Girl with Down syndrome accused of Koran burning is granted bail - but she could face mob justice and death if freed

from the Daily Mail:

A Christian girl arrested for Koran burning in Pakistan has been granted bail after a Muslim cleric was detained for trying to frame her. 

It remains unclear when Rimsha Masih, reported to have Down's Syndrome, will be released - it could be today if a payment is made. 

There are worries the child, reported to be between 11 and 16, could be in danger if she remains in her homeland. 

In Pakistan the mere allegation of causing offence to Islam can mean death.

Those accused are sometimes killed even if they are found innocent by the courts.

Robinson Asghar is an aide to Pakistan's minister for national harmony. He claimed if bail was met Rimsha would be reunited with her family at a secret location. 

He told Reuters there were no plans to send the youngster abroad.

Rimsha was arrested after accusations by Muslim neighbours of burning Islamic religious texts.

But police took cleric Khalid Jadoon into custody after witnesses claimed he ripped pages from a Koran and planted them in Rimsha's bag with burned papers. 

Activists and human rights groups insisted Pakistan's anti-blasphemy law was vague and widely abused.

They claimed it dangerously discriminated against minority groups. 

Amnesty International called the bail decision 'encouraging.'

A spokesman said: 'The Pakistan authorities must take concrete steps to show that no one can commit abuses and attempt to excuse them as the defence of their religion.

'Today’s decision by a Pakistan court to grant bail to Rimsha Masih, a 14-year old Christian girl accused of blasphemy, is an encouraging step, but the Pakistan government must urgently reform its blasphemy laws to prevent similar cases in the future.

'Rimsha and her mother were first arrested by police on August 16 after an angry mob had gathered outside their house in Islamabad, accusing her of burning pages of the Koran, a crime punishable by death under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. 

'The case took another turn last week when police arrested a local cleric, accused of planting the burned Koran pages on Rimsha. 

'This morning, a judge set a bail of one million Pakistani rupees, about £6,200, for Rimsha.

'Although Amnesty  welcomes the judge’s decision, serious challenges remain.'

The human rights group claimed Rimsha, her family, and the Christian community in Islamabad remained in 'serious danger.'

Wilson Chowdhry is chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association. 

He said: 'Although this is a small step towards justice, she will still have to undergo a full trial unless granted asylum in a western nation.  

'Her safety is paramount and security at today's court hearing was significant. 

'However the killing of Governor Taseer illustrates that extra-judicial killings are hard to prevent.'

He was killed because he opposed the blasphemy law.

'We have asked the Foreign Office on their position with respect to granting asylum to Rimsha Masih and await a response,' Wilson said.  

'MP Andrew Stephenson of Pendle has said it is highly likely that the UK would grant Asylum.'

Rimsha's arrest triggered an exodus of several hundred Christians from her poor village after mosques reported over their loudspeakers what the girl was alleged to have done.

Christians, who make up four percent of Pakistan's population of 180 million, have been especially concerned about the blasphemy law, saying it offers them no protection.

Convictions hinge on witness testimony and are often linked to vendettas, they complain.

In 2009, 40 houses and a church were set ablaze by a mob of 1,000 Muslims in the town of Gojra, in Punjab province following reports of the desecration of the Koran.

At least seven Christians were burned to death during the attacks.

Two Christian brothers accused of writing a blasphemous letter against the Prophet Mohammad were gunned down outside a court in the eastern city of Faisalabad in July of 2010.  

Amnesty International warned the case could cause problems for 'communal harmony' in Pakistan. 

'In the recent past individuals accused of blasphemy have been killed by members of the public, often in incidents where the victim has not been formally charged by the authorities,' the Amnesty spokesman said.

'Hundreds of Christians have fled Rimsha’s neighbourhood in Islamabad since she was accused, fearing violence. Her family remains in hiding.  

'The Rimsha Masih case highlights the profound danger to communal harmony and rule of law caused by Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.

'Such cases will continue to occur, especially against vulnerable religious minorities, unless the Pakistan government urgently reforms the blasphemy laws to ensure they cannot be used maliciously to settle disputes or enable private citizens to take matters into their own hands.'

Amnesty called on the authorities to ensure perpetrators of attacks on religious minorities were brought to justice in court that met international standards - without recourse to the death penalty.

'Amnesty welcomes the condemnation of the charges brought against Rimsha Masih by a wide cross-section of Pakistan society, including even from religious leaders who have in the past vilified religious minorities and advocated strict application of the blasphemy laws, including the imposition of the death penalty,' the spokesman said.

'But more important are legal, policy and social reforms to address the general climate of vilification on the basis of religion that has lead to almost daily intimidation and deadly attacks on Christian, Shi’a, Ahmedi, Hindu and other minority communities across the country.

'The Pakistan authorities must take concrete steps to show that no one can commit abuses and attempt to excuse them as the defence of their religion.'

Girl with Down syndrome arrested in Pakistan for burning verses of the Koran

from Dawn.com:
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s president on Monday called on officials to explain the arrest on blasphemy charges of a Christian girl with Down’s Syndrome who allegedly burnt pages inscribed with verses from the Quran.
There is a growing debate about religious intolerance in Pakistan, where strict anti-blasphemy laws make defaming Islam or desecrating the Quran punishable by death.
Police said the girl, Rifta, was arrested in a Christian slum of the capital last Thursday and remanded in custody for 14 days after a furious Muslim mob demanded she be punished.
A police official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, said the girl was in her teens. Activists say she is 11 years old.
President Asif Ali Zardari took “serious note” of the arrest and called on the interior ministry to submit a report on the case, state media said.
His government was heavily criticised in the West for refusing to reform the anti-blasphemy law, despite the assassinations of a leading politician and a Christian cabinet minister in 2011.
Some reports suggested the girl had been burning papers collected from the rubbish for cooking when someone entered her house and accused the family of burning pages inscribed with verses from the Quran.
Human rights activists say the law is often used to settle petty disputes.
Muslim anger over the alleged incident forced Christians to flee the Mehrabad slum, home to hundreds of Christians 20 minutes’ drive from Western embassies.
“These Christians had sought shelter with their relatives in other parts of the city but now they are gradually returning to Mehrabad,” a senior official of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, told AFP.
He said the girl had Down’s Syndrome — a condition which causes various degrees of learning difficulties — and disputed the age given by police.
“She was just 11 to 12 years old,” he said, adding his organisation wanted the hugely sensitive case resolved “amicably”.The Women’s Action Forum (WAF), a leading Pakistani organisation fighting for the rights of women, condemned Riftaa’s arrest.
Spokeswoman Tahira Abdullah demanded her immediate release and expressed outrage at the “total inhumanity” of the men who lodged the case with police.
Police should have dealt with the case under the Juvenile Justice System, she said, accusing police of not allowing lawyers or civil society representatives to visit the girl.
Punjab governor Salman Taseer was assassinated in January 2011 and minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti two months later for their opposition to the blasphemy law.
They had taken up the plight of a Christian mother sentenced to death for blasphemy in late 2010. She remains in prison.
Last month, a Pakistani mob snatched a mentally unstable man from a village police station and beat him to death in central Punjab province after he allegedly burned pages from a Quran.

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more from Fox News:

But some police officials doubt reports that Rimsha burned parts of the Koran.
Qasim Niazi said when the girl was brought to the police station she had a shopping bag that contained various religious and Arabic-language papers that had been partly burned, but no Koran.
Another police officer said the matter would likely be dropped once the investigation is completed and the atmosphere is defused, saying there was "nothing much to the case." He did not want to be identified due to the sensitivity of the case.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/08/20/christian-girl-with-down-syndrome-faces-death-penalty-for-allegedly-burning/#ixzz2475iQ7hg

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Facebook response from GDSF, NDSS, DSEi, IDSC, and NDSC:
The Global Down Syndrome Foundation, the National Down Syndrome Society, Down Syndrome Education International and the International Down Syndrome Coalition have joined together in shared concern over the fate of Rifta Masih, a young Pakistani girl reported to have Down syndrome, who allegedly was jailed and faces life-threatening implications.
People with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities are a vulnerable population. Although early intervention and inclusion in some nations has meant great gains for many, there are still people with intellectual disabilities who have difficulty processing information or fully understanding the consequences of their actions.
We hope and expect that people from all countries and cultures, including those in the United States, will take this into account in terms of how people with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities are handled in police- and security-related matters. We strongly encourage the Pakistani police to ensure the young girl's safety and to allow family members and others who are known and trusted by the girl to stay with her to the extent that detention is necessary for her own protection.
It is very difficult for most people with intellectual disabilities to be taken out of their routine, and sometimes this may trigger agitated or uncontrollable behavior. We hope that this young girl will be able to return to the routine where she is safe and happy. We join others in urging restraint and compassion in this situation.