The U.S. government and some international Christian organizations are lobbying the Afghan government to release two men who could be executed after being arrested on apostasy charges for converting to Christianity.
The U.S. has called on Afghan leaders to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that Afghanistan has endorsed, which theoretically protects freedom of religion for invidiuals. Yet, evangelizing and converting to a non-Muslim religion are forbidden by the Afghan consitution and carry the death penalty.
According to AFP, 22-year-old Afghan Enayat is one of thousands of non-Muslims in Afghanistan who fear for their lives:
"I used to carry my bible everywhere -- I don't any more," says the baby-faced convert, using a pseudonym for fear of being identified and speaking to AFP at the home of a trusted friend, west of Kabul. "I don't want to call myself a Christian, people would think I'm immoral."
Missionaries suspected of trying to convert others to Christianity have been killed in recent years, including eight foreign medics accused by the Taliban who were shot dead in north Afghanistan in August. However, the Christian aid group they represented which had worked in the country for 45 years said it never proselytized.
The two Afghans under custody were arrested in May after a local television broadcast footage of men being baptized and reciting Christian prayers in Farsi, which triggered angry protests.
One of the men imprisoned, Musa Sayed, who works for the International Committee of the Red Cross, claimed in a letter that he has been beaten, raped and humiliated "day and night".
Source: The Examiner, January 27, 2011
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