Mossa’s day in court

From: http://www.worldmag.com/webextra/17328
RELIGION | Afghan convert to Christianity is charged with crimes punishable by d
eath | Mindy Belz
For more than a decade, the second Sunday in November has been commemorated in c
hurches worldwide as the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.
This year it is also the day that Sayed Mossa, an Afghan convert from Islam to C
hristianity, has been scheduled to stand trial.
Afghan government officials announced earlier this week that they have scheduled
that court date for Mossa’s case—which WORLD has been covering (see “Fugitives,” Aug. 2
8, 2010, and “Deeds done in darkness,” Nov. 20, 2010)—even though the charges and his
legal representation remain in doubt.
According to Westerners closely following his case in Kabul, Mossa is likely to
be charged with espionage and with conversion to Christianity, or apostasy—crimes
that may be punishable by death under Islamic law. The court session may be tele
vised, officials have said, and it is likely that Mossa will be asked to renounc
e his faith.
Mossa was arrested in late May as part of a crackdown against Afghan converts to
Christianity that followed a television broadcast of several baptisms. He has b
een held in a prison in Kabul under worsening conditions and has been subjected
to daily beatings, torture, and sexual abuse. Court-appointed legal counsel, all
Muslims, have refused to take his case because he is considered an apostate. Of
ficials from the International Committee on the Red Cross, where Mossa worked fo
r 15 years, visited him twice, and he has received other Western visitors, inclu
ding representatives from the U.S. embassy. They confirmed that Mossa had been t
ortured and successfully pressured the Afghan government to move him to another
prison, away from other prisoners. That took place Oct. 29.
But diplomatic pressure has so far failed to secure Mossa’s release or the droppin
g of charges—despite Afghanistan’s avowed interest in being a legitimate member of t
he international community. The Karzai government is a signatory of the UN Decla
ration on Human Rights, which calls for freedom of religion and equal access to “a
fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal.” It also states
that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading tre
atment or punishment.”
Afghanistan’s constitution, enacted with U.S. assistance in 2003, also states in A
rticle 2: “Followers of other religions are free to exercise their faith and perfo
rm their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of law.”
Mossa, 45, is married and the father of six children. His oldest child is 8 year
s old and one is disabled. Mossa himself is an amputee. His case comes to trial
as radical Muslims with ties to al-Qaeda announced earlier this week that Christ
ians in the Middle East are “legitimate targets,” and follows the bombings and hosta
ge-takings that have targeted churches and Christian homes, killing over 60 in B
aghdad.
As one Westerner working in Kabul stated to U.S. officials regarding the case, “Th
e U.S. government has been actively engaged in Afghanistan since 2001, spending
billions of dollars, exerting millions of hours of manpower, and losing precious
American lives in order to ensure that the Afghan people enjoy these basic huma
n rights. If one cannot enjoy these rights, none can enjoy them.”
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