Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani pode ser sentenciado a morte

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Os ...

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Em Cuba, Dilma diz que violações de direitos humanos ocorrem em todos os países

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Kerala, hand severed of Christian Professor accused of blasphemy

Kerala, hand severed of Christian Professor accused of blasphemy
by Nirmala Carvalho
Stella, Sister of Prof Joseph.

The victim is a college professor who "insulted Muhammad" in an exam questionnaire. Islamic extremism is growing in Kerala: many schools face pressures on the use of the veil. The condemnation of national Muslim organizations. Sajan K. George: Sharia is not law in India.

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BREAKING NEWS ; Kerala Islamic Attackers cut off Newman college prof Joseph's hand

Muvatupuzha:Kerala(04/07/10) T J Joseph, a professor at the New Man College, Thodupuzha who is under suspension for preparing the question paper with an objectionable reference to the Prophet, was attacked by a gang of 8 men at Muvatupuzha when he was coming back from church.

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Indian court in Orissa sentenced two persons for killing invalid christian during anti christian violence

Phulbhani-(Orissa)
A fast track court today sentenced two persons to six years rigorous imprisonment for killing a polio-stricken Christian Rasanda Pradhan during Kandamal riots in 2008 against Christians .Total 891 riot cases, the two fast track courts have so far disposed of 201 cases convicting 152 persons and acquitting 656.

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GCIC slams the Interrogation of young school students in Right Wing Ruled BJP State

GCIC slams the Interrogation of young school students in Right Wing Ruled BJP State of Madhya Pradesh by Dharam Rakshak Samiti activists

On June 28th, a bus carrying around 40 school students was blocked on a public road in a suburb of Indore

The students mainly belonging to the minority Christian community hailed from Orissa state were returning to their school in Indore after summer vacation. The school is managed by Youth With a Mission.

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BJP MLA jailed for Kandhamal riots

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/BJP-MLA-jailed-for-Kandhamal-riots/articleshow/6108337.cms
BERHAMPUR: In a major embarrassment to the BJP, a party legislator was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment by a fast track court for murder during the anti-Christian riots in Kandhamal district of Orissa in 2008.

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Pregnant Woman Beaten in Pakistani Jail Granted Bail

Police unable to find any evidence against her in theft charge.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, December 30 (CDN) — A judge this month granted bail to a Christian woman falsely charged with theft in Abbottabad after police failed to produce evidence incriminating her, she said.


Salma Emmanuel, 30, was freed on bail on Dec. 8. She and her husband were severely beaten for three days when they refused to confess, and she was taken to a hospital in critical condition on Nov. 7, the life of her unborn child also threatened (see www.compassdirect.org, “Police in Pakistan Beat Pregnant Christian, Husband for 3 Days,” Nov. 29).


Emanuel told Compass by phone from Abottabad, 50 kilometers (31 miles) northeast of Islamabad in the Hazara region of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, that the judge granted bail after police failed to produce evidence against her. Her husband, 30-year-old TV repairman Emmanuel Rasheed, had been freed on bail on Nov. 17. Rasheed said that as he was mercilessly beaten, police tried to convert him to Islam.


Emmanuel said that her faith in God was strong from the beginning of her ordeal in the Muslim-majority country, where Christians are routinely denied legal rights.


“Both of us knew we were innocent, and that they would not be able to find anything against us,” she said. “We had complete faith in the Lord that He will not forsake us, and our bails are a testimony to the fact.”


Emmanuel said that police had discriminated against the couple from the outset.


“The police tortured both of us, and despite our hue and cry that we were not thieves, they continued with their harsh treatment,” she said. “Now they have included the other servants in the investigation, but not once have they even touched them. They have just been questioned.”


The couple lost their life savings – gold ornaments of 100 grams – and both have lost their jobs as a result of the false charges and are depending on relatives to cover their living expenses, she said.


“My husband goes out every day to find work but has been unsuccessful so far,” she said. “This Christmas we didn’t have money to buy clothes for our children, and neither did we have any explanation to make them understand why we were so helpless. But we have witnessed the mercy of the Lord and have faith that this time shall pass, too.”


The couple has three children – the oldest 12, the youngest 5.


Emmanuel’s case was highlighted in Pakistan’s broadcast and print media when she was brought to the hospital in critical condition five months pregnant.


Ghazala Riaz, who employed Emmanuel as a maid in her house a year ago, on Oct. 30 accused the couple of theft, alleging that they had stolen a laptop, 900,000 rupees (US$10,095) and 300 grams of gold ornaments, including Emmanuel’s own jewelry, which Emmanuel had given to Riaz for safekeeping the same day.


Police who beat Emmanuel and her husband threatened to kill her unborn child, but the Christian couple refused to confess a false allegation, they said.


Emmanuel, who was also working as a child-minder in a local school besides working as domestic help, has lost both her jobs. When Rasheed was jailed, his employer immediately found a replacement.



END

Lao Officials Force Christians to Recant for Burial

Separately in Boukham village, authorities move Christians to animal pen.

DUBLIN, December 30 (CDN) — Officials this week forced Christians in a Lao village to give up their faith in order to bury a family member in the village graveyard, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF).


In Huey, Ad-Sapangthong district of Savannakhet Province, where immediate burial is essential in the hot tropical climate, the village’s eight Christian families quickly began to arrange a funeral for the deceased, a woman who died on Christmas Day who went by the single name of Wang. On Monday (Dec. 26), however, village officials ordered that her body be buried according to Buddhist funeral rites or be taken to a burial ground in Savannakhet city, HRWLRF reported.


Lacking the resources for a city burial, the 40 Christians reluctantly agreed. But the village monk then refused to carry out the ceremony because Wang was a Christian.
 

On Tuesday (Dec. 27), district officials summoned representatives of the Christian community in Huey to their headquarters in Ad-Sapangthong. HRWLRF reported that one of them told the Christians, “Don’t do anything with the dead body; let the body rot if you insist on clinging to the Christian faith.”


With Wang’s body already decomposing, the Christians verbally agreed to cease practicing their faith in order to bury her in the village cemetery, according to HRWLRF.


Once the funeral was over, five of the families told church leaders in another city that they regretted their decision and that they would continue to worship God.


On Wednesday (Dec. 28), sources close to district officials told HRWLRF that they suspected two people were directly responsible for the refusal of a Christian burial in Huey village as well as the Dec. 16 arrests of eight Christian leaders for gathering some 200 church members for a Christmas celebration in Boukham village (See www.compassdirect.org, “Lao Officials Arrest Eight Christian Leaders,” Dec. 19). They identified the two as Major Gad, a former military officer now serving as deputy district chief of Ad-Sapangthong and also as head of religious affairs in the district; and the district commissioner, identified by the single name Pornsai.


Still in Stocks
Following the release of one of the Christian leaders, Boukham village authorities have moved six of the detained Christians to an animal pen, blocked visits from family members and banned direct delivery of food, local sources told HRWLRF.


Another detainee had been released temporarily to attend a government training session, but he is now being held with the others. The seven Christians are being held in wooden stocks.
 

When last seen, the health of one of the detained leaders, identified as Puphet, had clearly deteriorated; Puphet suffers from a kidney ailment. The legs of six of the detainees, but particularly those of Puphet, Wanta and Oun, were swollen and infected, according to HRWLRF.
 

“This is because their legs, being fastened in wooden stocks, are raised higher than their bottoms, obstructing blood flow,” a spokesman from HRWLRF told Compass. “The stocks are also causing excruciating physical pain and bruises.”


Family members fear that authorities may employ starvation tactics in order to force the six to give up their faith, the spokesman added.


In neighboring Natoo village, 47 Christians threatened with expulsion on Dec. 21 were able to worship on Christmas day without interruption, the spokesman said. Officials have yet to carry out the threatened expulsion. (See www.compassdirect.org, “Lao Officials: “Give Up Your Faith or Face Eviction,”’ Dec. 23.)


END

India Briefs: Recent Incidents of Persecution

Tamil Nadu, India, December 30 (CDN) — Police arrested a Christian after Hindu extremists on Dec. 22 accused him of forceful conversion in Nagarcoil. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that Hindu extremists accused Sagaya Dass of forceful conversion after he and students from SP Hindu College organized a Christmas program. The extremists filed a police complaint at the Kottar police station. Dass was released on bail the same day after the intervention of area Christian leaders.


Tamil Nadu – Hindu extremists on the evening of Dec. 22 burned down a church building in Kurinjipadi, Vallalar Nagar, Kadaloor district. The Global Council of Indian Christian reported Hindu extremists had threatened Pastor K .Solomon and other church members, and that they destroyed the building to stop Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.

       
Madhya Pradesh – On Dec. 21 police filed forcible conversion charges against Christians after their Hindu extremist accusers from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh beat them in Nehru Nagar, Indore. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that pastor Dilip Wadia of Light Giving Church went to the house of Kailash Gormeys for a prayer meeting and to watch the “Jesus Film.” One of the 24 other people present belonged to the RSS and soon informed other extremists, who surrounded the house, according to the GCIC. After the extremists attacked them, the Christians went to the police station to file a complaint, only to find out that officers had filed a First Information Report against them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 323 for “voluntarily causing hurt.” Police also took down a complaint against the extremists for injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult religion. At press time police were attempting to broker an agreement between the two parties.


Karnataka – Police arrested a pastor after Hindu extremists beat him and stopped his church’s Sunday worship service on Dec. 18 in Pillanna Garden, near Lingarajpuram, Bangalore. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that about 200 Hindu extremists barged into the Agape Bible Church service and attacked pastors Reuben Sathyaraj and Perumal Fernandes. At the time church members “were only being given baptism to confirm their membership to the church, as part of a regular year-end program,” according to the statement of one of the church leaders, reported GCIC. Nearly 200 Hindus outside the church premises chanted slogans accusing the Christians of forced and fraudulent conversions before beating the pastors and other Christians. Police took 20 people alleged to have been forcibly/fraudulently converted to the police station, but after several hours of questioning they found there was no truth to the accusations and released them. The 60-year-old Pastor Sathyaraj, however, was detained late into the night; when he became ill, he was allowed to go a hospital on the condition that he report back the next morning. The following day police charged him with “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.” With the intervention of the area Christian leaders, the pastor was released on bail the next day.

       
Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists at Mahabubnagar railway station attacked a pastor as he was distributing Christian literature on Dec 17. The All India Christian Council (AICC) reported that Pastor R. Prasad had gone to the railway station and was distributing tracts to commuters when a group of young men approached him at about 8:30 a.m. and started beating him. The young men then forcibly led the pastor to a car that took them to a Hindu temple, where they burned the Christian literature and again beat him, according to the AICC. The pastor has filed a complaint at the Mahabubnagar police station.


Karnataka – Police arrested a pastor and other Christians after Hindu extremists on Dec. 16 trespassed into the house of one of them, identified only as Venketesh of Badhravathy Baptist Church, and beat assistant pastor Sagar Guntur and church elders in Kagekodana-Jayanagar Shimoga. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the perpetrators attacked six women, four elders and the assistant pastor. The extremists falsely accused the Christians of forcible conversions, dragging them out and summoning police from Badravathy rural police station, according to the GCIC. Police have filed a First Information Report against the Christians under Sections 34 and 295-A of the Indian Penal Code for “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.” The Christians were released on bail after two days.

       
Maharashtra – Hindu extremists demolished a church building and beat a pastor in Ghatkoper, Mumbai on Dec. 14 after he complained that the church’s worship site was omitted on an area development plan map. Visiting the office of Kunal Vardhan of Neelam Finance Bombay, Ltd., pastor Prabhakaran Kaviraj of the Apostolic Christian Assembly learned of the omission and inquired about it. A few men beat him as he was leaving Kaviraj’s office, and on Dec. 14 a bulldozer demolished the church building. Kunal identified one of the key perpetrators of the demolition along with 12 others who were later arrested. An FIR has been filed against Vardhan and others involved in the demolition at Cheda Nagar police station.


Andhra Pradesh – Masked men on Dec. 11 seriously injured a pastor in Nalgonda, according to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). The suspected Hindu extremists stormed into the Sunday service of New Fellowship Gospel Church and started throwing stones at a pastor identified only as Bangariah, who was leading worship. The pastor bled heavily, according to the GCIC, and as church members cried out, neighbors gathered at the site and the masked men ran away. The pastor was taken to Government Hospital in Nalgonda and received 14 stitches on his head and face. Police registered a case, but no arrests have been made.
    
       
Madhya Pradesh – Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and World Hindu Council (VHP) attacked Christians on Dec. 9 in Jhabua, Indore, beating a pastor unconscious, destroying Bibles and taking gold and silver jewelry. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that about 100 RSS and VHP activists surrounded pastor Ramesh V. Asnia’s house from all sides and began pelting the Christians with large stones before forcibly entering the pastor’s house as his wife, Indira Vasunia, was leading prayer. After breaking a wooden cross and a television set and taking silver and gold chains worth about 30,000 rupees (US$550), they beat the pastor’s 50-year-old mother and broke one of her legs. Vasunia and other women escaped and told the pastor what was happening. When Pastor Ramesh reached his village by motorcycle along with another Christian, Babu Vasunia, about 20 RSS and VHP members severely beat them, alleging that they were forcibly and fraudulently converting Hindus. Even as the two Christians were bleeding heavily and the pastor was unconscious, the extremists continued to strike them with stones and with their fists, also kicking them in the stomach, according to the GCIC. They dragged the pastor, tearing his clothes. Witnesses later told Pastor Ramesh that the extremists threatened to further harm them if he continued preaching and teaching, and that they were carrying pistols, bows and arrows, and a sword-like weapon. Pastor Ramesh and Babu Vasunia went to the Antarwailya police station and told a head constable identified only as Kushwaha about the incident, asking him to file a First Information Report against the attackers, but Kushwaha said no police officers were on duty that day, according to GCIC.


Tamil Nadu – Police in Nagarcoil on Dec. 9 arrested the Rev. Arul Saiju and the Rev. Stanley Baburaj, along with 10 Christians from the Makankara Catholic Church, after local officials supervised the demolition of their church building, which was under renovation. Saiju and Baburaj produced the original title deeds to the officials to establish ownership, but Hindu extremists attacked them and took them to the local police station alleging that they had obstructed civil servants from discharging their responsibility. Saij, Baburaj and the 10 other Christians were put in a sub-jail and were later released on bail, reported a GCIC representative.


Orissa – A group of tribal Hindu extremists on Dec. 8 attacked three tribal Christian families in Chandikhole, Jajpur district. The All India Christian Council (AICC) reported that the extremists beat the Christians, accused them of forceful conversion and filed a police complaint against them. When the tribal Christians approached the police to complain, they were reprimanded and detained due to the First Information Report filed against them. The AICC leaders in Orissa contacted the deputy inspector and superintendent of police in efforts to free the innocent victims of the hate crime, reported AICC.
            

Tamil Nadu – Hindu extremists on Dec. 3 razed a church after issuing several threats to a pastor in Hosur. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the extremists destroyed the Christu Sabha church building in the dead of night. The Hindu extremists had mounted two previous attacks against pastor Paul Chinnaswamy, according to the GCIC, robbing his small savings and destroying a small shed in which he regularly held worship services in April 2007 and beating and stabbing him in the leg with a screw drive in May of that year. They have also threatened to abduct his four daughters and harm his son if he continues spreading Christianity in the village. Police refused to register a case.


Madhya Pradesh – Police arrested a pastor after Hindu extremists filed a complaint of forceful conversion against a pastor in Sendwa, Badhwani district on Dec. 2. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reported that the pastor of the Indian Pentecostal Church, identified only as Titus, and other Christians were arrested after being charged under Sections 3 and 4 of the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act after a complaint was registered against them. While in the police station, about 20 men from a radical Hindu organization stormed in demanding the arrest of the pastor. Pastor Titus and the other Christians were released after bail was posted by local Christians. Police seized the vehicle they were using along with some CDs and Bibles.
 
END

Christians Face Harsh Realities of Nigerian Church Bombing

Amid anguish and mourning, church leaders distinguish between defense and retaliation.

MADALLA, Nigeria, December 29 (CDN) — Until last Sunday, Christmas Day, St. Theresa’s Catholic Church on the outskirts of Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, was just one of many branches of Christianity in the country.
 
An early morning suicide bomb attack by Islamic extremist group Boko Haram that left at least 45 people dead and 73 others injured, however, has turned the ruins in Madalla, Niger state into a national mourning site. Christian leaders and government officials have arrived to confirm the extent of human and material damage, but four days after the attack, church leaders were still trying to determine a final death toll. Three of the 45 confirmed dead were policemen on guard duty at the time of the attack, and most of the rest were parishioners.
 
While some church members have stayed away from mass at the remnant building, and other area worship centers are empty, others continue to attend St. Theresa’s.
 
“The shock of the incident has been very traumatic for the people who were at the scene, and it is going to be difficult for them to recover from it – we are all still mourning,” the Rev. Joseph Akor, director of communication of the Minna Diocese, told Compass. “The worshipers have cause to be afraid after an incident like this, but they are strengthened by the blood of the martyrs and have not relented in attending daily Mass.”


The Very Rev. Isaac Achi of St. Theresa’s today said that 73 people were receiving hospital treatment. The Rev. Musa Dada of the Niger state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said that of those hurt in the blast, 50 were seriously injured. On the same day as the Madalla attack, Boko Haram also detonated bombs at Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church in Jos, Plateau state, though no one was killed until a policeman who later confronted the assailants was shot. A bomb also exploded at a church in Gadaka, Yobe state, where several people reportedly were wounded.
 
Akor of the Minna Diocese told Compass that the church was doing everything possible to aid survivors, including those injured and those who lost relatives.
 
“Many of those who are directly affected can’t still comprehend what happened and why this kind of thing should happen,” he said. “They went to church and didn’t bargain for this kind of thing to happen. It is indeed a trial of our faith but, as in situations like this, we have no choice but to keep praying more.”
 
A widow who is a member of the church came into the damaged building this morning wailing over the death of her only son. Another woman lost her husband and all their children in the attack. A small girl lost her parents.
 
The Rev. Isaac Achi decried the loss the church has incurred, telling media this week how the bomb blast cast the body of a 9-year-old child onto the roof of a nearby Anglican church building.


“What happened is very sad,” Achi reportedly said. “Many innocent persons have been killed in this unprovoked attack on our church.”
 
Recalling how the attack was carried out, church member Joseph Chukwumeka reportedly said the congregation was filing out at the time.


“As members were approaching the frontage of the church, we heard two deadly explosions and most people went blank,” he told news media. “We ran helter-skelter, first of all to save ourselves before we recovered for a rescue operation.”
 
The 73 injured parishioners were receiving treatment in 12 hospitals in Abuja and in Niger state, church leaders told Compass. The hospitals are the State House Clinic; the National Hospital; Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital; Suleja General Hospital; Major Hospital, Kwamba; Delight Hospital, Suleja; Suzan Hospital, Suleja; Daughters of Charity Hospital, Kubwa; Diamond Crest Hospital, Zuba; Solace Hospital, Suleja; Lucas Hospital, Madalla; and Kubwa General Hospital.
 
St. Theresa’s Catholic Church has about 2,400 members, and on Sundays there are three worship services with an average attendance of about 800 worshipers.
 
The Most Rev. Martin Igwe Uzoukwu, bishop of Minna Diocese, said at a press conference at the church site today that the destruction amounted to an attack on area Christians.
 
“I call this an act of terrorism leveled against my people who went to church to celebrate the Holy Day of Christmas,” Uzoukwu said. “The Boko Haram group has claimed responsibility for this crime against us and the entire people of Niger state.”
 
The attack on the Madalla church marks the second time in eight months that a parish of the Catholic Church has been attacked, he said, the first having taken place in April, when Muslims set fire to St. Augustine’s Catholic Church at Angwan Kaje, in the city of Minna.
 
“Reflecting on the ugly and unfortunate but avoidable incident in Madalla, I stare at the fact that we have lost more than 40 people, with many others wounded, maybe maimed forever,” he said.
 
Uzoukwu urged all Christians to forgive the attackers and to remain steadfast in the Christian faith.
 
“We are called to forgive, as that is what Jesus taught us,” he said. “We should therefore forgive, even as we continue to pray for those who persecute us.”
 
Earlier in the week, CAN President Ayo Oritsejafor called for Christians to defend themselves.
 
“As CAN president I will not encourage revenge, but I will ask all Christians to protect themselves anyway they can,” he said. “Why should anybody come and kill you in your house? Protect yourself, protect your place of worship, protect your properties.”
 
During a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday (Dec. 28), Oritsejafor reportedly maintained that the attack on the church was a declaration of war on Christians and the country by Muslims and urged the government to prevent future occurrences lest they force Christians to take defensive action.
 
Speaking outside the church building today, Oritsejafor said that while he still does not encourage retaliation, “The consensus is that the Christian community nationwide will be left with no other option than to respond appropriately if there are any further attacks on our members, churches and property.”
 
Calling on Muslim leaders to condemn the attacks and take greater action to bring peace, Oritsejafor said they had abdicated “their responsibilities” and also that Christians were “fast losing confidence in government’s ability to protect our rights.”
 
Uzoukwu, bishop of the Minna Diocese, pleaded for Nigerian Muslims to address the challenge posed by Boko Haram to the nation’s security.
 
“I call on all my peace-loving Muslim friends to condemn publicly this act against us,” he said. “I call on all our religious leaders, traditional rulers and custodians of the land in Niger state to stand up strongly against this Boko Haram group.”
 
President Jonathan, a Christian, has reportedly tried to forestall sectarian violence by holding urgent meetings with Muslim and Christian leaders.
 
On Tuesday (Dec. 27), Nigeria’s primary Muslim cleric, the Sultan of Sokoto, denounced the Christmas Day attacks and called for calm.
 
“I want to assure all Nigerians that there is no conflict between Muslims and Christians, between Islam and Christianity,” said Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar. “It is a conflict between evil people and good people, and the good people are more than the evil-doers.”
 
Akor of St. Theresa’s told Compass that clergymen are appealing for peace.
 
“We don’t believe in resorting to violence but will keep appealing to the government to ensure the security of every citizen and to our members to remain law abiding no matter the situation,” he said.


END

Muslim Extremists in Uganda Throw Acid on Bishop

Burns threaten eyesight of church leader who opposed Islamic courts.

KAMPALA, Uganda, December 28 (CDN) — Islamic extremists threw acid on a church leader on Christmas Eve shortly after a seven-day revival at his church, leaving him with severe burns that have blinded one eye and threaten sight in the other.


Bishop Umar Mulinde, 37, a sheikh (Islamic teacher) before his conversion to Christianity, was attacked on Saturday night (Dec. 24) outside his Gospel Life Church International building in Namasuba, about 10 kilometers (six miles) outside of Kampala. From his hospital bed in Kampala, he told Compass that he was on his way back to the site for a party with the entire congregation and hundreds of new converts to Christianity when a man who claimed to be a Christian approached him.


“I heard him say in a loud voice, ‘Pastor, pastor,’ and as I made a turn and looked at him, he poured the liquid onto my face as others poured more liquid on my back and then fled away shouting, ‘Allahu akbar [God is greater],’” Mulinde said, still visibly traumatized two days after the assault.


A neighbor and church members rushed him to a hospital in the Mengo area of Kampala, and he was then transferred to International Hospital Kampala.


“I have to continue fighting this pain – it is too much,” Mulinde said. “My entire body is in pain. Most of the night I miss sleep.”


His face, neck and arms bore deep black scars from the acid, and his lips were swollen.


“The burn caused by the acid is so severe that there is an urgent need for specialized treatment,” said area Christian Musa Baluku Symutsangira. “I suggest that he be flown outside the country as soon as possible; otherwise Mulinde might lose both of his eyes, coupled with the spread of the burns. The burns seemed to spread and go very deep. He might need some plastic surgery.”
 

A doctor told Compass that acid burns cover about 30 percent of his face and has cost him sight in one eye.


“We are doing all we can to save his other remaining eye and to contain the acid from spreading to other parts of the body,” the doctor said.


Mulinde’s shirt, tie and suit were in tatters after the attack.


Mulinde said his father, Id Wasswa, was a local prayer leader or imam.


“I was born into a Muslim family, and although I decided to become a Christian, I have been financially assisting many Muslims, as well as my relatives who are Muslims,” he said. “I have been conducting a peaceful evangelism campaign.”


Mulinde said Muslim extremists opposed to his conversion from Islam and his outspoken opposition of sharia (Islamic law) courts in Uganda, known in East Africa as Kadhi courts, attacked him. On Oct. 15, area Muslim leaders declared a fatwa against him demanding his death.


“I have been receiving several threats for a long time, and this last one is the worst of all,” Mulinde said. “I have bore the marks of Jesus.”


Mulinde is known for debates locally and internationally in which he often challenges Muslims regarding their religion. His extensive knowledge and quotation of the Quran in his preaching has won him enemies and friends. Often criticizing Islam, he has relied on police protection during revival campaigns throughout Uganda.


“Mulinde poses a big threat to those who cannot take the challenge as he engages the Muslims in debate,” said Dr. Joseph Serwadda, an area church leader.


A church guard who was away on the day of the attack said he felt responsible.


“I feel bad,” he said. “I feel I have failed in my duty as a guard.”


Mulinde is married and has six children ages 14, 12, 8, 6 and twins who are 3.


Police have reportedly arrested one suspect, whom they have declined to name. A divisional commander at Katwa police station identified only as Kateebe would say only that an investigation was underway.


The hospital charges 350,000 Uganda shillings (US$140 dollars) per day, a steep amount in Uganda.


“We appeal for our brothers and sisters wherever they are to assist the life of Bishop Umar Mulinde,” said Symutsangira.


Several Attacks
Mulinde, who lives and pastors in Namasuba outside of Kampala, in April led religious leaders in petitioning the Ugandan Parliament to refrain from amending the constitution to introduce Kadhi courts.
 

He collected 360,000 signatures from former Muslims who have converted to Christianity, he said, and managed to temporarily stop parliament from proposing the constitutional change. When Compass met with Mulinde in November, however, he said there was new momentum to revive the Kadhi courts issue.


In May he was attacked by suspected Muslim extremists after a series of campaigns against Kadhi courts in Namasuba. After presenting his case against the Kadhi courts, he narrowly escaped a kidnap attempt when his vehicle was blocked at eight kilometers (five miles) outside of Kampala at Ndege, two kilometers from his home in Namasuba. Muslim extremists jumped out of the vehicle and shot at the fleeing Mulinde but missed him. He reported the case at the Katwa police station.


Mulinde has faced several injuries and attacks from Muslims since his conversion to Christianity in 1993, including having stones thrown at him after debates in 1998 and 2002.


After Kenya maintained Kadhi courts in its new constitution last year, the attorney general of Uganda wanted to insert Kadhi courts – which presumably would deal only with marriage and family issues for Muslims – into the Ugandan constitution. But Mulinde argued that there would be two judicial systems governing one country.


“If Muslims who convert to Christianity are facing persecution from the Muslims now, then what will be their fate when the Kadhi courts are entrenched in the constitution?” he said.


When Mulinde converted from Islam to Christianity, his family drove him away with clubs and machetes. Since then, he has suffered numerous life-threatening attacks. In 1995 at Mbiji, he was attacked with clubs but managed to escape. In 1998 he was attacked at Kangulomila near Jinja town. In 2000 in Masaka, Muslims bribed the area district commissioner to declare Mulinde’s meetings illegal; Muslims stormed into one of the meetings and dragged him out, beating him till he lost consciousness. Police saved him.


In 2001 in Busia, while addressing another meeting, a Muslim extremist narrowly missed killing him with a sword. In 1994, he survived a gun attack at Natete, near Kampala, when a bullet narrowly missed him. He said that as he fell into muddy waters, his Muslim attackers, thinking they had killed him, said, “Allah akbar.”


Because of the threats against him – in October Muslim extremists sent him text messages threatening to assassinate him – Mulinde had relocated to another area in Uganda.


He has vowed to continue fighting for the rights of the former Muslims haunted by radical Islamists.



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