North Korea should release detainees, say
charities
AN INTERNATIONAL coalition of Christian organisations is calling
for the release of all detainees in North Korea, the establishment
of an independent tribunal, and sanctions against officials
responsible forhuman-rights violations. The statement from the
Religious Liberty Partnership comes after the publication of a
report by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North
Korea, which found that "the gravity, scale and nature" of the
violations of human rights in North Korea "reveal a State that does
not have any parallel in the contemporary world" (News, 21
February).
Date set for Asia Bibi's appeal hearing
THE appeal hearing for Asia Bibi, the Punjabi Christian woman
sentenced to death for allegedly blaspheming against the Prophet
Muhammad, will take place on 27 May. The last hearing lasted only
ten minutes because the prosecution lawyer failed to attend (News,
4 April). The British Pakistani Christian Association is calling on
the Pakistan government to ensure that judges "feel safe enough to
allow justice to prevail".
US pledge of solidarity with Middle Eastern
Christians
CHRISTIAN leaders in the United States have signed a pledge of
solidarity with Christians and other religious communities
threatened in Egypt, Iraq, and Syria. The pledge, launched on
Wednesday, was signed by about 150 leaders from different
denominations. It speaks of Churches that face "an existential
threat to their presence in the lands where Christianity has its
roots". These have been "largely ignored by their co-religionists
in theWest. . . American religious leaders need to pray and speak
with greater urgency about this human-rights crisis."