Abdul Rahman (convert)

For other people named ‘Abd ar-Rahman (name), see ‘Abd ar-Rahman (name) (disambiguation).

File:Abdul Rahman with Bible.jpg

Abdul Rahman, holding a Bible during a court hearing in Kabul on March 23, 2006

Abdul Rahman (Persian: عبدالرحمن) (born 1965) is an Afghan citizen who was arrested in February 2006 and threatened with the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity. On March 26, 2006, under heavy pressure from foreign governments, the court returned his case to prosecutors, citing "investigative gaps." He was released from prison to his family on the night of March 27. On March 29, Abdul Rahman arrived in Italy after the Italian government offered him asylum.

Abdul Rahman's arrest and trial brought international attention to an apparent contradiction in the Constitution of Afghanistan, which recognizes both a limited form of freedom of religion and the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence, which mandates the death penalty for an apostate. The case attracted widespread international condemnation, notably from the United Kingdom and the United States, both of whom led the campaign to remove the fundamentalist Taliban regime in 2001 and are the main donors to Afghanistan.

Biography

Abdul Rahman is an ethnic Tajik from the Panjshir Valley northeast of Kabul. He converted to Christianity in 1990 when providing medical assistance to Afghan refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan, while working as a staff member for a Christian non-governmental aid group. In 1993, he moved to Germany, and he later unsuccessfully sought asylum in Belgium before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 after the fall of the Taliban government. Abdul Rahman was divorced by his wife over his conversion to Christianity, and in the ensuing custody battle over the couple's two daughters, she and her family raised the issue of his religion as grounds for denying him custody.

Arrest and trial

In February 2006, after a custody dispute concerning Abdul Rahman's daughters, members of his family reported him to the police. He was arrested after police discovered that he possessed a Bible.

Legal experts say Abdul Rahman's case existed because of contradictory laws in the Afghan Constitution recognizing both freedom of religion and the Hanafi school of sharia law. Article 130 of the Constitution of Afghanistan enables prosecutors to charge him for apostasy "in accordance with the Hanafi jurisprudence." The text of the article says:

In cases under consideration, the courts shall apply provisions of this Constitution as well as other laws. If there is no provision in the Constitution or other laws about a case, the courts shall, in pursuance of Hanafi jurisprudence, and, within the limits set by this Constitution, rule in a way that attains justice in the best manner.

Prosecutors asked for the death penalty for Abdul Rahman, calling him a "microbe." Prosecutor Abdul Wasi demanded his repentance and called him a traitor: "He should be cut off and removed from the rest of Muslim society and should be killed." The Afghan Attorney General was quoted as saying that Abdul Rahman should be hanged.

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Afghan judge Ansarullah Mawlawizadah holds the Bible found with Abdul Rahman.

Abdul Rahman's judicial proceedings, which began on March 16 and became widely known in the international press on March 19, were overseen by three judges in the public security tribunal of Kabul's primary court. Ansarullah Mawlawizadah, the chief judge in the case, said that Abdul Rahman would be asked to reconsider his conversion: "We will invite him again because the religion of Islam is one of tolerance. We will ask him if he has changed his mind. If so we will forgive him."

Ansarullah Mawlafizada also said "the Prophet Muhammad has said several times that those who convert from Islam should be killed if they refuse to come back, Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, kindness and integrity. That is why we have told him if he regrets what he did, then we will forgive him".

The judge added more: "If [he] does not repent, you will all be witness to the sort of punishment he will face."

When facing a possible death sentence, Abdul Rahman held firm to his convictions: "They want to sentence me to death and I accept it… I am a Christian, which means I believe in the Trinity… I believe in Jesus Christ."

After his arrest, authorities barred attempts by the Associated Press news agency to see him, and he was unable to find a lawyer in Kabul willing to represent him.

Efforts by Afghan Christians

While Abdul Rahman was on trial, a number of Afghan Christians worked to bring the attention of the International Media towards the suffering of the Afghan Christian and specially Abdul Rahman. One such organisation was the Afghan Times Christian News Network. " - Afghan Times Afghan Christian News Network According to Hussain Andaryas, the editor of the Afghan Christian News Network "Afghan Times", "this is the best thing happened for the Afghan Christian because they were like unknown to the world or the world ignored them but now they are known openly that there are Afghan Christians. AfghanTimes.com was a major source of news for the media since it had the advantage of direct connections with the Afghan Christian reporters from Kabul and other places.

Mental fitness to stand trial

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Abdul Rahman, interviewed during a hearing in Kabul on March 16, 2006

The Afghan Embassy in Washington D.C. announced on March 22 that the country's judicial system was evaluating Abdul Rahman's mental fitness. Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai confirmed Abdul Rahman would undergo a psychological examination. Judge Mawlawizadah stated that since Rahman refused to repent then his mental state was being examined. If he was found to be mentally unfit, the case would be dismissed. Abdul Rahman's conversion to Christianity, while knowing that doing so is punishable by death, was viewed by some as evidence of mental incompetence.

An Afghanistan state prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said of Abdul Rahman in an interview with the Associated Press on March 22 2006, "We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person. Doctors must examine him. If he is mentally unfit, definitely Islam has no claim to punish him. He must be forgiven. The case must be dropped." Other sources said Rahman is "perennially jobless and mentally unbalanced."

Prosecutor Abdul Wasei said he doubted claims regarding Abdul Rahman's mental instability. "I did not see any kind of mental problem in this case," he said. Wasei said that Rahman, when asked about his mental health, insisted that it was fine. "I am O.K., you can prosecute me, I can answer your questions," Wasei said Rahman told him.

Diplomats said that the Afghan government was "desperately searching for a way to drop the case" by declaring Abdul Rahman mentally unfit to stand trial.

The court also raised questions about Rahman's nationality. Rahman had lived abroad, in Germany, Greece and Belgium. If he had acquired dual nationality, it was argued, the status of his case could change.

There were various opinions regarding Abdul Rahman being declared unfit for trial. Critics said that declaring him insane would not solve what they regarded as a constitutional flaw that allows prosecution under Islamic law. An editorial in the Washington Times wrote that declaring him mentally unfit is "a manufactured loophole" which would enable the Afghan government "to back down to avoid a disastrous internal and diplomatic crisis. This solution, such as it is, won't resolve the underlying discrepancy in Afghanistan's constitution." A New York Times editorial echoed these sentiments, saying that declaring Abdul Rahman mentally incompetent was a way for the Afghan government to "avoid the mess" and "that would be a cheap trick because the law would remain on the books."

In France, Marianne magazine stated Western critics of the case might not be satisfied if the Kabul court avoided the death sentence for Abdul Rahman by declaring him insane and unfit for trial. "If he is not tried, he will probably end up in a psychiatric hospital, which for a man of sound mind is sometimes worse than death."

Release

On March 24, 2006, Afghan authorities announced that they were considering releasing Abdul Rahman soon. A special government meeting on his case was held on the following day during which President Hamid Karzai conferred with several Cabinet ministers for a way to free him without angering the country's powerful conservative Muslim clerics who have called for Abdul Rahman's execution. After this meeting an unnamed senior government official said there is a "strong possibility" that Abdul Rahman would be freed on Sunday the 26th. However the case prosecutor dismissed any claims that Abdul Rahman was to be released. Later on Sunday the judge made the following statement: "The case, because of some technical as well as legal flaws and shortcomings, has been referred back to the prosecutor's office".

Clerics question President Karzai's authority to order Abdul Rahman's release. Cleric Khoja Ahmad Sediqi, a member of the Supreme Court in Afghanistan, warned against interfering with the courts, saying that "The Qur'an is very clear and the words of our prophet are very clear. There can only be one outcome: death. If Karzai releases him, it will play into the hands of our enemy and there could be an uprising."

On 28 March 2006, the AP reported that Abdul Rahman had been released. The announcement came after the United Nations said he had appealed for asylum outside Afghanistan.

On 29 March 2006, Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi announced that his cabinet had approved Rahman's asylum plea and Rahman had already arrived in Italy.

Response in Afghanistan

Government officials

Agence France Presse (AFP) quoted an unidentified Afghan official as saying that president Hamid Karzai has personally interfered in Abdul Rahman's case to secure the convert's release. "The president is personally working to resolve it peacefully. There is a way out of it," said the official. "I believe it'll take one or two days."

Afghanistan Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullah said during a press conference with US Under Secretary for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns, "I know that it is a very sensitive issue and we know the concerns of the American people. In fact, in our embassy we received hundreds of messages of such kind. As far as I understand the nature of the case has been that the wife of the gentleman has registered a lawsuit against her husband. And then the Government of Afghanistan has nothing to do in it. It's a legal and judicial case. But I hope that through our constitutional process there will be a satisfactory result out of that process."

Former Afghan foreign minister Abdullah said, "This is an extremely sensitive issue here, and an extremely serious issue back home. Every time we have a case it is like an alarm. These contradictions [between freedom of religion and sharia] will not go away with one or two cases."

Ansarullah Mawlawizadah announced international pressure will not affect his rulings in the case, saying: "There is no direct pressure on our court so far, but if it happens we will consider it as an interference. We have a constitution and law here. Nobody has the right to put pressure on us." In an interview to AFP, Mawlawizadah confirmed his position: "We have nothing to do with diplomatic issues. We'll do our job independently." He says that he expects to rule in the case in the next several days.

Muslim clerics

After Abdul Rahman's arrest and the subsequent outrage and criticism of the Afghan government, notable Afghan clerics spoke out against his possible release. Afghan clerics have denounced what they assert is interference by other countries and by President Karzai with the autonomy of the Afghan courts. Maulavi Habibullah told more than a thousand clerics and young people gathered in Kabul that "Afghanistan does not have any obligation under international laws. The prophet says, when somebody changes religion, he must be killed." Many clerics have spoken out to the media saying that Abdul Rahman should receive the death penalty for apostasy.

Cleric Enayatullah Baligh, speaking at one of Kabul's main mosques said, "We respect all religions but we don't go into the British embassy or the American embassy to see what religion they are following. We won't let anyone interfere with our religion and he should be punished."

Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, a prominent mujahideen leader and head of the Hizb-i-Iqtadar-i-Islami Afghanistan, and former acting prime minister in the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani before the Taliban came to power in 1996, said, "Regardless of the court decision [whether or not he is hanged], there is unanimous agreement by all religious scholars from the north to the south, the east to the west of Afghanistan, that Abdul Rahman should be executed. There is widespread dissent among the masses against the activities of Christian missionaries. These missions exploit the poverty of Afghan people and they pay them to convert. These activities will only translate into fierce reaction as Afghans do not tolerate anything against their religion. Since Abdul Rahman comes from Paktia, people of the area are coming down to Kabul to show their dissent against him and demand that the court execute him."

Muslim cleric Abdul Raouf, a member of Afghanistan's main Islamic organization, the Afghan Ulama Council, stated "Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die." Raouf, who is described by the AP as "moderate", is quoted as saying: "Cut off his head!" and "We will call on the people to pull him into pieces so there's nothing left." Raouf said Abdul Rahman will only survive if he goes into exile. During his sermon at Herati Mosque on March 24 2006, Raouf told around 150 worshippers that Abdul Rahman deserved death since he had "committed the greatest sin. God's way is the right way, and this man whose name is Abdul Rahman is an apostate."

Mirhossain Nasri, the top cleric at Hossainia Mosque, said "If he is allowed to live in the West, then others will claim to be Christian so they can too," he said. "We must set an example. ... He must be hanged."

Respected Muslim cleric Mohammed Qasim who resides in the northern city of Mazari Sharif, said: "We don't care if the West drops its support for us. God will look after Afghanistan."

Afghan public

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Kabul resident Mohammed Qadir (pictured) calls for a death sentence for Rahman.

The BBC assesses that many members of the Afghan public are vocal in support of Abdul Rahman's execution, though it does not estimate if these are in the majority. "The courts should punish him and he should be put to death," said Kabul dweller Abdul Zahid Payman. Mohammed Qadir agrees that he must be executed: "According to Islamic law he should be sentenced to death because Christianity is forbidden in our land". Abdul Rahman's neighbor remarked: "there is no way we are going to allow an Afghan to insult us by becoming Christian." "Intellectual" Shahnawaz Farooqui, speaking on Abdul Rahman's conversion, said "he will have to be executed… If somebody at one point affirms the truth and then rejects it or denies it, it would jeopardize the whole paradigm of truth. This is such a big offense that the penalty can only be death. At the very most, some scholars argue that the person should be given time to rethink, and if he embraces Islam again, he will be forgiven."

International reactions

Calls for Abdul Rahman's release

A number of Western countries and NGOs condemned his trial as a human rights violation and called for the release of the Afghan convert.

• United States: On March 22 2006, Congressman Tom Lantos (D), wrote a letter to Hamid Karzai in which he said, "In a country where soldiers from all faiths, including Christianity, are dying in defense of your government, I find it outrageous that Mr. Rahman is being prosecuted and facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity." Following Lantos's lead a number of government officials protested Abdul Rahman's arrest. Notably, President George W. Bush spoke out against Rahman's arrest, saying, "It is deeply troubling that a country we helped liberate would hold a person to account because they chose a particular religion over another". White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Abdul Rahman's arrest and trial "clearly violates the universal freedoms that democracies around the world hold dear."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appealed directly to President Hamid Karzai for a "favorable resolution", though she did not demand that the charges be dropped. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns asked for the trial to be conducted with "transparency" and reminded Afghanistan that "people should be free to choose their religion."

The U.S. Islamic advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations called for Abdul Rahman's immediate release.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has urged that Abdul Rahman be released, and allowed to practice his religion freely.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) wrote in a letter addressed to U.S. President George W. Bush on March 22, 2006 that: "On several previous occasions, the Commission has raised concern that the Afghan constitution's failure to include adequate guarantees of freedom of religion and expression for members of the country's majority Muslim community could lead to unjust criminal accusations of apostasy and blasphemy. With no guarantee of the right to religious freedom for all individuals, together with a judicial system instructed to enforce Islamic principles and Islamic law, the door is open for a harsh, unfair, or even abusive interpretation of religious orthodoxy to be officially imposed…"

• Australia: Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Abdul Rahman's case was "appalling" and that "when [he] saw the report about this [he] felt sick literally. The idea that a person could be punished because of their religious belief and the idea they might be executed is just beyond belief."

• Germany: German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters she had received assurances from Karzai in a telephone call that Abdul Rahman would not be sentenced to death.

• Europe: Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said, "We will leave no stone unturned to protect the fundamental rights of Abdul Rahman and to save his life". (Austria held the presidency of the European Union.)

• Canada: The Canadian government has expressed concern, especially as the Canadian Forces have recently taken command of the coalition force in Kandahar province and the government is facing pressure to ensure the mission leads to an open, democratic Afghanistan. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper phoned Hamid Karzai and said in a written statement, "President Karzai listened to my concerns and we had a productive and informative exchange of views, he assured me that respect for human and religious rights will be fully upheld in this case."

Statements calling for release have also been issued by the Muslim Canadian Congress and the Canadian Islamic Congress.

• Vatican City: Pope Benedict XVI has urged the president of Afghanistan to pardon Abdul Rahman. The Vatican's No. 2 official Cardinal Angelo Sodano wrote the letter. Sodano writes," I am certain, Mr. President, that dropping the case against Mr. (Abdul) Rahman would bestow great honor upon the Afghan people and would raise a chorus of admiration in the international community."

• United Kingdom: The council of Church Society, the senior evangelical body of the Church of England, condemned the trial and called on all Christians to express their outrage at this injustice and to do what they can to prevent Abdul Rahman's death. The Society also called on the British Government to use all its influence in Afghanistan.

• Amnesty International called for Abdul Rahman's release, saying that he might be a "prisoner of conscience" and that "the charges against him should be dropped and if necessary he should be protected against any abuses within the community."

No predominantly Muslim country publicly called for Abdul Rahman to be spared in the name of religious tolerance during the trial.

Possible withdrawal of aid

Germany, which is involved in the UN-mandated International Security Assistance force in Afghanistan and also heads an international effort improving Afghanistan's police force, has suggested that Afghanistan could potentially lose aid or technical support for reconstruction efforts depending on the outcome of Abdul Rahman's case. German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has stated "I highly support the idea that we make it clear to Afghanistan, in every way possible, that abiding by and protecting human rights, which Afghanistan is obliged to, includes [protecting the] freedom of religion." Schäuble also said, "We contribute a lot to rebuilding Afghanistan and towards its stability, so I truly believe that Afghanistan must realize that we insist upon the freedom of religion. You cannot punish people because they change their religion."

In response to Schäuble's comments, Afghan Economy Minister Amin Farhang said that the government in Kabul cannot stop donor countries from withholding aid or technical support, but consequences of such withdrawals would be worse for Western countries than Afghanistan. Farhang stated: "I think that politicians in the West, including in Germany, reacted very emotionally. It shouldn't be like that. There's a lack of information. And besides, while the situation hasn't been resolved and the final decision hasn't been made yet, they can't threaten to withdraw security forces or foreign aid. That amounts to blackmail." Farhang also said that Kabul is attempting to build democracy after the Taliban was forced from power by US forces in 2001, but that the right to convert from Islam to Christianity is too extreme for a traditional Islamic society such as Afghanistan which upholds the Islamic punishment for apostasy. He also stated: "Afghanistan cannot switch suddenly from one extreme to the other."

See also

• Afghan Christians
• Apostasy in Islam
• Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam
• Cause célèbre
• Human rights in Afghanistan
• Islam and other religions
• Mental disorder defence
• Persecution of Christians
• Status of religious freedom in Afghanistan
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights

External links

• Defense of Abdul Rahman Misses the Mark! (RAWA, March 26, 2006)
• "I am a follower of Jesus" - Afghan Times Afghan Christian News Network, 17 March 2006
• "Afghan Man Faces Execution After Converting to Christianity" - VOA News, 18 March 2006
• "ICC Calls on Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai to Pardon Christian under Death Sentence for Apostasy" - Persecution.org, 20 March 2006
• "Afghan on trial for Christianity" - BBC, 20 March 2006
• "Death could await Christian convert" - CNN, 21 March 2006
• "Afghan convert may be unfit to stand trial" - MSNBC, 22 March 2006
• "Afghanistan: Case of Abdul Rahman underlines urgent need for judicial reform" - Amnesty International public statement, 22 March 2006
• "In quotes: Afghan convert case" - BBC, 22 March 2006
• "Afghan convert's trial put in doubt" - Al Jazeera, 22 March 2006
• "Afghan Case Highlights Debate Over Religious Freedom" - The Washington Post, 22 March 2006
• "Afghanistan: Apostasy Case Reveals Constitution's Contradictions" - Radio Free Afghanistan, 22 March 2006
• Constable, Pamela (2006-03-23). "For Afghans, Allies, A Clash of Values". The Washington Post. p. A01. Retrieved 2006-03-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• "More Christians Arrested In Wake of 'Apostasy'" - Persecution.org, 23 March 2006
• Cooney, Daniel (2006-03-23). "Afghan Clerics Demand Convert Be Killed". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2006-03-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Richard Cohen, "Unfathomable Zealotry
• Morarjee, Rachel (2006-03-29). "Abdul Rahman's Family Values, "An official police report on the Christian convert in Afghanistan alleges a tawdry domestic life" - Report by Islamic Afgan government". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2006-04-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)