Read American Pastor Saeed Abedini Thrown Into Solitary Confinement in Iran at Religion Today.

"Family members in Iran have confirmed that American pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been imprisoned since last fall, has been placed in solitary confinement with new reports indicating that in addition to the severe, untreated internal bleeding he is experiencing from months of bleeding and torture, he is now facing issues with his kidneys, the ACLJ reports."

Pray,
Please pray for Pastor Saeed and his family. 
Please pray for martyrs all around the world. 
Pray from your heart! 
Pray without ceasing!
Pray for martyrs around the world!

Read Pastor Saeed Abedini Excluded From State Department's Iran Prisoners List at Religion Today.

"The U.S. State Department's "virtual embassy" to Iran, which highlights that country's human rights abuses, has a site listing those jailed for dissent or religious beliefs -- but it doesn't include imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been tortured because of his Christian faith, the Christian Post reports."

NIGERIA: The Deadliest Place to be a Christian

William Stark, Regional Manager for Africa

4/27/2013
Washington, D.C.
International Christian Concern

With countries like North Korea, Pakistan and Somalia topping the list as some of the world's worst persecutors of Christians, it's hard to imagine that none of these countries hold the highest Christian death toll. In 2012, that shameful distinction went to Nigeria where almost 70% of Christians killed globally were murdered. Because Nigeria's federal government has proven unable to protect Christians in northern Nigeria, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a militant group from southern Nigeria, has pledged to protect Christians by attacking Muslims and Islamic institutions. The possibility of religious war, coupled with these overwhelming statistics makes Nigeria the deadliest place on earth to be a Christian.

According to various report, over 900 Christian were killed in Nigeria in 2012 for no other reason than subscribing to the Christian faith. Many victims died at the hands of Islamic militants attached to the extremist group Boko Haram. To date, it is estimated that 128 people have been killed in 2013 so far, many of whom were Christians. These staggering figures were released within days of the second anniversary of one of the worst assaults on Christians in modern history, which coincidentally, also took place in Nigeria.  

On the Brink of Religious War

Recent events have caused some analysts to wonder whether Nigeria is on the brink of a religious war. On April 16, MEND announced that it would start bombing mosques, assassinating clerics and destroying other Islamic institutions unless Boko Haram stops targeting Christians for its acts of terror.

Over the past three years, Boko Haram has terrorized Christians by bombing churches and murdering Christians in their own homes. It is estimated over 3,000 people have been killed in the Boko Haram conflict. MEND has called its new initiative to "protect Christians" in northern Nigeria with violence "Operation Barbarossa." MEND has also indicated it would call off its operation if the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) asked it to. So far, CAN has remained silent.

Nigeria's federal government is attempting to head off this potential religious war by attempting to offer Boko Haram a total amnesty deal in exchange for peace in northern Nigeria. Boko Haram has responded by saying it will reject any amnesty deal offered because Boko Haram has done nothing it needs amnesty for.

A Violent Past

In April 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from southern Nigeria, was elected president by a vote that divided Nigeria both geographically and religiously. After the president's Muslim competitor claimed the election was rigged, Muslim youths across Nigeria's north filled the streets and took their frustration out on any Christians they could find.

According to Morning Star News, the resulting violence against Christians in Nigeria was staggering. In less than 48 hours, 764 church buildings were torched, 204 Christians were murdered, more than 3,100 Christian-operated businesses, schools and shops were set ablaze and over 3,400 Christian homes were reduced to rubble.

Taxis were stopped by Muslims and Christian passengers were forced into the streets and murdered.  People cornered by Muslim mobs were required to recite the Quran accurately or they were killed on the spot. A lecturer at a college on the outskirts of Zaria, a city located in Nigeria's northern state of Kaduna, described an attack on the college: "When you [saw] the mob, they were not in their senses. The [Christian] students ran away but the mob pursued them into the staff quarters where they had nowhere to go. The mob beat them to death and hit them with machetes. Four Christian students and a Christian lecturer were killed."

The level of violence against Christians seen in the post-election violence of 2011 led Emmanuel Ogebe, a Nigerian Christian activist, to dub Nigeria's "freest and fairest" elections as one of the "fiercest and most ferocious" assaults on Christians Nigeria has ever seen.

In 2012, Nigeria was the deadliest place to be called a Christian. It seems like 2013 is shaping up to be more of the same. Will a religious war between Boko Haram and MEND break out in Nigeria or will Nigeria's federal government be able to broker some sort of peace? For now, all anyone can do is pray for those persecuted and broken in Nigeria.  

For interviews, contact William Stark, Regional Manager for Africa: RM-AfricaAsia@persecution.org

# # #

You are free to disseminate this news story. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address, www.persecution.org. ICC is a Washington, D.C.-based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church.  For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.

International Christian Concern
2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW #241 
Washington, D.C. 20006
www.persecution.org  |  E-mail: icc@persecution.org

Please read Islamists Driving Christians out of Iraq at Mission Network News.





Iraq
Mission Network News

"Iraq's Christian heritage is like its wetland marshes.  What was once teeming with life had been drained off and resembles a desert. Paul Estabrooks with Open Doors says, "The Christians are being told, 'We want a Muslim-only nation. We do not want any Christians here.' This is similar to what is going on today in northern Sudan." Extremists are targeting Christians and driving them out of  the country. Today, there are roughly 300,000 left of the 1.2 million there were 20 years ago. Still, church leaders who remain are encouraging the remnant to stay. "There's a sense in which the Salt and Light Christians [bring to] a land must remain there. This is the appeal Christians are making to us, for our prayers on their behalf." Open Doors is coming alongside this remnant to help. Why? Remember the comparison to the wetland marshes? A civil engineer found a way to get the water from the Tigris and Euphrates flowing back. They're teeming with life now.. So it is with the seeds of the Church."

Read Christian Tortured by Islamists in Egypt Mosque at persecution.org.





"A mosque in suburban Cairo was used by Islamic hardliners to terrorize a Christian and anti-Islamist protestors in suburban Cairo in March. Amir Ayad was asked for his ID by who he thought were police. Members of the Muslim Brotherhood hit him unconscious and Amir woke up on the floor of the mosque. “Inside the mosque I was tortured, naked…my hands were tied behind my waist. They came with thick wooden sticks and metal rods and started to strongly hit my legs and arms in order to break my bones,” Amir said. According to Amir, the facility was installed in order to scare protestors who disagreed with the Brotherhood’s policies, saying that he was beat alongside nine other demonstrators. Christians and liberals are growing increasingly concerned with the Muslim Brotherhood’s failure to protect religious minorities."

Faith Under Fire in Eastleigh, Kenya
 
William Stark, Regional Manager for Africa

 4/26/2013
Washington, D.C.
International Christian Concern

There are some places in the world where being a Christian can be a life-threatening condition. In the most dangerous places, just being identified as a Christian can cause an individual to be assaulted, battered, and, in extreme cases, killed. Eastleigh is one of those dangerous places for Christians.   

Located on the outskirts of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, Eastleigh is a Somali Muslim-dominated neighborhood nicknamed "little Mogadishu." Al-Shabaab, an Islamic terrorist network based in neighboring Somalia, is known to be active in this neighborhood and has bombed churches and murdered Christians living there. Those who are Christians in Eastleigh tend to keep their faith a secret under fear of death.

Beaten for Christ in Eastleigh

In spite of the dangers, there are some who are not only willing to follow Christ, but are also willing to proclaim the Gospel in Eastleigh. Pastor Peter and eight Christian men attending his fellowship of Muslim Background Believers ("MBBs") in Nairobi set out on March 26 to reach unreached Muslims living in Eastleigh. Unfortunately, one member of this group almost didn't make it back from their brief missionary journey.

Aamir, age 26, was attacked and beaten by a gang of enraged Muslims while sharing the Gospel in Eastleigh. "They beat me with their fists, kicked me while I was down and then one of them knifed me somewhere between my neck and head," Aamir said. "I do not know what happened from there."

Aadil, who was accompanying Aamir and witnessed the attack, said, "Aamir cried out so loud that the attackers [were startled and] took off, leaving him in a pool of blood." Aadil immediately called for emergency services as he tried to keep his friend alive. When emergency services didn't show up, Aadil and Pastor Peter carried Aamir to Gurunanak Hospital themselves where Aamir's wounds were treated.

Pastor Peter reported the incident to the police, but because Eastleigh is such a dangerous place, members of the police force and emergency services avoid going there. When the police finally investigated the scene of the attack, they found Aamir's Bible tattered on the ground. One of the police turned to Pastor Peter and asked, "Why preach Christianity in Eastleigh? It is very dangerous."

Due to the severity of his injuries, Aamir spent four days in the hospital. His body now tells a tale of suffering for Christ. "I was shocked to see the severity of injuries Aamir received," ICC's representative in Kenya said from Aamir's bedside.

Fellowship in Secret

Evangelists are not the only Christians under fire in Eastleigh. Muslim Background Believers are one of the most persecuted groups of Christians in the world. They are not only oppressed for their Christian identity, but also for their conversion away from Islam. According to Sharia law, Muslims who convert to religions other than Islam, including Christianity, are guilty of apostasy. In places where Sharia is strictly interpreted, the punishment for apostasy is death.

Due to al-Shabaab's fundamentalist Islamic beliefs, MBBs living in Eastleigh must worship in secret.  In most cases, MBBs caught by al-Shabaab are executed, sometimes in public.

"We have to fellowship in secret," Pastor Peter said about his fellowship of MBBs. "We cannot sing or play instruments because of the threat of al-Shabaab."

Even though Pastor Peter's fellowship is very careful, sometimes members of the fellowship go missing and are never heard from again. "We lost one of our stronger believers," Pastor Peter explained. "She went missing on December 20. After searching for a month, we discovered that she was killed by Muslim radicals, [probably connected to al-Shabaab]; all because of her conversion to Christianity."

Under this level of persecution it would be easy for any Christian to doubt their faith, but that is the opposite of what is found in Pastor Peter's MBB fellowship. "All of them are Muslim Background Believers so their conversion to Christianity will cause them a lot of hardship," Pastor Peter said. "[But] our fellowship has grown from 18 to 27 and all are strong in their faith."

Although Eastleigh is one of the most dangerous places to be a Christian in Kenya, the Christian message continues to reach the unreached. Life-threatening though it may be, evangelical efforts like Pastor Peter's may be the key to making a place like Eastleigh safe for Christians.  

For interviews, contact William Stark, Regional Manager for Africa: RM-AfricaAsia@persecution.org
 
# # #

You are free to disseminate this news story. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address, www.persecution.org. ICC is a Washington, D.C.-based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church.  For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.
 
International Christian Concern
2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW #241
Washington, D.C. 20006
www.persecution.org  |  E-mail: icc@persecution.org

Read Syrian Church:  Two Abducted Church Leaders Still Missing at Mission Network News




Syria
Mission Network News

"Contrary to earlier reports, the fate of two Syrian Bishops kidnapped in Syria this week remains unknown. A spokesman for SAT-7, Greg Garrett, says despite reports of their release by BBC, Al-Jazeera, Reuters, and the Associated Press, "I received an e-mail directly from the Syrian Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo stating that they had not been released and to wait, basically, for them to give a further report, and that they would certainly contact us once the release had been confirmed." SAT-7 is a Christian satellite television ministry to the Middle East and North Africa. Their programming teams responded immediately. "We had a special live program that lasted for two hours called 'Kermalak,' which means 'Just For You, Syria.' We took calls from believers all over the Middle East, addressing questions, concerns. Basically, (we were) spending time praying as well for their safe release." That prayer vigil continues. Will you join them? The rest of their prayer needs are at MissionNetworkNews.org."

International Christian Concern

2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW #241 
Washington, D.C. 20006
www.persecution.org  |  E-mail: icc@persecution.org
 
Media Contact: Ryan Morgan, Regional Manager for Southeast Asia RM-SEAsia@persecution.org
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Despite Suffering of Christians in Burma, EU Lifts Sanctions

Discrimination against Religious Minorities in Burma Remains "Endemic"
 
4/25/2013
Washington D.C.
International Christian Concern

International Christian
Concern (ICC) has learned that the European Union (EU) has announced it is lifting all remaining economic sanctions against Burma despite regular incidents of violent discrimination against Christians and other religious minorities. The EU and other Western governments had maintained sanctions against the Burmese government for years due to concerns over massive human rights violations until the nominally civilian government promised to begin making reforms in 2010. 

The move comes even as tens of thousands of pre-dominantly Christian Kachin civilians remain displaced in refugee camps across northern Burma after the most recent offensive by the Burmese military. In a statement released on Monday in Luxembourg, members of the EU's Foreign Affairs Council cited a "remarkable process of reform" in the Southeast Asian nation that was ruled by a military dictatorship until 2010. Since then, Burma's democratic president, Thein Sein, a former military commander, has lightened restrictions on the media and released hundreds of political prisoners. The EU report went on to say that "in response to the changes that have taken place...the Council has decided to lift all sanctions with the exception of the embargo on arms."

However, two days after the statement was released, ICC received several first-hand statements from sources inside Burma exposing the nature of Burma's most recent military offensive against the predominantly Christian Kachin, which began in July of 2011. "The Burma army came into our village, without warning, they burned and destroyed our village. Since we are all Christians, our church was immediately burned down and we lost all the Bibles we had in there as well. None of us can or dare to go back to our village, it is surrounded by the Burmese Army and we heard that many land mines were placed around our village," one Kachin Christian told an ICC affiliate. 

"The fighting started not too far from my village; I decided not to flee right away. But then we got attacked for the second time, this time the Burmese army used mortars, bombs, heavy artillery and chemical weapons. We had no other choice than to flee, we were worried about the women and children. Burmese soldiers shot everyone they saw, my assistant Pastor and teenagers from our village and church were killed," recounted another Kachin Christian,now living inside one of several refugee camps located in northern Burma. 

Ryan Morgan, ICC's Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, said, "We strongly urge the European Union to reconsider lifting economic sanctions on Burma until far more concrete steps have been taken to address blatant discrimination against religious minorities by the government, civilians, and the military. It appears that religious discrimination, which was institutionalized for more than half a century in Burma, remains endemic as well as pervasive. This can clearly be seen not only by the recent appalling violence against the Rohingya Muslim community but by
the voluminous reports of ill-treatment of the country's ethnic Christian communities, including the Karen, Chin, and Kachin."    

For interviews, contact Ryan Morgan, Regional Manager for Southeast Asia: RM-SEAsia@persecution.org

# # #

You are free to disseminate this news story. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address, www.persecution.org. ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church.  For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.

International Christian Concern

2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW #241
Washington, D.C. 20006
www.persecution.org  |  E-mail: icc@persecution.org

Media Contact:Aidan Clay, Regional Manager for the Middle East clay@persecution.org
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Islamic Council Proposes Death Penalty for Apostates in Morocco
 
4/24/2013
Washington D.C.
International Christian Concern

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that the Supreme Ulema Council in Morocco published a fatwa this week calling for the death penalty for Muslims who abandon their religion. Christians are concerned that the edict, which has sparked controversy in the country, will be used to "harass" and "harm" the church if approved. 

The Supreme Ulema Council (CSO), a body of Islamic scholars headed by King Mohammed VI, published a fatwa in the Arabic-language daily Akhbar al-Youm on Tuesday declaring that Muslims who renounce their faith "should be condemned to death," Agence France-Presse reports. The CSO, the only institution entitled to issue fatwas in Morocco, reportedly drafted the edict in April 2012, but only recently published it. 

Mahjoub El Hiba, a senior human rights official in the Moroccan government, denies that the government received a fatwa on apostasy, as Akhbar al-Youm had claimed. Yet media reports on the fatwa have provoked strong reactions from rights activists and religious minorities, including Christians, in the country. 

"There's a lot of confusion and discussion in Morocco right now about the fatwa," said a pastor near Marrakech who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons. "We fear that if the fatwa is approved, the government will use it to harass us and even arrest us during our meetings and the fundamentalists will have an excuse to harm us." 

While apostasy is illegal in many Muslim countries and punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, Moroccan law does not directly prohibit it. Article 220 of Morocco's Penal Code does state, however, that "attempting to undermine the faith of a Muslim or convert him to another religion" is punishable with six months to three years in prison.

Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, "We are deeply concerned about the proposed fatwa which would warrant the death sentence for Muslims accused of apostasy. The Moroccan government lost credibility among international human rights groups in 2010 when it deported more than 70 foreign Christian aid workers on charges of proselytizing without granting due process rights to a hearing. Moreover, a Moroccan Christian, Jamaa Ait Bakrim, continues to languish in prison to this day after being arrested in 2005 and given a 15-year sentence for allegedly sharing his Christian faith with a Muslim. The deportations and arrest blatantly violated Morocco's pledge to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which, in Article 18, upholds an individual's right to choose one's own religion or belief. We urge the Moroccan government to safeguard the religious freedoms of all Moroccans and to reject edicts that would constitute a breach of the country's international human rights obligations."

For interviews, contact Aidan Clay, Regional Manager for the Middle East: clay@persecution.org

# # #

You are free to disseminate this news story. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address, www.persecution.org. ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church.  For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.

William Stark, Regional Manager for Africa

 04/24/2013
Washington, D.C.
International Christian Concern

Recently, President Goodluck Jonathan called on the federal government of Nigeria to set up a committee to consider whether Boko Haram should be granted amnesty for crimes the group has committed across Nigeria's northern states.  The announcement came on the heels of a suicide bombing of a bus station in a Christian neighborhood likely perpetrated by Boko Haram. As deadly attacks continue, Christians are left dumbfounded and wondering why the government is considering granting amnesty to the extremist group.

Boko Haram's Latest Attack

On March 18, two suicide bombers rammed a car loaded with explosives into a bus parked at the New Road Bus Station in Sabon Gari, a Christian neighborhood of Nigeria's northern city Kano. After the suicide bombers' car detonated, a series of explosions followed, claiming the lives of at least twenty people. "I saw three buses on fire. One of them was loaded with passengers waiting to leave the station at the time of the blasts," a rescue official told the African Free Press. Boko Haram is suspected to have masterminded the bombing, but the group has yet to officially take responsibility.

As a part of the extremist group's campaign to carve out a separate Islamic state in Nigeria's northern regions, Boko Haram targets Christians for deadly attacks including drive-by shootings and church bombings. "We have made it clear that most of the victims of Boko Haram are Christians, whose only offence is their choice of worship," Nigerian American leaders said in a statement released by the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans (CANAN).

In 2012 alone, Boko Haram is estimated to have bombed 14 churches across northern Nigeria. In order to affect maximum casualties, the group often commits these atrocities while Christians are worshiping inside their churches.

Amnesty Granted to Murderers, Justice Denied to Victims

In March, Abubakar Sa'ad, the Sultan of Sokoto and spiritual leader of Muslims in Nigeria, asked the federal government to grant members of Boko Haram "total and unconditional amnesty" to bring peace to the country's northern states. The rationale behind the sultan's proposal was that a presidential amnesty would allow many Boko Haram militants to lay down their arms.  

Initially, President Jonathan rejected this proposal, but in the first week of April, the president called for a committee to be set up to consider granting Boko Haram militants amnesty.

Immediately, Christian organizations called on the president to reconsider his decision and began to question the logic behind the establishment of this committee. Laolu Akande, the Executive Director of CANAN, released a pointed statement opposing the consideration of amnesty.

"This is shaping up to a certain manifestation of the theater of the absurd. Not that Nigeria is not used to such perfidious propositions, it is the total despising of the murdered, traumatized and maimed victims of the terrorists that make this situation a pervasion," Akande said of the government's amnesty consideration.

Akande went further and said the government has committed a "treachery" against the wives, children and relatives of the victims of Boko Haram by setting up this committee.

The Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF) also released a statement opposing the government's plan to consider granting amnesty to Boko Haram. Matthew Owojaiye, the chairman of NOSCEF, expressed his disgust over the fact that the government was planning to appease Boko Haram before coming to the aid of the group's victims.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) released a similar statement saying, "For [the government] to come out and say there should be amnesty for [Boko Haram] without considering the people that have been made widows and orphans [and] without considering the places of worship and schools that have been burnt down, is insensitive. In calling for amnesty, [the government] never mentioned those widows, those orphans; they never mentioned the grave injustice that has been done to Christians."

Will Amnesty Actually Bring Peace?

A statement released by Boko Haram in January casts doubt on whether amnesty would even bring peace to northern Nigeria. "We will consider negotiation only when we have brought the government to its knees... You don't put down your arms in Islam, you only put them aside."

The group's purported leader also released a statement rejecting any potential amnesty deal, insisting that the group has "not committed any wrong to deserve amnesty." This statement was made with full knowledge that Boko Haram is responsible for over 3,000 murders in northern Nigeria, many of whom were private Christian citizens killed in attacks much like the suicide bombing at the New Road Bus Station last month.

Boko Haram's radical ideology, coupled with its fractured and shadowy nature, indicates that an amnesty deal would do little to stop the violence in northern Nigeria and would just put an official stamp on the denial of justice Boko Haram's victims have so far endured.  

For interviews, contact William Stark, Regional Manager for Africa: RM-AfricaAsia@persecution.org
 
# # #

You are free to disseminate this news story. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address, www.persecution.org.  ICC is a Washington, D.C.-based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church.  For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.

International Christian Concern
2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW #241 
Washington, D.C. 20006
www.persecution.org  |  E-mail: icc@persecution.org

Please read Christian Widow in Somalia Killed Four Months after Husband Slain at Religion Today.




NAIROBI, Kenya
Morning Star News

"Islamist militants in Somalia have killed the widow of a Christian who was slain for his faith in December, leaving the couple’s five children orphaned, sources said.

"Islamic extremist al Shabaab rebels shot 42-year-old Fartun Omar to death on April 13 in Buulodbarde, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Beledweyne, according to Abdi Aziz Suleiman of Radio Shebelle in Beledweyne. The extremists had been searching for her for several months, as they knew that she was a secret Christian like her late husband, Mursal Isse Siad, sources said. Siad had been receiving death threats for leaving Islam. After his death, initially Omar fled the area with her five children and at one time had received protection from from African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) soldiers, sources said.

“A week before she was killed, rumors were flying that the al Shabaab were looking for her,” one of Omar’s neighbors said."