Dec 12, 2007
International Religious Freedom Archive
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1. Cuban Security Forces Raid Church (Dec. 5)
2. Crackdown in Tibet (Dec. 9)
3. Adventists in Azerbaijan Threatened by Police (Dec. 10)
4. Indonesia: Church Banned from Religious Activity (Dec. 10)
5. Germany: Hesse Upholds Headscarf Ban (Dec. 10)
6. Turkey: Alevi Students Interrogated, Beaten by Teacher (Dec. 11)
Feature:The Times of London documents the story of the daughter of a British imam, forced into hiding after her conversion away from Islam sparked death threats.
1. Cuban Security Forces Raid Church
December 5
Santiago, Cuba
Reuters reports that Cuban state security forces stormed a church in Cuba's second city of Santiago, beating parishioners who were attending mass and eventually arresting seven people. Police entered the church of Santa Teresita by force and then used pepper spray to help them subdue members of the congregation. The parish priest, Jose Conrado Rodriguez, says he had no warning of the raid until it happened. Police may have been searching for parishioners who had taken part in an earlier demonstration, though Fr. Rodriguez noted that he had occasionally denounced certain government actions in his sermons.
2. Crackdown in Tibet
December 9
Tibet
Reuters reports that religious repression in Tibet has worsened, with Chinese authorities keeping a close watch on Tibetan Buddhists and repeatedly testing their loyalty to China. China, which took control of Tibet in 1950, has most recently begun to construct police stations nearby, or in, Buddhist monasteries, and has asked monks and nuns to prove their loyalty to China by subjecting them to certain exams. Some religious have also reported being beaten by Chinese soldiers when they were asked, and refused, to renounce their beliefs.
3. Adventists in Azerbaijan Threatened by Police
December 10
Baku, Azerbaijan
Forum 18 reports that police in Baku, Azerbaijan, raided a service at the capital's Seventh Day Adventist Church, where they detained members of the congregation for up to five hours and threatened to fine them. The pastor, Rasim Bakhshiyev, was told that he would be imprisoned if the congregation met again, and that police would be 'checking up' on in the future to make sure that this is the case. Parishioners also revealed that the police had asked them to sign statements renouncing their faith, which they ultimately refused to do.
4. Indonesia: Church Banned from Religious Activity
December 10
Jakarta, Indonesia
AsiaNews reports that Indonesian authorities have banned a Catholic church, Christ's Peace Parish Church in West Jakarta, from any religious activity following pressure from Muslim extremists in the area. The presiding priest, Fr. Matthew Widyalestari, was forced to sign an order in which he agreed to a cessation of activities. Local authorities cited concerns about 'public order' and 'sectarian clashes' in imposing the ban, leaving the parish's 4,000 parishioners with few options for where they may practice their faith.
5. Germany: Hesse Upholds Headscarf Ban
December 10
Wiesbaden, Germany
DPA and the Associated Press report that the German state of Hesse has voted 6-5 to uphold a ban on headscarves for female civil servants, saying that the headscarf constituted an article of clothing which could "endanger confidence in the neutrality" of any employee who wore it on the job. A general ban was introduced in 2004 and is currently in place in several German states; however, Hesse additionally banned any garments that could constitute a political or religious symbol, with the notable exemption of Christian symbols.
6. Turkey: Alevi Students Interrogated, Beaten by Teacher
December 11
Istanbul, Turkey
Hürriyet reports that a teacher at an Istanbul secondary school interrogated his pupils about their religious beliefs, and upon discovering that two were not Muslim, but Alevi , threatened both and subsequently beat one. The students' religion was discovered by accident during the month of Ramadan, when the teacher noticed that they were not fasting. When one responded that she was Alevi and was not required to fast, the teacher asked for any other Alevis in the class to come forward, threatening them, "You're going to get it from now on". The teacher has been suspended.