John Whitehead's Commentary
Muslims Should Speak Up for Tortured Chechen Woman
On September 12, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI ignited a cultural and religious firestorm while delivering a speech at the University of Regensburg in Germany. In the speech, entitled "Faith, Reason and the University--Memories and Reflections," Pope Benedict quoted the Byzantine emperor Manuel Palaeologus, saying, "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
The backlash was immediate and overwhelming. The Pope's comments were met with anger by Muslims and Islamic leaders around the world in what one journalist described as a "Civilization Clash." Various governments throughout the Middle East passed resolutions condemning the Pope's remarks. And the Organization of the Islamic Conference issued the following statement: "The attribution of the spread of Islam around the world to the shedding of blood and violence, which is 'incompatible with the nature of God' is a complete distortion of the facts, which shows deep ignorance of Islam and Islamic history."
Agreeing with the Islamic Conference's statement, one Palestinian leader denounced the Pope's remarks as "not true," insisting that they "defamed the essence of this holy religion and it defamed the history of the Islam."
Yet as the old adage goes, "show, don't tell." If Islamic leaders want to convince the world that theirs is not a religion of violence and bloodshed, perhaps they should start by condemning the spate of human rights abuses carried out in the name of Islam.
A good place to start would be the 23-year-old pregnant Chechen woman who was tortured by Muslim military forces after being accused of having an adulterous affair. Chechnya, a war-torn republic within the Russian federation, is mostly comprised of Sunni Muslims. And its security forces have been accused of anti-Slavic racism, institutionalized brutality, a culture of impunity and an intolerant interpretation of a pre-medieval Islamic code.
On August 30, 2006, the New York Times broke the story detailing the brutal treatment that Malika Soltayeva, a Muslim woman, suffered at the hands of Chechen law enforcement officials.
Accused by her husband of committing adultery with a Christian Russian serviceman, Malika was taken to a law enforcement compound where she was tortured and humiliated by the local police, many of whom have little in the way of training or education and have had little contact with the world beyond their predominantly Islamic community in Chechnya. They began by shaving her head and her eyebrows. Then they painted her scalp green, which is the color associated with Islam, and drew an emerald cross on her forehead. She was forced to confess to adultery, ordered to strip naked and then beaten on her buttocks, arms, legs, hands, stomach and back. The video retrieved by the Times (which can be viewed by accessing this commentary at www.rutherford.org) shows Chechen police screaming at Malika to "Turn and be condemned by Allah" as they beat her naked body with wooden rods and hoses.
The torture continued for nearly two hours before Malika was ordered to dress. She was then driven to her husband's house where the soldiers made her dance in front of her neighbors. The humiliation continued as they kicked and mocked her. Two days later, Malika miscarried her baby.
Sadly, Malika's treatment at the hands of Muslim Chechen police officials is not an isolated incident. The New York Times reports that recent videos show similar conduct illustrating "an unsettling pattern," including an incident where a rebel fighter was beheaded and his severed head was displayed on a pipe in the town's center. As the Times notes, "Videos show that, later, the kadyrovsty, many in police uniforms, casually amused themselves with the head, joking as they displayed it in a garage. Another video shows the head adorned with a cap and with a cigarette in its mouth."
Frankly, the inhumane and downright evil actions of the Chechen police would seem to partially support Pope Benedict's statements. However, just days after delivering his controversial speech in Germany, Pope Benedict opted for a conciliatory tone. Insisting that his remarks had been misinterpreted, the Pope told an audience at the Vatican that he has a "deep respect for great religions, in particular for Muslims--who worship the one God and with whom we are engaged in defending and promoting together social justice, moral values, peace and freedom for all men."
However, while the Pope's depiction of great religions, including Islam, as working together to defend and promote social justice, peace and freedom is something to strive for, it is a far cry from today's reality. And yet it is time for religious leaders everywhere, including Christians, Jews and Muslims, to take a moral stand and make that vision a reality.
The world needs healing, not more violence.
The backlash was immediate and overwhelming. The Pope's comments were met with anger by Muslims and Islamic leaders around the world in what one journalist described as a "Civilization Clash." Various governments throughout the Middle East passed resolutions condemning the Pope's remarks. And the Organization of the Islamic Conference issued the following statement: "The attribution of the spread of Islam around the world to the shedding of blood and violence, which is 'incompatible with the nature of God' is a complete distortion of the facts, which shows deep ignorance of Islam and Islamic history."
Agreeing with the Islamic Conference's statement, one Palestinian leader denounced the Pope's remarks as "not true," insisting that they "defamed the essence of this holy religion and it defamed the history of the Islam."
Yet as the old adage goes, "show, don't tell." If Islamic leaders want to convince the world that theirs is not a religion of violence and bloodshed, perhaps they should start by condemning the spate of human rights abuses carried out in the name of Islam.
A good place to start would be the 23-year-old pregnant Chechen woman who was tortured by Muslim military forces after being accused of having an adulterous affair. Chechnya, a war-torn republic within the Russian federation, is mostly comprised of Sunni Muslims. And its security forces have been accused of anti-Slavic racism, institutionalized brutality, a culture of impunity and an intolerant interpretation of a pre-medieval Islamic code.
On August 30, 2006, the New York Times broke the story detailing the brutal treatment that Malika Soltayeva, a Muslim woman, suffered at the hands of Chechen law enforcement officials.
Accused by her husband of committing adultery with a Christian Russian serviceman, Malika was taken to a law enforcement compound where she was tortured and humiliated by the local police, many of whom have little in the way of training or education and have had little contact with the world beyond their predominantly Islamic community in Chechnya. They began by shaving her head and her eyebrows. Then they painted her scalp green, which is the color associated with Islam, and drew an emerald cross on her forehead. She was forced to confess to adultery, ordered to strip naked and then beaten on her buttocks, arms, legs, hands, stomach and back. The video retrieved by the Times (which can be viewed by accessing this commentary at www.rutherford.org) shows Chechen police screaming at Malika to "Turn and be condemned by Allah" as they beat her naked body with wooden rods and hoses.
The torture continued for nearly two hours before Malika was ordered to dress. She was then driven to her husband's house where the soldiers made her dance in front of her neighbors. The humiliation continued as they kicked and mocked her. Two days later, Malika miscarried her baby.
Sadly, Malika's treatment at the hands of Muslim Chechen police officials is not an isolated incident. The New York Times reports that recent videos show similar conduct illustrating "an unsettling pattern," including an incident where a rebel fighter was beheaded and his severed head was displayed on a pipe in the town's center. As the Times notes, "Videos show that, later, the kadyrovsty, many in police uniforms, casually amused themselves with the head, joking as they displayed it in a garage. Another video shows the head adorned with a cap and with a cigarette in its mouth."
Frankly, the inhumane and downright evil actions of the Chechen police would seem to partially support Pope Benedict's statements. However, just days after delivering his controversial speech in Germany, Pope Benedict opted for a conciliatory tone. Insisting that his remarks had been misinterpreted, the Pope told an audience at the Vatican that he has a "deep respect for great religions, in particular for Muslims--who worship the one God and with whom we are engaged in defending and promoting together social justice, moral values, peace and freedom for all men."
However, while the Pope's depiction of great religions, including Islam, as working together to defend and promote social justice, peace and freedom is something to strive for, it is a far cry from today's reality. And yet it is time for religious leaders everywhere, including Christians, Jews and Muslims, to take a moral stand and make that vision a reality.
The world needs healing, not more violence.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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