WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Afghan man threatened with execution for converting to Christianity was freed and went into immediate hiding March 27, according to news reports.
Meanwhile, according to an agency that monitors persecution of Christians, at least two other Afghans are currently jailed for similar situations.
On March 26, Afghanistan's Supreme Court dismissed the government's case against 41-year-old Abdul Rahman. He had been jailed for violating Islamic law by abandoning that faith. The Associated Press reported March 28 that he had been freed from a high-security prison near Kabul and went into immediate hiding for his own protection.
Muslim clerics in the country have called for Rahman's execution. Hundreds of people protested the court's decision to release him March 27 in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, uttering cries of “death to Christians!” according to multiple news reports.
Afghan government officials gave conflicting statements March 27 about why they were dropping the charges against Rahman. While court officials cited a lack of evidence, other authorities said they believe he may be mentally unfit to stand trial.
Rahman also reportedly has appealed to the United Nations to help him find political asylum, fearing for his own safety if he were to stay in Afghanistan.
According to the United States Commission on Cooperation and Security in Europe, Rahman converted to Christianity while working for a Christian aid group in Pakistan more than 14 years ago. He was only recently jailed because his faith emerged in court when Rahman attempted to regain custody of his children.
Since his imprisonment made headlines, groups from multiple faiths, continents and political ideologies have decried the Afghan judicial system for the situation. Conservative Christian groups and impartial human-rights watchdog organizations in the United States first called attention to the situation but have been joined by international human-rights groups, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the New York Times editorial board.
Responding to pressure from those groups, President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appealed to Afghan President Hamid Karzai to assure Rahman's safety. But Karzai said he could do nothing without violating the separation of powers between Afghanistan's executive and judicial branches of government.
The Afghan Constitution, drafted and approved in the wake of the nation's liberation from the theocratic Taliban regime in 2001, has separate sections protecting religious freedom and establishing Islam as the supreme law of the land. Religious-freedom watchdog groups have repeatedly warned that the tension between the two provisions would provide too much leeway to conservative Muslim jurists in cases such as Rahman's.
Several U.S. organizations issued statements March 26 and 27 heralding Rahman's release but calling for continued focus on the status of religious freedom in Afghanistan.
The Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism said it “applauds” the decision to release Rahman but added: “The Afghan government must, however, ensure Mr. Rahman and his family's safety or provide him with safe passage to a country which can. Furthermore, the release of Mr. Rahman must be complemented by constitutional and legislative change to ensure that the freedoms of religion and conscience are preserved, and that no further prosecutions for apostasy can occur again.”
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said the case exposes faults in the way the Bush administration is handling the task of nation-building.
“Simply dismissing the charges based upon lack of evidence does not sufficiently address the lack of religious freedom in Afghanistan,” he said. “As the United States continues its work in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is vital that the Bush administration secure a clear understanding of religious freedom from these new governments. Abdul Rahman's imprisonment has revealed a major fault in our foreign policy.”
According to Compass Direct, an evangelical Protestant group that monitors persecution of Christians worldwide, at least two other Afghans Christians have been jailed in recent days. However, the agency declined to disclose details about the cases.
“Because of the sensitive situation, local sources requested that the location of the jailed converts be withheld,” read a story posted March 22 on the organization's website, www.compassdirect.org.
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, asked at the March 28 daily White House press briefing whether the incident had hurt Afghanistan's image, deflected the question.
“Well, I think it's important to put in context where Afghanistan is,” he said. “This is a new and emerging democracy. This is a democracy that has enshrined in its constitution certain universal principles of human rights, and we will continue to emphasize the importance of adhering to the universal values that all democracies hold dear, such as freedom of expression and freedom of religion…. But we are pleased that this was resolved in a favorable manner and that he has been released.”