News Release
March 22, 2006

Death For Christian Convert?

Abdul Rahman, an Afghan man who converted to Christianity 16 years ago,
is on trial in Afghanistan because he abandoned Islam. Under the Afghan
constitution, which is based on Shariah law, any Muslim who rejects Islam
must be sentenced to death. The trial, which began last week, may be
interrupted given claims that Rahman is mentally ill and thus ineligible
for punishment.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue was critical of the reaction coming
from many American quarters:

“Hosnia Wafayosofi, an official at the jail where Abdul Rahman is imprisoned,
boasts that ‘We will cut him into little pieces.’ Rahman, whose own father wants
him killed, has no lawyer, no rights of any kind. The prosecutor, Abdul Wasi,
calls Rahman a ‘microbe in society’ who ‘should be killed.’ The judge who is
trying the case says, ‘If he doesn’t regret his conversion, the punishment will
be enforced on him. And the punishment is death.’ And what has been the
response of American elites?

“Unlike the Italian and German governments, which have waged a vocal
protest against this act of barbarism, the administration of President
George W. Bush has been quite mute. Yet in his second inaugural address,
President Bush said, ‘We will encourage reform in other governments by
making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment
of their own people.’ Was Bush just blowing smoke? Bush also said, ‘All
who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not
ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors.’ Then why not begin
with Abdul Rahman?

“The New York Times has run one story on Rahman, consisting of three
sentences. The Washington Post has run two stories, for a total of nine
sentences. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has said nothing.

“American troops did not die in Afghanistan so that the new government
could kill Christian converts. There’s a lot hanging in the balance.”

http://www.catholicleague.org/06press_releases/quarter%201/060322_death_for_convert.htm
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Catholic League
For Religious and Civil Rights
http://www.catholicleague.org/