Response Magazine - Autumn 2018

Your insight into religious freedom

October 2018-January 2019

Also inside this edition:

Dave Mance/CSW

Every child safe in school

Iran: Criminalising Christianity On the frontlines: Maryam’s story Perspectives: The challenges of faith and more...

Faith and a Future: Every child safe in school

Making sure Leah’s story isn’t repeated As we go to print Leah is still in captivity, still refusing to give up her faith, still standing firm for what she believes… despite a recent and direct threat to her life. In August, a tape was released in which she implores the public to stand with her and her family, to get her released: “I am calling on the government and people of goodwill to…get me out of this serious situation…I am begging you to treat me with compassion.”

Every child safe in school Fifteen-year-old Leah Sharibu was one of 110 girls abducted from their school in Dapchi, Nigeria by Boko Haram in February.

The next month, following negotiations by the government, the girls were put into trucks to go home. But as they were about to leave, the kidnappers told Leah – the only Christian – that she must first convert.

Leah and her classmates were abducted by Boko Haram factions, but such abductions aren’t only limited to schoolgirls. Boko Haram is also known to abduct boys, who are then either forced to become child soldiers or murdered.

We launched our Faith and a Future campaign because we believe that no child should miss out on an education

“I am calling on the government and people of goodwill to… get me out of this serious situation…I am begging you to treat me with compassion.”

Leah Sharibu, August 2018 – their very future – because of their faith. Thousands of you joined our campaign to take action for schoolchildren in Pakistan. Yet this is a truly global issue, so the next focus for our campaign is Nigeria.

As part of the campaign we’ve conducted a unique piece of research on this under-reported issue. While the international community is working towards eliminating barriers to education such as poverty, genderbased discrimination, and conflict, discrimination on the basis of a child’s religion or belief has received insufficient attention.

Leah Sharibu has been held prisoner by Boko Haram for over 200 days

Leah refused. In a moment of extraordinary courage she decided that her faith was worth more than her freedom – despite her friends begging her to pretend to convert. She was forced to get out of the truck and watch her classmates drive to safety.

2

3

Faith and a Future: Every child safe in school Nigeria is one of many countries, including the UK, to have endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration – a commitment to support schools during the kind of armed conflict that Nigeria is currently experiencing. Leah’s plight is directly related to conflict: her abductors are a faction of the terrorist group Boko Haram which forbids education that is not connected with Islam, and has destroyed at least 1,400 schools, killing over 2,000 teachers.

Education curtailed Our research found that, as well as the threat of abduction from terrorists, underage Christian schoolgirls in shari’a states are regularly at risk of abduction from the street by local men, forcibly converted and obliged to marry. Even when the parents discover where their daughter is being held, they are threatened, and told that she willingly converted and married.

Meanwhile, local law enforcement generally turns a blind eye for fear of inciting social unrest.

Earlier this year we hosted Reverend Yunusa Nmadu, CEO of CSW Nigeria, for two intensive weeks of lobbying on issues including schoolgirl abductions.

We held 13 meetings with MPs and peers, with Foreign Office staff working on Nigeria, and with Lord Ahmad, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Our 200 hours prophetic protest outside the Nigerian Commission in London to mark Leah’s 200 days in captivity.

As a result, more than ten written parliamentary questions were asked; there was a significant debate in the House of Lords; Caroline Spelman MP published an article about child abductions to mark Leah’s birthday; and there were numerous mentions of the situation in Nigeria during a debate in the House of Commons on the persecution of Christians.

A way forward This is encouraging; but there must be no let up in pressure until Boko Haram releases every single child they have abducted. Together we want to tackle this problem at the root, so we don’t see a repeat of stories like Leah’s.

Tackle injustice. Today.

Take action

to keep every child safe in school by signing the enclosed petition and asking others to sign.

4

Read Print off more petitions and get others in your church or small group to sign (please return

by January 2019)

Keep updated with the latest on Leah’s case at

csw.org.uk/prayforleah

5

Simon Monk http://bit.ly/2FdVKql

Country in focus: Iran

Many of you have been praying fervently for years for Christians in Iran, and we’ve seen extraordinary answers to your prayers. Yet throughout the country religious minorities still face systematic government oppression in every walk of life, including education, employment and normal church activities.

Over the last few years we’ve seen a pattern of religious minorities being arrested on national security charges, and judges notorious for miscarriages of justice being appointed to preside over their cases. Excessive sentences are handed down, and the defendant’s family is intimidated and harassed by government agents, in an official campaign of harassment targeting religious minorities.

And it’s not just adults who experience this oppression: recent government actions have targeted schoolchildren too.

“The message is clear: Convert or leave”

Criminalising Christianity As we were preparing this issue of Response we heard that Pastor Nadarkhani was detained on 22 July following a violent police raid on his home in Rasht. Our sources report that police smashed down the front door and used electrical batons on the pastor and his teenage son Daniel, despite the fact that they were offering no resistance. The pastor’s wife and other children were at the house at the time. This comes after years of official harassment of Pastor Nadarkhani including multiple arrests.

6

Iran’s constitution allows Christian children to receive religious instruction designed by Christians and approved by the Ministry of Education. However, last year second generation Christian children from the Church of Iran in Rasht and Shiraz were told that they must take Quranic studies or repeat the school year. Until then, families were able to present a signed letter from their denomination that exempted their children from studying Quranic studies, but the authorities were rejecting this letter on the grounds that the denomination, which is one of several

house church networks, was an ‘illegal organisation’. Sources in the Church of Iran told us, ‘The message is clear: Convert or leave.’

The new policy, which appears to be a proxy punishment for parents who have converted, violates Iran’s commitments under international law. Iran is party to the International Covenant on Civil

Over the last few years we’ve seen a pattern of religious minorities being arrested on national security charges. and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), both of which recognise the right of parents to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in line with their own convictions. The country has also ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which commits signatories to ensuring access to primary, secondary and tertiary education.

An entire family accused One family belonging to the Assyrian Pentecostal Church in Iran has been the target of multiple charges. Reverend Victor Bet-Tamraz is awaiting the outcome of his appeal against a ten-year sentence for ‘conducting evangelism’ 7

Country in focus: Iran and ‘illegal house church activities’ after a number of Christians were arrested at a Christmas celebration at his home in 2014. His wife, Shamiram Issavi, received a five-year sentence in January 2018 for ‘acting against national security’, and during an appeal hearing in May the presiding judge reportedly accused her entire family of committing crimes against the regime. In July their son Ramil was sentenced to four years in prison on charges related to his father’s church activities.

Around the world:

Latest News

“I ask the Lord to bless you for what you did for me” Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani was first arrested in 2009 after going to his children’s school to question the Muslim monopoly on children’s education in Iran, which he felt was unconstitutional.

He was charged with apostasy (abandoning a religion: in this case, Islam) and sentenced to death. During court hearings he was repeatedly asked to renounce his faith in order to avoid the death penalty, but he refused.

He remained in prison under constant threat of death until his eventual acquittal and release on 8 September 2012, following a huge outpouring of international support and media attention. “My prayer is I ask the Lord to bless you for what you did for me as a small member of the body of Christ.,” he said. He was sentenced to three years for evangelism and released on time served, on bail. However, in a highly irregular move, he was returned to jail on Christmas Day and released again in January 2013.

“My prayer is I ask the Lord to bless you for what you did for me as a small member of the body of Christ” Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani

8

Stories such as those of Pastor Nadarkhani, the Bet-Tamraz family, and the Christian children of Rasht and Shiraz, remind us to keep lifting Iran to God in prayer.

Pray Use p.7 of the Prayer

Diary to pray for Iran’s religious minorities.

Latest news updates

CSW Founder & CEO, Mervyn Thomas, speaking on a panel with Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon at an FCO event.

UK Parliament “In too many parts of the world, religious minorities are persecuted, discriminated against and treated as second class citizens. As a man of faith, I feel this very keenly.” We’re delighted by the Prime Minister’s appointment of Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon as the Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief. We’ve been greatly encouraged by his concern and dedication for those around the world, who experience injustice because of their religion or belief, and we’re looking forward to continuing to work with him.

Pakistan

Nigeria

On 25 June Qazi Muhammed Shoban, an Ahmadi Muslim man, was shot dead in his home in Lahore. Two masked men entered his home and one led his wife away at gunpoint, detaining her in a room with their three children, while the second man shot Mr Shoban three times. He died instantly.

Attacks by Fulani herder militia on communities in Plateau State over 22-24 June resulted in 238 deaths, according to a press release by church denominational heads in the state, and over 6,000 deaths in the first half of 2018 alone. The press release stated that these attacks, by Fulani herder militia, are aimed at ‘ethnic cleansing, land grabbing and forceful ejection of the Christian natives from their ancestral land and heritage’.

According to his wife Mr Shoban had been receiving death threats from local people in the days prior to his death. It is believed that he was targeted because of his faith.

The UK’s House of Lords held a debate on 28 June on violence in central Nigeria. Several peers commented that the attacks are now happening so frequently that it is inadequate to describe them as clashes between farmers and herders.

9

Saad Sarfraz/CSW

Perspectives: The challenges of faith

Following Jesus comes with a cost

The challenges of faith This summer I was privileged to lead a seminar at New Wine exploring how to live as a Christian in a culture that doesn’t accept it. In almost 40 years of tackling injustice on behalf of persecuted communities, my Christian faith and relationship with God have been deepened, challenged and grown in ways I never could have imagined when I began this work.

Loving our neighbours challenges us Jesus’ teaching in the parable of the Good Samaritan is very challenging. When we stop to look at that passage deeply, we find ourselves confronted with the truth that loving our neighbour means showing love to those who might not agree with us, or those who don’t share our beliefs. And in 1 John 3:18 we are told that we are not to just love with words or tongue, but with actions and truth!

That can be uncomfortable.

Both Jesus and John knew what they said would be hard for their listeners to hear, but they didn’t leave any room 10

for ambiguous interpretations of their words. In fact Jesus told us that in order to inherit eternal life, we have to love the people we find hard to love.

When we first started reporting persecution in Burma, we discovered that alongside the problems for Kachin and Karen Christians, the Rohingya Muslims of Rakhine State were suffering.

I was adamant that we couldn’t ignore them and say, “We’re only here for the persecuted Christians.” The right to choose, change and practise a religion or belief freely doesn’t just apply to Christians, and it doesn’t just apply to people who look like us, or to those we find it easy to want to help.

It’s difficult for us to imagine just how costly the decision to follow Jesus can be for a Christian in Iran, Nigeria or China: or indeed any of the countries on which we work. Every day we hear stories of people who have been forced to choose between their faith and their families, homes, jobs, education, and even their lives.

You will no doubt have heard the story of Leah Sharibu, a 15-year-old Nigerian girl who was abducted from her classroom in February 2018 by Boko Haram, along with 110 other girls. Unlike her friends, Leah refused to renounce her faith in exchange for her freedom, holding on to her Christianity at a staggering cost that we can’t even begin to imagine. As I write this, Leah is still in captivity and facing a very real threat to her life.

However, Leah’s extraordinary courage isn’t the only possible response to extreme pressure. Last year when I visited Iraq, I met a Christian family who were starved out of their home and village when Daesh (Islamic State) stormed and took over their village. Both mother and son were taken by Daesh and forced to convert. As we talked, the mother told us that she said the words but in her heart she didn’t convert.

And her 12-year-old son, seeing those who refused to convert and join Daesh executed in front of him, felt there was no other choice but to join Daesh to save his life.

I don’t doubt that their courage was just as great as Leah’s. However someone chooses to respond in a situation of such extreme pressure, we must never judge them. From the safety of our homes, we all like to think we would not renounce our faith in Jesus, but faced with death or the death of our loved ones, how can any of us know how we will respond?

Our voices hold power and can save lives Finally, whenever I think about what it means to be a Christian in the face of discrimination I think of Pastor Omar Gude Pérez, a church leader from Cuba who spent three years in prison among violent and dangerous criminals. In the depths of despair, Pastor Omar became convinced he had to emulate these men in order to survive.

But at the moment he was getting ready to abandon his faith, his wife brought him a message from a card a little girl had written for him. It said ‘God has faith in you, and I am praying for you.’

Pastor Omar was humbled by these words and inspired to hold onto his faith: all because of the powerful message of that little girl. Never doubt that your voice holds power and can save lives.

11

On the frontlines: Maryam’s story

I decided “ to break all

How did you become a human rights activist?

I was a bookworm since I was a child and that made me aware about injustices at an early age. In 2007 General Musharraf [who was then the president] imposed [a state of] emergency. I was a student at that time and I decided to break all the taboos attached to me and to initiate a movement. I started with my own set of friends, then started meeting different student groups and visiting campuses.

the taboos attached to me and initiate a movement

”

What do you see as the main problems facing Pakistan’s minority communities today?

The problems minorities face are manifold, and not every minority faces the same problem. However, there are few things common among all minorities. First, they face discrimination at school and societal level. Second, all terrorist groups who target these minorities enjoy the state’s patronage or tacit support.

Thirdly, all minorities have been ghettoised due to the state’s inability to protect them.

“My first motivation is the people and the love I feel for them”

12

Photo: Maryam Kanwer

Maryam Kanwer is a human rights activist from Pakistan with a focus on oppressed ethnic and religious communities. She is also a co-founder of Pakistan Youth Alliance, a not-for-profit youth organisation working on democracy, human rights, youth development and countering radicalisation in Pakistan.

She now lives in the UK, sharing her experiences and the plight of oppressed communities.

What story has touched you the most?

I remember I was a kid when a new helper came to our house. I and my sister were quite happy as she was a decent person. Two days later, we came to know that she was dismissed.

We were told that since she was from

a Christian background she could not do the dishing or cook the food – she could only clean the toilets, as she was not ‘clean’. I was deeply shocked over this discrimination although at that time, I didn’t even know these terminologies. Simply my argument was that this girl was more decent and clean than the previous helping ladies from Muslim background.

The incident that shook me the most was in Joseph Colony, Punjab in 2013 when a Christian neighbourhood of around 200 homes was burnt down over the issue of alleged blasphemy.

My understanding of Islam is peace for others, my understanding of the Prophet is a prophet of mercy. I decided to be more vocal about these persecuted groups.

What inspires you to keep going when the work feels difficult?

My first motivation is the people and the love I feel for them. My second motivation is the people who have dedicated their lives for working on the causes of equality, justice and humanity, from leaders like Nelson Mandela to people like I meet often while working locally, students, kids who are full of passion. My third motivation is the appreciation I get from these persecuted groups, and my last motivation is that feeling of injustice and inequality that keeps me conscious.

Discover This is an excerpt from our interview with Maryam.

Read the full interview online: csw.org.uk/pakistan-interview

13

Country in focus: Get involved: The Justice Conference Country Name

Get involved: #RedWednesday

Stand up for faith and freedom on

#RedWednesday 2018 We’re excited to be partnering again with our friends at Aid to the Church in Need for this amazing event!

Every year on #RedWednesday we stand in solidarity with those who are suffering for their faith, and take a stand for faith and freedom.

Churches, groups and individuals mark the day by wearing red, praying together, lighting their church buildings red, or by holding a red-themed event. Last year we even managed to get the Houses of Parliament lit red!

Help us make #RedWednesday even bigger and better this year, and join with us as we stand up for faith and freedom.

Stand for freedom. Go red.

Tell us how you’re marking #RedWednesday at csw.org.uk/

redwednesday and we’ll send you hints and tips on how to make the most of your event.

Join us at The Justice Conference We’re thrilled to be leading a seminar at The Justice Conference, hosted by Tearfund and partners this November..

Together we’ll be exploring the theology of justice, wrestling with the burning issues of our time and unpacking how we can work together to see more of God’s kingdom here on earth.

Join us. For justice.

Book your tickets

and find out more at thejusticeconference.co.uk

We’d love to see you there!

14

15

Standing for justice: 2018 Highlights

Celebrating 2018 highlights This year, because of your support, we’ve celebrated some incredible highlights as we stand with everyone facing injustice because of their religion or belief.

Gathering evidence.

Telling the world.

Tackling injustice. Every day.

Our teams have visited over 12 countries to gather evidence of religious freedom violations.

Campaigning for prisioners. Celebrating freedom.

After two and a half years in prison, Chinese Pastor Yang Hua was released from prison – during which time you prayed faithfully for him and his family!

Praying for Justice.

Together.

6,000 people praying daily for those facing injustice because of their faith.

We’ve given written and oral evidence on 13 countries to United Nations Human Rights Council.

Over 140 international media outlets have quoted CSW this year.

Promoting freedom. Shaping the future.

Standing for justice. Seeking freedom.

We were invited to join a delegation of international parliamentarians on a fact-finding and solidarity mission to Nepal, where we were able to raise freedom of religion or belief concerns with Nepalese government officials.

200 hours of prophetic protest in support of 15-year-old Leah Sharibu, held prisoner by Boko Haram in Nigeria.

Since the launch of our Faith and a Future campaign, we’ve seen the issue of religious discrimination in education gain more prominence.

Because of joint advocacy efforts with Middle East Concern and Open Doors on behalf of the Protestant church community, the UK Ambassador in Algeria raised the issue of church closures with the Ministry of Interior in Algeria. As a result some churches were reopened.

8,000 people petitioned the Nigerian government to #FreeLeah.

5,657 people campaigned for an end to biased teaching which fuels

Marcus Perkins/CSW

Vietnamese human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai sat in prison for 846 days awaiting his sentence. But thanks to you, he wasn’t alone. And after months of advocacy, campaigning and prayer he was released into exile.

He’s since been reunited with his wife, and is now living in safety in Europe.

prejudice in Pakistan.

Make a regular gift to CSW to help us keep tackling injustice in 2019 and beyond. Use the form enclosed or visit csw.org.uk/give

16

17

Our story: The CSW Manifesto

This is the heartbeat of CSW: it’s what we stand for, what we believe, and the foundations of what we do.

It’s our rallying call to you, to stand with us against injustice.

18

#1 We believe

everyone has the right to practise a religion or belief of their choice.

#2 We believe

no one should suffer discrimination, harassment or persecution because of their beliefs.

#3 We believe

that as Christians we must stand with everyone facing religious persecution.

#4 We believe

our research and analysis enable policy-makers to stand up for freedom of religion or belief.

#5 We believe

everyone deserves to have their story heard.

#6 We believe

in mobilising activists to bring change.

#7 We believe

world leaders have a duty to protect freedom of religion or belief.

#8 We believe

everyone has the right to justice.

#9 We believe

your voice holds unimaginable power and can save lives.

#10 We believe

human rights are critical to enabling societies and countries to flourish.

#11 We believe

we can all play a part in campaigning for freedom of religion or belief.

#12 We believe

in empowering and equipping partners and communities to create lasting solutions.

#13 We believe

in the power of prayer to bring change.

We believe you can help.

19

Our manifesto #3

We believe that as Christians we must stand with everyone facing religious persecution.

As Christians, we stand with everyone facing injustice because of their religion or belief.

T +44 (0)20 8329 0010 @CSW_UK /CSWUK csw.org.uk

PO Box 99 New Malden Surrey, KT3 3YF United Kingdom