What's New

Resources updated between Monday, June 23, 2014 and Sunday, June 29, 2014

June 27, 2014

ISIS terrorist

"Iraqi insurgents executed at least 160 captives earlier this month in the northern city of Tikrit, Human Rights Watch said Friday, citing an analysis of satellite imagery and grisly photos released by the militants. The U.S.-based rights group said militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant killed between 160 and 190 men in two locations in Tikrit between June 11 and June 14. 'The number of victims may well be much higher, but the difficulty of locating bodies and accessing the area has prevented a full investigation,' it said. After overrunning large swaths of northern Iraq and capturing the cities of Mosul and Tikrit earlier this month, the Islamic extremist group posted graphic photos on a militant website that appeared to show fighters loading dozens of captured soldiers onto flatbed trucks before forcing them to lie in a shallow ditch with their hands tied behind their backs. A final set of photos shows bodies...Chief Iraqi military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi confirmed the photos' authenticity on June 15, after they first surfaced, and said he was aware of cases of mass murder of captured Iraqi soldiers in areas held by the Islamic State. He told The Associated Press at the time that an examination of the images by military experts showed that about 170 soldiers were shot to death after their capture. Captions on the photos showing the soldiers after they were shot say 'hundreds have been liquidated,' but the total could not be verified. The massacre appeared to be aimed at instilling fear in Iraq's demoralized armed forces -- which melted away as militants seized much of the north in a matter of days -- as well as the country's Shiite majority, whom the Islamic State views as apostates. 'This is the fate that awaits the Shiites sent by Nouri to fight the Sunnis,' one caption read, apparently referring to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki."

Iraq Militants Executed At Least 160 Captives Document

"An Egyptian man was convicted and sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison along with a fine of $840 dollars for violating Egypt's blasphemy laws, which make illegal any criticism of the Islamic religion.

 The International Christian Concern (ICC) reported that Kerolos Shawky, a Christian man living in southern Egypt, was initially accused of violating the Islamic blasphemy laws in article 98 of the Egyptian penal code, which prohibits 'ridiculing or insulting heavenly religions or inciting sectarian strife', but as the ICC notes, the law is almost always used to go after religious minorities.

 Kerolos' lawyer said, 'Kerolos didn't intend to insult the Islamic religion, only he made a like on the page of Knights of the Cross on Facebook. He doesn't have much experience in the internet plus he suffers from poor eyesight. So there was not any intention for the contempt or blasphemy of Islam.'"

Egypt Sentences Man to 6 Years In Prison for 'Liking' Christian Facebook Post Document

June 24, 2014

June 23, 2014

Aminetou Mint El Moctar

"International Ambassadors of the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) are greatly concerned about the safety of the Mauritanian GMMP national coordinator Ms. Aminetou Mint El Moctar.

According to information from the International Federation for Human Rights, the leader of a radical Muslim group "Ahbab Errassoul" ("Friends of the Prophet") Mr. Yadhih Ould Dahi issued a fatwa on June 6, 2014 calling for her death...

Ms. Aminetou Mint El Moctar is a decorated human rights activist. She chairs the Association of female heads of household (l'Association des femmes chefs de famille), a non-governmental organisation that promotes human rights and defends the rights of women and children in Mauritania. She is the country coordinator of the Global Media Monitoring Project in Mauritania."

Death threat against GMMP Mauritania coordinator Document

A policeman stands near the body of Muzammil Bibi, 20, after policemen lowered her to the ground.

"A 20-year-old woman was gang-raped, killed and hanged from a tree in Pakistan in a case that bears a chilling resemblance to a double rape and murder that caused outrage in neighbouring India last month. Pakistani police said Muzammil Bibi was attacked by three men in a field in the impoverished Layyah area of densely populated Punjab province. Senior officer Sadaqat Ali Chohan said: 'This is the first time in my 22 years of service in the police that I have seen such a case, where a girl was raped in this way and found hanging from a tree. We have heard of such cases in India but never in Pakistan. The girl's clothes were torn. We took her down and moved her to hospital. Her body had signs of resistance. We have arrested three individuals who have confessed to the crime.' According to police, the 20-year-old resisted the rape and her attackers strangled her."

Pakistani Woman, 20, is Gang-Raped, Killed And Hanged From a Tree Document