Justice clouded under Pakistan's blasphemy laws

Mission Network News: "Pakistan (MNN) ― A United Nations representative says Christians are not the only people who are under pressure under Pakistan's blasphemy law.

Judges and politicians face reprisals if they speak out against the unfair application of the code or on behalf of people who are being punished under the blasphemy law."

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British Christian children’s worker forced to resign over Sunday working

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

Celestina Mba, formerly a carer for disabled
 children in Merton, who is suing her employer
 for giving her a disciplinary after she
 refused to work on Sundays Photo: CLARA MOLDEN

LONDON, UK (ANS) -- A 57 year-old children's worker who was forced to resign over her desire not to work on Sundays will appear before an employment tribunal in the United Kingdom on Monday (February 20).

According to the Christan Legal Centre www.christianlegalcentre.com , Celestina Mba worked for over three years at the Brightwell Children's Home in Morden, a respite home for children with disabilities. She was forced to resign in 2010 after her employer chose to no longer accommodate her Christian beliefs.

The CLC says in a media release that Ms Mba has been a Christian since a young girl and has never worked on a Sunday. Her beliefs were initially respected by her employer, the London Borough of Merton, who were informed before she started the job that she would have difficulties working on a Sunday.

But the Council later changed its mind and she was forced to choose between her job or her faith, CLC said.

Mba said that she would have worked nights and Saturdays, unpopular shifts as people want to be with their families or go out, or would have accepted less pay, but despite her offers no compromise was accepted.

Ms Mba is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre and has instructed human rights barrister Paul Diamond to take on the case.

Andrea Williams, Director of the Christian Legal Centre said: "This is another case where we see intolerance towards the Christian faith and a lack of willingness to make accommodation for it .

"Celestina was a hard working employee who wished to observe Sunday. Her employers knew about this and agreed to it from the outset, yet later changed their minds. They forced her to choose between her job and her work.

"Surely it is possible to devise a rota system that respects and accommodates the Christian belief of employees especially where such a rota had worked successfully in the past. A public body like the London Borough of Merton should set the highest standards and not behave like this. No doubt Merton will spend considerable amounts of public money to resist this Christian lady."

___________________________________________________________

For further information, Contact: Andrea Williams, Director of Christian Legal Centre: +44 (0)771 259 1164
www.christianlegalcentre.com 

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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

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** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Death Toll Climbs in Islamist Attacks in Nigeria’s Northeast

One of the Nigerians wounded in the church attack in Gombe,
 Jerry Johnson, shot in the legs. (Photo: Compass)

Boko Haram extremists take credit for bloody assaults in three towns.

GOMBE, Nigeria, January 9 (CDN) — The number of Christians killed in an Islamic extremist attack here on Thursday (Jan. 5) has risen to nine, and over the weekend the same terrorist group killed at least 21 Christians in neighboring Adamawa state, sources said.

Members of the Boko Haram group that seeks to impose sharia (Islamic law) on Nigeria emerged from a mosque near the Deeper Life Bible Church in the Boso area of Gombe, capital of Gombe state, at about 7:30 p.m. and shot Christians attending a weekly meeting known as “The Hour of Revival,” area sources said.

Silas Ugboeze, who was in coma for three days at the Federal Medical Centre in Gombe, died 20 minutes after Compass arrived on Saturday (Jan. 7), bringing the death toll to nine and the list of those wounded in the attack to 19.

Ugboeze’s son Gideon was also killed, and his 12-year-old daughter, Victoria Silas Ugboeze, was wounded in both breasts. She has thus far survived along with her brother Daniel, who was also shot.

Ugboeze’s widow was overcome with grief at the hospital, able to say only, “Lord, where are you? This burden is too much for me to bear.”

Of the nine killed, five died instantly and four died later at the hospital. About 45 people were present at the service when it was attacked, said the church’s 43-year-old pastor, Sunday Okoli.

The Gombe Deeper Life Bible Church, planted more than 20 year years ago, is adjacent to a mosque built less than two meters from its northern end, and it was from this mosque that the gunmen emerged to attack the church, said Okoli, based on reports he received from those present as he was away at a pastors’ conference in Lagos at the time.

His wife, Chinyere Okoli, said a bullet struck her head but left only a light wound with bruising.

“We had been in the church for about one hour and 30 minutes praying, when suddenly, we heard gunshots and bullets hitting us,” she said. “Oh my God, blood was flowing as our members were shot by the gunmen.”

She reported that the wife of church elder Chenma Ngwaba, Chilver Chenma, and their son, Chinedu Chenma, were both killed. Elder Ngwaba was leading the evening program, at which members customarily share spiritual and physical burdens for prayer purposes and testify to God’s work in their lives.

Others killed were Johnson Jauro, whose two sons were also wounded; Sule Baba Tanko; Godwin Odoh; Menshak  Major; and a member of the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC) serving in the church. His name was not immediately known, but leaders of the church were trying to establish his identity.

As Compass visited the emergency and orthopedic wards of the Federal Medical Centre in Gombe, the injured members of the church were in severe pain with varying degrees of injuries.

The attacks marked the second time in less than a month that the Deeper Life Bible Church in Gombe was mourning the killing of one of its members. On Dec. 11, Patrick Ugoji was shot dead by Muslim militants at a gas station, the NNPC Mega Station, while filling his car’s tank.

Many Christians were seen at motorparks boarding vehicles to leave town.

Weekend Killings
Boko Haram had published an ultimatum in a newspaper on Tuesday (Jan. 3) threatening violence if Christians did not leave predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria in three days. Since then, the group has reportedly claimed responsibility for killing at least 44 people in four states.

Christians in Adamawa state came under attack by Boko Haram, which in the Hausa language means “Western education is sacrilege,” over the weekend. On Friday night (Jan. 6), 11 people were killed and many others injured at the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in the Nasarawa area of Yola, the state capital.

“There was blood all over the church hall – it was a very sorry sight,” Adamawa journalist Barnabas Manyan told Compass.

Pastor Alfred Anoris of the CAC described how the Islamists attacked the church.

“The gunmen numbering about six stormed the church, killing three people outside the gate, and eight people inside, including Associate Pastor Joshua Olaniyi, while the service was on,” he told newsmen. “The men were dressed in caftans but had their faces covered. They carried out the act with the precision and tact of professional killers. Many people were wounded and are in the hospital.”

Earlier on Friday, 12 persons were reportedly killed when armed men claimed by Boko Haram shot a gathering of Christian traders holding a prayer session before opening their shops in Mubi, Adamawa. The gunmen also shot at another group of Christians meeting at a town hall to arrange for the transportation of relatives slain the previous day, bringing the total of those killed in Mubi to 21.

Also on Saturday (Jan. 7), Boko Haram members reportedly killed two Christian students of the University of Maiduguri, in Maiduguri, Borno state.

The public relations officer of the State Police  Command, Altine  Daniel, confirmed the incidents  and told  newsmen that  there was a  bomb explosion at a Deeper Life Church in Mubi, but that no one was injured.

Ayo Oritsejafor, head of the Christian Association of Nigeria, said Christian leaders had decided to “work out means to defend ourselves against these senseless killings.”

“We have the legitimate right to defend ourselves,” he said. “We will do whatever it takes.”

END

Anti-Christian Incidents Nearly Doubled in Indonesia in 2011

Attempts to institutionalize intolerance, close churches increase.

NEW DELHI, January 4 (CDN) — Acts of violence and intolerance against Christians in Indonesia almost doubled in 2011, with an Islamist campaign to close down churches symbolizing the plight of the religious minority.


The Indonesian Protestant Church Union, locally known as PGI, counted 54 acts of violence and other violations against Christians in 2011, up from 30 in 2010.


The number of such incidents against religious minorities in general also grew, from 198 in 2010 to 276 in 2011, but the worst is perhaps yet to come if authorities continue to overlook the threat of extremism, said a representative from the Jakarta-based Wahid Institute, a Muslim organization that promotes tolerance.


Rumadi, who goes by a single name, said his Wahid Institute also observed an attempt to institutionalize intolerance in this archipelago of about 238 million people, of whom about 88 percent Muslim. At least 36 regulations to ban religious practices deemed deviant from Islam were drafted or implemented in the country in 2011.


A Jakarta-based civil rights group, the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, noted that both the government and groups in society were responsible for the incidents, with the main violators including religious extremist organizations such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).


Indonesia’s hot-bed of extremism is West Java, the most populous province that includes the nation’s capital city of Jakarta. This province alone witnessed 160 incidents against religious minorities. In the 1950s, West Java was the base of an Islamist group, Darul Islam, whose splinter groups are still active, fighting the “secular” government and religious minorities.


Church Closures 
Churches in West Java, which has about 520,000 Christians, also suffered the most last year. On Christmas Day, two churches in West Java’s Bogor city bore the brunt of growing extremism.


“Islamist vigilantes screamed and yelled at us and threatened us, as we sought to hold a Christmas service,” a leader of the Gereja Kristen Indonesia, also known as the GKI or the Yasmin Church, told Compass in an email.


“We could not hold Christmas service in our own church for a second year,” said the source, who requested anonymity.


The city administration, allegedly under pressure from local extremist groups, sealed off the half-constructed building of the church, situated in the Taman Yasmin housing complex on a street named H. Abdullah Bin Nuh, in 2010. Before Christmas that year, the Supreme Court ordered the city mayor, Diani Budiarto, to unseal the church building, and later an ombudsman also recommended the same, but the official refused to oblige. The church has held worship services on a sidewalk, with police cordoning off the compound, since April 2010.


On Dec. 25, church members insisted they wanted to celebrate Christmas in the building, which is legally theirs, but police prevented them from even going near the structure, the source said. The congregation met in a church member’s home.


Showing solidarity with the church were members of Ansor, youth wing of one of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU); interfaith activists, including the sister and youngest daughter of former president Abdurrahman Wahid; and members of the Asian Muslim Action Network. But they could do little to help.


“The police first allowed the vigilantes to stand next to us, and then moved them just about three meters away,” the church leader said. “The vigilantes issued threats to us, but the police did not arrest them.”


Having overseen the sealing of the Yasmin church, Muslim extremists are now targeting a 2,000-member Catholic church in Bogor city’s Parung area. The Santo Joannes Baptista (St. John the Baptist) church was able to hold its mass on Christmas Eve, followed by a Christmas Day service, although authorities had formally ordered the church to stop all activities.


The church building was constructed six years ago, but days before Christmas the head of Bogor district, Rachmat Yasin, issued the cessation order arguing that its construction violated planning rules due to its proximity to a residential area. Soon after the order, a group called the Muslim Community of Parung Bogor placed a banner near the church, stating that it was in support of Rachmat’s move to ban church activities, according to The Jakarta Globe.


“The site is not for a church, but it was a house turned into a house of worship. It is a violation,” Rachmat told the daily. “Moreover, they worship on a regular basis. It is a mistake.”


The head of the Indonesian Bishops Conference, Benny Susetyo, said there had been no conflict between the church and the people living in its vicinity for six years.


“The problem arose when a group of people started to disturb the calm in the region around the house of worship,” he told The Jakarta Globe.


Susetyo added that district authorities had repeatedly rejected demands made by the church for a permit, without giving any reason.


“This is despite us having clearly followed the procedure for the construction of houses of worship.”


Islamist groups have demanded a similar action against five other churches in Pracimantoro town in Central Java province, the source added. These churches – Pentecostal Church of Indonesia in the Ngalu Wetan area, Church of all Nations and Bethel Tabernacle Church in the Gebangharjo area, Javanese Christian Church in the Godang area, and Nazarene Christian Church in the Lebak area – have operational permits to hold church services. They had applied for building permits, but authorities never responded.


Central Java is also a hub of Islamist extremists. Last Sept. 25, a suicide bomber said to be an Islamist terrorist blew himself up at the gate of the Sepenuh Injil Bethel Church (Bethel Full Gospel Church) in Solo city, injuring about 20 people.


Sealing of church buildings and the refusal to grant building permits top the list of major violations of Christians’ religious rights in Indonesia, according to the Setara Institute. A 2006 joint ministerial decree requires signatures from congregations and residents living nearby, as well as approval from the local administration, to build a house of worship.


Government Inaction
The Setara Institute criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for inaction. The president urged people to be tolerant in at least 19 of his speeches in 2011, but he has not backed his words with action, it noted in a recent report.


Intolerance has steadily been increasing in Indonesia, whose constitution is based on the doctrine of Pancasila – five principles upholding the nation’s belief in the one and only God and social justice, humanity, unity and democracy for all.


The Setara report cited a February incident in which a mob of about 1,500 Muslim extremists brutally killed three members of the Ahmadiyya community, which is seen as heretical by mainstream Muslims, in the province of Banten near West Java.


“Cases of intolerance have intensified this year, numbering more than last year, and at the core of the problem is poor law enforcement by the government,” Setara deputy chairman Bonar Tigor Naipospos told The Jakarta Globe.



END

Indian state government failed to stop anti-Christian violence

An independent tribunal investigating anti-Christian violence in India's eastern Orissa state in 2008 has indicted the state government for failure to protect Christians and has made several recommendations -writes Anto Akkara.

"[Government] officials have played a variety of negative roles during the violence, ranging from being silent spectators and bystanders to the violence [to] refusing to protect or assist the victim-survivors even in the context of brutal killings," wrote the jury of the National People's Tribunal on Kandhamal.

The tribunal's final report was released on 2 December 2011 at Orissa's capital, Bhubaneswar, in the presence of more than 1,000 people, including social activists, Christian clergy and hundreds of victims of the violence in Kandhamal, about 300 kms from Bhubaneswar.

The jury also charged the Orissa police with "complicity" in the violence that engulfed the remote jungle region of Kandhamal in August 2008 following the killing of Hindu leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati.

Though Maoist rebels claimed responsibility for Saraswati's murder, Hindu fundamentalist groups alleged that the murder was a Christian conspiracy. In the widespread violence that went on unabated for weeks, more than 100 Christians were killed, and 300 churches and 6,000 houses were looted and burned, rendering over 56,000 people homeless.

The 200-page document, titled 'Waiting for Justice,' also expressed "deep concern that the criminal justice system has been rendered ineffective in protecting victim survivors and witnesses, providing justice and ensuring accountability for the crimes perpetrated."

"The government officials and police are duty bound to protect the people when in danger. But in Kandhamal, they sided with the perpetrators," said Vrinda Grover, a lawyer in the federal supreme court and one of the dozen jury members.

"If the government had taken necessary precaution, most of the violence could have been prevented," pointed out retired high court judge Michael F. Saldana, a Catholic.

The jury made a series of recommendations including impartial retrial of closed cases, meaningful compensation for losses and rehabilitation programmes and urgent steps to uphold freedom of religion in Orissa.

Addressing the challenges that lay ahead, Ram Puniyani, a Hindu and convenor of the tribunal, told a seminar on the tribunal verdict that "the report is ready. But don't think our work is over. It only begins now."

"I do not know when I will get justice," Komal Digal, who lost property worth 1.5 million rupees (US$29,000), but received compensation of 20,000 rupees (US$390), told ENInews.

[With acknowledgements to ENInews. ENInews, formerly Ecumenical News International, is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]

[Ekk/3]