PERSECUTION WATCH ~ For Prayer Concern
Weekly update 19 July, 2009
By Charles M. Joshi
Issue - 29 / July 2009 (For Private Circulation Only)
Let brotherly love continue…. Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow
prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Heb. 13: 1&3
Are we about to enter into the end time Daniel’s 70thweek? Current events say so.
They shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Mathew 24.9
If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me, before it hated you. John 15.18
In This Edition: IRAQ: Seventh Church blast in Iraq wounds 3 children in Mosul; Iraq raises church security
amid bombings ++ US, Iraq Had Warning 5 Days Ahead of Church Bombings ** CUBA: Second Spanish priest
found murdered in Havana ** MEXICO: Unknown assailants kill priest and two seminarians in Mexico **
EGYPT: Egyptian Security Refuses to Return Abducted Christian Coptic Girl ++ Coptic Church Security Thwarts
Apparent Attack By Veiled Woman ** YEMEN: Fate of Kidnapped Germans Unknown; Relatives Plead for
Immediate Release ** SUDAN: Sudanese Police Flogged Christian Girls for Wearing Pants ** UK: Why is
Britain Deporting Persecuted Christians? ** ISRAEL: Christian-funded centers vandalized ++ Messianic Jew
Wins Supreme Court Battle. Bakery owner had lost her Jewish dietary law certificate ** USA: US Senate
Passes Long Awaited Hate Bill S.909 ++ ACLU, Appeals court rules on Bible handout in schools ++ Americans
United target council prayers ** CHINA: Xinjiang House Church Raided, 8 Arrested ++ Rock Church Pastor
Secretly Transferred to Re-education Through Labor Camp ++ Christian Youth Camp Raided in Tengzhou City; 5
Christians Sentenced to Detention; House Church Raided and Abolished in Dongyong City ++ Gao Zhisheng
Petition Delivered to Chinese Embassy, U.S. State Department and CECC ++ Legal Center Closed; More than
50 Lawyers Lose License ** INDIA: Hunger drives Kandhamal inhabitants to eat poisonous mushrooms Two
dead and ten ill ++ India’s Home Minister Calls Violence Against Christians in Orissa a Disgrace ++ Further
Update - High Court stay Church demolition in Karnataka ++ Posters Threaten $23 Fine for Preaching about
Jesus ++ PAKISTAN: Islamists Get Minority Rights leader jailed. CLAAS director Joseph Francis charged with
forged documents in assault case ++ Taliban Steps Up Terror Campaign against Christians in Pakistan **
NEPAL: Hindu group tells Christians to leave country again ** BHUTAN: Democracy in Bhutan for NonChristians Only ** LAOS: Officials Announce Ban On Christianity In Village. ** MALAYSIA: Malaysian police
free 9 Christians mistakenly accused of trying to convert Muslim students ** BELARUS: Foreign pastor banned
from preaching, church warned it may be closed ++: Church fined for activity "not according to its statute **
YEMEN: Christians Denied Funerals in Yemen; Ethiopian Immigrants Must Convert to ** GLOBAL: Soccer
group tells Brazil’s superstars ’Keep God out of football And M O R E …
IRAQ: Seventh Church blast in Iraq wounds 3 children in Mosul; Iraq raises church security amid bombings 13 July,
2009 AKnews/CNN A church in Iraq was bombed Monday, the seventh Christian house of worship in the country
to be bombed in three days, CNN reported. At least three children were wounded in Monday's attack in the
northern Iraqi city of Mosul, an Interior Ministry official said. The car bomb exploded in the morning, damaging the
church in the al-Faisaliya district of eastern Mosul. According to officials, six
churches in and around Baghdad were bombed over the weekend, leaving four
dead. A total of 35 people have been wounded in the wave of attacks, including
the three children Monday. Meanwhile, Iraq has increased security around all
Christian places of worship after a wave of church bombings. Iraq's Sunni Vice
President Tariq al-Hashimi "strongly condemned" the attacks on churches in a
statement posted on his Web site. He called on security forces to find the
perpetrators and bring them to justice. The Interior Ministry issued directives
Sunday evening to beef up security at churches across the country, ministry
spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf said. . He blamed the attacks on those
who are trying to create tensions among Iraq's various communities. Mosul is the
capital of Nineveh province, where authorities have increased police patrols and implemented a partial ban on
vehicles, a security official with the provincial military command center told CNN Monday. Only cars belonging to
residents of the area can enter al-Hamadaniya, a neighborhood in northern Mosul where authorities received
intelligence about possible attacks on churches, the official said. Members of the dwindling Christian community in
Baghdad expressed fear and concern after hearing about Monday's attack in Mosul, which followed five other
attacks in Baghdad over the weekend. Meanwhile, The U.S. ambassador to Iraq escaped unharmed from a
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17 July 2009
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roadside bomb that targeted his convoy in a southern province, the U.S. Embassy said Sunday. A roadside bomb
exploded as an embassy convoy was driving through Thiqar province, the embassy said. Neither Ambassador
Chris Hill nor any other embassy personnel were hurt in the attack, it said.
IRAQ: US, Iraq Had Warning 5 Days Ahead of Church Bombings 13 July, 2009 AINA Washington -- The bombing of
the Virgin Fatima Church in Mosul, Iraq yesterday brings the total to seven Churches bombed since this past
Saturday evening. The attacks came even though Assyrian Christian (also
known as Chaldean and Syriac) sources warned of the impending attacks
days ago. Assyrian sources received warnings of the impending attacks 5
days ago through text messages and immediately passed the information
on to U.S. forces. Under new security arrangements, U.S. forces were
unable to act themselves but ensured the Iraqi military was notified. Michael
Youash, Project Director of the Iraq Sustainable Democracy Project, stated,
"There was clearly a failure to take preventative steps by Iraqi and U.S.
forces which allowed those planning the attacks to carry them out
unimpeded." The bombings come as Iraqi forces assume full control of
Iraq's cities and towns under the Status of Forces Agreement and as U.S.
withdrawal plans move ahead. Iraqi military and security forces are now guarding all churches, including in Nineveh
Plain, which was also threatened with bombings. Two weeks ago (June 29th) in the Nineveh Plain, the district
hospital located in Bakhdede was bombed killing 8. Not less than 1 in 3 Assyrian Christians has become a refugee
and an even greater percentage are internally displaced --- most opting to seek safety and a future in the Nineveh
Plain. It is essential for the U.S. Government to develop a policy to save Iraq's defenseless ethno-religious
minorities. "The formation of a distinct type of federal unit per Article 125 of the Iraqi Constitution, often referred to
as the Nineveh Plain Administrative Unit, along with a substantial increase of formal Iraqi local police and security
drawn from the minority communities being targeted, should be the cornerstones of a policy." said Youash. The
United States Congress spelled-out and affirmed this policy direction on Thursday, July 9th, 2009 as they passed
the FY 2010 State and Foreign Operations Appropriation which includes the budget for Iraq. "We hope everyone is
listening to Congress' policy solutions, if not, the crisis will become irreversible."
IRAQ: Kurdish Leader Tells Christians to Put Aside Their Differences 17 July, 2009 AINA Some Christian politicians
have criticized the Kurdistan Region draft Constitution for not naming Christian nationalities separately. Kurdistan
Region President Massoud Barzani, during a meeting with a number of the Christian community on July 15, said
the Christians are free to choose any name for themselves. We (Kurds) don’t want to choose a name for you; you
have to tell us how you want to be mentioned in Kurdistan's Constitution, Barzani told the Christians. He advised
the Christians to hold a conference in Erbil city and invite all the Christian politicians and intellectuals inside and
outside Iraq in order to agree on what name they want to be called in the Constitution. It is written in draft
Constitution that the people of Kurdistan are Kurds, Turkmen, Arabs, Chaldeans Syriac Assyrians, and the
Armenians who are citizens of Kurdistan territory. Thus, the Christian nationalities are not named separately. Also,
the draft Constitution recognizes and respects the Islamic identity of the majority of the people of Kurdistan in Iraq
and the full religious rights of Christians and Yazidis. Kurdistan Region's Parliament agreed with the majority of
votes on the region’s long-awaited Constitution, which includes disputed areas, including Kirkuk, as part of the
region. But a Christian MP from the Kurdistan Alliance criticized that the Constitution in Kurdistan marginalized us,
and there was an agreement to name Christian nationalities separately. We were surprised by naming the Christian
nationalities in one phrase [Chaldeans, Suryans, Assyrians]," said MP Ablahad Afram.
CUBA: Second Spanish priest found murdered in Havana 14 July, 2009 CAN A Spanish priest was found
murdered in a Havana parish this week. Initial investigations indicate that the body of Father Mariano Arroyo
Murillo, 74, was found at his parish in the neighborhood of Regla. According to the government officials and to the
Archdiocese of Havana, the priest’s body “was found by paramedics after the night shift security guard noticed
smoke coming out of the parish.” Europa Press reported that Elizardo Sanchez of the Cuban Commission on
Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said the motive behind the killing has not been determined, “although
theft has not been ruled out since the priest’s car was not found.” Father Arroyo was the second Spanish priest to
be killed in Cuba in five months. In February, the body of Father Eduardo de la Fuente Serrano was found on the
outskirts of the Cuban capital. Sanchez called the killings a grave matter and ruled out any type of conspiracy
against some members of the Catholic Church. “Priests are not seen as a threat to society; on the contrary, people
are happy with them and Arroyo Murillo was very well-liked.” Sanchez stated.
MEXICO: Unknown assailants kill priest and two seminarians in Mexico 16 July, 2009 CAN Archbishop Felipe
Aguirre Franco of Acapulco, Mexico has confirmed that one priest and two seminarians were killed last week in the
city of Altamirano in the Mexican state of Guerrero. According to the newspaper “Milenio,” Archbishop Aguirre said
during a press conference that Father Habacuc Hernandez Benitez, and seminarians Eduardo Oregon Benitez and
Silvestre Gonzalez Cambron, were on their way to a vocations meeting when assailants fired upon their vehicle.
“Right now we don’t know exactly what happened. We assume that they saw that they were young people, there
was a confrontation and they were driving in their car and didn’t stop,” the archbishop said. He said officials from
the four surrounding dioceses would be meeting on Monday and Tuesday of this week and that afterwards a
statement would be issued. The archbishop called the incident “a very painful blow to Guerrero and to the Church
in the Diocese of Altamirano,” and added that, “We are saddened by the murder of the priest and the two young
men, who were part of the seminary family.”
EGYPT: Egyptian Security Refuses to Return Abducted Christian Coptic Girl 18 July, 2009 AINA Two incidents of
abduction of Coptic girls to force them to convert to Islam took place within one week in Upper Egypt. In both cases
the Egyptian security predictably played a key role in the outcome of the cases. Rania Asaad was returned to her
family, while Irene Labib is still missing, in spite of pleas from human rights organizations to the security authorities
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17 July 2009
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to end this Coptic family's misfortune. In view of the security authorities' complete neglect in the handling of Irene's
case, and false government media reports that Irene was returned to her family, a spokesman for the Coptic
Church's Sohag Diocese issued a statement on 16 July 09 calling for the immediate return of the abducted girl.
Irene Hanna Labib, 20-years old, disappeared on 01 July, 2009 from Sahel Tahta, Sohag Governorate, 500 km
south of Cairo. After carrying out their own investigations, the well to do Labib family discovered that Irene was
abducted by Muslim Hisham Saad Mohamed, who works as a waiter in the IT institute where she studies. "Her
brother Girgis Labib went and met with the abductor Hisham, who confessed to Irene being in his possession," said
Reverend Sawires Rady pastor of St. Shenouda Church, Sahel Tahta in Sohag."The Labib family filed a report with
the police and accused Hisham Mohamaed of abducting their daughter.
The police detained Hisham and Irene's brother Girgis, who was
subsequently released after taking a pledge not to harass Hisham."
Hisham was released three days later after promising security to bring
back Irene at 8 pm of the same day, but he has subsequently
disappeared. Reverend Sawires said "the abductor never kept his promise
and I now ask security to bring back the abducted girl as they know her
whereabouts." Mamdouh Nakhla, head of Al Kalema Human Right
Organisation told Copts United "Security must disclose the whereabouts of
the girl kidnapped by the Muslim man, as they know her whereabouts from the confessions of
the abductor who pledged to bring her back on the same day." Nakhla holds security
responsible for bringing the girl back to her family safe and unharmed. The family of 21-year old
pharmacy student Rania Tawfik Asaad from Samalut, Minya Governorate, were successful in getting back their
daughter, one week after she disappeared on 27 July,2009; she was held by her abductor in the small village Of
Taha Bosh, Nasser district, in the Beni Suef Governorate. Rania was approached by Muslim army officer Mohamed
Sayed Farag, 29 years old, who posed as a Copt called Mina who was living in Cairo. After a brief courtship, the
army officer proposed to her and asked her to meet his elderly mother. According to Ayman Eid of Free Copts
advocacy Rania knew the true identity of her abductor only when she arrived at a secluded house in Beni Suef.
Mohamed was also discovered to be a member of the Islamic Welfare Association, which is affiliated to the Muslim
Brotherhood. He asked Rania to convert to Islam and marry him, but she refused. After a great ordeal her family
discovered her whereabouts and learnt that she was forced to convert to Islam by the Association and married
Captain Mohamed two days after her abduction. Her father reported the incident to security and accused the army
officer of abducting his daughter. According to an eyewitness who asked to remain anonymous, the State Security
had made a deal with Rania's father to bring her back on condition of dropping all changes against the army officer,
as he would be subjected to trial by the armed forces and due to the negative publicity to the reputation of the
Defence Ministry, in return for his daughter's safe return. The issue of abduction of Coptic girls forms one of the
most explosive problems in the relations between Christians and Muslims of Egypt -- especially as abductions are
carried out in cooperation between Arab-funded legitimate associations and the State Security.
EGYPT: Coptic Church Security Thwarts Apparent Attack By Veiled Woman 14 July, 2009 AINA A veiled woman
wearing a Hijab entered the Coptic Church of St. Demiana and St. Mercurios in Shubra, Cairo, a couple of weeks
ago, carrying two big kitchen knives, a pair of scissors, a heavy solid brass kitchen club for pulping and grinding, a
rope and anaesthetic drugs in her bag, just as the children's weekly Religion classes ended. "The woman, who
sounded quite educated, gave an irrational and flimsy excuse for having all those sharp objects. She told the police
that she did not want to leave those objects at home for fear her children might harm themselves," Church Pastor
Ibrahim Abdu told 'Theban Legion' advocacy in a video interview. Reverend Ibrahim refrained from confirming the
rumor that the woman has made a vow to kill two Christian children, and referred the Theban Legion correspondent
Bishoy Mamdouh to ask the prosecutor who is handing the case. She entered the Church while being observed by
the two porters who followed her inside. "She put some money in the candles box trying to deceive us, but her
behavior was so suspicious and strange that we alerted the Church security guards," continued Rizk another
Church porter. "She tried to rush out when she felt that she was being observed, but the Church's security guards
intercepted her, searched her and found the paraphernalia, as the policeman later told us," said Rizk. "The police
told us that the case has been transferred to the Prosecution," said Reverend Ibrahim.
EGYPT: Police Collusion Suspected In Attack On Church In Minya 17 July, 2009 Compass Villagers in Ezbet
Basillious, Minya suspect local police in Egypt of corruption and collusion after two Copts were arrested for an
arson attack on their own house church on Saturday (July 11). Egyptian State Security Investigations officers later
arrested three Muslim suspects in accordance with eyewitness testimony that local police had ignored. The Musliim
suspects were seen entering the Church of St. Abaskharion Kellini with cans of kerosene and leaving it shortly
after, shouting “Allahu Akbar [God is great].” The two Copts who were arrested, 35-year-old Reda Gamal and Fulla
Assad, 30, are still in custody. Suspicions of police collusion come not only from the inexplicable arrests of the
Copts but also from the lack of police presence while the church was burning. Guards who were stationed outside
the property had left their posts, and according to some reports they had moved to a nearby café and were drinking
tea while the property burned. “It sounds like a pre-arranged situation, that they [the arsonists] knew this was the
agreed time, [when] the guards were away,” a source told Compass. “Mahmoud Muhammad Hussein, the head
guard, and Mustafa Moussa, one of the village guards, were heard telling people, ‘Say Reda set fire to the church.’
So the local police were involved.”
YEMEN: Fate of Kidnapped Germans Unknown; Relatives Plead for Immediate Release 11 July, 2009 Yemen Post
The fate of a group of seven foreigners is still unknown despite the wide campaign launched by security apparatus
and intelligence in Sa'ada and other nearby governorates. The group, including a German couple with their three
children and a Briton, are still kidnapped since June 12 and security apparatuses are incapable to locate their
whereabouts. The group's three fellow members – two German nurses and a South Korean teacher – were found
dead two days following the kidnapping incident. In related news, the parents of the German still kidnapped with his
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17 July 2009
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family in Sa'ada pleaded with the kidnappers to release their sons unharmed and healthy. They told the Second
German Channel that the worst thing for parents is lose one of their sons and pleaded with Yemeni and German
authorities to work towards releasing their kidnapping people. Meanwhile, President Ali Saleh received a telephone
call from the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in which both sides discussed aspects of bilateral
cooperation between Yemen and Germany. The calls also touched upon the issue of the German citizens
kidnapped early last month in Sa'ada and reviewed the efforts being made so far to locate their whereabouts and to
hunt down the kidnappers and bring them before judiciary. President Saleh offered the condolences in his name
and on behalf of Yemeni people for the families of the victims and noted that the crime is widely denounced by
Yemeni citizens. He also assured the German officials that investigations are ongoing to find the German family
and send them back to their homeland, maintaining the kidnappers will be caught and they will stand trial.
SUDAN: Sudanese Police Flogged Christian Girls for Wearing Pants 15 July, 2009 ICC Washington -- International
Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Sudanese officials flogged several Christian women for wearing pants.
The Sudanese public order police arrested the girls last week at a ballroom in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan.
According to Sudan Tribune, ten girls, including several Christians, each received 10 lashes and was fined 250
Sudanese pounds ($179). Three of the Christian girls are under eighteen years of age. The police accused them of
wearing "gross clothing" in violation of the Criminal Penal Code of Sudan. The Sudanese penal code based on
Islamic laws which discriminate against religious minorities and women. By subjecting the girls to inhumane and
degrading treatment, the Sudanese officials violated international human rights standards, as well as the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 by the Islamist government of Sudan and the mainly
Christian and animist southern Sudanese. The agreement provides that Islamic laws are not applicable to nonMuslims living in Khartoum. Khartoum is home to millions of Southern Sudanese who fled the brutal war in South
Sudan in which Islamist forces killed 2 million and displaced 4 million. "The flogging is an imposition of Islamic
values on Christians and it's also a violation of religious freedom. This is telling us (Sudanese people)that there are
certain religions that are more important than the rest," stated David Boum Choat in the statement he gave to ICC.
UK: Why is Britain Deporting Persecuted Christians? 13 July, 2009 the Telegraph In the long term, Christians
have no future in the Middle East. If extremists don’t get them, then the effects of economic incompetence, plus the
lure of the West, will push them out. Still, as Cranmer reports, Britain seems to be doing its best to keep the faith
alive in its cradle by refusing balnk to accept Christian refugees from the Islamic World. Hany Ayoub Mansour, his
wife Samah and children Nardin, 10, Karin, seven, three-year-old twins Bishoy and Anastasia, and one-year-old
Angela, were seized by armed immigration officers in a dawn swoop on their home. Now a Christian family will
shortly find itself on a plane to Egypt to face an uncertain future. They do not know whether they will be subject to
further persecution by extremists, but this is of no concern to Her Majesty’s Government. Human Rights, you see.
Some groups seem to have more of them. Cranmer sincerely wishes the Mansour family well, and prays that they
will not suffer a repeat of the persecution that drove them to the UK in the first place. But the situation for Copts is
increasingly fraught; indeed, they are being systematically ‘cleansed’. This might seem strange after my posts
criticising immigration, but I think it’s probably in our best interests to allow in Middle Eastern Christians, who are a
disproportionately middle-class, professional minority whose religion ensures their loyalty to this country. But our
immigration policymakers don’t think that way. As the Arab saying goes: “Better to be the Englishman’s enemy than
his friend. If you’re his enemy, he will try to buy you. If you’re his friend, he will most certainly sell you.”
ISRAEL: Christian-funded centers vandalized 19 July, 2009 J. Post Three Acre-based youth centers, established
with funding from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), were vandalized earlier this week
following on-going threats from local community members concerned that the programs run there are missionary in
nature, The Jerusalem Post has learned. In a letter to the IFCJ, which was obtained by Post, Acre Mayor Shimon
Lankri explains that some of those living in the vicinity of the so-called Fellowship Centers "are suspicious of your
intentions and distrust the organization. "We have established a steering committee to look into this matter for the
next three months and to find a way of soothing community relations; until then we will not replace the [IFCJ] signs
on the buildings." He also said that the matter had been reported to the police, but a spokesman for the
municipality refused to say if the perpetrators may have come from the city's haredi community, which originally
voiced concerns over the IFCJ presence in the city. "This is the first time such a protest has ever happened at one
of our facilities," commented IFCJ chairwoman Dvora Ganani-Elad, highlighting that the non-profit organization
runs similar centers in 60 other localities, including some haredi communities.
ISRAEL: Messianic Jew Wins Supreme Court Battle. Bakery owner had lost her Jewish dietary law certificate
because of her faith. 16 July, 2009 Compass For three long years a Jewish believer in Christ struggled to keep
her bakery business alive after the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the country’s highest religious governing body,
annulled her kashrut (Jewish dietary law) certificate because of her faith. Pnina Conforti, 51, finally gave a sigh of
relief when the Israeli Supreme Court on June 29 ruled that her belief in Jesus Christ was unrelated to her eligibility
for a kashrut certificate. While bakeries and restaurants in Israel are not required to obtain such a permit, the loss
of one often slows the flow of customers who observe Jewish dietary laws and eventually can destroy a business.
Conforti said that the last three years were very difficult for her and her family, as she lost nearly 70 percent of her
customers. “We barely survived, but now it’s all behind us,” she said. “Apparently, many people supported us, and
were happy with the verdict. Enough is enough.” Conforti, who describes herself as a Messianic Jew, had built her
Pnina Pie bakeries in Gan Yavne and Ashdod from scratch. She said her nightmare began in 2002 with an article
about her in “Kivun,” a magazine for Messianic Jews in Israel. “Soon after, the people of the Rabbinate summoned
me and told me that my kashrut certificate was annulled because I do not profess Judaism,” she said.
USA: US Senate Passes Long Awaited Hate Bill S.909 16 July, 2009 by Ted Pike Sen. Patrick Leahy’s hate
crimes bill, amending the National Defense Authorization Act, effectively passed the Senate tonight. . There was no
floor debate. Passage occurred despite massive protest from the Christian/conservative right with only the very
smallest percentage of calls today in favor of the hate bill. Earlier Thursday evening the Senate voted down, 62 to
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29, Sen. Hatch’s amendment. It would require the federal government to conduct a study to determine if the states
are not enforcing the law against violent hate crimes. Then Senator Sam Brownback submitted an amendment
which would include in the hate bill the most specific statement (part of the "Religious Freedom Act," passed in
1993 by Congress 97-3) that only speech that threatens imminent incitement of violence will be punishable under
the hate bill. Speech that falls short of such actual incitement will be protected. Sen. Leahy earlier said he had no
problem with inclusion of Brownback’s amendment. Although he voted against it, the amendment passed
overwhelmingly 78-13. Approval of Brownback’s amendment is a great victory, testimony to the pressure put on
liberals even in the past two days. Inclusion of Brownback’s amendment should help safeguard free speech from
the pulpit or airwaves, except in the cases of the most blatant, immediate incitement to violence. It helps neutralize
the extremely threatening language of the 1968 hate crimes law, Title 18, sec. 2A, which says if anyone “induces,”
through speech, commission of a violent hate crime the speaker will be tried “as a principal” alongside the active
offender in federal court. S. 909 remains a massive invasion of state’s rights in law enforcement in violation of the
10th Amendment. It violates the 14th Amendment by exalting certain groups, including homosexual pedophiles,
above the majority. But, thanks to massive pressure on liberal Senators, especially during the last two days, and
the initiative of Sen. Brownback, at least the 1st Amendment may not be as imminently threatened as before.
USA: High court reverses ban on homeless camp at church 19 July, 2009 AP (onenewsnow) The Washington state
Supreme Court has ruled that the city of Woodinville lacked grounds for barring a church from hosting a homeless
encampment. The unanimous ruling holds that a development moratorium should not have been applied to Tent
City 4 in 2006. The self-governing group of 60 to 100 homeless people moves about every three months to sites
volunteered by owners in the suburbs east of Seattle. When Northshore United Church of Christ agreed to host the
encampment, Woodinville cited a moratorium on land use permit applications in residential areas. The high court
ruled that the action violated Washington's constitution, which guarantees "absolute freedom of conscience in all
matters of religious sentiment, belief, and worship."
USA: Appeals court rules on Bible handout in schools 18 July, 2009 AP ((onenewsnow) St. Louis, MO - A federal
appeals court has upheld a ban on the classroom distribution of Bibles to grade school students in Annapolis, Mo.,
but has allowed literature to be offered outside of class. For more than three decades, the South Iron School
District allowed the Gideons to give away Bibles in fifth-grade classrooms. But some parents objected, prompting a
lawsuit. A federal judge last year granted a permanent injunction against the classroom Bible giveaway. The ruling
by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds that injunction, but allows the district to institute a revised policy
that lets any group hand out literature, including Bibles, outside of class. Liberty Councel president Mat Staver,
who represented the school district, says that's a neutral policy that lets students take or leave what's offered.
USA: ACLU, Americans United target council prayers 13 July, 2009 onenewsnow A city council in the Lone Star
State is under attack for praying in the name of Jesus. The complaint comes from two groups -- the American Civil
Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State -- which, in a letter to the council, noted
that videos of meetings over a nine-month period indicated that every prayer except one began or ended with an
invocation of the name of Jesus Christ. "We write to inform you that sectarian prayers at city council meetings are
unconstitutional," said the letter. The ACLU and Americans United urge the council to either "consider ceasing the
prayers altogether" or, at least, "take steps to ensure that the prayers are nonsectarian."
USA: ACLU targets Gideons in Texas school case 02 July, 2009 Onenewsnow The American Civil Liberties Union is
investigating what it calls religious liberty violations in a Texas school district. One of the complaints is that the
Navasota school district permits the Gideons to distribute Bibles at its schools. Attorney Roger Byron of Liberty
legal Institute notes the Christian organization has been doing so for decades. Teachers have also been accused
of participation in Christian extracurricular clubs. Byron says that is legal under very restricted circumstances.
"Participation by any school official or school teacher is supposed to go no farther than custodial," he notes. The
ACLU also submitted a complaint about the display of crosses. If a teacher wants to wear a cross as a necklace,
for example, it is legal, but the display of crosses otherwise is limited, Byron contends. "Whatever display they may
be talking about, could it be seen by a reasonable person as the school endorsing a particular religion?" he asks.
CHINA: Xinjiang House Church Raided, 8 Arrested 13 July, 2009 China aid Xinjiang – On July 3, Beitun House
Church in the A'Ler Tai area of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was raided and 8 Christians were arrested.
Two have been released so far. Four believers are still being held in a detention center in an undisclosed location,
and two Chinese American missionaries are missing. Due to the riots that erupted on July 5, in Urumqi, the capital
of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, ChinaAid has had difficulty contacting believers. Last week, the government
cut off all Internet and phone connections to the outside world. ChinaAid issues an urgent request to Christians
around the world to pray the violence will cease in Xinjiang, and that the love of Jesus Christ will bring peace and
reconciliation between the Han Chinese and Uygurs.
CHINA: Rock Church Pastor Secretly Transferred to Re-education Through Labor Camp 13 July, 2009 China Aid
(Photo: Rock Church believers pray for Pastor Dou outside Jinshui Branch Detention Center) Henan – On
June 29, about 3 p.m., Pastor Dou Shaowen was secretly transferred to Shifo Re-education Through Labor Center
in Zhengzhou city, Henan province. Authorities still have not informed his family of his transfer. Pastor Dou is
currently serving a one-year sentence of re-education through labor for “engaging in illegal activities” because of
his leadership of Rock (Panshi) Church. Pastor Dou was first arrested on
June 14 when government officials raided and forcibly abolished and sealed
Rock Church’s building, a house church in Zhengzhou city, Henan. Police
arrested him, his wife Feng Lu and five other believers. Pastor Dou and Feng
Lu received one-year re-education through labor sentences, while the five
other believers were each sentenced to 15 days detention and a 500 yuan
fine. Pastor Dou was held in Jinshui Branch Detention Center of Zhengzhou
City until June 25, when at about 6:30 p.m., he was transferred to Baimiao
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Re-education Through Labor Center located on Wenhua Road, Zhengzhou city. ChinaAid contacts reported, “He
was given inhuman treatment in the re-education through labor center. When he wanted to talk to the police
officers, he was forced to squat. He worked 18 hours a day from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. midnight. Over 70 people sleep
in a room. Due to the hot weather and the poor sanitary condition … some prisoners have eczema, herpes and
other skin diseases. They have to work 18 hours a day without enough to eat.” At about 3 p.m. on June 29, Pastor
Dou was transferred to Shifo Re-education through Labor Center where conditions are reported to be worse.
Authorities have permitted Pastor Dou’s wife, Feng Lu, to serve her one-year sentence at home, in order to care for
their 12-year-old daughter. When Feng Lu went to see her husband at the Baimiao Re-education Through Labor
Center, she was told she was not allowed to visit him for a month, and was not informed he would be transferred to
another labor camp. Feng Lu is required to report to the Public Security Bureau regularly, and could be sent to
labor camp again if she is found “engaging in illegal religious activities” again. Rock Church’s gathering site is still
sealed at this time, and authorities have refused to release the computer and other materials that were confiscated
in the raid on June 14.
CHINA: Christian Youth Camp Raided in Tengzhou City; 5 Christians Sentenced to Detention 14 July, 2009 China
Aid On July 13 at 10:30 a.m. (Beijing time) town police and State Security Brigade officers surrounded a Christian
youth camp and arrested 28 Christian youth and four adult church workers in Hubin town, Tengzhou city,
Shandong province. Authorities confiscated the Christians’ property, including projectors, televisions, computers,
computer tables, musical instruments, audio equipment, furniture and other items. The police also seized the
students’ mobile phones, Bibles and other daily necessities. One eyewitness told ChinaAid that during the raid, the
police told the Christian leaders that, “It is forbidden for those under 18 to believe Christianity, and even those
above 18 years old are not allowed to organize or participate in religious activities without permission.” The police
interrogated, threatened and beat Christian youth in the Hubin police station, then released the majority of
Christians. However, the five Christians who organized the camp, including one who is 16 years old, are still being
held by the Tengzhou Public Security Bureau. The police did not provide the five Christians with food or water for
almost two days, and the Christians were suffering from hunger and dehydration. Around 4:30 p.m. on July 14,
church members who realized the situation immediately delivered bread and water to the prison. On July 14,
authorities sentenced each of the five Christians to 5-15 days of administrative detention for “engaging in illegal
activities.” On the administrative detention notices, the Bible is listed as evidence for this charge. Church members
have also sought the return of their property that was confiscated during the raid on the camp. The Christians
report that the officials refused, and said, “No way; we’ll keep more than 90 percent.” ChinaAid contacts ask for
prayer for the Christian youth who are still in a state of shock, and for the five Christians in prison.
House Church Raided and Abolished in Dongyong City: While house church believers were worshipping in
Dongyong city, Shandong province on July 5, Public Security Bureau (PSB) and Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB)
officials raided the meeting. Officials accused them of “disturbing social order” for organizing a religious service for
more than 40 people in a home, and abolished the house church. The house church was meeting at apartment
number 102, Building 32, No. 10 Branch, Jinan Military Regiment, Xinanhe town, Hekou district, Dongyong city,
Shandong province. The city of Dongyong, Shandong is a sister city of Midland, Texas.
CHINA: Gao Zhisheng Petition Delivered to Chinese Embassy, U.S. State Department and CECC 16 July, 2009
China Aid (Photo: Bob Fu presents the 100,000 signatures for Gao Zhisheng at the CECC roundtable on
July 10) Washington, DC – On July 9 and 10 ChinaAid delivered more than 100,000 signatures to the Chinese
Embassy, the U.S. State Department and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC). The
signatures represent concerned citizens in the U.S. and around the world who
are asking for the immediate release of Gao Zhisheng, a Christian human
rights attorney who was kidnapped by Chinese officials on February 4. Gao
Zhisheng has defended persecuted Christians and others who have been
abused by the Chinese government for their beliefs. Sources inside China say
Gao is undergoing severe torture. The petition is the second installment of
signatures on behalf of Gao. The first installment of more than 50,000
signatures was delivered at the end of April; the latest petition included these
signatures. On July 10, the petition for Gao Zhisheng’s release, addressed to
Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton, was delivered in person to the U.S. State
Department. On the same day, Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid, presented the
petition to the CECC during a roundtable regarding the recent crackdown on human rights attorneys in China.
Recently, more than 18 lawyers have not been permitted to renew their licenses. Some have been arrested, beaten
and tortured for their normal legal defense work. Gao, along with many of the other attorneys targeted by the
government, have been working with ChinaAid’s legal defense efforts for religious freedom cases. As a result of the
petition for Gao, several Congressional leaders, including Congressman James McGovern, have agreed to send a
letter to Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong inquiring about Gao Zhisheng’s current whereabouts and condition.
On July 9, Attorney David E. Taylor, a ChinaAid volunteer, delivered the petition for Gao’s release to the Chinese
Embassy. He was allowed inside the embassy, but when the Chinese Embassy staff saw the petition was from
ChinaAid for Gao Zhisheng they told him he must leave and refused to accept the petition. The embassy staff at
the door said, “I’m sorry, Sir, I’m sorry! Take it away!” Taylor left the petition at the front door of the embassy, and
stated that: “According to the law, leaving the petition on Chinese property, the embassy, amounts to ‘legal
service.’ The Chinese Embassy was legally served with the petition even though they tried to avoid it.”
CHINA: Legal Center Closed; More than 50 Lawyers Lose License 17 July, 2009 RFA Chinese authorities in Beijing
have closed a legal research center and revoked the licenses of more than 50 attorneys in a bid to exert greater
control over activists. Some 20 officials from Beijing’s Civil Affairs Bureau arrived early Friday at the Open
Constitution Initiative [in Chinese, Gongmeng] rights organization’s legal research center. The officials questioned
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employees about their work and confiscated computers from the center’s offices. The Beijing Justice Bureau also
posted a list of 53 local lawyers on its Web site last week, saying it had revoked their licenses for failing
assessments by their firms or failing to register with the bureau. “Since authorities have said that this was only the
first group, there might be a second and a third group. Of course by releasing the names of the first group, the
authorities might just want to issue a warning to other lawyers,” Jiang, one of the listed lawyers said. Amnesty
International issued a statement condemning the crackdown.
INDIA: Hunger drives Kandhamal inhabitants to eat poisonous mushrooms Two dead and 10 ill 18 July, 2009 GCIC
Two persons, including a minor, died and 10 others fell ill allegedly after consuming toxic mushroom in three
separate incidents in Orissa, police said today. 8-year-old Sunam Majhi of Palam village and Purna Chandra Majhi
(22) of nearby Jhatingi village in Tumudibandha block of Kandhamal district died after consuming the mushroom
yesterday, they said. In Ganjam district, five members of a family were taken ill allegedly after eating toxic
mushroom yesterday, police said, adding they have been admitted to a hospital here. In yet another incident, five of
a family fell ill and were admitted to a hospital allegedly after consuming poisonous mushroom in Gobindpur village
of Ganjam district, police said.
INDIA: India’s Home Minister Calls Violence Against Christians in Orissa a Disgrace 16 July, 2009 CT Among the
host of politicians and government fact-finding teams who inspected the riot-hit Orissa, India, none have been as
vocal as Home Minister P. Chidambaram. During a Rajya Sabha (Upper House) session this week, the Home
Minister termed last year's anti-Christian violence as a "blot" on the state. The cabinet minister was very vocal on
the atrocities done to Christians in the tribal district and also said he was gravely concerned over the remaining
thousands currently in relief camps. "The violence on Christians in Kandhamal is a blot on the face of Orissa. It is a
disgrace that minorities were targeted," Chidambaram said, evoking stark criticisms from the opposition Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP). Chidambaram's cognizance was a response to BJP M.P. Rudra Narayan Pany, who indicted
Christian missionaries of conversions and even allegedly blamed them for involving in the murder of Hindu leader
Swami Laxmananda Saraswati. Saraswati was shot dead by unknown assailants at his ashram at Jaleshpata
August 23. Following the slaying, Christians were falsely accused. Dozens were murdered and thousands forced to
hide in forests. Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha session that few arrests have been already made and defying
his opponents, he sarcastically pointed, "One of the accused has already taken oath as an MLA." He was referring
to BJP representative Manoj Kumar Pradhan - accused in 14 cases, including seven charges of murder - who was
released July 5 to take oath as the MLA of G Udaygiri constituency in Kandhamal district. Chidambaram visited
riot-stricken Orissa last month and apologized while offering adequate security and rehabilitation measures to help
the affected start life afresh. Chidambaram visited relief camps at Mandaika, Rahikola, Tiangia and Tikabali and
interacted with victims whom he encouraged to "go back to your villages, build your homes and churches and
practice your religion without any fear." The Orissa government confirmed last week that it had disbursed
assistance for repair.
INDIA: Further Update - High Court stay Church demolition in Karnataka 17 Jul 2009 Express News Service
The High Court on Thursday stayed an order of church demolition by a gram panchayat in Davanagere. The HC
stayed the June 16 order against the Indian Apostolic Church in Chikkulikere. The High Court, on Thursday, also
ordered issue of notices to the State government and the Chikkulikere Gram Panchayat in Davangere district in
connection with a Panchayat order to cancel the license issued for construction of Church. For further details Pls.
ref last week edition under caption: Panchayat issues order to demolish church, Karnataka.
INDIA: Posters Threaten $23 Fine for Preaching about Jesus 16 July, 2009 Christian Today India Citizens of India
have a right to practice and promote their religion peacefully. This fundamental right, however, cannot be applied in
Bastar district in central Indian state of Chhattisgarh where anti-Christian hoardings have warned Christians from
sharing Jesus Christ. Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that Hindu extremists allegedly from the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal put up hoardings demanding Christians to restrain from sharing
their faith. The signboard put up in three different places said, “Preaching about Jesus Christ is strictly prohibited in
the area, and a penalty of 1,130 Indian rupees (about 23 U.S dollars) will be imposed on those found guilty.” The
hoardings also have pictures of Hindu deities along with names of the extremists group, EFI reported. The
warnings are all written in Hindi, EFI has taken picture of one of the hoardings as shown in the picture. “Without
saying,” EFI statement stated the “hoardings stand against the constitution of India where religious freedom to
profess, practice and propagate has been granted equally to all the citizens of India.” “Successive persecution
faced by Christians in India today endangered its democracy,” it added.
INDIA: Film Team Beaten, Equipment Damaged 18 July, 2009 GFA Gospel for Asia-supported film team members
Bhanu Singh and Mareechi Malik encountered harsh opposition one night as they attempted to screen a Christian
film. About an hour into the film, several anti-Christian extremists wandered into the meeting area where about 200
villagers were paying close attention to what was happening on the movie screen. The men began causing
problems in the crowd. They became angry when they saw how interested the villagers were in the missionaries’
film, so they decided to damage the team’s equipment. Among other things, they overturned the team’s generator,
completely destroying it. The extremists had succeeded in interrupting the film, but they did not stop there. They
began to beat Bhanu and Mareechi for trying to share God’s message. By God’s grace, some of the villagers saw
what was happening and rushed to defend the two men. They later escorted the missionaries safely home.
PAKISTAN: Islamists Get Minority Rights leader jailed. CLAAS director Joseph Francis charged with forged
documents in assault case. 14 July, 2009 Compass Well-known Pakistani minority rights activist Joseph Francis
and two others were jailed on July 12 for forged documents in connection with false charges of assaulting a woman
who visited his office in 2006, their lawyers said. Francis, national director of the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance
and Settlement (CLAAS), which for more than two decades has defended Christians and others against spurious
charges by Islamists, was arrested on July 9 along with CLAAS official Ashar Sarfaraz and Sarfaraz’s brother-inlaw, Zulfiqar Wilson. All three were remanded to two days of police custody under pressure from Islamists who
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17 July 2009
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have harassed Francis and the other two men with false accusations, CLAAS lawyers said, and on Sunday a
magistrate sent them to the jail to await trial. One of Francis’ lawyers, Akbar Munawar Durrani, told Compass the
court did not listen to their arguments for releasing Francis as it was biased toward the Islamists who have urged
the woman to charge the CLAAS officials with assault. In December 2006 CLAAS officers had counseled the
woman, identified only as Roma, when her Christian parents brought her to the CLAAS office because she was
had converted to Islam. “She was brought to us because she had converted to Islam, and her parents wanted us to
explain to her the consequences and implication of doing so,” said CLAAS Program Officer Katherine Sapna.
PAKISTAN: Taliban Steps Up Terror Campaign against Christians in Pakistan 15 July, 2009 ICN Although the
Pakistan army is staging a major offensive against militants in the Swat Valley, the Taleban has begun a new
massive intimidation campaign against Christian communities and institutions and other religious minorities all over
the country, Fides reports. A local Church source said threatening letters have been received by various bodies in
Pakistan. Rabita Manzil Multimedia Centre run by the Social Communications Office of the Catholic Bishops
Conference of Pakistan, received a letter in which it was written: “We know you are Christians. We order you to
leave this area or convert to Islam and pay equivalent about 18.500 dollars or you will be targeted by a suicide
bomber”. Similar threatening letters were delivered to churches, including Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lahore, and
Catholic associations and schools. Christians of other denominations received similar letters. The Christian
Churches in Pakistan recently raised their voices to promote awareness of the intrinsic danger of religious
fundamentalism not only for religious minorities but for the whole of society, for the secular nature of the country
and the rights of all and for democracy. Christians say that are “deeply concerned” because the Taleban spread
confusion across the nation, threatening its foundations and roots. They warn that this violence can affect any other
political or social minority which refuses to be subject to Taleban law.
PAKISTAN: Swat, Christian refugees excluded from government reconstruction fund 16 July, 2009 Asianews
Peshawar - The Christian refugees in the Swat valley and Malakand Division are not receiving refugee aid
promised by the government to, reports the Pakistan Christian Post, which calls for equal treatment for the three
million displaced persons, without any confessional discrimination. On July 13 Islamabad initiated proceedings for
the return of internally displaced persons. To encourage a return to normalcy, the
government decided to allocate 25 thousand rupees (about 230 euros) compensation
for families affected by the war between the army and the Taliban. The Pakistan
Christian Post points out that there are no significant records of Christians in refugee
government camps. Only 60 families obtained refugee status from the government:
they are registered at the Christian relief centre in Mardan, set up by the Church in
Pakistan. But "thousands of Christians" who have been adopted by relatives and
friends in the North West Frontier Province and Punjab, risk receiving no
compensation. In recent weeks, AsiaNews reported on the unequal treatment of
Christian victims of the war, driven from the camps for their faith and the victims of multiple discrimination. For this
reason, Caritas, the Catholic Church of Pakistan and other Christian organizations have begun fundraising and
distribution of food and basic necessities for displaced persons, benefiting both Christians and Muslims.
PAKISTAN: Pakistan Federal Minister to table bill in National Assembly for repeal of discriminatory Laws 18 July,
2009 Assist A bill to repeal discriminatory laws against Pakistani minorities will soon be tabled in the National
Assembly, the Pakistani English daily newspaper, Dawn, has reported. The newspaper said Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti,
Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Minorities, made this statement while talking to reporters after a meeting of the
National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Minorities Affairs at Parliament House on Thursday, July 16. It
quoted the minister as saying that the bill would propose amendments to various clauses and repeal of certain laws
which were discriminatory against minorities. “The vision of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, could not
become a reality without minorities getting their due rights,” the newspaper quoted Mr. Bhatti as saying. The news
report stated that Bhatti had said that the government should remove deprivation of and prejudice against the
minorities by bringing them into mainstream. It also quoted him as saying that the government was considering
several development projects for the welfare of the minorities adding that the government would also ensure the
restoration and protection of the rights of minorities. “It is constitutional and moral obligation of the government to
protect the rights of minorities of the country,” the English daily quoted Mr. Bhatti as saying.
NEPAL: Hindu group tells Christians to leave country again 13 July, 2009 UCAN Christians have been told to leave
Nepal or face dire consequences from the Hindu group that claimed responsibility for the bombing of Assumption
Church in Kathmandu in May. According to Bishop Anthony Sharma, apostolic vicar of Nepal, the obscure Nepal
Defense Army (NDA) made threats over the phone to pro-vicar Father Pius Perumana, director of the St John
Vianney Pastoral Center at Godavari, Jesuits at the St. Xavier's school, nuns at St. Mary's School and the Sisters
of Charity of Nazareth at Baluwatar, all in Kathmandu. Police using sniffer dogs to search Assumption Church
following the May 23 bomb blast “The NDA has been threatening non-Nepalese priests and nuns. It has asked
them to leave the country within one month,” the Jesuit bishop told UCA News on July 8.He said the latest threats
were made in the name of NDA chief Ram Prasad Mainali. The bishop added that the police had been informed
and Catholic institutions alerted. “Six policemen have been stationed on duty at the pastoral center at Godavari,” he
said. The latest threats echo a similar demand issued on May 29, following the May 23 blast at Assumption
Church. In the statement given to the media, the NDA gave the country’s 1.5 million Christians a month to leave
Nepal or have their homes bombed.NDA comprises former soldiers, former policemen and victims of Maoist
guerrillas. It claims to have trained suicide bombers to fight communists, Christians and Muslims and restore Nepal
as a Hindu nation. Protestants have also received similar warnings.
BHUTAN: Democracy in Bhutan for Non-Christians Only 09 July, 2009 CBN CBN News recently visited Bhutan for
a rare, inside look at the body of Christ there. While it guarantees freedom of religion in practice, the attitude of the
government and people is if you are Bhutanese, you are Buddhist. But there is a small, underground Christian
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17 July 2009
Page No. 09
community in Bhutan. One church CBN News visited --high up in the Himalayas-- is attended mostly by immigrant
Nepalese. Some of its members walk for several hours just to attend Sunday morning services. But a growing
number of Bhutanese are starting to follow Christ. One church leader agreed to share with us only if we protected
his identity. We referred to him as Pastor George. He says the Bhutanese church started growing in the early
1970s. "The growth has been quite small but nonetheless it is still growing," he said. "It's almost pioneering in
some sort of ways, like the churches probably at the days of Pentecost." The government denies Christians the
right to share their faith in public. The nation's newspapers are now recognizing that a Christian community exists
in Bhutan. Often Christians are depicted negatively. Another Christian CBN News interviewed said back in the year
2000 an angry government official threatened to kill him if he did not renounce Christianity and return to Buddhism.
Still the Christians press on, mostly in secret. CBN News was invited to join several pastors as they attended a
recent training seminar. Bhutanese Christian leaders say more sound, biblical teaching and leadership training is
needed. They also ask that Christians around the world pray for them.
LAOS: Officials Announce Ban On Christianity In Village. Chief warns Christians to worship only local spirits or lose
homes. 16 July, 2009 Compass Following the confiscation of livestock from Christian families earlier this month,
officials in a village in Laos on July 11 called a special meeting for all residents and announced that they had
“banned the Christian faith in our village.” The chief of Katin village, along with village security, social and religious
affairs officials, warned all 53 Christian residents that they should revert to worshiping local spirits in accordance
with Lao tradition or risk losing all village rights and privileges – including their livestock and homes, according to
advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). The Katin village leader also
declared that spirit worship was the only acceptable form of worship in the community, HRWLRF reported. Katin
village is in Ta Oih district, Saravan Province. On July 5, officials and residents confiscated one pig each from nine
Christian families and slaughtered the animals in an effort to force them to renounce their faith. Officials said the
seizure of the pigs – each worth the equivalent of six weeks’ salary for an average laborer in the area – was
punishment for ignoring the order to abandon Christianity. According to HRWLRF, the chief’s order clearly
contravened Article 6 and Article 30 of the Lao Constitution, which guarantees the right of Christians and other
religious minorities to practice the religion of their choice without discrimination or penalty. In addition, HRWLRF
stated that Katin officials had violated Article 53 of the 2003 Law on Local Administration, which requires them to
abide by the constitution and other laws and to provide for the safety and well-being of all people living under their
care. Officials in Katin have a history of ignoring constitutional religious freedoms. On July 21, 2008, officials
detained 80 Christians in the village after residents seized a Christian identified only as Pew and poured rice wine
down his throat, killing him by asphyxiation. When family members buried Pew and placed a wooden cross on his
grave, officials accused them of “practicing the rituals of the enemy of the state” and seized a buffalo and pig from
them as a fine. On July 25, 2008, officials rounded up 17 of the 20 Christian families then living in the village – a
total of 80 men, women and children – and detained them in a school compound, denying them food in an effort to
force the adults to sign documents renouncing their faith.
MALAYSIA: Malaysian police free 9 Christians mistakenly accused of trying to convert Muslim students 16 July,
2009 AP Malaysian police Wednesday freed nine Christians who were arrested and held overnight after a
university official mistakenly accused them of trying to convert Muslim students. The nine were released without
charge, but their arrests could deepen frustrations among religious minorities who feel authorities in this Muslimmajority nation increasingly ignore their rights in favor of Islam. Proselytizing of Muslims is forbidden in Malaysia,
although the reverse is allowed. Muslims, who comprise nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 28 million people, are also
not legally permitted to change religion. A security officer at the Universiti Putra Malaysia handed the nine
suspects to police late Tuesday because he believed they were giving Christian pamphlets to Muslims, said Zahedi
Ayob, the police chief of Sepang district near Kuala Lumpur. Police found they were only submitting questionnaires
to other Christians for a research project about religious understanding, Zahedi told The Associated Press. Five
were students at the university while the others were friends from Hong Kong. Malaysia's Constitution guarantees
freedom of worship for minorities, who include Christians, Buddhists and Hindus. But Muslims who try to convert
are often sent by Islamic authorities for counseling and rehabilitation, and some have also been imprisoned for
apostasy for up to three years.Minorities say their right to practice religion freely has been increasingly threatened
by Muslim authorities in recent years. The government denies any discrimination.
BELARUS: Foreign pastor banned from preaching, church warned it may be closed 15 July, 2009 Forum 18
Belarus has warned a church in the capital Minsk that it could be closed after a foreign pastor preached at a
worship service, Forum 18 has learned. Pastor Boris Grisenko, a Ukrainian, was also fined. Alla Ryabitseva, head
of the city's Department of Religious and Ethnic Affairs, claimed to Forum 18 that "I have been to the United States.
Visitors to the country can't just go and speak at a religious service without permission." District police chief Viktor
Pravilo refused to say how he had found out that a foreigner was preaching in the New Testament Pentecostal
Church, religious communities having long complained to Forum 18 of KGB secret police surveillance. Asked
whether the police did not have more important matters to deal with than a foreigner preaching at a religious
service, Pravilo put the phone down. Foreigners engaged in religious activity have long been a target of state
hostility, along with their Belarusian co-religionists. Catholic priests and nuns have regularly been expelled, but the
authorities today (15 July) announced that they had completed the draft text of a Concordat. It is unknown whether
this will address violations of freedom of religion or belief.
BELARUS: Church fined for activity "not according to its statute” 16 July, 2009 Forum 18 A registered Protestant
congregation in western Belarus has been fined for activity which officials claim was "not according to its statute,"
local Protestants told Forum 18. The church held a special prayer service in its registered building, which church
members insist was within its statute. Trouble for the New Generation Church began when Baranovichi local
Ideology Department officials saw posters in the town advertising the service. One official and two "witnesses"
arrived at the church 30 minutes before the service, but left 10 minutes before it began without witnessing it. Sergei
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17 July 2009
Page No. 10
Puzikov of the Ideology Department official, refused to explain what activity was outside the church's statute, as did
the Department's head. In defiance of international human rights standards, Belarus bans all unregistered religious
activity – including both unregistered communities and unregistered activity by registered communities. Religious
activity is kept under close surveillance by the KGB secret police, and officials often issue warnings for activity they
claim is illegal. Two such warnings can lead to a religious organisation being closed down.
UZBEKISTAN: Prisoners' freedom of religion or belief denied 17 July, 2009 Forum 18 Prisoners in Uzbekistan
continue to be denied their right to freedom of religion or belief – for example to pray visibly, to have religious
literature, or to receive visits from religious clergy, Forum 18 has found. These denials of religious freedom affect
not only prisoners of conscience of all faiths, jailed or imprisoned in a labour camp for their religious activity, but
also prisoners jailed for other reasons. Prison and labour camp conditions are harsh, and even the communities
regarded as the main "traditional" faiths – the state-controlled Muslim Board and the Russian Orthodox Church –
appear to have only limited access to prisoners. Other faiths told they have almost no access. Prisoners are often
punished for religious activity in jails or labour camps, religious believers and human rights defenders have told
Forum 18, however officials insist that prisoners' religious freedom is respected. These claims, along with other
inaccurate information, are also in Uzbekistan's report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which is
due to be considered in Geneva on 27 July.
KAZAKHSTAN: Anti-terror police, prosecutor, justice department and courts target church 10 July, 2009 Forum 18
Two officers of the Anti-Terrorism Police appear to have been leading actions against the New Life Full Gospel
Pentecostal church in the town of Aktau. The officers filmed a service and questioned children, church members
told Forum 18. One church member was sacked from her job in a school, interrogated and threatened and the
officers tried to recruit her as a spy. She was fined for "illegal missionary activity" on 2 July. Also fined in late June
and ordered deported was another church member, an Uzbek citizen, who gave a Christian magazine to a 12-yearold girl. The Justice Department and an imam were involved in court hearings. The church has already been
banned for six months. Meanwhile, the director of a psychiatric home defended to Forum 18 his decision to prevent
a resident conducting confession with a Catholic priest. An official of the Regional Administration told that the man
does not have rights, which have now been handed to the director as official guardian. "This includes his right to
freedom of conscience."
YEMEN: Christians Denied Funerals in Yemen; Ethiopian Immigrants Must Convert to Islam 13 July, 2009
Orato.com (ICC) Officials in Yemen don’t allow for burial of Christians in the country. Names of deceased
Christians must be changed to Muslim names before burial. Thousands of Ethiopian Christian immigrants are
living under difficult social, cultural and economic conditions in Yemen. Meanwhile, the consequences of not
converting can be felt in both life -- and death. If an Ethiopian Christian maintains their religion, after death the
Yemeni government will not permit them to be buried in Sana'a. The deceased's name has to be changed (for a
fee) to an Islam name by a known Muslim Ethiopian who has good contact with Yemeni officials. The Ethiopian
Orthodox Church and two Ethiopian Protestant Churches in Yemen are now claiming the Embassy and the ruling
faction in Ethiopia do nothing to solve the violence they are experiencing in Yemen.
NIGERIA: Nigerian Officials Ignore Christian Victims of Muslim Attacks 12 July, 2009 Daily Independent Bauchi
State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has lamented the inability of the state and Federal
Government to alleviate the plight of the victims of the religious crisis that occurred in some parts of the state in
February 2009 which claimed 12 lives and property worth millions of naira. Addressing a press conference at CAN
Secretariat, Bauchi, the state chairman, Bishop Musa Tula, said the authorities concerned had done little or nothing
to helpthe victims "even when we have cried out severally in writing to all quarters for a timely intervention". Said
the cleric: "CAN is sincerely and deeply saddened and worried over the situation of things since the ugly religious
crisis. We cannot help but be compelled to continue to write and express our unreserved feelings regarding the evil
perpetrated on us which has deeply affected us and has terribly put a strain on the Christian community who has
always been the victims of unprovoked attack, and the future is obviously hazy and uncertain for us and our
children. The bishop called on the Federal Government and the National Assembly to quickly and swiftly intervene
to safe the lives of the Christians in the state by coming to the rescue of the affected victims who are wallowing in
unfavourable conditions as a result of the crisis.
GLOBAL: Soccer group tells Brazil’s superstars ’Keep God out of football 18 July, 2009 Assist Photo: AC Milan
soccer star Kaka and his Brazilian teammates have been told to stop making overt displays of their
Christianity during matches The soccer world's governing body – FIFA has sparked controversy after
disciplining the Brazilian team for overt displays of Christianity during a match.
Stars including £56 million pounds sterling ($91.5 million USD) Real Madrid
forward Kaka and captain Lucio revealed T-shirts with devout slogans such as
'I Belong to Jesus' and 'I Love God' during the Confederations Cup final last
month. According to Daniel King, writing for Britain's 'Daily Mail' newspaper (
www. Dailymail co.uk ) FIFA has now risked accusations of being 'antireligious' by reminding Brazil of its guidelines banning players from making
displays of a personal, religious or political nature on the football pitch. King
reports that a warning letter was sent to the Brazilian football federation 'to
remind them of the relevant regulations, so that such incidents do not recur in
the future.' The newspaper reports that Brazilian players, and Kaka in
particular, are well-known for their strong religious beliefs and the squad and
backroom staff formed a large circle and sank to their knees in prayer after the
victory over the US at the end of last month. In the subsequent team
photographs, many players were wearing the Christian T-shirts, with captain Lucio prominent as he lifted the
trophy, the newspaper said. In his article, King says: "But Brazil's display of faith had an extra element of
controversy because most of the players are Pentecostalists, whose leaders have been accused of violating
religious freedom by attacking those of other faiths. "In the light of Brazil's high-profile display of faith, seen around
the world by millions of television viewers, the head of football in Denmark wants all religious statements banned
from football."
Should We Pray For the Persecuted Church?
Today, nearly sixty years after the creation of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, discrimination against and persecution of
Christians is only increasing. Therefore, we simply cannot put our
faith in human institutions that is why the Church at prayer is far
more powerful and effective than any human institution.
Persecution of Christians is as old as the Church itself. Earlier,
when Apostles and Believers were persecuted, they reported it to
the believing community and they all turned together to God in
Prayer. God was addressed as Sovereign Lord. The rulers may
claim authority but are powerless against the maker of heaven and
earth. Believers asked God as Sovereign Lord not for protection,
but for boldness and power to speak out in the name of
Resurrected Jesus to spread the Gospel. Power and confidence in
the sovereign power of God, is still a source of great strength for
the people of the Lord. The persecution caused the early church to
draw even closer together. It stimulated not only prayer but also
the willingness of each to help meet the needs of others. Jesus has
indeed freed us to put persons before our material possessions.
Therefore, we, as a believing community, turn together to the Sovereign God in Prayer
The Church which grows in love and unity has as its basis a faith marked by suffering and persecution.
PRAYER CHANGES LIVES AND NATIONS.
Prayer Groups Help Enrich Prayer Life And One’s Closeness