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AUGUST 2015
PERSECU ION
Mexico:
Persecution
Exposed
An ICC/CSW investigation reveals the shocking story of persecution in Mexico
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INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
President’s Letter
For the last 12 years, I’ve wanted ICC to be involved in fighting persecution in Mexico, but it has always been on the back burner as we dealt with the Middle East and other areas. But this year, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) invited us to come along with them for a joint investigation into persecution in Mexico. Their manager for the area, Anna Lee Stengel, is an expert on the issue and wanted to increase the level of attention paid to this subject, so she invited us to the fight! Although I knew there was persecution, I was totally surprised by the scale, intensity and similarity to the persecution we deal with around the world. NonMuslim communities tend to persecute in very similar ways, and governments tend to react in very similar ways. The more things change …
Jeff King, President International Christian Concern
As I sat with one group of victims who had been living in a homeless shelter for six years since they lost their homes and farmlands, I was burdened to help them out of my own pocket. After our meeting, I had our driver take us to Costco (can you believe it), where I purchased 800 pounds of beans and rice — and some candy, of course — for the 11 families I had sat with. I returned with my gift, and it was like I met with a different group of people. This group has been talking to the government about their case for six years and had received only the run-around. They are justifiably jaded and cautious, and I sensed it when I first interviewed them. On my return, though, there was no mistaking their genuine gratitude. I knew they had been touched by the Lord. When a fellow Christian feels the pain of a persecution victim and then reaches out to touch them, it blows them away. This is one of the most rewarding things about my job. The ability to reach into people’s lives and be the hands and feet of Jesus in a small way. Jesus told us that it is better to give than to receive. If you’ve lived a few decades, you already know the truth of that statement. As the years go by, the toys of the world lose their shine and appeal. The promise of “things” is almost always illusory. The internal currency we receive from helping the deserving needy and oppressed is real money. My payment for my little act of generosity was the beaming faces of those who realized the Lord had not forgotten them. I was merely a courier of the Lord’s love, but I was paid handsomely. I invite you to be greedy for this wealth in your life whether it means helping the persecuted through ICC or touching others in your world. Be Blessed,
Jeff King President, International Christian Concern www.persecution.org
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News
Boko Haram Sending Captive Girls on Suicide Bombing Missions in Nigeria
1 | INDIA May 26 marked the first anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking power in India. In 2014, the National Democratic Alliance, a political coalition led by the Hindu nationalist group Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), won the national election, placing Modi at the top of India’s government. Despite promises of religious tolerance, India’s religious minorities have seen a dramatic escalation in persecution since Modi took office. There have been numerous attacks specifically targeting Christians, many of which were led by extremist Hindu nationalist groups. Reports over the last year indicate more than 600 cases of religiously motivated violence, including nearly 200 directed at Christians. This increase in violence led the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to designate India as a “Tier 2” violator of religious freedom in its latest annual report. Although Modi has spoken numerous times against religious persecution in India, a lack of government action has left religious minorities still calling for greater protection and security.
2 | NIGERIA As a part of their brutal attack tactics, the Nigeria-based extremist group Boko Haram has increasingly taken to forcing young girls into suicide bombing missions. According to the Washington Post, from the start of 2015 until the end of May, the United Nations recorded 27 attacks carried out by suicide bombers in northeastern Nigeria alone. Reports indicate at least 75 percent of these attacks were committed by women or young girls. Case after case demonstrate Boko Haram’s ability to brainwash their victims. By kidnapping young girls, rather than adults, the captors are able to more easily intimidate and often gain the loyalty of their young captives. According to reports from the Associated Press, military personnel have had to hold former captives of Boko Haram in custody out of fear they may still have sympathy for their captors. The conditions these girls face while in captivity are appalling. They are spiritually manipulated by being told that if they comply with their abductors and go through with the suicide missions, they will go to heaven. If they disobey, they are told they will simply be killed. Many are often forced to convert from Christianity to Islam and marry their captors. Others are sold into lives of sexual slavery.
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India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Modi Fails to Deliver on Promises of Tolerance to Religious Minorities
INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
Four Students Jailed to Calm Riots Incited by Video Mocking ISIS 3 | EGYPT After spending 62 days in a jail cell, the last of four students in Beni Mazar, Egypt, has been released on bail after facing charges of defaming Islam. When the four students filmed a video mocking the radical Islamist group ISIS, violent riots soon broke out in their village in response. The boys were taken to the police station by their parents in early April after receiving numerous death threats against the families, other local Christians and the students themselves. While the imprisonment of the students calmed some of the riots, numerous Christian homes were attacked even after the arrests were made. Although the students have been released from prison, the charges have yet to be dropped. Unfortunately, it appears the prosecution intends to persist until they are able to obtain a conviction. AUGUST 2015
Pastor Saeed
Abedini has been imprisoned in Iran for three years, suffering countless abuses for his faith in Christ.
Iranian Guards Turn Blind Eye as Prisoners Attack and Beat Imprisoned Pastor Saeed Abedini 4 | IRAN American pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been imprisoned for three years in Iran for his Christian faith, has faced yet another horrific beating. As he was leaving his jail cell, fellow inmates attacked him. Although the prison guards did not participate in this particular beating as they have in the past, they refused to intervene and come to his aid when he cried out for help.
Pastors Face Possible Death Sentences 5 | SUDAN Two Christian pastors from South Sudan are being detained in a jail in Khartoum, Sudan, facing possible death penalties. Pastors Yat Michael and David Yein are facing charges of spying, inciting organized groups and offending Islamic beliefs. According to the two men, they were simply preaching the Gospel and living out their callings as pastors. The two men have reportedly been held in separate jail cells in order to increase the psychological effects of their lengthy imprisonment, which has gained the attention of media outlets throughout the world. Michael has stated that he has been unable to contact his family for months as he awaits his punishment.
Pastor David Yein is awaiting a possible death sentence in a Sudanese prison for preaching the Gospel.
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Church Forced to Make Hard Decision 6 | PAKISTAN A Christian congregation in Karachi, Pakistan, has been forced to decide between abandoning their church building or facing false blasphemy accusations. A group of Muslim criminals seeking the church’s land has threatened to accuse the congregation of blasphemy unless they abandon the property. Blasphemy accusations can carry serious implications in Pakistan. They can lead to violent riots, life in prison and even death sentences.
Riots Force Five Families from Homes 7 | EGYPT In late May, five Coptic Christian families were forcibly expelled from their homes in Beni Suef, Egypt, due to violence and numerous threats. They were forced to abandon the familiarity of their homes when a group of young, local Muslims became angry about remarks allegedly posted on Facebook by a family member of the Coptic Christians, who was living in Jordan. Although the family has denied the accusation, the group of extremists proceeded to torch 10 homes and destroy other property during the attacks. After the situation drew national outcry, the families were able to return to their homes the week following the attacks.
Muslims torched 10 Egyptian homes in riots incited over Facebook posts allegedly made by Christians.
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News
Muslim Mob Attacks Mentally Disabled Christian for Alleged Blasphemy 1 | PAKISTAN On June 4, International Christian Concern learned that a mentally disabled man from Pakistan was physically attacked and accused of blasphemy. The incident came about when the 22-year-old Christian man, Yaqoob Bashir, was accused of burning pages of a booklet containing verses from the Quran throughout it. According to Bashir’s mother, however, her son was smoking nearby, and the ashes from his cigarette accidentally caused the booklet to catch on fire. Prior to this accusation, Bashir was declared mentally disabled and reportedly received mental health treatment from a facility in Hyderabad. When news began to spread about the incident, Muslim extremists broke into Bashir’s home, attacked him and then headed toward the streets in protest. When police arrived at the scene, they arrested Bashir and took him to the police station, where the accusation was officially registered on testimony from a local Muslim cleric. According to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, insulting Islam, which includes desecrating the Quran, can lead to extreme punishments, including life imprisonment and death sentences. Since this incident, nearly 30 Christian families have fled their homes as a result of threats that the mob would attack and burn the homes of Christians in the area. Bashir’s case is just one of many instances of the misuse of blasphemy laws against Christians in Pakistan.
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Iranian Pastor Sentenced to Additional Year in Prison and 74 Lashes 2 | IRAN An Iranian pastor, Farshid Fathi, has been refused his appeal against an extra year in prison and 74 lashes. Fathi has already spent six years in prison under charges of action against the regime and religious propaganda. He was sentenced to the extra year in prison and lashes when guards allegedly found alcohol in his prison ward. During the raid, prison officials beat Fathi — a brutal assault that left him with a fractured toe and foot. Although Fathi has strongly denied that the alcohol belonged to him, the Revolutionary Court that received his case denied his appeal against the lengthened imprisonment sentence.
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Islamists Kidnap 100 Eritrean Christians from Libya and Sudan 3 | ERITREA In the first week of June, radical Islamist groups were responsible for the abduction of 100 Eritrean Christians. The kidnappings took place in two separate incidents occurring in both Libya and Sudan. In the first abduction, a group of militants from the Islamic State captured a large group of people traveling to Libya. The militants held the 86 Christians captive while letting the Muslims, who were with them, go free. In the second incident, a group of gunmen ambushed Eritrean refugees headed toward a Sudanese refugee camp, kidnapping 14 of them in the process. According to witnesses, it was obvious that the Christians were being singled out in the attacks. Christians in Eritrea must often make the heartwrenching decision of whether to stay in their home country or flee to nearby territories. Those who stay in Eritrea face the threat of arbitrary imprisonment and torture at the hands of their authoritarian government solely due to their Christian faith. Those who leave the country are often forced to journey through regions infested with terrorists, with only a distant hope that they will eventually reach safety.
AUGUST 2015
The remains of St. Mary’s Assyrian Church are a stark reminder of the terror inflicted on Syrian Christians by ISIS militants.
Syrian Christians Returning to Ravaged Lands
ISIS Trafficking Thousands of Girls as Sex Slaves
4 | SYRIA When the Islamic State gained control of Assyrian Christian villages throughout northeastern Syria, countless families were forced from their homes in search of safety. Although ISIS has since been driven out of the region, the damage left behind was extensive, as seen in what remains of St. Mary’s Assyrian Church. It is believed militants left behind mines in order to further the damage and claim more lives as Christian families begin returning home.
5 | MIDDLE EAST Since the beginning of the Islamic State’s introduction to the world stage slightly over a year ago, thousands of women and young girls have been kidnapped and trafficked across the Middle East. A large portion of them have been sold at low prices to militants as sex slaves and young wives, often forced to convert to Islam. The enslaved women are also used as a recruiting tactic for the terrorist organization in order to attract foreign militants.
U.S. Commission Denounces Religious Violence in India 6 | INDIA A U.S. congressional commission recently held a briefing to publicly denounce the increase in religiously motivated violence against minorities in India. Within the last year, incidents of violence and discrimination against Christians and other religious minorities have dramatically escalated. Many human rights observers have attributed this escalation to the BJP-led government’s rise to power. While some experts praised U.S. President Barack Obama, others encouraged the U.S. government to continue urging India to lift bans that discriminate against Christians. Multiple members of the panel claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a part in the escalation of violence, citing that incidents of violence against Christians rose 75 percent within his first year in office. The commission concluded by calling upon the United States to prioritize efforts aimed at religious freedom and stopping violence against minorities in upcoming talks between the two nations.
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