ASIA BIBI DECISION WELCOMED

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has welcomed a supreme court ruling overturning the death sentence of a Pakistani Christian woman convicted of blasphemy.

The Rt Rev Susan Brown urged the authorities in Pakistan to now ensure the safety and security of Asia Bibi, 47, who was convicted in 2010 after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a row about a bucket of water.

She always maintained her innocence, but has spent most of the past eight years in solitary coninement.

The Church of Scotland has spoken out against the misuse of the blasphemy law in Pakistan for a number of years and recently wrote to the Foreign Secretary about Asia Bibi’s case.

Mrs Brown said: “The Church of Scotland gives thanks that the Supreme Court in Islamabad upheld Asia Bibi’s appeal against her 2010 conviction under Pakistan’s notorious Blasphemy Laws.

“We urge the authorities in Pakistan to do all in their power to ensure the safety and security of Asia Bibi and her family, her lawyers and the judges.

“We note with sadness that protests have already erupted across Pakistan against the verdict and urge people to pray for peace in a country that has such close and deep connections with Scotland.” Mrs Brown said four other Christians are currently under trial or have appealed against convictions for blasphemy in Pakistan.

“We continue to argue that this law must be reformed to prevent its misuse against people of all faiths in Pakistan, ”she added.

The supreme court decision was welcomed by church leaders and groups supporting persecuted Christians worldwide.

“We are relieved to hear that the Pakistani Supreme Court has dropped the charges against Asia Bibi—charges that were based simply on her Christian identity and false accusations against her, ”an Open Doors spokesperson said. “This decision gives us hope that Pakistan will take additional steps to increase freedom of religion and human rights in the country.”

The Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, said he received the news ‘with joy’, but added that it could not undo the injustice of her imprisonment. He added: “We call for equal citizenship and rights for all Pakistanis regardless of religious ailfiation, which is their constitutional right. And we pray for peace and harmony to prevail between all Pakistan’s communities.”

However, at the time of writing in early November, Asia Bibi has been denied permission to leave Pakistan pending appeals against the decision entered by the original complainant. She is reported to have been released from prison but she and her family – her husband, their two children plus his three children from an earlier marriage – are in hiding, Her lawyer, Saif ul-Malook, has been forced to lee the country.

On November 15, Mrs Brown and six other Scottish church leaders urged Home Secretary Sajid Javid, to offer Ms Bibi asylum in the UK

WCC REFUGEES STATEMENT

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has commended the work of churches around the world that welcome and support migrants and refugees, even as it has warned the international community against racist or xenophobic political responses.

In a statement issued by the WCC’s executive committee during its November 2-8 gathering in Uppsala, Sweden, the WCC also encouraged churches, partner organisations, and governments to consider adoption of the UN’s proposed Global Compacts for the responsible treatment of migrants and refugees.

Today an estimated 258 million people are migrants, including 68.5 million people forcibly displaced from their homes. Most of the latter remain in their countries, but 25.4 million of them are refugees seeking shelter or asylum across international borders.

The statement specifically decried the separation of families, mistreatment of refugee children, and military responses to refugee lows, as recently evidenced in actions by the US government on its southern border.

In the statement the executive committee acknowledges ‘that national governments have the legitimate responsibility to control their borders, to ensure security, and to promote stability and prosperity for their citizens’. However, it adds ‘as a matter of first principle’ that ‘all refugees and migrants, regular or irregular, are human beings each created in the image of God… with equal human dignity and rights regardless of their immigration status. To raise national boundaries and the nation state to an order of value above the recognition of the image of God in every refugee and migrant is a kind of idolatry.’

It adds: “God identifies with migrants and refugees through the life of Christ and calls us to care for people on the move in vulnerable situations.” (WCC)

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