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Afghanistan

March 27, 2006   Intervene for Christian convert in Afghanistan

Dear Friends,

CSW is requesting your urgent action on behalf of Abdul Rahman who, as you may be aware from recent press coverage, is a convert from Islam to Christianity facing the death penalty in Afghanistan.

In case you are not familiar with the story, Abdul Rahman converted to Christianity over 14 years ago, while working for an aid group helping Afghan refuges in Pakistan.  He is being prosecuted for an "attack on Islam", which is punishable by death.  Although the most recent press reports suggest that he is likely to be freed, his legal position remains unclear.

However, the Afghan Constitution guarantees a citizen’s right to choose their own faith, and also mentions international human rights treaties to which Afghanistan is a signatory.  Clearly, such action against Mr. Rahman violates the international standards enshrined in these treaties.

Please contact your representatives in the House and Senate to urge them to intervene: 

Write to your Senator at U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510, or your Representative at U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.  (Call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to find out your Congressperson’s name).

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Fax: (202) 261-8577 
Phone: (202) 647-4000
Email: secretary@state.gov

Thank you,
CSW Advocacy Team

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November 13, 2001    Detained Aid Workers Moved to Kandahar as Taliban Retreated From Kabul

Please continue to pray for the protection and release of Georg Taubmann (German), Margrit Stebner (German), Katy Jelinek (German), Silke Duerrkopf (German), Peter Bunch (Australian), Diana Thomas (Australian), Heather Mercer (American) and Dana Curry (American). 

According to Associated Press, the eight Shelter Now International aid worker detained in Kabul for allegedly preaching Christianity had been whisked off in a black four-wheel drive at midnight last night (13.11.01) to Kandahar, the southern Taliban stronghold and birthplace of the movement, about 240 miles south of the capital.

Columns of Taliban troops retreated from the capital last night as the opposition Northern Alliance broke through their defenses and moved swiftly towards the city.

Eye-witness said the eight foreigners were in good condition when they left. However, it is unclear whether the Taliban who took the aid workers were from a government ministry or whether they were acting on their own accord. 

Since the end of October, the Taliban’s supreme court has indefinitely postponed the aid workers’ trial. 

The eight expatriate relief workers were arrested on August 3, after being accused of preaching Christianity among Afghan Muslims. Since then, over 50 Afghan aid workers have also been jailed on suspicion of complicity in the foreigners’ alleged missionary activities. The whereabouts of the Afghan detainees remain unknown.

In a fax message sent last month, Georg Taubmann, the director of Shelter Now Germany, wrote: 
“God is in control of this whole situation, and despite all that is going on, we have a deep peace and have put our trust in Him.” 

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September 19, 2001    Afghanistan: Detained Aid Workers Desperately Need Our Prayers!

Dear Friends

As we remember in prayer all those affected by last Tuesday's terror attacks in the United States, can we also remember the eight foreign Shelter Now International aid workers on trial in Afghanistan for preaching Christianity. 

The plight of the two Americans, two Australians and four Germans has been dramatically complicated by last week's events.

Amid growing fear that the US is going to retaliate against Saudi-born Islamic extremist Osama bin Laden as well as those who harbor him, both the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations have pulled their last remaining international staff out of Kabul. Western diplomats representing the eight foreigners have also returned to Pakistan. 

The eight aid workers are now among the few remaining Westerners in Afghanistan. 

The Taliban has confirmed that the trial of the foreigners will continue but they will not move to the second phase until the defense advocate has arrived. A lawyer expert in Islamic law has been given visa by the Taliban authorities to represent the detainees and is making his way to Kabul. 

We are also encouraged by the reports that the delegation from Pakistan had met with the eight Westerners and had requested the Taliban to release them.

Meanwhile, tensions in Kabul are running high as the Taliban prepares the country for a jihad (holy war). Many Taliban junior officials and their families are fleeing the capital for the countryside. 

This morning, between 700 to 1,000 veteran clerics from Afghanistan's 32 provinces met in Kabul to discuss waging a jihad, or holy war, against the United Sates. Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar is also appealing to other Muslim nations for support. 

There are also increasing concerns that in the event of a US raid, the Taliban and other armed Islamists might respond with revenge actions in the central Asia region, inter alia, neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. 

UN officials warn that millions of already hungry people in Afghanistan will face a major humanitarian crisis as food supplies run out following the withdrawal of the World Food Program and other aid agencies. 

The Afghan refugee population is one of the largest in the world. Wracked by war for over two decades, the country has also been plagued with famine and drought for the past three years. According to a recent report by the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Food Program, five million Afghans require food aid. More than 4.5 million have fled to neighboring countries, and over 700,000 are internally displaced. In the past few months, close to 200,000 Afghan refugees have crossed into Pakistan. 

Please pray specifically for:

* The safety and early release of the eight foreigners and 51 Afghan nationals - that the Taliban would be able to separate this issue from the US terror attacks.

* The safety and protection of the defence lawyer as he makes the arduous journey into Kabul - the Taliban closed Afghan airspace yesterday.

* Justice and mercy as the trial continues

* The protection of the small Christian community in Afghanistan.

* The safe evacuation of remaining foreign and Afghan aid workers.

* Pakistan President General Musharraf, as he seeks to avert potential military conflicts in the region through diplomatic channel.

* Peace and stability in the South Asian region and divine intervention in the current crisis.

* Safety and provision of necessary humanitarian resources for all those in need in Afghanistan.

Write

1. Please write a brief polite letter to His Excellency, General Parvez Musharraf, President, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Aiawan-e-Sadar, Islamabad, Pakistan. 
(Fax: 0092-51-9206061 or Email: ce@pak.gov.pk <mailto:ce@pak.gov.pk>) 
urging Pakistan to use her diplomatic relationship with Afghanistan to secure the release of the eight foreigners
and 51 Afghan nationals, and thanking them for the efforts Pakistan have already made on their behalf. 

2. Write to your Congressperson, asking the American Government issue at the highest policy levels. You can find out the name of your Congressperson by calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.


Background

The Taliban's religious police arrested twenty-four aid workers (eight foreigners and sixteen Afghan nationals) from Shelter Now International (SNI), a charity based in Germany, for allegedly propagating Christianity in early August.

So far, the trial of the eight foreigners, which started a fortnight ago on Tuesday September 4, has been conducted in the absence of a defense advocate. If convicted, these foreigners could face penalties ranging from expulsion to death.

Another 35 Afghan aid workers were arrested by the Taliban between September 7-9 as the crackdown on international aid agencies continued. 

All the Afghans aid workers were employees of the recently banned International Assistance Mission (IAM). According to Associated Press, they were taken into custody at the Planning Ministry in response to a state-run radio broadcast asking them to collect their salary.

The Taliban accused IAM and another Christian agency, SERVE, of links with Shelter Now International (SNI). SNI was shut down in early August on suspicion of trying to convert Muslim Afghans to Christianity.

More than 51 Afghan nationals have so far been arrested in connection with the SNI crackdown. 

The Taliban has not presented proof that any Afghan had actually converted but Mohammed Wali, the Taliban Minister for Vice and Virtue, insisted on charging them on the basis that 'they must have known what these foreigners were doing, and they did not report them'. 

The Taliban said the Afghans would be tried separately, although no date has been set. Access to the Afghans have so far been refused and the Taliban has declared that some of them would be sentenced to either life imprisonment or death by hanging.

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August 17, 2001    Christian Aid Workers Arrested in Afghanistan

Dear Friends

Please continue to pray for the 24 Christian aid workers arrested by the Taliban's religious police a fortnight ago on suspicion of propagating Christianity. If found guilty, the 8 foreigners and 16 Afghan nations are likely to face public execution. 

Prayer Points 

Please pray in particular for:

· The safety and welfare of those arrested, in particular the women and the Afghan nationals. The Taliban is notorious for their brutal and inhumane treatment of detainees.

· Divine intervention, as the Taliban is not easily swayed by international opinion

· The Taliban, to bring jurisdiction over the foreigners under the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs rather than the extreme Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and allow for deportation in place of execution.

· The Taliban, to pardon and release the 16 Afghan nations. 

· Great wisdom for all those involved in negotiating with the Taliban through this present crisis and for religious freedom in general.

· Protection of other aid organizations in Afghanistan. 



Please also write a brief polite letter to His Excellency, General Parvez Musharraf, President, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Aiawan-e-Sadar, Islamabad, Pakistan. (Fax : 92-51-811390 or Email: ce@pak.gov.pk , www.punjab.gov.pk), urging Pakistan to use her diplomatic relationship with
Afghanistan to impress upon the Taliban that it would be a commendable act of mercy, in line with Islamic doctrines, to: 

(a) allow the German, Australian and American diplomats currently in Kabul access to their nationals in detention.

(b) Bring the jurisdiction over the foreigners under the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs rather than the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and to allow for deportation in place of execution.

(c) treat the detainees with humanity and to expedite the legal proceedings in accordance with international standards for due process and fair trial.

(d) conduct the trials of both the foreigners and the Afghan nations in the presence of representatives from Germany, Australia and America and international monitors.


Background

The series of arrests started on 3rd August 2001 when the Taliban's religious police detained Australian Diana Thomas and American Heather Mercer, staff of SNI, for visiting and allegedly showing a Christian video on a lap top computer to Afghan national, Abdul Mateen, in his home in the
capital Kabul. The Taliban authorities also seized Christian literature in local Dari language. 

Two days later enforcement officers from the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice raided SNI's office in Kabul and confiscated more computers, musical instruments, Christian literature and bibles in Dari language. The Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has also closed down all other SNI operations throughout Afghanistan.

SNI has been working amongst the destitute in Afghanistan since the 1980s. They provide emergency shelter, food programs, medical supplies and other humanitarian aid to Afghans affected by drought and war. They also run bakeries, concrete factories, and other projects to help rebuild the war-torn Afghanistan. Their work along the border and in areas not yet reached by other aid agencies are particularly vital. Recently they have started several relief projects in Maslakh camp and have been supplying 100,000 liters of fresh water every day to the internally displaced Afghan people. 

The 24 SNI staff (8 expatriates and 16 Afghan nationals) were arrested altogether on charges of promoting Christianity, which is a capital offence under the hard line Taliban regime. The eight foreign staff concerned are: Jorg Taubmann, the director of Shelter Now Germany, his German co-workers Margit Stebner, Katy Jelinek, and Silke Duerrokopf, Australians Peter Bunch and Diana Thomas, and Americans Heather Mercer and Dana Curry. 

The Taliban is a fundamentalist Islamic militia noted for the ruthless implementation of their strict and literal interpretation of Islamic law. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the only countries in the world who recognize the Taliban as a legitimate government.

Under the Taliban's rule, proselytism is strictly prohibited. Indeed, in January this year, the Taliban Supreme Leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar issued an edict prescribing the death penalty for any Afghan converting from Islam to another faith and for those responsible for causing Muslims to convert. 

It is against the law to possess musical instruments and computer discs. It is also illegal for foreigners to visit the homes of Afghan nationals.

In June this year, however, a separate code of conduct for foreigners - Decree Number 14 - was released, giving jurisdiction over foreigners to the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs rather than the extreme Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The code of conduct also allows for imprisonment of up to one month or expulsion in place of execution. 

So far, the Taliban has made clear that pardons are out of the question. According to the head of the Taliban religious police, Mawlawi Mohammad Wali, all detainees would be tried in Sharia courts in accordance with Islamic law. 

This latest clampdown is by no means an isolated incident. In the past, the Taliban has accused various international aid organizations of using humanitarian work as a front for spreading Christianity amongst the Afghans. The United Nations has also, on numerous occasions, complained at the highest levels about the increasing incidents of harassment, intimidation and arrest of foreign and local aid workers. 

Following the outbreak of the current incident, the Taliban has warned of closer scrutiny of all aid organizations operating in Afghanistan, including the United Nations. CSW is concerned that the Taliban will continue to apply similar pressure to rid the country of Western-based humanitarian aid NGOs who are carrying out invaluable work in the country.