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Source: https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/feed/

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<title>Niger: US aid worker Jeff Woodke faced ‘brutal’ treatment in captivity</title>
<link>https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2023/04/niger-us-aid-worker-jeff-woodke-faced-brutal-treatment-in-captivity/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Apr 2023 09:28:54 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Al-Qaeda]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Jeff Woodke]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ken Elliott]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mali]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Niger]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USA]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/?p=39108</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Jeff Woodke, the US Christian aid worker who was released from captivity in West Africa last month, has told reporters that that his abductors treated him “brutally and with inhumanity” during the “6 years, 5 months, 5 days and [some] 12 hours” they held him. Woodke had been living and […]
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2023/04/niger-us-aid-worker-jeff-woodke-faced-brutal-treatment-in-captivity/">Niger: US aid worker Jeff Woodke faced ‘brutal’ treatment in captivity</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure id="attachment_39109" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-39109" style="width: 865px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-39109" src="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Jeff-Woodke-with-his-wife-Els-addressing-the-media-after-his-release-in-McKinleyville-CA-on-31-March-2023.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="665" srcset="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Jeff-Woodke-with-his-wife-Els-addressing-the-media-after-his-release-in-McKinleyville-CA-on-31-March-2023.jpg 865w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Jeff-Woodke-with-his-wife-Els-addressing-the-media-after-his-release-in-McKinleyville-CA-on-31-March-2023-300x231.jpg 300w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Jeff-Woodke-with-his-wife-Els-addressing-the-media-after-his-release-in-McKinleyville-CA-on-31-March-2023-768x590.jpg 768w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Jeff-Woodke-with-his-wife-Els-addressing-the-media-after-his-release-in-McKinleyville-CA-on-31-March-2023-72x55.jpg 72w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Jeff-Woodke-with-his-wife-Els-addressing-the-media-after-his-release-in-McKinleyville-CA-on-31-March-2023-585x450.jpg 585w" sizes="(max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-39109" class="wp-caption-text">Jeff Woodke and his wife Els addressing the media in McKinleyville, CA, on 31 March 2023. (Photo taken from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGJkZ3344og">YouTube video</a>)</figcaption></figure>
Jeff Woodke, the US Christian aid worker who was released from captivity in West Africa last month, has told reporters that that his abductors treated him “brutally and with inhumanity” during the “6 years, 5 months, 5 days and [some] 12 hours” they held him.
Woodke had been living and working in the region since 1992 when he was <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2016/10/kidnap-in-niger-of-us-missionary-a-terrible-tragedy/">abducted</a> from his home in Abalak, northern Niger, in 2016.
He was taken by the militant Islamist group Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, an al-Qaeda affiliate, he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGJkZ3344og">told reporters</a> during a press conference in his home town McKinleyville, California, 11 days after his release.
During the “6 years, 5 months, 5 days and some 12 hours” that they held him “against his will” he said he repeatedly feared he would never see his family again.
Particularly in the last year he had given up, he said. “After my fifth year I lost all hope and began a hunger strike in order to secure better treatment and be able to communicate with my family in country,” he said. “This corresponded with an increase in activity to negotiate my release, or so I was informed by JNIM.
Woodke was <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2023/03/niger-us-aid-worker-jeff-woodke-released/">released</a> on the morning of 20 March together with French journalist Olivier Dubois and met by “special forces from a third party nation” in a remote desert location. From there he was taken to Niger’s capital Niamey for medical checks.
“I was treated brutally and with inhumanity during my captivity,” Woodke said. From the day he was captured, on 14 October 2016, he had been “held continuously in chains 16 hours a day”.
“I was beaten […], kept in isolation, suffered injuries and illness which were never medically treated,” he said while tapping against his left leg with his cane.
Woodke will be needing time to attend to medical issues and injuries sustained during captivity but said he wants to help get the remaining seven foreign hostages out “because they live in hell”.
The seven include Romanian <a href="https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/09/al-murabitoon-shows-romanian-hostage-in-new-video.php">Iulian Ghergut</a>, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/german-priest-missing-in-mali/a-63832431">Father Hans-Joachim Lohre</a>, a German priest, <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/family-renews-calls-to-free-south-african-hostage-in-mali-/7021548.html">South African Gerco van Deventer</a>, Australian surgeon <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2018/01/burkina-faso-2-years-on-thousands-call-for-release-of-doctor-of-the-poor-by-al-qaeda-offshoot/">Ken Elliott</a>, and an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/three-italians-kidnapped-southern-mali-church-says-2022-05-20/">Italian couple and their son</a>.
Woodke said he wasn’t sure but that it was likely they too were in the hands of JNIM.
“I am looking forward to telling my whole story at the right time and in the right way,” he said. “For now I will limit the information I share and continue to operate with authorities to bring these monsters to justice,” he said.
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2023/04/niger-us-aid-worker-jeff-woodke-faced-brutal-treatment-in-captivity/">Niger: US aid worker Jeff Woodke faced ‘brutal’ treatment in captivity</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Niger: US aid worker Jeff Woodke released</title>
<link>https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2023/03/niger-us-aid-worker-jeff-woodke-released/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 20 Mar 2023 20:42:10 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Abalak]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Burkina Faso]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Jeff Woodke]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ken Elliott]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Kidnapping]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mali]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Niger]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/?p=39092</guid>
<description><![CDATA[After more than six years in captivity in West Africa, longtime American Christian aid worker Jeff Woodke has been released. His wife, Els Woodke, was told Jeff was “in good condition,” according to a statement on a website campaigning for his release. “She has expressed her profound thanks to the […]
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2023/03/niger-us-aid-worker-jeff-woodke-released/">Niger: US aid worker Jeff Woodke released</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19599" src="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WoodkeJeff.jpg" alt="" width="518" height="439" srcset="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WoodkeJeff.jpg 518w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WoodkeJeff-300x254.jpg 300w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WoodkeJeff-65x55.jpg 65w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WoodkeJeff-472x400.jpg 472w" sizes="(max-width: 518px) 100vw, 518px" />After more than six years in captivity in West Africa, longtime American Christian aid worker <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/tag/jeff-woodke/">Jeff Woodke</a> has been released.
His wife, Els Woodke, was told Jeff was “in good condition,” according to a <a href="https://www.bringjeffhome.com/">statement</a> on a website campaigning for his release. “She has expressed her profound thanks to the many people in governments and others around the world who have worked so hard to see this result,” the statement said. “She praises God for answering the prayers of Christians everywhere who have prayed for this outcome.”
Jeff Woodke was <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2016/10/kidnap-in-niger-of-us-missionary-a-terrible-tragedy/">kidnapped from his home</a> in Abalak, northern Niger, on 14 October 2016. His kidnappers, suspected members of a radical Islamic group called Mujao, reportedly took him towards eastern Mali. Since then it appears he has been taken across borders to other nations
The Christian aid worker was released outside of Niger, in a border area with Mali and Burkina Faso, , a US official told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/us/politics/hostage-jeffery-woodke-freed.html">The New York Times</a>. He was then moved to Niger’s capital Niamey for medical checks.
Niger’s Interior Minister Hamadou Adamou Soule <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/20/french-journalist-kidnapped-in-sahel-in-2021-freed-afp">told reporters</a> that Woodke as well as French journalist Olivier Dubois, who was released at the same time, were freed “from the hands of [JNIM]”, an al-Qaeda affiliate in West Africa.
A senior US official said no ransom or other conditions were part of their release.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan <a href="https://twitter.com/JakeSullivan46/status/1637815029272571906">tweeted</a> he was “gratified and relieved” Woodke was free. “The U.S. thanks Niger for its help in bringing him home to all who miss & love him,” he said
Woodke had been living in the region since 1992 and at the time of his kidnapping was working for Jeunesse en Mission Entraide et Developpement. He ran several development projects among the Tuareg and spoke the two main local languages.
His abduction shocked the Abalak community. “This man has lived among us for years, even when it has been difficult to accompany vulnerable populations… everyone knows his goodness,” Abalak’s Mayor Bilou Mohamed <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2017/02/four-months-on-no-word-on-us-missionary-kidnapped-in-niger/">told</a> World Watch Monitor at the time.
Foreign hostages
In July 2017 a coalition of jihadist groups <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2017/07/kidnapped-missionaries-appear-video-posted-jihadist-groups-africas-sahel/">published a video</a> showing six foreign hostages, including three missionaries, but not Jeff. Believing her husband was likely to be held by the same group, Els put out a video pleading with the kidnappers to let her husband go.
Of the three missionaries that featured in the 2017 video only Colombian nun Gloria Argoti, who was kidnapped from her convent in southern Mali in 2016, has been <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2021/10/her-co-hostage-freed-a-year-before-nun-meets-pope-after-islamists-let-her-leave-mali/">released</a>.
Swiss missionary Béatrice Stockly who was kidnapped in January 2016 in Mali’s northern town of Timbuktu, was <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2020/10/swiss-woman-hostage-almost-5-years-killed-by-islamist-extremists-in-mali/">killed</a> around September 2020.
And 89-year-old Australian surgeon Ken Elliott, who was also kidnapped in January 2016, is still unaccounted for. Elliott was abducted along with his wife, Jocelyn, from Djibo in northern Burkina Faso, near the Mali border. Mrs Elliott was released one month later but the whereabouts of her husband remain unknown.
Surge in violence
Woodke’s release comes amidst a surge of violence by militant Islamists and other groups in the Sahel region. Deaths because of violent attacks by Islamist groups increased by almost 50 per cent over the past year with most of the events taking place in Burkina Faso and Mali, according to a <a href="https://africacenter.org/spotlight/fatalities-from-militant-islamist-violence-in-africa-surge-by-nearly-50-percent/">report</a> by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Neighbouring countries such as Benin and Togo saw an increase in attacks a well.
UNICEF <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1134697">said</a> today, 20 March, that more than 10 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger as a result of the growing insecurity.
 
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2023/03/niger-us-aid-worker-jeff-woodke-released/">Niger: US aid worker Jeff Woodke released</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Egypt: Copt and son killed in IS attack</title>
<link>https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/09/egypt-copt-and-son-killed-in-is-attack/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 07 Sep 2022 13:01:01 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Copts]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Egypt]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Islamic State]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ismailia]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sinai]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/?p=39041</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A Christian father and son were killed by suspected Islamic State militants in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on 30 August. The two Copts, Salama Moussa Waheeb and his son Hany, were shot dead while working in the fields in Gelbana, 20 kilometers east of the city of El Qantara on the […]
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/09/egypt-copt-and-son-killed-in-is-attack/">Egypt: Copt and son killed in IS attack</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="getty embed getty-shortcode getty-align-center" style="max-width: 594px"><div class="attribution"><a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/689473346" target="_blank">Embed from Getty Images</a></div><div class="image"><iframe src="//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/689473346?et=I7KQzLHAS5hzabbosMK3aA&tld=com&sig=tAcYIHuCDZaTFo8AM7hOyoRXg3Y50DvIZkxmqYonKYA=&caption= false &ver=2" width="594" height="396" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" data-ratio="66.666666666667"></iframe></div>Prayers in Deir El-Garnouse Coptic church, near Al-Minya in Upper Egypt, after Islamic State opened fire on a convoy carrying Copts, killing at least 28 people in May 2017. </div>
A Christian father and son were killed by suspected Islamic State militants in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on 30 August.
The two Copts, Salama Moussa Waheeb and his son Hany, were shot dead while working in the fields in Gelbana, 20 kilometers east of the city of El Qantara on the Suez Canal, according to relatives as reported by the Coptic news site <a href="https://en.wataninet.com/coptic-affairs-coptic-affairs/coptic-affairs/two-copts-shot-dead-in-sinai-by-islamist-jihadis/39580/">Wataninet</a>.
Hany, 40, was married with two daughters.
Islamic State – Sinai Province, a branch of IS, has been leading an insurgency in eastern Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula since 2011. In 2017 the group <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2017/02/islamic-state-threatens-to-wipe-out-egypts-copts/">released a video</a>, stating it wanted to eliminate Egypt’s Coptic community and “liberate Cairo”. What followed was a series of attacks reportedly involving a “<a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2017/03/egyptian-copt-widow-gunmen-who-killed-my-husband-and-son-then-ticked-them-off-their-is-hit-list/">hit list</a>”.
However, last week’s murder also coincides with an increase in fighting between Egypt’s armed forces and IS militants who have started to move westwards, from the Peninsula into the Ismailia governorate of Egypt. While Gelbana is geographically located in North Sinai governorate, administratively it falls under Ismailia.
Two weeks earlier, residents of Gelbana told <a href="https://marsad-egypt.info/en/2022/08/16/3-civilians-killed-3-kidnapped-as-residents-flee-village-under-assault-from-province-of-sinai/?doing_wp_cron=1662481076.6044070720672607421875">Mada Masr</a> that at least three civilians had been killed by stray bullets in fighting between IS militants and the armed forces and fighters from local tribes. The army told villagers to leave their homes and move to other areas. For some, this meant uprooting themselves again after they had fled earlier violence in the northeast corner of the country, close to the border with Gaza.
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/09/egypt-copt-and-son-killed-in-is-attack/">Egypt: Copt and son killed in IS attack</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Pakistan: Christians continue to face blasphemy convictions and violent attacks</title>
<link>https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/08/pakistan-christians-continue-to-face-blasphemy-convictions-and-violent-attacks/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Aug 2022 16:21:40 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Blasphemy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Lahore]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Minorities]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Quetta]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/?p=39035</guid>
<description><![CDATA[While Pakistan celebrates 75 years of independence, the Christian minority continues to face discrimination, harassment and violence because of their faith. On 8 August, a Catholic man was killed and three teenagers injured when two gunmen on motorbikes opened fire in a Christian colony in the town of Mastung, 45kms […]
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/08/pakistan-christians-continue-to-face-blasphemy-convictions-and-violent-attacks/">Pakistan: Christians continue to face blasphemy convictions and violent attacks</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="getty embed getty-shortcode getty-align-center" style="max-width: 594px"><div class="attribution"><a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/1242449353" target="_blank">Embed from Getty Images</a></div><div class="image"><iframe loading="lazy" src="//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/1242449353?et=ml5W16n2S_1h1GyIN92lkA&tld=com&sig=Mk-GJAiSEkvKort0bMI_eH7qVjZq83WrqYTBCyx-AiY=&caption= true &ver=2" width="594" height="396" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" data-ratio="66.666666666667"></iframe></div>People participate in a motorbike rally ahead of country’s 75th Independence Day celebrations in Lahore on August 12, 2022</div>
While Pakistan celebrates 75 years of independence, the Christian minority continues to face discrimination, harassment and violence because of their faith.
On 8 August, <a href="https://www.ucanews.com/news/one-killed-in-shooting-at-christian-colony-in-pakistan/98344">a Catholic man was killed and three teenagers injured</a> when two gunmen on motorbikes opened fire in a Christian colony in the town of Mastung, 45kms south of Quetta, central west Pakistan. The victim, Wilson Masih, was the brother of Hendry Masih, a Christian member of Pakistan’s Parliament who <a href="http://www.fides.org/en/news/35904-ASIA_PAKISTAN_Christian_politician_killed_by_a_bodyguard_in_Baluchistan">was killed</a> by his bodyguard in Quetta in 2014.
<h4>Blasphemy</h4>
On 4 July Ashfaq Masih, 34, a Christian bicycle mechanic from the Green Town neighborhood in Lahore in northeast Pakistan, <a href="https://morningstarnews.org/2022/07/christian-in-pakistan-sentenced-to-death-for-alleged-blasphemy/">was sentenced to death</a> for blasphemy during an argument with a customer, Muhammad Irfan.
Irfan had asked Masih to not charge him for a bicycle repair because he was a follower of Sufi and its saints but the mechanic had “rejected his request, saying he only followed Jesus and wasn’t interested in Irfan’s religious status as a Muslim,” Masih’s attorney, Riaz Anjum, told Morning Star News. Masih was then arrested and charged with disrespecting the Prophet Muhammad.
The bicycle shop owner denies the charges and believes the case against him is based on a conspiracy between his landlord Muhammad Ashfaq and Muhammad Naveed who owns a bicycle repair shop nearby. Both men had harassed Masih in the past and “Masih believes [they] conspired to implicate him in a blasphemy case using Irfan,” Anjum said.
In another blasphemy case, on 8 June, the Lahore High Court <a href="http://www.fides.org/en/news/72379-ASIA_PAKISTAN_Death_sentence_upheld_on_appeal_for_two_Christians_accused_of_online_blasphemy">upheld the death sentence</a> of two Christian brothers who were found guilty in 2018 of posting blasphemous content on the internet. <a href="https://www.uscirf.gov/religious-prisoners-conscience/forb-victims-database/qaisar-ayub">Qaiser</a> and Amoon Ayub have maintained they are innocent. The two brothers have been in prison since 2011 and now say they will take their case to the Supreme Court.
While blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan, and many have been convicted under these laws, <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/pakistans-anti-blasphemy-laws/#:~:text=Whoever%20by%20words%2C%20either%20spoken,296.">no-one has ever been executed</a> for it.
<h4>Increase</h4>
The central-western region of the country, bordering Afghanistan, has seen an <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/terrorism-returns-to-pakistan-s-balochistan/2495273">uptick in violence</a> in recent months caused by separatist groups and Islamist militants.
Meanwhile, despite the <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2019/01/pakistani-top-court-rejects-review-setting-christian-woman-asia-bibi-free/">acquittal from the death penalty</a> of Asia Bibi by the Supreme Court in 2019, the number of blasphemy cases involving Christians has also been on the rise, according to the <a href="https://opendoorsanalytical.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Pakistan-Full-Country-Dossier-January-2022.pdf">country report</a> by religious freedom charity Open Doors. “The blasphemy laws are well known for being used for settling personal scores, making personal gains or for satisfying grudges one neighbor may have against another,” it said.
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/08/pakistan-christians-continue-to-face-blasphemy-convictions-and-violent-attacks/">Pakistan: Christians continue to face blasphemy convictions and violent attacks</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
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<item>
<title>Egypt: Father and son stabbed in latest attack on Copts</title>
<link>https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/08/egypt-father-and-son-stabbed-in-latest-attack-on-copts/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Aug 2022 11:15:02 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Copts]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Egypt]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Giza]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/?p=39027</guid>
<description><![CDATA[An elderly Coptic Christian and his son who run an off-license shop in Giza, central Egypt, were hospitalized after they were severely injured in an attack. Joseph Israel, 70, was sitting outside his shop in the Omrania district in the early morning of 28 July when a man approached him […]
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/08/egypt-father-and-son-stabbed-in-latest-attack-on-copts/">Egypt: Father and son stabbed in latest attack on Copts</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="getty embed getty-shortcode getty-align-center" style="max-width: 594px"><div class="attribution"><a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/902095090" target="_blank">Embed from Getty Images</a></div><div class="image"><iframe loading="lazy" src="//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/902095090?et=YpXh0R2CTC5SCgO8kIKhsA&tld=com&sig=_4IyS-Cl2EqLMjFFBwuqSLTmsY9UfUqDejgRR6dfB5M=&caption= true &ver=2" width="594" height="396" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" data-ratio="66.666666666667"></iframe></div>Copts in Egypt have been targeted in a string of attacks this year.</div>
An elderly Coptic Christian and his son who run an off-license shop in Giza, central Egypt, were hospitalized after they were severely injured in an attack.
Joseph Israel, 70, was sitting outside his shop in the Omrania district in the early morning of 28 July when a man approached him and stabbed him multiple times. When Israel’s son, Emil, rushed to help him, he was stabbed too. Both men were rushed to hospital with critical injuries. Ahmad Mohamed Salah, 43, was detained in connection with the attacks pending police investigations.
While they have both been released from hospital and are receiving medical care at home, the elder Israel is still in a lot of pain, his son told World Watch Monitor:
“He has at least 30 stitches where he was stabbed in his neck,” he said.
Emil and his father own the “Abou El Houl” shop in Khatem El Morsaleen street, a well-known road in Omrania district, the biggest district in Giza governorate. They have been traders in alcoholic drinks for more than 30 years.
Alcohol is regarded as ‘haram’ (illegal, or forbidden) by Muslims, and those selling or consuming it are looked down upon or sometimes even threatened. In January 2017 a Copt <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2017/03/copt-killed-in-alexandria-for-selling-alcohol-says-son/">was killed</a> in Alexandria as he sat in front of his liquor store.
<figure id="attachment_39032" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-39032" style="width: 257px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-39032 size-medium" src="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Emil-Israel-1-257x300.jpg" alt="" width="257" height="300" srcset="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Emil-Israel-1-257x300.jpg 257w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Emil-Israel-1-47x55.jpg 47w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Emil-Israel-1-385x450.jpg 385w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Emil-Israel-1.jpg 428w" sizes="(max-width: 257px) 100vw, 257px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-39032" class="wp-caption-text">Emil Israel was critically injured when a man attacked him and his father in Giza, Egypt, on 28 July 2022. (Source: photo provided by family)</figcaption></figure>
In Giza, the Abou El Houl shop was raided once, about six years ago, Emil said. “Some armed masked men broke in after midnight, took money and destroyed the bottles of alcohol,” he told World Watch Monitor.
On the morning of 28 July, a man whom Emil identified as Ahmad had attended early morning prayers at a nearby mosque, then “walked up to my father who was sitting outside the shop and started stabbing him with a knife, shouting “Allah Akbar” (‘God is great’),” said Emil, who said he witnessed the attack from inside the shop. “When I ran outside to try and stop the attack on my father, Ahmad started stabbing me with the knife as well,” he said.
Muslim and Christian neighbours intervened and handed Ahmad over to police. After the initial four days in detention, this was extended by another 15 days pending the outcome of investigations.
Emil and his father were taken to Maadi Armed Forces Military Complex in Cairo where they underwent surgery.
They had never met Ahmad before, Emil said. However, Christians who live in the nearby area of El Plastic told a local source he is a supporter of the outlawed Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement and refuses to buy from Christian-owned shops.
Ahmad’s family, meanwhile, have told the police and prosecutors that he is suffering from a mental illness. Such a defense often is used, and when successful, results in the minimum possible sentence.
<h4>String of attacks</h4>
The attack on Joseph and Emil is the latest in a string of violent attacks on Coptic Christians this year.
On 5 June, Kirollos (Cyril) Nagah Megali, from Mahdi, a village in Upper Egypt in the country’s south, was pushed from his motorbike and stabbed with a machete by a man who had a previous conviction for assaulting Copts. Megali <a href="https://www.copticsolidarity.org/2022/06/09/coptic-man-from-sohag-victim-of-attack-by-a-muslim-succumbs-to-his-wounds/">died</a> from his injuries.
On 7 April, Arsenius Wadid, a Coptic priest, was <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/egypt/2022/06/12/egypts-grand-mufti-approves-death-sentence-for-coptic-priest-murderer/">murdered</a> while walking on Alexandria’s seafront boulevard with some young people from his church.
In April, 28-year-old Rani Ra’fat was <a href="https://en.wataninet.com/news-2/crime/copt-shot-in-marsa-matrouh-local-salafis-condemn-crime/38538/">killed</a> in an attack outside his workshop in al-Daba, a town in northwest Egypt. His body was found with 22 bullet wounds.
On 14 January, 56-year-old Rafiq Karam was <a href="https://en.wataninet.com/coptic-affairs-coptic-affairs/sectarian/two-attempts-to-slaughter-copts-in-cairo-and-giza/31745/">assaulted</a> by a man with a knife in his shop in Cairo. The perpetrator tried to slit Karam’s throat with a cutter while cursing Christians.
On 10 January, 50-year-old Catherine Ramzy <a href="https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/latest-news/egypt-200122/">survived</a> an attack while she was on her way to a grocery store in Cairo. The attacker grabbed her from behind and slit her throat while shouting ‘Allah Akbar’.
In a Facebook post, Coptic journalist Nader Shukry <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nader.shokery/posts/pfbid02TUpHohn67yHDUX3xMBCrYpLa663wEpMPkDpfm9XHCcZSoEHRAH2LxywonuW9Tzhel">implies</a> a link between these kind of attacks and comments by controversial religious leaders such as <a href="https://dailynewsegypt.com/2020/02/25/ministry-of-endowment-bans-abdullah-roshdy-after-controversial-statements/">Sheikh Abdullah Rushdy</a> and Sheikh Mabrook Attia.
Attia is <a href="http://www.fides.org/en/news/72626-AFRICA_EGYPT_He_mocked_Jesus_An_Al_Azhar_professor_will_be_tried_for_insulting_Christianity_and_Islam">on trial</a> for contempt of Christianity and Islam because of comments he made in a broadcast recently. He also <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/outrage-egypt-over-statements-al-azhar-lecturer-excusing-murder-immodest-women">warned</a> women to wear their veils and loose clothing if they did not want to be attacked like university student Naira Ashraf, who was killed by a fellow male student for not responding to his advances.
Others point at influence from the media. Sila, a Copt and film maker who uses only one name, <a href="https://fanack.com/social-justice-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa/minority-rights/the-constant-struggle-of-egypts-coptic-christians/">told</a> the news site Fanack that the killing of the Alexandrian priest Arsenius Wadid might have been inspired by a Ramadan film series “Al Ekhtiyar” (The Choice), a documentary that tells the story of the ousting of former president Mohamed Morsi by the military in 2013 and that has been <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/egypt-ikhtiyar-ramadan-drama-causing-anger-why">criticised</a> for “rewriting history”.
While the priest’s killer has been sentenced to death, other victims are still waiting or justice. In 2016, <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/tag/soad-thabet/">Soad Thabet</a>, an elderly Coptic woman, was publicly stripped naked and beaten in Minya, Upper Egypt, as punishment for her son’s alleged affair with a Muslim woman. Six years later, she is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nader.shokery/posts/pfbid036PmgJobsswhk7YcwzWGgigoQGGH3EKrJJoakaBs1f8GRLrJEPBHNwYwFaTHtfZsFl">still waiting</a> for the outcome of <a href="https://en.wataninet.com/coptic-affairs-coptic-affairs/coptic-affairs/public-prosecutor-appeals-acquittal-of-men-charged-with-stripping-elderly-coptic-woman-in-al-karm/34499/">an appeal</a> of the court’s December 2020 acquittal of the three men who had been charged.
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/08/egypt-father-and-son-stabbed-in-latest-attack-on-copts/">Egypt: Father and son stabbed in latest attack on Copts</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
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</item>
<item>
<title>ICC Prosecutor visits Nigeria to discuss war crimes and crimes against humanity with government</title>
<link>https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/05/icc-prosecutor-visits-nigeria-to-discuss-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-with-government/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia Bicknell]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 May 2022 11:02:34 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Boko Haram]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Borno]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chibok girls]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Fulani herdsmen]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Islamic extremism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Kidnapping]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nigeria]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/?p=38995</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, has made his first visit to Nigeria to discuss the next steps to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes there, for which there is enough evidence for them to come under the ICC’s jurisdiction. Ten years of ‘preliminary examinations’ (2010-20) […]
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/05/icc-prosecutor-visits-nigeria-to-discuss-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-with-government/">ICC Prosecutor visits Nigeria to discuss war crimes and crimes against humanity with government</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure id="attachment_38990" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-38990" style="width: 680px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-38990 size-full" src="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Kamran-Khan-.jpg" alt="Prosecutor of the ICC's visit to Nigeria; he met President, Vice-President and others, April 2022. Credit: Office of the Prosecutor (for news use ONLY) " width="680" height="383" srcset="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Kamran-Khan-.jpg 680w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Kamran-Khan--300x169.jpg 300w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Kamran-Khan--98x55.jpg 98w" sizes="(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-38990" class="wp-caption-text">Chief Prosecutor of the ICC’s visit to Nigeria, where he met the President, Vice-President and others, April 2022. [Credit: Office of the Prosecutor, ICC-for news use ONLY]</figcaption></figure>The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, has made his first visit to Nigeria to discuss the next steps to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes there, for which there is enough evidence for them to come under the ICC’s jurisdiction.
Ten years of ‘preliminary examinations’ (2010-20) satisfied the previous Prosecutor that there were sufficient grounds to believe that international crimes within the court’s jurisdiction had been carried out, not only by the extremist Islamist group Boko Haram and other groups, but also by the Nigerian Security Forces (NSF) in their fight back against them in northern Nigeria.
However, this visit – while welcomed by some – was not without controversy. Fatou Bensouda, the previous Prosecutor, had given Nigeria – a signatory to the Rome Statute which created the ICC – over eight years to prosecute Boko Haram and its own armed forces, the NSF, itself.
Yet current and previous governments have failed to do this.
(‘The Court’s core mandate is to act as a court of last resort with the ‘capacity to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes when national jurisdictions for any reason are unable or unwilling to do so’<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a>).
It was in 2009 that Boko Haram started to carry out attacks, at first against police stations and other security bases such as Army camps around Maiduguri, in Borno State. However, <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/tag/chibok-girls/">the group really made global headline news when it kidnapped 276 girls from Chibok Secondary School in April 2014.</a> The hashtag #BringBackOurGirls spread around the world, and even Michelle Obama Tweeted it.
But despite endless promises, including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/14/world/africa/nigeria-chibok-girls-anniversary.html">President Buhari’s numerous pledges to ‘bring back all our girls’ dating back to his election manifesto in 2015</a>, he’s failed to destroy Boko Haram, nor was he able to bring its long-serving leader Abubakar Shekau to justice. It’s widely believed that, on May 19, 2021, Shekau blew himself up with his own suicide vest to avoid capture by rival Islamist group Islamic State, West Africa Province (ISWAP), led by Abu Musab Al-Barnawi. (He too now is a ‘person of interest’ for the ICC).
Far from easing Nigeria’s insecurity crisis, Shekau’s death seems to have worsened it, with Islamist ‘splinter’ radical groups breaking off and forming alliances with such groups as Ansaru (some linked with Al Qaeda in the Maghreb). Another named in ICC documents is Jama’atu Ahlis-Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad (Salafi Muslim Group for Preaching and Jihad).
Why is the ICC not considering violence by bandits in Nigeria?
The ICC’s remit does not run to ordinary criminality. The Prosecutor has seen the activities of the so-called gangs of ‘bandits’ which, since 2010, have run riot across swathes of NW Nigeria as such, and not international crimes within its jurisdiction. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/3/29/who-are-the-armed-bandits-of-northwest-nigeria">According to US-based ACLED, ‘bandits’ were responsible for more than 2,600 civilian deaths in 2021</a>, an increase of over 250% on 2020 (and more than the number killed by Boko Haram and ISWAP combined during 2021; also about three times the number killed by both armed groups during 2020).
In April this year, asked by the Associated Press’s Chinedu Asadu at a State House briefing, Nigerian officials could not give the number of Nigerians killed by ‘bandits’. Asadu attributed this to next year’s election, saying ‘insiders believe the government considers its public image first and above transparency/accountability’.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (‘CAN’) has complained that the Prosecutor had ignored the <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2021/10/26/nexus-between-bandits-terrorists-nigeria-northwest-military-response-policy/">“religious mayhem” unleashed by “Islamist bandits”.</a>
On 29 April 2022, CAN issued a <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/PRESS-RELEASE-CAN-29-APRIL-2022.pdf">press release, signed by its President Revd. Dr Samson Ayokunle and two senior lawyers in the organisation about the visit of the </a>ICC Prosecutor, the British barrister Karim Khan QC, who succeeded Bensouda almost a year ago.
CAN said that despite two attempts to contact Khan directly on behalf of Christian victims, it had not heard from him at all and that the first it learned of his visit was through Nigeria mainstream media coverage.
CAN quoted research for the international charity Open Doors’ Annual World Watch List which totals the number of Christians killed during the time in which the two Prosecutors have been ‘examining’ Nigeria as more than 25,000, at what the research says is a conservative estimate.
<figure id="attachment_35418" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35418" style="width: 770px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-35418" src="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1.jpg" alt="" width="770" height="569" srcset="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1.jpg 770w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1-300x222.jpg 300w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1-768x568.jpg 768w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1-74x55.jpg 74w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1-609x450.jpg 609w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1-541x400.jpg 541w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1-270x200.jpg 270w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-35418" class="wp-caption-text">According to the UN, over 4,000 women and girls have been abducted by Boko Haram alone in northeast Nigeria. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)</figcaption></figure>
CAN, which expressed itself as having a mandate to speak for Nigerian Christians from all denominations, clearly sees the role of the Prosecutor of the ICC as championing the cause of victims of atrocity by holding those responsible to account. Of relevance to CAN’s position is also the fact that the Court offers an innovative system of justice that grants victims significant legal rights such as to information, to participate in the proceedings and to apply for reparations. These features are not found in all national justice systems. They empower victims, putting them at the heart of the Court’s work by bringing elements of retributive and restorative justice together.
It seems that appreciation of these distinctive features of the ICC system, and the particulars of the Nigerian situation, contributed to CAN’s complaint of what it called Karim Khan’s ‘disrespect’ for victims on his recent visit.
CAN complained that, as far as it knows, the Prosecutor met only members of the Nigerian government; as one <a href="https://everyday.ng/2022/05/can-berates-prosecutor-of-international-criminal-court-for-one-sided-visit-to-nigeria-negligence/">Nigerian media report</a> put it, he had a ‘one sided’ visit. CAN points out that this is the latest government among those that have not protected the 25,000 or more Christians who’ve lost their lives as a result of religious violence. Khan, the press release pointed out, did not meet any victims or their representatives. <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/PRESS-RELEASE-CAN-29-APRIL-2022.pdf">CAN went so far as to accuse Khan as “unwilling to engage with victims of atrocity”,</a> saying it was “dismayed that the word ‘victim’ only appeared twice in his statement, and both times they were in bland stock phrases”.
CAN, however, noted that “at least one of the individuals that he met has been identified to the Prosecutor’s office as a potential candidate for prosecution. The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the government’s Armed Services, which also stand accused by the Court of murder, rape, torture, persecution on gender and political grounds, forcible transfer of population and conscription of child soldiers.
CAN‘s stance implies that, rather than holding the government to account, the Prosecutor appeared to be wooing it. There is a long history of Nigerian influence in the ICC, and it is not just because the previous President of the Court was a Nigerian (Judge Chile Eboe Osuji) and the previous Prosecutor Bensouda studied there.
Khan was left off the original short-list of candidates for Chief Prosecutor, but he was re-introduced with the support of many African countries, including Liberia and Kenya, who’d seen him as an ICC defence lawyer for figures such as Charles Taylor and William Ruto respectively.
<figure id="attachment_38103" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-38103" style="width: 590px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-38103" src="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Capture.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="374" srcset="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Capture.jpg 590w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Capture-300x190.jpg 300w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Capture-87x55.jpg 87w" sizes="(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-38103" class="wp-caption-text">A mother sits mourning the death of her husband after Boko Haram attacks at Dalori village on the outskirts of Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria on 31 January 2016. (Photo: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
How has the ICC process worked in the case of Nigeria? 
Having started her examination in November 2010, Fatou Bensouda had by 2012 already moved through the first three stages of the filter process to the final assessment of whether the Nigerian authorities were conducting genuine proceedings in relation to the crimes allegedly committed by Boko Haram, and in relation to the actions of the Nigerian Security Forces (NSF). The official reason for spending eight years at this stage is that the Prosecutor wanted to give the Nigerian authorities time:
‘The duration of the preliminary examination, open since 2010, was due to the priority given by my Office in supporting the Nigerian authorities in investigating and prosecuting these crimes domestically’, (Prosecutor’s public statement, 11 December 2020).
Fatou Bensouda noted that there were limited efforts by the Nigerian authorities to hold Boko Haram members to account, but none of them related, even indirectly, to the forms of conduct or categories of persons that would likely form the focus of ICC investigations.
Bensouda also considered that the Nigerian authorities were ‘inactive’ in relation to the NSF ‘because of the absence of relevant proceedings or, where proceedings are asserted to have been conducted, the information available did not demonstrate any tangible, concrete, and progressive steps by the authorities to address allegations against members of the NSF’.
The Office of the Prosecutor began with 38 communications about serious criminality across the country, and the information continued to come in over the years. In line with the ICC Office’s Strategic Plan, Bensouda prioritised sexual and gender-based violence and crimes affecting children.
The Office quickly focused its energies on Boko Haram, then later included the NSF. On 22 November 2012, the Prosecutor announced ‘there is a reasonable basis to believe that Crimes against Humanity had been committed in Nigeria, namely acts of murder and persecution attributed to Boko Haram’.
Three years later, the Prosecutor’s Office had identified eight potential cases involving the commission of Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes involving Boko Haram and also the NSF.
On 5 December 2019, the Office announced it had identified two additional potential cases involving the commission of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, one by Boko Haram and its splinter groups and the other by the NSF.
Prosecutor Bensouda announced the close of her Preliminary Examination on 11 December 2020, with ten possible charges in total, seven involving Boko Haram and its splinter groups, three against the NSF.
(One complaint CAN made is that this “minimises the nature and scale of the religious persecution of Christians committed by Boko Haram”).
The next formal step was for Bensouda to request authorisation from the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber to formally open an investigation but she left this for her successor at the Hague-based Court. It has still yet to be requested. Resource constraints have become a pressing problem at the Court, and a global pandemic has, presumably, been a delaying factor. However, CAN also protested that other situations that came later, such as the Philippines, Venezuela and most recently Ukraine, were fast-tracked by Mr Khan into the investigation stage while CAN claims ‘absolutely nothing’ appeared to have been done in relation to Nigeria.
<figure id="attachment_30649" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-30649" style="width: 252px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-30649" src="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/crop.jpg" alt="Leah Sharibu, 14, was abducted on 19 February 2018. (Photo from family)" width="252" height="247" srcset="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/crop.jpg 252w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/crop-56x55.jpg 56w" sizes="(max-width: 252px) 100vw, 252px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-30649" class="wp-caption-text">Leah Sharibu, 14, was abducted by Boko Haram on 19 February 2018. (Photo from family)</figcaption></figure>
Likely charges against the Islamist groups include murder, enslavement, torture, rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and forced marriage…”in furtherance of an organizational policy by Boko Haram and as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population composed of those considered ‘unbelievers’ or perceived supporters of the Nigerian Government”.
Ten charges: but only one reference to ‘persecution on gender and religious grounds’ 
However, despite the reference to ‘unbelievers’, CAN complains that there is only one reference amongst all ten charges to ‘persecution on gender and religious grounds’. This relates to the kidnap and sexual slavery meted out to Christian women such as Leah Sharibu, the Chibok girls and others.
In its press statement, CAN argues that the Christian population of northern and central <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2014/04/boko-haram-justify-kidnap-230-nigerian-teenage-girls/">Nigeria has been disproportionately targeted by Islamist terrorist groups, in addition to this specific maltreatment of women and girls for their religion as well as gender.</a>
However, evidence considered by the Office of the Prosecution has not led to a stand-alone charge of ‘persecution on the grounds of religion’. The argument of the Nigerian Christian community is that there is more than a ‘reasonable case’ that its members have been persecuted by Boko Haram because of their religion and that what has been done to them meets the elements of Crimes against Humanity. CAN’s press release says their experience has been so devastating and harmful that it needs to be taken up in a separate stand-alone charge of religious persecution, not as an alternative but as an additional charge:
“For years now, our Christian community has borne the brunt of the religious violence in this country. We have, in a communication that was ignored by the Prosecutor, pointed out the flaws in the approach taken by his predecessor in relation to Nigeria. These flaws are the result of profound misunderstandings of the role of religion in the violence that has engulfed this country. Mr Khan’s statement indicates that like his predecessor he will not take with any seriousness the matter of the persecution of Nigerian Christians.”
As for the Prosecutor, his statement about his Nigeria trip declared that<a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/icc-prosecutor-mr-karim-aa-khan-qc-concludes-first-official-visit-nigeria"> “My message was clear: accountability for atrocity crimes is essential. </a> Impunity cannot be an option….International cooperation, collective action are therefore essential in ensuring those responsible for atrocities are held to account in accordance with the rule of law. During my visit I have…shared with the Nigerian authorities my vision on the role regional organisations such as ECOWAS and the African Union could play in the global fight against impunity for serious international crimes in partnership with my Office…I have proposed clear timelines in this respect and welcome Nigeria’s commitment to conclude a formal agreement with my Office on these issues in the near future”.
World Watch Monitor tried to reach the ICC’s Office in The Hague by phone, but no-one answered.
WWM also emailed, but at time of publication, no reply has been received.
<a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> This is known as Complementarity. States that are part of the ICC arrangement are expected to suppress international crimes and punish perpetrators at the national level. The ICC was not designed to be a court of first or last opportunity, and it was not created to replace judicial systems that function properly. It can only step in in limited circumstances, such as where the state is doing nothing at all, or is putting on sham trials.
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/05/icc-prosecutor-visits-nigeria-to-discuss-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-with-government/">ICC Prosecutor visits Nigeria to discuss war crimes and crimes against humanity with government</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
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<title>Egypt: Copt stabbed seven times by neighbour who’d lured in his son</title>
<link>https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/03/egypt-copt-stabbed-seven-times-by-neighbour-whod-lured-in-his-son/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2022 12:52:04 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Alexandria]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Copts]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Egypt]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Youth]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/?p=38949</guid>
<description><![CDATA[An Egyptian Christian was stabbed multiple times when he tried to rescue his son who was held against his will by a Muslim neighbour in Alexandria. On the night of 15 February, Magdy Fathy Shehata Awad Allah, deacon at the Coptic Orthodox Church in the northeast of Alexandria and a […]
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/03/egypt-copt-stabbed-seven-times-by-neighbour-whod-lured-in-his-son/">Egypt: Copt stabbed seven times by neighbour who’d lured in his son</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[An Egyptian Christian was stabbed multiple times when he tried to rescue his son who was held against his will by a Muslim neighbour in Alexandria.
On the night of 15 February, Magdy Fathy Shehata Awad Allah, deacon at the Coptic Orthodox Church in the northeast of Alexandria and a human rights activist, was rushed to hospital <a href="https://www.vetogate.com/4532590?fbclid=IwAR2dgymBjaQvbYxeUR4nphhOIcKwb_zuV0HSL9F5OBz4oz85g0PRARLqgms">after he was stabbed seven times</a> by a Muslim neighbour, a local source told World Watch Monitor.
Awad Allah, a father of two, incurred his wounds when he tried to rescue his 17-year-old son Thomas who was held against his will in the apartment of Mahmoud Abdel Rahman Farghaly. World Watch Monitor’s source, who said the man is known throughout the community for his anti-Christian sentiments, said the incident unfolded this way:
The teenager had been out on the street when Rahman Farghaly asked him to buy medication for him because, he said, he was ill. However, when Thomas entered his apartment the neighbour tried to stab him with a knife. Thomas managed to escape to the balcony, lock the door and cry for help.
<figure id="attachment_38951" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-38951" style="width: 225px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-38951 size-medium" src="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Magdy-Fathy-Shehata-Awad-Allahinjured-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Magdy-Fathy-Shehata-Awad-Allahinjured-225x300.jpg 225w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Magdy-Fathy-Shehata-Awad-Allahinjured-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Magdy-Fathy-Shehata-Awad-Allahinjured-41x55.jpg 41w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Magdy-Fathy-Shehata-Awad-Allahinjured-338x450.jpg 338w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Magdy-Fathy-Shehata-Awad-Allahinjured-675x900.jpg 675w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Magdy-Fathy-Shehata-Awad-Allahinjured.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-38951" class="wp-caption-text">Awad Allah was stabbed 7 times by a neighbour who had attacked his son.</figcaption></figure>
His father, who was at home across the road, heard his shouts and rushed to the apartment. When he got no answer, Fathy forced his way in but was met by the neighbour and a knife. Rahman Farghaly stabbed him multiple times in different part of his body, shouting “Oh, Kaffirs (infidels) – Allahu Akbar”, the local source said. Neighbours took Awad Allah to the hospital in critical condition.
“There has been tension in the road where they live,” said the source, who is not being named for security purposes. “Rahman Farghaly owns a chicken shop where he plays Koran recitations through loudspeakers. He has been known for mistreating and insulting Christians and they generally try to avoid him.”
However, Awad Allah had never been threatened by his neighbour before, a friend and fellow Christian who attends the same church (Saint Mary, Archangel Michael and St. Wannas Coptic Orthodox Church in Montaza district) told World Watch Monitor.
“Magdy is a very peaceful man. He has no enemies and hasn’t made trouble with anyone. He is an honest church member and is loved by all, including the people in the area” said the friend who also wished to remain anonymous. “All the members of the church are very sad about what happened to him and his son.”
He said Thomas was traumatised by the event, having trouble sleeping, while his father is out of hospital and recovering at home.
<h4>Mental illness</h4>
Following the attack, Rahman Farghaly was arrested on charges of attempted murder, news site Vito <a href="https://www.dostor.org/3720643">reported</a>. The local source said he had been held in police custody for more than 2 weeks before the Public Prosecutor sent him to a mental hospital for observation after claiming he was mentally ill.
Claiming to suffer from a mental illness is a <a href="https://morningstarnews.org/2014/05/lawyers-press-for-insanity-defense-in-killing-of-christian-woman-in-egypt/">tactic commonly used </a>by those who attack Christians, to try to avoid sentencing. Also, Egypt’s security services have told local media not to report on ‘sectarian’ incidents, so these kind of assaults on fundamental rights don’t get much attention.
The story has echoes of the experiences of Catherine Ramzy, a Christian woman who was <a href="https://en.wataninet.com/coptic-affairs-coptic-affairs/sectarian/two-attempts-to-slaughter-copts-in-cairo-and-giza/31745/">attacked</a> in the street in Giza district, Cairo, in January 2020. Mahmoud Ramadan accused her of not wearing a veil and shouted ‘Allah Akbar’ as he slit her throat. The perpetrator was released after having gone through a psychological examination, despite the fact that he had committed a similar crime in 2017.
Ramzy said she doubted a mental illness caused Ramadan to attack her. “[It] was a terrorist attack, an extremist acting on his beliefs,” she told international persecution charity <a href="https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/stories/egypt-200122/?ns=egypt-191205&nst=+%e2%80%9cIt%e2%80%99s+a+miracle+I+survived%e2%80%9d%3a+Christian+woman+attacked+in+Egypt+for+not+wearing+a+veil+&nsp=2&msclkid=fae96c21aab311ec8144ea7341ea4498">Open Doors International</a> at the time. “If he gets out on the street again, he will repeat his crime and more women will fall victim.”
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/03/egypt-copt-stabbed-seven-times-by-neighbour-whod-lured-in-his-son/">Egypt: Copt stabbed seven times by neighbour who’d lured in his son</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
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<title>Egypt: Coptic Christian imprisoned for 5 years for ‘blasphemy’</title>
<link>https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/02/egypt-copt-gets-prison-sentence-for-blasphemy-in-further-crackdown-on-freedom-of-expression-says-rights-group/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Feb 2022 17:06:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Blasphemy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Cairo]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Egypt]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Human rights]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Minorities]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/?p=38933</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A Coptic Christian has been sentenced to five years in prison for blasphemy, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, or EIPR, which represented him during his trial. On 29 January the Cairo Economic Court found Marco Gerges guilty of “contempt for Islam”, “exploiting religion in promoting extremist ideas”, […]
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/02/egypt-copt-gets-prison-sentence-for-blasphemy-in-further-crackdown-on-freedom-of-expression-says-rights-group/">Egypt: Coptic Christian imprisoned for 5 years for ‘blasphemy’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="getty embed getty-shortcode getty-align-center" style="max-width: 594px"><div class="attribution"><a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/1200227024" target="_blank">Embed from Getty Images</a></div><div class="image"><iframe loading="lazy" src="//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/1200227024?et=q0887OHYRUdwhikqPEUc6Q&tld=co.uk&sig=DYC-PEfTNVIV8HKsXkm17480jFSm7npuAcjTBGVeFZ8=&caption= true &ver=2" width="594" height="396" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" data-ratio="66.666666666667"></iframe></div>A police man enters a prison on the outskirts of Egypt’s capital Cairo.</div>
A Coptic Christian has been sentenced to five years in prison for blasphemy, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, or EIPR, which represented him during his trial.
On 29 January the Cairo Economic Court found Marco Gerges guilty of “contempt for Islam”, “exploiting religion in promoting extremist ideas”, and “infringing on the values of the Egyptian family life”, said the rights group.
Gerges, reported to be a ‘private citizen’, was arrested in June 2021 on suspicion of having ‘sexual images’ on his mobile phone that, the prosecutor said, were in “contempt of the Islamic religion”. It’s not clear why or how he came to be arrested.
Other charges, relating to violations of Egypt’s cyber-crime law and using religion to promote extremist thought, were added later without offering Gerges or his defence team an opportunity to respond, said the rights group, which itself <a href="https://english.alaraby.co.uk/analysis/sisi-intensifies-human-rights-crackdown-biden-era-nears">is targeted</a> by Egypt’s state security apparatus.
First founded by rights defender Hossam Bahgat in 2002, EIPR has been one the few remaining rights groups functioning in Egypt after the military coup that overthrew the then-president Mohamed Morsi.
Last November, Baghat was fined US$635 by the same court that convicted Gerges for spreading ‘false news’ and defaming the National Election Authority in a 2020 tweet. He had previously won the 2016 Anna Politkovskaya Courageous Journalism prize.
<h4>Blasphemy laws</h4>
A law banning “insulting the heavenly religions”, criminalising blasphemy, has been repeatedly used to silence Egypt’s religious minorities, according to human rights activists and others critical of the establishment. Between 2014-2018, the country’s blasphemy laws made Egypt “one of the worst environments for the enforcement of such laws” globally, according to a <a href="https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2020%20Blasphemy%20Enforcement%20Report%20_final_0.pdf">report</a> by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Since the beginning of 2021, there have been at least three similar cases to Gerges’, in which the courts have resorted to “unconstitutional and overbroad laws such as blasphemy or that of the violation of family and social values,” the EIPR said.
“Such [approaches] open the door for misusing these accusations in breaching freedom of expression and thought, belief and creativity,” it added.
Egypt’s score on the <a href="https://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1dSk_Ifz9QIVF4BQBh30hwGfEAAYASAAEgLgj_D_BwE">2022 World Watch List</a> of global NGO Open Doors International was four points lower than a year earlier; it dropped to No. 20 from No. 16 in 2021. Even so, this was likely because of the Covid-19 pandemic and not so much a signal that the situation for Egypt’s Christians was improving, its researchers said.
There were fewer reported incidents, particularly attacks against churches, but the level of violence against Christians remained very high, they said. Research showed that during the 12-month reporting period ending 30 Sept. 2021, at least 8 Christians were killed in Egypt and more than 50 attacked because of their faith.
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/02/egypt-copt-gets-prison-sentence-for-blasphemy-in-further-crackdown-on-freedom-of-expression-says-rights-group/">Egypt: Coptic Christian imprisoned for 5 years for ‘blasphemy’</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
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<title>Pakistan: ‘Attack on pastors illustrative of increasing pressure’, say Christians</title>
<link>https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/02/pakistan-attack-on-pastors-illustrative-of-increasing-pressure-say-christians/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[World Watch Monitor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 Feb 2022 14:21:43 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Afghanistan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[All Saints Church]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Peshawar]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Quetta]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Taliban]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Tehreek-e-Labaik]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/?p=38919</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A Pakistani pastor was killed and another wounded Sunday in an attack outside their church in northwestern Peshawar. The two pastors were leaving the Shaheedan-e- all Saints’ Church where they had led the Sunday morning service when two men on a motorbike drove up to their car. They shot Rev. […]
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/02/pakistan-attack-on-pastors-illustrative-of-increasing-pressure-say-christians/">Pakistan: ‘Attack on pastors illustrative of increasing pressure’, say Christians</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure id="attachment_38921" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-38921" style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-38921" src="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rev.-William-Siraj-l.jpg" alt="" width="360" height="480" srcset="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rev.-William-Siraj-l.jpg 720w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rev.-William-Siraj-l-225x300.jpg 225w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rev.-William-Siraj-l-41x55.jpg 41w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rev.-William-Siraj-l-338x450.jpg 338w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rev.-William-Siraj-l-675x900.jpg 675w" sizes="(max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-38921" class="wp-caption-text">Rev. William Siraj and Rev Patrick Naeem. (Source: Facebook page Church of Pakistan)</figcaption></figure>
A Pakistani pastor was killed and another wounded Sunday in an attack outside their church in northwestern Peshawar.
The two pastors were leaving the Shaheedan-e- all Saints’ Church where they had led the Sunday morning service when two men on a motorbike <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/priest-shot-dead-northwest-pakistan-ambush-2022-01-30/">drove up to their car</a>. They shot Rev. William Siraj in the head, killing him on the spot. His colleague, Rev. Patrick Naeem, was injured and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack and a man-hunt for the two assassins <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pakistani-police-widen-manhunt-day-after-killing-of-priest/2022/01/31/81f48a46-8275-11ec-951c-1e0cc3723e53_story.html">is under way</a>.
The attack took place outside a church that was established in memory of <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2013/09/pakistans-christian-leaders-demand-security-after-bombings/">the twin suicide bombing</a> of the All Saints’ Church in September 2013, in which 127 church members were killed and more than 250 injured. <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/10327967/Peshawar-church-attack-Nawaz-Sharif-warns-that-Taliban-talks-could-be-scrapped.html">An offshoot of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan</a>, or TTP, a Pakistani branch of the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Among those who died that day was the son-in-law of Rev. Siraj, who was killed yesterday. He had, since then, lived with and supported his widowed daughter. “He was a very humble and godly man, and we all respected and loved him. He loved us so much,” a visibly emotional church member told World Watch Monitor.
TV footage showed people carrying Siraj’s body from the car to a nearby house while chanting “Long live Jesus Christ”, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/priest-shot-dead-northwest-pakistan-ambush-2022-01-30/">Reuters.</a>
<h4>‘Deliberate and planned’</h4>
The leader of the Church of Pakistan, a union of protestant churches in the country, Bishop Azad Marshall, condemned the killings in a <a href="https://twitter.com/BishopAzadM/status/1487765028359000064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1487765028359000064%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FBishopAzadM2Fstatus2F1487765028359000064widget%3DTweet">tweet</a>, calling for “justice and protection of Christians from the government of Pakistan”.
In a statement, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s chairperson, Hina Jilani, also demanded more steps for the protection of Christians and other minorities in Pakistan “whose right to life and security of person remains under constant threat,” she was quoted as saying by the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/31/pakistani-priest-shot-killed-police-manhunt">Associated Press</a>.
Although there had been no threats made to priests or the church in advance of Sunday’s attack, the way in which it was carried out “suggests a deliberate and planned attack; an act designed to intimidate, challenge and threaten those who offer rights, protection and freedoms to Christian minorities in Pakistan,” a local source, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, told WWM.
Attacks on Christian leaders, churches and individuals are nothing new in majority-Muslim Pakistan. The 2% minority faces religious freedom violations on several levels, from discrimination in education and the workplace to violent attacks.
The country’s blasphemy law is a tool that is regularly used, often to settle scores between individuals. The law is politically volatile as illustrated by <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2018/10/pakistan-pm-appeals-for-calm-after-christian-woman-acquitted-of-blasphemy/">threats and nationwide protests</a> during the court case against Asia Bibi, the Catholic woman who was acquitted of blasphemy in 2019.
<h4>Increase in pressure after fall of Kabul</h4>
Peshawar is close to the border with Afghanistan, and since August the region has seen an uptick in attacks by the TTP, clearly emboldened by the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, as reported by <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211115-islamabad-bids-to-quell-rise-in-pakistani-taliban-attacks">France24</a>.
The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan also caused an exodus of refugees, hoping to find safety in neighbouring countries such as Pakistan. “We have seen thousands of refugees coming to major Pakistani cities such as Peshawar and Quetta,” said a local source, who also wished to remain anonymous for security reasons. “The cities are unable to cope with such an influx and people are facing not just inflation, but homelessness and starvation also. Unfortunately, we have seen an increase in assassination attempts, families in Christian neighbourhoods who are being shot at, forced conversions and bombings. Today [Sunday, Jan. 30] was yet another example of this brand of violence.”
Pakistan is 8th on the Open Doors World Watch List of 50 countries where it is most difficult to live as a Christian but as far as local Christians are concerned, it might as well be topping the list together owing to its proximity to Afghanistan, which is No. 1. This country rose to first place for the first time after having been in 2nd position after North Korea for many years.
“Pakistan’s religious landscape and the social degeneration that is taking place, cannot be isolated and distracted from that of Afghanistan,” the local source said. “Pakistan might show a moderate face; its heart is increasingly extremist and it wants to embrace a form of Islam where the Madrassa [Islamic school] is the way to get educated, with the Quran as the ultimate textbook.” In recent months the government has ordered public schools <a href="https://www.ucanews.com/news/islamic-reforms-in-pakistan-schools-worry-education-activists/95855?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=UCAN+Evng+Newsletter+25+Jan+2022+(Copy)&cmid=f1fcc3a0-cde8-4bbe-92f2-68d2688aee35#">to implement religion-centred changes</a> such as making afternoon prayers mandatory and reciting the Quran during morning assemblies.
Following the 2013 bombings, in June 2014, Pakistan’s supreme court <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2018/05/landmark-judgment-on-pakistani-religious-minorities-yet-to-be-honoured-by-the-state/">issued a list of instructions</a> for the government to protect the country’s minorities, including the development of “appropriate curricula for primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education that promote religious harmony and tolerance.” However, 2020 <a href="http://csjpak.org/pdf/Quality%20Education%20Vs.%20Fanatic%20Literacy.pdf">research</a> by the Lahore-based Centre for Social Justice showed that religious minorities continued to be either invisible or vilified in Pakistan’s school textbooks.
“Where does this leave minority children?” the local source said. “The simple answer is this: in a queue for a visa, waiting to leave Pakistan and find hope and a future in a foreign land.”
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/02/pakistan-attack-on-pastors-illustrative-of-increasing-pressure-say-christians/">Pakistan: ‘Attack on pastors illustrative of increasing pressure’, say Christians</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
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<title>Afghanistan overtakes N Korea as most dangerous place to live as a Christian</title>
<link>https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/01/afghanistan-overtakes-n-korea-as-most-dangerous-place-to-live-as-a-christian/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia Bicknell]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jan 2022 13:07:22 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Boko Haram]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Catholics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Churches]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Converts]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[India]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Islamic extremism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Minorities]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nigeria]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[North Korea]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Refugees]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Religious freedom]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/?p=38894</guid>
<description><![CDATA[After the August 2021 takeover by the Taliban of Afghanistan, the country has overtaken North Korea as the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian, according to the annual World Watch List of the NGO Open Doors International, out today. After 20 years at the top*, North […]
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/01/afghanistan-overtakes-n-korea-as-most-dangerous-place-to-live-as-a-christian/">Afghanistan overtakes N Korea as most dangerous place to live as a Christian</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure id="attachment_38895" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-38895" style="width: 770px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-38895 size-large" src="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Afghan-women-in-burqas--1024x576.jpg" alt="Afghan women face highly restricted lives under the Taliban " width="770" height="433" srcset="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Afghan-women-in-burqas--1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Afghan-women-in-burqas--300x169.jpg 300w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Afghan-women-in-burqas--768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Afghan-women-in-burqas--98x55.jpg 98w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Afghan-women-in-burqas--800x450.jpg 800w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Afghan-women-in-burqas-.jpg 1279w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-38895" class="wp-caption-text">Afghan women face highly restricted lives under the Taliban (Credit: Open Doors International)</figcaption></figure>
After the August 2021 takeover by the Taliban of Afghanistan, the country has overtaken North Korea as the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian, according to the annual <a href="https://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list/">World Watch List of the NGO Open Doors International</a>, out today.
After 20 years at the top*, North Korea – at no. 2 on the list – faces a crisis of widespread hunger among its population, as does Afghanistan, compounding likely persecution.
The NGO said persecution rose there too during the time covered by the research*.
The reason Afghanistan is ‘worse’ than North Korea is that anyone born in the Islamic Republic who then leaves Islam commits apostasy, for which the penalty under Sharia law is death.
Anyone found to be a Christian in North Korea is highly likely to be sent to a hard labour camp – and their family will also suffer for their member’s faith – but they do not face immediate death, though they can experience that at the hands of the authorities, directly or indirectly.
The other countries in the top 10 are all the same as last year. Several remain unchanged – Somalia at no. 3, Libya no. 4, Eritrea at no. 6 and, notably, India at no.10 (due to the rising tide of extreme Hindutva nationalism).
Yemen moved up to no. 5 (7 last year) while Nigeria rose to 7 from 9. Pakistan goes down from 5 to 8, while Iran drops from 8 to 9.
The List, by recording levels of discrimination across the globe*, estimates that over 360 million Christians suffer high, very high or extreme levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith – it says that’s a rise of 20 million from last year. Its surveys and questionnaires enable analysis of some key trends affecting the global Church under pressure for its faith amidst the coronavirus pandemic and other geopolitical impacts, as outlined here.
<h3><a name="_Toc89285525"></a>Taliban takeover boosts jihadists’ belief in eventual success – globally</h3>
The Taliban’s takeover of government in Afghanistan gave jihadists globally a profound psychological boost, not least across Asia. In neighboring Pakistan, the Taliban there strengthened as Islamist groups celebrated. Others may get bolder; Indonesia’s <a href="https://www.benarnews.org/english/commentaries/asean-security-watch/taliban-abuza-08162021185452.html">Jemaah Islamiyah</a><a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a>, which carried out the 2002 Bali bombings, has ties to the Taliban.
Across Africa, jihadists frequently operate in countries which suffer from a corrupt and weak government and administration; they now see it as a matter of time before the foreign forces supporting the fight against them leave. One example is al-Shabaab, which has been fighting the government of Somalia and its allies (the African Union forces) for the past decade. Here, the “underground” Church is already small and scattered, as in Afghanistan.
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to see the most violence against Christians. Ranked on that alone, the Democratic Republic of Congo – plagued by the Alliance of Democratic Forces, now openly affiliated to the Islamic State group – and the Central African Republic join Nigeria – which once again scores the maximum points possible – in the top ten for violence. This year, it’s become clear that neither Christians nor other minority groups can count on the security apparatus commanded by the Nigerian Federal Government for their protection. Colleges, schools, churches, villages and community leaders continue to be targeted for kidnappings, killings, injuries and destruction of livestock and livelihoods especially by Fulani militants, as well as known jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Mozambique and Cameroon are also in the top 10 for violence, due to jihadists there and across the Lake Chad Basin (Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and southern Niger) and in the Sahel – (Mali, Burkina Faso and western Niger). Five of these nine Sub-Saharan countries were not even on the WWL in 2014. (Chad is not in the WWL 2022 Top 50, but at no. 63, and is termed a “Persecution Watch Country”).
<h3><a name="_Toc89285526"></a>Global Church increasingly ‘displaced’ or ‘refugee’ – adding to its vulnerabilities</h3>
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a> says about 84 million people were forcibly displaced in 2021, either within their own country, or – for 26 million – across borders. Many of them are Christians fleeing persecution: Hundreds of thousands are affected by Islamist violence (e.g. in the Sahel region) or are fleeing forced conscription (Eritrea), civil conflict (Sudan), state repression (Iran), and/or family oppression due to their faith. The vast majority remain in their region, displaced in-country or as refugees.
In parts of Sub-Saharan Africa (including north-east Kenya), research indicates that the Christian population has simply emptied out and gone. In the past few years, hundreds of churches have been closed in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger – joined this year by 470 in Nigeria alone. If Christians were to return home, it’s likely violent jihadist attacks would resume.
Once displaced or travelling, they risk extortion, human trafficking, rape and detention, especially if they ever reach Libya.
Christians IDPs and refugees continue to live in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan amongst others. If they’re a minority in their countries of origin they can report extra vulnerabilities if they’re in camps: they can experience discrimination by officials (especially if they’ve converted from a Muslim background) and even be denied humanitarian and other practical assistance. This can be true even in Western settings.
Christian women report their leading source of persecution as sexual assault. WWL researchers received reports of women and children subjected to rape, sexual slavery, harassment and more, both in camps and especially while they journeyed in search of safety. Poverty and insecurity compound their vulnerability; some are forced into prostitution to survive.
For these and other reasons, many displaced Christians prefer to avoid camps altogether, meaning they’re never registered as ‘refugees’ and so don’t qualify for food aid, trauma support and so on. Their children may miss out on education, too.
Conflict in Myanmar targets the Christian-majority Chin State and Christian minority populations (e.g. Kachin, Kayah, Shan State); the Burmese military bombed churches and also killed or detained pastors. Research indicates that 200,000 Christians have been displaced and a further 20,000 of them have fled the country during the WWL 2022 reporting period.
Elsewhere, across parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and in parts of Asia, Christians leave their homes and countries reluctantly, having no other way to escape constant discrimination and pressure in the legal, political, economic and social spheres. This steady ‘exodus’ weakens existing churches as youths migrate from countries as different as Nigeria and Malaysia.
<figure id="attachment_35418" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35418" style="width: 770px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-35418 size-full" src="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1.jpg" alt="Women and girls continue to be displaced by violence and abduction across northern Nigeria. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)" width="770" height="569" srcset="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1.jpg 770w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1-300x222.jpg 300w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1-768x568.jpg 768w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1-74x55.jpg 74w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1-609x450.jpg 609w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1-541x400.jpg 541w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Widows-BH-1-270x200.jpg 270w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-35418" class="wp-caption-text">Women and girls continue to be displaced by violence and abduction across northern Nigeria. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)</figcaption></figure>
<h3>China’s model of centralized control of religion leads the world</h3>
As China’s economic prowess and influence grows – with its infrastructural Belt and Road initiative now including a ”digital technology” component – so has Chinese nationalism. This requires social stability, enforced from above with “orders”, rather than by choice, freedom of speech or of other belief systems. Chinese religious leaders realize they must conform. New rules from May 2021 require them to “love the motherland, support the leadership of the Communist Party and the socialist system”. They must not “endanger national security, undermine national unity” or “divide the country.”
Meanwhile, new rules limit the extent of citizens’ contact with foreigners in the country<a href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3">[3]</a>.
Under Communist ideology in the Americas, the pandemic continued to be used as a pretext to surveil churches and impose greater restrictions. In Cuba, after mass protests in July, Catholic and Protestant leaders who spoke out for social justice were detained, tortured and fined excessively. In Nicaragua and Venezuela too, ruling parties promoted smear campaigns against Catholic bishops, cancelled registration permits and closed churches.
This model, if not ideology, is emulated recently in countries as diverse as Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Malaysia, joining others such as the Central Asian states, all of which have increased restrictions on dissenters from ‘One country, one people, one religion’.
Minorities continue to suffer discrimination in societies made increasingly suspicious of them, especially by mainstream and social media <a href="https://media.opendoorsuk.org/document/pdf/Destructive%20Lies-Full%20version-DIGITAL-ODUK-2021.pdf">[see Open Doors’ India report</a><a href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4">[4]</a>].
Where authoritarianism combines with Islam, Christians suffer. Instability in the MENA region since the Arab Spring of 2011 means that dictatorial measures often continue against the historic and other established and non-traditional churches, as well as against Muslim converts in particular. Algeria, for instance, ordered three more Protestant churches to close this year (to add to 13 others which remain shut).
<h3>4. Authoritarian governments and even criminal gangs continue to use COVID restrictions to weaken the Church</h3>
China’s swift and draconian response to COVID-19 is well-documented. Where the need for restrictions ended, in some regions many official Three Self churches, as well as un-registered churches, were not permitted to re-open, forcing them into smaller ‘cell groups’ meeting in homes or online. Meantime, reports from counties in Henan and Jiangxi provinces, for example, said surveillance cameras are now in all state-approved religious venues.
At the same time, some Bible apps were banned from online stores. After the arrest of one man for ‘illegal operation’ of an online Christian bookstore, officials began a <a href="https://www.csw.org.uk/2021/11/24/press/5489/article.htm">nationwide investigation</a><a href="#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5">[5]</a> into all his customers, including a request for anyone who bought a book by a jailed famous pastor<a href="#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6">[6]</a> to return it! (
The pandemic appeared to provide ”proof of concept” that surveillance by digital technology worked inside the country sufficiently that it is in demand globally, not least by other authoritarian governments. In Vietnam, for instance, state and non-state actors used COVID-19 outbreaks to slander churches, even to instigate <a href="https://www.iirf.eu/news/other-news/covid-19-leads-to-prosecution-of-house-church-group/">criminal investigations</a> against one church<a href="#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7">[7]</a>.
From West Africa to Central America, government focus on fighting the pandemic continued to enable jihadist and/or organized criminal groups to further consolidate and/or expand their power and territorial control, as the World Watch List reported last year.
<figure id="attachment_38850" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-38850" style="width: 634px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-38850 size-full" src="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Gloria-meets-Pope-2-1.jpg" alt="Gloria Argoti meets Pope Francis straight after being freed by Islamists in Mali, Oct 10 2021 (Vatican)" width="634" height="453" srcset="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Gloria-meets-Pope-2-1.jpg 634w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Gloria-meets-Pope-2-1-300x214.jpg 300w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Gloria-meets-Pope-2-1-77x55.jpg 77w, https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Gloria-meets-Pope-2-1-630x450.jpg 630w" sizes="(max-width: 634px) 100vw, 634px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-38850" class="wp-caption-text">Gloria Argoti meets Pope Francis straight after being freed by Islamists in Mali, Oct 10 2021 (Vatican)</figcaption></figure>
<h3>5. Any good news at all? </h3>
The Pope’s visit to Iraq’s region desecrated by Islamic State was generally seen as a success, despite fears it could cause a COVID outbreak; it encouraged more Christians to consider returning to rebuild.
A Colombian Catholic nun, Gloria Argoti, was freed by Islamist militants in Mali (Oct 2021) after nearly five years’ captivity. She said her faith had helped her to survive the ordeal.
 
 
*The first annual WWL was recorded in January 1993. Countries’ overall scores are an amalgamation of six different scores: for violence levels, along with persecution in private life, family life, community life, civic life and of church communities. This year’s list covers the period 1 Oct 2020 – 30 Sept 2021.
<a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> https://www.benarnews.org/english/commentaries/asean-security-watch/taliban-abuza-08162021185452.html
<a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/">https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/</a>
<a href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3">[3]</a> <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/25/asia/china-foreign-religion-christianity-islam-intl-hnk/index.html">China mulls new rules on foreigners to ‘prohibit religious extremism’ – CNN</a>
<a href="#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4">[4]</a> https://media.opendoorsuk.org/document/pdf/Destructive%20Lies-Full%20version-DIGITAL-ODUK-2021.pdf
<a href="#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5">[5]</a> https://www.csw.org.uk/2021/11/24/press/5489/article.htm
<a href="#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6">[6]</a> Pastor Wang Yi, of Early Rain Church, Chengdu
<a href="#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7">[7]</a> https://www.iirf.eu/news/other-news/covid-19-leads-to-prosecution-of-house-church-group/
The post <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2022/01/afghanistan-overtakes-n-korea-as-most-dangerous-place-to-live-as-a-christian/">Afghanistan overtakes N Korea as most dangerous place to live as a Christian</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org">World Watch Monitor</a>.
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