A Pregnant Christian maid is allegedly tortured in the town where Osama bin Laden was killed

By Dan Wooding and Rodrick Samson
Special to ASSIST News Service


ABBOTTABAD, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Salma Emmanuel, 30, a pregnant Christian housemaid was allegedly recently tortured in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad and was later admitted to a local hospital in a “critical condition.”

Doctors confirmed that the woman’s body bore marks of torture and the her fetus was also in danger (Photo: The Express Tribune)

Abbottabad is the military town where bin Laden hid in plain sight and on May 2, 2011, was shot and killed inside a private residential compound in by U.S. Navy SEALs and CIA operatives in a covert operation ordered by United States President Barack Obama.
According to Emmanuel Masih, her husband, Salma Emmanuel comes from Rawalpindi's Mohalla Raja Sultan neighborhood and they married over a year ago and moved to Kunj Jadeed Mohalla (New Kunj new locality) in Abbottabad, where she was working as a maid at the home of a man called Ghazal Riaz at the post office building in Abbottabad.


According to a story published in The Express Tribune (Pakistan) on November 7th, 2011, “…she brought eight tolas (100 grams) of gold ornaments from her home and requested Riaz to keep them for safety reasons. However, the very next day Riaz informed Salma by phone that some burglars had entered her house and taken away Rs900,000 cash ($10,645 US Dollars), 24 tolas (300 grams) of gold ornaments including Salma’s, and a laptop.”


She told a group of local reporters, “Ms. Riaz called me and my husband to her house; when I entered the house, some police personnel were also there with sniffer dogs,” Salma said. Her husband, Emmanuel, entered the house for the first time in a year, but the sniffer dogs repeatedly went towards him, after which the police arrested him and took him to an unidentified place.

Osama bin Laden in 1997

The story went on to say, “The same afternoon, Salma said, a police party picked her up from her house and took to the City Police Station where Inspector Nazia and two female subordinates punched, kicked and beat her with canes for three hours straight, forcing her to confess that she and her husband were involved in the robbery.


“According to the victim, she was subjected to severe torture by the women police personnel as she refused to confess the crime under duress as she was innocent. She told the media that when her condition deteriorated, the police officer called one of her male relatives and sent her home with him, where her condition worsened. Her family members then took her to Benazir Shaheed (formerly District Headquarters) Hospital.


“The medical officer on duty, Dr. Tahir Habib, confirmed that the woman’s body bore marks of torture and her fetus was also in danger due to the her critical condition.


“When approached for comment, Deputy Superintendent of Police Aziz Afridi confirmed that the woman was picked up with her husband on suspicion of their involvement in the robbery, but he rejected the allegation that she had been tortured by the police personnel.


“City Police Station House Officer Ashiq Hussain also confirmed the report of Salma’s detention but brushed aside the allegation that she had been beaten up there, adding that she was handed over to women police personnel for interrogation.


“Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of Haraza Division Dr Naeem Khan has ordered a probe into the incident.


“Meanwhile, Adeel Ahmed, a program coordinator for Hazara-based NGO Human Development Organization working against torture, has condemned the torture of the woman and demanded registration of a criminal case against the errant police personnel. According to Ahmed, detention-related abuses against citizens were rampant in Hazara and despite the fact the government has ratified the UN Convention Against Torture, the perpetrators are not taken to task. He also demanded treatment and compensation for the torture victim.”


In a separate statement, the Christian maid said with tears in her eyes, "I was in severe pain, I kept saying that I and my husband are innocent, but they kept kicking me. They kept threatening me that they will kill me and my child if I will not confess. The female officers kept saying that Riaz and her brother are very influential, they will have us killed and no one will even come to know about it. They severely tortured me, when I was almost unconscious they called a male officer and sent me home." .


Meanwhile, the Masihi Foundation, a Pakistan-based human rights organization and Life for All Pakistan, a humanitarian organization issued a joint statement, "This is not a first incident where a maid has been illegally detained and tortured. On January 23, 2010, an innocent 12-year old child, Shazia, was reported to have been tortured to death. She had been employed as a maid in Advocate Naeem’s house in Lahore.


“On 15th April 2010 Sumera Pervaiz, 14 years old Christian maid working at Wing Commander Faheem Cheema house in Pakistan Air Force Islamabad base colony was illegally detained and tortured. Unfortunately the authorities didn’t take any action because the people involved were influential and were able to pressurize the legal system. These people have made the society hostage and feel that they can do anything they want."

People gather around Osama bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan

The statement went on to say, "It is indeed a sad incident. The wife is in the hospital in a critical condition and the husband is at an un-disclosed location. Once again the ‘influentials’ in the society have used their influence against the weak and overpowered the law... the concerned authorities have put a deaf ear to it and are the silent observers of the massive abuse of the human rights. They have nearly taken an innocent life which was yet to come to the world. The Christian domestic workers are raped, kidnapped, tortured and killed, yet the authorities claim that the minorities are given equal rights."


Note: Abbottabad, pronounced AHB-tah-bahd, is some 60 miles by winding mountainous roads north of Pakistan's capital. Surrounded by green hills, it is renowned for its trees and parks. It's a popular retirement place for officers in the Pakistani army, partly because of its military academy, but also because of its agreeable climate. During British rule, the Imperial Gazeteer of India described it as "picturesquely situated," 4,120 feet above sea level.


Abbottabad sits on the Karakoram Highway, an engineering marvel that links Pakistan with China through the Himalayas. Before much of Pakistan became off-limits to most foreign tourists, it was also a popular spot for those on their way to and from the Swat valley and the foothills of the Himalayas.

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Rodrick Samson is a freelance journalist based in Pakistan.

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Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries and also provides a regular commentary for Worship Life Radio on KWVE. You can follow Dan Wooding on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.

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Christians Live in Cloud of Fear in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Young man flees family death threats on Muslim isle; another chooses jail over violent mob.

By Simba Tian

 

NAIROBI, Kenya, September 5 (Compass Direct News) – On Tanzania’s semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar, Christians live in a climate of fear. It’s a place where a young man flees the island to escape death threats from his Muslim family, and a Christian who accidentally burned pages of the Quran opts for jail by entering a guilty plea rather than face certain death from a furious mob.

 

Yusuf Abdalla, 23, fled to Moshi, mainland Tanzania, after his family threatened to kill him in June. Having converted to Christianity in October 2010 after hearing the gospel on the radio, he was enrolled at a vocational school in Zanzibar city to learn tailoring when his family found out in March that he had left Islam.

 

The beating he then received from family members left him with injuries to his head, hand and torso, as well as a serious mouth wound and substantial loss of blood, said an area pastor who requested anonymity.

 

“The family then took back the tailoring machine which they had bought him,” the pastor said. “They also vowed not to support his training.”

 

As soon as he had recovered enough to leave, Abdalla found refuge on the premises of the pastor’s church before staying at his home on May 5. Within two months, reports had reached Abdalla’s family that he was staying at the pastor’s house, and on June 10 they threatened to kill him, the pastor said.

 

The church arranged for his escape to Moshi.

 

Another convert from Islam, Juma Suleiman of Chake-Chake on the neighboring island of Pemba, is also facing death threats. Suleiman became a Christian just two months ago when Tanzania Assemblies of God pastor Yohana Mfundo preached to him while he was in prison, Mfundo said.

 

Suleiman was released a little over two weeks ago, and family members have already threatened to kill him. He is now in hiding and plans to flee the island.

 

The Safety of Jail

In Kiembesamaki, near Zanzibar city’s airport, area pastors said 28-year-old Ramadhan Hunda Tuma earlier this year opted for jail by entering a plea of guilty to charges that he burned the Quran, rather than face an enraged mob calling for his death.

 

More than 50 Muslims had packed into the courtroom to hear the judge’s Feb. 21 ruling on Tuma, whose landlady had ordered him to burn his trash after evicting him because he had converted to Christianity; he was not aware that among the trash was a small copy of the Quran used by beginning students in madrassas (Islamic schools), area pastors said.

 

“Outside the courtroom, there was a mob baying for his blood in case he was set free,” said Pastor Leonard Massasa of the Evangelical Assemblies of God-Tanzania. “One lady from church overheard them say, ‘If he is going to be released, then we will kill him.’”

 

Tuma, member of a church of another denomination in Zanzibar city, accidentally burned part of the Quran.

 

“Due to the conditions prevailing then, Tuma pleaded guilty because he feared for his life,” said another pastor, who requested anonymity. “He chose to go to jail rather than to be released only to be killed.”

 

Arriving home from a Sunday church service, Tuma found the wealthy landlady furious to learn that he had converted to Christianity; she had thrown all his belongings out of the house. She ordered him to leave, the pastor said. Tuma burned the trash under the supervision of his landlady, who reported him to a sheikh in a nearby mosque. A raucous crowd of Muslims showed up to kill him before police arrived and took him to the police station, the pastor said.

 

The church is caring for Tuma’s young family – his wife, 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, the pastor added.

 

District Magistrate Khamis Ali Simai of Mwanakwerekwe, Zanzibar, sentenced Tuma to 18 months for “disrespecting a religious faith” and six months for “threatening public peace,” though both terms are to run simultaneously, according to International Quran News Agency (IQNA). Simai ruled that Tuma’s burning of the Quran on Nov. 16, 2010 angered the Muslim community, thereby jeopardizing public peace, according to IQNA.

 

The judge said the punishment was to serve as warning to other would-be offenders, IQNA reported.

 

Prosecutors led by Raya Issa Mselem said they were not satisfied with the ruling and intended to appeal for a harsher sentence; Mselem said a stiffer penalty would better deter others who would be tempted to commit similar offenses, according to IQNA.

 

Tuma, who represented himself and was put under tight police protection, pleaded for leniency on grounds that he was the sole breadwinner for his family and that he was suffering from a stomach ailment.

 

Dangerous Cafés

In Pemba, it has become extremely risky for churches to have their documents typed or printed in cybercafés, sources said, as shop personnel are saving copies that they take to Muslim sheikhs in order to disclose Christian activities.

 

Their findings are announced in mosques, the pastors said.

 

“They have announced in their mosques that no Muslim should sell land to infidels,” said pastor Yohana Makulanya of the Seventh-day Adventist church.

 

The Muslim majority oppresses religious minorities in more subtle ways. Schools teach only Islamic studies, not Christianity, and any student stating that Jesus is Lord will not receive a grade, the pastors said.

 

“Sometimes our children are forced to change their Christian names to Muslim names so as to be considered for employment,” said the Rev. Apolinali Mapendo Musaki, a Catholic priest.

 

At times churches are deprived of piped water.

 

“Here in Wete, we rely on rainwater – no piped water is supplied to us,” said the Rev. Stephen Kamwendo of the Anglican Church.

 

The church leaders said many Christians have been forcefully converted to Islam, including four from the Catholic Church and six from the Seventh-day Adventist church.

 

www.compassdirect.org

 

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Pakistani Muslims attack Christians in attempt to force them to convert to Islam

By Jawad Mazhar
Special Correspondent for ANS, reporting from Pakistan


KARACHI, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Two Christian men were seriously injured by young Muslims in Karachi when they refused to convert to Islam, a family member told ANS.


Liaqat Munawar, a resident of Essa Nagri in Karachi, told ANS by telephone that his brother, Ishfaq Munawar, and another young Christian man, Naeem Masih, were returning home after an early morning prayer service at their church in Sohrab Goth on August 14, when ethnic Pakhtoon youths near Sea View harassed and later attacked them.

"Ishfaq and Naeem were riding a motorcycle when six Pakhtoon youths signaled them to stop," Liaqat Munawar said. "They asked the two boys to identify themselves. Ishfaq told them that they were Christians returning from their church after a special prayer service.

"The Pakhtoons then started questioning them about their faith and later tried to force them to recite the Kalma [Islamic conversion creed] and become Muslims, telling them that this was the only way they could live peacefully in the city," Liaqat Munawar said.

"They also offered monetary incentives and 'protection' to Ishfaq and Naeem, but the two refused to renounce Christianity."

After cajoling the two Christians for some time, the Pakhtoons sat in a white car parked nearby and eventually drove away. Ishfaq Munawar and Masih got back onto their motorcycle and were about to start it, Liaqat Munawar said, when suddenly the young Muslims reversed their car and rammed it into the Christians.

"The pathan Muslims got out of the car armed with iron rods and attacked Ishfaq and Naeem, shouting that they should either recite the Kalma or they would be murdered," Liaqat Munawar said.

Munawar said the Pakhtoons severely beat the two Christians, fracturing Ishfaq Munawar's jaw and breaking five teeth, and seriously injuring Masih. He added that the two Christians fell unconscious, and the young Muslim men left assuming they had killed them.

Liaqat Munawar said his brother underwent jaw surgery at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and is now recovering. He said the family had not registered a case with police, fearing reprisal by the Muslims, but were now considering filing a formal complaint.

Elvis Steven, a Christian human rights defender in Karachi, told ANS that he was in contact with the Munawar family, and that although he had yet to speak with the victims directly, he would attempt all possible means to have the assailants arrested.

"The situation is not that bad for Christians living in areas controlled by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement [MQM], but those living in areas dominated by the Pakhtoons are under constant threat," Steven said.

"The Pakhtoons are extremist in their beliefs. They have a militant mindset, and there have been several incidents of religious violence involving the Pakhtoons (Pathan clan) in Karachi."

This latest incident seems to give evidence beyond any doubt that this was a religiously based attack and the young Christian men were attacked and injured merely because of their faith.

Political bodies involved appear to be trying to score points by claiming that the attacked youths were from their groups and thus triggering a blame game against other political parties.

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Jawad Mazhar is a Pakistani journalist specializing in writing about Christian persecution. He was born on November 28, 1976 at Sargodha's village Chak and raised in Sargodha, a city in Pakistan's Punjab province. He earned his Bachelors Degree from Allama Iqbal Open University majoring in computer sciences and has taught at various educational institutes in his country. He is also involved with "Rays of Development," an organization working for minority rights in Pakistan. He says, "My aim is to help eradicate Christian persecution through my writing as I bring the plight of these brave people under the spotlight of the whole world."

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