INDEX OF PERSECUTION
Based on ACN’s Persecuted & Forgotten?: Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2007/2008
Introduction
Human rights is a buzzword in international politics. Every country must
respect them and promoting them is the first duty of every government.
This year (2008) marks 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Yet little is
said about religious liberty which the Declaration guarantees, and even less
is said about the frequent infringement of rights which is suffered by
Christians throughout the world.
The state of Orissa in eastern India is a case in point. It has now
erupted in a blaze of anti-Christian violence for the second time in twelve
months. The litany of events is depressing: As of mid-October 2008 over a
hundred people were reported either dead or missing (official Church
figures put deaths at around 60) and 25,000 people were living in refugee
camps, with a similar number are hiding in the jungle; impassioned mobs
had destroyed more than 4,400 houses and 151 churches or chapels; and
more than 18,000 people were injured. It is easy to be numbed by all these
figures, but the stories that make up the statistics have the power to shock
us out of our complacency, such as the attack on the pastoral centre in
Kanjamindi. Sister Mina Barua, was publicly gang raped while the centre’s
director, Father Thomas, was seriously beaten before being stripped naked
and publicly paraded. Petrol was poured over him, and the only reason that
his captors did not turn him into a human bonfire is because it began to rain
heavily and their matches would not light. India is providing us with a
litany of horrors, but the secular media has had comparatively little to say
on these matters. We see the victims of anti-Christian violence in India, but
silently pass on by on the other side.
The Index of Persecution sets out to give a snap shot view of those countries where Christians are suffering, or have suffered, persecution or severe restrictions to their faith. It tries to assess whether things have got better or worse for Christians in 2007-2008.
ACN receives reports from all around the world about the state of the Church, and it is this information which has informed our assessment. Yet even though much of our information has come first hand from people affected by the situations, we must admit that this assessment is, to some degree, an imprecise science, and that it reflects our own impressions of how things have changed, based
on the information we have received.
The Index of Persecution précis ACN’s recent publication
Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their
Faith 2007/2008. This work set out to fill the gap in people’s knowledge
about a subject that is worsening because it largely escapes media attention.
The book shows that in the majority of the countries included, there are
strong signs that the situation for Christians has worsened, in some cases
markedly so – even in the last two years. Algeria, Eritrea, Iraq and Pakistan
stand out very strongly. Now the situation is so grave that one must ask:
‘What, if any, future is there for Christians in these countries?’
• In Algeria, 30 churches were closed in the first six months of 2008
following the introduction of new laws restricting religious
freedom for non-Muslims
• In Eritrea, the Government of Isias Afewerki forcibly deposed the
Orthodox Patriarch, called on all clergy under the age of 40 to enrol
for military service before threatening to confiscate all Catholic
schools, clinics, etc.
• In Iraq, a spate of bomb attacks against churches – especially in
Mosul and Baghdad – has sparked an exodus of Christians. Latest
estimates say the number left in Iraq might be as low as 400,000 –
down from 1.4 million in thin 1987. Things continue to get worse :
more than 3,000 Christians fled the city in October 2008 following
the murder of several Christian businessmen the previous week. At
time of writing the death toll stands at 20.
A common theme among these countries – and other serial offenders such
as Egypt and northern Nigeria and Saudi Arabia – is the rise of religious
fundamentalism. Persecuted and Forgotten? underlines the rise of militant
Islamist aggression against Christianity – and the same concern can be
raised regarding Hinduism in India and Buddhism in Sri Lanka and
elsewhere.
In a few countries The Index of Persecution goes beyond the
information given in Persecuted & Forgotten? 2007-2008. The world
doesn’t stand still and since Persecuted & Forgotten? 2007-2008 was put
to the press the situations have moved on in some countries. India was
mentioned above, but also in China there have been signs of the situation
deteriorating. On the day of the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games
Bishop Jia Zhiguo, 73, was arrested. No reason was given for his arrest.
(He was released almost a month later, but then placed under house arrest.)
Again the oppression of Christians was no considered to be news, even
when it involved the abduction of an elderly Bishop. No one cared about a
new human rights abuse in China even when the eyes of the whole world
were focused on Beijing.
The Church in the UK continues to be shocked by such events, and
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, had
this to say about Persecuted and Forgotten?:
The reports in this book make very disturbing reading, but I am grateful to the
charity Aid to the Church in Need for highlighting the plight of Christians around
the world. Persecuted and Forgotten? 2007/2008 is an important document which
shows clearly and concisely what it is that Christians endure for their beliefs. Here
is vital information offered first-hand and rarely available elsewhere.
Aid to the Church in Need has done the Church a great service by focussing
attention on these modern martyrs. It deserves wide readership and I would urge
Christians and non-Christians alike to read Persecuted and Forgotten?.
We should do what we can to help those denied the freedoms we so easily take for
granted. We all have much to learn from the courageous witness shown by those
persecuted for their faith and we should look to how we can express our solidarity
with all those who need our prayers and support.
The Index of Persecution provides an at-a-glance overview of the
situation in the countries, but it should be read in conjunction with
Persecuted and Forgotten? – and ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World
Report 2008 – for a more in-depth perspective of the terrible situation that
so many Christians are enduring in the world today. We like to think that
the right to religious liberty can be taken for granted in the twenty-first
century. The research presented in these reports shows it cannot, and that
unless we take up the struggle on their behalf, many Christians will
continue to be denied the right to freely practise their faith.
Algeria
-
30 churches were forcibly closed between January and June 2008.
-
Dozens of Christians were arrested on charges of ‘proselytism’.
-
Under new laws non-Muslims found guilty of evangelising Muslims are
liable to a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine of up to US$14,000.
-
The law also requires all non-Islamic ‘religious meetings’ to be held in
authorised premises or three years in prison and a fine of up to US$4,200.
-
The distribution of religious literature is strictly controlled; the law
condemns literature which could ‘shake the faith of a Muslim’.
Bangladesh
- There has been a dramatic rise in extremist activity, and Christians
increasingly feel they are offered little or no protection. Bishop Bejoy
- Nicephorus D’Cruze of Khulna, said: “In Bangladesh the Christians are a
small minority; we are afraid of extremism.”
- Extremist groups have put pressure on Christians in tribal areas to
convert, sometimes threatening violence.
Belarus
- A 2002 law banned prayer meetings in private homes and introduced
complex registration procedures concerning other religious services.
- A 50,000 signature petition against the restrictions introduced by the new
law was rejected, and its organisers harassed.
- Registered religious organisations may only rent secular premises with the
approval of the relevant local state authority.
- A quota system limits the number of foreign clerics allowed in the
country. Increasingly large numbers of clergy have been refused entry.
- Any minister moving to another parish in Belarus must obtain a new visa.
- Unregistered churches are subject to steep fines, or in some cases
imprisonment of the ministers.
Bosnia–Herzegovina
- During 2007 attacks on religious buildings, and ministers increased.
- Catholic, Orthodox Protestant and Muslim communities all suffered acts
of aggression and vandalism.
- Police are reluctant to act in cases of vandalism against religious buildings
or for attacks on ministers.
Burma (Myanmar)
- Many of Burma’s Christians are persecuted because they belong to
certain ethnic minorities such as the Karen.
- The military regime restricts evangelisation and the importation and
distribution of Christian books. Publications are subject to state censorship.
- It is still illegal to import Bibles written in local languages.
- The US State Department’s annual Report on Religious Freedom states
that since 1997 the government has stopped all churches being built.
China
- Ongoing attacks on Christians continue largely unnoticed by the rest of
the world.
- Unofficial Church services continue to be raided and religious leaders
imprisoned.
- At least 12 Catholic bishops and a similar number of priests are either
behind bars or in some way prevented from carrying out their ministry.
- Pregnant Christian women have been forced to have abortions in line
with the countries one-child policy.
- Religion was formally discussed at a plenary session of the Communist
- Party’s politburo in December 2007, although some sources claim that one
reason for the high-level discussions was the party’s growing concern at the
rise of religious practice across China.
- In the run up to the Olympics, government officials told underground
priests in Hebei and Tianjin province (which surround Beijing) that without
permits from the Catholic Patriotic Association they may not celebrate
Mass or administer any sacrament, including the anointing of the sick.
- Fr Zhangli Jianlin and layman, Zhang Jianli, have been in police custody
since May when they were were arrested because they wanted to go on
pilgrimage to the shrine of Sheshan on May 24th.
- On the day before the closing ceremony of the Olympic games, Bishop
Julius Jia Zhiguo, 73, was arrested for the 12th time since 2004.
Cuba
- Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was allowed to
unveil a public statue to mark the 10th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s
visit to the island.
- More than 90 public processions were allowed during the year at the
national shrine of Our Lady of Charity of Cobre, Santiago de Cuba, southeast
Cuba.
- The authorities repeatedly turned down requests for foreign priests and
Sisters to work in Cuba.
- The regime continues to refuse to hand back Church buildings seized in
1961.
Egypt
- Reports of Christian girls, some as young as 14, being kidnapped to marry
Muslims have increased.
- Mandatory identity cards state a person’s religion, increasing the risk of
discrimination.
- Christians have been officially banned from building new churches.
- Christians are barred from positions of power.
- A rise in cases of alleged police inaction to stamp out crimes against
Christian communities has been reported.
- Egypt’s supreme court allowed 12 Coptic Orthodox to revert to
Christianity even though they had previously become Muslim.
- The Brotherhood of Islam, an extremist political movement is becoming
more influential. It is determined to introduce Shari‘a law and reduce non-
Muslim influences.
Eritrea
- Government efforts to suppress unrecognised religions have begun to
spread to recently approved religions.
- The state allegedly exerted undue influence on the synod of the Eritrean
Orthodox to depose Patriarch Antonios. He was later placed him under
house arrest.
- The state gave orders to the Catholic Church to hand over schools, clinics
and other welfare operations, following disagreements over national service
but has since backed down.
India
- The laws impose an average jail term of four years and a hefty fine for
people guilty of “activities related to conversion”.
- The Global Council of Indian Christians collected evidence of more than
500 cases of anti-Christian violence between January 2006 and November
2007.
- Christian schools are targets for violence: in 2007, the Catholic Church
reported over 100 episodes of violence against Christian institutions or
staff, which was down from over 200 attacks in 2006.
- Local governments have seized Church property on the pretext of
returning it to its rightful tribal owners.
Indonesia
- In West Java there has been a dramatic rise in extremist violence against
Christian communities, especially house churches since 2005.
- Permissions for new churches are still denied in many areas. Islamic
extremists and local authorities closed 110 churches from 2004 to 2007.
Iran
- 'Modesty patrols’ enforce strict Islamic dress codes which apply to
everyone, including non-Muslims.
- Any public expression of faith is banned as proselytism.
- Although officially deployed to “protect” Christian places of worship,
police are present at Christian religious services, effectively banning all
who are not “legally Christian” from attending.
- More reports of violence against Muslims who convert to Christianity.
Iraq
- Sporadic attacks against Christian individuals, shops and other businesses
have grown into a wider and more co-ordinated assault on the Church.
- Clerics have been attacked: in June 2007 Mosul’s Father Ragheed Ganni,
aged only 34, was murdered along with three of his sub-deacons. Bishop,
Paulos Faraj Rahho died after his kidnapping less than nine months later.
The attacks on five churches in Baghdad and Mosul, in north-west Iraq,
on 1st August 2004, marked the start of what soon became a sustained
campaign by militia to eject Christian from the area.
- Key regions of Iraq, most notably Baghdad, were carved up by Islamist
militia. Militia forces conducted house-to-house searches for Christians.
giving them the choice of converting to Islam or facing retribution.
- Christians are fleeing Iraq. By the summer of 2008, it was estimated that
there were 200,000 Iraqi Christian refugees in Jordan and Syria plus several
thousand more in Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt. The Christian population in
Iraq has now plummeted to less than 350,000.
- Many of those remaining in the country have fled north. Reports in June
2008 showed there were up to 50,000 alone in northern Iraq, including the
Nineveh plains in the north-west outside Mosul.
Israel and Palestine
- World religious leaders have called on Churches in the West to help
Christians threatened by religious intolerance and deepening poverty.
- Emigration is such a serious problem that if it continues at current levels
Christians will all but disappear: since the foundation of Israel, Christians
in Bethlehem have declined from 60 percent to 10 percent.
- In Israel Christians have suffered discrimination, as most are Arabs,
which means they are not fully recognised as citizens.
- Reports show repeated government ambivalence in response to acts of
discrimination against minority groups, especially Christians.
Kazakhstan
- Kazakhstan’s draft Religion Law, presented to parliament for its first
reading on 11th June 2008, introduces harsher penalties for unregistered
religious activity.
- Under the law all local religious groups would be banned from carrying
out educational, publishing, and missionary work.
- The number of foreign missionaries would be strictly controlled and
unregistered ones would be expelled.
- The law will tighten up planning regulations for religious groups,
potentially leading to church buildings being forced to close.
Lebanon
- Christians experience latent persecution. In the Chouf region, where
more than 50 percent of the population are Christians, there are no
Christian employees in government
- Thousands of Iraqi refugees have been refused temporary legal status.
In April 2007 government authorities cancelled the holiday on Good
Friday, without discussing the matter with religious authorities.
Maldives
- The government bans non-Muslims from publicly expressing their faith.
Conversion from Islam is outlawed.
- Building churches is strictly prohibited.
Nigeria
- Shari‘a law continues to be applied to non-Muslims in civil and criminal
matters.
North Korea
- The communist government requires believers to join party-controlled
organisations, such as the North Korean Catholic Association.
- Anyone practising religion outside an approved association has fewer
opportunities for education, employment and food assistance.
- Since the communist regime was established in 1953 about 300,000
Christians have disappeared – they are assumed to be dead. Some 80,000
people are thought to be languishing in labour camps, subject to starvation
and torture.
- Christian aid workers are now welcomed.
Pakistan
- In the last few years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of
attacks against religious minorities across the country, including attacks
against churches and the abduction and attempted conversion of Christians.
- The worst instrument of religious repression is the blasphemy law, which
continues to claim many victims.
- In May 2007, Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore warned that
extremist Muslims were trying to force Christians to convert, reporting how
500 Christians in north-west Pakistan had received letters telling them to
convert and close their churches within 10 days or be killed.
Russia
- The dominant Russian Orthodox Church is still ambivalent and
sometimes resistant to the presence of other Christian communities in
Russia (i.e. Old Believers & Methodists).
- The Russian Orthodox’s frosty attitude to the Catholic Church is
beginning to thaw as circumstances bring the two Churches closer together.
Saudi Arabia
- In Saudi Arabia religious freedom is emphatically rejected, even in
principle.
- Declaring Saudi Arabia to be a country of “particular concern”, the US
Department of State recently noted that while recognising the right of non-
Muslims to worship in private, the regime “does not always respect this
practice and does not define this right in law”.
- Every expression of non-Muslim faith (e.g. possessing a Bible, wearing a
crucifix and praying in public) is forbidden.
- The religious police (mutawwa’in) monitor non-Muslim activities:
prosecuting those caught drinking alcohol, flouting the Islamic dress code,
or involved in ‘immoral’ behaviour.
Sri Lanka
- The Act for the Protection of Religious Freedom will impose a prison
term of up to seven years and a large fine for people guilty of converting or
trying to convert any person from one religion to another.
Sudan
- In the north all citizens are subject to Shari‘a law, e.g. Muslim women
are banned from marrying Christian men and alcohol is forbidden.
- Apostasy carries the death penalty: Religious organisations in the north
restrict their activities to avoid attracting those from other faiths.
- Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir set up a commission to address the
rights of non-Muslims in Khartoum in February 2007.
- More than 840 women imprisoned with their 160 children for alcohol
production and distribution offences were freed.
- For 30 years the state refused all permissions for the construction of
churches until it approved the erection of three buildings near Khartoum.
- Churches without planning permission, have been partially destroyed.
Turkey
- Christians are perceived as “internal enemies” leading to many vicious
attacks against Christians, including several murders, and the vandalisation
of churches.
- All those with jobs related to religion depend on the Dyanet department
for their appointment, training and salaries. Jews and Christians are not
represented on the Dyanet.
- In the name of secularism, denominational minorities are not represented
in parliament.
- Religions not covered by the Treaty of Lausanne do not have any legal
status or rights.
Uzbekistan
- The US State Department added Uzbekistan to its list of “Countries of
Particular Concern” in 2006.
- In June 2006 penalties were introduced targeting “the illegal production,
conservation, importation and distribution of unauthorised religious
literature”.
- A proposed bill to outlaw discussing religious issues outside “recognised”
places of worship, would fine offenders up to 600 times the average
monthly salary for a first offence. Subsequent offences could lead to jail
terms of eight years.
- Uzbekistan’s secret police, the National Security Service, spy on places
of worship and occasionally recruit infiltrators to inform on churches.
Venezuela
- Tension is increasing between the government and the Church, because of
President Hugo Chavez’s attempt to introduce radical socialist reforms.
- In July 2007, bishops criticised Chavez’s constitutional reforms as
undemocratic; and highlighted the increase in poverty and unemployment
and the restriction of freedom of expression.
Vietnam
- A new religious law came into effect in February 2007, which treats the
country’s different faiths as social forces that can contribute to Vietnam’s
progress, under the guidance of the Communist Party.
- Religious activities are scrutinized by the authorities (.e.g. religious
leaders must submit an annual plan of activities for approval), but recently,
the bishops have only had to inform the authorities about extra-ordinary
activities such as pilgrimages, etc.
- The law allows nuns and priests to work as individual citizens in
education, health care, etc. but bans religious organisations from doing so.
- The level of religious freedom in many local regions is directly related to
what the authorities in those areas are willing to allow.
- The former nunciature in Hanoi was bulldozed in September 2008 as part
of a Government crackdown on the Catholic Church. Communists went on
the rampage desecrating religious churches and other structures as a smear
campaign got under-way against Archbishop Joseph Kiet of Hanoi.
Zimbabwe
- Christian leaders who criticised Mugabe’s regime have been threatened,
arrested and even imprisoned.
- Clergy have been targeted as a result of opposition to ZANU PF.
- An April 2007 pastoral letter by Catholic bishops attacking “bad
governance and corruption” in the country led to retaliation against priests
by the Central Intelligence Organisation.