Persecution Watch Weblog

Praise God! On Feb. 8
Shuang Shuying was released from prison and immediately went to see her deathly ill husband in the hospital.
Shuying wrote a letter thanking you for praying
and supporting her. The letter also revealed that she was tortured in prison. Shuying was strengthened by the prayers and help of believers like you.

We encourage you to continue writing letters to believers who remain in prison. Forward this e-mail to those you know have a heart for God’s people imprisoned
for their faith and encourage them to pray and write too.

Get involved! Pray and write today.

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China (MNN)— Nobel nominee and Christian human rights lawyer Mr. Gao Zhisheng was forcibly taken from his home last week, reports China Aid.

Yesterday, a letter was released to the public detailing the torture Zhisheng suffered in 2007. Two years earlier, Zhisheng had begun his work defending underground believers. Since then, he has been repeatedly kidnapped, arrested, imprisoned and tortured. The letter, addressed to the international community, was written on November 27, 2007 at Zhishgeng’s besieged home in Beijing.

“We are deeply concerned about Mr. Gao and his family,” said China Aid president Bob Fu. He says the Chinese government’s human rights record should be closely examined by the United Nations. “The international community, including the UN Human Rights Council, should hold the Chinese government accountable for its brutal persecution against Mr. Gao’s family.” Join China Partner in prayer for this persecuted believer.

In his letter, Zhisheng recorded that he was kidnapped in September 2007 after sending an open letter to members of the U.S. Congress. He was severely interrogated and tormented over a period of 50 days. “The electric shock baton was put all over me,” he wrote. “And my full body, my heart, lungs, and muscles began jumping under my skin uncontrollably. I was writhing on the ground in pain, trying to crawl away.” For 13 days and nights, Zhisheng was forced to lie naked on the floor.

Cigarettes were used to fill Zhisheng’s nose and eyes with smoke for extended periods of time during interrogation. Interrogators told Zhisheng that American Congress “counts for nothing.”

“Look at you, you traitor,” they told him. “What could you be given by your American Lord? This is China. It is the Communist Party’s territory. To take your life is as easy as stepping on an ant.”

Attorney Gao Zhisheng has endured repeated kidnappings, arrests, imprisonments and torture since 2005 for his defense of underground Christians. He, his wife, and two children have been closely monitored and tormented by authorities for over two years. Zhisheng is a former member of the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese army veteran. He was nominated for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize. To read Zhisheng’s full letter, click here.

Pastor Chuck & Arlyn
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Egypt (MNN) — A report by ASSIST News Service states that while attempting to escape ongoing persecution in Egypt, a Muslim convert was raped and tortured.

Martha Samuel, an Egyptian Muslim who converted to Christianity five years ago, was arrested at the Cairo airport as she was leaving for Russia with her family. Police have promised to release her if she returns to Islam.

In a story covered by the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), the Egypt for Christ ministry reports that police officers sexually assaulted Samuel both at the National Security office in Heliopolis and at the El-Nozha police station. In a continued attempt to force her return to Islam, police also beat and tortured Samuel. According to AINA, Samuel’s children, aged four and two years old, are being denied food to increase pressure on Samuel. Her husband has been taken to the National Security office in Alexandria.

AINA said that the family was trying to travel to Russia using a passport belonging to Samuel, whose former name is Zainab Said Abdel-Aziz. The passport was under Samuel’s Christian name, which is on a list of people prohibited from leaving the country. Since converting five years ago, Samuel has undergone continued persecution by Egyptian police, and her own family has tried to murder her.

Pastor Chuck & Arlyn
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Taliban in Swat district OF North West Frontier Province (NWFP) have imposed a ban on female education and have warned teachers of ’severe consequences’ if any girl is seen heading for school after a 15-day deadline ends. According to the Daily Times of Dec. 25, “The announcement was made by a spokesman of radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah – who has waged an armed struggle to impose Taliban rule in the district – on a pirated FM radio frequency. “They have also banned women from visiting markets,” Muhammad Osman, a school teacher, said. “Taliban have established a parallel government in 90 percent of the district’s area and they execute everyone who opposes them,” he added.” The future of around 40,000 girls in Swat is at stake following a Taliban ban on education for female students. The Taliban have blown up more than 100 girls’ schools in Swat in the past 14 months. According to figures provided by a Swat-based NGO, Pakistan Coalitions for Education (PCE), Taliban have destroyed over 100 of the 490 primary schools for girls in Swat so far. [daily Times, Dec. 26, 2008]

There were around 500 private schools, mainly for co-education primary education. “Female education is against Islamic teachings and spreads vulgarity in society,”
Shah Dauran, leader of a group declared.

“Swat, once a relatively liberal area and a popular tourist destination, has in the past few years become a heartland for Islamic militancy, which fashions itself on
the conservative Taleban movement in Afghanistan. More than 200 government soldiers have been killed but the militants are still well entrenched in the area. Since the
start of the government offensive, girls’ schools have been targeted increasingly by Islamic fundamentalists. The district has 842 boys’ and 490 girls’ state schools
for 300,000 children aged 3 to 9; only 163,645 boys and 67,606 girls are actually enrolled at state and private establishments, according to official figures. According
to the local authorities, 50 per cent of girls have stopped attending school because of the militants’ threats. In the past two years another 100 schools have been burnt
down in Waziristan and other tribal areas, leaving tens of thousands of children between the ages of 5 and 15 with no access to education,” Zahid Hussain reported in ‘The
Times,’ London of Dec. 26.

This year alone, Taleban militants have destroyed more than 130 schools in the valley. Militant attacks on schools in the region have deprived more than 17,000
students of education, BBC says on Dec. 26.

Khurshid Khan writes in daily Dawn on Dec. 25, 2008, “The first school in Swat was established in 1922 by Miangul Abdul Wadood. Both boys and girls were educated here until the primary level. It was not until 1926 when a separate school was established for girls. His successor Miangul Jehanzeb established a network of schools and colleges in the whole of Swat, Buner, Shanglapar and Indus-Kohistan which were then a part of the Swat state. After
the merger of Swat state in 1969, several other schools and colleges in the public sector were opened, especially girls’ schools and colleges. Private schools also emerged.
But this evolution of education was strangulated by the militants in 2007 and 2008. Swat is now being pushed back to the pre-1922 period.” He further added, “It is
shocking and surprising that as schools and colleges in Swat are being leveled to the ground one after the other, the people do not protest and the government is averse
to taking serious action. Parliamentarians are also silent spectators. Their tongues are tied and their hands fastened.”

Swat, to all intents and purposes, has fallen to the Taliban. –the Taliban announcement merely puts the seal on what is a manifest reality – the government has lost the battle for Swat and the Taliban have won. They operate at will, go where they like, issue orders and proclamations that a terrified public are unable to ignore and broadcast their message of obscurantism on the radio for all to hear – and obey, according to daily The News’ editorial of Dec. 27.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Mohammad Umer told media people on phone on Dec. 26 that they would not target schools but wanted girls to acquire education while observing veil. However, spokesman for Swat TTP, Muslim Khan, told The News on Dec. 28 that the decision was intact as central leadership or Shura of the TTP had not ordered withdrawal of the same.

Fear Of Faces: A militant organization in Quetta has distributed pamphlets warning women to cover their faces before going out in
public. It has also made threats to CD shops and other outlets that display posters of women. A bomb explosion at a Quetta marketplace was evidently intended by this
group, calling itself the Jamaatul Tauhid Wal Jihad Balochistan, to show that it meant business. As we have seen in neighboring Afghanistan and parts of NWFP, such outfits seem to fear the faces of women more than anything else. The horrible case involving the hurling of acid on schoolgirls in Afghanistan, disfiguring the faces of victims, shows how far they are capable of going.

There can be no doubt that such forces have nothing to do with religion. Indeed they represent the anti-thesis to anything that is good or moral. The reason
why they have grown in number over the years is linked directly to the failure of authorities to act against them. In Mansehra, in Peshawar – even in Lahore -
no measures have been taken to deal with elements involved in blackening the faces of women on billboards or meting out threats to them. In tribal areas and even
at the campuses of some educational institutions in settled parts of NWFP, schoolgirls, female students and women leaving their homes have been forced to do veils.
The messages to this effect have been reiterated through the illegal FM stations that continue to operate in many places. The fact they have not been stopped sends
out a distinct message. [Editorial, daily The News, Dec. 06, 2008]

Pastor Chuck & Arlyn
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Christians ‘Go Missing’ Near Afghan Border

Robin Ilyas, Victor Samuel and an unnamed person, all residents of Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi, went missing after crossing the border at Torkham in Khyber tribal region on Dec. 20, their families say. All three worked in Afghanistan and were returning home for Christmas. The families say they may have been taken by Taleban militants in the area, BBC reported on Dec. 23. The Pakistani foreign office has denied any knowledge of the incident. “They were dropped at the border post by a car of Zurmat Construction Company where Robin works as a manager,” Robin Ilyas’s wife, Amy Ilyas, told the BBC. “They were to travel to Peshawar by road, and then take a flight to Karachi,” she said. “We have been calling their cell phones but they are switched off.” The Pakistan-Afghanistan border is a stronghold of local Taleban militants.

30 Christian Families Made Homeless By A Village Elder

About 30 poor Christian families forcibly made homerless in the third week of December by a village elder Muhammad Mansha of Kotla Punjabaig, Sheikhupura district, Punjab province, where Pakistan Muslim League (N) is ruling. These Christians, have been living here before partition 1947, have no other place to live and now they are forced to live in the streets of the village under the open sky in extreme winter weather.

‘Danger’ to Christian Graveyards

ABBOTTABAD: The Christian community held a protest procession and condemned the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) for alleged ‘encroachment on their graveyard,’ daily The News reported on Dec. 1. Christians said the TMA was deliberately disgracing the sanctity of their buried ones by sinking tube-well in the graveyard. The protesters alleged that the administration had failed to protect the rights of the minorities in the area.

– According to the Christians of Khurrarianwala, Punjab province, a powerful and influential local Muslim landlord being assisted by local government officers had demolished and desecrated their 50 graves on Dec. 6 to build a shopping mall on the vacated land. The graveyard was being used by Christian community before partition of Pakistan. Conversely, after Christians continues protests, the Assistant Commissioner (AC) of Jarranwala ensured Christians that justice will be provided to them.

Pastor Chuck & Arlyn
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FAISALABAD: On Dec. 17, a church of St. Paul was desecrated in the village ‘Chak 77-RB’, ‘Lohekay’, about 30 kilometers from Faisalabad, Asia News reported on Dec. 19. Pervez Masih tells Asia News that on that day, he and others were whitewashing and decorating the little church for Christmas. They stopped at noon for lunch, leaving the church open. When they returned, they found the bible and other sacred texts reduced to ashes, and a handwritten letter telling them to convert to Islam if they wanted to “live in peace” and avoid hell.

Catholic priest Fr. Yagoob Yousaf said during his homily, “in recent years, at Christmas, there have been attacks against Catholic and Protestant churches. Often the Christmas celebrations have taken place under police protection.”

According to the Asia News, most of the people in the village are Muslim, and there are between 50 and 70 Christian families. The church is used by Catholics and Protestants, without conflict. When they became aware of the sacrilege, many Muslims went to the church together with the Christians. Now the police are investigating the “suspects” for the crime of blasphemy.

Pastor Chuck & Arlyn
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Uganda (MNN) — International Christian Concern reports members of the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army, killed 400 Christians celebrating Christmas in Congo.

One of the attacks killed 150 people in Farajde City. Another source claims 75 deaths occurred during a separate attack in Duru. Other attacks near Sudan left more than 250 people dead. Thousands from that region sought refuge with churches.

There are scattered reports that the LRA was abducting children to use as soldiers.

ICC sources say the LRA denies responsibility for the attacks on December 25th and in the days following.

However, the violence was so fierce that church leaders are asking the Congolese Government to take steps to protect people from the attacks.

Pray for their safety and ask God to provide for their needs. Pray that believers will be able to act as the hands and feet of Christ during this crisis.

Pastor Chuck & Arlyn
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Masked Palestinian militants from Islamic Jihad run with homemade rockets to put in place before firing them into Israel Saturday on the outskirts of Gaza City. (Photo: Amir Farshad Ebrahimi)
Israel (MNN) — The casualties continue to rise in Gaza as Israel continues to retaliate for the dozens of Hamas-fired missiles that broke a cease-fire more than 10 days ago. It is believed that nearly 500 people have been killed in the violence, with over 2,000 wounded.

While the violence continues in the region, Christians are facing even more difficulties. Tom Doyle with E3 Partners says Hamas voted December 23rd to institute Sharia (Islamic) law in Gaza, which means radical Islam will rule — women must be veiled, secret police will be watching everyone, and worse, says Doyle. “They also included in that the ability to crucify someone if they make a charge against Islam. It’s just definitely going backwards in that community.”

Doyle says the Christian community is already being affected. “The Gaza Baptist Church is right in the middle of where the action — obviously not a place where people want to going to gather in a large group.” Worship services are “happening privately or in homes.”

If the Hamas government is ousted by the Israelis, Doyle says there will be “cheering in the streets. They know what that government means. They know how difficult it’s going to be on their family and their living conditions.”

Despite the turmoil, Christians are having an impact. “We’re seeing believers there reach out to help feed believers, Muslims, or nominal Christians, and they’re helping out in the midst of it.”

Doyle is asking Christians to pray that believers will be preserved and will use this opportunity share Christ.

If you’d like to help support Christians who are facing violence from both Israelis and Hamas, click here.

Pastor Chuck & Arlyn
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Gambia (MNN) —A British missionary couple sentenced to one year of hard labor for criticizing the Gambian leadership publicly apologized on Sunday and asked for clemency in a letter read on state television.

According to the International Christian Concern web site, in a letter read on state television, David and Fiona wrote, “We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to apologize publicly to His Excellency (President Yahya Jammeh) and humbly ask for what will graciously and compassionately show us clemency.”

They added, “We humbly ask that the present proceeding be withdrawn and our passports be returned to us so that we may return to the United Kingdom with our little daughter Elizabeth on a first flight available to us.”

The Fultons were arrested on sedition charges in Banjul in late November for allegedly criticizing Gambia in a series of e-mails related to their work in that predominantly-Muslim nation.

The couple was sentenced December 30 to one year in prison with hard labor and a fine of about $9,000. They were the first foreigners in recent Gambian history to face a prison sentence for sedition. “It was not our intention to excite hatred, dissatisfaction and contempt to the President or government of the Gambia. We humbly apologize, totally and unreservedly,” the letter explained.

60-year-old David had served as a chaplain for the Gambian army and had a ministry on the river, which involved reaching villages only accessible by boat. His 46-year-old wife looked after terminally ill people.

According to the Gambian authorities, the couple was also running an educational center and provided free medical care for prison inmates.

Gambia is a tiny country inside Senegal and has one of the worst human rights records in West Africa. Jammeh, an outspoken military officer and former wrestler, has ruled the former British colony since seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1994.

Pastor Chuck & Arlyn
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Religious extremists from a popular radical Hindu activist group have brought a church construction project to a halt. They have set up a tent outside the unfinished building to conduct rituals to their gods.

The extremists descended on the church, which is under construction in Uttar Pradesh, India, on December 17. They placed vermillion-red flags on the church building, which is a sign that it has been taken over for Hindu use. The extremists, who belong to the radical RSS movement, then proceeded to offer pujas (Hindu prayers) to their gods and goddesses.

GFA missionary Kushal Samuel heard about the incident and rushed to the church. He tried to talk to the extremists, but they had called the police, who arrested Kushal and took him to jail. While he was being held in jail, the extremists attacked the GFA district leader, Harish Kumar, who had come to the site to help Kushal. The extremists beat Harish for about 30 minutes and then took him to the police station. They made up false stories about Kushal and Harish and accused them of many crimes.

The police allowed Kushal and Harish to speak, and they explained, in detail, what the church does. After hearing their explanation, the police released Kushal and Harish. But they halted the church construction.

In the meantime, the Hindu extremists set up a small tent in front of the unfinished church building. They are sitting in the tents conducting their rituals and are pressuring believers to turn their back on Christ and return to Hinduism.

The church was complete, except for the roof, when the extremists commandeered the site. GFA’s zonal leader, Lamu Tekam, has met with the police in an effort to get permission to continue the construction project.