Poet beaten in prison - Aron Atabek

PEN International/CampaignKazakhstan (July 16, 2014):

In December 2012 (whilst in prison on other charges), Atabek was sentenced to two years’ solitary confinement in a maximum security jail in Arkalyk- 1,600km away from his family – for writing The Heart of Eurasia, a book that fiercely criticised President Nursultan Nazarbayev. In March 2014, Atabek was moved to a prison in Pavlodar (1,400km from his family). ---



"PEN International is deeply concerned at reports that the imprisoned poet Aron Atabek – who is in ill health – has been tortured or otherwise ill-treated by prison guards.

According to the poet’s son, Atabek has suffered regular beatings on the head and neck during his incarceration in Pavlodar prison. There is an absolute prohibition on the use of torture or other ill-treatment under international law. PEN International calls on the Kazakh authorities to protect Aron Atabek from all forms of torture or other ill-treatment, to investigate the reports that he has been beaten while in detention, to bring to justice anyone suspected of abuses, and to provide him with appropriate medical care for his ailments." 


Campaign Kazakhstan (read full text):
http://campaignkazakhstan.org/index.php/2014/07/16/pen-internationals-call-to-action-poet-beaten-in-prison/


Picture: CampaignKazakhstan



From a poem by Aron Atabek:

"Russia is my Mother; my Father is Kazakhstan.
A childhood on the Volga, I grew up in Almaty
to kick open the doors to the Throne Room of those in power,
with a strong belief in my rights and in righteousness."


Earlier on my blog:
http://minkristnasamhllsblogg.blogspot.fi/2013/01/honor-and-dignity.html

Books for prisoners

Belarus
English PEN

"we were not allowed to bring or receive books from outside.

 My cell-mate Nastya suffered without the Bible and I was yearning to re-read Ibsen. When you are free you don’t have such a painful desire to read as you have in prison. You can get any book at home, in the shops or from the internet. In prison books become the air. Your body needs air to breathe. No books — you cannot breathe. And if you cannot breathe there is no life."

English PEN: "Books for Prisoners - Iryna Khalip" (read full text):
http://www.englishpen.org/books-for-prisoners-iryna-khalip/

Iryna Khalip/Andrei Sannikov







Foto: KL

Iraq - Syria - "everything got very quiet" - Ring the bells!

 2014. Remembering Seyfo.

"In Mosul, like the church bells, everything got very quiet. No one seemed to notice. But the Orthodox Christian tradition ended.

 The Chaldean Catholic Church’s Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, in Kurdish-governed northern Iraq, is reported as saying that for the first time in 1,600 years there was no Mass said in Mosul on Sunday June 15."

Voice of the persecuted (read full text):
http://voiceofthepersecuted.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/what-happens-when-a-1600-year-tradition-ends/
"the tradition of ringing the church bells for Mass in Mosul, Iraq, has been a more significant tradition because of its age and endurance.  The tradition began closer to Paul’s ministry than to ours. There was no hint of a USA or a Soviet Union or France or even England when this tradition began. Week after week, the bells have rung.  Week after week the Mass has been served.  These church bells have been ringing for one thousand, six-hundred years–that’s 83,200 weeks. And now they’ve stopped.

As of June 15, church bells ring no more in the ISIS-controlled area of Mosul, Iraq. Violence against Christians there has almost ensured that the Orthodox Christian tradition will soon no longer be found in that ancient place. Over the last decade, approximately 90% of Christians have fled from their homes, business, and church buildings in Iraq as a result of the intense persecution they’ve suffered.

And yet, the bells went quiet so silently."





SYRIA:

"This photo of an 8th Century BC Assyrian statue excavated from Tell Ajajah, near Hasakah on the Khabour River, was taken in May." (BBC News magazine)

"How Syria's ancient treasures are being smashed":
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28191181

Christian Churches, ring the bells!

Small church/bell on Tankar, Karleby. Foto. Erik L.

O, Herre, HERRE! Lord God!

Jer. 32:17  "Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee" (KJV)

- Добрай ранiцы, сябры! God morgon, Finland och världen!

Foto från Tankar fyrö: Erik Lindén, redigering: Kerstin Lindén

Despite rockets, Israeli hospital treating Gazan children

Haaretz, July 14

"Israeli doctors in Holon are laboring to save the lives of Palestinian children born with heart defects. --- even on the day that the operation launched on Tuesday, seven Palestinian children arrived at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon for treatment."









Haaretz (read full text):
http://www.haaretz.com/life/science-medicine/1.604762
"As of the week of July 7, Save a Child's Heart was treating 34 children with heart defects, including four from Iraq, five from the Palestinian Authority, three from Syria and 22 from eastern Africa. "





(via ECI/European Coalition for Israel)

"ECI expresses full solidarity with Israel as the nation faces Hamas’ escalating rocket fire from Gaza":
http://www.ec4i.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage

Semester

laddar batterierna

Foton: Kerstin Lindén (Juli 2014 från Paskarn, en ö i havsbandet utanför Jakobstad)

Joe Higgins TD says not enough being done for falsely imprisoned human rights lawyer Vadim Kuramshin

Campaign Kazakhstan

Irish foreign minister challenged over Vadim Kuramshin


Video (8:17)
http://campaignkazakhstan.org/index.php/2014/07/02/irish-foreign-minister-challenged-over-vadim-kuramshin/

Pray for American pastor Saeed Abedini imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith

"Dear Friends,

Update on Saeed: Today Saeed's parents were able to visit him at Rajaei Shahr prison (behind the glass window). They could only talk for a few minutes as Saeed was in a lot of pain (in his stomach) and was bending over and could not talk much. Because of the pain and had to leave the visitation much sooner than the allotted time.

We would appreciate prayers for Saeed's health and continued prayers for his release.

Love you all"

Naghmeh








Photo: KL

The headlines in Israel

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) : "We will neither rest nor waver in our mission to protect the citizens of Israel."

"3 innocent boys were murdered by Hamas terrorists. 10 rockets struck Israel today, and 80 were fired in less than three weeks. These are the headlines in Israel. This is our bitter reality, the danger facing our families, and the reason we must go on fighting. 




We will not allow terror to prevail. We will confront it, combat it and uproot it wherever it lurks. Today our commitment rings clear: We will neither rest nor waver in our mission to protect the citizens of Israel."