On June 26, Christians in a village in Bangladesh’s Nilphamari district was attacked by an angry mob. Carrying bricks and wooden clubs, the mob viciously bashed 10 Christians, and threatened many more. The mob gave the villagers an ultimatum to leave the area by June 28, or face further punishment. Death threats were also made against two of the Christians. A human rights advocate heard of these beatings and travelled to the village to find men and women bound with ropes to their houses and seriously wounded. Several of the victims needed hospital treatment and one house was destroyed.

These attacks came after 42 men and women were baptized in the local river on June 12. All those baptized as Christians were from Muslim backgrounds. In retaliation for the conversions, the local authorities at the mosque prevented the Christians from using the village tube-well, the town’s only source of potable water. Christians instead had to walk 600 metres to the nearest river and carry water back to their houses.

After initially being refused help by local and state police, a retired government official intervened and a temporary protection force was deployed to the area so that Christians could live in their homes and work in the fields. The children of the converts were also prevented from attending the local Islamic school.

Although the deployment was supposed to stay for three months, it withdrew after a week. Consequently, further attacks on individuals occurred in mid-July.

Persecution in Bangladesh has risen since the war in Iraq, with Islamic militants taking out anger on the "religion of the West", Christianity. Being a Christian in Bangladesh has become very dangerous, with constant fear of persecution the norm.

The Hindu nationalist government in Gujarat state, India, has resumed the secret survey of Christian institutions it began eight years ago. Police in Ahmedabad have interrogated workers from several Christian institutions, including Operation Mobilisation, Church of North India, and the Salvation Army.

There are fears the data collected could be used by extremists to coordinate attacks on religious minorities. The All India Christian Council (AICC) filed a petition with the Gujarat High Court, and on July 2 the court took note of the survey.

Meanwhile, two Catholic nuns who taught in a girls’ school and hostel have been arrested in Mayurbhanj district in Orissa. Sister Mary Sebastine, 57, and Sister Prema Thomas, 62, of St Ann’s Sisters of Bangalore, were taken into custody by police at 5am on July 28. In a breach of protocol and local law, the nuns were arrested between sunrise and sunset, and no female constables were present during their arrest. Charges of forcible conversions and torturing students were laid against them.

Last April, a group of 45 Christians attempting to change their religious identity from ‘Muslim’ to ‘Christian’ through the Egyptian courts were told that if they left Islam they had committed apostasy – a ruling made on the basis of Islamic sharia law, not the Egyptian constitution. Local Christians are pleased that the group has now been granted a retrial on the issue. All 45 of the plaintiffs wish to convert, or in some cases return, to Christianity.

The Supreme Court ruled in favour of a retrial after concluding that Egypt’s civil law actually contained no trace of ridda, or abandoning Islam. (Under Islamic law ridda is punishable by death.) The Supreme Court set 1 September 2007 as the date they will hear the Copts’ case.

The case sparked public debate over Islamic rule versus secular law in Egypt. While international pressure urges Egypt to sustain a civil, secular democracy, a large number of Egypt’s Muslim majority want the law to err on the side of Islamic rule. In any event, "it proves there is still a window of freedom in Egypt," says Ramsis al-Naggar, the Coptic lawyer who represented 12 of the plaintiffs. Christians in Egypt and abroad anticipate the final results of the case, as the decision will heavily influence the lives of many Christians living in Egypt. A positive outcome in the Supreme Court could help to reinforce religious freedom for Egyptian Christians. It will also prove to the international community that Egypt intends to uphold the laws its constitution guarantees.

Baptists who refused to pay fines for holding worship services in their homes have been told their homes will be seized and sold to cover the penalties. One Baptist pastor with 12 children, Viktor Kandyba, was convicted of "leading unregistered worship". He may lose half his home and may face further penalties for obstructing a court order.

Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Razak, stated publicly in mid-July that Malaysia is an Islamic state and not a secular one – although he assured members of minority faiths that their rights will be protected. More than 60% of Malaysia’s population of 27 million are Muslim, and Islam is the official religion under the country’s constitution. However, lawyers and rights groups have argued that Malaysia is a secular state and should be ruled by the constitution.

Najib Razak’s controversial comments come in the wake of the court decision against Lina Joy, a former Muslim whose bid for legal recognition as a convert to Christianity was rejected in the nation’s highest court in June. "We have never been secular because secular, by the Western definition, means a separation of Islamic principles in the way we govern our country," he told reporters. "We have always been driven by our adherence to the fundamentals of Islam," he said.

An attempt has been made on the life of Bishop Ben Kwashi, of the Anglican Diocese of Jos in Nigeria. Armed with guns and knives, a gang of men entered his house at 2.15am on July 24 and overpowered his security guards. They took Bishop Ben outside and told him they would kill him. Then, inexplicably, the men changed their minds, and decided to go back inside and search the house for valuables. Bishop Ben’s teenage son Rinji was physically assaulted by the men.

This was the second such invasion of Bishop Ben’s home. Some 18 months ago, men sought him out at home, but he was away at the time. His wife Gloria was assaulted and injured.

At a conference in early July, the Bishop said, "People will laugh at us, call us names, abuse us, but that is nothing new. The gospel is worth living for; it is also worth dying for. Persecution has never, and will never, kill the church. Conditions may be difficult or dangerous for a time; but the seed is in the ground and at the right time it will burst out."

22 religious communities – mainly Protestants, but also Catholics and Baha’is – signed a joint letter to the Tajik government on June 28 expressing concern about a new law requiring all religious groups to register their activities with authorities. While the first 10 articles of the draft law uphold the rights of religious communities to conduct their activities without government interference, a number of other clauses undermine the freedoms granted. For example, churches must have 400 members in one district before they can be registered. Moreover, all founding members of a church must submit a copy of their official identity papers to the government. Signatories to the joint letter believe that the law poses too many opportunities for authorities to reject applications for registration thus declaring their religious activity ‘unlawful’.

Disturbing reports continue to flow in from Burma. Young women have been raped and killed, and there are continued reports of forced labour, particularly in Mon township.

Burma Army and DKBA troops murdered a family of five in Dooplaya district, Karen state, on June 23. Two other children in the family have survived as they were in school in Thailand. Earlier that month, six villagers were killed in Nyaunglebin district after being accused of having an association with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).

Villages have also been relocated by the Burma army, which has resulted in extreme difficulty for those who have moved; some face starvation since there are no crops in the new area.

There is no evidence to suggest that there has been any change in the situation in Burma as we have been reporting it in recent months. The Burma army continues to oppress and terrorize its civilian population.

The trial of Pastor Zaur Balaev, of a Georgian-speaking Baptist congregation in the village of Aliabad in Azerbaijan’s far north, was to begin on 20 July. Balaev was arrested on 20 May and is charged with beating up five policemen and damaging a police car – charges he and his church members reject. The indictment complains that Balaev "conducts illegal meetings under the guise of religious activity without concrete authority and without state registration", attracts young people to services and plays loud music at services. Ilya Zenchenko of the Baptist Union said that "this is the opinion of the police and representatives of the authorities, not of the [ethnic] Georgian residents of the village, who support Zaur and do not regard him as a 'dangerous person'."

Chinese house church activist Hua Huiqi was released on July 26 after serving six months in prison for "intervening in public affairs". Neither his wife nor his lawyer were permitted to attend the secret court hearing, which occurred on June 4. His six-month sentence was handed down, but Hua had already served five months by that time. Hua Huiqi was known for his ministry to persecuted Christians and oppressed peasants.

In spite of this one release, China continues to crack down on "illegal" church activity. On July 11, government officials, police and a committee of the Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) raided a vacation bible school conducted by the Zhongzhuang house church in Jianhu city, Jiangsu province. Eight people were taken from the church, including the pastor. Several church workers required hospitalization after they were assaulted and injured by officials, and one church worker lost consciousness for half an hour. The 150 children present were traumatized by the violence and were sent home.

The church’s leader, Zeng Zhengliang, used to be a respected pastor in the local TSPM (state-controlled) church, but was forced to leave after disagreeing with the government’s theology. On leaving the TSPM he planted the Zhongzhuang house church.

Meanwhile, Christians in China expect further persecution in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics in August 2008. Some 100 foreign Christians were deported from China between April and June this year, said a report from the US-based China Aid Association. The orchestrated campaign of expulsions, called "Typhoon No. 5", targeted foreigners working in universities, hospitals, orphanages and business ventures throughout China.

In addition, Chinese Christians are reporting a shortage of Bibles, even in cities where Bibles were previously available. However, the state-run China Christian Council (CCC) claims the Amity Press – the only legal publisher of Bibles in China – is producing enough to meet demand.

In July, 23 members of a South Korean aid team were taken captive by Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, and two killed when the Afghan government failed to make a prisoner exchange. 

The Korean mission team prior to their trip to Afghanistan.
Photo: Assist News

The majority of the hostages are from Saemmul Presbyterian Church located in Seongnam, south of Seoul, and at least 13 are women. Most are in their twenties and thirties and are teachers and nurses by profession. Their capture has triggered significant public discussion in South Korea and around the world. Critics have questioned why the young people were going to such a volatile region and have suggested they were ill-prepared for the situation they found themselves in.

Prayer vigils have been held throughout South Korea and around the world. At the time of writing, the Taliban’s deadline had lapsed but there was no word on the safety of the prisoners.