and Sports. Bulatov is reportedly connected to UNA-UNSO.
Tetyana Chernovol: appointed chair of the government's anti-corruption committee. An activist journalist, Chernovol is reportedly connected to UNA-UNSO.
Andriy Mokhnyk: appointed Minister for Ecology. Mokhnyk is the deputy head of Svoboda.
Ihor Shvaika: appointed Minister for Agriculture. Shvaika is a member of Svoboda.
Oleh Makhnitsky: appointed acting prosecutor general. Makhnitsky is a member of Svoboda.
First post-revolution legislative action
The new parliament's first post-revolution legislative action was to repeal the law "On State Language Policy" -- a law passed in 2012 that allowed the use of "regional languages" -- including Russian, Hungarian, Romanian and Tatar -- in courts and certain government functions in areas of the country where such speakers constituted at least 10 percent of the population. Thirteen out of Ukraine's 27 regions, primarily in Eastern Ukraine, subsequently adopted Russian as a second official language, while two western regions introduced Romanian and Hungarian as official languages. The annulment, which left Ukrainian as the only official language of Ukraine, was a direct attack on the cultural and linguistic rights of the Russian-speaking minority. After the European Parliament protested, demanding the new Ukrainian regime respect the rights of minorities, Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov (a Baptist) vetoed the repeal. The episode sent alarm bells ringing through the ethnic minorities.
Further to this, moves are afoot to overturn a law that forbids "denying or excusing the crimes of fascism".
As noted in the earlier post, some 1.7 million Jews were shot in Ukraine during WWII under supervision of the Nazis. In 2010, Ukraine's then US-backed President Viktor Yushchenko pronounced World War II-era nationalist leader Stepan Bandera a national hero. (Bandera was an ally of Nazi Germany whose followers participated in massacres of Ukrainian Jews.)
On 1 Jan 2014, some 1500 Euromaidan protesters marched in a Svoboda-run torchlight procession in honour of Bandera.
What makes this Reuters photograph so profoundly disturbing is the fact that the Bandera-honouring, Svoboda flag-bearing marchers are not scary skinheads; they are families and priests. [NB:The red and black flag represents an ultra-nationalist paramilitary. ]
Here is another disturbing photograph from the blog: Revolution A Euromaidan protest with Svoboda flags everywhere and anti-Semitism on open display.
Meanwhile, as if totally blind and brain dead, Western media just brushes this off as scaremongering and propaganda. Some media has even reported that there is no evidence of anti-Semitism rising in Kiev.
"It doesn't help Ukraine to be selective and ignore this problem."
Pers Anders Rudling, extremism expert
Below I have listed some alternative analysis to help counter the Russophobic scaremongering and propaganda being peddled by the EU-US-influenced mainstream media.
In closing -- some food for thought.
Peter Lee writes: "It seems America needs monsters to fight, and if they don't exist, we invent them." (Asia Times online, 4 March)
But, considering that America and Europe do have monsters to fight -- why are they so keen to create a new and different one? Are they looking for a diversion?
Islamic terrorism has multiplied massively since 9/11 (2001). Terror training bases have proliferated -- in Pakistan, Bosnia, Somalia, the Margreb, northern Iraq, eastern Syria just to name a few. Amongst those being trained for jihad and terror are youths with European and American passports. Meanwhile, Europeans are staring down the barrel of Islamisation and intifada. So why are Europe and America so keen to make Russia the enemy?
Russia is not the enemy!
This is all a distraction, a pointless, dangerous distraction.
ALTERNATIVE ANALYSIS
Ukraine's Mess: Made in the EU
by Peter Martino, 3 March 2014
Gatestone Institute
Ukraine Transition Government: Neo-Nazis in Control of Armed Forces, National Security, Economy, Justice and Education
By Greg Rose, Global Research, 2 March 2014
How the far-right took top posts in Ukraine's power vacuum
In the new Ukrainian government politicians linked to the far-right have taken posts from deputy prime minister to head of defence.
5 March 2014, Channel 4
Why is the Mainstream Media Ignoring the Rabid Anti-Semitism of the New Ukraine Government?
By Michael Snyder, Global Research, 5 March 2014
Putin's army salutes a Nulandized Kiev
By Peter Lee, Asia Times online, 4 March 2014
Reading Putin's mind over Crimea
By Mikhail A Molchanov, Speaking Freely, Asia Times online, 6 march 2014
$1 Million From Interfaith Group To Aid Ukraine Jews Amid Turmoil
Community on edge as parliament installs interim leader.
By Talia Lavin and Cnaan Liphshiz, 25 Feb 2014
-------------------------------------
Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
North Korea: Belligerence vs 'Smart Policy'
The following article is an expanded version of
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 248| Wed 19 Feb 2014
NORTH KOREA: BELLIGERENCE VS 'SMART POLICY'
By Elizabeth Kendal
UN Commission of Inquiry Report Confirms Horrific Abuses
On 21 March 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed Resolution A/HRC/RES/22/13 which established the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The Resolution gave the Commission a 12 month mandate to investigate systematic and widespread human rights abuses in North Korea. North Korean Ambassador So Se Pyong denounced the Resolution as "an instrument that serves the political purposes of the hostile forces in their attempt to discredit the image of the DPRK," adding, "those human rights abuses mentioned in the resolution do not exist in our country".
The Commission of Inquiry's report was released on 17 Feb. It documents "a wide array of crimes against humanity" and details "unspeakable atrocities" to conclude: "The gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a State that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world." As noted in the report: "The State considers the spread of Christianity a particularly serious threat, since it challenges ideologically the official personality cult and provides a platform for social and political organization and interaction outside the realm of the State. Apart from the few organized State-controlled churches, Christians are prohibited from practising their religion and are persecuted. People caught practising Christianity are subject to severe punishments . . ." (article 31)
Office of the High Commission on Human Rights Press release
North Korea: UN Commission documents wide-ranging and ongoing crimes against humanity, urges referral to ICC (17 Feb 2014)
Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
MANAGING INSTABILITY
-- North Korea balancing reform and risk
The UN Commission of Inquiry report also remarked on what is without a doubt the key dynamic of North Korea today: "Strengthening market forces and advancements in information technology have allowed greater access to information from outside the country as information and media from the Republic of Korea and China increasingly enter the country. The State’s monopoly on information is therefore being challenged by the increasing flow of outside information into the country and the ensuing curiosity of the people for "truths" other than those provided by State propaganda. Authorities seek to preserve their monopoly on information by carrying out regular crackdowns and enforcing harsh punishments". (article 30)
The Kim Jong-un era
Groomed to rule, Kim Jong-un assumed power after his father (the Dear Leader Kim Jong-il) died in Dec 2011. At his father's funeral, Kim Jong-un accompanied his father's casket along with the 'Gang of Seven' -- an inner circle of elites tasked with guiding and mentoring the young ruler.
By the end of 2013, four of the seven had been purged -- including Kim Jong-un's hugely influential uncle, Jang Song-taek -- and one had been demoted. Kim Jong-un is consolidating power and establishing a new order that he hopes will provide him with a better chance of holding on to power through the challenging times ahead. According to analysts, 'the upper ranks of North Korean leadership are now sprinkled with people who hold a known interest in reform'.
Kim (who did his secondary schooling in Switzerland) and his younger clique know that the information seeping in will generate anger and dissent as North Korea's impoverished masses become aware of their plight relative to the outside world. So, in a race against time, the regime is implementing agricultural and economic reforms designed to raise the living standards of ordinary Koreans. The regime is also easing the way for foreign investment and undertaking major infrastructure projects -- highways, theme parks and resorts -- designed to make North Korea more attractive to North Koreans as well as to tourists.
Reforms
In line with the June 28 [2012] New Economic Management Measures, known informally as the "6.28 Policy", agricultural production units may be reduced to between 4-6 people (i.e. family-sized). While set quotas are still in place, the state now takes 70 percent of the quota (rather than 100 percent for central redistribution - military first). The remaining 30 percent is left for the family who are free do with it whatever they wish: eat, trade, store etc. Furthermore, if the family produces more than the quota, they also get to keep the surplus. This actually reverses Kim Jong-il's Songun (military first) policy.
North Korea Pushes Ahead on Agricultural Reforms,
The Diplomat, 17 May 2013
North Korea making visible progress towards reforms.
Institute for Far Eastern Studies, 7 June 2013
Building
". . . to build foreign investor trust, the country has considered allowing 'international law supersede domestic North Korean law regarding investments' . . ."
INSIGHT-Kim Jong Un, North Korea's master builder
Reuters, 23 Nov 2013
Mounting Problems (The Masikryong Ski Resort)
The Economist, 14 Feb 2014
see also: NK Economy Watch
Recommended articles:
Kim Jong-Un dismisses powerbroker uncle as North Korea inches toward reform
Nathan Vanderklippe in BEIJING, The Globe and Mail, 3 Dec 2013
Kim purges for a new economic dawn
By Sascha Matuszak, 10 Jan 2014
North Korea’s rolling economic reforms
By Ruediger Frank, University of Vienna, 24 September 2013
Excerpts:
Now comes the tough part: finding ways to foster economic development while maintaining the stability of the political system. Reform is the only option for Kim Jong-un, but implementation will not be easy, because he must accomplish many tasks simultaneously. . .
Like painting a masterpiece, reforming North Korea may seem easy in theory but it will be highly complex in reality. Thus, a smart policy by the international community is needed. The obvious strategy for Seoul would be to support positive trends by expanding trade and investment. The many negative and frustrating experiences of the past should be a lesson not to expect (or promise) too much too soon. Transforming a systemically failed socialist economy has never been easy, in particular if it is supposed to take place gradually. Reconciling two parts of a nation that once fought a bloody civil war and have lived separately for almost 70 years is a gigantic task. Accepting that successful reform means prolonging the current regime is a bitter pill for many, but what are the alternatives?
The above paragraph by Frank addresses the very heart of the matter: how to move forward. As Frank states, transforming North Korea is going to be a highly complex and exceedingly delicate operation for which "smart policy" and great patience will be required. The regime will be constantly balancing reform and risk.
Frank's closing sentence is key: "Accepting that successful reform means prolonging the current regime is a bitter pill for many, but what are the alternatives?"
I have long maintained "that an all-round positive outcome for North Korea (reform without bloodshed) can only be achieved through gradual openness alongside a strategy for maintaining stability" (RLM Aug 2007). As unpalatable as this "bitter pill" may be, the alternatives are a return to isolation with unprecedented repression OR a descent in civil war and massive bloodshed.
As one who has been monitoring religious liberty in North Korea for over 15 years now, the current situation leaves me with a strong sense as déjà-vu. What can we learn from history?
Kim Jong-il era
In 2002, Kim Jong-il enacted economic reforms, moving North Korea towards a free-market economy. [Actually, the markets had risen during the famine as people sought means to survive. When Kim Jong-il endorsing them in 2002, he was merely endorsing a trend he could not stop.] Knowing the risks attached to any degree of openness, the regime simultaneously amended the criminal code to stiffen penalties for anti-State crimes. This strongly resembles today's situation.
However, once the darkness is breached, the situation can quickly become very difficult to control. By 2004 the regime was looking for ways to turn the clock back.
See: North Korea's balancing act.
By Elizabeth Kendal for WEA RLC, 16 December 2004
Excerpt
Paik Hak-soon, director of North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, told the Korea Times [8 Dec 2004] that, "Kim Jong-il is now trying to prevent social problems from drastically undermining his regime."
The free-market reforms have also brought many North Korean traders into contact with the outside world. As noted in a recent Washington Post (WP) article entitled, "For North Korea, Openness Proves a Two-Way Street" (13 Dec 2004), "...diplomats, analysts, intelligence sources and recent defectors say that the once airtight lid on information in what is known as the Hermit Kingdom is gradually loosening."
The WP article states, "Asian intelligence sources estimate that as many as 20,000 North Koreans -- particularly those trading in the newly thriving border area with China -- now have access to Chinese cellular phones, from which they can make undetected international calls in large areas of northern North Korea." Also, at the new Kaesong Industrial Park near the border with South Korea, and the tourist resort at Mount Kumgang, South Korean firms are directly employing and paying North Korean workers for the first time.
The WP quotes Sohn Kwang Joo, managing editor of the North Korea Daily (a Seoul-based website) as saying, "North Korean people and the elite bureaucrats all want more reform. But the faster the doors open, the more vulnerable becomes Kim Jong Il's tight grip of the nation. Kim Jong Il will therefore try to control and limit the opening. But as more people cross in and out of the border, there are more mobile phones, and more flows of information, the North Korean people will begin to realize the truth about Kim Jong Il." . . .
The years of reform and gradual openness had yielded several positive changes, including: family reunions, the move to a market economy, cross-border trade with China, trains crossing through the demilitarised zone, the opening of Kaesong Industrial Park enabling economic cooperation with South Korea, and the establishment of the Christian-funded, English-language, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.
See: North Korea: Changes
". . . though your footsteps were not seen".
By Elizabeth Kendal for WEA RLC, 24 August 2007
However, by the end of 2008, it was all over. All positive steps had been reversed and North Korea had returned to isolation. For Kim Jong-il, reform had proved too difficult, too threatening. Things had changed and the risks had begun to out-weigh the benefits.
Lankov concluded: "It seems that North Korean leaders believe that their system cannot survive major liberalisation. They might be correct in the pessimism. . . . Were North Korea to reform, the disparities with South Korea [a rich and free country that speaks the same language and shares the same culture -- i.e. is not 'foreign'] would become only starker to its population. This might produce a grave political crisis, so the North Korean government seemingly believes that in order to stay in control it should avoid tampering with the system. Maintaining the information blockade is of special importance, since access to the overseas information might easily show the North Koreans both the backwardness of their country and the ineptitude of their government."
See: North Korea returns to isolation
By Elizabeth Kendal for WEA RLC, 2 December 2008
BELLIGERENCE VS "SMART POLICY"
There is no doubt in my mind that the US North Korea Human Rights Act (Oct 2004) -- signed into law by President G.W. Bush -- directly contributed to North Korea's return to isolation. The law, which was effective from 2005 to 2008, granted $2 million a year to pro-democracy and human rights groups actively working to undermine the regime.
I wrote at the time: "The North Korean Human Rights Acts is wonderful in principle. . . [But] the implementation of the Act will need to be as sensitive as the defusing of a bomb. . . [For] an all-round positive outcome for North Korea (reform without bloodshed) can only be achieved through gradual openness alongside a strategy for maintaining stability."
Kathi Zellweger of the Catholic aid organisation Caritas shared my concerns: "Regime change is what some groups of people hope for. But I believe what is happening is that very slowly the nature of the regime is changing, albeit at a very slow pace." Zellweger expressed the widely-held fear that the North Korea Human Rights Acts would lead to a tightening of the government's control of the people and of NGOs.
And indeed it did. Though "wonderful in principle" the NKHR Act (2004) might not have been "smart policy", for it caused risk to elevate to the point that Kim Jong-il's only option -- as a survivor -- was a return to isolation, centralisation and severe repression.
See: Reforming North Korea.
By Elizabeth Kendal for WEA RLC, 19 November 2004
In the above Nov 2004 posting I suggested the following: "Those things Kim jong-Il desires most of all, survival and prestige, appear to be on shaky ground . . . Maybe this is the biggest bargaining chip of all. To avoid catastrophe on the Korean Peninsula, would the US be willing to ensure Kim's survival and prestige in exchange for reforms for which Kim would of course take all credit? This would involve great humility on the part of the US. It would involve leaving justice, regarding Kim, in the hands of God. It could only be done by looking past the man, Kim jong-Il, and keeping eyes firmly fixed on the goal: the liberation and reform of North Korea, for the sake of North Korea's suffering and oppressed millions."
Like it or not, the reality is, the UN Commission of Inquiry report (Feb 2014) can only be used as leverage to get prisoners released and human rights improved if the regime is assured it will not be threatened.
So while it is commendable that the UN Commission of Inquiry report is shining a spotlight on the horrific situation inside North Korea, great wisdom -- "smart policy" -- is required. For if the situation is handled belligerently rather than with great care and wisdom -- i.e. if too much pressure is applied or if "hostile forces" use the report to fan the flames of revolution for their own political, economic and geo-strategic ends -- then we could see reforms rolling back and repression escalating to unprecedented levels. Or worse, we could see the State descend into an absolute bloodbath.
END
---------------------------------------
Breaking News:
South Australian man John Short detained in North Korea, now facing 15 years in jail
CRAIG COOK EXCLUSIVE
The Advertiser, February 20, 2014
excerpt
Dr Leonid Petrov, who teaches North Korean political history at the Australian National University in Canberra, said Mr Short’s situation “could be complicated” by the release of a UN report on Monday detailing regime crimes against humanity. . .
“If he was found to be networking directly with North Koreans to spread religious material it could be very bad for him and them,” Dr Petrov said.
“For locals, the whole family would be sent to the gulag (forced labour camps) with little chance of ever being released unless they repent (their religious views).
“For the foreigner, they could face a similar sentence to Kenneth Bae of 15 years with 16-hours-a-day hard labour.”
Mr Bae, a South Korean-born US citizen, was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in April last year for attempting to topple the Korean regime.
--------------------------------------------
Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah speaks to Christians today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 248| Wed 19 Feb 2014
NORTH KOREA: BELLIGERENCE VS 'SMART POLICY'
By Elizabeth Kendal
UN Commission of Inquiry Report Confirms Horrific Abuses
On 21 March 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed Resolution A/HRC/RES/22/13 which established the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The Resolution gave the Commission a 12 month mandate to investigate systematic and widespread human rights abuses in North Korea. North Korean Ambassador So Se Pyong denounced the Resolution as "an instrument that serves the political purposes of the hostile forces in their attempt to discredit the image of the DPRK," adding, "those human rights abuses mentioned in the resolution do not exist in our country".
The Commission of Inquiry's report was released on 17 Feb. It documents "a wide array of crimes against humanity" and details "unspeakable atrocities" to conclude: "The gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a State that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world." As noted in the report: "The State considers the spread of Christianity a particularly serious threat, since it challenges ideologically the official personality cult and provides a platform for social and political organization and interaction outside the realm of the State. Apart from the few organized State-controlled churches, Christians are prohibited from practising their religion and are persecuted. People caught practising Christianity are subject to severe punishments . . ." (article 31)
Office of the High Commission on Human Rights Press release
North Korea: UN Commission documents wide-ranging and ongoing crimes against humanity, urges referral to ICC (17 Feb 2014)
Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
MANAGING INSTABILITY
-- North Korea balancing reform and risk
The UN Commission of Inquiry report also remarked on what is without a doubt the key dynamic of North Korea today: "Strengthening market forces and advancements in information technology have allowed greater access to information from outside the country as information and media from the Republic of Korea and China increasingly enter the country. The State’s monopoly on information is therefore being challenged by the increasing flow of outside information into the country and the ensuing curiosity of the people for "truths" other than those provided by State propaganda. Authorities seek to preserve their monopoly on information by carrying out regular crackdowns and enforcing harsh punishments". (article 30)
The Kim Jong-un era
Groomed to rule, Kim Jong-un assumed power after his father (the Dear Leader Kim Jong-il) died in Dec 2011. At his father's funeral, Kim Jong-un accompanied his father's casket along with the 'Gang of Seven' -- an inner circle of elites tasked with guiding and mentoring the young ruler.
By the end of 2013, four of the seven had been purged -- including Kim Jong-un's hugely influential uncle, Jang Song-taek -- and one had been demoted. Kim Jong-un is consolidating power and establishing a new order that he hopes will provide him with a better chance of holding on to power through the challenging times ahead. According to analysts, 'the upper ranks of North Korean leadership are now sprinkled with people who hold a known interest in reform'.
Kim (who did his secondary schooling in Switzerland) and his younger clique know that the information seeping in will generate anger and dissent as North Korea's impoverished masses become aware of their plight relative to the outside world. So, in a race against time, the regime is implementing agricultural and economic reforms designed to raise the living standards of ordinary Koreans. The regime is also easing the way for foreign investment and undertaking major infrastructure projects -- highways, theme parks and resorts -- designed to make North Korea more attractive to North Koreans as well as to tourists.
Reforms
In line with the June 28 [2012] New Economic Management Measures, known informally as the "6.28 Policy", agricultural production units may be reduced to between 4-6 people (i.e. family-sized). While set quotas are still in place, the state now takes 70 percent of the quota (rather than 100 percent for central redistribution - military first). The remaining 30 percent is left for the family who are free do with it whatever they wish: eat, trade, store etc. Furthermore, if the family produces more than the quota, they also get to keep the surplus. This actually reverses Kim Jong-il's Songun (military first) policy.
North Korea Pushes Ahead on Agricultural Reforms,
The Diplomat, 17 May 2013
North Korea making visible progress towards reforms.
Institute for Far Eastern Studies, 7 June 2013
Building
". . . to build foreign investor trust, the country has considered allowing 'international law supersede domestic North Korean law regarding investments' . . ."
INSIGHT-Kim Jong Un, North Korea's master builder
Reuters, 23 Nov 2013
Mounting Problems (The Masikryong Ski Resort)
The Economist, 14 Feb 2014
see also: NK Economy Watch
Recommended articles:
Kim Jong-Un dismisses powerbroker uncle as North Korea inches toward reform
Nathan Vanderklippe in BEIJING, The Globe and Mail, 3 Dec 2013
Kim purges for a new economic dawn
By Sascha Matuszak, 10 Jan 2014
North Korea’s rolling economic reforms
By Ruediger Frank, University of Vienna, 24 September 2013
Excerpts:
Now comes the tough part: finding ways to foster economic development while maintaining the stability of the political system. Reform is the only option for Kim Jong-un, but implementation will not be easy, because he must accomplish many tasks simultaneously. . .
Like painting a masterpiece, reforming North Korea may seem easy in theory but it will be highly complex in reality. Thus, a smart policy by the international community is needed. The obvious strategy for Seoul would be to support positive trends by expanding trade and investment. The many negative and frustrating experiences of the past should be a lesson not to expect (or promise) too much too soon. Transforming a systemically failed socialist economy has never been easy, in particular if it is supposed to take place gradually. Reconciling two parts of a nation that once fought a bloody civil war and have lived separately for almost 70 years is a gigantic task. Accepting that successful reform means prolonging the current regime is a bitter pill for many, but what are the alternatives?
The above paragraph by Frank addresses the very heart of the matter: how to move forward. As Frank states, transforming North Korea is going to be a highly complex and exceedingly delicate operation for which "smart policy" and great patience will be required. The regime will be constantly balancing reform and risk.
Frank's closing sentence is key: "Accepting that successful reform means prolonging the current regime is a bitter pill for many, but what are the alternatives?"
I have long maintained "that an all-round positive outcome for North Korea (reform without bloodshed) can only be achieved through gradual openness alongside a strategy for maintaining stability" (RLM Aug 2007). As unpalatable as this "bitter pill" may be, the alternatives are a return to isolation with unprecedented repression OR a descent in civil war and massive bloodshed.
As one who has been monitoring religious liberty in North Korea for over 15 years now, the current situation leaves me with a strong sense as déjà-vu. What can we learn from history?
Kim Jong-il era
In 2002, Kim Jong-il enacted economic reforms, moving North Korea towards a free-market economy. [Actually, the markets had risen during the famine as people sought means to survive. When Kim Jong-il endorsing them in 2002, he was merely endorsing a trend he could not stop.] Knowing the risks attached to any degree of openness, the regime simultaneously amended the criminal code to stiffen penalties for anti-State crimes. This strongly resembles today's situation.
However, once the darkness is breached, the situation can quickly become very difficult to control. By 2004 the regime was looking for ways to turn the clock back.
See: North Korea's balancing act.
By Elizabeth Kendal for WEA RLC, 16 December 2004
Excerpt
Paik Hak-soon, director of North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, told the Korea Times [8 Dec 2004] that, "Kim Jong-il is now trying to prevent social problems from drastically undermining his regime."
The free-market reforms have also brought many North Korean traders into contact with the outside world. As noted in a recent Washington Post (WP) article entitled, "For North Korea, Openness Proves a Two-Way Street" (13 Dec 2004), "...diplomats, analysts, intelligence sources and recent defectors say that the once airtight lid on information in what is known as the Hermit Kingdom is gradually loosening."
The WP article states, "Asian intelligence sources estimate that as many as 20,000 North Koreans -- particularly those trading in the newly thriving border area with China -- now have access to Chinese cellular phones, from which they can make undetected international calls in large areas of northern North Korea." Also, at the new Kaesong Industrial Park near the border with South Korea, and the tourist resort at Mount Kumgang, South Korean firms are directly employing and paying North Korean workers for the first time.
The WP quotes Sohn Kwang Joo, managing editor of the North Korea Daily (a Seoul-based website) as saying, "North Korean people and the elite bureaucrats all want more reform. But the faster the doors open, the more vulnerable becomes Kim Jong Il's tight grip of the nation. Kim Jong Il will therefore try to control and limit the opening. But as more people cross in and out of the border, there are more mobile phones, and more flows of information, the North Korean people will begin to realize the truth about Kim Jong Il." . . .
The years of reform and gradual openness had yielded several positive changes, including: family reunions, the move to a market economy, cross-border trade with China, trains crossing through the demilitarised zone, the opening of Kaesong Industrial Park enabling economic cooperation with South Korea, and the establishment of the Christian-funded, English-language, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.
See: North Korea: Changes
". . . though your footsteps were not seen".
By Elizabeth Kendal for WEA RLC, 24 August 2007
However, by the end of 2008, it was all over. All positive steps had been reversed and North Korea had returned to isolation. For Kim Jong-il, reform had proved too difficult, too threatening. Things had changed and the risks had begun to out-weigh the benefits.
Lankov concluded: "It seems that North Korean leaders believe that their system cannot survive major liberalisation. They might be correct in the pessimism. . . . Were North Korea to reform, the disparities with South Korea [a rich and free country that speaks the same language and shares the same culture -- i.e. is not 'foreign'] would become only starker to its population. This might produce a grave political crisis, so the North Korean government seemingly believes that in order to stay in control it should avoid tampering with the system. Maintaining the information blockade is of special importance, since access to the overseas information might easily show the North Koreans both the backwardness of their country and the ineptitude of their government."
See: North Korea returns to isolation
By Elizabeth Kendal for WEA RLC, 2 December 2008
BELLIGERENCE VS "SMART POLICY"
There is no doubt in my mind that the US North Korea Human Rights Act (Oct 2004) -- signed into law by President G.W. Bush -- directly contributed to North Korea's return to isolation. The law, which was effective from 2005 to 2008, granted $2 million a year to pro-democracy and human rights groups actively working to undermine the regime.
I wrote at the time: "The North Korean Human Rights Acts is wonderful in principle. . . [But] the implementation of the Act will need to be as sensitive as the defusing of a bomb. . . [For] an all-round positive outcome for North Korea (reform without bloodshed) can only be achieved through gradual openness alongside a strategy for maintaining stability."
Kathi Zellweger of the Catholic aid organisation Caritas shared my concerns: "Regime change is what some groups of people hope for. But I believe what is happening is that very slowly the nature of the regime is changing, albeit at a very slow pace." Zellweger expressed the widely-held fear that the North Korea Human Rights Acts would lead to a tightening of the government's control of the people and of NGOs.
And indeed it did. Though "wonderful in principle" the NKHR Act (2004) might not have been "smart policy", for it caused risk to elevate to the point that Kim Jong-il's only option -- as a survivor -- was a return to isolation, centralisation and severe repression.
See: Reforming North Korea.
By Elizabeth Kendal for WEA RLC, 19 November 2004
In the above Nov 2004 posting I suggested the following: "Those things Kim jong-Il desires most of all, survival and prestige, appear to be on shaky ground . . . Maybe this is the biggest bargaining chip of all. To avoid catastrophe on the Korean Peninsula, would the US be willing to ensure Kim's survival and prestige in exchange for reforms for which Kim would of course take all credit? This would involve great humility on the part of the US. It would involve leaving justice, regarding Kim, in the hands of God. It could only be done by looking past the man, Kim jong-Il, and keeping eyes firmly fixed on the goal: the liberation and reform of North Korea, for the sake of North Korea's suffering and oppressed millions."
Like it or not, the reality is, the UN Commission of Inquiry report (Feb 2014) can only be used as leverage to get prisoners released and human rights improved if the regime is assured it will not be threatened.
So while it is commendable that the UN Commission of Inquiry report is shining a spotlight on the horrific situation inside North Korea, great wisdom -- "smart policy" -- is required. For if the situation is handled belligerently rather than with great care and wisdom -- i.e. if too much pressure is applied or if "hostile forces" use the report to fan the flames of revolution for their own political, economic and geo-strategic ends -- then we could see reforms rolling back and repression escalating to unprecedented levels. Or worse, we could see the State descend into an absolute bloodbath.
END
---------------------------------------
Breaking News:
South Australian man John Short detained in North Korea, now facing 15 years in jail
CRAIG COOK EXCLUSIVE
The Advertiser, February 20, 2014
excerpt
Dr Leonid Petrov, who teaches North Korean political history at the Australian National University in Canberra, said Mr Short’s situation “could be complicated” by the release of a UN report on Monday detailing regime crimes against humanity. . .
“If he was found to be networking directly with North Koreans to spread religious material it could be very bad for him and them,” Dr Petrov said.
“For locals, the whole family would be sent to the gulag (forced labour camps) with little chance of ever being released unless they repent (their religious views).
“For the foreigner, they could face a similar sentence to Kenneth Bae of 15 years with 16-hours-a-day hard labour.”
Mr Bae, a South Korean-born US citizen, was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in April last year for attempting to topple the Korean regime.
--------------------------------------------
Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah speaks to Christians today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)