Released Christian finds kids missing

Kids of wrongfully imprisoned
 Christian father are missing. (Photo
 courtesy of Colleen Taugher)

Ethiopia (MNN) ― Tamirat Woldegorgis, a Christian in southern Ethiopia falsely accused of desecrating a Qur’an, has just been released after serving two of his three sentenced years in prison.

However, Tamirat has lost more than just two years of his life in prison. Due to cramped and harsh conditions, one of his legs is now paralyzed.

Furthermore, when he returned home, Tamirat discovered that his two children, ages 6 and 15, are missing.

"I have been trying to locate my children, but all in vain," says Tamirat. "My life is ruined--I have lost my house, my children, my health. I am now homeless, and I am limping."

According to Voice of the Martyrs, Canada’s source Compass Direct News, Tamirat is staying with a friend in an undisclosed town. Tamirat believes Muslims from his area may have taken his kids to restrict his influence.

Tamirat used to work in a cloth-making business before his arrest. When Tamirat was arrested back in August 2010, it was because his co-worker found that Tamirat had written “Jesus is Lord” on a piece of cloth.

Tamirat’s co-worker further accused him of writing “Jesus is Lord” in the cover of a Qur’an, but with no evidence. But Tamirat was still sentenced to three years in prison on November 18, 2010 for desecration of a Qur’an, a serious offense according to Muslim Shariah law.

Ethiopia is nearly 35% Muslim. Jijiga, the town where Tamirat was imprisoned, is the capitol of Ethiopia’s Somali Region Zone Five, which follows Shariah principles.

Persecution of Christians in Ethiopia is only getting worse. Ethiopia moved up to #38 on the World Watch List of countries with the worst Christian persecution, where last year it was #43.

Pray for the safety and salvation of Tamirat’s children, and for reunion with their father. Pray for courage among persecuted Ethiopian Christians and for the spread of the Gospel there.

Ethiopia using anti-terror law to stifle peaceful dissent

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

© 2010 UN Photo

The Ethiopian government should cease using its overly broad anti-terrorism law against journalists and peaceful political activists, two major human rights groups say.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued a comment on the worsening situation on Monday 21 November 2011 - two days before the trial of 24 people charged on 10 November with terrorism offences continues.

Those charged include six journalists and two members of the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party.

Sixteen of the 24 are being tried in absentia. Several other terrorism trials of journalists and opposition activists are ongoing.

“The Ethiopian government is exploiting its vaguely worded anti-terror law to crush peaceful dissent,” said Rona Peligal, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

The Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of 2009 includes an overbroad and vague definition of terrorist acts and a definition of “encouragement of terrorism” that makes the publication of statements “likely to be understood as encouraging terrorist acts” punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison.

These provisions mean that critics of government such as journalists and political opponents could be charged for encouraging terrorism, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said.

The organisations urged the Ethiopian government to facilitate systematic monitoring of the trials by the diplomatic community. The times and locations of hearings have been altered at the last minute at least twice during the ongoing trials. The government should ensure that key information, including location and time of hearings, is available to the public.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also urged diplomats stationed in Ethiopia to carry out systematic monitoring of the ongoing terrorism trials and the trials of members of the Oromo political opposition arrested during 2011.

This is particularly important in the absence of independent human rights organisations, which the Ethiopian government has effectively banned. While diplomatic representatives have attended several remand hearings and trial sessions of terrorism cases, none were apparently present at the November 10 confirmation of charges hearing, following a last-minute change of location, nor at the subsequent hearing on 15 November.

Ethiopia’s foreign partners closely followed a series of trials from 2005 to 2007, in which treason charges were brought following contested elections. The Council of the European Union appointed a full-time trial observer, although the findings of its report were never made public. EU embassy staff monitored these trials on a rotating basis, and a US embassy staff member was also present.

“Diplomats’ systematic monitoring of these trials is essential,” said Michelle Kagari, deputy director for Africa at Amnesty International. “Without the presence of local civil society, diplomats can play a vital role in witnessing whether or not the suspects’ right to a fair trial is respected.”

None of the defendants detained and charged under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation during 2011 had access to a lawyer during the pre-trial period. Three of those charged have complained in court of mistreatment in detention.

Public comments by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the government spokesman, Shimeles Kemal, have undermined the defendants’ presumption of innocence, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said. Their comments might also exert political pressure on the courts in a country where the judiciary lacks independence.

Since June 2011, the Ethiopian government has charged at least 33 people under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of 2009.

In addition, in 2011, at least 98 members of the two main Oromo political opposition parties, the Oromo Federal Democratic Movement (OFDM) and the Oromo People’s Congress (OPC), have been arrested and charged under the Criminal Code on the basis of alleged involvement with the Oromo Liberation Front, a banned rebel group.

Seven of the people charged on November 10 had previously been charged during the trials that followed the 2005 elections. All had been given a presidential pardon. Three of the seven are among the defendants who are now in custody, two others fled the country after their earlier release, and two were already living in exile when they were charged in the earlier cases.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have long called for the anti-terrorism law to be amended to bring it into line with Ethiopia’s domestic and international legal obligations.

“The anti-terror law itself is a huge problem,” Peligal said. “The international community, especially the European Union, United States, and United Kingdom, should ask the Ethiopian government hard questions about why it is using this law to crack down on peaceful independent voices.”

[Ekk/3]

Providing for The Poor Wanderer

Refugee camps in Mozambique are
 overflowing with those fleeing from
 Somalia and Ethiopia. More aid is
 needed. (Photo courtesy of Food for
 the Hungry)

Mozambique (MNN) ― The crisis in refugee camps continues to grow as more and more Somali and Ethiopian refugees flee across northern Mozambique borders. Drought, war and persecution particularly have Somali and Ethiopian Christians running for their lives to safety.

The boats arriving on the shores of Mozambique are full of refugees who often come with nothing but the clothes on their backs. So far, the number of refugees needing humanitarian aid is estimated at 600 with the number still climbing.

Food for the Hungry (FH) has stepped up to help these refugees in Mozambique. FH is working with the Mozambique government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Together, they are building an overflow refugee camp in the coastal town of Palma by setting up a kitchen station and clearing land.

This overflow camp is desperately needed since The Maratane Refugee Camp in Nampula already holds twice its normal amount. It went from 5,500 long-term refugees back in 2010, to over 10,000 today with the influx of asylum-seekers. So far, an additional 1,000 have been moved to the camp being constructed in Palma.

Refugees from Ethiopia and Somalia first started arriving in 2010 by boat, but the number of arrivals was not overwhelming. As long as the number of arrivals was around the number of departures, the camps could handle it.

But starting in 2011 when the worst drought in 60 years struck, that coupled with war and persecution led to a major movement of refugees fleeing Somalia and Ethiopia. To exert more control over the situation, the Mozambique government added restrictions on the movements of refugees outside the camps.

So far, Palma is still a temporary camp for overflow refugees. It is not ideal as the camp is near mosquito-infested swamps and lacks sanitary water. Food for the Hungry and the UNHCR are appealing for more aid including food, water, tents and sanitation.

Food for the Hungry exists to end physical and spiritual hungers in some of the most impoverished and critical areas of the world. The refugee camps in Mozambique easily fit the bill.

This pairing of humanitarian aid with evangelism encourages Christian refugees who have left everything they own. And it opens doors to minister the Gospel to the hurting and lost. Here is where the Christian community can step up and join the mission.

Please pray for refugees in the camps of Mozambique, that they would receive the aid they need and be able to work toward a better life. Pray also for perseverance for the church both in dangerous areas of persecution and in places of asylum. If you would like to have a hand in helping refugees both physically and spiritually, you can donate here.

Isaiah 58:6-7 says, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”