Wednesday 10 July 2013

Egypt: Church Calls For Three Days Of Prayer For Peace And Reconciliation


9 July 2013

His Grace Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of The Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, has announced three days of prayer “for peace, reconciliation and an end to needless violence and loss of life in Egypt,” commencing today and coinciding with the end of the Coptic Orthodox Fast of the Apostles and the beginning of the month of Ramadan.
In a media release announcing the prayer days, the Bishop said that  “after witnessing millions of Egyptians across the whole nation and from all walks of life standing together to peacefully express their desire for a new Egypt, it is unfortunate that this unified effort is being undermined by needless violence and bloodshed.“
Egypt has witnessed several violent incidents since the ousting of former President Morsi in what is being termed a “people’s coup”, albeit facilitated by the army. The Ministry of Health has now confirmed that 51 people died and 455 were injured on 8 July outside a Republican Guard barracks in Cairo where pro-Morsi demonstrators had gathered, believing he was being held there. Events leading up to the deaths are contested, with the Muslim Brotherhood claiming the army fired without provocation on unarmed supporters as they prayed, while the army contends it was repelling an attack on the barracks and that gunmen affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood initiated the shooting. The interim president has set up a judicial committee of inquiry to investigate the killings.
A steady increase in attacks on the Christian community has gone largely under-reported, taking place primarily but not exclusively in Upper Egypt. The attacks follow accusations by several Islamist sources, including the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, that Christians were part of a “conspiracy” to remove Morsi’s regime.
On 3 July, a march by Morsi supporters in the village of Dalga in Minya turned violent, with protesters attacking buildings belonging to the Coptic Catholic parish of St George, setting fire to an  ‘estraha’, used by priests to rest and reflect, burning down the house of a priest and throwing Molotov cocktails at shops and houses belonging to Copts. Some local Salafis denounced the attack, stressing their solidarity and unity with Christians. Also on 3 July, the Coptic Catholic Church of St George in the village of Delga in Deir Mawas, Minya Province, was looted and torched, and the El-Saleh Church sustained heavy fire. Homes and businesses were looted and torched, while two Copts were injured.
In Luxor, violence erupted after news emerged of a Muslim man who died from injuries after allegedly being attacked by some Christians. In response, groups of Muslims attacked the villages of Naga Hasan and Dabaya, leaving four Copts dead and 32 injured, three of whom remain in hospital in critical condition. Twenty-seven houses belonging to Copts were also burned.
Early on 9 July, masked gunmen opened fire on Mar Mina Church in al-Manakh, Port Said, but escaped before they could be apprehended by the police and army, who were quickly at the scene. On 6 July, in Masaeed in North Sinai, a priest named Father Mina Abboud Sharoubim was driving his car when he was stopped by armed assailants and shot nine times, thrice in the leg and six times in the head and chest. He later died from internal bleeding.
Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), said, “We extend our condolences to the families who lost loved ones in violence over the past few days in Egypt. It is important that those responsible for the violence at the Republican Guard barracks are held to account; equally, those who are perpetrating attacks against the Christian community must be apprehended and charged. We stand in solidarity with Egyptians as they pray for their country at this critical time in their nation’s journey to full democracy.”
For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.



Monday 8 July 2013

China: Imprisoned Christian Rights Activist Denied Medical Parole

5 July 2013

Imprisoned Chinese housing rights activist Ni Yulan has been denied medical parole despite suffering from a number of serious health problems including an untreated thyroid tumour, her daughter has said. Ni, who is a Christian, is serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for “causing a disturbance”.
Ni began practising law in 1986. She worked on a variety of rights-related cases, including a number relating to religious freedom. From 2001 onwards she specialized in housing rights. In 2002, she was beaten and tortured for more than 50 hours while in police detention. As a result, she has been left permanently disabled and is unable to walk without crutches.
After her release, Ni continued to represent petitioners, despite having been disbarred, and was detained on several occasions between 2004 and 2008. On 14 April 2010, Ni was released but left homeless, living with her husband in a donated tent near Tiananmen Square. On 7 April 2011 Ni and her husband were detained by police and she was formally charged with "provoking trouble" in 2012.
In October 2012 Ni’s family and lawyer submitted an application for medical parole which the authorities rejected in March 2013. On a visit to Ni in June this year, her daughter noticed that an untreated thyroid tumour detected in 2012 had swollen considerably.
In December 2011 Ni was awarded the Dutch Government’s Tulip Award for Human Rights Defenders following her nomination by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and China Aid. Her daughter, who planned to attend the ceremony on her behalf, was stopped at the airport en route to Amsterdam and prevented from attending.
CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, “CSW is deeply concerned at the Chinese authorities’ refusal to grant medical parole to Ni Yulan. CSW believes that Ni has been detained for her defence of basic rights and that the charges brought against Ni are unjust. In light of her deteriorating condition, CSW calls on the Chinese government to grant her access to appropriate medical care. In addition, we urge the government to review her case without further delay”.
For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.


Vietnamese Authorities Assist Evicted Christian Families With Resettlement

Five ethnic minority Christian families from the Central Highlands of Vietnam, who were forcibly evicted from their homes earlier this year, have been able to resettle with the help of Vietnamese authorities, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has learned.
The families converted to Christianity in early 2012. In January 2013, unknown assailants began to attack the families’ property. Over the next three months, the attackers damaged buildings and farmland and destroyed crops and livestock, as well as beating several family members. Sources close to the families say the aim of these attacks was to pressure the families to recant their faith. Finally, the families were forced to escape into the forests.
The Christians sent several petitions to the authorities during the period of the attacks but received no response. After they fled, their case was raised by local and national advocates, including a Protestant Christian leader who was granted meetings with various officials at the local and provincial level. The authorities felt that they could not guarantee the safety of the families if they returned to their own village, but found land for the families in a different village in the same district. They also provided resettlement support, promised compensation, and allowed the Protestant Christian leader to visit them freely.
If this outcome sets a precedent, it could prevent violations against new converts, as would-be perpetrators get the message that freedom of religion or belief is a protected right in Vietnam.
Earlier this month, CSW received reports of two ethnic minority families in the north west who have been summoned for interrogation by police three times since converting to Protestant Christianity in March 2013. On one occasion, a husband and wife were called in for interrogation together and were strongly pressured to leave their religion and recant. When they refused to do so, the police officers beat them. The woman was beaten particularly severely. She reported being hit on the face and head more than ten times. The blows to her face drew blood. At this point, the police released her and sent her home.
CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, “We warmly welcome the Vietnamese authorities’ efforts to resettle these Christian families and their concern for their safety and well-being. At the same time, we call on the government to take measures to prosecute state and non-state actors who are found to have violated the rights of religious minorities and discriminated against families and individuals on the basis of their religious beliefs. We sincerely hope that the authorities’ decision to listen to and work with the victims in this case will set a precedent for the treatment of victims of religious freedom violations.”
For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

Multi-Faith Network Letter Calls On United States To Strengthen Policies On Freedom Of Religion Or Belief


The US-based International Religious Freedom (IRF) Roundtable, a multi-faith network of organizations and individuals advocating for freedom of religion or belief, will published a letter 27 June 2013 calling on the US government to further protect and promote international religious freedom.
The letter will be published following it’s second annual IRF event on Capitol Hill, co-hosted by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), and expresses the IRF Roundtable's concern “regarding the current state of international religious freedom (IRF), which is one of deepening crisis.” It includes recommendations “on how the United States can strengthen its IRF policy such that freedom of religion, conscience, and belief—the foundation of human dignity—is protected and promoted, resulting in reduced persecution and repression, as well as greater security and stability worldwide.”
While The IRF Roundtable welcomes the fact that “Secretary Kerry has extended the Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group of his Strategic Dialogue with Civil Society, a non-partisan, religiously diverse advisory committee that presents recommendations to the State Department in response to its expressed need for improved engagement with religious communities and understanding of religious dynamics worldwide,” it reiterates that “it is not enough.”
The recommendations include measures to strengthen the mechanisms of the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), which “have been allowed to wither and atrophy, IRF policy has not been integrated into US foreign policy and national security, and we have not had a significant impact on other governments.”
CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, “Together with the IRF Roundtable, we urge the US government to engage fully with the recommendations in this letter. In the week when the EU published new Guidelines on Freedom of Religion or Belief ,affirming its commitment to addressing violations of this right, we encourage the US government to strengthen its policies in order to ensure a systematic, co-ordinated approach to the defence and promotion of this right worldwide.”
For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.






CSW WELCOMES NEW EUROPEAN UNION GUIDELINES ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OR
BELIEF
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) welcomes the decision by European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers in Brussels on 24 June 2013 to adopt Guidelines on Freedom of Religion or Belief, fulfilling a commitment that was made in the EU Human Rights Strategy one year ago.
As the tenth set of EU human rights Guidelines, the document outlines priority areas and operational tools for the promotion of religious freedom, with the aim of equipping the EU to support individuals and communities who face infringements to this right, addressing violations when they occur and preventing future incidents. As the Guidelines are public, they can also serve as a tool for third parties to hold the EU to account on its own commitments.
During the Swedish EU Presidency in 2009, the EU adopted its first Council conclusions on Freedom of Religion or Belief, which were followed by Conclusions in 2011 as a response to violent incidents on religious grounds in the Middle East and Africa. Following the Arab Uprisings, questions of religion or belief in authoritarian regimes, fragile states and societies in transition came to the fore with an explicit need for the EU to develop policy on how to respond to these complex issues and developments.
In adopting the Guidelines, the EU acknowledges that religious freedom violations, committed by state and non-state actors alike, are widespread and complex, affecting societies and individuals everywhere, including in Europe. It also clarifies the EU’s own position towards religion or belief, not aligning itself with any specific view or conviction, but upholding the right of the individual to choose and change, adopt or abandon a conviction according to one’s conscience.
CSW’s Senior Advocate at the EU Sofia Lemmetyinen said, “CSW welcomes the EU’s important contribution to the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief. Religious freedom is neither about excluding religion or belief from our societies, nor about promoting any particular belief, but ultimately about creating an environment conducive to the development of democratic, peaceful and pluralist societies, where individuals are allowed to think, seek, doubt, and believe freely, and where they can manifest their inner convictions alone or in community with others. We hope the EU will continue to repeat this message and live up to this promise both within its borders and in its global partnerships.”
For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.
Note to editors:
  1. Click here for the EU Guidelines on Freedom of Religion or Belief.