Hanoi, Vietnam, Apr 19, 2019 / 04:48 pm (CNA).- While the Stations of the Cross are a worldwide Lenten devotion for Catholics, the faithful in Vietnam have an additional practice that blends ancient traditional chants with Catholic prayer and meditatio… […]
Melbourne, Australia, Apr 15, 2019 / 11:15 am (CNA).- More than twenty journalists in Australia faced court charges Monday over breach of a court gag order in the case of Cardinal George Pell. The state government of Victoria is bringing charges agains… […]
Urumqi, China, Apr 15, 2019 / 11:08 am (CNA).- Government-run social media and facial recognition technology are being used to help monitor and detain Muslims in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
This technology has been around China since 2016, but it has been a growing concern in regards to violations of religious freedom and human rights.
Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking ethnic minority that mainly inhabit Xinjiang The advocacy group Uyghur Human Rights Project estimates that approximately ten percent of the Uyghur population, or some 1 million individuals, are being extrajudicially detained in a system of internment camps.
According to Darren Byler writing in Logic magazine, Chinese authorities monitor people through government-run social media platforms, which take the place of blocked websites like Twitter and Facebook. If flagged, the individual will then be a target for artificial intelligence recognition software and possible detainment.
A target’s actions online, or even lack of presence on the web, are monitored. Members of religious minorities could be registered as dangerous for posting ideologies contrary to that of the communist state, as when Muslims who share Islamic teachings or religious pictures.
Meanwhile, a facial recognition program will run through high-resolution video cameras capable of working in low-lighting and with a variety of different angles and facial expressions. The AI system, known as the Integrated Joint Operations Platform, collects data from a variety of sources.
After an individual has been flagged, officials will be notified through IJOP if that person crosses one of the many checkpoints placed in ocations throughout Xinjiang’s cities, or enter public buildings like banks or hospitals.
Uyghur Muslims could be arrested and detained under vague anti-terrorism laws. Hundreds of thousands of these people have been brought to detention centers. These centers have included torture, isolation, interrogation, and reeducation.
The Logic reported on a Muslim man from Xinjiang, known by the pseudonym Alim, who was arrested in 2017 after returning from studying abroad. When he re-entered China, he had been blacklisted and marked as a potential terrorist threat every time he passed a check point, which put him at the risk of detainment.
In 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the “People’s War on Terror” – a campaign to restrict and monitor protests in Xinjiang. The government has claimed that the crackdown is based on violent terrorism and not religious grounds.
The United Nation issued a detailed report last August stating that minority groups in Xinjiang were “being treated as enemies of the State based on nothing more than their ethno-religious identity.”
“In the name of combating ‘religious extremism’ and maintaining ‘social stability’…China had turned the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region into something that resembled a massive internment camp shrouded in secrecy, a ‘no rights zone’,” the report states.
The technology is supposedly used to curb religious extremism and terrorism, but fears have been expressed that the technology would also extend to other religious minorities in China. At a March 2018 panel on PEN America’s report on social media censorship, experts decried China’s use of social media platforms.
“All of the trends are pointing in a negative direction. …We know enough now about both the censorship machine as well as Xi Jinping’s intentions – I think that’s been made quite clear,” said Shanthi Kalathil, the director of the International Forum for Democracy Studies.
In China, people talk about how “it used to be that we afraid that our account would be closed or our posts would be deleted. Now we are afraid that we are just going to be taken away. Some are sentenced to administration detention for a few days, but there are a good number of people who have been sentenced to very long prison terms,” said Freedom House’s Senior Research Analyst for East Asia, Sarah Cook.
Tokyo, Japan, Apr 13, 2019 / 06:01 am (CNA).- Catholic bishops in Japan have said they will investigate reports of clergy sex abuse of minors dating back at least as far as 20 years, and they believe many victims might still be reluctant to come forward.
Committees have been established in all 16 dioceses to receive claims and consultations about abuse, the Japanese bishops’ conference said April 8, announcing the decision of the conference standing committee. The specifics of an inquiry are not yet decided, but it will revisit previous reports for an “in-depth investigation,” the Japan Times reports.
The bishops are considering seeking help from external bodies.
In 2002 an internal survey made inquiries with the leading priest in each diocese. This resulted in two reported cases of sex abuse.
A 2012 survey aimed to be a reference point in a manual for internal use. It did not aim to investigate facts or to resolve sex abuse. Five sex abuse cases were reported then.
These surveys’ results will now be investigated to examine whether accused abusers faced punishment and how bishops responded to the victims, the Washington Post reports.
A 2004 survey on sexual harassment found 17 cases of “coercive physical contacts,” mostly by priests. The victims included minors. That survey had 110 respondents.
“Many of the alleged cases such as coercive physical contacts were forced by priests,” said the bishops’ conference. “We believe there are still a significant number of people who cannot speak up even today, 15 years since the survey.”
A 62-year-old man came forward alleging sexual abuse by a priest when he was at a Catholic boys’ school in Tokyo. Other Catholic schools have faced sex abuse allegations as well.
The Japanese Times in 2014 reported on alleged abuse of minors at St. Mary’s International School in Tokyo beginning in 1965. At least one case was later investigated by police.
There are about 440,000 Catholics in Japan, making up 0.3% of the population.
Pope Francis is set to visit Japan in November. In February he held an unprecedented meeting with the world’s Catholic bishops on sex abuse of minors in the Church.
“Let it be clear that before these abominations the Church will spare no effort to do all that is necessary to bring to justice whosoever has committed such crimes. The Church will never seek to hush up or not take seriously any case,” the Pope said in his December 21, 2018 annual Christmas speech to the Roman Curia.
The Pope’s own handling of sexual abuse cases came into focus especially in Chile, where he initially defended bishops accused of sex abuse coverup. He later asked for all the country’s bishops to offer their resignations.
In the United States, clergy sex abuse of minors in the Church peaked in the early 1970s, according to reports from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Though the scandal led to some news reports and internal church investigations in later decades, it did not become a nationwide focus until news reports in 2002 exposed scandal and coverup in Boston and across the country.
The sex abuse scandal again was inflamed in 2018 with the announcements of credible allegations of sex abuse of a minor against the deeply influential then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, followed by accusations that he sexually abused young adult seminarians.
Seoul, South Korea, Apr 11, 2019 / 04:39 pm (CNA).- South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled an abortion ban in the country to be unconstitutional, receiving mixed responses from Korean citizens.
Seven of the nine justices on the cou… […]
Canberra, Australia, Apr 10, 2019 / 04:03 pm (CNA).- Australia’s high court on Wednesday threw out cases brought by pro-life activists challenging “buffer zone” laws in Victoria and Tasmania that bar any protests within 150 meters (nearly 500 feet) of a clinic or hospital that performs abortions.
In its April 10 decision, the court said that “given that the proscription leaves protesters free to conduct protests in relation to terminations outside the access zone, and that there is no evidence or other reason to accept that political protest against terminations outside the access zone is any less effective as a tool of political persuasion than protest within”, the buffer zones’ effect on political freedom was “negligible”.
The Victorian case was brought by Kathleen Clubb, a pro-life campaigner who was fined $5,000 in 2016 for “communicating about abortion” to a woman using an abortion clinic. The same year, Graham Preston was fined $3,000 for violating Tasmania’s similar buffer zone law.
Both plaintiffs argued that the laws violate their freedom of speech, since they prohibit political speech in a place where “communications on [abortion] are likely to occur and be most politically resonant.”
Clubb has said that “the prohibition applies whether or not discomfort is caused, and irrespective of the political significance of the communication in the circumstances” and that the appeal asked “whether a prohibition of that kind is compatible with a constitution which protects a freedom of political communication.”
Their lawyers had argued that because there are already laws in both states that protect against harassment and intimidation, the only further effect of the buffer zone laws is essentially to ban peaceful protest, and that Australia grants an implied freedom to political speech.
The court responded to the “implied freedom” argument saying that “it is no part of the implied freedom to guarantee a speaker an audience, much less a captive audience.”
It added that “the limited interference with the implied freedom is not manifestly disproportionate to the objectives of the communication prohibition. The burden on the implied freedom is limited spatially, and is confined to communications about abortions. There is norestriction at all on political communications outside of safe access zones. There is no discrimination between pro-abortion and anti-abortion communications. The purpose of the prohibition justifies a limitation on the exercise of free expression within that limited area.”
The governments of Victoria and Tasmania had contended that the laws are designed to allow women to access legal medical services.
The Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, New South Wales, and Queensland have similar buffer zone laws.
Buffer zones are being debated elsewhere, including in the United Kingdom. British Home Secretary Sajid Javid rejected proposals for buffer zones around abortion clinics throughout England and Wales as disproportionate in a Sept. 13, 2018 decision, after finding that most abortion protests are peaceful and passive. Local jurisdictions in England and Wales are able to establish their own buffer zones.
In the United States, three states have passed buffer zone laws: Colorado, Montana, and Massachusetts.
Seoul, South Korea, Apr 10, 2019 / 11:09 am (CNA).- A pro-life doctor in South Korea is asking the international community for prayers, as the country’s constituional court considers whether to overturn its national abortion ban April 11.
Around 1,000 South Koreans rallied April 6 at a March for Life in Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square ahead of the Constitutional Court ruling on the country’s abortion law, which currently prohibits abortion except in the case of rape, incest, genetic disease, or risk to the mother’s health.
“We have done our best to protect the life of fetuses. Now we can only pray for life,” Brother James Shin told CNA following the march.
Shin is a doctor and religious brother who provides medical care to the the poor and is active in South Korea’s pro-life movement.
Abortion advocates are calling on the court to allow abortions within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and to add social and economic reasons to the exceptions allowing for abortion further into pregnancy, Shin said.
At least six judges on Korea’s nine-member Constitutional Court, due to rule April 11, are needed to declare the current law unconstitutional.
The Archbishop of Seoul, Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soojung, has been an outspoken advocate for the protection of unborn life in South Korea’s national debates.
“Human dignity cannot be decided by majority vote or judged by socioeconomic standards,” Cardinal Yeom said at a Mass for Catholic congressmen last month.
The cardinal also called for an end to the death penalty in Korea. “Human life is the most important and fundamental gift, which is a source of all human rights. The death penalty is a serious insult and sin against everyone’s right to life,” he said.
Abortion is known to be common in South Korea, despite being against the country’s criminal code. Women obtaining an illicit procedure can be sentenced to a year in prison or a fine of under $2,000, while doctors can be jailed for up to two years, but the law is rarely enforced.
About 340,000 abortions are performed annually in South Korea, while 440,000 child births are reported, according to a 2012 study published in the International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family.
“In high-income South Korea … safe but clandestine procedures are widely available, despite a fairly restrictive law,” said the Guttmacher Institute, which provides research and analysis to “advance sexual and reproductive health and rights,” in a 2018 report.
The current case being considered by Korea’s Constitutional Court was brought to court by an obstetrician prosecuted for performing 69 illegal abortions between 2013 and 2015.
At his confirmation last September, the Chief Justice of Korea’s Constitutional Court, Yoo Nam-seok, said, “I think we need to consider ways to allow women’s termination of pregnancies in early stages for social and economic reasons through consultations with doctors and professionals,” the Korea Herald reported.
Brother Shin characterized the current cultural atmosphere in South Korea as leaning towards “pro-choice.” He said that he wants to bring the movie “Unplanned” to Korea to raise awareness of the reality of abortion.
“We need people’s prayers for Korea,” he said.
Jalandhar, India, Apr 9, 2019 / 05:04 pm (CNA).- Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jullundur, India has been charged with raping a nun nine times over a two-year period and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, local authorities announced today.
The … […]
Jakarta, Indonesia, Apr 9, 2019 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- Indonesia’s Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a Buddhist woman who was convicted of blasphemy for complaining about the volume of a local mosque’s call to worship.
The court’s ruling was made March 27, and posted to its website April 8.
The woman, Meliana, is of Chinese descent and lives in Tanjung Balai, about 110 miles southeast of Medan. She said in 2016 that an adhan was “too loud” and hurt her ears, according to The Jakarta Post. She made the comment in a private conversation to her neighbor, Kasini, but her words were subsequently twisted to seem like an objection to the adhan itself and spread on social media.
Anti-Chinese violence flared in Tanjung Balai after Meliana’s comments were shared on social media, with her property and several Buddhist temples being set aflame.
She was convicted of blasphemy, and sentenced in August 2018 to 18 months in prison. She had lost an appeal with the North Sumatra High Court before turning to the Supreme Court.
Meliana’s lawyer, Ranto Sibarani, said he was surprised her conviction was upheld because he considered there wasn’t enough evidence of blasphemy.
“The evidence was only a statement signed by residents. It’s strange that a statement signed by other people could be used as evidence of religious blasphemy,” Sibarani told The Jakarta Post. He said the statement letter used as evidence in the court was written six months after the incident.
He told Al Jazeera: “There is no evidence that she committed blasphemy. This hoax spread in the course of a week and ruined a woman’s life in the process. Today’s decision is very dangerous because in the future it means that people can spread false information which will lead to wrongful convictions under the blasphemy law.”
Sibarani intends to file a judicial review of the case.
Two prominent Islamic organizations in Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, have reportedly criticized Meliana’s conviction, saying a complaint over the volume of adhans should not be considered blasphemy.
Meliana was charged with blasphemy only after the local chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council issued an opinion saying she had insulted Islam. The Islamic Defenders Front has supported her conviction.
Indonesia is the largest Muslim-majority nation in population. Alongside the 87 percent of its population who are Muslim, 10 percent of the population is Christian, and 2 percent are Hindu. Discrimination and attacks on religious minorities occur not infrequently
The constitution of the country officially invokes “belief in the One and Only God” and guarantees religious freedom, but strict blasphemy laws embedded in its criminal code have been criticized by national and international human rights groups. Almost all blasphemy cases in Indonesia have ended in convictions.
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian and the former governor of Jakarta, completed a two-year sentence in January on a conviction of insulting the Quran.
Jalandhar, India, Apr 8, 2019 / 02:15 pm (CNA).- The bishop accused of serially raping a nun could face criminal charges this week, as Indian police say they will ask a court to charge him with rape, evidence tampering, and menacing his accuser.
In Ju… […]
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