Persecution Around the World

From International Christian Concern

9/21/06 Indonesia (ICC) Indonesian Christians Executed -- The three Christian men facing the death penalty in Indonesia have been executed by firing squad. The men were executed just after midnight on Friday, September 22, 2006, Indonesia time.

9/15/06 Somalia (ANS) Convert from Islam to Christianity Killed in Somalia -- Somali Christian sources report that Ali Mustaf Maka'il, a college student and cloth merchant, who converted from Islam to Christianity eleven months ago, was shot and killed in the Manabolyo quarter of Mogadishu

9/16/06 Palestine (AsiaNews) Two Churches Struck In Nablus As Muslim Countries Criticize Pope – As Muslims persist in heaping criticism on the pope’s speech in Regensburg, there have been elements of violence. There is also speculation about political exploitation of the criticisms leveled against the pontiff.

9/16/06 India (BosNewsLife) India Hindu Militants Attack House Church As Violence Spreads – Dozens of Hindu militants stormed a house church in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, where several other Christian gatherings were attacked earlier in the week

9/17/06 Somalia (Christian Post) Italian Nun Slain by Somali Gunmen -- Sister Leonella was shot in the back four times by pistol-wielding attackers as she left the Austrian-run S.O.S. hospital after finishing nursing school for trainee medics. Her bodyguard was also slain. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which came just hours after a leading Somali cleric condemned the pope's remarks last week on Islam and violence

9/18/06 India (Evangelical Fellowship of India) Attack on Church Building and Christians in Amritsar, Punjab -- Uday Singh, the priest of the Church stated that some unscrupulous persons had entered the Church and indulged in an act of sacrilege of historic and religious items, including the holy book

9/18/06 Islam (Dailymail.com) Al Qaeda threat to 'slit throats of worshippers of the cross' -- Al Qaeda militants in Iraq vowed war on "worshippers of the cross" and protesters burned a papal effigy on Monday over Pope Benedict's comments on Islam.

9/18/06 Uzbekistan (Church Leadership Development International) Government Clamps Down on Religious Freedom -- Pastor Seeks Refugee Status -- Sergey Khripunov a citizen of Uzbekistan who serves as a pastor overseeing five churches and is Church Leadership Development International’s (CLDI) key ministry contact in Central Asia, was illegally deported from his own country.

9/19/06 Pakistan (AsiaNews) Young Christian Arrested For Blasphemy – The boy was arrested for allegedly tearing pages from a tafseer, a book explaining the Quranic verses. Both have been charged under section 295B of Pakistan’s Penal Code, better known as the blasphemy laws, which stipulate life imprisonment for those who desecrate the Koran.

9/20/06 Eritrea (Compass Direct News) Eritrea Orders Protestant Assets Confiscated – The Eritrean government demanded this month that the Kale Hiwot Church surrender all its property and physical assets to the government.

9/21/06 Indonesia (WorldNetDaily) Machete Attack Survivor Working On Rehab -- The only survivor of a machete attack by radical Muslims on four Christian high school girls successfully has had surgery on her massive injury, and officials say they are working on additional treatments for her.

9/21/06 Nigeria (This Day) Muslim Youths Burn Churches -- Irate Muslim youths went on rampage yesterday in Dutse, Jigawa State capital, setting ablaze and looting 10 churches belonging to different denominations. However, no life was lost, even as the Police seemed helpless in stopping the rampaging youths.

9/21/06 India (ICC) Pastor’s Family, Christian School Attacked In Two Separate Incidents -- A pastor and his wife were beaten up by a mob of about 40 people near Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka state, while a Christian school in the city was attacked three days later.

9/21/06 Cuba (BosNewsLife) Cuba Christian Rights Activist Biscet "Tortured" in Prison -- Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet said the government of the Communist island "tortured me during eight years; they have done so trying to drive me insane though, thank God, I have been able to preserve my sanity…" Dr. Biscet claimed that prison authorities and others "continue torturing me because I live in a box with no windows or natural light, no water, with a mattress that feels as if one were sleeping on a plank, a stone unfit for a human being."