Peru Urged to Investigate Mass Killing of Christians and Other Civilians

 

8/27/2013 Peru (BosNewsLife) - Christian rights activists have urged Peru to properly investigate the mass killings of Christians and other civilians, ahead of the 10th anniversary of a historic report by the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
On August 28, 2003, the government-backed TRC presented a report on two decades of internal violence to the government, accompanied by recommendations aimed at achieving some justice for victims and to prevent future violence.
Yet, advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said it was "concerned at the lack of justice in cases involving crimes against humanity in Peru."
The TRC report found that Peru's conflict, which pitted left guerrilla groups the Shining Path and Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) against government forces, left almost 70,000 people dead with the Shining Path responsible for the largest number of victims.
Most of them were civilians, while state forces were responsible for 37 percent of those killed, according to TRC investigators.
Following a country-wide victim registration project in the past ten years, the death toll was revised upwards to over 100,000 victims, including church leaders, CSW said.
"Unfortunately a large number of cases, especially those involving state forces, have stalled due to obstruction from government ministries and the military. In some instances, cases have been shelved altogether," the advocacy group complained.
As an example, CSW mentioned the case of Jorge Parraga Castillo, a protestant pastor who was forcibly disappeared, tortured and later killed on the Manta military base in 1989.
The case "was archived after the Ministry of Defense and the military refused to provide the names of those responsible," CSW added.
PROSECUTIONS STALLED
Additionally, "Prosecutions of those responsible for massacres, including the extra-judicial execution of six young men during a church service in 1984 in the hamlet of Callqui and the murder of 123 civilians including infants and the elderly in the community of Putis in the same year, have stalled in the courts due to lack of cooperation by the Ministry of Defense and the military," the group said.
Officials had no immediate comment, though they have made clear they take the massacres seriously(Source).

Secrets ft. J.R.

Many of our sisters in Christ get raped in countries where they are violently persecuted. Here is a song about the affects of rape on the rape victim and the cure which is ultimately the gospel.

Christian Mother Kidnapped and Sexually Abused by al-Shabaab in Somalia

 

8/30/2013 Somalia (Christian Today) - Suspected al-Shabaab militants in Somalia have kidnapped and sexually abused a young Christian mother and sent threatening messages to her husband because of their faith.

Shamsa Enow Hussein (28), who has two daughters, aged 5 and 3, was abducted outside her home in Bulo Marer by three masked men on 5 August.
Her husband, Mohamed Isse Osman (31), told Morning Star News that he heard his wife and children screaming as he approached the house.

His captured wife was able to send him a text message that night; it said: "Please leave immediately because of what we believe. They have abused me sexually saying I am an infidel."
Mohamed heeded her call, taking their two children to another town. He has received threatening text messages from Shamsa’s kidnappers, one of which said: "Your wife has told us all about your Christian involvement and soon we shall come for you too."

Al-Shabaab reportedly has a base in Bulo Marer. The Islamist militant group is fighting against the Somali government; it did control much of the south of the country but lost control of several areas following military intervention by neighbouring Kenya and other African Union troops. Al-Shabaab’s battle against Somali Christians, however, shows no sign of weakening. They monitor those suspected of having converted from Islam and kill them(Source).

Persecuted Indonesian Pastor Faces False Criminal Charges by Radical Muslim

What else is new in the Muslim World?

8/26/2013 Indonesia (WWM) - An Indonesian pastor remains in a tortured psychological state as a legal case against him lingers on.
Palti Panjaitan, who runs the HKBP Filadelfia church in the village of Jejalen Jaya, east of Bekasi, was accused by an Islamic leader of assaulting him on Christmas Eve of last year.
The pastor has always maintained that he did not assault Abdul Aziz Bin Naimun and was in fact the subject of intimidation and death threats by his accuser.
However, some eight months after the incident, the case goes on and the pastor was deemed too psychologically fragile to attend his latest hearing last month.
The Asian Human Rights Commission wrote a letter to the Indonesian national police on August 22 imploring them to drop all charges against the pastor and questioning the logic of the local police.
The AHRC stated the case against Panjaitan was “fabricated” and “lacking evidence”.
“With no evidence to support the case against Rev. Panjaitan, we are questioning the legal and moral reasoning of your officers at Bekasi District Police in being so persistent in this case,” AHRC wrote.
The human rights group also claimed the pastor was “more a victim than a perpetrator of a crime”, referencing the hostility of many local residents against the pastor and his congregation.
This position was seconded by Panjaitan’s lawyer, Thomas Tampubolon, who said at a July 29 press conference that there was no case to answer.
Panjaitan, who was questioned twice by police, said he acted in self-defense and that his accuser was only trying to defame him.
“It is slander,” he said. “Abdul Aziz, with [other] Islamic hard-liners, tried to gang up on me. When he approached, I held him [with] both hands in order to protect myself and my wife. That's the truth.”
The pastor also said Aziz and others had prevented members of his congregation from reaching the church on Christmas Eve and had pelted them with rotten eggs, animal faeces and raw sewage.
A separate case has been filed against Aziz, who was accused of “committing unpleasant acts” – the very same accusation that Panjaitan faces. The crime carries a penalty of up to one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 300,000 Indonesian rupiahs, or US $30.
Aziz faced additional charges of hampering a religious service and making death threats, but these were later dropped. He admitted saying to the pastor: “I’m going to cut your throat.” However, he claimed he was not aware he acted illegally and the charges were dropped.
Both Panjaitan and the Asian Human Rights Commission have questioned whether the local police have bowed to popular pressure by refusing to close the case against the pastor(Source).