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Speak Out Against Persecution news 2011

18 November 2011

Sudan

The Republic of Sudan Arab-Islamist regime has been waging jihad against the mostly Christian non-Arabs of the 'new south': Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. The regime has now escalated its attacks inside South Sudan. On 8 & 9 November it bombed refugees from South Kordofan and Blue Nile as they sheltered in South Sudan's Unity and Upper Nile States.

On 11 November a Khartoum-backed militia attacked a Southern military base in Kuek, Upper Nile, South Sudan. Many have been killed and wounded.

Satellite images reveal that Khartoum is establishing and supplying forward bases and massing militias along the border ready for a full-scale 'oil war'. Please pray for Sudan's Christians, in the North and in the South. May God be their fortress, deliverer and peace [Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission]

Kenya

On November 5^th suspected Islamic extremists with Somalia's al Shabaab militia threw a grenade into the home of the church guard of an East Africa Pentecostal Church (EAPC) congregation outside Garissa, Kenya. An 8-year-old girl, the youngest daughter of church elder, serving as the church guard, and another member of the church, were killed. Another three were severely injured. The pastor of the Church was also threatened the day after the attack. Garissa is the provincial headquarters of Kenya's North Eastern Province, which is predominantly Muslim. According to CDNS, Muslims restrict churches in Garissa in various ways: Christians are not allowed to conduct prayers, sing or use musical instruments in rented homes owned by Muslims; no teaching of Christian Religious Education in schools is allowed, only Islamic Religious Knowledge is taught [Compass Direct News Service].

Egypt

On October 16^th in Mallawi, Minya province, Egypt, seventeen-year-old Ayman Nabil Labib, a Coptic Christian, was murdered following a classroom altercation. Egyptian media reported the incident as non-sectarian however his parents reported that the boy was murdered 'in cold blood because he refused to take off his crucifix as ordered by his Muslim teacher'. Two Muslim students were detained in connection with the murder and further investigation is claimed to be on the way. The grave concern however according to VOM is that local officials may be "hiding" the evidence and trying to influence witnesses, claiming that the attack took place as a result of friction between students [Voice of the Martyrs Canada]

Iran

The death sentence imposed on Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani of the Full Gospel Church of Iran affirms that the death penalty is mandatory for apostates under Sharia law. However, Yousef claims that he was never a Muslim by choice, conviction or regular practice, and that he should therefore not be regarded as apostate. The Revolutionary Tribunal of Gilan Province which sentenced Yousef has been instructed by the Supreme Court to investigate his life during his formative years. Pastor Yousef is under extreme pressure to renounce his faith in Christ, which would spare his life and spare the Iranians the odium of executing a Christian whose plight is attracting international attention. Other believers remaining in detention in Iran include Vahik, Moorallah, Farshid and Ibrahim. There are serious concerns about the conditions of their detention, and Vahik is reported to be in poor health. [Christian Faith and Freedom]

Worldwide

A report by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life indicates that religious harassment is on the rise across the world. According to the findings, people of faith have been under increasing attack by their government, and social hostilities toward them have escalated as well.

The full report is available at http://pewforum.org/Government/Rising-Restrictions-on-Religion%282%29.aspx

 

10 August 2011

Iran

Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani of the Full Gospel Church of Iran was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal in October 2010 for apostasy and evangelizing Muslims. A convert to Christianity from Islam, Pastor Nadarkhani had also questioned Muslim monopoly in the public education of Iranian children. He appealed to the Supreme Court against the death sentence, but on June 22nd the sentence was upheld. Unless he renounces his faith in Christ and returns to Islam he could be executed at any time. The last known judicial execution of a Christian for apostasy in Iran occurred in December 1990 when Reverend Hossein Soodmand was hanged.

As Pastor Nadarkhani’s wife, Fatemeh, two young sons, and his congregation face this tragic injustice, influential cleric, Ayatollah Yadzi, claims that Iranian authorities are not sufficiently disciplined and are not doing enough to stem the growth of Christian house churches [Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission]

Iraq

Horrendous crimes perpetrated against religious minorities in Iraq have been verified by international human rights monitors Amnesty International, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the Assyrian International News Agency and Minority Rights Group International. Incidents of murder, bombing, kidnap, theft, assault and extortion have escalated since 2003, causing an estimated one million Christians to flee from Iraq, the ancestral homeland of Assyrians for over 2,000 years. Fear of persecution and death prevent their return. The 400,000 Christians remaining in Iraq report that terrorist attacks against their communities continue with impunity. [Christian Faith and Freedom]

Chaldean Archbishop Sako of Kirkuk has urged police and security forces, both local and national, to undertake joint action “so that all people of good will can work together to protect defenceless citizens”. [Assyrian International News Agency, Middle East Concern]

Nigeria

Boko Haram, 'the Nigerian Taliban', formalised its links with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in mid-June 2010. Consequently terror has escalated. On 16 June 2011 Boko Haram perpetrated Nigeria's first ever suicide bombing, attacking the Police Headquarters in the capital Abuja, killing eight. Whilst some church bombing plots have been foiled, four Christians died when militants bombed the All Christian Fellowship Mission in Selija, Niger State, 40km from Abuja, on Sunday 10 July. Boko Haram is reportedly planning a massive terror campaign to coincide with the 31 July anniversary of the death in custody of its founder-leader Sheikh Mohammed Yusuf. It has warned Muslims to avoid Christians, police and government employees, declaring these all to be 'infidels … marked for elimination'. Please pray that God will protect his people. [Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission]

Vietnam

Human rights activist Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest, was arrested by police in the diocese of Hue, central Viet Nam, on the afternoon of 25 July and taken back to prison by ambulance. He had been allowed out for medical treatment in March 2010, after he suffered a stroke and was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Father Nguyen Van Ly, who is 64, was serving an eight-year prison term in Ba Sao prison, Nam Ha province in northern Viet Nam when he had a stroke in November 2009. He received neither a proper diagnosis nor adequate medical care. The authorities sent him to Prison Hospital 198 in Ha Noi two weeks later, but returned him to prison on 11 December, though he was still partially paralyzed.

On 15 March 2010, Father Ly was granted a 12-month “temporary suspension” of his prison sentence so that he could receive medical treatment. Until his recent arrest he had been living under surveillance at a house for retired priests in the diocese of the Archbishop of Hue.

The authorities have claimed that Father Ly has been returned to prison because he had distributed documents critical of government policies and incited demonstrations. He is said to be in poor health.

Father Ly had been sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment in March 2007 for “conducting propaganda” against the state, with five years’ house arrest on release. He is one of the founders of the internet-based pro-democracy movement Bloc 8406, and has helped to set up other political groups, which are banned by the Vietnamese authorities. He also secretly published a dissident journal, To Do Ngon Luan (Freedom and Democracy).

Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience. He has spent around 17 years in prison since the 1970s because of his calls for respect for human rights and freedom of expression.

Please send the following letter or something similar to:

His Excellency Mr Vinh Thanh HOANG
Ambassador
Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
6 Timbarra Crescent
O'Malley ACT 2606
Fax: (02) 6286 4534
Email: vembassy@webone.com.au

1 July 2011

Sudan

Violence exploded on 5 June in Sudan's South Kordofan State, the only North Sudan state with oil. South Kordofan's Nuba Mountains are populated by some 50 non-Arab, mostly non-Muslim Nuba tribes. Sudan Armed Forces and Arab militias have been conducting door-to-door 'sweep' operations, killing everyone they suspect opposes the Northern regime. In the capital, Kadugli, the Catholic, Episcopal and Church of Christ churches have been looted and torched. According to Episcopal Bishop Elnail, 'Churches and pastors were directly targeted.' Hundreds of thousands of predominantly Christian Nuba have been displaced by aerial bombardment and a violent ethnic cleansing campaign. Once again, as in the early 1990s, the Arab-Islamist regime in Khartoum has closed the Nuba Mountains off to all humanitarian aid as it seeks the genocide of the 'blacks' through the use of starvation as a weapon of mass destruction. [Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission]

South Sudan is scheduled to become an independent country on July 9, but the status of Abyei -- a fertile, oil-producing area claimed by both sides -- and other unresolved questions have complicated the secession. Khartoum seized Abyei with tanks and troops on May 21, causing tens of thousands of people to flee and drawing an international outcry. Abyei is used all year by south-linked Dinka Ngok people and for part of the year by northern Misseriya nomads. Ethiopia will soon start deploying its troops to the Abyei region of Sudan to help in the demilitarisation of the volatile area. [Reuters]

Zimbabwe

The Bishop of Harare, Rt Rev Chad Gandiya, issued a prayer request on June 2nd for the Anglican Church in Harare. After seizing control of 40% of all Anglican properties in Zimbabwe, the pro-Mugabe faction led by excommunicated bishop Nolbert Kunonga has begun forcibly evicting Anglican pastors from their home-churches. Kunonga is supported by a totally partisan police force. On 1 June police arrested 16 Anglicans, including priests and three women, who had helped Rev Julius Zimbudzana resist a totally illegal forcible eviction from his home. This was the third time within a week a pastor had been illegally evicted. All those arrested have been bailed. However, there is growing concern that the situation is deteriorating. [AEA RLC]

Burma

Because the ethnic-religious minorities do not have enough confidence in the junta to disarm, the regime has branded them 'separatist' and tensions have escalated. Conflict has erupted in devoutly Christian Kachin State which borders China to the north.

The trigger has been China's building of two hydropower mega-dams in Kachin, against the will of the Kachin people who protest that social and environmental damage will be catastrophic. With China wanting to build at least seven more such mega-dams in Kachin State, the Burmese junta's interest in controlling Kachin lands will intensify. Thousands of Christian Kachin are on the run and at least 50 have been killed. [AEA RLC]

Egypt

On 23 June hundreds of fundamentalist Salafi Muslims attacked the Coptic Church of St George in the village of Bani Ahmed in Minya Province, Upper Egypt, during Mass. The Salafis demanded that the priest, Fr George Thabet, either leave the village or be handed over to be killed. For months now, the Salafis have been protesting development work done on the church. After a five-hour siege, the Army intervened, quelling the rioting and escorting Fr Thabet out of the village.

On 25 June a rumour spread through the village of Awlad Khalaf in Suhaj Province, Upper Egypt, that the home being built by a Coptic Christian, Wahib Halim Attia, was actually a church. Consequently, a mob of some 200 Muslims responded by attacking Mr Attia. After looting and bulldozing his home, they moved on to loot and torch another six Coptic-owned homes. Attia was subsequently arrested. Reportedly, local Muslims intervened to return many of the looted possessions. (AEA RLC)

 

15 April 2011

Nigeria

Nigerians will go to polls three times during April: Nowhere will poll results be contested more fiercely than in flashpoint Jos, the capital of Plateau State in Nigeria's volatile Middle Belt. The battle for Jos has intensified over the past two decades, with attacks on the Christian community escalating markedly. Tensions are soaring in advance of the elections. On 11 March Special Task Force officers seized a truck laden with ammunition and sophisticated bomb-making equipment as it crossed from Kaduna into Plateau bound for Jos. Investigations are underway.  

On Sunday morning 20 March two Hausa Muslim would-be bombers died when three of the bombs they were transporting exploded en route. The massive blast occurred at Dualla junction in Nasarawa, Jos North Local Government Area, destroying shops and rocking the nearby ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All) and COCIN (Church of Christ in Nigeria) churches which are known now were the intended targets. The regional headquarters of the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries (MFM) was also targeted, only that bomb failed to detonate and was removed by the bomb squad. 

The Dualla junction explosion disrupted a Hausa service and an English service and sent worshippers fleeing in panic. Doubtless the Hausa service was comprised of mostly converts from Islam, whilst the English service was probably mainly ethnic-religious minority Christians. Two others died in the subsequent chaos. As analysts universally note, the battle for Jos is between 'indigenes' and 'settlers'. However, it cannot be denied that the battle is exacerbated by the settlers' increasingly fundamentalist, Islam, which demands they resist assimilation while pursuing political domination and territorial expansion. [Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission]

Egypt

On the 4th of March, a Muslim mob carried out a destructive attack at a church building in Sool, a village south of Cairo, after a local imam, Sheik Ahmed Abu Al-Dahab, issued the call during Friday afternoon prayers to “kill all the Christians”. The Church building was set ablaze and completely destroyed, however the priest managed to narrowly escape the attack. According to CDNS, on 6th of March, roughly 2,000 people gathered outside the Radio and Television Building in Cairo to protest the attack which Copts view as a long-standing government refusal to address or even acknowledge the persecution of Christians in Egypt. [Compass Direct News Service]

Ethiopia

On the 2nd of March Muslim extremists killed one Christian, wounded several others, burned down 55 churches, 30 Christian homes, a Bible school, a Christian orphanage and a church office in Asendabo, Western Ethiopia. The violence started after Muslims falsely accused Christians of desecrating the Qur’an. More than 3,000 Christians are said to be displaced due to the violence. According to VOM the local police and government officials did nothing to stop the attackers. However the federal government officials had then intervened and taken steps to remove the local Muslim administrator for his failure to protect Christians. [Voice of the Martyrs, Canada]

Pakistan

Mr Shahbaz Bhatti, Minister for Minority Affairs and Human Rights in Pakistan, was assassinated on the 2nd of March, by suspected Islamic extremists from Pakistan’s Taliban and al Qaeda. Shahbaz Bhatti was Pakistan’s only cabinet-level Christian and was an outspoken critic of the country’s widely condemned “blasphemy” laws; for that reason he had received many death threats by Islamic Militant Organizations and had requested higher levels of security which apparently was not provided. The murder of Shahbaz Bhatti comes two months after Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was killed by his bodyguard for supporting Asia Noreen (also known as Asia Bibi), the first Christian woman sentenced to death in Pakistan on blasphemy charges. In a recent interview with the BBC, Bhatti had said he was “ready to die for a cause” as a Christian. “I am living for my community and suffering people, and I will die to defend their rights,” he said. “These threats and warnings cannot change my opinion and principles.” [Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission]

China

Beijing police have detained at least a dozen worshippers from a Christian house church who were trying to hold services in a public space after they were evicted from their usual place of worship.

Leaders of the unregistered Shouwang house church had told parishioners to gather at an open-air venue in Beijing for Sunday services, but police taped off the area and took away people who showed up to take part. About a dozen people were escorted by police onto an empty city bus and driven away.

Christians in China are required to worship in state-run churches. [Sydney Morning Herald]