SAUDI ARABIA
Arrests Increase After Gulf War
Persecution of Christians and Shi’ites has grown in Saudi Arabia since the end of the Gulf War, according to Amnesty International. Hundreds have been arrested and detained in Saudi Arabia, and scores have been tortured or mistreated.
In Saudi Arabia, non-Muslim worship is banned, and the possession of non-Muslim religious material—such as crosses and Bibles—has led to arrests. One Christian arrested at a prayer meeting told Amnesty International, “[The interrogators] would punch us and become angry when we told them that we believed Christ was the Son of God and our personal Savior.” Most of the 329 Christian worshipers arrested since August 1990 are nationals of Asian countries. Shi’ah Muslims also are subjected to imprisonment, torture, and attempts at forced conversion.
RUSSIA
Wary Christians Remain Hopeful
The vulnerability of Russian evangelicalism became evident in October as the government sank into violence a short distance from the annual meeting of Russian Baptists, who have opened a new five-story headquarters. The building will also house the Moscow Baptist Theological Seminary for its first two years.
Aides to President Boris Yeltsin promised the assembled Baptists a role in rebuilding the country, but Yeltsin will have to remain in power in order to fulfill that promise. Christian Bridge president Mikhail Morgulis, who attended the Baptist meeting, says a power struggle between Yeltsin and the provinces is likely to continue.
“Because the army defended Yeltsin during this October conflict, he is now obligated to them and has to listen to them,” says Morgulis. If provincial leaders rebel, “then Yeltsin will use the army to crush them, and this will be the end of evangelical freedom and democratic reform; everything will come to a stop.”
PEOPLE AND EVENTS
In Brief
Bible Christian Union (BCU) will merge with The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) on January 1. The joint organization will continue under the TEAM name, with North American headquarters staying in Wheaton, Illinois. BCU general director George Murray will head TEAM next summer.
• Egyptian Abdul Hamid Adil Masah, arrested in February with three Americans and a New Zealander accused of “exploiting religion to debase Islam,” is paralyzed and in deteriorating health in a Cairo mental institution. Attorney Ahmed Sharaf el-Din says authorities are trying to ruin Masah’s health by such actions as throwing cats on his bed. The four Westerners were released after ten weeks in a Cairo prison (CT, June 21, 1993, p. 60).
• Ricardo Esquivia, director of Justapaz, the Colombian Mennonite peace-and-justice organization, fled the country on August 22 after the Colombian government accused him of plotting the murder of a Spanish priest, Javier Cirjano Arjona. Colombian Mennonites believe Esquivia was accused because of his human-rights activities.
CORRECTION
Theo Williams was founder of the Indian Evangelical Mission, not the India Evangelical Mission as was reported in the October 25 issue, page 90.
FRANCE
Team Verifies Child-Abuse Cases
An independent investigation led by the Washington, D.C.—based Christian Solidarity International (CSI) has concluded a French court had grounds to remove seven children from the homes of four couples belonging to the Citadel Christian Church, a small Protestant group in Paris. Parents had claimed the government had no evidence to support child-abuse claims (CT, Sept. 13, 1993, p. 76).
“This was not a case of religious persecution,” says CSI president Steve Snyder, who led a four-member fact-finding group to France last month. “The team concluded that the French government had taken necessary action based on testimonials from a number of families formerly associated with the Citadel.”
Snyder says the group concluded Citadel leaders manipulated children with cultlike methods, including sequestering, deprivation of food, and punishment with a belt if a child squirmed during nightly Bible studies. Parents have made few attempts to visit their children since the court ordered their removal in February.
