Cuban Catholic Activist Caridad Caballero Goes Into Exile

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

MIAMI, FL (ANS) -- Cuban human rights defender and independent journalist, Caridad Caballero, arrived in Miami yesterday following the sudden announcement earlier this week that she and her family were going into exile.

Caridad Caballero Batista (Courtesy CSW).

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)www.csw.org.uk  Caballero, a member of the Ladies in White, the Sakharov Prize-winning non-violent protest group, was consistently targeted by Cuban state security because of her work as an independent journalist.

In a media update, CSW says that Cuban authorities particularly targeted her religious faith, blocking her from participating in any religious activities at the Jesus Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood of Holguin.

CSW reported that each week since the beginning of the year, Caballero’s home was surrounded by state security agents. She was frequently detained in prison, along with her husband and son, for the duration of Sunday morning mass. In addition, she was barred from attending weekly Bible studies or confirmation classes. Her baptism and confirmation into the Catholic Church on Easter Sunday had to be postponed when once again she was thrown into prison.

CSW said Caballero was among hundreds of Catholic dissidents who were imprisoned for the duration of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI in March. Her unexpected departure comes at the same time as the Cuban government continues to deny Protestant pastor Omar Gude Perez permission to leave the country, despite an offer of asylum in the US made last year.

CSW explained the experiences of Caballero and Gude Perez are part of a sharp increase in religious freedom violations in Cuba this year. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has recorded more than 60 such violations, some involving large groups of people, in the first half of the year.

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas, CEO said: “We are pleased that Caridad and her family will now be able to practice their faith in freedom in the United States. However, it is important to keep in mind the circumstances which led to their exile.

“It is imperative that the international community holds Cuba to account and insists that religious freedom and other basic human rights be upheld. In addition, we continue to urge to the Cuban government to issue Pastor Gude Perez an exit visa as soon as possible.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organization working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, emailkiri@csw.org.uk  or visit www.csw.org.uk

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** Michael Ireland is the Senior International 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 the 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 International Reporter

What Next for Christians in Egypt?

By Aidan Clay, International Christian Concern (www.persecution.org)  
Special to ASSIST News Service

CAIRO, EGYPT (ANS) -- A few weeks ago, Christians believed a Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egypt’s presidential election would mark the end of religious freedoms and abolish any hope they still had of living a peaceful existence in post-revolution Egypt. However, all that changed just days before the mid-June election when Egypt’s military council dissolved the Islamist-dominated Parliament and stripped the president of most of his powers. Now, despite the presidential victory of Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi on Sunday, the remaining hope of many Christians is in the military, which they view as their final source of protection against Islamists.

Mohammed Morsi declares victory

For Christians, post-revolution Egypt was defined not by democratic progress and greater freedoms, but by the political rise of Islamists and large-scale attacks on their community and places of worship. Many Christians determined to flee the country, but they were holding out for the results of the presidential election to see if secularist Ahmed Shafiq could, by chance, defeat the Islamist Mohammed Morsi.

Shafiq, considered by many to be loyal to the regime, was not the ideal presidential choice of most Christians, but at least, they thought, he was not an Islamist. Islamists already held 75 percent of Egypt’s two houses of parliament. A Brotherhood presidential victory would give Islamists complete control of the government which, Christians feared, would transform Egypt into an Islamic state.

The Islamic agenda of the Brotherhood was made clear during the presidential campaign. In May, Morsi was allegedly quoted by the popular Egyptian website, El Bashayer, as saying: “We will not allow Ahmed Shafiq or anyone else to impede our second Islamic conquest of Egypt.

They [Christians] need to know that conquest is coming, and Egypt will be Islamic, and that they must pay 'jizya' or emigrate.” Furthermore, the Brotherhood demanded that Islamists should draft the new constitution and center it on Sharia law. It appeared to Christians that there would no longer be room for them in Egyptian society if Morsi was elected president.

All that changed, however, only days before Morsi was officially recognized as Egypt’s president. On June 14, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the Islamist-dominated Parliament should be dissolved. And, after election booths closed on June 17, the military further announced a constitutional declaration that expands their power over civilian politicians, including the president, and grants them authority to draft a new constitution. The military was effectively retaking control from the Islamists and many Christians, viewing the military as their last hope of protection, were relieved by the decree.

“Christians are happy, because they were afraid the Muslim Brotherhood was taking over the Parliament,” Athanasious Williams, a Coptic Christian human rights lawyer in Cairo, told Compass Direct News. “But now they feel that there might be a better chance for a secular government.”

Despite the support of Christians, however, is a potential military takeover worth the risk of safeguarding Egypt’s Christian community? A similar situation occurred in Algeria when the army staged a coup just before elections to stop the Islamic Salvation Front from gaining victory in 1991. The result: 150,000-200,000 people were killed in a decade-long civil war. Similarly, Egypt’s Islamists will not back down quietly. The Brotherhood has vowed to “fight in the courts and the streets to reinstate the Parliament,” according to The New York Times. Also, Islamists have the support of more than half of the country’s population, taking into account that 75 percent of registered voters voted for Islamists in the parliamentary elections and 52 percent voted for them in the presidential elections. Although civil war is unlikely, the country remains divided and all calculations on Egypt’s future have been thrown to the wind. Anything can happen.

The question all Egyptians are now asking is: What role will the president and Islamists have in Egypt’s future? Will Morsi be stripped of his presidential powers by the military, making him nothing more than a figurehead? Or, will the Brotherhood and other Islamists continue to demonstrate in Cairo’s Tahrir Square or, less likely, embark on a campaign of armed resistance until the military steps down? It is the answer to these questions that will inevitably determine the fate of Egypt’s ancient Christian community.

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Aidan Clay is the Middle East Regional Manager for International Christian Concern (ICC), a Washington, DC-based human rights organization that exists to support persecuted Christians worldwide by providing awareness, advocacy, and assistance (www.persecution.org). Aidan is a graduate from Biola University in Southern California. Prior to joining ICC, Aidan worked with Samaritan’s Purse in South Sudan and has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, Africa and Europe. He and his wife currently live in Nairobi, Kenya. For more information, contact Aidan Clay at clay@persecution.org 

Sudanese Authorities Demolish Two Church Buildings

Hostility toward southern Sudanese grows as officials also confiscate three Catholic schools.

Special to Compass Direct News

Demolished St. John Episcopal Church of Sudan
(Photo: Compass Direct News)

JUBA, South Sudan, June 28 (Compass Direct News) – Authorities in Khartoum demolished two church buildings last week, days after confiscating three Catholic schools, sources told Compass.

Officials from the Ministry of Planning and Housing of the local government authority on June 18 sent bulldozers that destroyed a church building belonging to the St. John Episcopal Church of Sudan, in the Haj Yousif area, an area source reported by email. A Catholic church building in the area was also demolished the same day.

“The government wants to remove all churches from Khartoum,” the source said. “Tell churches, all churches, to stand on prayer for the church in Sudan.”

Clergymen said persecution was intensifying following the secession of South Sudan in July 2011, with officials targeting churches they claim to be associated with now unwelcome, largely Christian South Sudanese in the Islamic-ruled country. 

The St. John church was established in 1987, but when government officials later allocated housing plots in the area, they denied church requests for their land. Christian support organization Open Doors reported that the churches were targeted on the pretext that southern Sudanese had attended services, and that since they had presumably left, the buildings were no longer necessary.

In a press statement, Open Doors noted that the church does not belong to the South Sudanese, and that the bishop is (north) Sudanese.

“It seems also that the policy of an Islamic state is being implemented, where the president said, if South Sudanese vote for secession, there will be but one religion [Islam], one language [Arabic] and one culture [Arab],” said the Rt. Rev. Ezekiel Kondo, bishop of Khartoum, according to Open Doors.

The bishop demanded the local authority of Shereq El Nail compensate the church for the destruction and allot land for the congregation.

Church leaders had sent letters to the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment requesting that the building be spared and another plot of land be granted to the parish, but authorities refused and instead sent the bulldozers, sources told Compass.

Christian sources also reported that another church building belonging to the Full Gospel Church was destroyed in the same area two months ago, on the claim that it belonged to South Sudanese.

Schools Confiscated

On June 14, the Jebel Aulia Locality Committee in south Khartoum confiscated three schools belonging to the Catholic Church, two in the Mayo area and one in nearby Omdurman, sources said. 

The Jebel Aulia commissioner was acting on a letter issued by the Khartoum state minister of education calling for cancellation of official approval of the schools based on the claim that they were southern Sudanese. Both Mayo schools, however, were registered with the Ministry of Education as belonging to Khartoum dioceses.

Police officer Hassan Badawi Ahamed, executive director of the office of Jebel Aulia Locality, reportedly sent a letter dated May 30 to the Office of Secondary Education Directorate asking for termination of the two schools because they were supposedly southern Sudanese. Reports said the official letters mistakenly identified one of the schools as Comboni School of Mayo, whereas its name is Markaz El Talim El Namoziky.

School administrators raised complaints before the Jebel Aulia Locality Committee, protesting that the name of the school was not included in the government letter. The committee then went back to the Jebel Aulia Locality office and produced a new letter with the correct name of the school.

On June 13, the committee had also gone to a building belonging to the Catholic Church in Mayo to take it by force, claiming it was a school. Christians have gathered for prayer in the building since June 14 to prevent it from being confiscated, sources said. 

www.compassdirect.org

END

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Copyright 2012 Compass Direct News

Vietnamese Officials Destroy Two New Church Buildings

Third worship place threatened with demolition.

Special to Compass Direct News

LOS ANGELES, June 27 (Compass Direct News) – Vietnamese officials in Muong Cha district, Dien Bien Province, destroyed two new church buildings of ethnic minority Hmong Christians this month and threatened to tear down a third.

The Ho He Church, erected in April by the unregistered Vietnam Good News Mission, was demolished on June 17. The Phan Ho Church of the registered Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North) was destroyed on June 13, 2012. The church threatened with demolition, The Cong Church, also belongs to the Vietnam Good News Mission.

These congregations of 500 to 600 people, which began as house churches, had long outgrown even the largest home, so the Hmong had sacrificed and worked to erect wooden worship buildings. As local police, paramilitary forces and other authorities descended on the church buildings by the dozens, the Christians could only watch with deep sadness and frustration as the houses of worship were reduced to rubble and government promises about freedom of religion were again broken, area sources said.

The Hmong Christian movement in Vietnam’s Northwest Mountainous Region has grown from nothing to some 400,000 believers in the last two decades. The Hmong Christians remain under heavy government suspicion and are regularly objects of harassment and sometimes outright persecution.      

According to a trusted Compass source, these incidents, among other things, demonstrate the dysfunction of the government’s church registration regime. New regulations on church registration were promulgated in 2004 and 2005, ostensibly to expand religious freedom and move Vietnam from an ideological opposition to religion to a managerial approach.

Particularly promising was the Prime Minister’s Special Directive No. 1 Regarding Protestantism. It promised quick registration for local congregations to carry on religious activity while larger issues were being worked out.  

Since this legislation appeared, nine Protestant denominations have received legal recognition. They report that the disclosure required in the registration process, however, has led to more government scrutiny and has not reduced long waiting times for routine permissions.

Yet more than half of Vietnam’s Protestants remain unregistered, with many seeing their prospects for becoming legally recognized as hopeless. Hundreds of congregations have tried to apply for registration under the Prime Minister’s Special Directive, only to have officials simply refuse to accept the applications. Others who apply to register are told they cannot because they are not legal, or that they can’t register because there are no Christians where they live.

If the registration request is received, sources said, it often goes unanswered for years, contrary to time limits for government reply in the legislation. Christian leaders who have long tried to register their congregations say that fewer than 5 percent have been granted permission to carry on religious activities.

As a result, sources said, large numbers of congregations remain subject to various kinds of harassment and sometimes arbitrary closure. Authorities tell denominational leaders they may not visit their churches, or even their pastors, because they are not legal.  

The large Catholic Church in Vietnam regularly finds its congregations in tension with local authorities. On June, 18, for example, the archdiocese of Vinh published on a Catholic website a letter, directed to all levels of government, about the persecution of Christians in Chau Binh Commune in Nghe An Province.

When a priest arrived in the commune to bless a new home, many officials gathered to prevent the ceremony. They shouted abuse at the Catholics and hurled rotten eggs at an altar prepared for the house-blessing ceremony. The following night, thugs invaded the home of Tran Van Luong, a Catholic who had dared object to the officials’ conduct, and beat him, his wife and three others, sources said.

The five required emergency medical aid, and Luong’s wife was still drifting in and out of consciousness at the time the letter was written. 

The letter from the archdiocese specifies in detail how the officials’ conduct violates the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the constitution of Vietnam, as well as Vietnam’s new religion legislation and its criminal code. It concludes with an appeal for a prompt investigation to provide justice.

Rarely does the government of Vietnam respond to such petitions, sources said; instead, it often vilifies the petitioners. 

An official news release on a high-level meeting about the effectiveness of the Prime Minister’s Special Directive No. 1, issued on Feb. 28 in Vietnamese, was likely more telling than intended; the official English-language report on the meeting used other language entirely. In the Vietnamese version, an official of the Government Committee on Religious Affairs said the directive had provided a “breakthrough” in the government’s management of religion by “limiting the unusually rapid development of the Protestant religion.”

Thus, the very instrument that was publicized locally and internationally as proof of Vietnam’s liberalizing religion policy apparently had contrary purposes. 

At the same meeting, a deputy prime minister announced the appointment of General Pham Dung of the Ministry of Public Security as the new head of the Government  Committee on Religious Affairs. According to Vietnamese Protestant leaders, this was not a heartening development.

Vietnam was ranked 19^th on the 2012 World Watch List of the 50 countries where persecution is worst, as determined by Christian support organization Open Doors.

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Copyright 2012 Compass Direct News

Christian Legislator in Pakistan Stuck with Muslim ID

Assemblyman nearly lost post to error.

By Murad Khan

LAHORE, Pakistan, June 26 (Compass Direct News) – Pakistan’s rigid system of prohibiting Muslims from changing their religion status on their national ID cards nearly cost a Punjab politician his post – even though he has always been a Christian.

Rana Asif Mahmood’s political opponents in April sought to disqualify him from the Punjab Provincial Assembly seat reserved for minorities on grounds that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) identified him as a Muslim.

Mahmood said that NADRA had mistakenly identified him as a Muslim because of his name and then refused to rectify the error. The mistake not only cost Mahmood a cabinet position but also his part in proposing the provincial budget for 2012-13, he said.

The law establishing NADRA prohibits Muslims from changing the religion column on their Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC), though non-Muslims can easily obtain such changes – especially if they are converting to Islam.

“The situation was revealed to me when my son applied for a CNIC a few months ago,” Mahmood said. “He was told that he could not put down Christianity as his religion because the records showed his father to be a Muslim.”

When he approached NADRA officials for corrections, Mahmood said, they told him that there was no provision for changing the religion entry. He said that his passport identified him as a Christian, and that twice he had his religion section corrected on his passport because of the NADRA error of listing him as a Muslim.

Mahmood’s political opponents filed a petition seeking his removal from one of the seats reserved for minorities based on the error. Opposition parties accepted Mahmood’s clarification only after he vehemently stated on the floor of the Punjab Assembly that he was born a Christian and appealed to them and the media not to indulge in propaganda against him that could incite Muslim extremists to kill him.

A NADRA official who requested anonymity said that while a person could get their religion changed in ID records from a religion other than Islam to another, the same could not be done if the person wanted to change their religion away from Islam.

“My understanding of the matter is that if stated by the person himself that he/she is a Muslim, the religion cannot be changed,” he said.

At the same time, he added that if the CNIC recipient provided evidence of religion and established that there had been a clerical error, the request would be entertained.

“But a clerical error is highly unlikely,” he said. “Data is cross-checked several times in cases of identity card entries.”

He said that once a person applied for a CNIC and his personal information was recorded, they were sent a form for attestation, and that at that stage the applicant could report any errors.

That is precisely what Mahmood did, to no effect.

“I noticed the error in the entry for religion in my attestation form and reported it to NADRA. After some days I received my CNIC and it did not mention religion, so I assumed that NADRA had changed its records,” Mahmood said.

Problems can be even more severe for converts such as Muhammad Kamran. After a pelvic injury he received from a beating by unidentified men for converting to Christianity from Islam, the 34-year-old Kamran has not been able to obtain medical treatment because of his name (see www.compassdirect.org, “Injured Convert in Pakistan Tries to Rebuild Life,” May 15).

A human rights activist criticized NADRA’s policy.

“It is unfortunate and a violation of human rights,” he said on condition of anonymity. “The policy appears to be a reflection of customs prohibiting Muslims from changing their religion, but it is still a violation of a person’s basic human rights.”

www.compassdirect.org

END

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Copyright 2012 Compass Direct News

Egypt's new president makes history again

(Photo courtesy of Jonathan Rashad)
President-elect Morsi.
 (Story photo courtesy SAT7)

Egypt (MNN) ― Egypt's first-ever democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, has already made history.

Now, he'll do it again by appointing a Christian vice president as one of his first acts. He will also choose another vice president who is a woman.

The Islamist figure, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, promised to ensure rights of minorities. Farid Samir, the Executive Director of *SAT-7's studios in Cairo, says despite the show of good will, "Although most of the promises that he had made are positive, it's not the promises. [Minorities] had fears of being treated as second-class citizens."

In a May 12th speech at Cairo University, Morsi said, "The Koran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader, jihad is our path, and death in the name of Allah is our goal.

"   

However, the greater concern for Christians came from a report Monday from Iranian state media. Samir says, "They're afraid of following Iran's regime because the first announcement he made, he said, 'We want to restore our relationships with Iran.'"

According to the semi-official Fars news agency, Morsi views a renewal of diplomatic ties with Tehran as a way to achieve "strategic balance" in the region. Samir says nobody is sure how far that renewal will go. "They have two armies. One army is the official army, and the other army is to protect Islam and to protect the regime. So we don't know if this is what he means by 'following the Iranian regime' or learning from that."

Then, in what seems to be an about face, Morsi's policy adviser this week emphasized that Egypt "definitely" would not be an "Islamic Republic."

Meanwhile, Egypt's courts suspended a ruling that said the military could arrest citizens, forcing the military back from what was perceived to be a move toward martial law.

What does all this mean? It seems it's an effort to allay fears of sharia, jihad, and religicide. Samir notes, "We can't forget that this Muslim Brotherhood didn't just start now, but it was there for 80 years, working underground. But now, it's official." There's good reason for concern. "There is a lot of fear, also, about seeing the same violent acts against Christians, but this time, with legal coverage."

Christians may face losing more of their voice, more rights, and possibly, face more trouble. Reports of widespread evacuation have already begun to file in.

The greatest concern: who will Morsi be to believers after the "honeymoon" period is over? Samir says, first, "Church leaders are trying their best to strengthen the faith of people trying to talk about higher authority of God over any humans, and that God's will is over all that's happening."

Then, SAT-7 studios in Cairo began offering a forum for viewers. Samir explains, "We started a current affairs show called 'Salt of the Earth,' bringing hope, encouraging Christians to share in the community."

The events of the past few weeks have revealed serious divisions in society, and many Egyptians are stunned. Samir adds that the uncertainty has had an interesting effect on ministry. "They'll talk about our role as Christians in the region, and the important thing is that the churches are full of people now. The same day that they announced Morsi as president, the churches were full of people. They seek God more now."

As an organization that does not take political positions, SAT-7 supports viewers by teaching how they can apply Christian principles to everyday life. In this case, says Samir, "We need this to be effective. We include a dialogue between denominations, and between Christians and Muslims, also."

Biblical perspective helps. It emphasizes the need for an attitude of reconciliation between election winners and losers, as well as a readiness for participating in writing a new constitution. Samir adds, "Fear is not really logical, but when we give some logic, and some biblical facts, it helps ease the fears down a little bit."

In the days ahead, there is a lot at stake. Samir encourages believers to stay involved in Egypt's emergence. It's a painstaking process, and what the nation will look like on the other side remains undetermined. "Pray for protection for the staff and the facilities, for wisdom for producers, for presenters to speak the truth. Pray also...for people to read the Word of God."

*A Christian satellite and television ministry to the Middle East and North Africa.