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Seven Christians Killed in Christmas Eve Attacks in Nigeria
Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Islamic extremist militants killed seven Christians in Christmas Eve attacks in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, according to area residents, while two people were reportedly killed in neighboring Adamawa state.
Residents of the villages of Pemi and Debro, near Chibok, Borno state said the insurgents were members of Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, and that the militants burned a Church of the Brethren (EYN) building in Pemi. In addition, seven people were reportedly kidnapped, including a pastor.
Across the border in neighboring Adamawa state, residents of Garkida told Morning Star News that Boko Haram attacked at the same time on Dec. 24, but that Nigerian army forces repelled them. Adamawa Gov. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, however, released a statement on Christmas Day saying two civilians had been killed in the attack, including a 5-year-old boy, before soldiers drove the rebels away.
In Borno state, the jihadists began their attacks on predominantly Christian Pemi and Debro at about 6 p.m., area residents said.
“Seven Christians were killed at Pemi, and the church building of EYN was completely burned by them,” area resident Awiya Lawan told Morning Star News by text message. “Houses, cars and stores were burned down. The Boko Haram gunmen carried out the attacks for three hours before soldiers arrived at the area at 9 p.m.”
Peter Solomon, another resident of the area, also said that heavily armed Boko Haram rebels, who seek to establish sharia (Islamic law) throughout Nigeria, killed seven Christians.
“The Boko Haram attackers destroyed the church building of EYN and looted foods from many houses before burning about 10 houses in Pemi, which is located about 20 kilometers [12 miles] away from Chibok town,” Solomon said
In Adamawa state, the attack by suspected Boko Haram militants forced Christians to halt Christmas preparations and flee into bushes to escape, area residents said.
“Garkida town in Adamawa state is under a massive attack,” area resident Joel Bahago said in a text message to Morning Star News. “Please pray for us, as this isn’t how we planned for Christmas, Lord.”
Another area resident, Rhoda Yadiwutuwa, said in a text message on Christmas Day that Nigeria’s armed forces had repelled the assailants but that most of the residents were still hiding in bushes and nearby hills.
“It is well with us people of Garkida, we shall hold our peace, because victory belongs to our God and Lord, Jesus Christ,” Yadiwutuwa said.
Markus Bulus wrote in a Christmas Day text that area resident were thankful.
“Whatever Boko Haram planned against us has failed,” Bulu said. “Whatever it is, we shall still celebrate Christmas. Jesus, we’re so grateful this day even with the bad experience we had last night. We have nothing to offer as our thanksgiving, but we offer our hearts in deep supplication to your majesty on this Christmas Day.”
Terror in Kaduna
In north-central Nigeria, a series of attacks by Muslim Fulani herdsmen across three counties of southern Kaduna state earlier this month killed 33 Christians, destroyed 18 homes and displaced more than 2,500 people, Christian leaders told Morning Star News.
On Dec. 17 in Zangon-Kataf County, the herdsmen killed at least 10 Christians in Goran Gan village and destroyed 18 homes, and on Dec. 21 they killed three others at Ungwan Jatau and Ungwan Gimba villages, area residents told Morning Star News in text messages.
Sule Tinat Bodam, general secretary of the Atyap Community Development Association and a Christian community leader in Zangon-Kataf, confirmed the attacks.
“On Dec. 17, the Gora Gan community was attacked by armed gunmen suspected to be Fulani militias on motorcycles,” Bodam said. “The attack left over seven people dead, and over 17 houses were burnt down. The Sheyin family was wiped out almost completely by the attackers.”
He identified those killed as Ayuba Sheyin, 69; his wife Jummai Sheyin, 55; their son Saviour Sheyin, 14; son Goodluck Sheyin, 11; daughter Patience Sheyin, 5; Peter Akau, 70; Joel Ishaya, 35; and Binta Musa Tauna, 85. In addition, 16-year-old Henry Jonathan was hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
“The Sheyin family lived just in front of the primary school where the military, meant to secure the village after previous attacks, are stationed,” Bodam said.
Luka Biniyat, spokesman for the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU), added in a Dec. 21 press statement that three more corpses had been recovered, bringing the number of Christians killed in Gora Gan to at least 10.
SOKAPU executives visited a camp for Internally Displaced Persons in Zonkwa, Zangon-Kataf County, where 2,500 Christian women and children were taking refuge after raids by armed herdsmen, Biniyat said.
Also in Zangon-Kataf County on Dec. 19, herdsmen killed four Christians in four other villages: Ungwan Gaiya, Ungwan Gimba, Ungwan Makama and Apimbu, according to state Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs Commissioner Samuel Aruwan.
“The military confirmed that two houses were burned in the Apimbu attack,” Aruwan said.
In Chikun County, herdsmen on Tuesday (Dec. 22) killed seven Christians and wounded four in Gbaja village and killed two more Christians in Ungwan Gwaiva, area sources said.
In Kajuru County, herdsmen killed three Christians in Kujeni village on Tuesday (Dec. 22), sources said.
The Rev. Ali Buba Lamido, archbishop of Kaduna Province of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), issued a statement on Thursday (Dec. 24) expressing concern over kidnappings that have accompanied the killing.
“Kidnapping has become the order of the day as these kidnappers get into people’s houses and abduct them without any resistance or challenge from the security agents,” Lamido said. “Many people have been abducted, and a lot of millions of naira were paid as ransom. Those kidnapped were subjected to dehumanizing conditions and traumatizing experiences. Some family members of the those kidnapped were shot while trying to escape from the kidnappers.”
On Dec. 10 the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, issued a statement calling for further investigation into crimes against humanity in Nigeria.
On Jan. 30 Christian Solidarity International (CSI) issued a genocide warning for Nigeria, calling on the Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council to take action. CSI issued the call in response to “a rising tide of violence directed against Nigerian Christians and others classified as ‘infidels’ by Islamist militants in the country’s north and middle belt regions.’”
Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution but second in the number of Christians killed for their faith, behind Pakistan.
More than 20 Christians drown escaping Fulani atackers
The five villages are all situated along the Benue River. (World Watch Monitor)
(World Watch Monitor) A pastor was one of at least 27 people who lost their lives following fresh attacks carried out by Fulani militants on five predominantly Christian communities in northeast Nigeria in recent days. Many of them drowned as they attempted to escape via the local river.
Various sources contacted by World Watch Monitor confirmed that the attacks took place between 13 to 16 September, and affected the villages of Gon, Bolki, Ndumusu, Yotti and Yanga, in Numan local government area (LGA), Adamawa state.
This is the same area where 3,000 homes were destroyed in December 2017, after fighter jets sent by the Nigerian Air Force were alleged to have fired rockets at villages where Fulani herdsmen were attacking Christian residents, according to a February report by Amnesty International.
A local pastor, who wanted to remain anonymous for security reasons, said 27 people had been buried following the latest attacks, which targeted communities along the Benue River. He added that, on hearing sounds of guns, many were scared and fled into the bush, or drowned attempting to escape via the river as they could not swim. He said that ten people are still missing, four from Yanga and six from Bolki.
“Nobody knows the whereabouts of these people missing. Since their dead bodies are not found, it is too early to declare them dead. We will give them the benefit of doubt; maybe some of them may return home to their families,” the pastor said.
Rev. Gerison Ezekiel Killa, 43, of the Boiki Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria, was one of those who drowned. He is survived by his wife and six children.
More than 45 others were injured. The assailants also looted and burned down many homes, and stole cattle.
Rahab Solomon, a survivor from Bolki village, said the attackers stormed their community at about 3pm and began shooting indiscriminately.
“My husband and I went to Numan to my pick up our children around 2pm. At about 3pm, while we were on our way back home, we heard that our village was under attack and that three persons were killed,” she recalled.
“We couldn’t go back home because we were told that our house was burnt. So we came to stay in this camp.
“The next day [14 September] we called my husband’s brother and he told us that the Fulani chased our people and killed so many of them. Those who tried to run through the river were shot and many who tried to escape through the river, but could not swim, died as well; those who could swim were able to survive. We heard that over 25 bodies were recovered from the river. The exact number of people who died in the attack is yet to be known as the place is still under attack.
“We were told that the Fulani militants burnt down all our houses, and some women and children who hid in the farms were abducted by the Fulani. We no longer have a place to call home. Right now we are helpless.”
Jidauna Igiya, the head of Gon village, who survived the attack, recalled the moment his village was attacked:
“On Sunday [16 September], we were home with our families; we did not know that the Fulani were coming to attack us. Although we heard rumours earlier that there was a planned attack by the Fulani on Pasham and Lau villages, so we did not think they will attack us since we did not receive such messages, but at about 4pm, we heard gunshot sounds. Everybody in the village sought cover and began to run for safety, as the Fulani were shooting and burning houses.
“The Fulani burnt all our houses. No house is standing right now and we cannot go back to our villages. The Fulani also moved from our village to Ndumusu, from Ndumusu to Yanga, from Yanga to Bolki, and continued their attack, killing more people and burning more houses. They took away our cattle and looted our foodstuff and property and burnt the remaining things they could not take away. Twenty-six people were killed in our village, Gon, while two others were wounded.
“During the attack, we tried to call security forces but none came to our rescue. We managed to put our families, children, women and old people through the bush and that is how we were able to be saved. Right now we are all scattered. Some of us are still in the bush, taking shelter around Gon north, while some of our families are in Numan and others in other villages.
“Most people who tried to escape through the river during the attack lost their lives as the Fulani chased them because they could not swim. It is not easy for us right now to find food to eat. We have to go to nearby villages to get food for our survival.”
Responding to the attack, the state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Bishop Stephen Mamza, lamented that innocent Christians were being “killed by these so-called herdsmen on a daily basis, without security forces responding appropriately to stop them from hurting Christians”.
He said the “incessant attacks on Christians has led to hunger and starvation, adding that if these Christians are not aided many will die of starvation”.
Mamza said some them who fled to Numan are taking refuge in a local primary school, while others are staying with relatives.
Solomon Faider, an eyewitness who fled from Ndumusu and took refuge in a relative’s house in Numan, said the herdsmen attacks on Christian farmers in southern Adamawa state have “gone on for three or four years now, without the government or anybody else finding a solution”.
“There seems to be collusion between the military and the killer herdsmen group,” he said.
“Where the suspected killer herdsmen are reported to be attacking from is called Abbare. This place is just a 30 minutes’ drive from Numan, and the military have been informed of the impending attack four hours before it happened.”
The member representing Numan at the Adamawa state House of Assembly, Sodom Tayedi, also lamented the failure of the security forces to prevent the attacks.
“There are soldiers camped in Abbare, yet these attackers will always mobilise from that Abbare”, she told World Watch Monitor. “There is never a time they’ll attack and I don’t call security forces as member representing the constituency.
“I just called the Brigade Commander again and he assured me that troops are on their way to the area.
“We had intelligence report of the attack and reported to the paramount ruler [local chief], who always passes the same information to the security forces, but they [the Fulani] will always come and destroy our community,” she lamented.
Tayedi also said that even if the soldiers were able to mobilise, they may not be able to reach the affected villages due to flooding problems at this time.
At the time of writing, the police spokesman in the state, Habibu Musa, was yet to comment on the attack.
New toll of the violence perpetrated by Boko Haram: 185 churches destroyed and 190,000 civilians flee
(Agenzia Fides) – 185 churches in the Maiduguri Diocese were torched and 190,545 people displaced. This is the toll of the violence perpetrated by Boko Haram in the past two months in the diocese of Maiduguri, whose territory includes the States of northern Nigeria: Borno, Yobe and some areas of Adamawa. This was announced by the Director of Communications of the Diocese, Fr. Gideon Obasogie.
In the past two months, 11 cities in territory of the diocese have fallen into the hands of Boko Haram (according to the local Bishop, Mgr. Oliver Dashe Doeme, the Islamist sect controls in all 25 cities in the north of Nigeria, see Fides 19/09/2014). “It is over 30 days now that our Church communities in Gulak, Shuwa, Michika, Bazza (among others) were sacked by the callous attacks of the Boko Haram terrorists”, said the Director of Social Communications.
“Gwoza and Magadali had been under the tyrannical and despotic control of the terrorists and this is almost the sixtieth day” says Fr. Obasogie. “Our Priests are displaced, while citizens, who were supposed to celebrate their independence as a free Nation, were rather counting their losses and regrets as they had been reduced to the status of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs. Where is the freedom? ” he asked.
Fr. Obasogie describes the terrible conditions in which displaced people are forced to live, welcomed in the homes of relatives and friends (even 60-70 people at a time), or in makeshift structures in Maiduguri, Mubi, Yola, Uba, Gombe, Biu and Damaturu. The thought of the displaced people go to those who were unable to flee, the elderly or sick people but also young people. Today, October 7, a regional summit is being held in Niamey, Niger’s capital, to fight Boko Haram, which is also threatening its neighbors, as demonstrated by the death of 7 people in the north of Cameroon, killed by a rocket fired by the fundamentalists in Nigeria.
Nigeria: Battered By Islamic Terror Group – Kill 52, Set 300 Houses Ablaze
Maiduguri, Nigeria—The upsurge of deadly attacks by Islamists continues in Nigeria. Latest reports reveal over the past couple of weeks, Boko Haram has stepped up it’s terror operations. Two weeks ago President GoodLuck Jonathon replaced the entire head of his military, without much surfacing as an explanation other than he was stepping up efforts against the Islamic Insurgency. Nigeria is equally divided among Muslims and Christians. The Boko Haram is attempting a take over to establish a fully Sharia (Islamic Law) governed State.
In separate attacks, suspected Islamic militants used explosives and gunfire to attack a market and Christian village during a church service in Nigeria’s northeast, killing and injuring people, demolished shops and hundreds of homes.
One report claims the attacks in Borno and Adamawa states resulted in one of the highest death tolls in recent attacks by militants defying an 8-month old military state of emergency in three states in northern Nigeria, designed to end the Islamic uprising there.
On Sunday as gunmen numbering over 50 invaded Kawuri District of Konduga Local Government Area of the state set ablaze over 300 houses and shops after killing 52 people including a soldier, and wounding several others including policemen and civilians, reports Vanguard a Nigerian news outlet.
The Boston Herald reported that attackers set off several explosions in Kawuri village in Borno state after launching their assault near the weekly market as vendors were packing up on Sunday night, the security official said.
He said 52 people died and the entire village was burned down, including 300 homes. He also said two improvised explosive devices that were left behind went off Monday morning, narrowly missing security personnel who were collecting bodies in Kawuri. The official blamed suspected Boko Haram militants for the attack.
A police official who evacuated wounded victims confirmed at least 52 people were killed and 16 wounded. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not permitted to speak to reporters.
Ari Kolomi, who fled from his village, which is 70 kilometers (45 miles) outside Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, said, “No house was left standing” by the more than 50 extremists who attacked, armed with explosives and guns. Kolomi was searching for relatives in the village to make sure they had survived the attack.
State Police Commissioner Lawan Tanko confirmed the attack but said he was awaiting details on the casualties.
Local Chairman Maina Ularamu said officials recovered 45 bodies including those of two police officers. He urged calm, saying: “I believe security operatives are on top of the situation.”
Also on Sunday, suspected militants in Adamawa state, south of Borno, stormed a Roman Catholic church during a Sunday morning service in Wada Chakawa village. They fired guns into the church, set off explosives and took people hostage during a five-hour siege, residents said. The Rev. Raymond Danbouye, a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Yola, said dozens of people were killed.
Villager Moses Apogu said, “They used explosives during the attack on worshippers, and many people lost their lives.” Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said some of the people taken away were later killed.
In the adjacent Adamawa State, several people, including two policemen were also feared dead as gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members attacked the church in Chakawa village of Madagali Local Government Area.
The attack in Borno carried out at about 5pm on a market, which many traders and residents sustaining injuries. Some of the injured are being treatment at Konduga General Hospital and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
Kawuri District is one of the towns in Konduga, about 60 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital.
This is the second attack on the town in the last few months. In October some Boko Haram suspects clashed with vigilante youths popularly known as civilian JTF, which led to the killing of 10 people including three youths, while 18 were injured and over 48 shops and many houses burnt in the attack.
The Governor, Kashim Shettima was due to visit the town yesterday morning suspended his trip following intelligence reports that the place was not safe. The terrorists who attacked the town had planted explosive devices, targeting rescue workers and security operatives deployed to maintain law and order.
Vanguard gathered that the latest attack on Kawuri town took place on Sunday were gunmen suspected to be terrorists armed with AK47 rifles, IEDs and petrol bombs. They entered the community and wreaked havoc before fleeing into the Sambisa forest.
A survivor, Mallam Mustapha Modu said he counted about 47 dead while several others sustained gunshots and various burns.
In the last week, 37 communities of Kwaljiri, Kaya, Ngawo Fate, Limanti, Njaba, Yahuri, Mude, Wala and Alau among others in Damboa, Konduga and Gwoza council areas have been sacked by terrorists. The displaced residents have taken refuge in neighboring villages of Cameroon Republic and other towns including Maiduguri metropolis.
The Police Commissioner of Borno State, told Vanguard,
“I received an intelligence information that Kawuri town was attacked by Boko Haram sect members suspected to be on revenge mission on market day (Sunday), where many civilians were killed while several others were left with serious burn wounds before they set the whole place on fire. We have deployed our men to the area and very soon I will give you with details.”
Tanko said, some of his men were wounded in the attack but he did not lose any of them.
“The gunmen arrived the town using Sports Utility Vehicles, SUVs, and pretended to be villagers coming to the market. “Unknown to the people the gunmen had planted IEDs at strategic areas in the town before carrying out attacks on residents,” said survivor, Malam Isa Ibrahim. He also said gunmen set several houses and shops ablaze before fleeing. Another survivor said, “We counted about 15 bodies of victims at the end of the attack. ‘and also assisted about 20 injured persons to the hospital.”
In Adamawa State, where Christians were attacked on Sunday, some of the worshippers who escaped said, “They used explosives during the attack on worshippers and many people lost their lives”. One worshipper said, “I cannot actually say how many people were killed but about 16 people were evacuated from the church.” Another resident claimed that some houses were also attacked by the gunmen who took some men hostage, while two policemen- an inspector and a sergeant who were on guard in the church were killed. “I saw some people crying, saying that their relatives had been taken away as hostages by the gunmen”. [other reports claim the hostages were later killed]
Attempts to get military and police authorities in the area to comment on the incident were unsuccessful. A soldier in the area who spoke on condition of anonymity told Vanguard that nine people lost their lives during the attack. He said the Army had sealed up the area and were hunting for the fleeing attackers. Military authorities in Adamawa State have promised to speak on the issue later.
With determination to end the violence perpetrated by terrorists in the region, particularly in Bama, Gwoza, Damboa council areas where over 30 communities were sacked and displaced in the last one week, the state command under the recommendation of the Police Service Commission, has promoted the Area Commander of Bama, Mr. David Dangiwa from the rank of Chief Superintendent of Police to Assistant Commissioner of Police. And Officer in-Charge of Operations, Mr. Aminu Koji was promoted from Assistant Commissioner to Deputy Commissioner of Police with immediate effect.
Disturbed by the tragedy, Alhaji Bukar Aji, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), said the fight against terrorism and crimes was a collective responsibility that should not be left for the Presidency alone.
Maiduguri, is considered the epicenter of the Boko Haram murderous attacks. Nearly 200 people have been killed this month in attacks by suspected members of the Boko Haram terrorist network in the area around Maiduguri. The city is the birthplace of the group, whose name in the local Hausa language means “Western education is forbidden.”
A Jan. 14 car bomb exploded in Maiduguri, killing about 70 people. Officials blamed Boko Haram, though the state governor suggested it was the work of political opponents.
Other attacks have forced the flight of hundreds of villagers in about 30 farming communities around Maiduguri. Some of the displaced are camping on the outskirts of the state capital. More than 5,000 refugees from the violence have fled to Cameroon and Niger this month, the U.N. said last week.
In the wake of the weekend attacks, many Nigerian citizens fed up with the violence, are calling for Nigeria to be divided. But many Christians in the North would prefer to stay in their generational homeland and live in peace. They’re protection should be top priority and not allowed to be forced out unwillingly by greed, bigotry and radical extremists. PRAY and be their VOICE!
Christian Persecution Update – May 20, 2013
Church seeks compensation for victims of Boko Haram
The church commended the implementation of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
The Church of Christ in Nations, COCIN, has advocated for compensation to victims of the Boko Haram insurgents.
The church also pledged its total support for the steps taken by the federal government in restoring peace at the northeastern part of the country through emergency rule.
It stated its position in a communique made available to journalists on Saturday after COCIN’s 82nd annual general council meeting which held at its headquarters in Jos on Friday evening.
“COCIN applauds the bold step taken by the Federal Government in declaring a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States and prays that it will bring lasting peace. The general church council calls on the federal and various state governments to take proactive and definite measures to curb insecurity and the growing menace of the Boko Haram Islamic sect terrorist group.
“We reiterate our position against the proposed amnesty to Boko Haram as it will only mean rewarding and glorifying crime,” the church stressed.
The three page communique also frowned at the brutal killing of innocent people across the country by the Boko Haram.
“COCIN condemns in strong terms the brutal killings at Baga and Bama both in Borno State, Wukari in Taraba State, Alakyo, in Nasarawa State, Agatu in Benue State and that of Gombe and Kano States and of recent Katsina State. We condole the family and Christians in Borno State over the killing of the State CAN Secretary, Rev. Faye Pama, by the Boko Haram second,” it stated.
At the opening of the three day general council meeting on Wednesday, president of COCIN, Soja Bewarang, disclosed that insecurity in the northeastern states had forced the church to relocate some of its workers for their safety.
The church also called on the Federal Government to consider compensation for all victims of Boko Haram. Also, at the end of the meeting, the general church council approved creation of 17 new regional church councils and one provincial church council. Source
Nigeria: Militants Turning Country into Christian Killing Field
Atheist Condemns Christian Troops
WASHINGTON, USA (BosNewsLife)– While the Obama administration carefully avoids any religious connection between Islamic jihad and the Boston bombings, the president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation bluntly told Pentagon officials that Christian troops who proselytize are guilty of sedition and treason and should be punished.
“Someone needs to be punished for this,” said Mikey Weinstein. “Until the Air Force or Army or Navy or Marine Corps punishes a member of the military for unconstitutional religious proselytizing and oppression, we will never have the ability to stop this horrible, horrendous, dehumanizing behavior.”
Weinstein also said his Foundation has thousands of Protestant members who are only opposed to Christian fundamentalists. “As soon as we find a fundamentalist Muslim, atheist, Jewish person or anybody else, we will be happy to fight them, but so far they have been few and far between,” he said.
Surprisingly, Weinstein seems unaware that there are many fundamentalist Muslims who are willing to fight us all the way to the Finish Line of the Boston Marathon. After Weinstein went to the Pentagon to discuss the state of religion in the military, Tony Perkins, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council, wondered why U.S. officers were taking advice about religious freedom from one of the most rabid atheists in America. “That’s like consulting with China on how to improve human rights,” he said.
Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, an FRC executive VP, told Fox News that he sees a pattern of attacks on Christianity within the military. “Mickey Weinstein has a very visceral hated of Christianity and those who are Christians,” he said. “He’d like to see it eliminated from the military entirely.” However, that seems unlikely since military chaplains are an exception to the so called separation of church and state found in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment; the Department of Defense must support the free exercise of religion by its service personnel and DoD employees because the Constitution proscribes Congress from enacting any law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, according to The American Center for Law and Justice. This is especially true when U.S. service personnel must deploy to parts of the world where the facilities to practice their respective faiths are not only unavailable, but non-existent, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which prohibits all public worship save Islam.
Iranian Christians face ‘systematic persecution and prosecution’
Iran’s treatment of its Christian minority has come under fresh scrutiny in recent months with some damning verdicts on the country’s human rights record.
Reports from the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and New York-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) cite evidence of “systematic persecution and prosecution” of Protestants and Christian converts, as part of a widespread violation of international laws.
As national elections draw near (voters go to the polls on June 14), Iran is under increasing international pressure to improve its human rights record or face continued sanctions – sanctions ICHRI says are impacting the welfare of the Iranian people.
In its April report, A Growing Crisis: The Impact of Sanctions and Regime Policies on Iranians’ Economic and Social Rights, ICHRI says that, rather than damaging the Iranian regime, sanctions resulting from Iran’s nuclear program have “brought about a severe deterioration in the ability of the Iranian people to pursue their economic and social rights”.
‘Systematic persecution’ The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, noted in September 2012 that more than 300 Christians have been arrested and detained since 2010, while at least 41 were detained for periods ranging from one month to over a year, sometimes without official charges.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in February that Iran “refuted” the UN’s claim of an increase in discrimination towards religious minorities, claiming “all people of Iran regardless of their religion or ethnicity enjoy equal citizenship rights”. READ MORE
Sudanese center says incidents of apostasy, atheism increasing in country
KHARTOUM (Sudan Tribune) – The chairman of the Islamic Center for Preaching and Comparative Studies, Ammar Saleh, said that cases of apostasy and atheism are on the rise in the country and accused authorities of negligence in addressing this issue.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Saleh claimed that the number of converts from Islam in Khartoum has reached 109 apostates, stressing that these figures are growing in a “continuous” and “scary” fashion, especially with the presence of atheists and homosexuals.
The Islamic figure slammed the government for not taking decisive action against missionaries operating “boldly” in the country. He said that anyone who denies the existence of proselytising or the increase in people converting to the Shiite faith are either “living on Mars” or are in denial.
Saleh appealed to the official bodies and the community to take a stand against Christianisation and find a long-term solution to the problem, arguing that government’s efforts in this regard are timid compared to missionaries’ efforts. He also accused the Orthodox Church of building a church in Ombadda without a permit in a “de facto” manner.
The former head of Ombadda People’s Committee, who is also a member of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), Adam Mudawi, claimed that they have information indicating that there is an underground storage facility in the three-story church that contains a large cache of weapons. Mudawi also said there is a satellite dish inside the church and its function remains unexplained. He accused the church of exploiting poor citizens by providing financial support and assistance to aid its proselytising activities.
VOICE OF THE PERSECUTED 