₦airaland Forum

Border guards in Saudi Arabia have fired machine guns and launched mortars at Ethiopian [muslims] trying to cross into the kingdom from Yemen, likely killing hundreds of the unarmed migrants in recent years, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Monday.

The rights group cited eyewitness reports of attacks by troops and images that showed dead bodies and burial sites on migrant routes, saying the death toll could even be “possibly thousands.”

Saudi Arabia has also been sending thousands of Black muslims back to Ethiopia.

SOURCE

The United Nations has already questioned Saudi Arabia about its troops opening fire on the migrants in an escalating pattern of attacks along its southern border with war-torn Yemen. Saudi officials did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press, but has previously denied its troops killed migrants. Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who allegedly make tens of thousands of dollars a week smuggling migrants over the border, also did not respond to requests for comment.

Some 750,000 Ethiopians live in Saudi Arabia, with as many as 450,000 likely having entered the kingdom without authorization, according to 2022 statistics from the International Organization for Migration. The two-year civil war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region displaced tens of thousands of people.

Saudi Arabia, struggling with youth unemployment, has been sending thousands back to Ethiopia in concert with Addis Abba.

Human Rights Watch said it spoke to 38 Ethiopian migrants and four relatives of people who attempted to cross the border between March 2022 and June 2023 who said they saw Saudi guards shoot at migrants or launch explosives at groups.

The report said the group also analyzed over 350 videos and photographs posted to social media or gathered from other sources filmed between May 12, 2021, and July 18, 2023. It also examined several hundred square kilometers (miles) of satellite imagery captured between February 2022 and July 2023.

“These show dead and wounded migrants on the trails, in camps and in medical facilities, how burial sites near the migrant camps grew in size, the expanding Saudi Arabian border security infrastructure, and the routes currently used by the migrants to attempt border crossings,” the report said.

An April 27 satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by the AP showed the same tent structures identified by the rights group near al-Raqw, Yemen, on the Saudi border. Two sets of fence lines could be seen just across the border into Saudi Arabia.

The site Human Rights Watch identified as the migrant camp at Al-Thabit also could be seen in satellite images, which corresponded to the group’s narrative that the camp largely had been dismantled in early April.

Both areas are in northwestern Yemen, the stronghold of the country’s Houthi rebels. The UN has said that the Houthi-controlled immigration office “collaborates with traffickers to systematically direct migrants” to Saudi Arabia, bringing in $50,000 a week.

The Houthis have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since September 2014. A Saudi-led coalition has battled the Houthis since March 2015, without dislodging them from the capital. Fighting has largely halted between the Saudi-led forces and the Houthis as Riyadh seeks a way to end the war. However, throughout the war years, the Houthis claimed multiple incursions across the Saudi border in this mountainous region.

Migrants from Ethiopia have found themselves detained, abused and even killed in Saudi Arabia and Yemen during the war. But in recent months, there has been growing concern from the UN human rights body about Saudi forces attacking migrants coming in from Yemen.

An October 3, 2022, letter to the kingdom from the UN said its investigators “received concerning allegations of cross-border artillery shelling and small arms fire allegedly by Saudi security forces causing the deaths of up to 430 and injuring 650 migrants.”

“If migrants are captured, they are reportedly oftentimes subjected to torture by being lined up and shot through the side of the leg to see how far the bullet will go or asked if they prefer to be shot in the hand or the leg,” the letter from the UN reads. “Survivors of such attacks reported having to ‘play dead’ for a period of time in order to escape.”

A letter sent by Saudi Arabia’s mission to the UN in Geneva in March said that it “categorically refutes” allegations that the kingdom carries out any “systematic” killings on the border. However, it also said the UN provided “limited information” so it could not “confirm or substantiate the allegations.

Iranian islamic authorities began to arrest more than two months ago converts from Islam, but also some Christian Iranian-Armenians. At least 10 are still in jail, while those released have had to pay hefty fines worth thousands of dollars or undergo Islamic re-education. The crackdown comes a few weeks before the first anniversary of the death in custody of the young Kurdish woman.

Islamic Iran arrested scores of Christians, mostly converts from Islam but also some Assyrian-Chaldeans baptised as children, over a seven-week period in June and July in 11 different cities of the country, this according to Article18, a human rights organisation that advocates on behalf of Iranian Christians and religious freedom.

SOURCE

In an early report, the NGO had reported 50 arrests by mid-July in five cities, but its latest update indicates that at least 69 Christians were taken into custody, 10 of which – four men and six women – are still held by the authorities.

The arrests occurred between 1 June and 17 July in the following cities: Tehran, Karaj, Rasht, Orumiyeh, Aligoudarz, Isfahan, Shiraz, Semnan, Garmsar, Varamin, and Eslamshahr.

In the capital Tehran and the other cities, after their arrest, people were forced to sign statements pledging to refrain from Christian activities or undergo Islamic re-education in order to be released.

Some say that after their release they were summoned for further questioning, or were ordered to leave Iran. One said he lost his job at the request of intelligence agents. For those granted bail, families had to pay between US$ 8,000 and US$ 40,000.

The majority of those arrested are converts from Islam, but at least two are Christian Iranian-Armenians, who were born into Christian families..

The wave of arrests among Christians also coincides with a new crackdown on Iran’s Baha'i community, which, along with Christian converts, is a minority religious group not recognised by the Islamic Republic.

In fact, "in recent months, scores [of Baha'is] have been arrested, tried and jailed on religiously grounded charges and targeted on the basis of their faith,” says the US Commission on Religious Freedom in the World.

Commenting on Iran’s recent actions, Article18 director Mansour Borji said that “a fresh crackdown on civil liberties" has included "traditionally vulnerable groups, such as Christians [who] are on the frontline of those targeted”.

For the activist, the hard-line approach taken by the authorities, with the morality police back at work, is likely meant as “a message, both nationally and internationally" sent just weeks before the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini 's death.

“Overall there seems to be a renewed or more aggressive crackdown on groups the [islamic] regime feels threatened by,” Borji explained.

Two people were killed in Lebanon on Wednesday in clashes between members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group and residents of a Christian town, officials on both sides said.

SOURCE

The deadly violence broke out after a truck overturned on a road cutting through the town of Kahale, which residents claim was carrying weapons for the powerful Shiite movement.

Kahale mayor Abdo Abi Khalil said after the accident, residents of the town surrounded the truck demanding to know what was inside.

Hezbollah members escorting the truck opened fire at the residents to keep them at bay, killing one person, Abi Khalil said.

In a statement, Hezbollah said that one of its members was wounded during the incident and later died of his injuries.

“A number of armed men… present in the area gathered and attacked” those escorting the truck, read the statement.

“They began by throwing rocks, and then opened fire,” it said, adding that one of its members was shot and injured and later died.

A security official had earlier told AFP the injured Hezbollah member was in critical condition.
“Hezbollah members have withdrawn from the area and the army is now handling the situation,” the official said.

A statement by residents of Kahale, read on local television, said the townspeople would seal off the road, which runs from Beirut to Damascus, until authorities disclose the contents of the truck.

They claimed that Hezbollah was transporting weapons and ammunition in the vehicle.

The Lebanese army was expected to empty the truck and remove it from the area, the security official said, adding that the area had been cordoned off.

Considered a terrorist organization, Hezbollah is the only side not to have disarmed following Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, and it is also a powerful player in Lebanese politics.

‘We have seen reported cases of femicide on the increase, the reintroduction of public lashings and executions, a steady stream of deaths and detentions of former security and armed forces personnel,’ expert says

Women are being beheaded and having their bodies dumped in rivers and streets under Taliban rule, according to a troubling new report.

SOURCE

A study, by Afghan Witness, found 3,329 claims of human rights infringements in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power of the country in August two years ago.

Researchers, who used open-source data, documented 1,977 claims of human rights breaches involving killings, arbitrary detentions and torture of the population since January last year.

The study notes hundreds of reports of women being violently killed by the Taliban, relatives, or unspecified individuals have emerged - with the figures indicating a “gradual rise” in femicide cases.

“Since January 2022, Afghan Wintess has been recording reports of women being individually killed, often in circumstances of extreme violence and brutality,” the report states.

The Taliban are entrenched in Afghanistan after 2 years of rule. Women and girls pay the price.

Researchers state they recorded 188 such cases across the country from January last year to July this year – with reports including cases of women being beheaded or shot at, as well as cases of stabbings. Bodies are said to be frequently discarded in rivers or streets, with reports sometimes stating their bodies indicate torture or suffocation, according to the Afghan Witness study.

David Osborn, of the Afghan Witness project, said: “The Taliban have reneged on many of their early promises regarding human rights, particularly for girls and women, and an amnesty for officials and security personnel who worked under the Republic.

“Since then we have seen reported cases of femicide on the increase, the reintroduction of public lashings and executions, a steady stream of deaths and detentions of former security and armed forces personnel, and the continuing repression of civil society, the media and activists.”

He noted while not all cases can be verified, the “sheer scale” of reports from “so many Afghans” sheds light on the “widespread and wide-ranging nature of human rights abuses being carried out, with impunity, by the Taliban and others”.

Mr Osborn added: “Despite the risks, some – predominantly women – have continued to protest. But these voices and wider civil society within Afghanistan, are increasingly isolated on the ground after two years of Taliban rule.”

The Taliban has blocked women from the workplace, education and public spaces, as well as barring them from taking part in all sports since retaking power two years ago.

Researchers verified almost 70 women-led street protests since the first demonstration in August 2021 – with protesters showing their opposition to the curtailment of girl’s and women’s access to education and the workplace.

The report documented 67 reports of civil society activists and demonstrators being arrested between January 2022 and July this year. Meanwhile, there were 98 reports of journalists, photographers and media commentators detained by the Taliban.

Islamic mob vandalized several homes and eight churches following accusations of blasphemy against Islam in Pakistan’s most populated province of Punjab on Wednesday, according to government authorities and residents, stoking tensions between local Muslim and minority Christian communities.

Pakistani Christian communities are regularly targeted with the country’s strict blasphemy laws, which activists say have historically been manipulated to persecute minorities and isolate them from public life.

SOURCE

The National Commission for Human Rights said the number of churches burnt “has risen to eight,” in an update on Wednesday, calling the situation “sad and shameful.”

According to a police report obtained by CNN, two Christian men were charged by local police in the town of Jaranwala on the grounds of “desecrating the holy Quran and abusing the Prophet Mohammed.” The report stated that the men had been booked under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.

Pakistani Christian communities are regularly targeted with the country’s strict blasphemy laws, which activists say have historically been manipulated to persecute minorities and isolate them from public life.

Yasir Talib, who works for the Centre for Social Justice and who was in the town at the time of the incident, said a crowd vandalized and set on fire the home of one Christian man accused of making blasphemous comments against Islam.

Multiple churches including the town’s Catholic Church, the Salvation Army Church and the Pentecostal Church, as well as the local Christian colony, were also vandalized and set on fire, Talib told CNN.

In a statement Wednesday, the assistant commissioner for Faisalabad, where the town is located, called for the deployment of armed forces to support enforcing law and order, describing the situation as “sensitive and vulnerable.”

Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar condemned the violence, writing in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “stern action would be taken against those who violate law and target minorities.”

President Bishop for the Church of Pakistan Azad Marshall said the country’s “Bishops, Priests and lay people are deeply pained and distressed” by the incident.

“Bibles have been desecrated and Christians have been tortured and harassed having been falsely accused,” Marshall said on X, calling for “justice and action” by law enforcement and the legal system.

The National Commission for Human Rights, a government body in Pakistan, called the violence “sad and shameful.”

Riina Kionka, the EU ambassador to Pakistan, said the reports were “disturbing.”

“The degree to which a society’s minorities feel safe, in Pakistan, in the European Union, around the world, is a measure of respect for the rule of law, for tolerance of diversity, a core EU value,” she posted on X on Wednesday.

Pakistan is among the countries where blasphemy is a crime punishable by the death sentence.

In 2013, more than 100 homes of Christians were set ablaze by outraged Muslims in Lahore’s Badami Bagh community, after police arrested a 20-year-old man accused of speaking against the Prophet Mohammed.

Three years earlier, a mother of five from Punjab was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to hang, after she was accused of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed.

Asia Bibi was freed from death row in 2018, after she won her appeal against the conviction and death sentence.

In Jaranwala, Islamic Pakistan, hundreds of Christian homes have been completely destroyed as a result of an incitement to violence originating from multiple mosques.

SOURCE

Tensions flared within the district following a recent accusation of blasphemy directed at a Christian man.

Numerous brutal assaults have left thousands of individuals injured, and the aftermath has left tens of thousands without shelter.

In pursuit of safety, many families have sought refuge outside the city, relying on the support of friends and relatives. Meanwhile, British Asian Christian Association has already provided housing for 15 families and is committed to aiding even more in need.

In a deeply distressing development, the Christian community in Jaranwala, Punjab, is once again facing a dire situation as reports emerge of hundreds of homes being razed to the ground and three churches being burnt down in three Christian towns within the Jaranwala district. This alarming event which began at 9am (5am GMT) today (16.08.23) has forced numerous families to flee to safer locations, while others remain stranded without shelter...

Tensions escalated following allegations against a Christian man named Saleem Masih, accused of desecrating the Holy Quran. Certain elements within the local Muslim community reportedly seized upon these accusations to incite violence, making announcements through local mosques that urged people to gather and respond by igniting the Christian towns.

The affected regions, including Cinema Basti, Christian Town, and Esa Nagar, have witnessed the destruction of over 500 houses. Law enforcement agencies have been mobilized to restore order, and in response to the severity of the situation, additional security measures have been implemented, including the deployment of the Rangers.

According to reports provided by on-ground volunteers, Pastors Muratib and Moon, a tumultuous mob of approximately 10,000 individuals has wreaked havoc within the Christian towns. While no casualties have been reported thus far, the situation remains exceptionally volatile.....

Juliet Chowdhry, Trustee for British Asian Christian Association, said:

“I am appalled by the sheer magnitude of this violence.

“Innocent Christians are being subjected to brutal attacks, beaten with sticks, all due to yet another allegation of blasphemy, which is likely to be proven false in due course.

“The individuals responsible for these acts seem to have no consideration for the well-being of the children, women, or men they are causing harm to, leaving many without homes.

“Regrettably, there appears to be a distinct absence of law enforcement or military personnel intervening to prevent and defuse this violence.

“Equally concerning is the lack of emergency services or non-governmental organizations offering aid or assistance in these dire circumstances.

“Once again, we are witnessing another distressing day in an intolerant Pakistan.

“The Christian community living there is treated as anathema, and their quality of life has plummeted to an all-time low.”

Abifarin16:
Which country is this?

Islamic Iran

.

Another child blinded for not memorizing quran properly, undergoes 6-hour eye operation:
SOURCE

A seven-year-old religious seminary student lost sight in one of his eyes due to alleged torture by a cleric in the Kallar Sathwani area within the limits of Kallar Syedan Police station. The police registered a case on the complaint of the victim’s father and arrested the cleric. According to sources, Shafqat Hussain informed the police that his seven year-old son, Muhammad Ali, used to take tuition for the Quran from cleric Hafiz Muhammad Ali in a nearby mosque.

SOURCE

When the child went to study as usual, Hafiz Muhammad Ali allegedly tortured the child for not memorising his lesson. During the episode, the teacher threw the child on the ground where pieces of broken glass were scattered. As a result, a shard of the broken glass hit the victim in his right eye which started to bleed.

On receiving intimation, the child was taken to a hospital in Kallar Syedan. Later, the victim was referred to the Holy Family Hospital, where his eye was operated upon. Subsequently, the doctors informed the family that the child had sustained substantial damage to his eye and as a result, he lost sight in the right eye.

The Mashhad Revolutionary Court has handed down a lengthy sentence of ten years and nine months to Sanaz Tafazoli, a Baha’i citizen currently held in Vakilabad prison.

SOURCE

Presiding Judge Hadi Mansouri issued the sentence, comprising six years and six months for “forming a group to act against national security,” three years and seven months for “assembly and collusion against national security,” and eight months for “educational/promotional activities against Sharia.”

During the trial, the presentation of “books and works related to the Baha’i faith” and the establishment of “educational groups for Baha’i children” were cited as evidence for the aforementioned charges.

Should this verdict be upheld upon appeal, the first charge of six years and six months will be enforceable as the most severe sentence, in accordance with Article 1434 of the Islamic Penal Code.

On Tuesday, November 22, 2022, intelligence agents apprehended Baha’i citizen Sanaz Tafazoli in Mashhad. A search of her residence resulted in the confiscation of belongings belonging to both her and her son.

After multiple extensions of her detention period, she was incarcerated at Vakilabad Prison on December 29, 2022.

In February, she was granted a ten-billion-toman bail. However, judicial authorities declined her release on bail, returning this heavy bail to her family.

Aged 45, Tafazoli has a history of arrests and imprisonment due to her activism.

According to the HRANA annual report, a significant portion, accounting for 64.63%, of human rights violations against religious minorities were related to the infringement of Baha’i rights.

The denial of the freedom to practice a religion constitutes a breach of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The United Nations covenant asserts that every individual possesses the right to religious freedom, the freedom to convert, and the freedom of expression, both individually and collectively, openly or privately.

.

.

Zxcvbnmghtr:
If I stop you won't be happy. Such news is what makes you happy and the reason why you are so focused on such.

The most important thing is that you work harder.

Good boy, as long as you restrict yourself to your fellow colleagues in the mosques, the world will be better that way.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

In a horrific case from Uttar Pradesh, a 20-year-old girl named Afreen was brutally beaten by her father and her brother for being in a relationship with a non-muslim boy. The girl’s father identified as Niyamat Ullah, and her brother Haider Ali killed her and then buried her in a nearby piece of land.

SOURCE

As per the initial reports , the incident is said to have taken place in the Tikawwar village of Amethi’s Piparpura region. The girl, studying in class 12, was in a relationship with a boy named Sarvesh Sharma. Her relationship with the boy was not acceptable at home and the girl was warned several times by her father and her brother.

The girl, however, was caught in the main market area of the village by Niyamat Ullah and Haider Ali while she had gone there to meet the boy. She was then beaten up by the father-son duo in the market, the video of which was shared on social media by one user.

The duo could be seen in the video dragging the girl and slapping her in the presence of other people in the market.

Reportedly, Amethi police took cognisance of the event and called everyone to the police station for inquiry. They were later sent home only after the girl’s mother was called to the police station.

According to the sources, the girl was then brutally beaten by her father and brother resulting in her death. She was later buried in a nearby piece of land . The neighbours, and other relatives of the family, were told that the girl was ill and that she died due to lack of treatment.

The video of the father-son duo beating the girl kept on making the rounds over social media, after which the police were again asked to look into the case. On investigation, the police discovered that the duo had told lied about the girl’s illness and had buried her after killing her.

The police also recovered the dead body of the girl and sent it for post-mortem, the report of which are still awaited.

OpIndia obtained the FIR copy of the case in which it has been mentioned that the girl was brutally beaten by her father and her brother after which she was taken to the hospital where she died. “Niyamat Ullah and Haider Ali assaulted the girl after which she became unconscious. The girl was then taken to the hospital by her parents where she succumbed to her injuries,” the FIR read.

OpIndia also talked to local Piparpur police station SHO Sandeep Rai who confirmed that the case is an honour killing case. The Police said that case u/s 304 has been filed against Niyamat Ullah and his son Haider Ali. However, no arrest has yet been made in the case.

While talking to OpIndia, Rai confirmed that the boy whom the girl loved belonged to the Hindu religion and that he was from another village. “The girl was beaten due to her relationship with a Hindu boy. We have recovered her dead body and sent it for post-mortem. FIR has been registered against the father-son duo but the arrest will only be made after the post-mortem reports are out,” SHO Rai said.

The section imposed by the Police against Niyamat Ullah, and his son Haider Ali is 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code. Further investigations are underway. Police action is expected after post-mortem reports are obtained.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.