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Speak Out Against Persecution news 2008

20 June 2008

Iran

Iranian authorities are intent on cracking down on non-Muslim religious activity, demonstrated in a series of raids on the homes of Christians and Baha’i followers.

On May 11, police in the southern Iran city of Shiraz arrested members of three Christian families who converted from Islam and confiscated their books and computers. The detained Christians were identified as Homayon Shokohie Gholamzadeh, 48, and his wife Fariba Nazemiyan Pur, 40; and Amir Hussein Bab Anari, 25, and his wife Fatemeh Shenasa, 25. Although the two wives were released the same day of their arrest, Anari was detained until May 14, and Gholamzadeh remains jailed. Raids on other families followed a day later.

Six Baha'i leaders in Iran were then arrested on May 14 and taken to the notorious Evin prison in a sweep that is ominously similar to episodes in the 1980s when scores of Iranian Baha'i leaders were summarily rounded up and killed. “We protest in the strongest terms the arrests of our fellow Baha'is in Iran,” said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations. “Their only crime is their practice of the Baha'i Faith’. [Tears of the Oppressed]

Algeria

In February 2006 Algerian President Bouteflika signed the controversial 'Presidential Order Concerning Religion' which severely restricts Christian worship and practice. The Order was then passed by the upper and lower houses of parliament without debate. However for two years it sat on the books without being implemented. Then in early 2008 the government finally caved in to pressure from Islamist groups and a crackdown began.

On 29 March 2008, police in Tiaret city, 240km (150 miles) south- west of Algiers, found Bibles in the handbag of an Algerian Christian woman named Habiba Kouider (35). She was subsequently charged with 'practising non-Muslim religious rites without a licence'. The case has attracted considerable local and international attention and condemnation. Writing on 27 May -- the day the verdict was due to be delivered -- Algerian dissident journalist Arezki Ait Larbi called on the government to stop the 'witchcraft trials' against Christians. He mocked the government's ridiculous 'conspiracy theories' and argued the case for 'fundamental liberties over fascist tendencies'. Regarding Habiba Kouider's trial he said: 'Whatever the verdict, Habiba is already a symbol of courage and liberty.' The ruling has been postponed.

On 1 June police in Tiaret harangued Habiba in the street for two hours, subjecting her to a humiliating public body search and interrogation. Then on 3 June, the Tiaret court handed down rulings regarding four Christians on trial for the crime of seeking to convert Muslims to Christianity: Rachid Muhammad Essaghir received a six-month suspended sentence and a 200,000-dinar (US$3,300) fine, whilst Chabane Beikel, Abdelhak Rebeih and Djillali Saibi were each given two-month suspended sentences and 100,000-dinar (US$1,650) fines. Another case against Rachid Muhammad Essaghir (37) started on 18 June in Tissemsilt, 175km (110 miles) south-west of Algiers. He and an associate, Djallal, had been charged with 'distributing documents to shake the faith of Muslims' after Bibles were found in their car in June 2007.

On 7 June, Algeria's Minister of Religious Affairs, Mr Ghlamalah Bouabdellah, attempted to justify the repression by accusing Christian groups of collaborating with foreign elements; destabilising the country by sowing divergences between people; and seeking the political objective of opposing the ruling regime. He equated them with criminals and terrorists and promised to fight them 'the same way we fight terrorism'. Just days earlier, the head of the government-appointed Higher Islamic Council, Abu Amrane Chikh, had made the same accusations. According to Chikh, 'This is a new form of colonisation that is hidden behind freedom of worship.’

Algeria has a presidential election scheduled for April 2009, so this is a strategic time for debates about Islam, religious liberty and the future of Algeria. [World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Religious Liberty]

Nigeria

When two teenage Christian girls were rescued from their Muslim attackers, their release sparked a rampage in which six churches were destroyed.

Mary Chikwodi Okoye, 15, and Uche Edward, 14, were in foster care in Ningi, Bauchi state, Nigeria, when Muslim men kidnapped them. When they were found to be missing, the Christian community organized a search for the girls. Word got out that the girls were being held in another state—Kano—by a Muslim leader, in the town of Wudil. They were to be forcibly converted to Islam and married off to Muslim men. When it became known that the Christians were coming to secure the girls’ release, the leader in Wudil sent them back to the Emir of Ningi. At this point police intervened and recovered the girls on May 12.

In protest against police intervention, a paramilitary group of Islamic extremists then went on a rampage and attacked six churches, causing extensive damage to property. The group responsible was an arm of Kano state’s Sharia Commission, used for enforcing Islamic law. Following the incident, church leaders reported a decline in church attendance. Apparently there have been at least 13 other girls kidnapped from Ningi. Some have never been recovered and are still living in relationships with Muslim men. It is alleged that the mastermind behind the abductions is a local Muslim leader named Alhaji Bala Gambo. [Tears of the Oppressed]

Turkey

The trial of five young Turkish men accused of killing three Christian workers in a publishing house in April last year is still in progress. In testimony presented to the court, the suspects have blamed one another for the killings, saying they were not personally responsible for the deaths.

In other evidence, a letter from another convicted criminal has come forward, in which he stated he had been offered $300,000 in 2005 to kill anyone he found in the publishing house. This man, Metin Dogan, had been involved with an ultranationalist youth organization. He said that he was jailed on another charge before he could commit the deed, and that the job had passed in the meantime to Emre Gunaydin [Tears of the Oppressed]

Iraq

In a clash of values with Iraq’s Muslim culture, Christians in Iraq have deplored the death sentence handed down to the killer of Chaldean Archbishop Paulus Faraj Rahho. The Iraqi Central Criminal Court charged al-Qaeda member Ahmed Ali Ahmed with killing Mosul's archbishop, whose body was found in a shallow grave on March 13.

Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk Louis Sako openly condemned the sentence. “We are not satisfied with this decision, because the church is against the death penalty,” he told Agence France-Presse. Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni said that Ahmed should be punished for his crime but that executing him would be pointless, adding violence to violence. “If somebody is killed I think there is no use in it for the Iraqi people,” the Chaldean church leader said. “Our principles are love and pardon and reconciliation.” [Tears of the Oppressed]

A new report by Amnesty International, Rhetoric and reality: the Iraqi refugee crisis, says that the international community continues to fail to respond to the crisis in a meaningful way. Countries like Jordan and Syria host most of the refugees but are simply not equipped to meet the needs of all those arriving.

West Papua

According to the International Crisis Group, Indonesian Papua has seen periodic clashes between pro-independence supporters and government forces, but conflict between Muslim and Christian communities could also erupt unless rising tensions are effectively managed. Violence was narrowly averted in Mano­kwari and Kaimana in West Papua province in 2007, but bitterness remains on both sides. The key fac­tors are continuing Muslim migration from elsewhere in Indonesia; the emergence of new, exclusivist groups in both religious communities that have hardened the perception of the other as enemy; the lasting impact of the Maluku conflict; and the impact of developments outside Papua. National and local officials need to ensure that no discriminatory local regulations are enacted, and no activities by exclusivist religious organisations are supported by government funds. More at: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5485&l=1

18 Apr 2008

China

Uighur Christians in the far-west Xinjiang Autonomous Region appear to be caught up in the central government's crackdown on anything they fear could cause unrest, dissent and embarrassment ahead of the Olympics. The government fears Tibet-style unrest in Xinjiang where the Islamic revival of the 1990s has stimulated ethnic and religious intolerance, separatism and the threat of terrorism. Three Uighur Christians, all patriotic with no separatist sympathies, have been arrested in recent months. Two of them, Osman Imin and Alimjan Yimit, have been sent to prison labour camps while another has been accused of threatening national security. Please pray for the Church in China, particularly in Xinjiang, and that the Chinese authorities will have discernment and wisdom as they tackle complex issues. Pray that God will sustain and protect the three Christians, their families and their fellowship groups; that the Church in Xinjiang, especially that the Han Chinese believers will advocate for the rights of their Uighur fellow believers and help meet their needs - despite the cost. [World Evangelical Alliance - Religious Liberty News & Analysis.]

India

Easter celebrations in Bangalore and Shimoga District in India were marred by violence when Hindu extremists stormed services at two different churches on Easter Sunday, beating at least 16 Christians, including two pastors. A mob of more than 150 Hindu nationalists launched an attack on a Pentecostal church, accusing the church of 'forced' conversions. The attackers beat 35-year-old pastor Mandya Nagraj and five others. They also vandalized church property, including the church's roof and musical instruments. Police arrested six of the attackers and agreed to provide protection to the pastor. The Pentecostal church, attended by around 60 Christians, has been functioning for six years with no evidence of attempting to convert people by force or fraud.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen assailants— led by the Hindu priest of a local temple— attacked Christians of an independent church in Byapanahalli in the suburbs of Bangalore. The aggressors beat 30-year-old pastor P. Isaac and nine believers, including a 17-year-old girl identified only as Jency. The girl was rushed to a hospital for first aid. Following the attack, the assailants went to the homes of a few believers and warned them against attending the church. They also took Pastor Isaac to the police station and sought to register a complaint against him for 'forced' conversions. Police interrogated the pastor and subsequently released him. Please pray for the pastors that they many make a full and speedy recovery; that Indian Christians may be able to worship freely, especially during religious festivals; give thanks for the intervention of the police in the attacks. [ Tears of the Oppressed ]

Uzbekistan

A group of believers in Samarkand was arrested at a meeting in one of their houses on 3 April. The police confiscated all books, note-books and a laptop which they found in the house. The Christians present were severely beaten and then all were released except one named Bobur. Bobur was released after six days' imprisonment on 9 April. All criminal charges against him have been dropped. The only charges against him now are administrative charges for holding religious meetings without official registration. If there is a court hearing within the next month, Bobur still faces the possibility of 15 days detention or a large fine. Please pray for Christians in Uzbekistan who still face increasing persecution and harassment from authorities. [Barnabas Fund]

Bosnia

Bosnia and Herzegovina 's Federation Anti-Terror Unit on 20 March arrested five men: Rijad Rustempasic, Muhamed Meco, Abdulah Handzic and Edis Velic, all in their early thirties and from Sarajevo, along with Muhamed Ficer, from the central Bosnian city of Bugojno, who was released from custody after questioning. The four arrested in Sarajevo were members of the local Wahhabi movement - the Saudi-based and financed order following a strict interpretation of Islam.Some of the suspects were already well known to the police for their radical activities. The group had been under surveillance for several months by the Federation Anti-Terror Unit and the State Prosecutor's Office. Federation Anti-Terror Unit and the State Prosecutor's Office have strong evidence that Rustempasic's group was planning attacks on Catholic Churches. [World Evangelical Alliance - Religious Liberty News & Analysis.]

Turkey

Plaintiff lawyers in the case of three Christian workers murdered in a Christian publishing house in Malatya, Turkey, have had to tolerate further delays after an important fax “went missing”. The legal proceedings, which have been surrounded by controversy and corruption, have been postponed for another month after court clerks failed to correctly file the lawyers' request to replace judges accused of bias.

The three victims of the killings, Necati Aydin, Ugur Yuksel, and Tilmann Geske of Zirve Publishing House were tortured and slaughtered a year ago by youths who carried in their pockets written notes that the killings were religiously and politically motivated. Evidence now suggests that the young men were co-opted by the 'Ergenekon' network—a group classified by the Turkish government as a “terrorist organisation”. It is believed that Ergenekon is also responsible for the murders of Armenia journalist Hrant Dink and Catholic priest Andrea Santoro. Turkish news outlets have reported that recent police raids uncovered evidence that Ergenekon was seeking to stage a coup in 2009 and is acting to destabilize Turkish society in advance. [More at http://tearsoftheoppressed.org/content/view/196/135/ ]

Iraq

Iraqi Christians discovered the body of Chaldean Archbishop Paulus Faraj Rahho, 65, buried in a cemetery, just 14 days after he was kidnapped. On February 29, armed militants gunned down his bodyguards and driver and took him by force, just after he finished presiding over the Stations of the Cross service at Holy Spirit parish in the city of Mosul. The kidnappers later issued impossible ransom demands in exchange for his release, increasing an initial demand of $1 million to $2.5 million. In addition, they demanded that that Iraqi Christians appeal to the West to supply arms to Iraqi militias and help secure the release of Sunni Arab prisoners in the northern Kurdish region. 

At the time of his abduction, the Archbishop was without his heart medication and the cause of his death remains uncertain. It is possible that he may have died in custody as a result of his illness. The kidnappers told church authorities that the clergyman had been very ill and later indicated where his body would be found. 

Despite many threats to his welfare, the Archbishop had refused to leave Mosul—even after the murder of his right-hand man, Father Ragheed Ghanni, in May last year. Fr Ghanni was killed for refusing to convert to Islam.

In other news from Iraq, the last remaining family of the Mandaean religious sect in the Alaza area of Kut was massacred by rocketfire into their home on March 27. Ten members of the family died, including three small children. One family member, Maayud Abdul Gatta, 33, is in hospital with serious injuries. The family had been harassed for some time by local Muslim militants who wanted them to leave. [Tears of the Oppressed]

Further information has come from The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), who have given a serious warning of the extinction of the small religious community of the Mandaeans in Iraq. 'Islamist terrorists continue to put their dreadful threats against people of other faiths into practice as brutally as on the 2nd February in Kut in the Alaza region, some 160 km south-west of Baghdad. There ten members of a Mandaic family were killed by a rocket aimed at their house and one Mandaean was seriously injured', reported workers of the GfbV Kurdistan/Iraq Section by telephone from Arbil. The family had received several threats from Islamists. This was confirmed the associations of Mandaeans in Australia.

'The effect of this dreadful attack against such a small religious community as the Mandaeans is devastating', said the GfbV Near-East correspondent, Kamal Sido, in Göttingen. This could mean the final exodus of the last members of this old religious community, of whom there remain according to the latest estimates at most 5000. In 2003 there were still about 30,000 Mandaeans living in Iraq. Some 25,000 Mandaeans have already fled to neighbouring countries to escape from murder, abduction and rape. There are shocking examples of even children and teenagers being attacked. [GfbV]

Iraqi Christians and Mandaeans need our support. Please write to your federal member, using your own words. You might like to mention some of the above information.

Sample Letter

Dear …

I am writing to you to convey my deep concern for the plight of religious minorities in Iraq, particularly Christians and Mandaeans who are suffering terribly at the hand of mujahadeen fighters.

I ask the Australian Government to take up their cause in the international arena. Prime Minister Rudd, in an address to the Australian church community last year, specifically mentioned the persecution of Christians in Iraq as an issue of special concern to him.

The religious minorities in Iraq have no protection whatever. Many will not take up arms as a matter of principle, in accordance with their faith — in stark contrast to the militant Islamists controlling their communities. Those believers who leave Iraq often face destitution in their new country, where they and their children have little access to employment and education. Most of them have fled to Syria and Jordan, where they are still a minority in a Muslim country.

Please convey my distress over this matter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and encourage him publicly to address these issues as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

11 Feb 2008

Iraq

In early January, churches were bombed in Mosul, Baghdad and Kirkuk. In Mosul a monastery and orphanage were also bombed. A Chaldean church in the northern city of Mosul was the target of the tenth bombing of Christian churches and facilities. On 18 January an abandoned car exploded outside the church building inflicting damage and minor injuries to a policeman and a woman. Though the extent of damage was minimal, this bombing adds to a growing concern for the safety and welfare of Iraq 's Christian minority. In response to the bomb attacks, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki vowed government support to ensure safety for Christians in Iraq . Please pray that this commitment will become a reality and for no harm to fall upon the righteous .

Canon Andrew White, ministering at St George's Anglican Church in the heart of Baghdad, told CBN, ‘The two largest Christian neighbourhoods of Dora and Karada are now devoid of all Christians. I have 1300 members in my church in Baghdad and we have six men left. All the rest have been kidnapped or killed.' Canon White says he has never loved a congregation as much as he loves his congregation of women of children in Baghdad. He says many have been driven from their homes and now live in the churches, which struggle to supply their basic daily needs. [ Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin ]

An account of the plight of women in Basra by CNN (broadcast by SBS on 9/2) can be viewed at http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/08/iraq.women/index.html

China

In a victory for the rule of law, four male and five female church leaders were released from labour camps after their convictions were overturned. The nine were originally detained in August 2007 when they were found having a worship service in the home of Ms Qin Daomin. The four men who are released are Mr Wang Caizhang (34), Mr Ma Zhao (35), Mr Yang Situan (39) and Mr. Du Dongliang (32). The five women are Ms Qin Daofang (40), Ms Hu Rong (42), Ms Li Mei (42), Ms Ren Xianxue (35) and Ms Qin Daomin (33). Mr Yang Situan and Ms. Ren Xianxue are husband and wife with three school-age children. Qin Daofang and Qin Daomin are two biological sisters and their father Mr Qin Hongjun (65) was sentenced to 10 days administrative detention for hosting the Sunday worship service at his home. He was also severely beaten. [ Tears of the Oppressed ]

Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan the authorities have dropped criminal charges against the leaders of Grace Church. They were falsely accused of keeping large quantities of psychotropic medicines in the church, when in fact the medicine was a commonly used cough mixture belonging to just one person in the church. Regardless, they still face the threat that the church building they have owned since 1999 may be seized. Other Protestant churches have strong concerns that the government may reconsider the issue of ownership of their church buildings as well. Praise God that the church leaders were cleared of the false charges and please pray for God's justice in the situation with the church building.

Pray that mass-media propaganda against Protestant churches will be ineffective and will cease. [ Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin ]

Pakistan

Martha Bibi - who served a term of three months and 13 days in jail on charges of blasphemy - went to live with her cousin, Mushtaq, after she was released on bail in May last year. In doing so, Martha was concealing herself, as it was feared she would be attacked by militants who wanted to execute their own justice against her. However, the plan was discovered, and Mushtaq received a threatening letter accusing him of ‘sheltering blasphemers' and telling him to convert to Islam or die. To the best of our knowledge, however, the threats have not been carried out. [ Tears of the Oppressed ]

Turkey

Father Adriano Franchini, 65, was stabbed by a 19-year-old Muslim youth outside St Anthony's Catholic church in Izmir in mid-December. The stabbing drew blood but it was not a deep wound and the priest was released from hospital the following day. The youth was arrested and told police he had been influenced by an episode of a TV series “Valley of the Wolves” which portrayed Christian missionaries as political infiltrators who pay poor families to convert to Christianity. Turkish Christians around the country are still nervous after the attacks last April.

Scandal has followed the trial of five men who confessed to murdering three Christians in Turkey last April. The court hearing into the murders of Necati Aydin, Ugur Yuksel and Tilmann Geske began in late November, 2007. The three Christians were workers in a Zirve Publishing House - a Christian literature distribution company in Malatya. A band of Islamic extremists overpowered them and slit their throats in their workplace. Those who confessed to the crimes later admitted the attacks were religiously motivated.

Lawyers for the families of the deceased have strongly criticized irregularities in the prosecution's case - including the fact that 16 of the 31 files cover the victims' missionary work rather than the killers' activities. In addition, numerous mobile phone records indicate the killers had regular contact with members of the police force, the military, a member of the Nationalist Movement Party, and even a chief public prosecutor. Problems were compounded by the fact that police who attended the crime scene put the victims' blood-stained clothes into a single plastic bag, rendering them useless as forensic evidence. Also astounding was the fact that at least 10 days' worth of security videotape recorded in the hospital room of one of the killers (who was injured during the crime) was erased by security officials. It is likely that the tapes would have identified others involved with the crime.

Turkish media and the public were outraged by these and many other revelations, and subsequently the government announced a judicial inquiry into the alleged involvement of public officials in the murders. Certainly the mounting evidence suggests at this stage that the young men may have been used by others to commit the execution-style killings.

In recent years, Turkey has made an effort to improve its human rights record, though such efforts have been met with a backlash from extremist groups. The prevailing culture in Turkey means that there are ingrained prejudices against Christians in many communities. [ Tears of the Oppressed ]

You might like to write to the Turkish Ambassador in your own words, using the following model and extra information in the report above.