Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide

by Paul Marshall

  Dr. Sher Ali Zarifi, chair of the investigating commission, stated that “the contents of this book show that its writers and editors are members of a religious pluralism movement in the West.” He cited what he regarded as significant deviations in the translation, including the omission of any direct statement on the punishment for certain sins (e.g., stoning for adultery). Zarifi also criticized one chapter that seemingly called on Muslims to examine the holy texts of other faiths as well as the Qur’an and another that permitted them to question some verses of their own sacred book.

  Zarifi made these remarks at the November 25 Afghan Academy of Sciences conference, “Scientific Investigation into the Causes and Facets of the Conspiracy to Alter the Koran.” While participants overwhelmingly saw the translation as the product of an assault on Islam, some at least disagreed with Zarifi’s harsh condemnation of Zalmai. The academy’s Mohammad Hassan Tawhidi, for instance, noted, “It is not a great sin if you make some mistakes in a literal translation of the Koran. It is impossible, I think, to translate the Holy Book the way it is supposed to be.” He also argued that the supposedly omitted directive to stone adulterers was not part of the Qur’an but was developed on the basis of hadiths.65

  On September 12, 2008, Zalmai and Mushtqaq were each sentenced to twenty years in prison. Two of Zalmai’s brothers, who had been arrested on charges of trying to help him flee, were freed after spending seven and a half months in jail.66 In March of 2009, an appeals court upheld the convictions. Chief Judge Abdul Salam Qazizada believed that the two were in fact guilty of modifying the Qur’an—a crime that can be punishable by death. Abdul Qawi Afzeli, Zalami’s lawyer, plans to appeal and take the case to the Supreme Court.67

  Nazari Paryani and the Payman Daily

  On January 10, 2009, Payman Daily, a small paper in Kabul, printed an article that apparently questioned the validity of religions associated with divine revelation. This was considered blasphemous by the Ulema Council and the Government Media Discipline Commission, and, despite a formal apology, the editor, Nazari Paryani, was arrested along with members of his staff. The paper was subsequently closed. A former editor, Razaq Mamoon, insisted that the offending article had previously been published on an Afghan website and had been mistakenly reprinted instead of another article with a similar name.68

  Paryani was held for nine days and received death threats after his release. There has been controversy as to the legality of his detention. Din Mohammad Mobarez Rashidi, a representative of the Minister for Information and Culture, criticized the collective arrest of the Payman reporters and said the matter should have been referred to his ministry’s Media Violations and Complaints Assessment Commission. Afghan National Journalists Union (ANJU) spokesman Fahim Dashti acknowledged that the article was illegal but said that, since an immediate apology was offered, Paryani’s detention was unwarranted. While it is encouraging that the Afghan government has been openly criticized in this case, the criticism has largely centered not on freedom of press but rather on the premise that the article was published “mistakenly.”69

  Closing

  In the time since the fall of the Taliban government and following the adoption of the 2004 constitution, Afghanistan has quickly established, or reestablished, itself as one of the world’s worst places to discuss competing views of Islam.70 Students, human rights activists, journalists, editors, poets, and translators have been arrested, charged, tried, and imprisoned on vague charges of blasphemy, apostasy, and insulting Islam that have no foundation in statute. Their offenses are simply declared by religious scholars, and the accused can be subject to short “trials” with no counsel, before judges who may have already decided their guilt. Afghanistan has said that its regime and law are Islamic. But if Islam cannot be discussed, much of the country’s law and politics have been placed beyond discussion and, therefore, beyond reform.

  7

  The Greater Middle East

  On January 15, 2007, the Moroccan magazine Nichane published the article “Jokes: How Moroccans Make Fun of Religion, Sex and Politics,” which poked fun at Islam, Muhammad, and the late king of Morocco, Hassan II. Driss Ksikes, the magazine’s editor, and Sanaa al-Aji, the author, were put on trial for “damaging the Islamic religion, lacking proper respect for the king, and publishing writings contrary to public morals.” The prosecutor asked for five-year prison sentences, closure of the magazine, and a permanent ban on their work as journalists. They were given three-year suspended sentences, banned from working for two months, and each fined $8,000 for blasphemy. The magazine itself was banned for two months.1

  In April 2007, three Turkish Christians at the Zirve publishing house in Malatya were murdered. Among the victims were two converts from Islam, Necati Aydi, who had converted after a chance meeting with a Christian Turkish woman whom he eventually married, and Ugur Yuksin. The third victim, Tilmann Geske, was a German living in Malatya with his wife and three children. The victims were tortured before their throats were slit. Five suspects reportedly claimed to have been acting to foil a plot to undermine Islam and divide Turkey. Identical notes found inside each of the victims’ pockets read, “We did this for our country. They are attacking our religion.” Defense attorneys claimed that the victims had engaged in inappropriate evangelistic activity and that the suspects were therefore acting in defense of the nation, as such activity would allegedly undermine Turkey’s secular state.2 As the trial progressed, there were ongoing plausible allegations that the murders, as well as the 2006 assassination of Catholic priest Andrea Santoro and the 2007 slaying of Hrant Dink, are tied to the activities of the shadowy ultranationalist group Ergenekon, which has also been alleged to be involved in plotting a coup.3

  Introductory Remarks

  In preceding chapters, we have surveyed apostasy and blasphemy restrictions in some of the greater Middle East’s most religiously repressive states. We have also focused on Egypt, a country often regarded as moderate or secular, but in which religious controls and religiously motivated abuses are pervasive. Similar circumstances can be found in various forms elsewhere in the region, occurring in such countries as Algeria, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Turkey, and Yemen, although in these countries there are usually fewer examples of religious repression. As in other settings, the major problems faced by apostates are in personal status law, wherein they can, in some cases, become legally nonexistent.

  These countries have their own particularities. The Jordanian and Moroccan monarchies are comparatively less religiously repressive than many of their neighbors. Algeria is a relatively secular country whose government wants to maintain order after suffering a brutal civil war with an Islamist insurgency, and it so seeks to repress anything that might lead to social and religious tension. In Yemen, the competing power centers, tribal structures, religious divisions, and insurgencies combine to make life very difficult for those who do not conform to the religious majority’s traditions; at times, even those who do conform to the country’s religious norms suffer abuse.

  Turkey is perhaps the most idiosyncratic country in its treatment of blasphemy-related matters. Apart from recently increased vigilante attacks on Christians, it also has some religiously based repression of non-Muslims, different Muslims, novelists, journalists, and reformers, not only by Islamist elements, but also by nationalists. These abusers are often secular but regard Sunni Islam as an integral part of “Turkishness” and practice repression in the name of nationalism.

  Algeria

  After a bloody war, Algeria declared its independence from France in 1962. The 1963 constitution has been revised numerous times and is based on an amalgam of French and Islamic legal precepts. A military coup overthrew the country’s first president in 1965, and the military has continued to dominate politics. Of Algeria’s current total population of about thirty-three million, 99 percent are Sunni Muslim, and Islam is the state religion. In 1992, Algeria entered a state of emergency when the military intervened to prevent the likely electoral victo
ry of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). Radical Islamic terror groups responded violently, carrying out massive, often random, and brutal killings of civilians. Many victims were non-Muslims or those opposed to Islamism.

  Today, radical Islamic groups have less support among the general public, and they face close scrutiny by the government for possible security-related offenses. Nevertheless, while the government claims to protect the fundamental liberties of its citizens, many Muslim reformers and writers and non-Muslims continue to face persecution for their beliefs. Under the 2001 revised penal code, Algerians can be imprisoned for up to twelve months for offending the president and up to five years for offending Islam. The new code also makes the act of offending other religions punishable for up to three years.4

  On February 28, 2006, the government passed Ordinance 06–03, regulating worship by non-Muslims. Article 2 of the ordinance guarantees religious freedom and respect for different religions. However, its implementation has made it more difficult for non-Muslims to practice their religious beliefs. For example, Article 5 declares, “Structures intended for the exercise of religious worship are subject to being registered by the State, who assures their protection.” In practice, many places of religious worship have never been approved and thus are operating illegally in the eyes of the state. Meanwhile, Article 11 states that anyone who “incites, constrains or utilizes means of seduction tending to convert a Muslim to another religion” can be imprisoned for up to five years and fined up to 1 million dinars (about $16,000 US).5

  Initially, the regulation was not strictly enforced. Then, in December 2007, political leaders from the al-Nadha Islamic party demanded that the government “slow the activity of Christian missionaries in the country.” This may have reflected concern in government circles that Christianity was growing among the non-Arab Kabyle people (the growth of Christianity in Algeria is largely in the Berber, not Arab, regions).6 In response, officials tried, incongruously, to equate Christian evangelism with terrorism, asserting that Christians threatened Algeria’s Islamic identity. By February 5, 2008, authorities had initiated a program of restricting missionaries, and, by April 11, the government had ordered half of all Algerian Protestant churches to close. Government officials claim that Muslims are under the same restrictions, but this does not appear to be true. Some observers believe that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is reaching out to Islamists for support and trying to distract the public from complaining about domestic concerns.

  Fears of Apostasy

  Whatever the motivations for increased enforcement of 06–03, religious freedom in Algeria has deteriorated precipitously since its passage. As one Catholic leader put it, “This is very new, to be considered as an enemy of the country.”7 These new pressures may have been mitigated somewhat by pressure from the international community. For example, on June 6, 2008, more than thirty U.S. congressional representatives sent a letter to President Bouteflika protesting the 2006 law, as well as expressing concern about the general persecution of Christians in Algeria.8 Meanwhile, participants in the UN Human Rights Council have questioned the compatibility of 06–03 with both Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 36 of Algeria’s own constitution. In response, however, much of the Algerian press has alleged that the country is under attack from “outsiders,” and there is speculation that the government may respond by increasing its control over religious rights.9

  For example, on June 7, 2008, in response to criticism of the government’s recent stance toward Christians, the Minister of Religious Affairs, Ghoulamullah Bouabdellah, accused churches of collaborating with outsiders to destabilize the country; he even repeated his February 2008 equating of Christians and terrorists.10 While Islamists support these recent developments, many Algerians are growing weary of their government’s intolerance of religious minorities, and this made religious freedom an issue in the April 2009 Algerian presidential elections.

  At the same time, Christians faced legal battles. On June 20, 2007, five Algerian Christians were brought before a court for possessing religious literature and preaching Christian doctrine. The five were fined and sentenced to one year in prison, though whether the sentence was fully carried out is not clear. A week later, another Christian was brought before a court after giving a Bible to undercover police officers who were posing as interested, potential converts. The officers arrested him and confiscated all the Bibles in his possession. On February 5, 2008, three Christians were told that they would be sentenced to three years in prison and charged 500,000 dinars ($8,000 US) for attacking religion.11

  Those who convert from Islam to another religion face both official and unofficial pressure. On March 29, 2008, Habiba Kouider, a thirty-five-year-old Algerian convert to Christianity, was riding a public bus from Oran to her home in Tiaret, where she attended a Bible school. Police confronted her on the bus and detained her after finding Bibles and other Christian literature in her handbag. After twenty-four hours of interrogation, she was brought before a state prosecutor, who allegedly offered to close the case if she would return to Islam. Otherwise, in his words, “If you persist in sin you will undergo the lightning of justice.”12

  After she refused to renounce her faith, Kouider was officially accused of “practicing non-Muslim religious rites without a license.” When her defense attorney argued that there was no such charge under Algerian law, the prosecutor responded that Kouider’s possession of several copies of the Bible suggested that she was planning to distribute them in violation of Ordinance 06–03 (which gives rules for religious worship by non-Muslims). The defense countered that her possession of Bibles did not prove anything and that the charges were baseless. Meanwhile, the judge reportedly confiscated the notebooks of journalists attending the trial, despite the defense’s objection that, since the trial was public, the press had a right to be present.13

  The prosecutor demanded that she be sentenced to three years in prison, and a Tiaret court was scheduled to rule in May 2008. The verdict was postponed and postponed again on December 31, 2008, probably because of the international attention Kouider’s trial had received.14 The police, however, weren’t finished with her. On June 1, 2008, five plainclothes officers detained her and, after a humiliating body search, interrogated her for two hours, asking, “Why did you convert to Christianity?” Although Kouider was eventually released, the episode demonstrates the Algerian authorities’ animus toward conversion.

  In early June 2008, police found Bibles in a car belonging to Rachid Muhammad Essaghir and an associate, and, on June 18, they were put on trial in Tissemsilt for “distributing documents to shake the faith of Muslims.” Together with church leader Youssef Ourahmane, they were also charged with “blaspheming the name of the Prophet and Islam,” as well as threatening a Christian convert who had reconverted to Islam. The man who claimed to have been threatened, Shamouma Al-Aid, had first encountered the Christian group in July 2004 and had claimed that his family was persecuting him for converting to Christianity. Ourahmane maintained that the church took care of him and only later discovered that he was in touch with Islamic fundamentalists while professing Christianity. Ourahmane says he believes Al-Aid used Christians to get money and information and subsequently funneled it to the radicals. Ultimately, the church excommunicated Al-Aid, at which point he made his accusations of blasphemy and threats.15 Essaghir, Ourahmane, and another Christian, Djallal, were convicted of insulting Islam and the prophet but won their case on appeal.16

  Further problems erupted around Tafat Church in Tizi-Ouzou, about sixty-two miles east of Algiers. The church—part of the Protestant Church of Algeria—opened in 2004. Until 2009, it met in a small rented building. In November 2009, it opened its doors in a new location to its nearly 350 congregants, many of whom were converts from Islam. On December 26, 2009, around fifty Muslims blocked the way of people trying to attend a Christmas service. The protestors were reportedly irritated that a new church building had opened near their homes
and that it was being frequented by many visitors from outside the area. These Muslims feared that their own young people could be lured to the church with promises of money or cell phones. On December 28, a mob broke into the new church structure, stealing the sound equipment; two days later, the building’s electricity service was cut off. Youssef Ourahmane said, “[I]t was the first time to my knowledge that this happened…Having hundreds of Christians coming to meet and different activities in the week, this is very difficult for Muslims to see happening there next door, and especially having all these Muslim converts. This is the problem.” In early 2010 there were six blasphemy- and apostasy-related court cases pending against Algerian churches and Christians.17

  Muslims

  There is increasing concern over conversions to Shia Islam, because of possible ties to Iran. Also, as in much of the Arab world, critical Muslim writers can be targeted as “dangerous to Islam.”18 One example is novelist Anouar Ben Malek, who has been criticized for offending Islam and for expressing hatred against Muslims and their prophet in his most recent work, Oh Maria. His historical novel recounts a brutal period in the history of Christian-Muslim relations, and the dialog contains the sort of inflammatory language that Muslims and Christians might have employed in attacking one another in those days. Ben Malek insists that the language is appropriate in its historical context and that the views espoused by the novel’s fictional protagonists cannot be equated with his own views. So far, Ben Malek has not faced anything more serious than threats and condemnation in the Algerian media. But the maintenance of freedom of speech that touches on religions remains an uphill battle in Algeria.19