PERSECUTION WATCH ~ For Prayer Concern
Weekly update 27 Sept, 2009
By Charles M. Joshi
Issue - 39 / Sept 2009 (For Private Circulation Only)
Let brotherly love continue…. Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Heb. 13: 1&3
Are we about to enter into the end time Daniel’s 70thweek? Current events say so.
They shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Mathew 24.9
If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me, before it hated you. John 15.18
In This Edition: SUDAN: Christians are ‘crucified’ in raids on villages in Sudan ** EGYPT: Muslim Man Beheads Christian in Egypt ** BANGLADESH: Evangelist shot killed in Bangladesh. Motive Sought for Slaying ** BRAZIL: Italian Missionary Murdered In Amazon ** IRAQ: Kidnapped Christian Doctor in Iraq Freed in Critical Condition. Daughter’s ransom negotiations lead to release of Kirkuk pediatrician after 29 days of torture. Neighbor shot killed ** CHINA: Midnight Negotiators Offer Fushan Church 1.4 Million Yuan ; The 9/13 Public Security Attack on Fushan Church destroyed 17 buildings and critically injured over 20 people. ++ Pastor Bike Forced to Vacate Home for National Celebration ++ Registered Church Has License Revoked in Rizhao City ++ Beijing Pastor’s Family Calls for His Safe Return and Prayer ++ INDIA: Another Missionary arrested on charges of conversion in Jammu ++ Karnataka Top in Attacks on Christians in India ++ People afraid to come to church in Karnataka: Bishop ++ Bangalore Church Attack -- Rama Sena was responsible ++ Mangalore church attacks -Bajrang Dal blamed by witnesses ++ GFA Missionary, New Believers in Assam Harassed and Threatened ++ Orissa fast-track court sentenced five to life imprisonment ++ PAKISTAN: Gojra again in Tension. Heavy contingents of police deployed around the Christian colony. Muslims demand arrest of Christians accused of provoking Gojra violence ** EGYPT: The Governor of El Menia and another hate crime against Copts. Copt’s house demolished on suspicion that it will be converted to a church ++ Muslim mob attack a Christian Coptic family in their home ++ Muslim Convert to Christianity Prevented From Leaving Egypt ** LEBANON: Christians Emigrate As Lebanon Grows Increasingly 'Islamized' ** USA: Churches Must Hire Homosexuals, says Jewish Groups; Five Hate Bills Surge Forward in Congress ** ETHIOPIA: Prison Terms Upheld for Two Christians in Ethiopia; Judge rejects appeal of evangelists and M O R E …….
SUDAN: Christians are ‘crucified’ in guerrilla raids on villages in Sudan 25 September 2009 The Catholic Herald Marauding bands of guerrillas have crucified seven Christians during a series of raids on villages in Sudan. One of the men was tied to a tree and mutilated while six other victims were nailed to pieces of wood fastened to the ground and killed. Villagers who found their bodies near the town of Nzara said it was like a "grotesque crucifixion scene". Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio has now appealed for international help to stop the attacks by members of the Lord's Resistance Army. He said his government appeared powerless to prevent attacks by members of the guerrilla force based in northern Uganda. He spoke out after a spate of killings and abductions in two towns near the borders of the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In one instance guerrillas stormed into Our Lady Queen of Peace church in Ezo during a novena prayer and desecrated the Host, the altar and the building before abducting 17 people mostly in their teens and 20s. One of the captives was later tied to a tree and killed while 13 others in the group are still missing, according to Aid to the Church in Need, a charity helping persecuted Christians. Bishop Hiiboro said that the attack in Ezo was part of a cycle of violence that could only be broken with international cooperation "The government here cannot make a real difference to the Lord's Resistance Army problem," he said. "They kept promising that they had the issue under control but now we see the reality. Nobody is coming to our aid. We are asking those who are responsible in the international community to do something about it." A week after the first attack six people were ambushed in a forest near to the town of Nzara and killed after they were nailed to pieces of wood fastened to the ground. At about the same time a further 12 people were abducted from a village close to Nzara. Bishop Hiiboro responded by ordering three days of prayer, culminating in some 20,000 people walking more than two miles barefoot in sackcloth and ashes in silent protest at the alleged government inaction to increase security in the region. Government ministers from the state capital, Yambio, and Juba, the provincial capital of south Sudan, took part in the event and said they would try to increase the police presence in the region. Bishop Hiiboro has also written to the government in Khartoum, the capital, to remind officials that under the civil war peace settlement the regime has a duty to protect the south of Sudan as well as the north. Sudan is predominantly Muslim in the Arab north of the country but the black tribal people of the south are mostly Christians and animists.
EGYPT: Muslim Man Beheads Christian in Egypt 21 Sept. 2009 AINA (Photo – Funeral Procession of Christian Abdo George) Osama Araban, a Muslim man riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, went on a rampage last week in Egypt, killing 63-year old Coptic Christian Abdo George Younan, in the village of Bagour,
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before traveling onwards and stabbing with intention to kill two other Copts in two different villages, at least 10 km apart. In the village of Behnay he repeatedly stabbed Coptic shoemaker Adib Boulos before being stopped by eyewitness Behman Saeed, after whom Osama Araban ran, leaving the victim behind. Adib suffered a broken scull and lung hemorrhage, and is still fighting for his life in intensive care unit at Shebin el-Kom Hospital. Osama Araban then traveled to the village of Mit Afif and stabbed his third victim, Sobhy Barsum, a blacksmith. He also stabbed his brother Hani Barsum in the neck -- only to be saved by a co-worker. Hani was also hospitalized. This incident which took place on September 16, 2009, has left Copts in Egypt shocked and angered, not only because attacks against Copts have been escalating, but because of the way the murder was committed. The details of the attacks, not told by the media, but exposed by Coptic lawyers and activists, reveal that 35-year old car painter Osama Araban not only stabbed Abdo nine times but also severed his head from his body -- an Islamic ritual beheading. He then meticulously washed his bayonet with the water hose the victim was using, before setting off on his motorcycle to the next two villages, looking for more Coptic victims. Osama Araban was arrested the following day. The funeral procession of Abdo Younan was attended by thousands of Copts, led by Metropolitan Archbishop Benjamin of Menoufia Diocese and seventeen clergymen. Hundreds of banners were held, showing the amount of anger and injustice felt by Copts. Egyptian State Security, which is in charge of drafting press releases and news related to Muslim attacks on Christians, decided from the start which route they wanted the incident to take, and tailor the news accordingly. In an attempt to influence public opinion for the forthcoming acquittal of the Muslim killer, the media reported that the reason for the killing was a "material dispute." The pro-government newspaper "Youm 7" reported that Obdo Younan "Insulted Islam" and the killer therefore decided to take revenge by killing him. This news was picked up by other news agencies. Renowned attorney and activist Dr.Naguib Ghoraeel, head of Egyptian Union Human Rights Organization, issued a press release on September 17, calling the crime a massacre, and confirming that what happened was revenge against Christians. He accused the Interior Ministry of lying by suggesting the incident "is a mere quarrel," and warned them that no one will believe that the murderer is "mentally unstable," should they use this defense.
BANGLADESH: Evangelist shot killed in Bangladesh. Motive Sought for Slaying; Police, wife doubt student attackers’ story of cell phone theft. 24 Sept. 2009 Compass Authorities are investigating possible motives for the vicious killing of a church worker by students at Dhaka University. A management student at the university and his friends are accused of torturing and killing Swapan Mondol, 35, on Sept. 12 in Suhrawardy Park, adjacent to the university. Mondol, a convert from Hinduism, was supervisor of youth mission for Free Christian Church of Bangladesh (FCCB). The primary suspect’s friends claim they came to his aid after Mondol stole his cell phone, a scenario that Mondol’s wife and police said they doubt. His wife, Lucky Mondol, told Compass that she does not know why they killed her husband. “He was an evangelist and earned good amount of money from his job, so he could not snatch a mobile phone in the park,” she said. She said that when she rushed to Dhaka Medical Hospital after learning of the attack, she found her husband’s body lying stiff on the floor with two holes in his head. His body was smeared with congealed blood. He had been wearing a gold ring and a neck chain of gold, but those items and his cell phone were missing, she said. Police suspect Mohammed Rajon and his student friends of the killing and have confirmed reports of other cases of violence by student groups who cite cell phone theft as a pretext for attacking innocent people. Local police inspector Rezaul Karim told Compass the killing was cloaked in mystery. “Some students of Dhaka University killed Mondol on a charge of snatching a mobile phone,” Karim said. “The students said they caught him red-handed, so why didn’t they just hand him over to us? If he had snatched anything from them, we would have recovered it from him.” Police will file a murder case, Karim said. “What a killing frenzy it was,” he said. “Nobody has the right to kill anyone, whoever he is.”Karim denied Bangladeshi newspaper reports claiming that he said Mondol and three accomplices tried to steal a cell phone from Rajon. Almost all Bangladeshi media portrayed Mondol, who studied theology at the Christian Development Center in Dhaka and completed graduate work in theology in Bangalore, India, as a thief who worked among park prostitutes. “I am so shocked by the media, which published vicious calumnies about him,” she said. “The media reports added fuel to the flames and indirectly supported the lynch mob.” FCCB Chairman Albert P. Mridha told Compass that Mondol, father of a 10-year-old child, was a loyal and sober church worker who worked for 14 years in nationwide ministry. “We do not have any program from our church to work among the floating [park] sex workers,” Mridha said.
BRAZIL: Italian Missionary Murdered In Amazon 21 Sept. 2009 Zenit Rome, Italy - Italian Father Ruggero Ruvoletto was murdered Saturday morning in his parish of St. Evelina on the outskirts of Manaus, in northeastern Brazil. After the initial reconstructions, the police believe it was an attempted robbery, but the thesis is not very convincing because the Church was only missing a small amount of cash, and money was not taken from the priest's home. Some witnesses say they saw two "unknown men" fleeing with some objects belonging to the religious. According to MISNA missionary agency, police have arrested three individuals suspected of being involved in the murder. The identity of the three and the reason for the crime are still unknown. Following news of the murder, hundreds of inhabitants of the Manaus suburb gathered around the parish to pay homage to the remains of the Italian missionary, who will be buried in his native country. On Sunday morning, Bishop Antonio Mattiazzo of Padua said that the deceased "consumed himself greatly for the mission. He was a man and priest of good spirit, serene, always smiling and totally available.
IRAQ: Kidnapped Christian Doctor in Iraq Freed in Critical Condition. Daughter’s ransom negotiations lead to release of Kirkuk pediatrician after 29 days of torture. Neighbor shot killed 22 Sept. 2009 Compass Islamic kidnappers in Kirkuk, Iraqlast week dumped a Christian doctor in critical condition in front of a mosque after 29 days of torture and threats to him and his family. Thanks to his 23-year-old
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daughter’s negotiations with the terrorists, 55-year-old Sameer Gorgees Youssif was freed but with wounds, hematomas and bruises covering his body; throughout his captivity, he lay bound and gagged. The terrorists found phone numbers of friends on the doctor’s mobile phone and called them, instructing them to tell his family that if they did not produce the money they would kill the doctor. In the end, the kidnappers lowered the amount to $100,000 from $500,000 then $300,000. “They were threatening us all the time, and we were living in hell,” his daughter said. “We just stayed and prayed and fasted and closed the doors and locked them. We were afraid that maybe they would come here and kill all of us. God was our only hope.” The family said they were able to collect the money through the generosity of friends; they are not sure how they will be able to pay it back. He was abducted at around 8:15 p.m. on Aug. 18 as he was walking home from his pediatric clinic in a relatively “safe” district of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, sources told Compass. The kidnappers, presumably insurgents, beat him and stuffed him in the trunk of a car amid an electrical blackout in the neighborhood. As they sped off, the abductors killed one of the doctor’s neighbors, identified only as Askar, with a single gunshot to his heart. He died immediately. Sources said Askar, a Christian man in his fifties, heard the doctor yelling for help and, thinking it was one of his sons, ran to the car to stop it as it sped away. Youssif, a father of two, is the fourth Christian doctor confirmed to be kidnapped in Kirkuk in the last two years; kidnapping of Christians in general and holding them for ransom is a regular occurrence in Iraq. “This is a daily activity,” said an anonymous Iraqi Christian of the abductions taking place in Iraq. “They do it all the time. I don’t know what kind of government we have. They are not providing protection, and they are even afraid of insurgents.” Hikmat Saeed, a Christian who was kidnapped in late August, was released on Sept. 11, and Salem Barjo, another Christian taken in August, was found dead on Sept. 3, according to Middle East Concern. Both men were abducted in Mosul. Youssif’s pastor told Compass that there is no protection for the Christian communities in Iraq, and in Kirkuk only Christian rather than Muslim doctors have been kidnapped.