According to an International Christian Concern (ICC) analysis, at least 72 Christians are either imprisoned or missing in four of the world’s five communist countries. This finding further highlights the scope of persecution that Christians face while living under communist regimes.
Using data
from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
(USCIRF), ICC learned that 52 Christians are currently imprisoned in
China, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam. Another 20 Christian prisoners
are missing in these countries.
“These
numbers are daunting yet unsurprising,” said an ICC staffer in Asia,
who added that the actual numbers are likely much higher. “Communism is
just as dangerous and destructive to Christians today as it was in
previous generations.”
The
72 documented persecuted believers were imprisoned for a range of
perceived offenses relating to their Christian faith, including
“undermining national unity policy” and “inciting subversion of state
power.”
Yang Jianxin of China, for example, was arrested in 2021. He was later sentenced
to five years and six months in prison for “conducting illegal business
operations” and “printing and purchasing illegal publications” after
asking “a local printer to print Bibles.”
In another case stretching back to 2001, Chung Yong Cheol, a Korean Christian, was arrested
“reportedly for studying the Bible” in China and deported to North
Korea and sentenced to 10 years in “a political prison camp.” Cheol’s
status is unknown.
Y Min Ksor of Vietnam was arrested
in 2018 after Vietnamese authorities accused him of “spreading false
information” about Vietnamese religious freedom and human rights abuses
to persuade others to “establish an independent state.” Vietnamese
authorities allegedly tortured Ksor during his initial detainment and
forced him to agree to no longer participate in “worshiping with his
church.” He received a 14-year prison sentence for “undermining national
unity policy.”
In Cuba, Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo was allegedly “severely beaten” and urinated on by Cuban authorities in 2021 after they detained
him for participating in a protest denouncing the Cuban government’s
abuses of civil liberties and food and medical supply shortages. Rosales
Fajardo was reportedly “charged with disrespect, public disorder,
incitement, and assault” and handed a 7-year prison sentence as a
result. As recently as June 2024, reports surfaced alleging that the
pastor was again the victim of a vicious beating “while in detention.”
In
addition to China, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam, Laos, the fifth
communist nation, also persecutes Christians. According to a U.S.
Department of State report
from 2023, Laos officials allegedly engaged in discrimination against
Christians for refusing to denounce Jesus. The statement also alleges
that “in October, Sa Mouay District authorities forced eight or more
families from three villages and destroyed their homes following their
conversion to Christianity.”
Communism
has long been known for its atheistic roots, and the reverberation of
those roots is still felt today by persecuted Christians living under
communist rule. Karl Marx, who co-wrote the “The Communist Manifesto,”
stated, “Communism begins where atheism begins.”
Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn, a Nobel prize winner and advocate against Soviet Union oppression, spoke out in 1983 on communism and its hatred of religion.
“Within
the philosophical system of Marx and Lenin, and at the heart of their
psychology, hatred of God is the principal driving force, more
fundamental than all their political and economic pretensions,”
Solzhenitsyn said. “Militant atheism is not merely incidental or
marginal to communist policy; it is not a side effect, but the central
pivot. To achieve its diabolical ends, communism needs to control a
population devoid of religious and national feeling, and this entails
the destruction of faith and nationhood. Communists proclaim both of
these objectives openly and just as openly go about carrying them out.”
Another concerning reality of communism is its ability to reach beyond
national borders. For example, numerous Vietnamese Christians who have
fled to Thailand to avoid harsh religious persecution are being harassed
and pressured by Vietnamese Communist officials who have traveled to
Bangkok to bring these refugees back to face trial.
“The
current extradition trial in Bangkok of Montagnard Christian activist Y
Quynh Bdap, who has been in Thailand since 2018, is just one example of
the tentacles of communist governments stretching their reach beyond
their national borders,” the ICC staffer said.
To see a breakdown of the numbers by country, please view the article online.
To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org.
