old.lff.netold.lff.net/resources/compass/September 2007.doc · Web viewHe added that it was disturbing to see the southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala,

COMPASS DIRECT NEWSNews from the Frontlines of Persecution

September 2007(Released October 1, 2007)

Compass Direct is distributed to raise awareness of Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith. Articles may be reprinted or edited by active subscribers for use in other media, provided Compass Direct News is acknowledged as the source of the material.

Copyright 2007 Compass Direct News

****************************************************************************IN THIS ISSUE

AFGHANISTAN

Korean Christians Critical of Missionary Ban Development work suffers from loss of South Korean volunteers.

CHINA

House Church Leader Cai Zhuohua Released ***Pastor is warned to stop practicing faith outside of government-sanctioned church.

EGYPT

Court Delays Ruling on ‘Reconversion’ ***Tribunal to decide in November whether converts to Islam can return to Christianity.

Christian Twins in Egypt Forced to ‘Become’ Muslim ***Hearing adjourned indefinitely; Baha’i children also struggling for religious freedom.

Government Rebuffs U.S. Religious Freedom Report ***State Department highlights discrimination against Muslim converts to Christianity.

ERITREA

Christian Woman Tortured to Death Fourth believer in one year is killed for refusing to recant faith.

INDIA

Briefs: Recent Incidents of Persecution

Compass Direct News for July 2007 1

Persecution Called Worse than U.S. Report IndicatesState Department lauds federal government but notes criticisms of officials at all levels.

Hindu Extremists Plan Assaults in Karnataka, India ***Increasing attacks prompt protest in Bangalore; pastor in “grave” danger.

False Charges Plague Christian Workers Pastor and his sister cleared of rape, abortion accusations; such ordeals all too common.

Christian Worker Shot Dead for Preaching ***Jharkhand state police say villagers had evangelist killed for converting tribal people.

MALAYSIA

Prime Minister Calls Country ‘Islamic State’Minorities fear curbs to religious freedom amid apparently contradicting statements.

NIGERIA

Threats Force Church in North Underground ***Converts from Islam in Borno state disperse – only to come together again.

PAKISTAN

Christian Unexpectedly Acquitted of ‘Blasphemy’ ***Witnesses drop claim that teenager tore book containing verses of Quran.

Taliban Force Burqa on Christian Women’s School ***Extremists violently enforce Islamization in unruly northern district.

TURKEY

Christians Face Ongoing Intimidation ***Following April stabbing deaths in Malatya, church building in Izmit vandalized.

Judge Pressured to Withdraw from Christians’ Case ***Ultranationalist lawyer requests resignation; state prosecutor is also replaced.

Alleged Instigators Named in Malatya Murders ***Christians called to fast, pray ahead of trial; European parliamentarians demand justice.

*** Indicates an article-related photo is available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

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**********************************************************************Korean Christians Critical of Missionary Ban in AfghanistanDevelopment work suffers from loss of South Korean volunteers.by Peter Lamprecht

ISTANBUL, September 11 (Compass Direct News) – More than a week after the Taliban released Korean aid workers in Afghanistan, some South Korean Christians are critical of their government’s ban on missionary travel to the country.

South Korea agreed to withdraw troops and missionaries from Afghanistan last month in exchange for the release of the remaining 19 kidnapped Korean aid workers. The Taliban had already killed two of the group’s members and released two others after the Christian service team was captured on July 19.

Critics claim that South Korea’s ban on missionary travel to Afghanistan limits religious freedom and encourages extremist attacks on Christians around the globe.

A Taliban spokesman said last week that his group would continue kidnapping foreigners because they had found it to be an effective tactic, according to Agence France-Press (AFP).

Choi Han Eu, president of the Institute for Asian Culture and Development (IACD), told Compass that carrying out religious activities is a basic human right that must be protected.

“In Iraq, in Somalia or any other country where there is a dangerous situation, will Christians not be able to go there if it is a Muslim country?” said Choi, whose Protestant group carries out development work in more than a dozen Asian countries.

In effect, according to Christian sources, the ban has curtailed almost all development work by Koreans in Afghanistan.

“If a Christian does aid work in a Muslim country, they call that missionary work,” said Choi. “Koreans have not been doing overt evangelism in Afghanistan.”

A spokesman from the Korean presidential office said he was unable to give Compass a definition of “missionary work” banned by the government.

30 IACD staff members working at hospitals and schools in Afghanistan have been forced to leave, Choi told Compass.

According to non-governmental organization (NGO) workers in Afghanistan, between 200 and 300 Korean workers have returned to Korea.


“[Koreans] were dispersed throughout various NGOs, and there hasn’t been much time to fill the positions,” one foreign development worker said. “We are [already] understaffed.”

The Korean Army also withdrew its engineering and medical units, both heavily involved in reconstruction work.

Only a few Koreans with dual citizenship have been able to stay in Afghanistan, local NGO workers reported.

“The Afghan people will be the ones who are most harmed by this,” commented Choi.

Quiet Acceptance – For NowThe kidnapping of volunteer workers from a Korean church in July, in no way related to the IACD, renewed anger against Korean Christian development workers. Critics in Korea claimed that the church group was at fault for disregarding warnings against visiting Afghanistan.

Foreign NGO workers in Afghanistan said that the volunteers’ methods inside the country had caused problems.

“Anybody who tries to go to Kandahar is asking for trouble,” said one foreigner, referring to a southern Taliban stronghold to which the Koreans had been traveling when captured. “Being in a large group is also asking for trouble.”

Protestors in front of Bundang’s Sammul Presbyterian Church, which sent the volunteers, demanded Sunday (September 9) that the church pay government expenses incurred in the hostage negotiations.

Intense criticism has caused many Korean Christians to quietly accept the government’s ban on missionary activity to Afghanistan.

More than 100 Presbyterian pastors gathered in Seoul last week to pray and repent for the way that they had conducted missions in the past. The leaders confessed that their churches had at times wrongly emphasized quantity over quality.

“Normally the government and church should be separate, and the church should decide its own policy,” said Chae Ki Bomb, general secretary of the Christian Council of Korea, a mainstream evangelical umbrella organization. “But at this time, it’s alright that the government decided.”

Choi of the IACD agreed that the government had the responsibility to protect its citizens but that this should not overrule basic religious freedom. He said his group would wait for tensions to cool before deciding whether to challenge the missionary ban in court.


The Christian Council’s Chae agreed that the ban should not last indefinitely. “At this time we stopped, but we want to continue missions to Islamic areas in the future,” he said.

Protestant churches in Korea support more than 15,000 international missionaries, the second largest number of missionaries world-wide after those sent by U.S. churches.

Choi’s group came under harsh criticism last August for organizing an aborted “peace rally” in Kabul.

Citing security concerns, the South Korean government blocked its citizens’ entry to Afghanistan and deported others after 1,000 Koreans had already arrived for the event.

Local Christian NGO workers were also critical, saying the rally was not culturally appropriate in a Muslim country hypersensitive to Christian evangelism.

Beaten in CaptivityLittle has appeared in English-language media regarding claims that hostages were beaten and killed for refusing to convert to Islam.

According to AFP, a Seoul doctor confirmed that Taliban captors had beaten hostages in captivity.

“They said they were beaten at first for refusing to take part in Islamic prayers or for rejecting a demand to convert,” the doctor said in the September 3 article.

Seoul-based Christian Today newspaper on September 5 quoted Sammul church head pastor Park Eun Jo as saying that Bae Hyung Kyu had been killed for refusing to convert. The Sammul church referred to Bae as a martyr at his funeral on Saturday (September 8).

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***********************************Chinese House Church Leader Cai Zhuohua ReleasedPastor is warned to stop practicing faith outside of government-sanctioned church.by Jeff M. Sellers

LOS ANGELES, September 18 (Compass Direct News) – Beijing house church leader Cai Zhuohua, jailed since 2004 for “illegal business practices” by distributing Christian literature, has been released with stern warnings to stop practicing his faith outside of the government-sanctioned church.

Bob Fu of China Aid Association (CAA) told Compass that on Thursday (September 13), three days after Cai’s release on September 10, officials of China’s Public Security Bureau (PSB) took the well-known Beijing house church pastor to their offices and tried to intimidate him with threats.


“They warned him to be careful – not to be interviewed, to obey the law and not attend religious activities,” Fu said.

Officials from the National Security Bureau – China’s equivalent of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency – on two occasions gave Cai similar warnings before he was released, Fu said. As an ex-convict whom the government is especially interested to control, Fu said, Cai must report to the PSB once a month.

Cai is now at home in Beijing with his wife and mother, who leads a church that meets in their house.

Deprived of his Bible while in prison, Cai was forced to make soccer balls for the 2008 Beijing Olympics for 10 to 12 hours a day, according to the CAA. Cai’s mother, Fu said, reported that the pastor was well and in good spirits.

Cai was sentenced to three years in prison on November 8, 2005 for “illegal business practices” and fined 150,000 yuan (then about US$18,500). His wife, Xiao Yunfei, was sentenced to two years and fined 120,000 yuan, and her brother Xiao Gaowen was given an 18-month sentence and a fine of 100,000 yuan. Both were released after serving out their sentences.

Having been arrested on September 11, 2004 at a bus stop by state security officers, Cai had been incarcerated for three years by last September 10 even though he was not convicted until November 2005. At the time of his arrest, authorities found more than 237,000 pieces of printed Christian literature, including Bibles, in a storage room he managed.

By law, only the government-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) church is allowed to print and distribute Bibles in China.

The U.S. State Department’s 2007 International Religious Freedom Report, released last week, noted that many unregistered evangelical Protestant groups refuse to register with TSPM due to theological differences, fear of adverse consequences if they reveal names and addresses of church leaders or members, or fear that it will control sermon content.

“Many evangelical house church groups also disagreed with the TSPM’s admonitions against proselytism, which they consider a central teaching of Christianity,” the report states.

Another house church leader, Zhou Heng in Xinjiang region, was arrested in August on the same charge as Cai, as he was caught receiving three tons of Bibles from another city, according to the CAA.

Crackdown on Christian Literature


Recently Chinese authorities have been trying house church leaders under Article 225 of China’s Criminal Law against “illegal acts in business operation,” according to Fu of the Midland, Texas-based CAA.

In 1998, the Supreme People’s Court issued a ruling that allows courts to use Article 225 to imprison anyone who “publishes, prints, copies, or distributes illegal publications.”

Cai’s defense lawyers had argued that the books were printed for free distribution throughout house church networks and should not be considered a “profit-making” venture as the government charged.

The judge rejected these arguments. Shortly after his conviction, a court clerk visited Cai at the Qinghe detention center and warned him that his sentence would be increased if he “annoyed” the judges with an appeal. Facing heavy pressure, Cai and his family agreed to drop the appeal.

After their arrest in September 2004, sources said, Cai and his relatives were tortured during interrogation.

CAA reported that the arrest of Zhou Heng on August 3 was not formally approved by Shayibake District People’s Procuratorate of Urumqi city until August 31, when notice was sent to his wife, Chen Jihong, by the Urumqi Municipal Public Security Bureau. CAA said Zhou is being held at Xishan Detention Center.

He was arrested after he went to a bus station to pick up three tons of donated Bibles intended for local believers free of charge. If convicted of the charges, he faces a 15-year prison sentence.

CAA investigators who spoke with a released inmate who shared a cell with Zhou reported that prison guards and other inmates severely beat Zhou.

Also a well-known house church leader, Zhou is manager of a registered bookstore called Yayi Christian Book Room, which is used to sell Christian literature published legally and officially inside China.

The bookstore has been forced to close following his arrest.

END

*** A photo of Cai Zhuohua is available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

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***********************************Egyptian Court Delays Ruling on ‘Reconversion’


Tribunal to decide in November whether converts to Islam can return to Christianity.by Peter Lamprecht

ISTANBUL, September 6 (Compass Direct News) – An Egyptian court has delayed ruling in the appeal of converts to Islam who wish to return Christianity.

At a hearing on Saturday (September 1), Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court set the date for a ruling at November 17.

Much is at stake in conflicts over religious identity in Egypt, where religious status legally determines whom one can marry, custody of children, inheritance, the type of religious education required and where one can be buried.

The punishment for “apostasy” from Islam is death, according to most mainstream Egyptian interpretations of Islamic law, enshrined in Egypt’s constitution. No converts have been tried for “apostasy,” but conversion away from Islam remains difficult, while hundreds become Muslim every year.

In April, a lower court overturned previous rulings allowing converts to Islam to revert to their original faith, claiming the group of at least 12 was “manipulating” religion.

Interior Minister Habib al-Adly spoke out in support of the lower court ruling the following week, insisting that any Muslim who abandons his faith must be killed, according to Egyptian weekly Sout al Oma.

But Hossam Baghat of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said that many conservative scholars have not labeled the group of “re-converts” as apostates, creating some hope that their appeal may succeed.

“They converted to Islam briefly to get out of a bad marriage, to get a second wife, or to get divorced, things that the Coptic Church in Egypt does not allow,” Baghat said. “Once they solved their urgent problems, they wanted to convert back to Christianity.”

In July, Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court had agreed to accept the appeal, setting the first hearing for September 1.

Affect on HegazyBaghat said he hoped that the case of the group of Muslim converts returning to Christianity might help the case of Mohammed Hegazy, a Muslim-born Egyptian who is suing the government to have his conversion to Christianity officially recognized.

“We think of course that a favorable decision in this case of re-conversion will serve the other category of people who are born Muslim and want to convert to Christianity or to any other religion,” said Baghat. He added that the two still remained separate legal issues.


In recent years, Christian converts to Islam have won the right to convert back to Christianity, specifically because courts have not viewed the change as an issue of “apostasy,” according to Baghat.

In July, Egypt’s second highest religious authority told The Washington Post that “apostates” should not receive any earthly punishment. Dr. Ali Gomaa’s statement created outcry among conservative Muslims in Egypt but prompted Hegazy to sue for the change to be officially recognized.

The unprecedented move drew harsh public condemnation, with Islamic scholars almost unanimously calling for the death of the Hegazy. He was forced into hiding with his pregnant wife after both he and his lawyer (who eventually withdrew from the case) received death threats.

Hundreds of converts to Christianity in Egypt are forced to live double lives in order to escape torture and harassment at the hands of family members and security police. Though no convert has ever been tried for “apostasy,” they are often charged with the crime of “insulting a heavenly religion [Islam]” and held indefinitely under Egypt’s emergency law.

As to whether he thought Hegazy’s case had heightened sensitivities toward the issue of conversion, endangering the chances of converts to Islam who wished to revert to Christianity, Baghat said, “We were worried, but it didn’t really come up at all – nothing was raised about apostasy per se.”

END

*** A photo of Mohammed Hegazy is available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

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***********************************Christian Twins in Egypt Forced to ‘Become’ MuslimHearing adjourned indefinitely; Baha’i children also struggling for religious freedom.by Peter Lamprecht

ISTANBUL, September 5 (Compass Direct News) – An Egyptian court on Monday (September 3) adjourned the hearing of young Christian twins legally forced to take Islamic education after their estranged father became Muslim.

The attorney for the two young Christian boys forced the adjournment by skipping the hearing, as the outcome of another case involving converts to Islam seeking “re-conversion” could affect the twins’ case.


The twins’ case highlights inequalities non-Muslims face in Egypt, where one’s religion, printed on all official documents, regulates family laws. Custody of children is automatically given to whichever parent is Muslim, according to many interpretations of sharia (Islamic law), enshrined in the nation’s constitution.

Christian twins Mario and Andrew Medhat Ramsis unwillingly “became” Muslim after their father converted to Islam and used his legal right to change the religion on their birth certificates.

In February, the boys’ mother discovered that they had been placed in Islamic education classes at school to reflect their father’s choice, though the Muslim man was no longer living with his Christian family since his conversion and remarriage in 2002.

The twins gained notoriety when they refused to take their Islamic religion exam in May, required in order to pass to the next grade.

“I am Christian,” each boy wrote on a make-up test in July. They turned in the exam with all of the answers left blank.

Egyptian Education Minister Yusri al-Gamal announced on August 25 that he would automatically pass the boys on to the next grade, but the twins’ Christian mother said that an underlying problem remains.

“I was made to understand that Egyptian law grants a mother custody of her children until they are 15, but I lately discovered that this applies only to Muslim mothers,” Kamilia Lutfi said in an August 27 press conference, according to Coptic-owned weekly Watani.

Andrew and Mario Ramsis’ future hinges on whether the court applies civil law, which allows them to remain with their mother, or certain interpretations of Islamic law, which stipulate that children belong to whichever parent is Muslim, their lawyer Naguib Gabriel said.

Gabriel skipped the hearing on Monday (September 3), when the court was expected to rule on the twins’ future, causing the court to adjourn indefinitely. He said he hopes to delay the final hearing until after November 17, when the fate of 12 converts to Islam seeking “re-conversion” back to Christianity is to be decided.

Gabriel said that the November 17 ruling on “re-conversion” would give him a clue about the government’s position towards the Ramsis twins’ case.

“The whole point is whether the court will rule according to Egypt’s civil law – in which case the converts will be free to revert to their Christianity – or according to sharia, meaning that ridda [the penalty for apostasy] would be applied,” the lawyer said.


According to many mainstream interpretations of Islamic law in Egypt, the punishment for apostasy is death.

Gabriel has come under increasing pressure from conservative Muslims for his role in defending Mario and Andrew Ramsis.

Last week lawyer Mohammed al-Shishtawi filed a complaint with Egypt’s prosecutor general against Gabriel. He accused the Christian lawyer of spreading false rumors that harm Egypt’s national unity, inciting sectarian strife, and tarnishing Egypt’s image abroad, according to daily newspaper al-Akhbar.

Barred from SchoolIn a related case, an administrative court yesterday postponed a verdict for another set of twins – 14-year-olds Imad and Nancy Halim of the country’s tiny Baha’i community.

After Baha’is lost the right to print their religion on official documents in December 2006, the brother and sister’s father, Raouf Hindi Halim, sued to have the religion field on their identification papers left blank.

As long as the twins refuse to place Islam, Christianity or Judaism on their new electronic documents, they cannot receive basic services such as education and some health care, said Hossam Baghat of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

“Basically, they can’t enroll in public schools, and that is the most important problem,” Baghat told Compass following Tuesday’s hearing.

The lawyer said that the children would soon be faced with other difficulties if they do not obtain birth certificates and other electronic documents by the time they turn 16. “Once they turn 16, it’s a criminal offense not to have one,” he said.

Baghat clarified that Egypt’s Baha’is were neither seeking to completely remove the religion status from documents of all citizens, nor to gain official recognition as a minority community.

“They are simply asking to obtain these mandatory basic documents without being forced to choose a religion that they do not believe in,” Baghat said.

Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court ruled against the group listing its religion on official documents in December 2006, on the premise that Baha’ism is not one of three “heavenly religions” (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) recognized by Islam.

Baha’ism was founded on the teachings of Baha’u’llah, a Persian believed to be God’s prophet to humanity in the 1800s.

Muslims consider Baha’ism heretical for its acceptance of a prophet after Muhammad, whom Muslim’s believe to be God’s final messenger to humanity.


END

*** Photos of Mario and Andrew Medhat Ramsis and Naguib Gabriel are available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

(Return to Index)

***********************************Egypt Rebuffs U.S. Religious Freedom Report State Department highlights discrimination against Muslim converts to Christianity.by Peter Lamprecht

ISTANBUL, September 21 (Compass Direct News) – Egypt has denounced a U.S. report on the African nation’s worsening condition of religious freedom.

The State Department’s annual International Religious Freedom Report, released on September 14, says that within the past year the Egyptian government’s respect for religious freedom had “declined.”

Harsh treatment of converts from Islam to Christianity, ongoing difficulties building churches and official discrimination against the country’s Baha’i minority topped the report’s list of violations.

A spokesman for Egypt’s foreign ministry said he regretted “fallacies” in the report, according to semi-official daily al-Ahram on Monday (September 17). He said that the United States had “no right to interfere in the internal affairs of Egypt,” al-Ahram reported.

The official did not elaborate on any of the report’s purported mistakes.

The U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom noted worsening conditions for Egyptian converts during a press conference on the report’s release last week.

“The government of Egypt has denied conversion to Christianity even by people who were born into a Christian family, later converted to Islam and then want to go back,” John Hanford told journalists in Washington, D.C.

In April, a Cairo court rejected the right of converts to Islam to return to Christianity, the report says. The decision overturned three years of rulings that had allowed at least 32 “re-conversions” to Christianity.

Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court is due to rule on the appeal of 12 of these former Christians on November 17. At least 200 cases of Christian converts to Islam who now wish to return to their original faith are pending in Egyptian courts, the report states.


Much is at stake for would-be converts. The report notes that marriage, divorce, alimony, child custody and burial are based on one’s religion under Egyptian law.

“Under sharia [Islamic law] as practiced in the country, non-Muslim males must convert to Islam to marry Muslim women, but non-Muslim women need not convert to marry Muslim men,” the report states.

A Muslim woman who marries a non-Muslim abroad could be arrested and charged with apostasy on her return to Egypt, according to the 13-page document.

In cases where a Christian woman converts to Islam, her husband is given the chance to follow suit. If he refuses, the couple is automatically divorced and the children awarded to the Muslim mother.

“The minor children of converts to Islam, and in some cases adult children, may automatically become classified as Muslims in the eyes of the government irrespective of the religion of the other spouse,” the U.S. report notes.

It says that the practice is based upon the administration’s interpretation of Islamic law, which dictates “no jurisdiction of a non-Muslim over a Muslim.”

Christian twins Mario and Andrew Medhat Ramsis, 13, have brought a case against the government for changing the religious designation on their birth certificates to “Muslim” after their father converted to Islam. Their case is pending before a Cairo court.

Threatened ConvertsConversion away from Islam remains a sensitive issue in majority-Muslim Egypt. Enshrined in the constitution as the basis for the nation’s legislation, Islamic law forbids a Muslim to leave the faith.

Ambassador Hanford pointed to problems faced by Muslim-born converts to Christianity at last week’s press conference, mentioning the case of convert Bahaa al-Accad.

“We are pleased that one particular case where – where a gentleman was held for 25 months, Bahaa al-Accad, that he was released not long ago, but now his life is under threat,” Hanford said.

The former sheikh, 58, had been held without charge, though official interrogations indicated he was suspected of “insulting Islam.”

Still living under threat from radical Islamists, al-Accad’s case typifies difficulties faced by converts from Islam to Christianity discussed in the U.S. report.

“The security services reportedly maintain regular and sometimes hostile surveillance of Muslim-born citizens who are suspected of having converted to Christianity,” the report states.


Many mainstream Egyptian Islamic scholars consider death the appropriate punishment for apostasy.

In recent years, converts in Egypt have not been charged with apostasy, but some have been held for “insulting Islam.”

The report notes that there is no legal way for Muslim-born converts to Christianity to amend their legal records to reflect the change.

In a case that arose after the period covered by the U.S. report (July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007), a Muslim convert to Christianity last month announced his plan to sue for the right to legally change his identification papers.

Death threats have forced Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy into hiding since he first announced his intention on August 2. The convert has provoked a storm of criticism from Egyptian media, which claimed that he became a Christian for money and to insult Egypt.

By contrast, the religion section of semi-official daily al-Ahram often covers conversions to Islam, stating that converts improved their lives and found peace, the U.S. religious freedom report states.

Hegazy’s first hearing is set for October 2. The convert has not been willing to publicize the name of his new lawyer after his first attorney backed out over death threats.

DiscriminationThe report also notes that the government discriminated against non-Muslims in the public sphere.

“There are no Christians serving as presidents or deans of public universities, and they are rarely nominated by the Government to run in elections as National Democratic Party candidates,” the report states. It notes that for the first time in 30 years a Christian had been appointed in 2006 as one of the nation’s 26 governors.

“Christians, who represented between 8 and 12 percent of the population, hold less than 2 percent of the seats in the People’s Assembly and Shura Council,” the document says.

It states that that government money pays Muslim imams but not Christian clergy, and it notes that there are very few Christians in upper positions in the security services and army.

Kidnapping and forced religious conversion of Christian women to Islam remained a contentious issue, the religious freedom document states. “Reports of such cases are disputed and often include inflammatory allegations and categorical denials of kidnapping and rape.”


It states that Egypt’s National Council of Human Rights received 32 complaints of missing Christian women between March and December 2006. In most cases the Ministry of Interior responded that the women had eloped with Muslim men and converted to Islam of their own free will.

“There were reports of government authorities failing to uphold the law in sensitive conversion cases,” the report notes. Though the minimum age for marriage is 18, authorities often allowed Christian women to marry at a younger age after converting to Islam and having their custody automatically transferred to a Muslim guardian.

Within the past year, the government apparently ceased requiring Christian-born converts to Islam to hold one counseling session with a priest before changing faith, according to Watani newspaper editor Youssef Sidhom, cited in the report.

The session had often been instrumental in resolving disputed conversion cases, Sidhom said.

Church BuildingsLegal obstacles to building and repairing churches were also high on the list of violations in the U.S. report.

The report notes that despite a 2005 presidential decree aimed at speeding up the process of granting permission for church repairs, many churches continued to encounter delays often measured in years.

The unlicensed evangelical church in Maadi, a Cairo suburb, has been unable to obtain a license for 50 years, the report states.

Only 21 new churches were approved between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2007, the report states. Of these, 20 had been previously unrecognized and one was newly constructed.

The report estimates that there are between 6 million and 10 million Christians in Egypt.

Baha’i IdentityThe religious freedom report notes that Egypt’s tiny Baha’i community also faces difficulties printing their religion on legal documents.

Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court ruled against the group listing its religion on civil records in December 2006, on the premise that Baha’ism is not one of three “heavenly religions” (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) recognized by Islam.

Two 14-year-old Baha’i twins are suing the government for the right to leave religion off their official papers. This month an administrative court delayed ruling on the case until October 30.

END


*** Photos of Christian twins Mario and Andrew Medhat Ramsis, Bahaa al-Accad, Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy and Egyptian churches are available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

(Return to Index)

***********************************Christian Woman Tortured to Death in EritreaFourth believer in one year is killed for refusing to recant faith.by Jeff M. Sellers

LOS ANGELES, September 7 (Compass Direct News) – Eritrean authorities tortured a woman to death on Wednesday (September 5) for refusing to recant her Christian faith, the fourth such killing in less than a year, according to a Christian support organization.

Citing Christian sources in the East African nation, Open Doors said in a statement that it had confirmed that 33-year-old Nigsti Haile was killed for refusing to sign a letter recanting her faith. Held at the Wi’a Military Training Center 20 miles south of the Red Sea port of Massawa, Haile was one of 10 single Christian women arrested at a church gathering in Keren who have spent 18 months under severe pressure.

Eritrea outlawed independent Protestant churches in May 2002, closing their buildings and banning them from meeting even in private homes. Haile was a member of a Rhema church, an independent Protestant group, according to Open Doors.

Before her arrest, according to the organization, Haile worked for a relative while studying to complete high school-level education.

On February 15, Magos Solomon Semere died under torture at the Adi-Nefase Military Confinement facility outside Assab, four and a half years after the Eritrean regime jailed him for worshipping in a banned Protestant church. According to one source, the 30-year-old Semere died “due to physical torture and persistent pneumonia, for which he was forbidden proper medical treatment.”

Last October 17, two other Christians died under torture in Eritrea. Two days after Immanuel Andegergesh, 23, and Kibrom Firemichel, 30, were arrested for holding a religious service in a private home south of Asmara, they died from torture wounds and severe dehydration in a military camp outside the town of Adi-Quala, eyewitnesses told Compass.

In August, Open Doors became aware that the 10 Christian women arrested earlier were separated from other prisoners and taken to the Wi’a military center, where they underwent torture for refusing to recant.


On August 19, ten members of the Full Gospel Church were arrested as they gathered in a house in Kahawata, a suburb of Asmara, sources said. On August 12, Leul Gebreab, 35, a pastor at the evangelical Apostolic Church, was arrested in Asmara.

Amnesty International said in a statement yesterday that the detainees from the Full Gospel Church are believed to be held without charge or trial in the Karchele security prison, together with dozens of other pastors and members of banned evangelical churches.

“Amnesty considers Pastor Gebreab and the 10 church members who were arrested in Asmara on 12 August to be prisoners of conscience,” Amnesty reported, “as they have been detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their religious beliefs.”

Since May 2002, Eritrea has officially recognized only Islam and the Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran Christian churches. At the same time, Amnesty noted, religious persecution has also affected the Orthodox and Catholic churches.

Authorities have deposed and detained the patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, Abune Antonios, due to his criticisms of government interference in church matters, Amnesty said. The Roman Catholic Church in Eritrea is appealing against an order to hand over all its social welfare organizations – schools, medical clinics, orphanages and women’s training centers – to the Ministry of Social Welfare and Labor.

More than 2,000 Eritrean Christians are imprisoned in Eritrea. All have been denied legal counsel or trial, with no written charges filed against them.

Amnesty reported that most of the more than 2,000 imprisoned Christians have been held for more than two years in harsh conditions, with little or no medical treatment.

“Members of evangelical churches have been subjected to arrest, torture and coercion by the security forces to try and force them to deny their faith,” Amnesty reported.

Editor’s note: In Compass Direct News' September 7, "Christian Woman Tortured to Death in Eritrea," the name of the victim was incorrectly identified as Migsti.

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***********************************India Briefs: Recent Incidents of Persecutionby Vishal Arora and Nirmala Carvalho

Karnataka, September 12 (Compass Direct News) – A group of about 35 people from the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) beat the principal of a Bible college on September 10 in Geddalhalli village on Hennur Road in Bangalore. Dr. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians told Compass that Angam Haokip, head of the Bible college in the Kothanur area of Bangalore, was attacked at 8 a.m. by men wearing vermillion on their foreheads and red thread on their wrists, a mark of


followers of the RSS. The attackers stopped Haokip’s vehicle and asked if he was a pastor. When he said, “Yes,” they beat him, tried to crush his legs with boulders and kicked him on the nape of the neck before onlookers. Haokip’s back and chest were injured. The attackers also vandalized his vehicle. “When the Christian went to the police station, the police refused to accept his complaint, and instead informed him that a complaint had been lodged against him for ‘rash driving,’” George said. – VA

Bihar – Hindu extremists stormed a Christian meeting, forcibly took a pastor to a temple and made him recite slogans about Hindu god Rama on September 8 in Bankipore Gorakh area of Fatuha in Patna, Bihar state. National daily The Times of India identified the victim as Rudal Paswan of the Pentecostal Church and the perpetrators as supporters of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The extremist groups accused the Christians of luring 100 Dalits, including women and children, with 5,000 rupees (US$123) cash and promises of jobs paying 8,000 rupees ($197) monthly. Pastor Paswan denied the allegation. The daily quoted Gopal Prasad, local president of the BJP, as saying, “We had informed the local administration about our pre-emptive action. We explained to the people the benefits of remaining a Hindu. I told them that they were like our brothers and sisters.” The daily noted that the VHP and BJP supporters made the allegations even though they did not know the names of the organizers of the Christian meeting. The Patna administration is investigating the case. – VA

West Bengal – Six families in Natungram village, Murshidabad district in West Bengal, are being ostracized for converting to Christianity from Islam, reported the Mumbai Mirror on September 7. Villagers in the predominantly Muslim village have accused the Christians of receiving money from a church to convert, the report stated. “It is likely that 24 people converted in the last three months,” Ajay Sannamat, the Lalbag sub-divisional officer, was quoted as stating. Villagers became suspicious when some of the converts declined to attend certain functions. The village head, Maulvi Nur Islam, called a meeting in which the heads of the Christian families were summoned and told that they would not be allowed to buy anything from any shop or draw water from village tube-wells. At the same time, the Muslim villagers were told they would be fined if they spoke to the Christian “offenders,” the report stated. Two converts, Rehman Sheikh and Aima Bibi, reportedly filed a complaint with the Murshidabad police stating that their lives were threatened. Police have been posted in the village, and District Superintendent of Police Rahul Srivastav was quoted as stating, “They will remain as long as the tension is not diffused.” – NC

Karnataka – A group of about 10 Hindu extremists on September 6 tied an independent evangelist to a tree for at least three hours before chasing him out of Madhikare village in Chinthamani near Bangalore, Karnataka state. They beat the 41-year-old evangelist, P. Ananthappa, while he was distributing Christian tracts to a villager in front of his house, said Dr. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians. “The extremists abused the evangelist and warned him not to come back to the village to preach Christianity before tying him to a tree for three hours,” George told Compass. After being released, Ananthappa, who received minor injuries, went to a hospital for first-aid. “The


evangelist refused to file a police complaint, saying by doing so he would not be able to go to that village again for ministry,” George added. – VA

Karnataka – Six Hindu extremists beat pastor Abey C. Mathew, 30, of the Christian Ministry Church on September 6 in Bommasandra, Bangalore, Karnataka state. Dr. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians said extremists led by Narayana Swamy barged into the church compound shouting anti-Christian curses and slapped, punched and kicked Mathew and congregation member Joseph Abraham. Mathew and Abraham were treated for injuries at Baptist Hospital. “The mob told me to stop my preaching of a foreign faith and kept hitting me,” Pastor Mathew told Compass. “They are now threatening my believers, who are now afraid to worship at the church. On September 9, very few attended Sunday worship.” Mathew, whose congregation consists of 22 people, filed a complaint at the Hebbagudi police station, but at press time no arrests had been made. – NC

Karnataka – Police summoned three Christians on September 3 after Hindu extremists in the Bangarapet area of Kolar district, Karnataka, filed a complaint of forcible conversion. The extremists, whose names the police did not disclose, charged that the Christians – identified only as Raghu from Emmanuel Church, Prabhu from Zion Church and an independent pastor, Anand – were forcibly converting local Hindus, said Dr. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians. George said the charge was false. He added that it was disturbing to see the southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, which have substantial numbers of Christians, becoming gradually tenser in recent years. – VA

West Bengal – Alleged supporters of the Communist Party of India-Marxists (CPI-M) beat the wife of an independent Christian worker on September 1 in Bhupathinagar area of East Midnapore district, West Bengal state. The attackers came to the house of Biman Patro seemingly to attack him but, not finding him home, instead beat his wife Sushma Patro, according to a local Christian who requested anonymity. “They caught the woman and threw her to the ground by pulling her hair,” the source told Compass. “Then they hit her on the head with a stick and kicked her in the stomach several times, knocking her down unconscious.” A relative of Patro intervened, and the victim was admitted to Purba Medinipur District Hospital for two days. When the incident was reported to the Bhupathinagar police station, the police took no prompt action. “They arrested a few people, but released them within few hours,” added the source. The attackers had earlier visited Sushma Patro and harassed her on August 22 after learning that her husband was away. “Patro’s wife had even lodged a complaint regarding the August 22 incident at the Bhupathinagar police station [General Diary Number 770] the same day, but the police did nothing to protect the woman, as the perpetrators are being protected by local politicians from the CPI-M,” the source said. – VA

Madhya Pradesh – A Hindu extremist from the Bajrang Dal in Kharra village, Rewa district, Madhya Pradesh beat a 24-year-old Christian, Kailash Saket, on August 31. Dr. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians said Kiran Upadhyay stopped Saket on a village road and cursed him and his Christian faith. Upadhyaya then slapped


and punched Saket and warned him to stop going to prayer meetings. Saket has been worshipping at a house church of independent pastor Heeralal Kushwawa for the past four years. Upadhyaya also had beaten Kushwawa on August 25, making allegations of forcibly converting people. “Upadhyaya has been keeping a close watch on our prayer meetings and mocked the believers as they came for worship,” Pastor Kushwawa told Compass. “Believers are now frightened, and on Sunday, September 2, very few believers attended worship.” – NC

Maharashtra – Unidentified Hindu extremist youths on August 25 launched a second attack on 38-year-old pastor Peter David Silway from the Vineyard Workers’ Church in Dapodi area of Maharashtra state’s Pune district. “A car belonging to the pastor was pelted with stones by two motorcycle-borne youths on the bridge linking Dapodi and Bopodi,” reported the local edition of national daily The Indian Express on September 4. The victim filed a complaint with the Bhosari police station. On June 8, about six youths had gone to the residence of Pastor Silway in Bopodi with a bouquet, and as the pastor stepped forward to receive it, they pounced on him and started beating him with hockey sticks, added the daily. At that time he filed a complaint with the Khadki police station. The daily quoted the president of the Dapodi unit of Hindu extremist group Shiv Sena, Kailas Jadhav, as saying, “Some Hindu groups suspect that the church members are carrying out conversion activity not in the church, but in villages outside Pune and other parts of the state. If such a thing is happening, it should be stopped forthwith.” Pastor Silway told the daily, “The church has never indulged in such activities … There are some five to six people who are instigating the local people against the church. Otherwise nobody is complaining.” Pastor Silway conducts healing prayer meetings on Saturdays that draw nearly 20,000 people. – VA

Maharashtra – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal filed a First Information Report (FIR) of forcible conversion against pastor Edward Pais on August 26 in Andheri, Mumbai, Maharashtra, reported national daily The Times of India. Pastor Pais of New Life Fellowship told Compass, “One person identified as Mr. Kishore, who has been praying and worshipping at the New Life Church for more than six months, expressed a desire and personal free choice to accept Christ as savior.” For his baptism, Kishore invited colleague Anil Bhise to the service on August 26. “Bhise came with a few other people, and they all sat respectfully during the preaching,” Pastor Pais said. “However, as Kishore was being administered the water baptism at the nearby Juhu beach, Bhise strongly objected to the baptism ceremony.” Bhise shouted accusations of “forcible conversion” and registered the FIR against Pastor Pais at the D.N. Nagar, Andheri police station. Pastor Pais was also booked for “deliberately injuring religious sentiments” under Sections 295(A), and for “inducing person to believe that he will be rendered an object of the Divine displeasure” under Section 508. – NC

Orissa – Unidentified people suspected of being Hindu extremists demolished an 18-year-old church belonging to tribal Christians late on August 25 in Banjalaput village of Padua block in Orissa state’s Koraput district. The attackers broke the roof top and cross of the church, which belonged to the Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC). Dr. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians said Hindu extremists had


earlier instigated Rabi Ram Singh, son of Jagabandhu Ram Singh, former owner of the land who had sold it to the JELC Mission, to illegally occupy a portion of the church property. The younger Singh has been threatening JELC Pastor Sanjay Khora to halt meetings in the church. He also has stopped the pastor from entering the church on several occasions. The Padua police station filed a complaint against the culprits, but the accused remained at large at press time. About 20 tribal Christian families worshipped in the church. – VA

END

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***********************************Persecution in India Called Worse than U.S. Report IndicatesState Department lauds federal government but notes criticisms of officials at all levels.by Vishal Arora

NEW DELHI, September 19 (Compass Direct News) – The U.S. Department of State’s 2007 Report on International Religious Freedom gives India’s federal government high marks for respecting religious freedom, but Christian leaders said this does not mean that persecution in the country is less than alarming.

The incidence of anti-Christian violence is much higher than available statistics indicate, the leaders said, as most cases are not reported to the police and are ignored by the media.

“I record and prove between 200 and 400 cases of anti-Christian violence a year in my unofficial white paper released annually since 1997 – but the actual figure may be from 1,000 to 2,000 such cases a year, perhaps even more,” said Dr. John Dayal, secretary general of the All India Christian Council (AICC).

Released last Friday (September 14), the report covering the period from July 1, 2006, to June 30 says the government of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), led by the Indian National Congress or Congress Party, “generally respected” religious freedom in practice.

“Generally respected” is the highest level for religious freedom assigned by the report, according to the preface.

It asserts, however, that there were “organized societal attacks against minority religious groups, particularly in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party” or BJP, India’s most influential Hindu nationalistic party. The report also notes that human rights activists criticized the UPA for alleged “indifference and inaction” in the face of persecution by state and local officials and private citizens.

Quoting faith-based groups in India, including the AICC and the Christian Legal Association (CLA), the report says there were at least 128 attacks against Christians in all


of 2006. From July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, the AICC reported more than 150 incidents of anti-Christian attacks.

Targeted CommunityFrom 130 to 150 attacks in a country of 1 billion may not sound like much, but Christian leaders said that not only are attacks under-reported but that targeting of a minority community is alarming. Moreover, the attacks are concentrated in geographic pockets.

The state department’s report on India states that, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Madhya Pradesh, more than 55 attacks on Christians by various Hindu extremist groups were reported in the state between July 2006 and April 2007. Of these, 34 were in the city of Jabalpur alone.

“It is the targeting of this minority population that becomes a cause for concern,” said CLA General Secretary Tehmina Arora, pointing out that Christians make up only 2.3 percent, or 24 million, of India’s population.

“India is huge in terms of both its area and population, and therefore some may underestimate its intensity,” she said. “But the fact is that Christians particularly in seven states – namely Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Orissa, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh – are facing the brunt of Hindu extremism.”

The total population in these seven states is more than 354 million people, of which 4 million are Christian.

“Even within these states, certain pockets can be identified as the most sensitive ones,” she said.

Hindus account for more than 80 percent of India’s population, but it is not the common Hindu who becomes violent.

“It is a small minority, namely Hindu extremists, which manages to launch attacks with impunity tacitly extended by some state governments,” she said. “It is against this backdrop that Christian persecution in India should be seen.”

Expanding Persecution Christians in India are also worried about persecution emerging in southern states, particularly Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, which had been relatively peaceful till recently.

The state department’s report notes that 20 acts of anti-Christian violence were reported in Andhra Pradesh, compared with seven incidents in the previous year.

Christian persecution grew in Andhra Pradesh after the Congress Party government led by Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, a Christian, came into power in May 2004.


Accusing the chief minister of allowing missionaries to lure Hindus to Christianity, Hindu extremists increasingly began to attack Christians.

The state department document says there were at least 40 reported anti-Christian attacks in Karnataka, a considerable increase from the six incidents during the previous reporting period. The incidence of anti-Christian attacks has increased in the state since the Janata Dal-Secular party, in coalition with the BJP, took power from the Congress Party in February 2006.

States’ Role in Curbing FreedomThe report on India criticizes “anti-conversion” laws enacted or amended by some state governments, asserting that Congress Party officials in Himachal Pradesh state passed an anti-conversion law that, “similar to other laws of its kind, restricts and regulates religious proselytism.”

Citing religious press outlets, the report notes, “there were four reports of acts of violence against Christians following the passage of an anti-conversion law in Himachal Pradesh in late December 2006. There were no reports during the previous reporting period.”

Anti-conversion laws are in force in three states, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. Such laws in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh remain on paper, awaiting implementation.

“Public hysteria aside,” Dr. Sajan K. George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, told Compass, “it has to be remembered that the real threat to democracy in India today comes from anti-democratic laws and regulations curbing the rights of Christians.”

The report notes that police and other enforcement agencies were slow to “effectively counter societal attacks, including attacks against religious minorities.”

“Despite government efforts to foster communal harmony, some extremists continued to view ineffective investigation and prosecution of attacks on religious minorities, particularly at the state and local levels, as a signal that they could commit such violence with impunity, although numerous cases were in the courts at the end of the reporting period.”

It further states say that despite the federal government’s efforts to reject Hindutva, the nationalist ideology espousing Hindu religious and cultural norms above all others, “it continued to influence some government policies and actions at the state and local levels.”

The report also said that while the UPA government was not accused of violating religious freedom, human rights activists criticized it for alleged “indifference and inaction in the face of abuses committed by state and local authorities and private citizens.”


Lack of EffortThere is a general feeling among Christians that the UPA government is not making efforts to check Christian persecution.

Dayal pointed out that the federal government’s proposed law against religion-related violence may curb anti-Muslim violence, but it would be toothless against anti-Christian attacks as it seeks to check only “large-scale” incidents.

“We do not come under the scrutiny of its defining and screening measures,” Dayal said. “The Christians are dispersed. The violence against them is also dispersed. It may be just one case a year in one village across the country. But there are 400,000 villages, and the total violence may be as much.”

He added that the incidents of persecution may be spread out, but they are not isolated. “If 1,000 isolated cases occurred in one country, they fit a pattern.”

Some Christians said they feel that any attack on religious minorities in a democratic country like India is an attack on freedom.

“Particularly attacks on Christians are not in retaliation against some committed crime, but purely because they practice a different religion from the majority,” Father Dominic Emmanuel, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Delhi, told Compass. “These attacks cannot be tolerated at all. The government should do its utmost to stop them.”

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***********************************Hindu Extremists Plan Assaults in Karnataka, IndiaIncreasing attacks prompt protest in Bangalore; pastor in “grave” danger.by Nirmala Carvalho

MUMBAI, India, September 21 (Compass Direct News) – Christians will hold a major rally in Karnataka’s capital, Bangalore, tomorrow to protest a growing number of Hindu extremists attacks in the state and planned assaults on church meetings in Mysore district and other areas.

“The Global Council of Indian Christians [GCIC] is in possession of concrete evidence of a conspiracy of the Hindu extremists allegedly belonging to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [RSS] and the Bajrang Dal, who plan to launch a serial attack against Christians in HD Kotte and different parts of Mysore,” organization president Dr. Sajan K. George told Compass.

He said that pastor Yeravasan Kalla Suresh, 39, of Ebenezer Full Gospel Church in HD Kotte, is in “grave” danger. The pastor told Compass that on four occasions since he planted a house church in HD Kotte in 1995, Hindu extremists from the RSS and Bajrang Dal have stormed worship services and slapped, kicked and punched him.


“On another occasion, the extremists spat on my face and ripped the shirt off my back,” Suresh said. “Twice the house church was vandalized and the Bibles and hymn books taken outside and burned, but in spite of repeated police complaints, no arrests have ever been made.”

Two Bangalore-based extremists identified only as Muniyappa and Gopal have been holding youth meetings in different parts of Mysore, George said, indoctrinating young people in hateful propaganda to turn them loose against area Christians.

“The anti-Christian attacks are alarmingly increasing day by day,” George said. “There have been 70 reported cases of attacks against Christians in the last 18 months.”

Saturday’s rally is intended to raise public awareness of injustices against Christians and urge the government to allow them to practice and proclaim their faith as guaranteed in the Indian Constitution, he added.

“In the wake of these incidents, the GCIC and Bangalore Chraista Ranga, an organization of Christians of various denominations, will hold a major public rally on September 22 at 10 a.m at the Gandhi statue, Mahatma Gandhi Road, in Bangalore, Karnataka, to protest against the alarming increase of persecution of Christians in Karnataka,” George said. “The GCIC will also submit a memorandum to the governor urging the government to protect the religious rights of the Christians and other religious minorities.”

Last month, flyers printed in the Kannada language circulated in the Challakere area by the Bajrang Dal and the extremist Hindu Jagrutika Samiti of Chitradurga district, Karnataka, called upon “the followers of the foreigners’ religion” to either leave Challakere or “take refuge” in Hindu religion, according to an August 18 statement from GCIC.

“They must be put to death,” the flyers stated. “Friends and brothers of Challakere, teach such cheats and converters a fitting lesson.”

It urged people to “show their prowess” and “masculinity” by joining their fight against “traitors” and “conversion dons” in the district.

Among the 10 “crimes” Christians commit, according to the flyers, were: “Helping the poor and converting them,” “educating the orphans and cheating them and their families and converting them.” “getting girls married into good families and converting them,” “organizing free medical camps and converting the patients,” “organizing religious meetings and converting the attendees,” “distributing Christian books or pamphlets to those who approach them for help,” and “doing good to all who oppose them and turn their hearts towards Christ.”

The flyers charged that “all these are his cunning ways. This is Christ’s teaching.”


George said there was a political agenda behind Hindu extremist attacks. In Karnataka, the Janata Dal-Secular party forms a coalition with the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with each one alternating as head of government for 18 months.

BJP is due to take over as head of government on October 3, as per the power-sharing agreement, but there is a fear of an election being called before its term ends. Hence, George said, given the uncertainties within the coalition, the BJP – political wing of the RSS – is bracing to face earlier-than-planned state assembly elections by stirring up Hindu nationalist sentiment.

The ideology of Hindutva, espoused by the BJP and the RSS, encompasses a vision of India as a Hindu nation.

“Some of the temple heads in Karnataka are strong supporters of RSS, and there are political compulsions to consolidate Hindu votes on the vortex of alleged conversion and present the BJP as a savior of Hinduism to the electorates,” George said.

END

*** A photo of Dr. Sajan K. George is available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

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***********************************False Charges Plague Christian Workers in India Pastor and his sister cleared of rape, abortion accusations; such ordeals all too common.by Vishal Arora

NEW DELHI, September 25 (Compass Direct News) – In a case typical of false accusations that Hindu extremists file against Christian workers, a pastor and his sister have been cleared of charges of rape and forced abortion in Chhattisgarh state.

The Evangelical Fellowship of India announced that pastor Simon Tandi, a convert from Hinduism, and his sister Sanjeela Begum were acquitted by a court in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district on September 12. Tandi was facing charges of raping and forcing a girl to terminate the resultant pregnancy after she filed a complaint – prompted by a Hindu extremist group – against him in June 2005.

His sister, Begum, was accused of abetting the crime. Tandi had spent six months in jail, and his sister four months, before they were released on bail prior to the acquittal.

The court reportedly found discrepancies in the statement of the complainant and a lack of evidence against the accused.

Hurt Feelings


Christian rights activists say facing false police complaints is common for Christian workers in several parts of the country.

Akhilesh Edgar, chairman of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, told Compass that in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states, both ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), filing false complaints against Christian workers is common.

Extremists normally file complaints related to “hurting religious sentiments” and “forcible conversions,” under Sections 295(a) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 3 and 4 of the Freedom of Religion Acts (anti-conversion laws) of the two states, he said.

Section 295(a) of the IPC concerns deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting religion or religious beliefs. A non-bailable offence, it is punishable with up to three years of prison and may also include a fine.

Sections 3 and 4 of the anti-conversion laws are related to the use of “force,” “fraudulent means” or “allurement” to convert someone from one religion to another, with punishment of up to one year of prison and/or a fine up to 5,000 rupees (US$125). In case the person converted is a minor, woman, Dalit or tribal, the jail term can extend up to two years and the fine up to 10,000 rupees (US$250).

“Christians at times are also accused of other crimes, such as rape and murder,” Edgar added, referring to the acquittal of 16 Christians last year in Madhya Pradesh state’s Jhabua district.

The accused, associated with the Church of North India, were accused of killing a Hindu extremist in the violence that erupted after the body of an elementary school girl who was raped and killed was found inside a Catholic school in Jhabua in 2004.

The Alirajpur sessions court acquitted the Christians on May 31, 2006, citing lack of evidence and asserting that prosecutors had fabricated and manipulated testimonies to prove their allegation.

Fourteen of the 16 accused had been languishing in the Jhabua jail for more than two years.

Hindu extremist groups had also accused a priest from the school of killing and raping the girl whose body was found on the school premises. Police later arrested a non-Christian who confessed to committing the crime.

Police Connivance A representative of the Christian Legal Association (CLA) told Compass that most reported incidents of violence against Christians also involve false police complaints.


“Extremists find it very easy to lodge false complaints,” the CLA representative said, “given the vagueness of the provisions under the anti-conversion laws as well as sections of the IPC, which are framed in such a way that the onus to prove one’s innocence is on the accused.”

The various anti-conversion laws define “allurement” as an “offer of any temptation in the form of any gift or gratification either in cash or kind; and/or grant of any material benefit either monetary or otherwise.” Christians say this ambiguous definition can be misused to interpret even an act of helping the poor – commanded by Jesus Christ – as a “temptation” to convert him/her.

The definition of “force” includes “divine displeasure” – for which any preaching on the consequences of sin or the reality of heaven and hell can result in prosecution, say Christians. They also complain that the term “fraudulent means” is defined as a “misrepresentation of any other fraudulent contrivance,” by which prayers for healing can easily be termed as a “misrepresentation” to convert.

The CLA representative also said it was easier for Hindu extremists to resort to false complaints in states ruled by the BJP, as police report only to the ruling state government, which is solely responsible for lawfulness.

Numerous investigation reports on incidents of religion-related violence have indicated connivance of the police. (See Compass Direct News, “BJP Pressured Indian State to Harrass Christians, Panel Finds,” March 21, 2006; and “Rape Victims Charged with ‘Forced Conversion’ in India,” June 20, 2006.)

Ulterior MotivesDr. Sajan K. George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, said that besides the goal of harassing and threatening Christian workers, Hindu extremists file false complaints to protect themselves against police action for anti-Christian attacks.

“It is an unfortunate trend that Christians are first beaten up, and then taken forcibly to the police station, where a false complaint is lodged against them,” he said.

The BJP repeatedly questions the activities of Christian workers, creating an environment of suspicion against Christians, he said. The various governments ruled by the party are “recycling old slogans and narratives that were stale and worn-out the first time they were used,” he said.

The U.S. Department of State’s 2007 Report on International Religious Freedom notes that, in the past year, Hindu nationalist organizations frequently charged Christian missionaries with luring low-caste Hindus by offering free education and health care and equating such actions with forced conversions.


Christians responded that low-caste Hindus convert of their own free will, the report says, and that efforts by Hindu groups to “re-convert” these new Christians to Hinduism were themselves accompanied by offers of remuneration – thus making them fraudulent.

In the BJP-ruled state of Madhya Pradesh, according to the report, 11 Christians were arrested for “forcible conversion.” None were convicted.

The report, released on September 14, cites numerous incidents of such arrests, including an attack on eight Christians belonging to the Indian Missionary Society on September 21, 2006 in Gujarat state. Later, the attackers filed a complaint charging the Christians with forcible conversions and carrying weapons.

The U.S. report also notes that allegations of forced conversion and defamation of Hinduism led to harassment of the Emmanuel Ministries International (EMI), based in Kota district of Rajasthan state.

In February 2006, the BJP government in Rajasthan revoked the licenses of EMI-owned charities such as a Bible institute, orphanage, school, hospital, and church. In March that year, the Department of Social Welfare of the state froze the organization’s bank accounts.

In June 2006, however, the state high court instructed the state government to show cause regarding the closing of the EMI property and instructed the accounts to be unfrozen.

Authorities also held EMI President Samuel Thomas in judicial custody from March 17 to May 2, 2006, for “hurting the religious sentiments” of Hindus. Thomas was later charged with sedition in May 2006 for the use of a map on an EMI-affiliated website that did not include Jammu and Kashmir as part of the country.

The Supreme Court, however, granted Thomas bail.

The GCIC’s George said he has been deeply saddened to see police entertain accusations of forced conversion against the minority Christian community without any initial evidence.

“What a let-down for a country that celebrated the 60th anniversary of its independence,” he said.

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***********************************Christian Worker Shot Dead for Preaching in India Jharkhand state police say villagers had evangelist killed for converting tribal people.by Vishal Arora


NEW DELHI, September 28 (Compass Direct News) – Villagers in Jharkhand state arranged for a Christian worker, Ajay Topno, to be shot to death earlier this month for converting three tribal families to Christianity, according to police.

The 38-year-old Topno, who worked for Christian media organization Trans World Radio, was found dead with bullet wounds on September 19 in a jungle near Sahoda village, in Lapung block of Ranchi district.

“At least three tribal families in Sahoda village had converted to Christianity, which infuriated some local villagers, who held a meeting with each other and decided to ‘reconvert’ those families to Hinduism,” Inspector Rajesh Mandal of the Lapung police station told Compass. “After reconverting the Christian families, the villagers arranged for Topno’s killing through a local criminal, who shot him dead.”

The presence of criminals in the area is “very high,” the inspector added.

Mandal said some villagers absconded soon after Topno’s body was found. He gave assurances that the culprits would be arrested soon.

“Since local villagers were involved in the killing, we are not getting any witnesses from there, but we are confident that we will be able to nab the killers soon,” he said.

The slain Christian worker used to go to Sahoda occasionally with a friend who conducts Sunday worship services in Sahoda village. The friend had stopped going to the village as tensions grew, but Topno was not aware of the situation.

The Jharkhand state unit of the All India Christian Council (AICC) said in a statement that Topno left his house on September 16, telling his wife that he was going to Sahoda village, but he never returned.

The AICC statement quoted the regional edition of Hindi language national daily Dainik Jagran as saying that some villagers chased three convert families out of Sahoda village on September 11.

Two days later, the daily reported that an extremist tribal group, Adivasi Sarna Samiti (Tribal Religion Committee) Dhurva, told villagers of Sahoda that they should target Christian workers rather than chase out the converts. The group singled out Topno as the missionary, accusing him of converting people with inducements.

The following day, on September 14, the three convert families, who had returned to the village after the September 11 incident, were “reconverted” under the guidance of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Jagran Manch (Forum for Revival of Hinduism), reported the daily.

On September 20, local newspapers, including Dainik Jagran, The Hindustan Times, and The Telegraph, reported that Topno was killed by a separatist group, Jharkhand


Liberation Tigers – which Inspector Mandal categorically denied to Compass, saying it was an act of a local criminal on the behest of some tribal villagers.

“The killing of Topno has aroused fear in the minds of local believers,” said the AICC statement. “The whole Christian community in Jharkhand state is shocked and sad.”

The AICC statement also called on officials to protect Christians in the area.

Jharkhand has close to 27 million people, out of which about 1 million are Christian.

Although Jharkhand is ruled by the Congress Party, Hindu extremists are active in many pockets, as a sizeable number of people in the state are tribal or aboriginal people. Extremists accuse Christians of using inducement to convert tribal people, a majority of who are poor and uneducated.

It is estimated that close to 20 percent of Christians in India are from tribal backgrounds. Tribal people believe in indigenous faiths, not Hinduism, but Hindu nationalists claim they are followers of Hinduism.

END

*** Photos of Ajay Topno, his funeral and his family are available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

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***********************************Malaysian Prime Minister Calls Country ‘Islamic State’Minorities fear curbs to religious freedom amid apparently contradicting statements.by Jasmine Kay

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, September 5 (Compass Direct News) – Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi last week declared that Malaysia is an Islamic state, apparently contradicting his August 5 statement that Malaysia is neither a secular nor a theocratic state.

His August 27 declaration came in reply to a question in Parliament from opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, who asked if the Cabinet would reaffirm Malaysia as a secular state with Islam as the official religion as per the social contract signed at the formation of the country.

There is a possibility that Abdullah could have meant “Islamic country,” since his statement was written in Malay. In Malay, the words “Negara Islam” could mean either “Islamic state,” implying the imposition of Islamic law on all citizens, or “Islamic country,” merely describing a Muslim-majority population.


The prime minister’s comment came in the wake of a call by Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim to abolish the use of English common law in the country after 50 years of independence from Britain. The chief justice made the remark at a seminar on “Ahmad Ibrahim: Thoughts and Knowledge Contribution” on August 21.

Two days later, Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail was reported in local Malay daily Utusan Malaysia as expressing support for the chief justice’s view. He went on to say sharia (Islamic) laws are best since they emphasize justice and equal distribution of rights.

Nazri Aziz and Abdullah Zin, who are both ministers in the prime minister’s department, agreed with the chief justice’s proposal.

Fears of IslamizationThe comments have alarmed non-Muslims, who make up 40 percent of the country’s population. Various religious and civil society groups have voiced their concerns over what they see as gradual Islamization and infringement of minority rights.

Datuk A. Vaithilingam, president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism, issued a statement on August 23 saying, “It is wholly unacceptable for any theological law to replace the system of law we have in Malaysia today.”

He urged the government to act fairly in safeguarding the interest of all Malaysians in accordance with the Federal Constitution.

The president of the Malaysian Bar Council, Ambiga Sreenevasan, issued a statement saying that the council was disturbed by the chief justice’s suggestion and that any attempt to dismantle the common law system is a direct attack on the constitution and violates the social contract affirmed at the formation of the country.

“It is a backdoor attempt to rewrite [the Federal Constitution] and to move Malaysia towards becoming a theocratic state,” she added.

In a week-long online poll ending on Friday (August 31), 83 percent of the 513 members of the bar who took part in the poll called on the council to convene an extraordinary general meeting to reaffirm the supremacy of the Federal Constitution and the application of the English common law.

The state of religious liberty in the country has been in the limelight ever since May 30, when the outcome of the high profile case of Lina Joy – a Muslim convert to Christianity who tried unsuccessfully to have the word “Islam” removed from her identity card – was announced.

Even as the nation celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence from British rule over the past weekend, many local observers wondered if the nation that prides itself as a


multi-cultural, multi-religious country whose majority practices a moderate brand of Islam has room for those who do not profess the Islamic faith.

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***********************************Threats Force Church in Northern Nigeria Underground Converts from Islam in Borno state disperse – only to come together again.by Obed Minchakpu

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, September 26 (Compass Direct News) – Death threats and other dangers here drove most of the members of a church of converts from Islam to other parts of northern Nigeria – yet a fellowship remains.

Of the 25 converts who formed a church in this city in the northeastern state of Borno two years ago, only three remain. Still, while worshipping separately in the towns where they now reside, once a month the converts brave the threats of Islamic extremists and family members to return to Maiduguri to secretly pray and praise together.

“The venue and time is agreed among themselves, and the venue is also changed every meeting so that they are not attacked,” said the Rev. Titus Dama Pona, founder of Good Way Mission, who planted the church, Kanuri Christian Fellowship, in September 2005.

Pona is the pastor of the only known underground fellowship in Nigeria, a group said to be the first church among the Kanuri and Shuwa Arab ethnic groups in the Islamic enclave of Borno. The state served as the gateway of Islam into Nigeria in the 12th century.

Three out of the 25 converts, Pona said, are training in theological institutions with the hope of reaching their own people with the gospel.

The Rev. Joshua Adamu, 67-year-old chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Borno chapter, gave thanks for Pona’s ability to preach to, train and support the Kanuri people.

“For the first time, we have a fellowship that is bringing Kanuri converts from Islam together,” Adamu said. “And this has been possible because of the ministry of Rev. Pona. He has the gift of reaching Muslims with the gospel.”

For church members Mohammed Modu, Ma’aji Kalli and Ali Gana, going underground has been a matter of life or death; their families have been searching for them with intent to kill.

Kalli and Gana have spent the last two years in hiding from their parents.


“I saw salvation in Christianity, which was not available in Islam,” said Gana, whom Pona baptized at an Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) service in Maiduguri in November 2006.

Another member of the church, Allahbeh Chibok, lost his wife and children after he converted. She divorced him based on his conversion, Pona said, abandoning him and their three daughters, and married a Muslim man. Then she died, Pona said, and her parents in collaboration with some Muslim extremists abducted the daughters.

Parental rejection upon conversion, however, is not always inevitable. The Muslim father of church member Baba Aji helped him escape from Islamic attackers because, Pona said, his father loved him in spite of his conversion.

Pastor’s PricePona’s success in taking the gospel to these Islamic-dominated ethnic groups has come with its own price. Last year he escaped death when Muslim extremists broke into his home.

Pona said two armed Muslim extremists stormed his residence in the Hulolori area of Maiduguri on February 18, 2006, bent on killing him. At the time, Pona was conducting Bible studies at Maiduguri’s ECWA church. Meeting only Pona’s daughter at home, the gunmen quizzed her about his whereabouts and left, promising to come back for him.

A few hours later, Maiduguri was in flames. Muslim extremists upset by Danish newspaper cartoons depicting Muhammad had gathered in the palace of the Islamic leader in Maiduguri, the Shehu of Borno, and gone on a rampage, setting churches ablaze and maiming and killing Christians.

After four hours of carnage, 57 Christians were dead and 55 churches burned down.

It was not Pona’s first brush with opposition. Born into a Muslim family in Chibok town of Borno state – his father is still Muslim – persecution has followed the missionary to the Kanuri and Shuwa Arab ethnic groups for 27 years.

Pona said an encounter with his Quranic teacher at an Islamic elementary school planted in his heart the desire to know more about Christianity. His teacher would tell them that Christians would not go to heaven, he said, but he was attracted to Christian primary school pupils because they were always neat and clean.

“I wanted to be like them,” he said.

Pona said his young inquisitive mind embarked on a quest to find out about Christianity. He began secretly attending church services. When this attendance became public knowledge, his parents turned him out of their home.


“I got converted into the Christian faith in 1979, and because of this my Muslim parents threw me out of our home,” he told Compass. “My parents told me that they would not live in the same house with an infidel.”

He was unsure where to go, and eventually an uncle took him into his house in Potiskum, Yobe state. There Pona enrolled in primary school and later was admitted into Government Teachers’ College, Potiskum. In Potiskum, he continued attending church services.

Previously, in March 1978, a sermon preached by the late Rev. Baba Bawa of the ECWA had stuck with him.

“In the course of the sermon, he said that some people have gods they carry in their pockets and that these gods were dead gods who cannot save,” Pona said. “I was perplexed, because I had charms and amulets tied to my waist and some in my pockets, a very common practice among Muslims. I was shocked, because while the pastor was preaching he was pointing at the congregation, and my conclusion was that he was talking to me.”

Pona left the church that day with a heavy heart – but also with a determination to learn more about Christianity and to make a decision.

A conference organized by the Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS), an inter-denominational evangelical Christian ministry, in 1979 gave him the opportunity to make a decision.

“While we were there, a Jesus of Nazareth film was shown to us,” he said. “In a scene in the film, I saw the bloody hands of Jesus being shown, and Jesus was speaking, saying ‘This is my hand for you, all this suffering was for your sake.’ I started screaming there in the hall, but was taken aside and counseled by a Christian student and another Christian teacher.”

Pona recalled that it was March 23, 1979. “It was on this day that I finally received Jesus Christ into my life.”

His parents tried unsuccessfully to persuade him to abandon Christianity.

Hearing the CallPona joined the Nigerian Air Force in 1982, but retired after an accident to start work as a primary school teacher. Attending Borno State College of Education from 1983 to 1986, upon graduation he moved to teach at a high school in the state.

But in 1992, he had a sense that God was leading him to become a preacher. He left his teaching job to join the Great Commission Movement of Nigeria as a film evangelist. In 1993, he left that ministry to join Eternal Love Services, a Muslim evangelism outreach in Nigeria.


While working as a Muslim evangelist, he worked in places like Biu town, Maiduguri, and Kano, all Muslim cities in northern Nigeria, sharing the gospel with Muslims.

Pona studied theology at the Jos ECWA Theological Seminary from 1995 to 1998, specializing in missions and evangelism at the undergraduate level – with a research thesis on the Kanuri ethnic group and its resistance to Christianity.

Good Way Mission, the outreach ministry to Kanuri Muslims established by Pona, has a language institute where evangelists are trained to study Arabic, Islam, French and Kanuri languages.

While running his ministry to the Kanuri, Pona also doubled as the coordinator of the missionary arm of the ECWA in Borno. He was named chairman of Borno district of the ECWA in 2005, overseeing a church of over 2,000 members and more than 22 pastors.

Opposition remains fierce to his small church plant among Kanuri Muslims; some converts have changed their Islamic names to Christian ones to avoid being identified by Muslim extremists.

But Pona is optimistic, that, “like a mustard seed, it will blossom into a church that would become a gateway to heaven for Muslims not only in Nigeria, but in the African continent.”

END

*** A photo of the Rev. Titus Dama Pona is available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

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***********************************Pakistani Christian Unexpectedly Acquitted of ‘Blasphemy’Witnesses drop claim that teenager tore book containing verses of Quran.by Peter Lamprecht

ISTANBUL, September 17 (Compass Direct News) – A Pakistani judge this morning unexpectedly cleared a Christian teenager of charges that he had ripped up pages containing verses from the Quran, the Christian’s lawyer said.

Judge Muhammad Abdul Sattar acquitted Shahid Masih, 18, at a lower court hearing in Faisalabad after prosecution witnesses changed their original testimonies. Often pressured by extremist religious groups, lower courts in Pakistan rarely acquit “blasphemy” suspects.


Under oath, Mohammad Younis and Khalid Mehmood today dropped claims that Masih’s co-defendant told them he had seen Masih tear pages from a tafseer, a book explaining Quranic verses. (See Compass Direct News, “Teenage Pakistani Christian Jailed for Blasphemy,” September 22, 2006.)

Muslim teenager Muhammad Ghaffar had allegedly witnessed the act while he and Masih supposedly stole books from a medical clinic in Madina Town district of Faisalabad on September 10, 2006.

“There were about 100 fanatics inside and outside the courtroom who were astonished when their own witnesses claimed that the accused were innocent,” defense lawyer Khalil Tahir said. “They were very, very angry.”

Tahir said he declined to cross-examine the witnesses, immediately filing a written petition to drop the case based on the new testimonies.

After hearing the lawyer’s arguments, Judge Sattar deliberated for two minutes before clearing Ghaffar and Masih of both theft and desecration of the Quran.

Masih could have faced a life-imprisonment if found guilty of “blasphemy.”

Tahir said that both Judge Sattar and the witnesses practically fled the court after the verdict was announced.

At least 23 people involved in “blasphemy” cases have been murdered in Pakistan since the notorious laws were instituted in 1986.

“It’s not less than a miracle that a lower court acquitted somebody of blasphemy,” said Tahir.

Muslim fanatics often pressure lower court judges to rule against “blasphemy” suspects despite insufficient evidence. Once sentenced, prisoners may spend years in jail before higher courts eventually overturn the original ruling.

Lawyer Tahir said that he does not plan to open a case against the prosecution witnesses for falsely accusing Masih and Ghaffar.

“We could open a case against them, but I think it would create more harm, both for me and [Masih’s] family,” Tahir commented.

The false accusations have already taken their toll on Masih’s family. A mob of Muslim fanatics attacked Masih’s home in September 2006 after rumors of his alleged desecration of the Quran spread throughout the neighborhood.


Police quickly arrived on the scene and arrested Masih, sparing his life, Tahir said. Upon visiting Masih in jail, however, Tahir found that the Christian teenager had been beaten by sub-inspector Muhammad Saffdar.

Following the incident, Masih’s mother’s health quickly deteriorated.

“She wasn’t able to walk or sleep because she was in very great shock,” Tahir told Compass.

In her late 50s and suffering from arthritis, the Christian woman died in March, Tahir said.

Masih was able to post bail in January, but he was forced to live separately from his parents and 12 siblings for fear of attacks by extremists. The teenager plans to stay in hiding for several months before once again looking for work.

Tahir’s own wife and three sons have periodically been forced into hiding due to threats from Muslim extremists. The Christian is one of only a few lawyers in Pakistan’s third largest city willing to represent people accused of “blasphemy.”

Tahir is also representing two elderly Christians whose health has deteriorated since November, when they were sentenced to 10 years for allegedly burning pages of the Quran.

The lawyer said that James and Buta Masih, in their late 60s or early 70s, had been suffering from high fevers when he visited them in Faisalabad Central Jail last week. He said that fellow prisoners mistreated the Christian men because of their alleged crime.

Their appeal hearing before the regional high court has yet to be set.

Threats and BombsIn recent months, Christians in various parts of Pakistan have received threatening letters telling them to convert to Islam or they will be bombed.

On Saturday (September 15), a bomb went off at a Christian elementary school in the North West Frontier Province, according to report today from the National Commission for Justice and Peace.

No one was injured, but the building in the district of Bannu was badly damaged and the chapel destroyed, the report said.

Last week a Catholic-run high school in Sangota also closed down after it received a letter threatening a suicide attack if its students did not withdraw and enroll in Islamic schools.


Christians make up approximately 1.5 percent of Pakistan’s population, according to the U.S. State Department’s most recent report on International Religious Freedom.

END

*** Photographs of Shahid Masih, Khalil Tahir and James and Buta Masih are available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

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***********************************Pakistani Taliban Force Burqa on Christian Women’s SchoolExtremists violently enforce Islamization in unruly northern district.by Peter Lamprecht

ISTANBUL, September 27 (Compass Direct News) – A Pakistani official in a northern district warned female teachers and students to don Islamic garb this week, citing threats from Taliban extremists active in the area.

The Pakistani Executive District Officer (EDO) issued a notice requiring female students in Swat district to wear burqas, an outer garment cloaking nearly the entire body, according to an article on Tuesday (September 25) in regional newspaper Daily Mashriq.

Christians in the Afghan-border region 120 miles north of Peshawar say that extremists from the Taliban movement, which ruled most of Afghanistan from 1995 to 2001, have targeted them in recent months.

Extremists in Swat have conducted a campaign of Islamization in the district against all things deemed un-Islamic since early July, when a government crackdown on militants at the Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad triggered violent reactions nationwide.

“Due to continuous threatening letters from the Taliban directing female staff and students to wear burqas … the Executive District Officer has instructed [them] to comply with the orders,” the Daily Mashriq article stated.

The order to cover up under the full-body robe that leaves only the hands and eyes visible may affect Christians at the Catholic-run Public High School in Sangota.

The all-girls school had already closed down for a week this month after being threatened with suicide attacks for supposedly converting students to Christianity.

Swat EDO Ghulam Akhbar was not available for comment when contacted by telephone, and a colleague could not confirm the existence of the circular ordering burqa attire. But a Swat representative in the provincial assembly said yesterday that Akhbar had denied issuing the notice, though the officer had told female students to cover up.


“He has said verbally to the schools that you must use burqas,” Mutahida Majlis-i-Amal politician Hussain Ahmad told Compass, minutes after speaking with Akhbar.

Apostolic Carmelite sisters in charge of Sangota Public High School refused to comment on the issue. Diocesan Bishop Anthony Lobo was unavailable when contacted by Compass.

Suicide Bomb ThreatsThe all-girls school re-opened its doors on September 17 after a threat letter from Muslim extremists forced it to shut down for a week.

Entitled “Red Notice for Public School Sangota, (The Factory of Englishmen),” the September 8 letter accused the nuns of involving students in adultery, according to a Union of Catholic News for Asia (UCAN) article.

The Urdu-language note said that Christian teachers were converting Muslim students, who make up more than 99 percent of the schools 950 students, to Christianity. The Catholic Church’s National Commission for Justice and Peace reported that the extremists also told parents to withdraw their girls and place them in Islamic schools.

The letter threatened suicide bombings if the school did not require its students to wear burqas and fire all Christian and male teachers by September 17. Only half of the students returned when the high school reopened its doors on September 17 with assurances of increased security from local officials, UCAN reported.

One top clergyman who traveled to the area following the threats told Compass that he suspected the letter came not from outside extremists, but from a teacher at the school who wished to take it over. Whether or not the letter was such an “inside job,” it fits a pattern of increasing threats and violence in Swat targeting practices considered un-Islamic.

Since July, extremists have stepped up attacks on stores and institutions viewed as Western, as well as on police and government officials.

In a single explosion, militants blew up 63 CD rental shops and shoe stores in the Swat town of Mingora on September 7, the Daily Times reported. The article said that a few days before the attacks, owners of the stores had received letters telling them to “close their ‘un-Islamic’ businesses or face bomb attacks.”

On September 11, militants blasted rocks carved with Buddha’s image in Swat’s Buthgarh Jehanabad historical site, imitating the Afghan Taliban’s destruction of the Bamiya Buddha statues in 2001.

“It’s something like anarchy and chaos in that area,” provincial representative Ahmad told Compass. He said that the army had been called in after police and Frontier provincial officials failed to retain control.


Christians Under PressureChristians living in Swat, numbering about 1,000, say they have come under increasing pressure for their faith in recent months.

Two nights ago, militants approached hired Muslim guards at Swat Christian Camp, a Christian-run retreat center in Mingora, and demanded that they quit their jobs.

“They are Christian, why are you working with them?” the militants demanded of the guards, according to a local source who requested anonymity. The camp has been closed since July 5 after a crackdown on Islamic militants at the Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad set off violent repercussions throughout the country.

A Christian running a small medical clinic has been forced to close down the center and conduct only home visits in order to avoid attack.

“My 17-year old daughter cannot go outside without wearing a burqa,” one local Christian told Compass.

Christians in the North-West Frontier Province have received a number of anonymous threats telling them to convert to Islam since May.

“Embrace Islam and become Muslims … otherwise, after next Friday, August 10, your colony will be ruined,” read one of more than a dozen identical letters thrown into the courtyards of Christian and Hindu homes in Peshawar last month.

Police increased security around churches and Christian neighborhoods, but the threats were never carried out.

More than 50 Christians fled the town of Charsadda in May after a local Christian politician received a letter telling the Christian community to convert to Islam within 10 days. The threat was repeated, chalked on the wall of a building opposite the church, 10 days later.

Two young men from a local Islamic school eventually confessed to having written the threats as a joke.

In an unrelated incident, a Catholic elementary school in Bannu, west of Peshawar, was bombed on September 15. The blast destroyed the chapel windows and furniture, leaving a hole in the side of a classroom wall.

The identity of the bombers and their motive remain uncertain.

END


*** Photos of Muslim women in burqas are available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

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***********************************Turkey’s Christians Face Ongoing Intimidation Following April stabbing deaths in Malatya, church building in Izmit vandalized.by Barbara G. Baker

ISTANBUL, September 4 (Compass Direct News) – Police in Turkey’s western city of Izmit have arrested a man who set a fire early yesterday morning at the entrance of the local Protestant church and then shot off his pistol several times.

The church’s pastor is the brother-in-law of one of the converts to Christianity murdered in Malatya in April and has been targeted by Islamic extremists.

Identified by police authorities as Semih Sahin, the man who set fire to the church entrance reportedly told interrogators that he had been “bothered” by what he heard and read in the newspapers about the Izmit Protestant Church, so he wanted to “make a scene” to arouse public attention against it.

According to local police, who described the apprehended suspect as a “psychopath,” Sahin has a previous criminal and prison record. He was brought before a local prosecutor, formally charged and jailed yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday’s incident, which occurred at 3:15 a.m., was recorded on a security camera installed by the church several months ago, in the wake of the gruesome stabbing deaths of three Protestant Christians in Malatya on April 18.

One of the murdered victims, Turkish Christian convert Necati Aydin, was a brother-in-law of Izmit Protestant’s pastor.

On the security camera video recorded Monday morning (September 3), Sahin walked up to the door of the church, laid down a box and some other flammable materials, poured liquid over the pile and lit it while smoking a cigarette.

He then walked off, returning shortly to find the pile burning brightly on the stone steps. Stepping away down the street, he proceeded to shoot off his pistol loaded with blanks into the air several times.

Police arrived within four minutes and were soon joined by 10 people from the neighborhood, but the fire was not put out until the fire department came minutes later.


The suspect, whom police said was about 30 years old, was apprehended on a nearby street shortly after the incident still carrying the pistol. The church pastor confirmed to Compass that police authorities called him at 8 a.m. to inform him of the incident.

Although the fire blackened the entrance and steps to the church, there was no structural damage to the building, the pastor said.

The Izmit pastor has been provided with an armed government security guard since the last week of April, when he returned home with his family after his brother-in-law’s funeral.

On May 20, the testimony of one of the Malatya murder suspects was leaked to the Turkish press, stating that he had planned to murder the Izmit pastor next.

The pastor was again targeted in the Turkish media on July 14, when police authorities in Izmit’s Kocaeli province reported the round-up of a mafia-style gang of 23 suspects involved in assassinations of businessmen and a rash of other illegal activities in the region.

After his capture, gang leader Ismail Halil was interrogated about the group’s alleged plans to murder the Izmit pastor in the near future, for which they were to receive $1 million, according to Sabah newspaper. Halil reportedly claimed his legal right to remain silent on this question.

In a previous incident this summer, a group of neighborhood boys plastered the front of the church building with raw eggs on the morning of July 30, just as the church began a week-long English club for its young people. Police identified the culprits after viewing the security camera footage, bringing them from their homes to clean up the mess.

“The Protestant community is negatively affected by contemptuous, disinformative media coverage which also has the effect of showing Christians – and in particular persons who have converted to Christianity – as targets for acts of violence,” noted a new report released Saturday (September 1) by Turkish Protestants.

Issued by the Legal Committee of the Alliance of Protestant Churches of Turkey, the “summary of concerns” called for the Turkish authorities to create a “culture of tolerance” toward its minorities.

“In the last year, there have been scores of threats or attacks on congregations and church buildings,” the report said. “The perpetrators have not been found.”

The report concluded, “The State should be guaranteeing freedom of religion and the security of individuals and property.”

END


*** Photographs of the blackened entrance to the Izmir Protestant Church and stills of the suspect from the security video are available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

(Return to Index)

***********************************Turkish Judge Pressured to Withdraw from Christians’ CaseUltranationalist lawyer requests resignation; state prosecutor is also replaced.Special to Compass Direct

LOS ANGELES, September 14 (Compass Direct News) – A Turkish judge announced his withdrawal this week from the case of two Christians charged with “insulting Turkishness.”

Judge Neset Eren said at a hearing on Wednesday (September 12) that he was quitting to “distance the court’s decision from any form of indecision or doubt.”

Eren’s announcement came after the plaintiffs’ ultranationalist lawyer submitted a written request on September 4 that the judge resign. Kemal Kerincsiz accused Eren of failing to deal impartially with the case.

Exactly 11 months into the case, Eren had been expected to deliver a ruling at the hearing [Wednesday] in Silivri’s criminal court, 45 miles west of Istanbul.

In October 2006, Hakan Tastan and Turan Topal were charged with insulting Turkish identity, reviling Islam and secretly compiling files on private citizens for a local Bible correspondence course.

But at their most recent hearing in July, State Prosecutor Ahmet Demirhuyuk had told the court that there was “not a single piece of credible evidence” to support the accusations against the two men, both converts from Islam to Christianity.

A new state prosecutor, Adnan Ozcan, replaced Demirhuyuk at Wednesday’s hearing.

The courthouse was surrounded by supporters of Kerincsiz and his three young clients, two of them minors, who have accused Tastan and Topal of slandering Turkey and Islam.

“If [Tastan and Topal] had been acquitted, there would have been a large protest,” said the Christians’ lawyer, Gursel Meric.

Meric, who attended Wednesday’s hearing without Tastan and Topal, said that the prosecution attempted to prolong the case by asking for additional testimonies.


A spokesperson for the nationalist Turkish Orthodox Church, a tiny splinter group from the Greek Orthodox Church after World War I, submitted a request to the court to be a complainant in the case. Sevgi Erenol’s request was rejected.

Erenol, known for outspoken criticism of other Christian denominations, has accompanied lawyer Kerincsiz to all previous hearings.

Meric said that Kerincsiz delivered an impromptu press conference to a number of journalists following the hearing, but major newspapers declined to report on the case yesterday.

The next hearing has been set for September 26, giving a higher court in Istanbul time to deliberate on whether to accept judge Eren’s resignation.

Scores of Turkish academics and writers have been charged in the past two years under article 301 of Turkey’s penal code for insulting the Turkish Republic, institutions of state or “Turkishness.”

A recent European Commission report said that indictments related to non-violent expressions of opinion had doubled in Turkey in 2006, the Turkish Daily News (TDN) newspaper reported today.

The report noted that more than half the incidents were raised under article 301.

Under its newly elected center-right Islamist government, Turkey has begun to discuss a new constitution that could reform or abolish the controversial article.

“The simple fact is that 301 has become a symbol of what ails Turkey,” Semih Idiz of TDN wrote today.

The columnist noted that deeper problems underlie the controversial law.

“The problem is not just a question of repealing or amending this or that article, but one that concerns the quality of the judiciary in this country and the lack of sophistication when it comes to a true understanding of modern freedoms,” said Idiz.

END

*** Photographs of Hakan Tastan, Turan Topal, their lawyers and ultranationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz are available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

(Return to Index)

***********************************Alleged Instigators Named in Turkey’s Malatya Murders


Christians called to fast, pray ahead of trial; European parliamentarians demand justice.by Barbara G. Baker

ISTANBUL, September 28 (Compass Direct News) – An e-mail message to several Turkish Protestant leaders in June surfaced in the Turkish press last week, revealing the names of Malatya officials alleged to have plotted the murder of three Christians there last April.

The Firat (Mediterranean) News Agency (ANF) reported on September 18 that an anonymous e-mail message signed simply, “A.A.” had named a colonel in the Malatya gendarmerie, along with an Islamic faculty member, as instigators of the plot to kill the three Christians.

The ANF article identified the petty officer as Mehmet Ulger but gave only the initials of several others.

A subsequent release from Birgun newspaper on September 19, however, listed the name of the faculty member as Ruhi Babat. It also identified a member of parliament from Malatya, one military commander and another suspect, all allegedly involved in the plot.

“After what happened in Malatya, I decided to write this e-mail as my duty as a citizen,” the message read, claiming that the murder conspiracy had been planned for four or five months.

“No matter how careful they have been in their telephone conversations,” the anonymous accuser said, “I believe their links can be revealed by a directed search.”

According to Birgun, Babat has written a university thesis on missionary activities in Turkey.

Turkish Protestants and their lawyer confirmed to Compass that, after receiving the now publicized e-mail message, they had promptly turned it over to the Malatya prosecutor’s office.

On April 18 at the Zirve Publishing office in Malatya in southeastern Turkey, two Turkish converts to Christianity and a German Christian were bound hand and foot, tortured with multiple stab wounds and had their throats cut. The victims were pastor Necati Aydin, 36; Ugur Yuksel, 32; and Tilmann Geske, 46.

The ritual slayings appeared to be a deliberate observance of the Quranic instruction to “strike terror into the hearts of unbelievers” by smiting them above the neck and striking every finger (Surah 8:12). The victims’ fingertips were sliced repeatedly and their windpipes and esophagi severed.

Song Criticizes Victims


The Malatya revelations were further stoked in the public forum on September 21, when FOX TV’s widely viewed Friday night “Objective” talk show hosted a controversial Turkish folk singer and his lyricist.

Singer Ismail Turut and lyrics writer Arif Sirin are facing possible criminal charges for their racist song “Don’t Make Any Plans,” which appeared earlier this month with video images on website YouTube eulogizing the teenage killer of Armenian Christian journalist Hrant Dink last January.

The song concludes with the words, “If a person betrays the country, he is finished off. The sun of Turks and Islam will never set in the Black Sea.”

During the broadcast, Sirin expressed hostile views against Christian missionary activities in Turkey, criticizing the three murdered Christians for “selling snails [forbidden food for observant Muslims] in a Muslim neighborhood.”

“In Malatya missionaries were murdered and killed, that’s out of the question,” Sirin said. “But [they were saying] ‘We are selling snails in a Muslim neighborhood.’ Now look here, you can’t do that! Who are you selling to? I’ll take those snails and shove them up the appropriate place in that man.”

No date has been announced for opening the murder trial, although last week the lead prosecutor indicated to the lawyer heading the legal team representing the Christian victims that the investigation would be completed “within a few weeks.”

Because the crime was classified by Turkish authorities as an act of terrorism, the Christians’ lawyers have yet to examine any of the investigative evidence, including the official autopsies.

“But as soon as the date for the trial is set by the courts, we will be given access to all the files on the case,” attorney Orhan Kemal Cengiz told Compass today by telephone.

Last week Prof. Ibrahim Kabogku publicly questioned the Turkish government’s right to withhold critical evidence in major terrorism cases such as the Malatya murders. The government has claimed that “state secrets” that required confidentiality must remain behind the curtain of “national security.”

Quoted in the Milliyet newspaper on September 18, Kaboglu declared, “A state secret is against the state. Even in a murder case, rather than hurting the state by using the excuse of a state secret, the state should be obliged to apply impartial law.”

In two recent, high-profile cases involving murdered Christians, the state prevented full disclosure of the investigations by classifying them behind the curtain of “confidentiality.”


Questions still remain over the judicial proceedings convicting a teenage boy of killing Catholic priest Andrea Santoro in February 2006, and earlier this month Trabzon Governate authorities refused to turn over evidence requested by lawyers in the Dink murder trial.

Cengiz said he would protest if the Malatya courts denied his team access to all the investigative evidence to protect alleged “state secrets.”

Call to FastingThe Alliance of Protestant Churches in Turkey is calling on Christian congregations throughout the country to designate each Thursday in the coming weeks for prayer and fasting for the upcoming murder trial, as well as for other cases in Turkish courts addressing the rights and freedoms of Christian citizens.

“God has been honored through the martyrdom of Necati, Ugur and Tilmann for their faith,” said Semse Aydin, widow of Necati Aydin. “So we must pray that He will also be honored through this trial, that the truth will come out, and justice will be done.”

Aydin noted that seven years ago, when her husband was jailed in Izmir for 30 days on false charges against his Christian activities, the church prayed and fasted, and the accusers withdrew their complaints at the first court hearing.

“It was really a miracle that these villagers stood up in court and admitted that they had been forced by gendarmerie officials to sign prepared complaints against Necati and his colleague, and that the written statements were not true,” Aydin said.

Europe Demands JusticeIn a draft resolution released last week that goes up for debate in late October in Brussels, the European Parliament “strongly condemns” the slaying of the three Christian missionaries, declaring that the Turkish government must “bring full light” upon this case and bring all responsible to justice.

Underlining “the urgent need to efficiently combat all types of extremism and violence and to ban them from all levels of public life in Turkey,” the resolution’s 13th paragraph calls for Turkish government measures to “increase the protection of those groups, minorities or individuals who feel exposed to threat.”

According to the 2007 report by the U.S. Department of State on religious freedom in Turkey, released September 14, there were multiple religiously motivated “violent attacks and threats against non-Muslims” that “created an atmosphere of pressure and diminished freedom for some non-Muslim communities.”

“Public debates ensued over the government’s response to these attacks and threats,” the report continues, noting that religious pluralism was widely viewed by the Turkish population as “a threat to Islam and to national unity.”


END

*** Photographs of the three Christians murdered in Malatya and the Malatya Criminal Court where the murder trial will be conducted are available electronically. Contact Compass Direct News for pricing and transmittal.

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**********************************************************************COMPASS DIRECT NEWS

News from the Frontlines of Persecution

Jeff Sellers, Managing Editor

Bureau Chiefs:Barbara Baker, Middle EastSarah Page, Asia


Documents

old.lff.netold.lff.net/resources/compass/September 2007.doc · Web viewHe added that it was disturbing to see the southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala,