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 IRFN (Aug. 14-22): Pakistan: Kidnappings, Forced Conversions on the Rise Aug 23, 2007 International Religious Freedom Archive
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1. Germany: North Rhine-Westphalia Upholds Headscarf Ban
2. Turkmenistan: Another Jehovah's Witness Sentenced
3. India: Muslim Clerics Call for Death of Author
4. Iraq: Mosul's Christians Must Flee or Submit
5. Uzbekistan: Sole Legal Jehovah's Witness Community Threatened
6. Pakistan: Kidnappings, Forced Conversions on the Rise
Features:
July 2007 report on instances of persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Pakistan
How India's minority Muslims cope with religious discrimination, from the Toronto Star
A profile of the Yazidis, from the Washington Times
1. Germany: North Rhine-Westphalia Upholds Headscarf Ban
August 14
Dusseldorf, Germany
Deutsche Welle reports that on August 14, a Dusseldorf administrative court upheld a ban on Muslim headscarves for female teachers in the state's schools. The state, North Rhine-Westphalia, has banned religious symbols in public schools since June 2006. The teacher, Brigitte Weiss, has said she would appeal the ruling. Headscarves are banned in eight out of sixteen German states, though some states have chosen to allow teachers to wear hats or wigs in the classroom if they wish to cover their hair.
2. Turkmenistan: Another Jehovah's Witness Sentenced
August 15
Mary, Turkmenistan
Forum 18 reports that in the town of Mary, in south-eastern Turkmenistan, Suleiman Udaev, a Jehovah's Witness, has been handed a sentenced of eighteen months for his refusal to serve in the military, as it would have conflicted with his religious beliefs. Though Udaev explained during his trial that his religion forbade him from "taking up arms to kill a person and the swearing of oaths", he was found guilty of evading service. Turkmenistan requires all eligible males to complete a period in the military, and has no alternative civil service in place.
3. India: Muslim Clerics Call for Death of Author
August 17
Kolkata, India
Reuters reports that Muslim clerics in Kolkata have issued a warrant for the death of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, saying that her "repeated criticism" of Islam was reason for her to leave the country or face death. A cash reward of $2,400 (100,000 rupees) was promised to anyone who carried out the warrant, and a cleric at one of Kolkata's largest mosques promised "additional rewards" for the killer. Nasreen, who was born into a Muslim family in Bangladesh, now considers herself a secular humanist. She fled Bangladesh in 1994 after she was judged to have hurt "religious feelings" with a book on riots between Muslims and Hindus.
4. Iraq: Mosul's Christians Must Flee or Submit
August 20
Mosul, Iraq
The Boston Herald reports that Mosul's Christian community, once a substantial part of the population in Iraq's third-largest city, are being driven out of the area or forced by militants to adopt Islamic dress. The city and the surrounding province of Ninawa, once home to the majority of Iraq's pre-war population of just under a million Christians, also housed twenty-three churches. Today, services rarely happen; many Christians have fled to the countryside and to areas of Kurdish control, or have gone abroad, mostly to Syria.
5. Uzbekistan: Sole Legal Jehovah's Witness Community Threatened
August 21
Uzbekistan
Forum 18 reports that Jehovah's Witnesses in Uzbekistan fear their religion will be banned in the country, after Uzbekistan's Department of Justice sent a letter to the only remaining registered Jehovah's Witness community, informing them that they were "violating the law". The community, located in the town of Chirchik, near the capital, Tashkent, is the last Jehovah's Witness congregation in the country to retain legal status, and Jehovah's Witnesses fear that the government will soon outlaw their religion, as it had been during Soviet times. Without registration, any religious activity in Uzbekistan is illegal, and those found practicing their faith are subject to fines or imprisonment.
6. Pakistan: Kidnappings, Forced Conversions on the Rise
August 22
Faisalabad, Pakistan
Asia News reports that in two separate incidents in Pakistan, two Christian girls, Shumaila Tabussum, 16, and Zunaira (surname omitted), 11, were kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam, and then forced into marriage with much older Muslim men. Speaking to AsiaNews, Shumaila's father reported that such abductions were becoming increasingly common. Others have called on the government to intervene; in at least the case of Zunaira's kidnapping, police refused to involve themselves in the matter when the crime was reported to local authorities.
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