Muslim Prisoner Campaign Group Publishes Barack Obama Mock Execution
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A campaign group for Muslim prisoners, partnered by Amnesty International, has published a mock execution of President Obama.

CagePrisoners, run by Moazzam Begg, the former Guantánamo detainee, published a fake picture of Mr Obama with head wounds and headlined it: "Breaking news: Barack Obama is dead."

The article underneath, which has been duplicated on Muslim forums across the internet, described the US president as a war criminal and claimed he had been killed by Pakistani security forces at a compound near Camberley, Surrey, not far from Sandhurst. Mr Obama's wife Michelle was also said to have been killed when she was used as "a shield".

"Obama was cremated at the stake after a Christian funeral on board an aircraft carrier," the article said, mocking the Muslim funeral given to Osama bin Laden.

The article, by Fahad Ansari, criticised Mr Obama for the campaign of drone attacks against al-Qaeda in the tribal areas of Pakistan and claimed Pakistan believed his killing was "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat the CIA". » | Duncan Gardham | Friday, May 13, 2011

Muslim Prisoners 'Refuse to Take Part in Group Therapy as It's Against Religion'
THE TELEGRAPH: Muslim prisoners are refusing to take part in group therapy sessions saying it's against their religion to talk about their 'past crimes' in front of others.

Scores of Britain's 10,000 Muslim prisoners - one in eight of all inmates - are refusing to take part in Offending Behaviour Programmes (OBPs ), claiming it is 'forbidden' or 'Haraam'.

Haraam refers to anything that is prohibited by faith [Allah], and in Islamic culture criminals are barred from discussing their offences with others.

Previously, Muslim prisoners refused to take part in Sex Offender Treatment Programmes because it involved talking about offences against women, but now some are refusing to take part in all rehabilitation sessions where they have to 'open up' in front of other cons.

Among the courses some Muslims are declining to take part in are the Cognitive Self Change Programme (CSCP), just one of 13 OBPs on offer from the prison service,

The CSCP, which treats 7,000 prisoners each year, targets 'high risk violent offenders' and offers individual and group sessions to prisoners.

The course claims to: "Equip prisoners with skills to help them control their violence and avoid reconviction.

"It is aimed at offenders with a history of violent behaviour and is suitable for those whose violence is reactive and/or instrumental."

Other programmes on offer include Enhanced Thinking Skills, Cognitive Skills Booster Programme, Controlling Anger and Learning to Manage it and various motivational courses.

One Muslim prisoner, Abu Dira, a maximum security prisoner at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire, said this week: "Muslims cannot speak about their past crimes in a group setting. >>> | Monday, January 11, 2010

It’s Against My Faith, You Must Understand! It's Haram!
DAILY MAIL: Muslim sex offenders are asking to be let off a prison treatment programme on religious grounds.

Rapists, paedophiles and other dangerous attackers are expected to discuss their crimes with other inmates as a condition of release.

But Muslim prisoners complain that criminals should not have to talk about their offences - a "legitimate Islamic position", according to Ahtsham Ali, the Prison Service's Muslim adviser.

One thousand inmates were put on the Sex Offender Treatment Programme last year with places usually reserved for the most dangerous attackers.

Failure to complete the course can weigh against an offender at parole hearings.

The possibility of an exemption for Muslims came to light in a letter from an unnamed inmate to Inside Time, a newspaper for prisoners.

The convict said: "I have always insisted that it was against Islamic teachings to discuss your offence to anyone, let alone act it out within a peer group."

Experts said ministers, who have launched a review of the issue, could face a legal challenge from Muslims kept longer in prison because they had not undergone the treatment programme. Muslim Sex Offenders Could Opt Out of Treatment Programme 'Because It's against Their Faith' >>> By James Slack

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