Saturday, September 3, 2011

Pakistani Muslims attack Christians in attempt to force them to convert to Islam

By Jawad Mazhar
Special Correspondent for ANS, reporting from Pakistan



KARACHI, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Two Christian men were seriously injured by young Muslims in Karachi when they refused to convert to Islam, a family member told ANS.


Liaqat Munawar, a resident of Essa Nagri in Karachi, told ANS by telephone that his brother, Ishfaq Munawar, and another young Christian man, Naeem Masih, were returning home after an early morning prayer service at their church in Sohrab Goth on August 14, when ethnic Pakhtoon youths near Sea View harassed and later attacked them.

"Ishfaq and Naeem were riding a motorcycle when six Pakhtoon youths signaled them to stop," Liaqat Munawar said. "They asked the two boys to identify themselves. Ishfaq told them that they were Christians returning from their church after a special prayer service.

"The Pakhtoons then started questioning them about their faith and later tried to force them to recite the Kalma [Islamic conversion creed] and become Muslims, telling them that this was the only way they could live peacefully in the city," Liaqat Munawar said.

"They also offered monetary incentives and 'protection' to Ishfaq and Naeem, but the two refused to renounce Christianity."

After cajoling the two Christians for some time, the Pakhtoons sat in a white car parked nearby and eventually drove away. Ishfaq Munawar and Masih got back onto their motorcycle and were about to start it, Liaqat Munawar said, when suddenly the young Muslims reversed their car and rammed it into the Christians.

"The pathan Muslims got out of the car armed with iron rods and attacked Ishfaq and Naeem, shouting that they should either recite the Kalma or they would be murdered," Liaqat Munawar said.

Munawar said the Pakhtoons severely beat the two Christians, fracturing Ishfaq Munawar's jaw and breaking five teeth, and seriously injuring Masih. He added that the two Christians fell unconscious, and the young Muslim men left assuming they had killed them.

Liaqat Munawar said his brother underwent jaw surgery at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and is now recovering. He said the family had not registered a case with police, fearing reprisal by the Muslims, but were now considering filing a formal complaint.

Elvis Steven, a Christian human rights defender in Karachi, told ANS that he was in contact with the Munawar family, and that although he had yet to speak with the victims directly, he would attempt all possible means to have the assailants arrested.

"The situation is not that bad for Christians living in areas controlled by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement [MQM], but those living in areas dominated by the Pakhtoons are under constant threat," Steven said.

"The Pakhtoons are extremist in their beliefs. They have a militant mindset, and there have been several incidents of religious violence involving the Pakhtoons (Pathan clan) in Karachi."

This latest incident seems to give evidence beyond any doubt that this was a religiously based attack and the young Christian men were attacked and injured merely because of their faith.

Political bodies involved appear to be trying to score points by claiming that the attacked youths were from their groups and thus triggering a blame game against other political parties.

Jawad Mazhar is a Pakistani journalist specializing in writing about Christian persecution. He was born on November 28, 1976 at Sargodha's village Chak and raised in Sargodha, a city in Pakistan's Punjab province. He earned his Bachelors Degree from Allama Iqbal Open University majoring in computer sciences and has taught at various educational institutes in his country. He is also involved with "Rays of Development," an organization working for minority rights in Pakistan. He says, "My aim is to help eradicate Christian persecution through my writing as I bring the plight of these brave people under the spotlight of the whole world."

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Iranian Authorities Free Christian after Year in Prison


Dual Dutch-Iranian citizen of Armenian descent worked with drug-addicted Muslims.
By Damaris Kremida
 
ISTANBUL, September 1 (Compass Direct News) – Iranian authorities on Monday (Aug. 29) released a Christian after 359 days of detainment on charges of spreading Christianity among Farsi-speaking Iranians and having ties with foreign Christian organizations, according to Mohabat News.
 
Authorities arrested Vahik Abrahamian, 45, a dual Iranian and Dutch citizen who belongs to Iran’s Armenian community, and his wife on Sept. 4, 2010 in Hamadan, 337 kilometers (210 miles) west of Tehran, along with another Iranian Christian couple, Arash Kermanjani and Arezou Teimouri. On April 30 authorities released Abrahamian’s wife, Sonia, along with Kermanjani and Teimouri, after they appeared in court, and Abrahamian was ultimately held in the Hamadan general prison ward.
 
The two couples spent 44 days in solitary confinement in the detention center of the Ministry of Information, Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN) reported.
 
Conditions in the prison were taxing on Abrahamian’s health, and FCNN described the prison’s hygiene conditions as “deplorable.”
 
Abrahamian and his wife were previously arrested and held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison in February 2010. Authorities held them in solitary confinement for 53 days on charges of activities among the Muslim community, according to Mohabat News. They were released on bail. 
 
The couple worked with drug addicts and other marginalized Iranians, according to FCNN. Abrahamian had become a Christian in the Netherlands, where he visited an Iranian church. At that time he found freedom from his own drug addiction, and in 2006 he returned to Iran to work with drug users.
 
Authorities were incensed that Abrahamian worked with marginalized Farsi-speaking Muslims, and even more that he had connections with foreign Christians, said an Iranian Christian pastor in the region on the condition of anonymity.
 
“The reason he was in prison for so long wasn’t about his [faith and activities], but because he was connected with foreign Christians,” the source said.
 
The pastor explained that typically authorities arrest and release Christians in the house group movement after a few days or weeks when they work independently and are not seen as plants from the West or having connections with ministries outside Iran.
 
The Iranian government seeks to create an atmosphere of fear for Christians, said the source.
 
“The government in Iran has two challenges,” he said. “On the one hand they don’t like Christianity growing in Iran, but on the other hand because of international pressure they don’t want to make a big story out of them.”
 
The source explained that authorities want to control the Christian movement, but because it is a network of underground churches that is spreading rapidly and secretly, they cannot. He said he expects persecution, which is on the rise, to continue in Iran.
 
“This is nothing new,” he said. “We’ve been dealing with this for 20 years. We have persecution, and they will arrest even more people, but this is not new.”
 
Last month an Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Hadi Jahangosha, decried Protestantism in Iran, calling it “distorted Christianity,” according to a Mohabat News.
 
In the Aug. 24 report, Jahangosha said the effects of the Protestant Christian movement had more far-reaching effects than other religions and expressed his regret for the spread of Christianity among youth. He criticized Christian satellite channels, claiming they are trying to erode Iran’s society and religious culture.
 
“Iran’s capital is more exposed to damage in this issue, and some people here are attracted to Christianity due to financial reasons, and some other people due to being neglected by the society,” Mohabat quoted Jahangosha as saying.
 
Recent inflammatory remarks by Iran’s religious leaders have led to clampdowns on Christians in Iran, according to regional experts. In October 2010 Iran’s Supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, made caustic remarks against converts to Christianity and the house church movement. In two waves of arrests in the following months, authorities arrested scores of Christians, most of whom were released within days.
 
On July 30, authorities raided the home of another Christian, Leila Mohammadi, and arrested her. Police confiscated all Christian materials in her home, according to Mohabat News. She is held in Evin prison on charges of spreading Christianity and evangelizing.
 
On July 15, in the northwestern city of Tabriz, authorities arrested two Azeri-speaking Christians, Vahid Rofegar and Reza Kahnamoei, reported Mohabat News.
 
Iran’s population is 75 million, including an estimated 450,000 Christians. Converts from Islam to Christianity are considered apostates with no legal protection in Iran, where courts applysharia (Islamic law). 
 
Abrahamian’s family “is rejoicing and expressed their gratitude to God for His gracious protection and intervention, and secondly to the Christian family worldwide who have not ceased praying and advocating on their behalf,” FCNN reported.
 
 
END
 
**********
Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Christians in China Suffer for Supporting Shouwang Church


Members of other house churches detained, threatened, or condemned to labor camp.
By Sarah Page
 
DUBLIN, September 1 (Compass Direct News) – Last Sunday (Aug. 28) five members of a house church in Fangshan, Hebei township woke at 4 a.m. and traveled for two hours to a public square in Beijing in order to worship with members of the embattled Beijing Shouwang house church.
 
On their arrival at 7 a.m., waiting police sent the five back to their local police station, according to a report posted Tuesday (Aug. 30) on Shouwang’s Facebook page. Officials then urged them to sign documents repenting of their decision to support the Shouwang church. All five refused but were eventually released.
 
The Fangshan five are part of a growing wave of house church Christians determined – despite the consequences – to support Shouwang church in its stand for greater religious freedom.
 
Shouwang members have attempted to meet in the outdoor venue every Sunday since April 11, after government officials repeatedly denied them access to a permanent worship place. Church leaders prayerfully decided on this course of action as a means of forcing the government to resolve their dilemma. (See www.compassdirect.org, “China Keeps Church Leaders from Public Worship Attempt,” April 11.)
 
Besides the Fanshan church members, police detained at least 15 Shouwang members who turned up for worship last Sunday (Aug. 28), holding them for up to 48 hours in interrogation rooms. The Domestic Security Protection Squad maintained constant surveillance outside the homes of senior church leaders, while less senior police camped outside the doors of other church members from Saturday night until noon Sunday, when service times were technically over, according to the China Aid Association (CAA).
 
“If we count the time from April until Christmas as the longest journey, we have gone through half of it,” Shouwang’s leaders said in a message of encouragement to church members last week. “If it is God’s will, he is [then] able to end this journey and make us shout in his victory. But if it is his will for us to continue this journey … let us pray that he will grant us perseverance and hope.”
 
Finding Courage
Two weeks earlier, on Aug. 14, police detained some 16 worshippers at the square. Among them was pastor Wang Shuanyan of Beijing’s Xinshu house church.
 
In a letter written after her release on Aug. 16 and smuggled out of China, Wang described how police detained her at 7 a.m. and took her to the Zhongguancun Boulevard police station. The previous Sunday, a police officer had threatened to lock her up for 48 hours if she persisted in coming to the worship site; this time Wang came prepared with a sleeping bag.
 
Throughout her detention, Shouwang church members, including the wife of senior pastor Jin Tianming, took turns waiting outside the police station for her release.
 
Wang described how she wrestled with her natural inclination to obey orders and her conviction that “the things [the officers] have done are violations of the law.”
 
“I believe deeply that all things considered … Shouwang’s outdoor worship, done [at] this time and this way, is right,” she wrote.
 
By the time fellow Xinshu church members convinced officers to allow Wang snacks and bottled water, Wang had decided to go on a hunger strike.
 
“Was I fasting or on a hunger strike?” she wrote. “To me it was both. To God I prayed earnestly. To the relevant authorities I was protesting against the repeatedly occurring violence.”
 
She had seen police forcefully leading away a female Shouwang member who was physically abused on a previous Sunday – with one officer grinning sadistically at the woman’s fear.
 
“Formerly I went onto the platform, talked with government authorities and petitioned the People’s Congress,” she wrote. “Now with conflicts lasting and violence rising, to a weak, insignificant and detained person like me, a hunger strike became the only means by which I could express my protest.”
 
Some China watchers believe the government has shown relative toleration and restraint towards Shouwang’s outdoor worship. But “this can only be true in comparison to extreme violence,” Wang countered in her letter. “We are now used to unrighteous and illegal behavior.”
 
Petition Ignored
Wang was one of 17 house church pastors who signed and submitted a groundbreaking petition to the National People’s Congress (NPC) on May 10, calling for a complete overhaul of China’s religious policy.
 
To date the NPC has failed to respond, although CAA claims the backlash against Shouwang and associated churches has since increased.
 
Since Wang signed the petition, police have stationed themselves outside Xinshu church every Sunday, sometimes entering the meeting room and checking identity cards. Xinshu church members have also received threats and pressure from their work units, according to CAA.
 
Police on May 31 detained another signatory, Shi Enhao, pastor of Suqian house church in Jiangsu Province and deputy chairman of the Chinese House Church Alliance (CHCA), in a church raid. In late July he was sentenced – without trial – to two years in a labor camp for “illegal meetings and illegal organizing of venues for religious meetings.” (Seewww.compassdirect.org, “House Church Alliance leader in China sentenced to Labor Camp,” July 29.)
 
Police have since ordered Shi’s church members to stop meeting and have confiscated musical instruments, choir robes and donations, according to CAA.
 
Responding to the Shouwang events and Shi’s sentencing, Zhang Mingxuan, president of the CHCA, wrote a letter addressed to Chinese President Hu Jintao; CAA translated and published it on Aug. 3. According to Zhang, when Shi’s family hired a lawyer on his behalf, officials refused to grant access to Shi on the grounds that state secrets were involved.
 
“Isn’t this a joke of the century that a peasant Christian knows classified state secrets?” Zhang wrote.
 
Shi’s lawyer appealed to higher authorities, including the NPC and the Department of Public Security, but received no response.
 
Zhang said he had taught church members to abide by the law and respect the government but in return had been deprived of many rights, including the right to a passport. Many others shared his fate, Zhang said, such as house church pastor Zhang Tieling of Fan County, Henan Province. Officials recently sealed Zhang Tieling’s house with bricks and knocked his wife to the floor, leaving her in the hospital with a brain injury.
 
“This is the so-called religious freedom and harmony of China,” Zhang Mingxuan declared.
 
In his letter to the president, he concluded, “In the past 26 years I have been arrested, beaten and placed under house arrest 42 times just because I speak the truth. Even if you misunderstand me or even kill me or imprison me, I still have to tell you the truth in this letter … As long as [it means] Christians can freely worship God, I don’t mind dying for this cause.”
 
It seems many other Chinese Christians are fast forming the same opinion.
 
While the Chinese government claims freedom of religion through approved bodies such as the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), many Protestant and Catholic churches prefer to worship independently, rejecting government censorship and theological interference – and paying the price. House church pastor Zhang Rongliang – who has been detained five times and served a total of 12 years in prison – was released last night (Aug. 31) from a Kaifeng prison after being detained since 2004. He was convicted on ambiguous charges in 2007 and has languished in prison while suffering chronic diseases and a stroke in 2007.
 
Experts estimate there are anywhere between 60 and 130 million people attending unregistered Protestant churches in China, compared with just 23 million attending TSPM churches. During the past decade of relative openness, many of these unregistered churches have come “above ground” to meet in large numbers in public spaces – highlighting the inadequacy of current religious policies and creating a government backlash often targeting church leaders.
 
“Now the shepherds are separated from the flocks of sheep,” wrote Yuan Xin, a Christian who recently visited Shouwang senior pastor Jin Tianming – currently under house arrest – and described his visit on CAA’s Shouwang petition website. “The sheep are being beaten, but the shepherds cannot stand out to fend off the blows.”
 
 
END
 
**********
Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Growing Persecution of Christians in Nigeria


Open Doors USA Calls on Christians in the West to Support Suffering Believers through Prayer, Ordering Special Wristbands

Contact: Jerry Dykstra, Open Doors USA, 616-915-4117, JerryD@odusa.org

SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 1, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Muslim extremists, along with members of the Nigerian army, allegedly killed 24 Christians during mid-August in Nigeria's Plateau state, according to Compass Direct News. On Monday in the city of Jos, CNN reported clashes between Muslims and Christians resulted in at least 20 deaths. There were also reports of injuries and burnt vehicles and shops.

Christians in Nigeria have faced increased persecution in recent years. The forceful implementation of Sharia (Islamic law) in 12 northern states remains a great challenge for the church. Extremist Islamic groups, using violence as a means to achieving Muslim dominance, have increased their activities. Despite all of the violence, more churches are reaching Muslims with the gospel and the number deciding to follow Christ is increasing.

"As our brothers and sisters in Nigeria face increased persecution, it is vital that we pray for them," says Open Doors USA President/CEO Dr. Carl Moeller. "Christians, especially those living in the north, are living in constant fear of being attacked by extremists; they are not able to worship in peace."

Northern Nigeria holds the No. 23 spot on Open Door's 2011 World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. Christians in the conflict areas of Nigeria request prayer above anything else.
Please pray for:

  • Comfort for Christians who have lost loved ones or have been made homeless through violence
     
  • Thank God that the church is becoming more united as a result of persecution
     
  • Wisdom and courage for church leaders reaching out to their Muslim neighbors and caring for converts.

Nigerian Christians are hardly the only believers facing persecution. Over 70 percent of the world's 6.8 billion people live in countries with restrictions on religion.

Nov. 13 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) in the United States. This year Open Doors USA is encouraging Christians in the West to be "One With Them" through a special on-going campaign.

"According to the Bible, when one part of the body suffers, we all suffer," says Kenny Luck, founder of Every Man Ministries. "This is why it is so important for us to be One With Them in prayer."

One With Them is a call to action to unite with persecuted believers, not just on IDOP but during the months leading up to that special day. Through prayer and advocacy, Christians in the United States are urged to join millions who share our faith but not our freedom.

One way Christians in the United States can show their support for the persecuted is through One With Them wristbands. Wearing the black, flexible silicone wristband that looks like barbed wire is a great conversation starter. The wristbands provide an opportunity to explain to others about the plight of persecuted believers. Kenny Luck says he is wearing a wristband as a show of solidarity. In the last month, 25,000 wristbands have been sent out to churches, church leaders, small groups and individuals.

To order the wristbands, visit www.OneWithThem.com. Two of them will be free of charge -- one extra to share with a friend. Additional wristbands can be ordered for a fee with 100 percent of the funds going to support persecuted Christians.

As one of the lead agencies promoting the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, Open Doors is focusing on providing materials for Christians to use for the Nov. 13 event that will be observed by millions of Christians in the United States and around the globe. Materials in the free online kit include bulletin inserts, a pastor’s guide, videos, prayer points, testimonies from persecuted Christians, Bible passages on persecution and lessons learned from suffering believers.

An estimated 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with millions more facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers in the world's most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers. To partner with Open Doors USA, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (888-524-2535) or go to our Website at www.OpenDoorsUSA.org.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin -- August 2011 Update

By Elizabeth Kendal
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 123
Special to ASSIST News Service



AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- 'Then I said, "I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High." I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds . . . You are the God who works wonders.' (Psalm 77:10-12,14a ESV)


AUGUST 2011 UPDATE -- during August we prayed for . . .


INDONESIA (RLPB 119), where Christians are facing escalating violent persecution fuelled by impunity, primarily in Papua and West Java, especially the Bogor and Bekasi districts. It is reported there were 64 violent attacks on religious freedom in 2010, up from 18 in 2009 and 17 in 2008.

UPDATE: In December 2010, Indonesia's Supreme Court and Ombudsman Commission ruled in favour of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church in Bogor, West Java, confirming the legality of its building permit. Despite this, the church remains sealed and Bogor authorities continue to obstruct and threaten the members. Now the mayor of Bogor, Diani Budiarto, is pushing for a law to forbid churches opening on streets bearing Islamic names. The Yasmin church is on Jalan Abdullah bin Nuh, a street named after the noted Islamic cleric Abdullah bin Nuh (died 1987). President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is remaining silent on the issue. If mayor Budiarto can defy the courts with impunity, the law will be rendered meaningless. Pray for Indonesia.

SUDAN (RLPB 120), where the predominantly Christian Nuba peoples of South Kordofan are facing starvation at the hands of a genocidal regime.
UPDATE: On Tuesday 23 August, while visiting Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, Sudan's President Omar el-Bashir announced a two-week ceasefire. He also confirmed that no humanitarian aid groups would be permitted to enter the war-ravaged region where hundreds of thousands of predominantly Christian Nuba have been displaced. The Secretary-General of the SPLM-N, Yasir Arman, is accusing Bashir of 'using food as a weapon'. Arman regards Bashir's declaration of a ceasefire as nothing more than a 'public relations stunt'. He believes Bashir is actually preparing for a major military offensive in South Kordofan. Despite the ceasefire, bombing is reportedly continuing. Pray for God to intervene for his people.

VIETNAM (RLPB 121), where religious persecution is escalating against Christian activists in the cities and the ethnic minority Christians in the Central Highlands.
UPDATE: AsiaNews reports (29 August) that the disappeared Catholic activists are imprisoned in Hanoi and will go on trial shortly. They are charged with attempting to 'overthrow the people's administration', under Clause 2, Article 79 of the Vietnam Penal Code. Sources told AsiaNews the prisoners have been allowed to receive food and clothing but not prayer books. The fate of two Protestants arrested at the same time is unknown. In the coming weeks, Vietnamese Christians across the nation -- Catholics and Protestants -- will hold candlelight prayer vigils for religious freedom. Pray in solidarity with them.

PAKISTAN (RLPB 122), where Christian security is increasingly tenuous.
UPDATE: As noted in RLPB 122, anti-blasphemy law campaigner Salman Taseer was assassinated on 4 January. Now his son Shahbaz Taseer has been kidnapped, seized in an ambush on 26 August. Some experts believe Shahbaz might be used as a bargaining chip by militants seeking the acquittal of Salman Taseer's assassin, Mumtaz Qadri. Meanwhile, in increasingly Islamised and Talibanised Karachi, a virtual war between militias backed by political parties and sectarian groups has left some 400 dead. The violence is also hastening the ethnic-religious polarisation of the city. Christians are especially vulnerable amidst such lawlessness. Christian homes and churches have been threatened and pelted with rocks recently in Karachi, mostly by the ethnic Pashtuns. They are backed by the Taliban and live in Pashtun-dominated districts near the Christian colony. Pray for all Pakistan's Christians and religious liberty advocates.

AUGUST 2011 ROUND-UP -- also this month . . .


IRAQ: MANY CHURCHES BOMBED IN KIRKUK
On Monday 15 August a bomb exploded outside Saint Ephrem's Syrian Orthodox Church in Al Ummal Square, central Kirkuk, causing major damage but no casualties. It was the third church bombing in Kirkuk in two weeks. The previous night, four bombs exploded simultaneously inside Kirkuk's Saint Afram Syriac Orthodox Church. Whilst there were no casualties, it was the first time insurgents had managed to detonate bombs planted inside a church. On 2 August, 15 people were wounded including church staff when a car bomb exploded about 5:30am outside the Holy Family Syrian Catholic church in Kirkuk. Bombs were subsequently found and defused outside the Saint Giwargis Church of the East and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in the Almass district. Kirkuk Archbishop Louis Sako told Aid to the Church in Need, 'This is only happening because we are Christians. Maybe the people responsible want to empty the city of Christians. Please pray for us. Pray for peace and stability. We are afraid.' Pray for Iraq's besieged Christians.

IVORY COAST: ONGOING DIRE SITUATION FOR CHRISTIANS
The UN peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast is deeply concerned about continuing serious human rights abuses in Ivory Coast. From mid-July to mid-August the mission documented 26 extra-judicial killings, 85 illegal arrests and 11 rapes, all committed by the former rebels who now make up the official army of Ivory Coast. According to the acting human rights chief in the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), Guillaume Ngefa, predominantly Christian ethnic groups continue to suffer cruel and inhumane treatment and violation of property rights at the hands of pro-Ouattara Islamic forces. Pray for the Christians of Ivory Coast.

NIGERIA: CHRISTIANS TARGETED IN PLATEAU STATE
Twenty-four Christians were killed in Plateau State during August in targeted attacks by Islamic militants in collusion with uniformed Muslims from the Nigerian Army. Ratsa Foron village was attacked on 11 and 15 August: 6 dead. Chwelnyap community in Jos was attacked on 14 August: 2 dead. Heipang village was attacked on 15 August leaving 10 dead, including 9 members of one family. Kwi, Loton and Jwol villages were attacked on 21 August: 6 dead. In each attack uniformed soldiers of the Nigerian military, including those from the Special Task Force (a unit tasked with stopping sectarian attacks), accompanied the militants and even participated in the killings. Plateau governor Jonah Jang has called for immediate withdrawal of the Nigerian Army because, he said, Muslims in the army are taking sides with the Islamist assailants. This situation is extremely serious.

Gada-biu is the Christian-dominated district of North Jos Local Government Area where multiple bombs exploded on 24 December 2010 resulting in around 90 deaths. (Boko Haram claimed responsibility.) Consequently, local Christians did not want Muslims celebrating Eid-el-Fitri (end of Ramadan) in that area and so made a formal request that they celebrate elsewhere. On Monday 29 Aug 2011 strife erupted between the district's local ethnic Christians and Muslims going down Rukuba Road to celebrate Eid-el-Fitri in the sensitive area. The clash left 20 people dead and more than 100 wounded. Reportedly 'most' of the dead and wounded were shot by soldiers firing indiscriminately. At least 50 vehicles, 100 motorcycles and two shops were torched. Accounts vary widely about who provoked whom and what actually occurred. Tensions are high. Please pray for Nigeria.

ZIMBABWE: ANGLICAN PASTORS EVICTED
On 4 August Zimbabwe's Chief Justice issued a temporary ruling placing all Anglican properties under the control of excommunicated, pro-Mugabe bishop Norbert Kunonga. (See 'Zimbabwe: Chief Justice grants excommunicated Kunonga control over Anglican properties', Religious Liberty Monitoring, 17 Aug). According to The Zimbabwean (27 August) Kunonga's thugs have evicted 27 Anglican pastors and their families violently from their church-owned homes since the ruling was issued. Reverend Jonah Mudowaya was severely beaten in Chinhoyi on Wednesday 24 August by a Kunonga gang. In a bid to stop the evictions, lawyers representing the Anglican Diocese of Harare have filed a Constitutional appeal against the Chief Justice's ruling on the grounds it was issued while the matter was the subject of a Supreme Court appeal. The Chief Justice has noted the Constitutional appeal but says it will not interfere with his order. While the Anglican Church awaits the Supreme Court ruling, the excommunicated Kunonga is exploiting the opportunity this gives him to seize the church's assets. Please pray for justice in Zimbabwe.


Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. This prayer bulletin was initially written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (AEA RLC).

Elizabeth Kendal's blogs:
Religious Liberty Monitoring and Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Muslim Extremists from Niger Help Kill Christians in Nigeria


Boy, 10, and security guard for local official among those slain.
By Obed Minchakpu

KADUNA, Nigeria (Compass Direct News) – Armed Muslims from Niger entered Nigeria’s Kaduna state this month to help Islamists there invade Christian communities, where they killed two Christians, including a 10-year-old boy, area sources said.

In the early morning hours of Aug. 21, the Muslim extremists entered Fadiya Bakut village in Bajju district of the Zango-Kataf Local Government Area, and attacked the home of Andrew Allahmagani, the district head in Fadiya, Allahmagani told Compass by telephone.

Allahmagani said he was sleeping that morning when he suddenly heard gunshots near his residence.

“They [the attackers] later moved around the house shooting into windows and doors, including that of my wife,” he said. “Afterward, they moved to the quarters of my brother, where they shot and killed my nephew, Fidelis Ishaku, who was 10 years old, and shot and injured my mother, who is 70.”

A Christian security guard at the house, 52-year-old Zaman Kaki, was also killed in the attack by about 10 assailants armed with guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons, Allahmagani said. Kaki leaves behind a wife and four children. 

The slain boy’s grandmother, Laraba Ishaku, received a life-threatening wound in the thigh but survived after receiving treatment at Zonkwa Medical Center, he said. Also receiving hospital treatment for wounds was Bartholomew Ishaku, 20, and 31-year-old Clement Yohanna, he said.

Eyewitness Danjuma Sarki told Compass that about 30 spent shells were recovered from the scene of the attack, which kept many Christians from meeting for church services that day.

“The attackers wore black uniforms and shot sporadically,” Sarki said.

Jonathan Asake, a former member of Nigeria’s National Assembly, told Compass by phone that he got to the scene of the incident at about 7 a.m. and found Allahmagani’s house littered with spent bullet shells, and some 20 bullets were also collected.

“The invaders who came as early as 12:30 a.m. to Fadiya Bakut village shot dead a lad who was caught by the bullet while fleeing with his mother,” he added.

The former legislator said Christians in the community “summoned courage and chased the fleeing invaders. It was then brought to their attention, that a man with blood-stained clothes was sighted within the vicinity by dawn. A quick search uncovered the suspect. He was on the verge of being lynched when the police came to his rescue. He is now at the Zonkwa police station.”

Kaduna State Police Spokesman Aminu Lawal confirmed the attacks, saying one of the assailants has been arrested.

“It is true that a security guard was killed, and a small boy was also killed,” he said. “The target was not only the Christian community leader but also the Fadiya Bakut community.”

On July 24 at about 1 a.m., Muslim marauders moving in three groups also attacked the villages of Angwan Yaro and Angwan Yuli in Sanga Local Government Area of the State, area residents said. The attacks forced Christians to stay away from worship services in order to keep watch on their communities.

Saidu Mallam, a Christian and a resident of Angwan Yaro village, told Compass that they learned of the planned invasion by Muslim militants and decided to take prompt action.

“We got urgent information that strange Muslim gunmen have been noticed approaching our area, and we became worried and woke all of our people only to see the armed Muslims in groups,” Mallam said. “The first group of Muslims numbered about 200, while the second and the third groups numbered about 300.”

The first and the second groups did not begin attacking until the last group arrived, he said.

“They had guns, swords and other local weapons with some of them holding petrol in cans,” Mallam said. “We were outnumbered as we had no arms. However, we resisted the invasion and they fled. We captured 15 of them. They have been handed over to soldiers who were drafted in to save us. The soldiers took them away.”

Mallam said the gunmen were no doubt from Niger, called Nigeriens.

“They are strange people that you can identify as Nigeriens, and even their accent can convince you that they are not Nigerians,” he said. “We have never experienced this kind of situation; we could not hold church services because we are still afraid. Some of the militants escaped into the bush, and we don’t know what may happen in the night, though soldiers are here now.”

Niger, 97 percent Muslim, has seen the rise of Islamic extremists groups in recent years, according to Operation World. It lies on Nigeria’s Muslim-majority northern border.
Some of the Christians injured in the attacks are receiving treatment at General Hospital, Kafanchan. Three of the injured Christians were identified as Samuel Hassan, Maiwada Buki and Nyako Makeri.

The Rev. Joe Yari, spokesman for the Northern Nigerian Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), confirmed the attacks.

“All security agencies are aware about these attacks on Christian communities in the state,” said Yari, who is also the CAN chairman of the Jema’a Local Government Area.

Nigeria’s population of more than 158.2 million is divided between Christians, who make up 51.3 percent of the population and live mainly in the south, and Muslims, who account for 45 percent of the population and live mainly in the north. The percentages may be less, however, as those practicing indigenous religions may be as high as 10 percent of the total population, according to Operation World.

Northern Nigeria climbed to 23rd place in 2010 from 27th in 2009 on Christian support organization Open Doors’ World Watch List of nations with the worst persecution.


END

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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Open Doors President: Christians in West Need to ‘Stand in the Gap’ Like First Responders following 9/11


Moeller Available for Interviews on Persecution of Millions Of Christians as 10th Anniversary of Terrorist Attacks Approaches

OPEN DOORS USA
Jerry Dykstra, Media Relations Director
Phone: 616-915-4117
Email: JerryD@odusa.org

Website: www.OpenDoorsUSA.org


ADVISORY


SANTA ANA, CA (ANS) -- Almost 10 years ago the United States was changed forever after the 9/11 Muslim terrorist attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.


On Sunday, Sept. 11, the nation will mourn for the victims of this tragedy and pray for the families, friends and loved ones left behind – many still suffering overwhelming grief.
Dr. Carl Moeller, president/CEO of Open Doors USA and co-author of a new book “The Privilege of Persecution” (Moody Publishers), says for many American Christians “9/11 is the dividing line between naive ignorance of the suffering world and an enlightened, informed understanding of just how brutal suffering can be. Deep suffering afflicts a majority of the people in the world. Many suffer simply because they follow Jesus.

“9/11 is a horrible, vivid memory still in the minds of most of us. But the fact is terrorists and governments are targeting Christians and other minorities every day of the year in countries such as North Korea, Nigeria and Pakistan. The physical, emotional and psychological toll is mounting. Christians in the West need to stand in the gap just like the first responders – heroic firemen, policemen and others – rescued hundreds of 9/11 victims.”
Moeller says one way to support more than 100 million persecuted believers in some of the most dangerous countries in the world is to join the One With Them campaign. One With Them is a call for action to unite with persecuted believers by wearing special black wristbands and encouraging others to pray for suffering believers. A worldwide event called the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church will be observed in the U.S. on Sunday, Nov. 13. For more information, visit www.OneWithThem.com.

To set up an interview with Dr. Moeller, contact Jerry Dykstra at 616-915-4117 or email jerryd@odusa.org.
An estimated 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with millions more facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers in the world's most dangerous areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers. To partner with Open Doors USA, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (888-524-2535) or visit our Website at www.OpenDoorsUSA.org.



Two Pakistani Christians Seriously Injured for Refusing Islam


Muslims beat young men with iron rods, leave them for dead. 
By Murad Khan
 
LAHORE, Pakistan, August 31 (Compass Direct News) – Two Christian men were seriously injured by young Muslim men this month in Karachi when they refused to convert to Islam, a family member told Compass.
 
Liaqat Munawar, a resident of Essa Nagri in Karachi, told Compass by telephone that his brother, Ishfaq Munawar, and another young Christian man, Naeem Masih, were returning home after an early morning prayer service at their church in Sohrab Goth on Aug. 14, Pakistan’s Independence Day, when ethnic Pashtun youths near Sea View harassed and later attacked them.
 
“Ishfaq and Naeem were riding a motorcycle when six Pashtun youths signaled them to stop,” Liaqat Munawar said. “They asked the two boys to identify themselves. Ishfaq told them that they were Christians returning from their church after a special prayer service.”
 
The Muslims asked them why they were in Sea View, and they replied that they had made a brief stopover to participate in Independence Day celebrations at the beach, he said.
 
“The Pashtun youths then started questioning them about their faith and later tried to force them to recite the Kalma [Islamic conversion creed] and become Muslims, telling them that this was the only way they could live peacefully in the city,” Liaqat Munawar said. “They also offered monetary incentives and ‘protection’ to Ishfaq and Naeem, but the two refused to renounce Christianity.”
 
After cajoling the two Christians for some time, the Pashtuns sat in a white car parked nearby and eventually drove away. Ishfaq Munawar and Masih got back onto their motorcycle and were about to start it, Liaqat Munawar said, when suddenly the young Muslims reversed their car and rammed it into the Christians.
 
“The Muslims got out of the car armed with iron rods and attacked Ishfaq and Naeem, shouting that they should either recite the Kalma or be prepared to die,” Liaqat Munawar said.
 
He said the Pashtuns severely beat the two Christians, fracturing Ishfaq Munawar’s jaw and breaking five teeth, and seriously injuring Masih. He added that the two Christians fell unconscious, and the young Muslim men left assuming they had killed them.
 
Liaqat Munawar said his brother underwent jaw surgery at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and is now recovering. He said the family had not registered a case with police, fearing reprisal by the Muslims, but were now considering filing a formal complaint.
 
This was not the first time Liaqat Munawar’s family has witnessed religious violence, he said, as Pashtun Muslims last year attacked his cousin, Eric Sarwar, founder and executive director of the Tehillim School of Church Music and Worship, which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan.
 
Liaqat Munawar also spoke of an incident in which Muslim Pashtuns shot at a Christian funeral passing through their area without any reason, injuring six Christians.
 
Elvis Steven, a Christian rights activist in Karachi, told Compass that he was in contact with the Munawar family, and that although he had yet to speak with the victims directly, he would attempt all possible means to have the assailants arrested.
 
“The situation is not that bad for Christians living in areas controlled by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement [MQM], but those living in areas dominated by the Pashtuns are under constant threat,” Steven said. “The Pashtuns are extremist in their beliefs. They have a militant mindset, and there have been several incidents of religious violence involving the Pashtuns in Karachi.”
 
While this violence was clearly religiously motivated, Karachi, Pakistan’s financial hub, has been roiled by ethnic violence this year. Ethnic gangs backed by political parties have reportedly ratcheted up their turf wars, with the MQM, said to represent the majority ethnic Mohajirs, increasingly assailed by Pashtun and ethnic Baloch gangs.
 
Political parties representing all three groups, including the MQM, are fighting over rights to extort money from businesses and homes in Karachi, violence that some have falsely portrayed as religiously motivated violence.
 
Christians make up only 2.45 percent of Pakistan’s population, which is more than 95 percent Muslim, according to Operation World.
 
 
END
 
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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News
 

Personal Prison Prepared for Forced Abortion Opponent Chen

Reggie Littlejohn
MEDIA ADVISORY, Aug. 31, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Blind forced abortion opponent Chen Guangcheng and his wife, Yuan Weijing, will be transferred to a small prison built specifically for them, according to a Radio Free Asia report. Activist He Peirong stated that the couple will be forcibly removed from their home and transferred to a building "which basically amounts to a jail" so that authorities can "keep tighter controls on them." They will be separated from their five-year-old daughter in the move. Their young son, living with relatives, was reportedly strip-searched leaving the family home.

Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women's Rights Without Frontiers, decried this action. "The Chinese Communist Party has already beaten and tortured Chen and his wife, denied them medical treatment, stolen their television, phone, computer and books, and appears to be slowly starving them to death. The couple is constantly surrounded by 66 guards and multiple surveillance cameras tracking their every move inside and outside their home. Why is the CCP so threatened by a blind, sick, penniless man that they have to build a personal prison for him? They seek to make an example of Chen, to demonstrate how they will punish anyone who challenges their forced abortion policies. But they are really making an example of their own, shameful brutality."

Bob Fu, President of China Aid, said "The treatment of Chen Guangcheng and the torture and disappearance of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, are unconscionable. These are not the acts of a government that respects the rule of law. Since the beginning of this year, the CCP has launched an offensive against human rights lawyers and activists, religious leaders, house church Christians and even dissident artists. We urge the release of those unjustly imprisoned, tortured and disappeared." 

Chen was arrested in 2006 for exposing evidence that 130,000 forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations were performed on women in Linyi County, Shandong Province in a single year. Time Magazine named him one of "2006's Top 100 People Who Shape Our World." Chen spent four years in prison. Since his release, he continues under house arrest. He and his wife have been beaten repeatedly and denied medical treatment.

To watch "Free Chen Guangcheng!" (three minutes), click here:
www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=296 

To sign a petition to free Chen, click here:
www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/index.php?nav=chen-guangcheng 

Women's Rights Without Frontiers and China Aid are spearheading a campaign to free Chen Guangcheng. The Jubilee Campaign and World Youth Alliance are partners in this effort.

Boko Haram spreads fear throughout Nigeria


Nigeria (MNN) ― A suicide car-bomb attack that killed 23 at the United Nations headquarters in Nigeria's capital last week has been claimed by a radical Muslim group with ties to the world's deadliest terrorists.

Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs explains, "Boko Haram actually translates into 'Western Education is a sin.' So this is a group who is very much opposed to what they would consider the westernization of Nigeria. They want the entire country to be under Sharia law. They want all the people of Nigeria to be Muslims."

What's more ominous, Nettleton says, is that "Boko Haram has a history of attacking Nigerian targets: police stations, government buildings, that kind of thing. This is their first reported attack on a Western target, but it shows, I think, what some of their ultimate efforts are going to be."

The sect wants to implement a strict version of Sharia law in the nation and has reported links to African terror groups al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Shabab of Somalia. There were humanitarian aid groups housed in the building and other agencies present to help the region recover from natural disaster and war. However, Nettleton doesn't think that's how the hardliners viewed it. "The attack comes from that mindset that 'these are Westerners who are (in their words) invading our country. We've got to do whatever we can to get them out.'"

Nigerian police arrested 50 suspects in connection with the Abuja attack. However, the cycle of violence undermines the stability of the government headed by President Goodluck Jonathon, who is also a Christian. "The cycle typically in northern Nigeria is this: there are attacks, the government comes in, the army comes in, they try to put a lid on it, and they sort of stamp down the fire. It stays down for a little while, and then there's another attack, and the cycle begins again."

Although the President issued a statement against last Friday's attacks calling them "barbaric," there are concerns that the attacks will show a weak government and--should it continue--cause the people to look for someone who can bring the violence to heel.

What that means is: more attacks on vulnerable groups. One group that has already been struck hard multiple times this year is Christians. Asked if persecution will likely continue to worsen in this scenario, Nettleton responded, "There are radical groups who want to rid Nigeria of a Christian presence. They will attack Christian; they will attack churches. That will happen this year."

VOM has a strong presence in Nigeria, though. Aside from their normal aid, "We work with Nigerian Christians to get Bibles into the hands of people in Nigeria. Another program is our VOM medical program which provides medical care for people who are affected by acts of persecution."

People like church planters, Gospel workers, and church leaders have been increasingly targeted. When they are killed, they often leave behind families. VOM is part of stopping the cycle of violence here. "We are involved in a children's home that, in particular, focuses on the children of martyrs, the children of people who have been killed for their faith, providing them with a place to live, providing an education for them, and really, training up the next generation to lead the church in Nigeria."

The church continues to grow. Pray that Christians in Nigeria will demonstrate the love of Christ, in spite of the opposition they face. Pray, too, that Christians in Nigeria will take action to help their suffering brothers and sisters elsewhere in the country.

Release of Christian prisoner Vahik Abrahamian after enduring one year of captivity in Iran

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries



HAMEDAN, IRAN (ANS) -- Pastor Vahik Abrahamian, a 45-year-old Armenian Christian, was released from prison during the morning of Monday, August 29, 2011, after suffering greatly behind bars for a year, and has now rejoined his family.


Pastor Vahik Abrahamian pictured with his wife Sonia before they were arrested


According to the Farsi Christian News Network (www.fcnn.com), Pastor Abrahamian was arrested by security agents, together with his wife Sonia Keshish Avanessian, on Saturday September 4, 2010, in his home in Hamedan, which is believed to be among the oldest Iranian cities and one of the most ancient in the world.



Pastor Vahik and his wife, together with family friends, Arash and Arezou, were all held for 44 days in solitary confinement in the Iranian Ministry of Information's detention center.

"In this period all were subjected to intensive interrogation and severe mental and psychological torture without any permission to contact family or friends," a spokesperson for FCCN told the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).

"They were then moved to the Hamedan prison's general ward and after eight months of ordeal they were proven not guilty in a court hearing and subsequently Sonia, Arash and Arezou were released on April 30, 2010, but Pastor Vahik was held back until now."
During his one year imprisonment, FCNN obtained reports of Pastor Abrahamian's poor health and also about the prison's "deplorable hygiene conditions which made family, friends and entire Christian community extremely concerned."

The FCCN spokesperson went on to say, "This anxiety was heightened upon the release of the three other prisoners. The Christian community worldwide, particularly the Iranian Christian community has been faithfully holding Pastor Vahik in prayers. The news of worldwide prayer was a cause of comfort and strength and encouragement for the immediate family in Iran and overseas.

"It is noteworthy to note that despite his obtaining citizenship in the Netherlands and the possibility of leading a comfortable life there, Pastor Vahik Abrahamian opted to return to his beloved country and he and his wife Sonia dedicated their efforts and meager resources to reach out and assist drug addicts and all sorts of abused people in the society.

"Vahik, having been miraculously touched by Christ his Lord and Savior, considered of utmost priority and privilege to reach out to the outcasts and down-casts of the society.

"It is ironic that the authorities, despite witnessing the pure motives, selfless attitude and indeed the wonderful result of Vahik and Sonia's sacrificial efforts, instead of offering support and assistance arrested him on February 2010 and held him on trumped-up charges in the infamous Evin prison for 53 days in solitary confinement and 5 days in the general ward.

"He was released after his family and friends posted a cash bail of 10 million Toomans pending his trial," added the FCCN spokesperson. "Vahik and Sonia had already moved out to Hamedan to live peacefully and serve the community away from the clutter of the capital and were indeed in their own home with one other couple when they were suddenly arrested."

An extended member of Vahik and Sonia Abrahamian's family has told FCNN that the whole family is "rejoicing" and "expressed their gratitude first to God for His gracious protection and intervention and secondly to the Christian family worldwide who have not ceased praying and advocating on their behalf."

"FCNN would like to add its thankfulness to all who have been raising awareness and prayers in churches and writing notes and letters of encouragement and support," stated the spokesperson. "Let's pray for other Christians still held in captivity particularly for Farshid Fathi who has been held in Evin prison for over six months.

"Vahik and Sonia have refrained speaking with anyone outside immediate family hence it has not been possible to ascertain his physical and emotional well-being.

"FCNN would like to ask all to pray for Vahik and Sonia's and Arash and Arezou's physical and emotional healing," concluded the spokesperson.

Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly "Front Page Radio" show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries. You can follow Dan on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel "Red Dagger" which is available this link.


Turkey Overturns Historic Religious Property Seizures


Christian and Jewish communities to reclaim state-confiscated properties.
By Barbara G. Baker
 
ISTANBUL, August 30 (Compass Direct News) – The Turkish government made a historic U-turn in state policy this past weekend, issuing an official decree inviting Turkey’s Christian and Jewish communities to reclaim their long-confiscated religious properties.
 
Saturday’s (Aug. 27) decree comes 75 years after the Turkish government seized hundreds of lands and buildings owned by its Greek, Armenian, Syriac and Jewish communities.
 
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the surprise decision on Sunday evening (Aug. 28) in Istanbul, addressing a large gathering of Istanbul’s non-Muslim religious leaders representing 161 minority foundations. Invited as the honored guest for an iftar(breaking the fast) meal near the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan, Erdogan declared, “The times when citizens in our country were oppressed for their beliefs, their ethnic heritage or the way they dressed is over.”
 
Acknowledging past injustices inflicted on those of different faith groups, he vowed, “Those days are over. In our country, no citizen is superior to another.”
 
Seated next to the prime minister at the dinner, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of the Greek Orthodox Church told the press afterwards that the new decree represented “the restoration of an injustice.”
 
In a deliberate clarification the next day, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu emphasized that the government’s formal decision was “not a gesture toward minorities, but the return of the rights of legally equal citizens.”
 
The landmark decree is a significant step toward eliminating decades of unfair practices imposed by the Turkish state against its non-Muslim citizens.
 
Within hours of the surprise announcement, the boards of Turkey’s minority religious foundations in Istanbul were scrambling to review the status of their confiscated immovable properties. They must apply within the next 12 months to the General Foundations Board to recover each individual property.
 
Their former holdings include schools, churches, cemeteries, stores, hospitals, orphanages, houses, apartment buildings and factories that were seized by the Turkish state and re-registered as public or foundation properties. A number were later sold to third parties.
 
Previous changes in Turkish legislation enacted in 2003 and again in 2008 took only limited steps to correct a 1936 Declaration which had officially registered an incomplete list of minority properties. A further ruling in 1974 had prohibited non-Muslim communities from acquiring new property.
 
The new decree states that owners of properties sold by the state to third parties will be reimbursed at market value. According to Radikal newspaper, the Ministry of Finance will determine the amount of compensation for property that had been sold to third parties, who will not be required to relinquish these lands or buildings back to their original owners.
 
Significant Step to EU

The return of these extensive properties to their rightful owners has been a key demand of the European Union (EU), to which Turkey is applying for full membership.
 
The unexpected government decree came after rising pressures from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which has slapped heavy fines on Turkey in recent years for failing to return these seized properties to their Christian and Jewish owners. Although the ECHR has declared the expropriations a violation of both local property rights and international law, Turkish nationalists had for decades blocked any legal changes.
 
During July, both the EU and United States congressional leaders had upped their rhetoric regarding the long unresolved issues of religious freedom for Turkey’s non-Muslim citizens. In a statement on July 13, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule cited a number of legislative issues on religious freedom that Turkey had not yet implemented: lack of legal personality, restrictions on the training of clergy, compulsory Islamic education, religious affiliation on identity cards, and property ownership.
 
“Missionaries are widely perceived as a threat to the integrity of the country and to the Muslim religion,” Fule added, observing that the dialogue launched by the Turkish authorities with non-Muslim religious communities “has yet to produce tangible results.”
 
That same month, Ankara reacted strongly to a measure passed by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives calling for Turkey to “return stolen Armenian and other Christian churches to their rightful owners.” Still pending approval by both the House and Senate, the amendment was attached to the State Department’s Authorization Act for 2012.
 
In an EU statement yesterday, Fule called the decree “positive and conducive to the respect of freedom of religion in practice.” He cautioned, however, that the EU Commission would “monitor closely the implementation of the new legislation, in contact with both the Turkish authorities and the non-Muslim religious communities.”
 
Ironically, the Istanbul offices of the Secretariat General for EU Affairs are situated in a former grade school building of the Greek Orthodox Ayios Fokas Church in Ortakoy. A case to reclaim this property, formerly owned by the church’s Mektepler Foundation, is still before the ECHR.
 
The minority properties expected to be returned in Istanbul include more than 50 large cemeteries; several properties of the Jewish community in Kandilli, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus; and a number of buildings owned by both the Surp Pirgic Armenian Hospital Foundation and the Balikli Greek Hospital Foundation.
 
 
END
 
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Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Christian Convert Attacked with Boiling Water by Muslim Asylum Seekers in Norway

By Michael IrelandSenior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service


JAEREN, NORWAY (ANS) -- An ex-Muslim Convert to Christianity has been attacked with boiling water and acid by Muslims at an Asylum Reception Center in Norway.


www.Mohabatnews.com  says that "Ali" (not his real name), an Asylum seeker in an immigration center in Jaeren, Norway, had boiling water poured over him after he converted to Christianity and would not comply with Ramadan fasting rules. He and the other converts at the center now fear for their lives.Mohabat News says the incident was accompanied by the message from other asylum seekers: "If you do not return to Islam, we will kill you."

Ali refuses to disclose his real name for fear of further reprisals. This is also
Photo shows injuries sustained after burning with boiling water and acid. (Photo courtesy Mohabat News).
why he is pictured face down in the accompanying image.
The news agency reports that if Afghan authorities found out about the incident, and he were to be subsequently deported, Ali says he risks being sentenced to death by stoning.

Ali survived the incident, but has been left with a severely disfigured back, covered with flaking skin under bandages.
Ali's Christian roommate, Reza, has been tending to the oozing wounds.

Nevertheless, Ali -- his face distorted in pain -- maintains a calm voice as he tells his story.

"Two of the Muslim residents asked why I had not fasted during Ramadan. When I would not answer, they began to discuss the matter. One of them said that he knew I was Muslim and converted to Christianity, and that they had to engage in Jihad," Ali told Mohabat News.

Ali stated that one resident held him down while another struck him on the back of the head with a pot of boiling water, and that he collapsed to the floor. Several other Muslim residents joined in the attack. A third man walked into Ali's room and began to trash it.

Police arrived an hour later, the damage already having been done, the agency said.
"I was still on the floor when police arrived. I told them a little, but was in too much pain to talk, so I was taken to hospital," Ali said.

After a night in the hospital, Ali went back to the reception center, knowing that danger had not passed. When he checked the door handle to his room he found it was covered with an acidic substance that causes burns on contact.

He summoned the staff, who had washed away the chemical, but the Christian Afghan feel still does not feel safe.
"They're really killing me, and they will not rest until they have done it," he said.

** Michael Ireland is Senior Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of th e National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior Reporter


Christians remain in prison as Iranian Supreme Leader Pardons 100 'Security' Prisoners During Ramadan

By Michael Ireland
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service



IRAN (ANS) -- Iranian news sources are reporting that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has ordered the release of 100 prisoners convicted of what are described as "security offenses."

According to www.Mohabatnews.com  , the report compiled from news agencies by RFE/RL, says some of those being released were among people who were detained during the unrest that erupted over the disputed 2009 reelection of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

Mohabat News says Tehran's Prosecutor-General, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, was quoted by the Fars news agency as saying the detainees were pardoned "after they repented."

The announced release comes near the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and as Iranian politicians are reportedly starting to prepare for parliamentary elections due next March, Mohabat News stated.
The news agency website says there are still some Iranian Christians held in the prisons of Iran with their fate being unclear.

"Their only accusation is to praise Jesus Christ as their Lord and to share their faith with others. None of the authorities care about their situation and their families who are under pressure and uncertainty," the website reported.

Farshid Fathi, the father of two, is being detained in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. He has spent more than 9 months in jail. The judge ordered that he be temporarily freed on bail, but due to the high amount of the bail, his family has not been able to provide the money and free their beloved.

Meanwhile, Vahik Abrahamian has been kept in prison in Hamadan for nearly a year and suffers from the lack of the medical help and bad health conditions.

Please pray for Vahik and Farshid and many others imprisoned in Iran who are jailed just because of their faithfulness to our Lord Jesus Christ.


** Michael Ireland is Senior Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of th e National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior Reporter