Christian Pastor Arrested on Child Porn Charges in Florida Published Jun 22, 2024 at 12:17 PM EDT Updated Jun 22, 2024 at 3:36 PM EDT https://www.newsweek.com/christian-pastor-arrested-child-pornography-charges-florida-1916154 Christian pastor was arrested in Florida on Friday on charges of buying child pornography online, according to local law enforcement. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office said that Jonathan Edward Elwing, a 43-year old senior pastor of Palm View Baptist Church in Palmetto, Florida, was charged with four counts of possession of child sexual abuse images. The arrest comes after detectives with the sheriff's office received information on Thursday that Elwing used cryptocurrency to make an online purchase of the images. According to the sheriff's office's press release, when authorities executed a search warrant on Friday at Elwing's home and church, deputies said they found four "sexually explicit photos of children'' on his cellphone. Before Elwing was arrested, he resigned from his job, the sheriff's office's press release said. Elwing is now being held at the Manatee County Jail without bond. While the investigation is still ongoing, the sheriff's office asks anyone with information about crimes that may involve Elwing to call them at (941) 747-3011, or to remain anonymous and to be eligible for a cash reward, contact Manatee County Crime Stoppers at (866) 634-8477 (TIPS) or online on the Crime Stoppers website.
America and Israel, two of the most Godly countries, leaders of democracy, leaders of righteousness and decency. A shining light to the world of Gods power to lead humans down the right paths. What could go wrong? ‘Happening again’: Guantanamo victims say Israel using ‘US-style’ torture Former prisoners who suffered mistreatment in US detention facilities say Israeli abuse of Palestinian detainees follows the same patterns. A Palestinian woman holds a poster depicting some of the Palestinian detainees rounded up by Israeli forces since October 7, during a protest in support of those held in Israeli prisons on May 30, 2024 in Nablus, the West Bank [Sergey Ponomarev/Getty Images] By Osama Bin Javaid Published On 22 Jun 2024 When former Guantanamo detainee Asadullah Haroon looks at pictures of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons, the memories of his own abuse and torture in United States detention centres come flooding back. “This is the worst form of oppression,” he says. “When you are labelled as a terrorist you cannot defend yourself in any way. Without a doubt it’s the same process; they are torturing the people in the same way. I think the Americans have made this and the Israelis are implementing it.” Haroon, who won his case against the US government for illegal imprisonment in 2021, was held without charge in the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba for 16 years following his arrest in 2007. Without a doubt, he says, Palestinians held in Israeli prisons now are enduring similar treatment to that he experienced. “It’s like in the first days when I was arrested, I was beaten to an extent that I was standing; I couldn’t sit down or if I was sitting down and beaten up, I couldn’t get up. Same with insomnia and I was assaulted for several days. A lot of the prisoners were bitten by dogs. We were provided very little medical care. “Physical torture was really bad but the worst was mental torture in different forms. I believe there isn’t much of a difference in the torture of prisoners of Palestine, Guantanamo, Bagram and Abu Ghraib.” Attacked by dogs and deprived of water Some 54 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli jails since Israel launched its deadly war on Gaza in October last year, according to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs in Gaza. The United Nations Human Rights Office in Palestine says it has been receiving multiple reports of mass detentions, abuse of prisoners and forced disappearances of Palestinians for months, while harrowing testimonies have been provided to aid agencies or posted to social media by Palestinians who have been released from detention. In late April, the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, published details of the abuse of Palestinian prisoners who had been jailed without trial. Its report included descriptions of regular beatings, prisoners being attacked by dogs, being forced to kiss the Israeli flag, being forced to curse the Prophet Muhammad, being deprived of water (including for a toilet in a cell shared by 10 inmates), the electricity being cut, insufficient food and being stripped naked. One prisoner’s account reads: “A guard then started to stuff carrots into the anus of AH and other prisoners.” A Palestinian detainee shows injuries to his hands after being released by the Israeli army into Gaza on June 20, 2024. The man had been detained during an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians who were released east of the city in the central Gaza Strip were seen to be weakened and had scars on their bodies [Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images] Much of the abuse carried out in Israeli prisons has been filmed by the soldiers carrying it out. It has strong echoes of the treatment of Iraqi and Afghan prisoners in US detention centres such as the notorious Abu Ghraib prison – where US soldiers photographed themselves alongside prisoners in humiliating positions in 2003. The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) and other human rights organisations have called on the United Nations special rapporteur on torture for urgent action to end “the systematic abuse, torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons and detention facilities”. That submission by Adalah, HaMoked, Physicians for Human Rights Israel and PCATI describes a “brutal escalation”, characterised by what appears to be systemic violence, torture and ill-treatment against Palestinians in Israeli custody in seven different prisons and detention facilities since the start of the war in October. Lawyers and activists say the Israeli treatment of Palestinian prisoners bears all the hallmarks of “US-style” abuse and torture. “Unfortunately over the past 20 years the US has given the world a very bad example of how prisoners should be treated,” says human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, who was one of the first lawyers to be granted access to detainees in Guantanamo Bay more than 20 years ago and has represented clients, including Haroon, who have eventually won their freedom from the prison. “Whether it is ISIS (ISIL) copying the orange uniforms, or other countries, including Israel according to the UN, using abusive interrogation methods, all this can be traced back to the sordid example of Guantanamo Bay and the other secret US prisons,” Stafford Smith says. “It is well past time that the US admitted our dreadful mistakes, and insisted once more that both the US and the rest of the world behave in a civilised manner.” Held without charge Of 9,500 political prisoners, more than 3,500 Palestinians are being held without charge in Israeli prisons. While thousands were already in prison before the war on Gaza began in October last year, many more have been arrested or rearrested since then. Those detained without charge can be held indefinitely by the Israeli military for renewable periods, based on “secret evidence” that neither the detainees nor their lawyers are permitted to see. Activists and human rights lawyers consider these people to be hostages with no legal recourse. Others who have experienced similar detentions, torture and abuse at the hands of US-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan agree with them. Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo Bay inmate, was also held at the notorious Bagram prison in Afghanistan. He believes Israeli forces are using similar methods of abuse and torture against Palestinian prisoners to what he experienced in US detention centres [Michelle Shephard/Toronto Star via Getty Images] Moazzam Begg is a human rights advocate who was imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for three years without charge. He also draws parallels with what Israelis call administrative detention under which Palestinians can be rounded up and denied legal rights. “There’s an evident parallel between Gaza and Guantanamo and the war on terror,” Begg says. “What you see from the treatment, from the stripping naked of the prisoners to the mistreatment of them, to the abuse of the religious and racial attributes. There’s absolutely a parallel. It’s undeniable.” Begg says what happened to him two decades ago, first in Afghanistan’s Bagram prison and then in Guantanamo, is still happening. “I’ve returned to Afghanistan several times. I’ve been back into the Bagram detention facility where I was stripped naked, where I was beaten. I was tied to other prisoners. I watched the abuse of other prisoners. I watched the murder of other prisoners by American soldiers. “And those American soldiers went on to do what they did from here, almost as a textbook copy in Abu Ghraib [the notorious prison in Iraq where US soldiers abused detainees in 2003 and 2004], what was done to us in Guantanamo. Again, the stripping, the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.” Rights groups are demanding an urgent international investigation to hold the perpetrators of torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons accountable. Human rights group Euro-Med Monitor, which has documented the testimonies of former Palestinian prisoners, said: “The information gathered leads to the conclusion that the Israeli army routinely and widely commits crimes of arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, willful killing, torture, inhumane treatment, sexual violence, and denial of a fair trial. “Detainees were also denied access to food and medical care, including critical and life-saving care, were spat and urinated upon, and were subjected to other cruel and degrading acts and psychological abuse, including threats of rape and death, insults, and other forms of sexual violence.” Despite such calls for justice from rights groups and lawyers, however, Begg says he is not optimistic that things will change in the near future. “There’s no hope. I don’t see any hope in relation to international law, in relation to the United Nations resolutions – multitudes of them have been violated. “And the same with Israel committing genocide, ethnic cleansing, the targeting of children happening at a time when we claim that human rights laws and international law is across the board.” Source: Al Jazeera
Philippine villagers smear mud on their bodies to show devotion to St. John the Baptist By AARON FAVILA June 24, 2024 BIBICLAT, Philippines (AP) — It is well before daybreak in Bibiclat, a village in the northern Philippines surrounded by rice fields. Using only light from their cellphones to cut through the darkness, devout Catholics venture into the fields. If they’re fortunate, they will find an area where carabaos bathe, since the mud is softer there. They smear mud over their bodies and then soak dried banana leaves in the mud. After dressing themselves with the leaves, they walk to the church of St. John the Baptist. Entire families as well as solitary devotees line the road to the church. The crowd swells outside the church yard, lighting candles and waiting for the priest to lead a Mass. Devout Catholics hold dried banana leaves which they will use to cover themselves in, and walk towards the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) A devout Catholic prays at the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) A Catholic boy walks towards the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) A devout Catholic lights candles outside the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Devout Catholics gather at the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) This practice, commonly referred to as “Taong Putik,” or Mud People Festival, has been passed on from generation to generation in the community as a way of showing devotion to their patron saint, St. John the Baptist. According to church leader Regil A. dela Cruz, the tradition started in 1836 when poor Filipino farmers went to the church to give thanks on the saint’s feast day. He said they smeared themselves with mud as a gesture of faith and humility. “They covered themselves with dried banana leaves or vines so that they were not recognized, as there was a lot of discrimination against the poor during that time,” dela Cruz said. Only men practiced the tradition until 1944, when a “miracle” happened, he said. Devout Catholics walk, dressed in dried banana leaves, towards the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Devout Catholics cry as they participate in mass at the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Devout Catholics carry a statue of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) In that year, some Japanese soldiers were killed by Filipino guerrilla fighters in the village. In response, Japanese troops gathered villagers for execution. The village prayed to God and St. John the Baptist as the men lined up to be killed. “Rain poured and the killings were canceled because the Japanese soldiers believed this was a sign of disapproval from their gods,” dela Cruz said. A marker inside the church compound reads, “For the Japanese who worship the sun, the rain is a sign of their gods’ disapproval of the killing of the men of Bibiclat.” The villagers believed that the rain was an answer to their prayers from St. John the Baptist. Entire families then joined the tradition of smearing mud and wearing banana leaves on his feast day, which is celebrated on June 24. Leonila Arucan, dressed in dried banana leaves, participates in the mud festival outside the church of Saint John the Baptist at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Emotions were heavy for many of those who gathered. Leonila Arucan, a 64-year-old teacher, recalled how she started accompanying her father to the festival in high school. She now brings her children and grandchildren to participate, she said. She pointed to a relief on the wall of the church and said her father-in-law’s name is carved on it as one of those who survived the planned execution. “This tradition makes my faith stronger and I feel closer to God,” Arucan said. Devout Catholics gather at the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) A devout Catholic walks towards the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Devout Catholics, dressed in dried banana leaves, walk towards the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) A devout Catholic holds the hand of a child as they walk towards the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) A Catholic boy receives the holy communion from a priest during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Devout Catholics, dressed in dried banana leaves, gather outside the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) A devout Catholic, dressed in dried banana leaves, participates in mass during the mud festival at the church of Saint John the Baptist at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Devout Catholics, dressed in dried banana leaves, pray outside the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) A devout Catholics stands with roses at the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) A young Catholic waits for the start of mass at the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) A devout Catholics, dressed in dried banana leaves, pray outside church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Devout Catholics, dressed in dried banana leaves, participate in mass at the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Devout Catholics, dressed in dried banana leaves, gather outside the church of Saint John the Baptist during the mud festival at Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija province, northern Philippines, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)