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Persecution Report for Tuesday, 16-Jul-2002

Mission Network News provides these persecution reports.

Turkey:

Church closed and accused of harmful activities.

A 40-year old church in Turkey has been ordered to close immediately. According to Compass Direct, authorities say that the church’s activities were harmful to society. The police order also stated that the location had not been approved in the municipal zoning plan.While the Turkish constitution guarantees freedom of religion, there has been increasing pressure on Christians in this predominantly Muslim country.

Indonesia:

Campaign of terror planned.

Christians in Indonesia’s Irian Jaya are afraid that a violent campaign could be unleashed against them later this year.According to a report from Christian Aid Mission, Laskar Jihad Islamic militants are flooding into the province. A number of military training camps have been sighted and military instruction is taking place. The troubles visited on Christians living on other islands may have slowed outreach, but not stopped it.

Georgia:

Violence towards believers goes unpunished.

Religious minority leaders have expressed their concern about recent attacks in the Republic of Georgia. According to the Keston News Service, members of several faith communities, including Christians, have been subjected to violent physical attacks and arson. None of the perpetrators has been sentenced, although many are well known.

Please check http://www.mnnonline.org to learn more about these stories, missions news, and to hear a weekday audio broadcast of Mission Network News.

Keston News Service has these incidents to report.

Georgia:

Orthodox priests lead "pogrom" against Pentecostal church & Catholic pilgrims.

Two Orthodox priests led a three-day attack on a Pentecostal church in the Georgian capital Tbilisi over the weekend (5-7 July), witnesses have told Keston News Service. "the mob of about thirty or forty people burst into the house, beat people, frightened the children, stole Bibles, rummaged through people’s bags and uttered very many threats to the believers and to our family. It was a pogrom. They didn’t care if you were old or young; they even beat pregnant women. In a separate incident, a group of Catholics; among them the Apostolic Administrator Bishop Giuseppe Pasotto - who were on pilgrimage in eastern Georgia on 3 July were physically attacked by a group of people reportedly sent by two Orthodox priests. They told the pilgrims they had no right to walk in their diocese.

Georgia:

Serious concerns over draft religion law.

Human rights activists and Georgia’s minority faiths have expressed many concerns to Keston about a new religion law which is seen as having been prepared by the State and the Justice Ministry together with the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate. To take one example, Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili of the Baptist Union is seriously concerned by a provision endangering churches actively involved in social and relief ministries, especially the Baptists, Catholics and Lutherans. "It is only now that we are making some modest steps as churches to meet the incredible needs in our society. This new religious legislation will both limit and discourage churches from taking some social responsibilities. The churches and religions, due to their special nature, are very close to the people’s needs."

Georgia:

Religious minorities deplore attack on Liberty Institute.

Religious minority leaders have deplored the violent attack on 10 July on the offices of the Liberty Institute, a human rights group in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, that left six staff injured, among them the director Levan Ramishvili, who remains in hospital, together with a colleague. The Institute’s computers and other office equipment were badly damaged. "They are people who have always defended freedom of conscience and freedom of speech and have supported religious groups that have suffered. This is a blow to democracy in Georgia," the head of the Pentecostal Union told Keston News Service from Tbilisi on 12 July.

Latvia:

Police questioning is "dangerous precedent," say Lutherans.

The head of Latvia’s small Confessional Lutheran Church has criticised what he regards as the "dangerous precedent" of police questioning of leaders of local congregations about their activity. Under Latvia’s religion law, this Church has been denied registration as a "religious association"; it has the lesser status of "new religious movement", which requires registration to be renewed every year for the first ten years. Gundars Bakulis was summoned by the police in the Latvian capital Riga at the end of May. "The police were surprised to receive this instruction [from the Religious Affairs Board of the Interior Ministry] and the police officer was very polite," he told Keston News Service on 11 July. "But this is a kind of spying. It is dangerous and I certainly think they should not be allowed to do this." Police have also questioned the Mormons, who told Keston that this did not worry them.

Please go to http://www.keston.org to learn more about religious persecution in communist and post-communist lands.

The Voice Of The Martyrs presents these examples of persecuted Christians.

Pakistan:

Jailed Christian Attacked in His Cell.

A Christian high school principal jailed 15 months ago by Pakistan authorities for alleged blasphemy against Islam has been attacked while asleep in his cell.According to reports released this week from Compass Direct and from the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), Pervaiz Masih, 34, was sleeping on the night of June 17 when another inmate, Akhtar Bashir attacked him. According to reports, he was hit over the head and cut with a piece of glass.His Bible and other Christian materials were also torn before guards arrived and intervened.Reports of the attack only surfaced when Masih appeared in court on July 6 when the local police submitted their prosecution brief.The presiding judge was absent, however, and the trial will resume on July 20.According to Joseph Francis from CLAAS, at least 10 other prisoners accused of blasphemy have been attacked or abused in Pakistan’s jails during the past three months, in addition to one Muslim prisoner accused of blasphemy who was murdered in his cell on June 11.Prisoners charged with blasphemy are often kept together with militant Islamic prisoners, which obviously creates tension and fear.There have been many calls to the authorities requesting that those charged with blasphemy be kept separate for their safety.

Turkey:

Iranian Family Granted Visa Extension.

On May 8, 2002, The Persecution and Prayer Alert reported on the imminent deportation of Mahmoud Erfani and his family to Iran in spite of facing persecution for their Christian faith.Both Erfani and his wife had converted from Islam to Christianity 21 years ago in their home city of Mashad, Iran.While they remained in Iran, they faced persistent persecution until they fled to Turkey.Three years ago they were granted temporary residency in Turkey after applying for UN refugee status.However, without documentation to prove their claim, their application was rejected by the UN.They then applied for refugee status to the Canadian embassy.That application was also rejected without giving any reasons, though many suspected that Mrs. Erfani’s poor health may have been a contributing factor in the decision.On July 5, Erfani was summoned by the local police.When he arrived, expecting a deportation order, he was informed that they had received official UNHCR authorization from Ankara to extend the Erfanis’ residence visas, which had expired on March 28, for another six months.To this point, Erfani has not received any official notice from the UNHCR or the Canadian Embassy on any change of status.However, on June 18 he had filed an appeal with the Canadian Embassy, documenting persecution which his family members are experiencing in Iran as well as threats and harassment he has faced from an Iranian Muslim in Turkey.While the sudden change brings hope, there has been no official change of position at this point.

Sudan:

Conflict Reaches Its "Deadliest Phase."

The ongoing civil war in Sudan has reached what analysts say is its "deadliest phase" ever as the number of deadly weapons have dramatically increased. This is particularly true for the Islamic government with oil revenues being used to purchase arms, especially air power.While a new round of peace talks is going on in Kenya, the bombing in the Western Upper Nile region of southern Sudan has intensified.Thousands are fleeing and there is clear evidence that the government forces are deliberately targeting civilians.Many believe the window of opportunity for peace is closing fast, since there appears to be little international will to assist and give leverage to the peace process. The main outstanding issues in the peace process are religious freedom and autonomy for the predominantly Christian Southerners.

Please check http://www.persecution.net for details about these stories plus information on how to help the persecuted believers.

   

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