January 5, 2009
News from the Frontlines of Persecution
BANGLADESH
CHRISTIAN FAMILY BEATEN, CUT - AND FACES CHARGES
December 8 (Compass Direct News) - The harassment that Bangladeshi converts from Islam face from Muslim neighbors in this southeastern area near Cox's Bazar can take serious turns - as it did last month, when an attack by about a dozen Muslims left a Christian family with machete wounds.
Begum told Compass she had borrowed 2,000 taka (US$30) last year from a Muslim neighbor and this year paid her back with interest. She told the group of Muslim neighbors that she would pay no more, she said, and they began beating her. "Suddenly they got equipped with sticks, iron rods, knives and machetes," she said. "Several places of my head were lacerated by machetes and iron rods. They also cut two of my fingers when I tried to fend off their attacks. They beat me in several places of my body by iron rods and sticks." The family informed local governing council members about the attack, but they demanded 20,000 taka (US$300) to settle the matter and also threatened them, she said. "The local council officials also told us that if we file any case in the police station, our houses will be burnt to ashes and we will be evicted from the locality."
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BANGLADESH
BUDDHIST CLERICS TAKE CHRISTIANS CAPTIVE
December 18 (Compass Direct News) - Buddhist clerics and local council officials are holding 13 newly converted Christians captive in a pagoda in a southeastern mountainous district of Bangladesh in an attempt to forcibly return them to Buddhism. A spokesman for the Parbatta Adivasi (Hill Tract) Christian Church told Compass on condition of anonymity that local government council officials in Jorachuri sub-district in Rangamati district, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Dhaka, are helping the Buddhist monks to hold the Christians against their will. "The 13 tribal Christians were taken forcefully to a pagoda on Dec. 10 to accept Buddhism against their will," he said. "They will be kept in a pagoda for 10 days to perform the rituals to be Buddhists - their heads were shaved, and they were given yellow saffron robes to dress in." Fearing for their lives, the source said, some area Christians have gone into hiding. Mogdhan Union Council Chairman Arun Kanti Chakma, the source said, warned that Christian converts would be ostracized, beaten, or killed. "The chairman threatened to beat the Christians unless they change their faith to Buddhism," he said. "The chairman also threatened, If you become Christian again, we will not keep you alive.'"
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BANGLADESH
BUDDHISTS DRIVE CHRISTIAN FROM HOME
December 26 (Compass Direct News) - Buddhist villagers in southeastern Bangladesh's Rangamati district last week beat a young father and drove him from his house for converting to Christianity. The Buddhists in Asambosti, in the Tabalchari area some 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Dhaka, warned Sujan Chakma, 27, not to return to his home after beating him on Dec. 18. Chakma, who converted to Christianity about four months ago, has come back to his home but some nights the likelihood of attacks forces him to remain outside. He is often unable to provide for his 26-year-old wife, Shefali Chakma, and their 6-year-old son, as area residents opposed to his faith refuse to give him work as a day laborer. Chakma, his wife and son do not eat on days he does not work, he said. "They threatened me that if I come back to my home, I will be in great trouble," he said. Earlier this year in Rangamati district, Bengali Muslim settlers killed a tribal Christian for defending indigenous peoples from illegal land-grabs. On Aug. 19 Ladu Moni Chakma, 55, was stabbed repeatedly and his throat was cut at Sajek in Baghaichuri sub-district in Rangamati district after he reported to the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission how a military commander helped settle Bengali Muslims on area lands.
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CHINA
OFFICIALS REACH OUT TO HOUSE CHURCHES; RAIDS, ARRESTS CONTINUE
December 9 (Compass Direct News) - In recent months Chinese officials have attempted to build bridges with the Protestant house church movement even as police raided more unregistered congregations, arrested Christian leaders and forced at least 400 college students to swear they would stop attending such worship services. Two research institutes - one from the government - organized an unprecedented symposium on Nov. 21-22 that concluded with an agreement for house church leaders to begin a dialogue with government officials. A month earlier, the chairman of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement told a gathering of 200 Hong Kong church leaders of his desire to assist Chinese house churches and provide them with Bibles, according to Ecumenical News International. Rights groups pointed to recent raids and arrests, however, as confirmation that Chinese authorities still restrict freedom of worship for local house church Christians. Police raided a house church gathering in Tai Kang county, Henan province on Dec. 3 and arrested all 50 Christians, the China Aid Association reported on Thursday (Dec. 4). Public Security Bureau officers also raided another gathering of 50 house church believers in Xiji town, Zaozhuang city, Shandong province on Dec. 2, arresting 20 Christian leaders.
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COMOROS
CHRISTIANS OPPRESSED ON ISLANDS
Dec. 5 (Compass Direct News) - Christians on the predominantly Muslim islands of Pemba and the Comoros archipelago are beaten, detained and banished for their faith, according to church leaders who travel regularly to the Indian Ocean isles off the east coast of Africa. These violations of religious freedom, the church leaders said, threaten the survival of Christianity on Pemba and the Comoros, with fewer than 300 Christians in a combined population of 1.1 million people. Leaving Islam for Christianity accounts for most of the harm done to Christians, and this year saw an increase in such abuse as already-strained relations between the two communities deteriorated after the conversion in August of Sheikh Hijah Mohammed, leader of a key mosque in Chake-Chake, capital of Pemba. A Christian from the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar who recently visited the Comoros said those suspected to have converted from Islam to Christianity face travel restrictions and confiscation of travel documents. In the early part of this year, authorities expelled a missionary from the Comoros when they discovered he was conducting Friday prayer meetings. "The police broke into the prayer meeting, ransacked the house and found the Bibles which we had hidden before arresting us," said a source who requested anonymity. "We were detained for three months."
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EGYPT
TWO COPTS WRONGLY DETAINED, TORTURED
December 1 (Compass Direct News) - Two Coptic Christians wrongfully arrested for killing a Muslim during the May 31 attack on Abu Fana monastery in Egypt have been tortured and sent to a detention camp so authorities could try to extract a false confession, their lawyer said. Egyptian authorities sent brothers Refaat and Ibrahim Fawzy Abdo to El Wadi El Gadid Detention Camp near the Egypt-Sudan border on Nov. 22. A week earlier they were bailed out pending their court case - but never released - and held in a Mallawi police station until their transfer to the camp. The brothers' attorney, Zakary Kamal, said the timing of the murder at the monastery rules out any possibility of the two Copts having committed it. Monks at Abu Fana say the Fawazy Abdo brothers were far from the monastery at the time of the attacks. Security forces are detaining the brothers to blackmail the Coptic Church into testifying that the attack against Abu Fana monastery in Mallawi, Upper Egypt, was not religiously motivated, Kamal said. "They want the whole issue to be seen by the public as if it were an exchange of gunfire and a criminal case that had nothing to do with persecution of Christians," he told Compass. At the beginning of Refaat and Ibrahim Fawzy Abdo's captivity in June, police subjected the two men to electric shocks eight hours a day for three days to try to force them to testify that the Abu Fana monks were armed during the attack, sources said.
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EGYPT
CHRISTIAN IN MUSLIM ID CASE WINS RIGHT TO APPEAL
December 2 (Compass Direct News) - A Supreme Court judge in Egypt on Nov. 22 granted Christian Bahia El-Sisi the right to appeal her conviction for falsification of documents - a charge stemming from her official papers not identifying her as a Muslim. In addition, Judge Abdel Meged Mahmood on Nov. 25 rescinded a Sept. 23 warrant for El-Sisi's arrest, declaring that she should be free pending a final decision. The charges against El-Sisi and her sister, Shadia El-Sisi, claimed that their marriage certificates contained false information that they were Christians. Unknown to them, their religious identity officially changed 46 years ago due to their father's brief conversion to Islam. Investigation into the sisters' religious status began following a visit made to their father, Nagy El-Sisi, himself in prison for forgery. Nagy El-Sisi, who had briefly converted to Islam in 1962 before reconverting three years later, obtained a forged Christian ID because there is no official means for converting from Islam in Egypt. Under sharia (Islamic law), which heavily influences Egyptian law, the sisters are considered Muslims due to their father's temporary conversion.
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EGYPT
MUSLIM REFUSES TO GIVE CHILD TO CHRISTIAN MOTHER
December 19 (Compass Direct News) - Egyptian authorities have refused to hand over a 3-year-old girl to her Christian mother even after a court granted her custody in a legal battle with her Muslim ex-husband. Mervat Reszqallah of Tanta, 60 miles north of Cairo, was granted custody of her toddler daughter, Barthenia, by Judge Emaad Eldean Abedelhamed of the Court of Tanta on Aug. 7. Police, however, have refused to implement the court's decision to take the child from her father. Fady Farhaat Labbib converted to Islam in May of 2006 in order to divorce Reszqallah and marry another woman. He applied for custody of Barthenia in order to raise her as a Muslim. This has kept the police from doing their duty, said human rights lawyer Naguib Gobrail. "The police insisted that the daughter must follow the father, because they are afraid she will eat pork, drink wine, go to the church and be educated in the Sunday school," he said.
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INDIA
CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA FEAR VIOLENT CHRISTMAS
December 3 (Compass Direct News) - Christians in Orissa state are anticipating Christmas with fear as Hindu extremists have called for a state-wide bandh, or forced shut-down on all sectors of society, on Dec. 25 - a move that could provide Hindu extremists the pretext for attacking anyone publicly celebrating the birth of Christ. The state's chief minister has said there should be no such shut-down but stopped short of prohibiting the Hindu extremists' plan, and the Hindu extremist umbrella organization Sangh Parivar has vowed to press ahead with it, reported newspaper Outlook India on Nov. 20. Though such shut-downs were declared illegal by India's Supreme Court in 1998, the president of the Laxmanananda Saraswati Condolence Society (SLSSS) sent a threatening notice to the Orissa government on Nov. 15, warning that the Hindu extremist group would impose a bandh on Christmas unless the state government arrested those who murdered Hindu leader Laxmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 23. Ratnakar Chaini, president of SLSSS, called for the shut-down in a massive rally in Delhi on Nov. 15. Inflammatory speeches at the rally by Chaini and others led Christians to believe the shut-down would serve as the pretext for another spate of violence against those publicly celebrating Christmas. At the same time, in Orissa's Kandhamal district, more deaths of Christians have been reported in the past two weeks.
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INDIA
RECENT INCIDENTS OF PERSECUTION
Karnataka, December 19 (Compass Direct News) - Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal on Dec. 14 attacked a Christmas program of Christian social organization Helping Hands and accused the director of forcible conversion in Bangarapet, Kolar. The intolerant Hindus disrupted the program of the organization, which helps rural women and children, and accused Samuel Moses of trying to forcibly convert women and children, reported the Evangelical Fellowship of India. The extremists burned gospel literature and took Moses and his accountant to the Bangarapet police station. The Christians were detained in the police station for about nine hours, with the incident publicized on local broadcast and print media. The Christians were later released without charges. Police Inspector Chinnana Swami told Compass that the Christians were detained for questioning but police found no forcible conversion and the case has been closed. - MS
Karnataka - Hindu extremists allegedly belonging to the Hindu extremist Rakshane Vedike on Dec. 8 attacked a pastor, accusing him of forceful conversion in Ibrahim Pura, Bellary. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that at 5 p.m Assembly of God pastor N. Satyam and another Christian were on their way home from a prayer meeting organized by convert Krishna Veni when a mob of about 25 extremists led by Sidesh Mallesh and Mahendra Bhatt dragged the Christians from an auto-rickshaw, cursed them in foul language, beat them and falsely accused the pastor of forceful conversion. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that police arrived and took the Christians to the police station, where about 100 Christians later protested against the violence. The Christians were released without charges at 11:30 p.m., and the matter was settled peacefully between the two parties, EFI reported. - NC
Andhra Pradesh - Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Dec. 7 beat a pastor in Bhainsa Mandal, Adilabad district. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that at about 7 p.m. Bethel Church pastor Prabhu Das and church members identified only as Mark and Raju were on their way back from a prayer meeting when nearly 25 Hindu extremists armed with wooden batons surrounded them and angrily questioned them about their reason for coming to the village. The extremists repeatedly slapped Das and Mark and snatched Raju's bag, which contained a Bible, and the latter fled. A local pastor told Compass that on identifying Das as pastor, the extremists falsely accused him of forcible conversion and beat him up with their batons on his hands and legs. Raju phoned a Christian who came with a vehicle and took Das to a private nursing home for treatment for a fracture in his left hand. Later he was admitted to the Adilabad Government Hospital. Das has declined to file a First Information Report, saying he has forgiven his attackers. A local pastor told Compass that on Dec. 12, the Pastors' Fellowship of Adilabad presented a memorandum to the superintendent of police requesting security for pastors of the district. - NC
Madhya Pradesh - Nearly 20 Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Dec. 5 beat pastors Pangala Bhai and Limba Bhai in Palasapara village in Meghasah Tehsil. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that at about 3 p.m. extremists surrounded Pangala and Lima of Indian Evangelical Team as they were returning home from a prayer meeting. Using foul, abusive language, the extremists falsely accused them of forceful conversion, beat them and robbed a mobile phone and cash. The village council chief took the injured pastors to a private hospital. The pastors have not filed a case against the attackers, saying they have decided to forgive them, EFI reported. - NC
Punjab - Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal on Dec. 2 attacked two Operation Mobilization (OM) workers in Sangur. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reported that the extremists attacked Pani Garhi and Kiran Bhai as they were distributing gospel tracts in the area. OM men's team leader Imocha Naorem told Compass that the extremists took the Christians to the police station after verbally abusing and slapping them. Police refused to file a complaint but gave a stern warning to the extremists not to disturb the Christians again. - MS
KarKarnataka - Hindu extremists on Nov. 26 accused pastor Vantakesh Nayak of forceful conversion and beat him along with four other Christians in Davanagere. The All India Christian Council reported that the Christians had gone to a nearby village to open up a new shop with prayer when the extremists stormed in and assaulted them, tearing their shirts. The intolerant Hindus filed a police complaint of forceful conversion against the pastor in Honnalli police station. Investigating Officer Jai Laxman told Compass that the Christians were detained only as a preventative measure, that they have been released and that the case is closed. - MS
Andhra Pradesh - Hindu extremists on Nov. 25 attacked a pastor, accused him of forceful conversion and vandalized his vehicle in Devarakonda, Telangana. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that pastor Srinivas Naik and two Christians, K. Raju and one identified only as Naresh, were screening the Jesus film at DNT government hostel with prior permission of the hostel warden. As the Christian team was about to leave the extremists surrounded them and pulled them down from their vehicle. The police arrived at the scene and managed to stop the extremists from burning the vehicle. The team members were arrested under Section 295(A) of the Indian penal code for "hurting religious feelings" and were later released on bail. - MS
Madhya Pradesh - Hindu extremists on Nov. 24 attacked and abducted a pastor in Mandla district. Gospel for Asia (GFA) missionary pastor Nandiram Chauhan had gone to conduct a prayer service in the morning when 10 Hindu extremists on bikes began harassing him, a GFA representative told Compass. They snatched the pastor's bicycle from him, as well as his mobile phone and gospel tracts, forced him onto one of their bikes and headed towards a forest where about 150 extremists waited. They locked him in the room of a structure there. At 8 p.m. about 20 Hindu extremists entered his room and assaulted him, and he was dragged to a waiting jeep. After asking permission to relieve himself, he fled, managing to escape to a Christian's home in a nearby village with the attackers in hot pursuit. Christians escorted him to his village. A GFA representative told Compass that a police complaint has been filed, and officers assured the Christians that stringent action would be taken against the culprits. At press time, no arrests had been made. - MS
Orissa - Orissa police on Nov. 22 arrested three Christians on false charges of "attempting to rape and murder" in Guntaput, Koraput district. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that the coordinator of Good Shepherd Community Church (GSCC), the Rev. Abiram Singh, said that a worker from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh identified only as Nanda filed a police complaint against three believers from GSCC, Rajat Kuldip, Saliman Kondhpan and Gokul Kondhpan, for "attempting to rape and murder" a tribal woman. The woman, Radha Pangi, told Rev. Singh she had not been attacked and had no idea why the Christians were accused. The Christians were released on bail on Nov. 28. Police are now searching for another three Christians from the GSCC for questioning, according to EFI. - MS
Karnataka - Police disrupted a Sunday worship service on Nov. 2 in Bagalkot, halted it and warned a pastor not to conduct future services, according to the Christian Legal Association. Officers told pastor Basappa Adapur of Shalom Full Gospel Association not to conduct another worship meeting without obtaining prior permission from the Deputy Commissioner. Hindu nationalists in the area have been known to harm Christians who did not inform police that they were meeting for worship, according to police, so for their own security Christians must get permission to meet. Police also collected information on the 25 Christians attending the church. -MS
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INDONESIA
VILLAGE TO BE REBUILT FOLLOWING ISLAMIC RAMPAGE
December 17 (Compass Direct News) - Government officials in Central Maluku, Indonesia, yesterday promised to reconstruct before Christmas two churches and a number of houses set ablaze last week during sectarian rioting in Letwaru village, Masohi district. The promises came after hundreds of activists from a local youth organization protested in the streets of nearby Ambon on Monday (Dec. 15), holding these officials responsible for failing to maintain law and order, local media reported. Also on Monday, police formally questioned a Christian elementary schoolteacher accused of making an anti-Islamic comment. Welhelmina Holle has been accused of insulting Islam while tutoring one of her students; following the Nov. 23 distribution of a flyer expressing the allegation against the schoolteacher, around 500 protestors gathered outside the education agency office and police headquarters on Dec. 9, and the protest quickly escalated into a full-scale riot. Enraged Muslims destroyed 69 buildings, including two churches, 42 homes owned by Christians, four shops and a village hall. They also inadvertently struck 16 homes owned by Muslims. Several people, including a police officer who attempted to stop the mob, were wounded during the rampage, according to Christian support agency Open Doors.
*** A photo of buildings burned in the riots is available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.
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NIGERIA
UPDATE: VIOLENCE ERUPTS IN JOS
December 1 (Compass Direct News) - Communal violence broke out in the central Nigerian city of Jos on Friday (Nov. 28) after Muslims began attacking Christians on claims of vote-tampering, leaving hundreds dead and thousands fleeing their homes. After officials reportedly refused to post local council election results on Thursday (Nov. 27) - prompting speculation that a party backed largely by Christians had won - Muslim gangs in the Ali Kazaure area of the city began attacking Christians, according to local residents. Violence along political, ethnic and religious lines followed, with security forces said to be responsible for killing more than 300 Muslims whose bodies were later brought to one mosque. On Saturday (Nov. 29) officials reportedly announced that the ruling People's Democratic Party, backed mainly by Christians, had won 16 of 17 council seats, defeating the All Nigerian Peoples Party, said to be primarily supported by Muslims. Muslim militants burned several churches, including that of the Church of Christ in Nigeria in the Sarkin Mangu area of Jos, and its pastor has been confirmed killed. Several mosques also were reportedly razed. Plateau Gov. Jonah David Jang said in a radio and television broadcast Friday night that the crisis was pre-planned by disgruntled elements who had schemed to manipulate religious sentiments to create instability in the state.
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NIGERIA
SIX PASTORS KILLED, 40 CHURCHES RAZED IN JOS VIOLENCE
December 11 (Compass Direct News) - The murderous rioting sparked by Muslim attacks on Christians and their property on Nov. 28-29 left six pastors dead, at least 500 other people killed and 40 churches destroyed, according to church leaders. More than 25,000 persons have been displaced in the two days of violence, according to the National Emergency Management Agency. What began as outrage over suspected vote fraud in local elections quickly hit the religious fault line that quakes from time to time in this city located between the Islamic north and Christian south, as angry Muslims took aim at Christian sites rather than at political targets. Police and troops reportedly killed about 400 rampaging Muslims in an effort to quell the unrest, and Islamists shot, slashed or stabbed to death most of more than 100 Christians killed. Among Christians killed was Joseph Yari of the Evangelical Church of West Africa. The Rev. Emmanuel Kyari, pastor of Christ Baptist Church, Tudun-Wada, told Compass that Yari died helping other Christians who repelled Muslim fanatics bent on burning down his church building. "Yari was standing beside my wife when he was shot by Muslims," Rev. Kyari said. "In addition to Yari who was killed, there were also three other Christians who were shot, and two died instantly."
*** Photos of Mary Yari, Joseph Yari, the Rev. Benjamin Nasara and the Rev. Emmanuel Kyari are available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.
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PAKISTAN
DOWRY DEMANDED FROM CAPTOR OF CHRISTIAN GIRL
December 16 (Compass Direct News) - After a judge yesterday placed new financial and social pressure on the captors of a Pakistani girl kidnapped and converted to Islam, attorneys have guarded optimism they can return her to custody of her Christian parents. Judge Malik Saeed Ijaz ordered the girl's husband, Amjad Ali, to pay a dowry of 100,000 Pakistan rupees (US$1,275) and allow her parents visitation rights, two actions required by typical Pakistani marriage protocol. At press time he had done neither. Saba Masih appeared at the Multan branch of Lahore's High Court yesterday along with her Muslim husband and his family. Her parents filed a contempt petition last month against her captors for failing to follow Pakistani marriage protocol. Islamic law (sharia), however, gives a wife the right to relinquish a dowry, and lawyers fear that the Muslim family will pressure her to claim this right in order to offset growing financial pressure. The girl's family believes the kidnappers have threatened her with violence if she attempts to rejoin her family. "The main thing is Saba must be ready herself to come back," said her uncle, Khalid Raheel, the family spokesman. "But she isn't ready to come back yet, and I don't know how they are convincing her." On Wednesday (Dec. 17) the judge is expected to adjourn the case and issue a deed requiring Ali to pay the dowry at the convenience of the Masih family. The judge yesterday threatened Ali with prison time if he failed to carry out this order.
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PAKISTAN
POLICEMAN TORTURES, PARALYZES CHRISTIAN
December 23 (Compass Direct News) - A Pakistani Christian boy's quarrel with a Muslim policeman's son has led to his father's imprisonment, torture, paralysis, and five-year prison sentence. The father's health condition has become so fragile that he was temporarily released from prison and sent to a Faisalabad hospital on Sunday (Dec. 20). Emanuel Masih, 43, is now in stable condition, his attorney told Compass. Emanuel Masih is seeking to commute his prison sentence instigated by policeman Omer Draz who tortured and imprisoned him on trumped-up charges originating from a quarrel between their sons nine years ago. Police arrested Masih along with his brother-in-law Amin Masih, falsely implicating them in the alleged kidnapping of Draz' housekeeper's son, without possibility of bail. The two men were tortured for a month, according to a report from the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement advocacy group.
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SOMALIA
CHRISTIAN IN KENYA REFUGEE CAMP ATTACKED, SHOT
December 10 (Compass Direct News) - A Somali Christian put in a refugee camp police cell in Dadaab, Kenya for defending his family against Islamic zealots has been released after Christians helped raise the 20,000 Kenya shilling fine (US$266) that a camp "court" demanded for his conversion dishonoring Islam and its prophet, Muhammad. But for Salat Sekondo Mberwa of Mogadishu, the war-torn capital of Somalia, this was not the highest price he has had to pay for leaving Islam. On Oct. 13, five Muslim youths knocked on Mberwa's sheet-iron gate in the refugee camp, one of three that is home to 572,000 refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan in this northeastern Kenya town. "They were shouting and calling me names, saying I was the enemy of the Islamic religion, and that I would pay the ultimate price for propagating a different religion," Mberwa said. "They threatened to kill me if I did not open the door for them." He and his son managed to fight them off, for which he was jailed. After his release, as he was resting at home on Nov. 26, Islamists in the camp returned, shot him in the shoulder and left him for dead.
*** A photo of Salat Sekondo Mberwa is available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.
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TURKEY
REGULATIONS HOBBLE NATION'S PROTESTANT CHURCHES
December 15 (Compass Direct News) - In the city of Samsun on the north coast of Turkey, the beleaguered congregation of the Agape Church Association struggles against local Islamic hostility toward its presence. In the last three years Agape church members have endured false allegations and verbal abuse from Muslim and nationalist locals. Their pastor has received death threats, and their building has been vandalized, all in an attempt to stop the 30 or so Christians from meeting. Local authorities have also had their part in opposition to the church, threatening it with legal action based on spurious charges. The church was threatened with a lawsuit because members had hung verses of Scripture and a cross on the walls. The Provincial Directorate of Associations inspected the building and told them to remove the offending articles because their rented rooms looked too much like a church. It was this sort of harassment that led the Alliance of Protestant Churches of Turkey (TEK) to write a report on the unfounded obstacles and challenges facing Christian congregations wishing to construct or reclassify church buildings. "The process of becoming a place of worship, although legally possible, is in practice almost impossible," said a member of the TEK's legal committee."
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VIETNAM
AUTHORITIES DESTROY NEW CHURCH BUILDING
December 17 (Compass Direct News) - Local government officials in Dak Lak Province this morning made good on their threat to destroy a new wooden church building erected in September by Hmong Christians in Cu Hat village. At 7 a.m. in Cu Dram Commune, Krong Bong district, a large contingent of government officials, police and demolition workers arrived at the site of a Vietnam Good News Mission and Church, razing it by 8:30 a.m. Police wielding electric cattle prods beat back hundreds of distraught Christians who rushed to the site to protect the building. Five injured people were taken away in an emergency vehicle authorities had brought to the scene. The injured included a child who suffered a broken arm and a pregnant woman who fainted after being poked in the stomach with an electric cattle prod. Villagers said they fear she may miscarry. By day's end one badly injured woman had not yet been returned to the village, and authorities would not divulge where she was. One sad Vietnamese church leader said that the demolition of the church ahead of Christmas showed the heartlessness of officials toward Christian believers. "They think no one will notice or do anything about what they do in a remote area," he said.
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