Super Santa: Finally a Useful Santa

Finally, a useful Santa. This guy takes out the criminal and then puts the boot in.

GEORGE BUSH GETS THE BOOT – TWICE!

Now this gave me a laugh – some journalist decided to throw his boots at George W. Bush. How many of us have wanted to do that, but have never had the opportunity – be honest now? Anyhow, it happened and below is footage of it happening:

CRUEL OPPRESSION OF CHRISTIANS INCREASING IN LAOS

Christianity is labeled a “foreign religion” in Laos, so becoming a believer is considered near treason, reports MNN.

Christians in Communist-ruled Laos report escalating persecution. According to the World Evangelical Alliance, believers are dealing with more outright harassment and intimidation tactics.

The trend began in 2004 when reports began to surface about the treatment believers received at the hands of the government.

Some have been held at gunpoint and forced to renounce their faith in Christ. The government has also put extensive restrictions on all religious groups. While the government has worked to improve their human rights record, the church is not yet free from persecution.

Two believers and a pastor have been handcuffed and in stocks since August for refusing to renounce their faith. 32-year-old Pastor Sompong Supatto and 18-year-olds, Boot and Khamvan Chanthaleuxay were taken from a house church because they were practicing their faith.

They were officially arrested August 3 for refusing to sign papers renouncing their faith. They had been threatened several times previously but had continued to worship.

According to Compass Direct reports, Pastor Supatto faces life behind bars for leading the Boukham church. The teenagers will only be released when they renounce their faith.

Report from the Christian Telegraph

LAOS: CHRISTIANS ORDERED TO RENOUNCE FAITH

New reports show officials continue to fine believers, outlaw private worship

DUBLIN, August 28 (Compass Direct News) – The chief of Boukham village in Savannakhet province, Laos today ordered the families of three detained Christians to sign documents renouncing their faith. Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) reported that the family members refused.

A crackdown in other parts of Laos continued, with new incidents reported this week in Attapue and Borikhamxay provinces. On Monday (August 25), the chief of Donphai village in Attapue province summoned believers and fined them for holding a church service during local animistic ceremonies.

In Borikhamxay province, officials continued to pressure 22 Christian families comprising 150 people in Toongpankham village who have refused to give up their faith. Village officials had torn down their church building in January, then in mid-August harassed church members for not meeting in a proper worship facility.

In the incident in Boukham village in Savannakhet province, the chief summoned the families of two detained Christians, identified by the single names of Boot and Khamsavan, and ordered them to travel to the police station where the two were being held to sign affidavits renouncing their faith; the family members refused, according to HRWLRF.

Police detained Boot and Khamsavan, along with their pastor Sompong, on August 3. (See Compass Direct News, “Authorities in Laos Detain 90 Christians,” August 8.)

The family members had already traveled to Ad-Sapangthong police station on Sunday (August 24) to visit Boot, Khamsavan and Sompong. When they arrived at the detainment cell at that time, officials tightened the handcuffs and wooden stocks restraining the hands and feet of the prisoners, causing severe pain.

“This is the consequence of not signing documents to renounce your faith,” a police official told the visitors. “We’ve already given you three opportunities to do this, but you have refused.”

On Monday (August 25), after the visitors returned home, the village chief instructed them to immediately apply for bail for Boot and Khamsavan but said Sompong did not qualify for it, as his punishment for leading the church would be “life in prison.”

 

Fine Imposed for Worshiping

In Donphai village, Sanamchai district of Attapue province, the village chief summoned Christians on Monday (August 25) and fined them for holding a worship service the previous day while villagers carried out animistic ceremonies.

The village chief charged them with violating his order to refrain from worship that particular day and imposed a fine of 700,000 Lao kip (US$83), one pig, and a pot of rice wine. He also said the church would be held responsible if any of the villagers became ill as the result of “spirits” being offended by their worship.

At press time the Christians had refused to pay the penalty, despite threats of more serious consequences if they failed to do so. They have also decided to continue their weekly worship services, in accordance with freedoms guaranteed in the Lao constitution.

In Toongpankham village, Burikan district of Borikhamxay province, officials in mid-August scolded 22 Christian families – a total of 150 people – for holding church services in a private home.

Summoning church leaders to a meeting at government offices, officials demanded that they meet in a church building. The Christians asked how this was possible, since officials had torn down their church building in January. When they sought permission to rebuild, officials refused.

According to HRWLRF, believers have since continued to meet in the home of church member Chiang Yui, determined to express their freedom of worship as provided in the Lao constitution.  

Report from Compass Direct News

LAOS: AUTHORITIES DETAIN 90 CHRISTIANS

Officials crack down in three provinces; some believers held in wooden stocks.

DUBLIN, August 8 (Compass Direct News) – Authorities in Laos have detained or arrested at least 90 Christians in three provinces in recent weeks, including an arrest last Sunday (Aug. 3) of a pastor and two other believers from a house church in Boukham village, Savannakhet province.

Arrests were reported in the southern provinces of Saravan and Savannakhet and in Luang Prabang province in the north.

In one incident on July 21, Compass sources said officials detained 80 Christians in Katin village, in the Tah Oih district of Saravan province, after residents seized a Christian neighbor identified only as Pew and poured rice wine down his throat. The wine flooded his lungs and killed him, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

When mourning family members buried him – an immediate necessity because of the warm climate – and put a wooden cross on the grave, village officials accused them of “practicing the rituals of the enemy of the state” and seized a buffalo and pig from the family as a fine.

A few days later, on July 25, officials rounded up 17 of the 20 Christian families in the village – a total of 80 men, women and children – and detained them in a local school compound, denying them food for three days in an attempt to force the adults to sign documents renouncing their faith.

Three other Christian families in the village had already renounced their faith under increasing pressure from authorities, according to a report from Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF).

As their children grew weaker, 10 families signed the documents and on July 30 were allowed to return home. The remaining seven families, however, were evicted from the village and have since settled in an open field outside the village, building small shelters and surviving on food found in the nearby jungle.

 

Arrests in Boukham

The most recent arrests occurred last Sunday (August 3) in Boukham village, Savannakhet. Officials arrested a leader of a house church identified only as Pastor Sompong, during a Sunday worship service at his home, along with two young people identified only as Boot and Khamvan.

HRWLRF reported they were detained at an area police station. On August 2, authorities arrested another villager in Boukham, identified only as Menoy, charging her with “believing in Jesus and worshiping God.”

They handcuffed Menoy and took her to a prison in Ad-Sapangthong district, where she joined two other believers, identified as Kantalee and Loong Peng, who had been arrested the previous day and charged with the same religious offense.

Authorities had previously arrested Pastor Sompong and four other believers from the Boukham church on July 20, detaining them for two days in a prison in nearby Dong Haen. Police stormed into the church that Sunday and ordered the 63 Christians present to cease worshiping or they would face arrest and imprisonment for “believing and worshiping God.”

When the Christians refused to comply, stating that Sunday was a Christian holy day and they must continue worshiping, the police arrested Pastor Sompong and two other church leaders identified only as Kai and Phuphet.

While some of the officers handcuffed the three church leaders and took them to a prison in Dong Haen, other policemen stayed in the village. When the service continued, police entered the house again and arrested a man identified only as Sisompu.

When the believers again failed to cease worshiping, police arrested a 17-year-old girl, identified only as Kunkham, who was actively leading the group. All five Christians were detained in Dong Haen prison with their feet secured in wooden stocks.

Officials charged the five with spreading the gospel and holding a religious meeting without permission. Although the Lao constitution “guarantees” freedom of religion and worship, church fellowships must be registered with government-approved institutions. Such registration comes with strict limitations on the activity of the church, however, and many Christians prefer not to register.

On July 22, three Christians approached the provincial religious affairs office in Savannakhet to challenge the arrest of Pastor Sompong and his fellow church members, asking how the five Christians could be charged for “spreading the gospel” during a worship service.

Officials then released the five on condition that they would cease holding worship meetings. They ordered them to seek permission from village authorities if they wanted to continue meeting together.

Elsewhere, in late July authorities in Saiphuthong district of Savannakhet summoned the pastor of a church in Nachan village and questioned him about the increasing number of villagers who had elected to believe in God.

Compass sources also reported that officials on July 27 detained a family of Hmong Christians in northern Luang Prabang province.

More arrests were reported, but details have yet to be confirmed.

Report from Compass Direct News