International
Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on May 7, the Tangerang
District Court in Indonesia sentenced Reverend Abraham Ben Moses to four
years in prison and issued him a 50 million Rupiah fine (~3,500 USD)
for religious defamation.
If he cannot afford to pay the fine, “it can be replaced with a
one-month prison term and we also give the defendant a chance to refuse
the verdict seven days from tomorrow to appeal to the High Court,” said presiding judge Muhammad Damis at the hearing.
According to Voice of the Martyrs,
Reverend Abraham, 53, is a well-known former Muslim and Christian
apologist in Indonesia. As part of his ministry, he is involved with
online evangelism and debates with local Muslim groups.
Abraham was arrested on December 5, 2017, after a video went viral that
depicted him sharing his faith with a Muslim taxi driver. In the video,
he speaks with the taxi driver about converting to Christianity and the
Prophet Muhammad’s flawed teachings on marriage.
Members of Indonesia’s second largest Islamic organization,
Muhammadiyah, immediately lodged a complaint against him on December 8.
According to Jakarta Post, Damis said that “Abraham
was convicted under Electronic and Information Transactions Law No.
11/2008 as he intentionally spread information intended to incite hatred
against an individual, group and society based on religion.”
Although the verdict was more lenient than the prosecutors’ demand of a
five-year prison term, Abraham’s legal team plans to file for an
appeal.
A Muhammadiyah official, Pedri Kasman, admitted that he was content about the verdict. “This decision should be appreciated and should serve as a valuable lesson for all parties,” he said.
In a message to Indonesian Christians, Abraham’s wife Sara Ibrahim asked Christians to “pray for pastor Abraham’s punishment to be lighter.”
Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager, said, “The Indonesian government
should revisit the country’s blasphemy law, as it is increasingly being
exploited by radical Muslim groups to target individuals who they find
to be offensive and theologically ‘out-of-line.’ To honor religious
freedom as enshrined in Indonesia’s constitution, the government must
respect all religions and stop criminalizing Christians when they are
merely exercising their right to free speech.”
For interviews with Gina Goh, Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org
For
Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, April has been the
deadliest month in 2018 thus far. Over the past month, there have been
reports of more than 350 people killed in the Middle Belt due to the
Fulani militant crisis. These attacks spanned eight states; however, the
vast majority of the attacks took place in Benue State. Of the 27
attacks that have been reported, 20 of them took place in a state which
has already outlawed open grazing in an attempt to end the violence.
This shows that these attacks are not merely about farmers denying
herders land. These herders were not denied land by the farmers, but by
the government who told them that they must purchase land to graze on.
In a more blatant show of religious motivation, Fulani militants also
carried out two attacks on churches in Benue State this past month. On
April 24, Fulani militants stormed St. Ignatius Catholic Church in
Mbalom. During the attack, they killed two priests and at least 17
parishioners in addition to burning down more than 50 homes. Less than a
week later, Fulani militants attacked and killed seven internally
displaced people who were taking refuge in a church in Mbamondo.
Below are the largest attacks that took place in April.
1. April 14-16, 2018: Fulani militants attack several villages in Nasarawa State, killing at least 39 and destroying more than a dozen homes.
2. April 24, 2018: Fulani militants attack St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Mbalom, killing two priests and 17 others.
3. April 26, 2018:
Fulani militants attack three villages, Tse-Umenge, Mbakpase and
Tse-Ali villages, killing 39 and destroying more than 150 houses.
In spite of the tragedies, there are encouraging signs of progress. In
April, President Trump hosted Nigeria’s President Buhari in Washington
D.C. During an interview, President Trump said, "We've had serious
problems with Christians who have been murdered, killed [in Nigeria].
We're going to work on that problem and work on that problem very, very
hard." This brings hope that the international community is starting to
realize the dire situation that is taking place in Nigeria. It is time
for the Nigerian government to direct its full attention toward these
deadly militants.
For interviews with Nathan Johnson, Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org
International
Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that President Trump and President
Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria have met in Washington D.C. where they
planned to discuss security and economics in Nigeria. However, during
the initial televised meeting of the two leaders, President Trump also
said that they need to discuss the killing of Christians in Nigeria.
"We've had serious problems with Christians who have been murdered, killed," President Trump stated. "We're going to work on that problem and work on that problem very, very hard."
This statement and visit took place only days after 18 Christians,
including two priests, were killed in Benue State, Nigeria, during a
burial service. The assailants in this attack are believed to be Fulani
militants. This hostile group, though only a radicalized fraction of the
larger ethnic community, has conducted many attacks so far this year,
especially in Benue State.
To date, the exact reasons for these attacks have been difficult to
pinpoint. Unlike Boko Haram and other extremist groups, the Fulani
militants do not have a defined goal or structure. They have, however,
conducted more large-scale attacks and caused more devastation over the
past year than any other group in Nigeria.
When asked about President Trump’s comment, Rev. John Terlumun of Benue State said, "Trumps'
comments were very soothing, and have given us hope for a quick
intervention in the madness of Islamic terror on our people. We are very
thankful for his help."
Solomon Musa, President of the Southern Kaduna People's Union, said, "President
Trump's comment to President Buhari on the killings in Nigeria is very
timely. We couldn't have hoped for anything [more]. But I [would] rather
also talk about what Buhari said. Buhari told President Trump that
herdsmen carry sticks and not guns, but that's quite strange… It's
strange what Buhari said because the other week he was saying that the
people killing Nigerians were trained by Muomar Gadaffi.”
It is not only President Buhari who can’t determine the source of the
conflict either. The governor of Kaduna State said that the killers are
Fulani radicals from 14 African countries. The Minister of Defense,
Monsur Dan Ali, said that the killings are a result of anti-open grazing
laws. The Inspector-General of Police said that the killings in Benue
are a communal conflict. Finally, the Director of State Security
Services said that the killings are led by ISIS. It is no wonder that
the government has not effectively stopped these killings since they
cannot agree on why they are happening.
ICC’s Regional Manager, Nathan Johnson, stated, “It is amazing to
see that this cause is finally getting some of the attention that it
deserves. We are very glad to see that President Trump was willing to
stand up for the many Christians who have lost their lives to this
crisis in Nigeria. We hope that this interaction will lead the Nigerian
government to finally respond to this devastating situation.”
For interviews with Nathan Johnson, Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org
International
Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Uttarakhand, India has become
the seventh state to put into force a Freedom of Religion Law, referred
to by many as an anti-conversion law. Christians across the state now
fear that Hindu radicals will use the new law to harass the community’s
Christian leaders.
According to the law, signed on April 18 by Governor Krishna Kant Paul,
forced conversions will be punishable by a jail term between one and
five years. If the victim is a minor, woman, or person belonging to
either a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe, the minimum jail term is
two years.
The law also makes it mandatory for individuals to obtain permission
from the state government prior to their religious conversion. An
affidavit must be submitted to the District Magistrate one month prior
to the conversion. If not, the conversion will be invalidated and
considered illegal. Clergy are also required to give one-month notice
prior to performing the conversion ceremony. This notice initiates an
inquiry by police into the proposed conversion.
Christians in Uttarakhand fear that Hindu radicals will abuse this new law to harass their community. “Almost on a daily basis, we hear about Christians being threatened and abused by Hindu radicals,” Bishop Vinod Tyagi from Roorkie told ICC. “Having
the anti-conversion bill passed will be much worse for Christians. I
have been threatened a number of times and told to close down my church.
They even told me they will kill me if I continue my ministry.”
“We did protest against the law, saying it directly targeted the
rights of minority communities and organized a rally in the state
capital Dehradun,” Bishop Tyagi continued. “Over 500 Christians came, but we doubt such a micro-minority voice can be heard by the government.”
The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has held power for
only one year in Uttarakhand. The passing and signing of the
anti-conversion law took less than six months. The bill was drafted on
March 12 and introduced and passed by the State Legislative Assembly,
where the BJP enjoys a three-fourths majority, on March 22. The law was
then sent to the governor for approval on April 17 and received that
approval on April 18.
William Stark, ICC’s Regional Manager, said, “We here at
International Christian Concern are deeply disappointed to see another
state in India pass an anti-conversion law. These laws are widely abused
by Hindu radicals due to the legal ambiguity within the laws
themselves. Often, these laws provide an easy justification for radicals
to attack Christian leaders with impunity. One simply needs to claim
that a pastor was forcefully converting people following an assault. As a
result, instead of the pastor’s assailants being arrested, it’s the
assailed pastor who is arrested by police following an attack. With
attacks on Christians skyrocketing, the adoption of a law that would
only incite more violence seems to be another step away from religious
freedom for all in India.”
For interviews with William Stark, Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org
International
Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that overnight on April 30, 2018,
at least one Turkish nationalist vandalized the Surp Takavor Armenian
Church in Istanbul’s Kadıköy municipality. The nationalist wrote “This
homeland is ours” on the wall and dumped a large pile of garbage outside
of the church’s door.
According to Agos, “The
church administration, who was studying the camera images, found that
the person who wrote [on] the wall and [placed] the garbage [on the]
door was the one who had come to church the day before the ritual and
was in unbalanced movements and creating disturbance.”
It is unclear whether this individual acted alone or with the support
of a group. However, the church is located at a major intersection that
is heavy with foot traffic both day and night.
“The Kadıköy Municipality condemned the incident as a ‘racist
attack’ in a Twitter post, saying the necessary work has been initiated
to clear the writing and remove the trash,” reported The Armenian Weekly. A police investigation has been launched.
An Armenian journalist from Istanbul, Hayko Bagdat, tweeted, “Attacks
on Armenian churches during election periods (in Turkey) have become
routine. If you ask him here, it’s Ergenekon. If you ask him there, it’s
political Islam. If you ask the other, it’s the outside forces… But it
always happens.”
The Armenian Church has reported multiple incidents of harassment and
aggressive incidents targeting community members within the last year.
Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist formerly based in Ankara, stated, “The
current Christian population of Turkey, a once Christian civilization,
is only 0.2 percent of its entire population. But cultural genocide
against churches is ongoing. One of the main reasons of all this
intolerance and aggression seems to be that political Islam does not
recognize or respect the pre-Islamic history of ‘conquered’
territories.”
“Unfortunately, Turkey, an EU candidate, has also adopted this
worldview and refuses to give its citizens a truthful and objective
education about world religions and history. And this helps create
millions of hate-filled, brainwashed individuals who can attack even the
descendants of genocide survivors,” Uzay added.
Claire Evans, ICC’s Regional Manager, said, “Christians in Turkey
are a heavily harassed community, with incidents such as the vandalism
of Surp Takavor becoming increasingly common. Religious nationalism is a
significant driver of many of these incidents, as Christianity is
viewed as a foreign religion that insults Turkishness. Turkey, however,
has a rich history of Christianity. Thankfully, there were no reported
injuries in this incident and the authorities responded quickly.
Hopefully, those responsible for this deed will be swiftly apprehended
and brought to justice through due process of law.”
For interviews with Claire Evans, Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org
International
Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on the morning of April 29, a
37-year-old Catholic priest in the northern Philippines was gunned down
in Gattaran town, Cagayan province, shortly after the conclusion of
Mass.
Father Mark Anthony Ventura was giving the blessing and talking with
choir members in Peña Weste gymnasium after Mass, when two men riding on
a motorcycle arrived. At 8:15 a.m., one of the men entered through the
back of the gym and shot Ventura twice. Ventura sustained gunshot wounds
to the head and chest and died on the scene.
The suspects fled on a motorcycle with an accomplice toward the highway heading to Baggao town.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) condemned
the killing of Ventura and appealed to the authorities to apprehend his
killers and bring them to justice.
According to the police, the motive has yet to be determined. However, according to Inquirer, the CBCP said that Ventura was known for his opposition to mining and for helping the indigenous peoples of Cagayan.
PhilStar also quoted Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay, “There
is no doubt that there is a disturbing trend of church people being
persecuted for their stance and involvement in human rights.”
In a statement, Tuguegarao Archbishop Sergio Utleg called the death of Ventura a “brutal and cowardly act.” Utleg stressed, “We
just lost a young priest, zealous and dedicated, one who smelled like
his sheep, to an assassin’s bullet right after he said Mass and was
baptizing children. Let us offer our prayers for him, for his bereaved
family, and the lay faithful of our beloved Archdiocese.”
This is the second time that a Catholic priest was killed in Luzon
during the last five months. Father Marcelito Paez, a 72-year-old
retired Catholic priest, was fatally shot by unidentified gunmen last
December, just a few hours after he facilitated the release of a
political prisoner in Cabanatuan. His case remains unresolved.
Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager, said, “The deliberate attack on
Catholic priests in the Philippines is wicked and disheartening.
Religious clergy should be able to perform their duty and engage in
community work without fear, yet their lives were cut short for their
dedication to the people they served. ICC condemns the killing of Father
Ventura and calls for the government of the Philippines to bring
justice to the slain. The country should not add another name to the
list of murders carried out with impunity.”
For interviews with Gina Goh, Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org
International
Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that hundreds of protesters stormed
the Plateau State House of Assembly in the early hours of Thursday,
April 12 to stage a peaceful rally against Fulani militant attacks. The
Internally Displaced Women of Daffo District of Bokkos Local Government
Area (LGA), a Fulani militant victims group, and others gathered outside
of the Plateau State House in order to protest the killing of men,
women, and children by Fulani militants in their homeland.
The women alone, numbering over 100, were dressed in black and carrying
placards that read phrases such as, “JUSTICE4DAFFO,” “Arrest and
Prosecute Killer Herdsmen,” “Ransack Fulani Settlements,” “Where Is
State Emergency Management Agency,” and “We Have Been Made IDPs in Our
Homeland,” among many others. Many of these statements were meant as
demands presented to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly.
Mrs. Comfort Matawal, the leader of the group, said in a letter to the House, “It
is no longer news that Daffo District in Bokkos Local Government Area
of Plateau State was recently hit by violent attacks by persons believed
to be Fulani herdsmen that have been residents in the communities for
years. This has led to 32 deaths, 10 severely injured, 10 missing
persons, and over 7000 displaced.” However, Bokkos isn’t the only
LGA affected in Plateau State either. There have been at least 20
attacks in the state that have killed more than 100 people in 2018.
Another group that was present at the protest was the Middle-Belt Youth
Arise group. This is a group that represents the young men of Plateau
State. The spokesperson of the group, John Eche, said, “We are
saying enough is enough. All ad hoc military operations in Nigeria
henceforth should have a time limit. Our military is mighty. They have
good track records. They go on peace-keeping abroad and everything goes
fine. We call on them to be patriotic. The youth further call on [the]
federal government to immediately end the rising pogrom, and ensure
arrest and prosecution of perpetrators of the heinous crimes and bring
them to justice.”
In response to the protestors, the Speaker of the House, Hon. Peter
Azi, commended the groups for staging a peaceful rally to demonstrate
their concerns. He stated, “The government of Plateau State is
trying its best to ensure that the security issue is resolved based on
its five pillar thrusts, of which security is one.” He continued, “As a House, we will relay all your demands to the Executive Governor of Plateau State for necessary actions.”
ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Nathan Johnson, stated, “If this
violence does not cease, the devastation will only continue to grow.
The Nigerian government, as well as the international community, must
stand with the women of Daffo and the youth of Nigeria. We must demand
an end to the violence, and for the government to help rebuild these
communities that have been destroyed.”
For interviews with Nathan Johnson, Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org
