Afghan Faces Death Penalty for Converting to Christianity

[Pa Marmo]

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 20, 2006 — Despite the overthrow of the fundamentalist Taliban government and the presence of 22,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a man who converted to Christianity is being prosecuted in Kabul, and a judge said Sunday that if convicted, he faces the death penalty.

Abdul Rahman, who is in his 40s, says he converted to Christianity 16 years ago while working as an aid worker helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Relatives denounced him as a convert during a custody battle over his children, and he was arrested last month. The prosecutor says Rahman was found with a Bible.

Human rights workers have described the case as an unsettling reminder that the country's post-Taliban judiciary remains deeply conservative, and they have called on President Hamid Karzai to intervene. During Taliban times, men were forced to kneel in prayer five times a day, and couples faced the death penalty for sex outside marriage, for example. Reform efforts have been slow, say experts, since there are so few judges and lawyers with experience.

The U.S. State Department is watching the case closely and considers it a barometer of how well democracy is developing in Afghanistan.

"Our view … is that tolerance, freedom of worship is an important element of any democracy," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "And these are issues as Afghan democracy matures that they are going to have to deal with increasingly."

A number of Christian nonprofit groups do humanitarian work in Afghanistan. Dominic Nutt of Christian Aid calls the Rahman case a step backward for the country, especially if Rahman is executed.

Nutt, who has spent time in Afghanistan, tells ABC News "few practitioners are used to the concept of democracy and toleration … [many] are educated only in Islamic law."

Presiding judge Ansarullah Mawlazezadah tells ABC News a medical team was checking the defendant, since the team suspects insanity caused Rahman to reject Islam.

"We want to know that the doctors have given him a green light on his mental state, because he is not normal when he talks," says the judge.

The post-Taliban constitution recognizes Islam as Afghanistan's religion, and decrees that Islam's Sharia law applies when a case is not covered by specific legislation. The prosecutor says under Sharia law, Abdul Rahman must die.

The judge, however, holds hopes for a solution.

"We will ask him if he has changed his mind about being a Christian," Mawlazezadah says. "If he has, we will forgive him, because Islam is a religion of tolerance."

The case has caused outcry among Afghan human rights groups, and reformists like Karzai have sought a more liberal, secular legal system.

"Afghan law protects freedom of religion," says Naader Naderey of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. "We want to see the reform of the judiciary . We want to see judges with wider legal experience."

Rahman's case contradicts Article 7 of Afghanistan's constitution, which assures that "the state shall abide by … the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." That declaration states that "everyone has the right to freedom of thought … to change his religion or belief."

However, the constitution also states that Islamic law takes precedence over secular law and international treaties. Furthermore, the supreme court of that country has the right to veto certain provisions and interpret compliance with such treaties.

"I think that right now there's in Afghanistan some differing interpretations of the Afghan constitution," McCormack said. "These issues rightfully should get resolved through the court system. But they need to be resolved in a transparent way and according to the rule of law. It is a case that we are going to be following quite closely, though."

One expert in Islamic law explains that Afghanistan's penal code divides into two parts: the religious "huduud" dictated by the Koran and secular "ta'zir," which is regulated by the state. Conversion to another religion is a crime under religious law, which takes precedence over the secular and more tolerant policy. Muslim converts to Christianity have been prosecuted in other countries ruled by Islamic law. Since 1996, high-profile apostasy cases have put Christian converts on the stand in countries that include Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the Sudan.

The legal scholar, who asks to remain anonymous given the sensitivity of the topic, says, "It's a fundamental tenet under Islam that conversion to another religion is a heinous act. It has a touch of treason … there's an aspect to it of betrayal against the communal identity."

By GRETCHEN PETERS and LARA SETRAKIAN, with reporting by BILAL SARWARY

Surprise, surprise.

[Culprit]

The prosecutor says under Sharia law, Abdul Rahman must die.

Anyone who understands how this system works will understand that Muslim hardliners will never be swayed off their path of killing Westerners and non believers. The same goes for Bush and his Christian brigade that preach democracy. Two forces that oppose each other, who have different beliefs are a recipe for war and a long term one.
If there was no oil involved, Muslims would be cut off from the Western world in the name of Christianity.


The quicker Religion as a whole is removed off our planet the quicker we will have peace.


Sadam Hussein complained when he watched Star Trek that there were whites, blacks Asians etc, but no Muslims. In a Telegram reply from Dubya Bush it read. “Dear Sadam, please understand that the TV series is set in the future”.

[Pa Marmo]

I notice George W didnt try Cat Stevens for converting to islam

[Culprit]

[Pa Marmo]

Good point.

[London Dave]

Point being Christians don't impose the death penalty if you change religions (though I'm sure there's probably some sect in the US that does), Islam does.

Then again, they got Cassius Clay by other means!

[David]

yeah. But once upon a time they did.
Hate to have converted to Judaism in England in the middle ages....

[HAL]

I only hear that type of response less than five percent of the time.

[Pa Marmo]

[HAL]

We have never talked about it before. Are you a man or a woman?

[bazdaddy]

[David]

religion is anything but the sole cause of war.
World War 2 had nothing to do with religion. It was about Hitler trying to enlarge his country's territory by invading other countries.
Vietnam War was about Communist North trying to "liberate" the south by taking over the place. The irony
the Gulf war was about hmm lets see Saddam Hussein trying to conquer another country...
The Iraq war was about who knows what...
in all cases the governments who started these wars were secular, I doubt Saddam was all that interested in Islam.

Although I agree that religion is very dangerous, it makes people behave irrationally and/or against their better judgement because "God" is the one telling them what to do. Bazdaddy I think your logic is flawed though, just because mankind misuses religion so, does not mean that God does not exist. I think we've argued about this before though

[HAL]

I am an athiest. I dont believe in God.

[David]

Hal, last time I talked to you you said you believed in God AND Jesus.... why the sudden loss of faith?

[Dr Alf Andrews]

Nuxta,

Being persecuted is an essential component of Christianity.

Christ was crucified for founding His religion. His earliest disciples were persecuted for believing in Him. St.Peter, for example, was crucified upside down.

Christianity was illegal everywhere for the first 300 years or so until the Romans made it their official religion.

During the middle ages, as the Church became more and more corrupt, the true believers were branded as heretics and burned.

Then came the reformation, as Christianity split into many factions, each one believing it was the right one ... and persecuting anyone who dared to differ. Wars were fought and people were killed because of it.

In more recent times Christians have been persecuted under communism and Islamic fundamentalism.

It's part of the deal.

Read your new testament and you'll see that being able to cop a bit of persecution is an essential part of being Christian. The Acts of the Apostles would be a good place to start ... and then maybe some of the Letters of Paul.

Christianity is not about getting into your expensive car, driving off to the Hillsong Church every Sunday, rubbing shoulders with Peter Costello and thanking God for making you rich.

That's not Christianity ... that's bullshit.

Christianity is about faith in God, commitment to Christ and love for your fellow human.

Christianity is about enduring suffering in all its many forms and not giving up.

A Christian welcomes persecution, just like St.Paul welcomed it ... because persecution strengthens the faith of a true believer.

Christians love their persecutors.

Christians pray for their persecutors.

Christians deem it a privilege to be persecuted for their faith.