Had Abdul Rahman recht op asiel?

[De Nachtuil]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Free Internet Press

Afghan Judge Rejects Calls To End Trial Of Christian Convert

The judge presiding over the prosecution of an Afghan man facing death for converting from Islam to Christianity said Thursday that he would resist any interference, despite mounting international condemnation.

A day after President Bush mentioned the case, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to discuss it "in the strongest possible terms," said the State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack.

"She called specifically on this topic," McCormack said, "and she urged President Karzai's government to seek a favorable resolution to this case at the earliest possible moment."

Ansarullah Maulavi Zada, the judge who heads the public security tribunal in Kabul, said, "There is no direct pressure on our court so far, but if it happens we will consider it interference."

He added that he expected to rule in the case in the next several days.

The case involves Abdul Rahman, 41, whose family opposed his attempt to regain custody of his two daughters and apparently told authorities last month that he had converted about 15 years ago. The resulting furor has exposed the unresolved tensions in the Bush administration's effort to meld democracy and conservative Islam in Afghanistan.

It also threatens to become a political liability for both the American and Afghan presidents.

For Bush, who finds support for his war effort in Iraq waning, the case could further alienate his political base among those in the Christian right, who have already accused the administration of putting too little pressure on Afghan officials.

For Karzai, the case traps him squarely between his Western backers and Afghanistan's conservative religious council, the Ulema, an important source of domestic support.

"The international community is saying you must stop this," said Barnett R. Rubin, a New York University professor and expert on Afghanistan. "The Ulema is saying, 'Are you an Islamic ruler?' "

The case illustrates a central contradiction of the compromise Constitution that Afghanistan adopted in 2004, which has been cited as an example for other Islamic countries. One passage declares Islam Afghanistan's supreme law, while another states that the country grants its citizens religious freedom.

In an intentional effort to avoid a standoff, the Constitution leaves certain crimes to be handled by religious judges, according to J. Alexander Thier of the Hoover Institution, who was an adviser on the Constitution. One such crime is converting from Islam to another religion.

Under conservative interpretations, a convert can be sentenced to death. Many moderate Muslims reject that interpretation as too severe. Afghanistan's laws are silent on the matter, and the country's criminal code does not specifically declare converting from Islam to Christianity a crime.

After meeting with Afghanistan's foreign minister, Abdullah, earlier this week, Rice called the minister into a second meeting on Thursday, according to McCormack, the department spokesman. In a 15-minute meeting, she told Abdullah (who uses only one name) that the prosecution was "contrary to universal democratic values," which include freedom of religion, McCormack said.

The same message came from the White House, where President Bush's chief spokesman, Scott McClellan, said the case "clearly violates the universal freedoms that democracies around the world hold dear."

"And we are watching it very closely," he added.

On Wednesday, President Bush said Washington expected Afghan officials to "honor the universal principle of freedom." Germany, Italy, Canada and other countries that have deployed troops in Afghanistan have also issued statements of concern.

To Afghan prosecutors, the case appears equally clear cut. One described Rahman as a "microbe," said conversion is illegal under Islamic law, and requested the death penalty.

Rubin, of N.Y.U., said he believed most Afghans did not support putting Rahman to death.

A friend of Rahman, who did not want his name published, could only speculate on why Rahman had converted. The two men worked together at a government radio station during the war against the Moscow-backed Communist government in Afghanistan in the 1990's.

"Abdul Rahman was living in neighboring Pakistan when Afghanistan was governed by a Communist regime," the friend said. "He was working for a foreign aid organization and converted to Christianity in Pakistan, and over this issue his wife got divorced, as she was not happy to follow her husband."

Rahman recently returned to Afghanistan after failing to gain asylum in Belgium, the friend said. He is a poorly educated laborer, and questions have been raised about his mental competency.

In images broadcast on Afghan television, Rahman told reporters: "I am not an infidel. I am Christian. I believe in Jesus." Islam considers Jesus one in a line of prophets culminating in Muhammad.

Rahman's case is only the most prominent of recent years to show how religious conservatives try to exert their influence through Afghanistan's decrepit and corrupt judicial system. Conservative judges, who dominate many courts, have threatened to close Afghan television stations that broadcast material they deemed indecent and have charged journalists with publishing material they declared blasphemous.

This week, President Karzai introduced a new slate of ministers and Supreme Court justices, a step intended to produce a more effective government and less conservative judiciary. The nominations require approval by Parliament, the first in 30 years.

Critics of Karzai have long accused him of appeasing religious conservatives and warlords. In the past, he has defused clashes with conservative judges by failing to implement their rulings or striking closed-door compromises with them.

But Rahman's case has attracted far more attention, and comes at a time when Afghans have grown increasingly critical of the international presence in their country, which they say has brought too few benefits and spawned enormous corruption.

"The people feel that they are so weak that they need all these foreigners there," Rubin said. "They hope they will help them, but they are establishing brothels in Kabul, they are drinking."

In the United States this week, Christian talk shows and advocacy groups rallied their supporters, who flooded the White House and the Afghanistan Embassy with complaints.

At the State Department briefing, McCormack denied that the administration had been slow to respond to the Rahman case. As soon as the department learned about it, "we stated our concerns immediately with the foreign minister," he said. "After our initial conversation with the Afghan government, we thought it was important that we spoke in the strongest possible terms in public on this issue."

Maulavi Muhaiuddin Baloch, Karzai's adviser on religious affairs, said that the case belonged in the court and that Afghanistan's judiciary was independent.

Fazil Ahmad Manawi, a former deputy chief justice, said: "It is a dilemma for Afghan courts. The international community's presence in Afghanistan, with military and financial support on one hand and the prestige of Afghan courts and religious people of Afghanistan on another hand, makes the issue very difficult."

If he is convicted, Rahman will be able to appeal his sentence to two higher courts. Maulavi Zada, the judge overseeing the case, said Thursday that the next court session would be held in several days. It was unclear whether Rahman would present any defense. To date, no lawyer in Kabul has been willing to represent him.

Moderate Afghan officials are eager to quietly dispose of the case, but the vocal criticism from American and Western officials makes that more difficult, according to Rubin. One possible compromise would involve the court's declaring Rahman mentally ill and allowing him to leave the country.

De vraag lijkt mij duidelijk genoeg.

[Chipie]

In China, Noord-Korea, Cuba... zou hij dat zonder probleem kunnen krijgen...

[lombas]

Uiteraard. Als dit niet gegrond was, dan weet ik het niet meer...

[Darwin]

Nog maar eens het zoveelste bewijs dat de islam de achterlijkste van alle achterlijke geloven is.

[Max van Dietschland]

Neen, Rahman is en blijft een etnische vreemdeling, godsdienst speelt hier eigenlijk geen rol. Uiteraard kan Europa wel reageren op deze provocatie door als tegenzet de massaal islamieten in Europa te arresteren en op te sluiten (of die nu van het eigen volk zijn of niet). Bijv ook Peter De Ryck .

[1handclapping]

Beste Max, Politiek Asiel wordt altijd aan etnische vreemdelingen toegekend.
Karl Marx bv. die in België politiek asiel genoot was een etnische vreemdeling
idem dito voor Einstein en talrijke andere etnische vreemdelingen die in het verleden asiel verkregen. Men is hier nu strenger op geworden en verlangt bewijzen van het feit dat men in zijn thuisland wegens godsdienst en/of politieke redenen vervolgd wordt. In dit geval is dat nu wel duidelijk...
alhoewel het onverstandig zou zijn een signaal aan alle islamieten te geven dat het zou volstaan zich tot het christendom te bekeren om politiek asiel in europa te verkrijgen...

[eno2]

Volgens de door de charia gehanteerde criteria, zouden alle moslims in het westen asiel moeten kunnen krijgen.

[devilke]

wat een hypocriet gezeik
duizenden sterven daar elke maand aan de hand van de amerikanen en lokale warlords

[Raven]

neen, want hij is een christen

[eno2]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Raven

neen, want hij is een christen

Ik ben helemaal geen christen.

[C uit W]

Tja, Christenen zijn hier niet welkom he.

[eno2]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door C uit W

Tja, Christenen zijn hier niet welkom he.

Iedereen is hier welkom, al monopoliseer ik de maatschappelijke discussie...

[Raven]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door C uit W

Tja, Christenen zijn hier niet welkom he.

ik geef toe dat het misschien wat voorbarig is . Maar vermits het zo wel over 20 jaar hier zo wel zal zijn, kan het geen kwaad nu al wat te beginnen oefenen.