It’s the right time to review the world’s chemical weapons convention

Chemical weapons in civilian attacks;: Novichok decontamination work in the area where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found poisoned and unconscious in Salisbury, UK.
Shutterstock/Amani A

Martin Boland, Charles Darwin University

The chemical weapons convention (CWC) is one of the most successful arms control treaties in existence. It outlaws the production, stockpiling or research on offensive lethal chemical weapons.

Yet chemical weapons have recently featured in the news – such as the recent Novichok poisonings in the UK – and the convention is facing questions.

The 193 signatory nations to the convention will assemble from November 19 this year at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague for the latest periodic review of the chemical weapons convention.

As reported today in Science, this is an important opportunity to get some key things back on track.

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Read more:
What we know about Novichok, the ‘newby’ nerve agents linked to Russia

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The chemical weapons convention is a legacy of the end of the cold war. The collapse of the Soviet Union reinvigorated the long-dormant chemical weapons control process. This culminated with most nations signing and ratifying the chemical weapons convention, which came into force in 1997.

Each nation is responsible for the destruction of its own stockpile of weapons (either alone, or with the help of others), with compliance monitored by OPCW. So far about 96% of declared stocks of chemical weapon agents have been eliminated, including all of Russia’s declared stockpile.

Fit for the mid-21st century?

Most nations accept that chemical weapons are an anachronism, with only limited military value against an enemy of similar technological sophistication.

But there has been a rise in recent years in the use of chemical weapon agents against civilian populations, as in the Syrian civil war, and as tools of assassination, such as in the murder of Kim Jong-nam and the attempted murder of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury in the UK.

So are chemical weapons climbing out of the grave we thought we had consigned them to?

What is a chemical weapon?

It’s important to clear up a common misconception about the chemical weapons convention and how it handles lethal chemical agents.

Under the convention, the use of the pharmacological effects (what the chemical does to the body) of any chemical to achieve a military outcome (death or permanent disability) makes that a chemical weapon.

This means that novel agents, such as the Novichok (or A-series) chemicals alleged to have been used against the Skripals, are illegal, not because of their structure but due to the attempt to use them to kill.

This definition can create some complexities. If we take as a given that many chemicals are potentially lethal – it’s the dose that makes the poison – how do you regulate compounds that are likely to be used as weapons?

How should these be distinguished from those that could be fatal, but aren’t typically applied for ill-purpose? For example, the anticancer drug mustine – also known as nitrogen mustard – is a schedule 1 weapon under the chemical weapons convention (under the codename HN2).

Police action or short cut to new weapons?

Riot control agents are those such as pepper spray, 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile (better known, slightly erroneously, as CS-gas). These compounds are designed to cause the victim discomfort. But the effects dissipate soon after the victim is removed from exposure – similar to if you get capsaicin in your eyes while cutting chillies, you can wash the compound away with lots of water or milk.

These agents are only lightly regulated under the chemical weapons convention. Their use is allowed as part of normal law enforcement, but prohibited in war.

Different to these, incapacitating agents are defined as those that cause the victim to lose consciousness, or otherwise become systemically incapacitated – but the effects of these are not reversible by removing exposure.

Examples include chemicals that cause massive sensory hallucinations and prevent the victim from recognising reality.

There is much debate about the ultimate safety of riot control agents, but in general they are seen as safe unless incorrectly used. On the other hand, a Russian incapacitating agent is believed to have caused many of the fatalities during the 2002 Moscow theatre siege.

So how can these agents be legal, while the agent used in Salisbury is immediately considered illegal? What is an appropriate level of chemical force that should be acceptable when applied to a person as part of civilian policing?

What level of research into, or stockpiling of, such compounds would suggest the goal is no longer to develop countermeasures, but is part of an offensive chemical weapons program?

The CWC was written to outlaw these things, but has its success only moved the goalposts? These are open questions that the review should address.

Responsibility of scientists

Questions about how responsible a scientist is for the use of their work probably go to Fitz Haber and beyond. The 1918 Nobel Prize winner is generally considered the father of modern chemical warfare for his suggestion that the Imperial German Army use chlorine, the first lethal chemical weapon of World War I.

Today there are several questions about how scientists should interact with the world, using their knowledge to educate the public through the media, while avoiding drawing attention to possible misuses of that knowledge (or allowing their messages to be manipulated to cause panic).

Is it a greater good for society for me to explain that nitrogen mustard (from the example above) treats cancer, than the risk that someone will now try to steal some mustine from the oncology clinic to misuse it?

There is also the problem of dual use technologies. These are techniques that can equally be used develop a new pharmaceutical, or could be applied to develop a new nerve agent.

How much regulation of day-to-day research and commerce is acceptable to prevent those who would do us harm having access to materials and knowledge?

In the 20 years since the ratification of the CWC, we have made discoveries and improved access to technologies that may make it easier to create a truly effective improvised chemical weapon.

The chemical weapons convention has almost reached the initial goal of the signatories, the elimination of chemical weapons. Now the convention needs to move with the times, to prevent backsliding from the prevailing culture that considers chemical weapons to be unspeakably barbaric.

Martin Boland, Senior Lecturer of Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Charles Darwin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Australia: Hillsong and Mark Driscoll

The link below is to an article that reports on Australia’s Hillsong Church and its invitation to Mark Driscoll for its Sydney convention later this month. Mark Driscoll was lead pastor at the Mars Hill Church in Seattle, USA.

For more visit:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3112154/Hillsong-Church-receives-backlash-inviting-disgraced-pastor-described-women-penis-homes-conference.html

New Threats, Old Enmity Pummel Nepal’s Christians

Armed group that forced over 1,500 government officials to quit now threatens pastors.

KATHMANDU, Nepal, September 16 (CDN) — A year after police busted an underground militant Hindu organization that had bombed a church and two mosques, Nepal’s Christians are facing new threats.

An underground group that speaks with bombs and has coerced hundreds of government officials into quitting their jobs is threatening Christian clergy with violence if they do not give in to extortion demands, Christian leader said.

The Nepal Christian Society (NCS), an umbrella group of denominations, churches and organizations, met in the Kathmandu Valley yesterday (Sept. 15) to discuss dangers amid reports of pastors receiving phone calls and letters from the Unified National Liberation Front (Samyukta Jatiya Mukti Morcha), an armed group demanding money and making threats. The group has threatened Christian leaders in eastern and western Nepal, as well as in the Kathmandu Valley.

“The pastors who received the extortion calls do not want to go public for fear of retaliation,” said Lok Mani Dhakal, general secretary of the NCS. “We decided to wait and watch a little longer before approaching police.”

The Front is among nearly three dozen armed groups that mushroomed after the fall of the military-backed government of the former king of Nepal, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, in 2006. It became a household name in July after 34 senior government officials – designated secretaries of village development committees – resigned en masse, pleading lack of security following threats by the Front.

Ironically, the resignations occurred in Rolpa, a district in western Nepal regarded as the cradle of the communist uprising in 1996 that led to Nepal becoming a secular federal republic after 10 years of civil war.

Nearly 1,500 government officials from 27 districts have resigned after receiving threats from the Front. Despite its apparent clout, it remains a shadowy body with little public knowledge about its leaders and objectives. Though initially active in southern Nepal, the group struck in the capital city of Kathmandu on Saturday (Sept. 11), bombing a carpet factory.

The emergence of the new underground threat comes a year after police arrested Ram Prasad Mainali, whose Nepal Defense Army had planted a bomb in a church in Kathmandu, killing three women during a Roman Catholic mass.

Christians’ relief at Mainali’s arrest was short-lived. Besides facing threats from a new group, the community has endured longstanding animosity from the years when Nepal was a Hindu state; the anti-Christian sentiment refuses to die four years after Parliament declared the nation secular.

When conversions were a punishable offense in Nepal 13 years ago, Ishwor Pudasaini had to leave his home in Giling village, Nuwakot district, because he became a Christian. Pudasaini, now a pastor in a Protestant church, said he still cannot return to his village because of persecution that has increased with time.

“We are mentally tortured,” the 32-year-old pastor told Compass. “My mother is old and refuses to leave the village, so I have to visit her from time to time to see if she is all right. Also, we have some arable land, and during monsoon season it is imperative that I farm it. But I go in dread.”

Pudasaini, who pastors Assembly of God Church, said that when he runs into his neighbors, they revile him and make threatening gestures. His family is not allowed to enter any public place, and he is afraid to spend nights in his old home for fear of being attacked. A new attack occurred in a recent monsoon, when villagers disconnected the family’s water pipes.

“Things reached such a head this time that I was forced to go to the media and make my plight public,” he says.

Pudasaini, his wife Laxmi and their two children have been living in the district headquarters, Bidur town. His brother Ram Prasad, 29, was thrown out of a local village’s reforms committee for becoming a Christian. Another relative in the same village, Bharat Pudasaini, lost his job and was forced to migrate to a different district.

“Bharat Pudasaini was a worker at Mulpani Primary School,” says Pudasaini. “The school sacked him for embracing Christianity, and the villagers forced his family to leave the village. Even four years after Nepal became officially secular, he is not allowed to return to his village and sell his house and land, which he wants to, desperately. He has four children to look after, and the displacement is virtually driving the family to starvation.”

Since Bidur, where the administrative machinery is concentrated, is safe from attacks, Pudasani said it is becoming a center for displaced Christians.

“There are dozens of persecuted Christians seeking shelter here,” he said.

One such displaced person was Kamla Kunwar, a woman in her 30s whose faith prompted her husband to severely beat her and throw her out of their home in Dhading district in central Nepal. She would eventually move in with relatives in Nuwakot.

Pudasaini said he chose not to complain of his mistreatment, either to the district administration or to police, because he does not want to encourage enmity in the village.

“My religion teaches me to turn the other cheek and love my enemies,” he said. “I would like to make the village come to Christ. For that I have to be patient.”

Dozens of villages scattered throughout Nepal remain inimical to Christians. In May, five Christians, including two women, were brutally attacked in Chanauta, a remote village in Kapilavastu district where the majority are ethnic Tharus.

Once an affluent people, the Tharus were displaced by migrating hordes from the hills of Nepal, as well as from India across the border, and forced into slavery. Today, they are considered to be “untouchables” despite an official ban on that customary practice of abuse and discrimination. In the villages, Tharus are not allowed to enter temples or draw water from the sources used by other villagers.

Tharus, like other disadvantaged communities, have been turning to Christianity. Recently five Tharu Christians, including a pastor and two evangelists, were asked to help construct a Hindu temple. Though they did, the five refused to eat the meat of a goat that villagers sacrificed before idols at the new temple.

Because of their refusal, the temple crowd beat them. Two women – Prema Chaudhary, 34, and Mahima Chaudhary, 22 – were as badly thrashed as Pastor Simon Chaudhari, 30, and two evangelists, Samuel Chaudhari, 19, and Prem Chaudhari, 22.

In June, a mob attacked Sher Bahadur Pun, a 68-year-old Nepali who had served with the Indian Army, and his son, Akka Bahadur, at their church service in Myagdi district in western Nepal. Pun suffered two fractured ribs.

The attack occurred after the Hindu-majority village decided to build a temple. All villagers were ordered to donate 7,000 rupees (US$93), a princely sum in Nepal’s villages, and the Christians were not spared. While the Puns paid up, they refused to worship in the temple. Retaliation was swift.

The vulnerability of Christians has escalated following an administrative vacuum that has seen violence and crime soar. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who had been instrumental in the church bombers’ arrest, resigned in June due to pressure by the opposition Maoist party. Since then, though there have been seven rounds of elections in Parliament to choose a new premier, none of the two contenders has been able to win the minimum votes required thanks to bitter infighting between the major parties.

An eighth round of elections is scheduled for Sept. 26, and if that too fails, Nepal will have lost four of the 12 months given to the 601-member Parliament to write a new constitution.

“It is shameful,” said Believers Church Bishop Narayan Sharma. “It shows that Nepal is on the way to becoming a failed state. There is acute pessimism that the warring parties will not be able to draft a new constitution [that would consolidate secularism] by May 2011.”

Sharma said there is also concern about a reshuffle in the largest ruling party, the Nepali Congress (NC), set to elect new officers at its general convention starting Friday (Sept. 17). Some former NC ministers and members of Parliament have been lobbying for the restoration of a Hindu state in Nepal; their election would be a setback for secularism.

“We have been holding prayers for the country,” Sharma said. “It is a grim scene today. There is an economic crisis, and Nepal’s youths are fleeing abroad. Women job-seekers abroad are increasingly being molested and tortured. Even the Maoists, who fought for secularism, are now considering creating a cultural king. We are praying that the political deadlock will be resolved, and that peace and stability return to Nepal.”

Report from Compass Direct News

Recent Incidents of Persecution

Karnataka, India, June 30 (CDN) — Hindu extremists on June 23 beat two pastors, seriously injuring them in Chandapura, Anekal. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reported that after pastors Shidu Kurialose and Nithya Vachanam of Bethel Assembly of God Church conducted a Christian meeting in a home, armed extremists attacked them at a tea stall. The extremists accused the pastors of forceful conversion and started beating them with iron rods. Both pastors sustained serious injuries and were admitted in a local hospital. No police complaint was filed.

Tamil Nadu – After opposing a Christian convention on June 17-20, Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal on June 22 burned at least seven vehicles belonging to Jesus With Us Pentecostal Church in Mathikere, Hosur. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that the incident started when the extremists on June 18 called on local authorities to revoke the organizers’ permit and convinced local Hindu shop owners to close their stores. Police arrested five Hindu extremists in connection with anti-Christian violence. Subsequently, under police protection, Christians moved their meeting to another area eight kilometers (five miles) from the original site.

Uttar Pradesh – Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh disrupted the prayer meeting of the Jesus Church (Isha Garh) on June 21 in Firozabad and accused the pastor of forceful conversion. A source said the extremists forced their way into the church building and manhandled Pastor Breymond Shastri. The next day the extremists went to newspaper Amar Ujala with the accusation, and the local periodical published a false report that Pastor Shatri was taking part in forceful conversion activities. Area Christian leaders said no forceful conversion was taking place. The extremists warned the pastor he would be harmed if he continued to conduct worship services.

Uttar Pradesh – About eight Hindu extremists on June 20 disrupted the Sunday worship service of Apostolic Christian Assembly Church in Gorakpur. After shouting anti-Christian slogans outside the church building, the extremists stormed in and ranted against Christianity, putting a halt to the meeting as they accused the pastor of forceful conversion. Police arrived and chased the extremists away. At press time the extremists were still issuing threats to the pastor, warning him of harm if he continued conducting worship meetings, the Evangelical Fellowship of India reported. Police have provided protection to the pastor.

Karnataka – Based on a complaint by Hindu extremists against Christians of forceful conversion, Karnataka officials closed down a Christian orphanage on June 16 in Karwar. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that state officials visited a school at the orphanage and issued a closure order to Spring of Hope Orphanage and Vocational Arts Training Centre, which has 61 tribal students. The home has been functioning for four years in an area long occupied by Siddi tribal Christians. At press time area Christian leaders were taking steps to resolve the conflict.

New Delhi – Suspected Islamic extremists beat an Afghani Christian, seriously injuring him, on June 14 in Malviya Nagar. A Christian source said two Islamic extremists on a motorbike beat Hamid Ullah on his head as he was walking home. The Christian fell on his stomach and the extremists continued to beat him, denigrating his faith, calling him “pagan” and warning him to convert to Islam or face harm. Afghani Christians have been facing warnings, threats and attacks in different areas of New Delhi, the source said, and the advocacy department of the Evangelical Fellowship of India has taken steps to help them.

Karnataka – After Hindu extremists from the Sri Ram Sena (Lord Ram Army) on June 9 attacked Pastor Vasanthe Kathedar of New India Church (NIC), police arrested him for allegedly creating communal disharmony and disrupting the peace – that is, practicing his Christian faith among Hindus – in Okkere, Belgaum. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that the incident took place at the house of a NIC member where the Christians were meeting. The assault on the pastor lasted for about an hour and, as is customary in India, when police arrived they arrested and charged the victim of the crime.

Orissa – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal on June 9 accused three Christians of forceful conversion and attacked them in Deogarh, Sambalpur. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reported that the incident took place when Hindu Biranchi Kistotta invited Pastor Lamuel Panaik, Pastor N. Philemon and Sudhir Kumar to celebrate the healing of his son, for whom Pastor Panaik had prayed. People of various faiths attended the celebration, including Hindu members of Kistotta’s family. At about 12:30 p.m., seven Hindu extremists accompanied by media personnel suddenly arrived and called Pastor Patnaik to come out of his house. When the pastor refused, the extremists rushed in and forcefully pulled out the three Christians. The extremists accused them of forceful conversion and beat Sudhir Kumar while manhandling the two pastors. Police arrived and questioned those present about whether forceful conversion was taking place, and people came forward to say that the Christians were innocent. Police took the three Christians to the police station as a safety measure, however, and arranged for their return home at 10:30 p.m. No police complaint was filed as the Christians chose to forgive the attackers.

Orissa – Hindu extremists on June 8 brutally attacked a Christian and threatened to kill him in Nuapada. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that six Hindu extremists armed with daggers and sticks broke into the house of Bhakta Bivar, 19, while his parents were at a prayer meeting. The extremists verbally abused Bivar for his faith and started beating him. They dragged him to a Hindu temple, where they told him to deny Jesus as they continued to beat him, forced on him food offered to idols and threatened to kill him and his parents if they did not convert to Hinduism. The extremists burned four Bibles they had taken from his home and, forcing him to wear a saffron garment symbolic of the Hindu religion, dragged him out to the street, falsely announcing that he had returned to Hinduism. The extremists left after threatening to kill him if he continued to believe in Christ, as they have forbidden the existence of Christianity in the area. Following the filing of a complaint with police, five Hindu extremists were arrested the next day.

Karnataka – Police on June 7 arrested two Christian women after Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh disrupted Sunday worship in Bovi Colony, Chickmagalur. According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India, the extremists barged into a church’s worship service and accused Kadaur Devaki and a pastor identified only as Lalathamma of creating communal disharmony and disrupting the peace. Police soon arrived and arrested the two women for “deliberate and malicious acts to outrage religious feelings” and sent them to Hassan Jail.

Tamil Nadu – Hindu extremists from a religious and cultural organization formed to defend the Hindu religion, the Hindu Munnani, demolished a church building under construction on May 28 near Rameshwaram. Catholic sources said the demolition came after a local Hindu Munnani leader identified only as Ramamurthy filed a complaint against construction of the building. Government officials sided with the Hindu extremists, claiming that the one church building, St. Anthony church, already existed and that a new one would create tensions. The structure was demolished, leaving area Christians shocked and shaken.

Chhattisgarh – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal attacked a Christian school program from May 20 to May 29 in Jagbalput, beating a pastor and two teachers on May 27. Beaten were Pastor Rahul Pant and two teachers from Mission India. A source told Compass the extremists accused the Christians of forceful conversion and of using a government school for the Christian program, called Children Development Program (CDP), without permission. They also accused the Christians of distributing books containing conversion activities (biblical narratives). The extremists took the Christians to a police station, where officers questioned them. The Christians said they had permission from the village head, but the assailants said they need permission from the local collector. The parties reached an agreement wherein the Christians were forced to stop the CDP in the government school until they obtain the collector’s permission. The Christians were released without charges.

Karnataka – Opposing a church leader for conducting prayer meetings in his house, Karnataka police on May 26 verbally abused pastor Shiva Kumar and warned him not to conduct further Christian meetings in Mysore. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that at about 7 p.m. police summoned Pastor Kumar and detained him until 10:30 p.m. Police forcefully obtained a written statement from the pastor, took his photograph and warned him not to conduct any Christian activities in the area.

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists accused Pastor T. Paul of forceful conversion and beat him on May 24 in Narayanpet, Mahabubnagar, seriously injuring him. The All India Christian Council reported the Hindu extremists stopped Pastor Paul as he returned home in a Jeep after conducting a worship meeting. The extremists stopped his vehicle and dragged him out before beating him and accusing him of forceful conversion. The pastor received hospital treatment for internal injuries. Area Christian leaders have asked police to arrest the assailants.

Report from Compass Direct News

Muslims in Pakistan Kidnap, Rape Christian Girl

Five men threatened to kill her unless her father allowed one to marry her.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, June 16 (CDN) — Five Muslims here kidnapped and raped a Christian girl after threatening to kill her unless her father allowed one of them to marry her.

Lazarus Masih said one of his three daughters, 14, was kidnapped on May 29 by five men identified only as Guddu, Kamran, Waqas, Adil and Ali.

Police recovered her on June 6 in a raid on the home where she was being held, though the suspects escaped.

“They threatened that if I don’t get her married to Guddu, they would kill her,” Masih said. “One of them said, ‘We attended an Islamic religious convention, and the speaker said if you marry a non-Muslim or rape a non-Muslim girl, you will get 70 virgins in heaven.”

He said that when he and his wife returned from work at around 11 a.m. on May 29, their 14-year-old daughter was not at home; his other daughters had been at school and said they did not know where she had gone.

During the family’s search for her, they heard from Masih’s brother-in-law, Yousaf Masih, that he had seen five Muslim men follow her earlier that morning.

“In the morning around 7:30 a.m., I saw that [name withheld] and another girl were sitting in a rickshaw and five Muslim guys – Guddu, Kamran, Waqas, Adil and Ali – followed the rickshaw,” Yousaf Masih told the girl’s father.

Family members said the suspects took her to a house near Islamabad, where they gave her a drug that rendered her unconscious, and raped her. A medical report confirmed that she was given drugs and raped.

Lazarus Masih, who lives with his daughters and wife in Mohalla Raja Sultan, Rawalpindi, filed a First Information Report at the Waris Khan police station on June 1 against all five men. He said Guddu, Kamran and Waqas sell and use drugs.

He also contacted advocacy organization Ephlal Ministry, which along with representatives of Life for All and Peace Pakistan met with police chief Mazhar Hussain Minhas and demanded immediate action for the recovery of the girl.

“This is a very sad incident, and we will do whatever we can to recover the girl,” Hussain Minhas told them.

Devastated family members said the girl remained frightened and was not speaking to anyone.

“It is such a shame that the religious leaders teach inhuman acts,” said the Rev. John Gill of Shamsabad Catholic Church. “This incident has ruined the life of an innocent child.”

The family formerly belonged to the Catholic parish but now affiliates with a Protestant church, New Life Ministry in Rawalpindi.

Report from Compass Direct News

First female German Protestant head, who resigned, gets ovation

Thousands of people at a church convention in Munich have applauded the first female leader of Germany’s Protestants, who stood down after a drink-driving offence in February, reports Ecumenical News International.

"God turns towards people even when they are not the people that he had hoped, dreamed and imagined them to be when he created them," Margot Kässmann told 6000 people on 13 May at the Ecumenical Kirchentag, or church convention, taking place in the Bavarian capital. It was Kässmann’s first major public appearance since she resigned.

Four months after being elected head of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), the umbrella for 24 million Protestants, Kässmann, then the Lutheran bishop of Hanover, resigned from all her leadership posts after police caught her driving when she was over the legal limit of alcohol and had jumped a red traffic light.

Report from the Christian Telegraph 

Recent Incidents of Persecution

Madhya Pradesh, India, March 31 (CDN) — Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) extremists accompanied by police officials on March 28 disrupted Christian worship in Raksha Nagar, Ranjhi, Jabalpur. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that at 10:30 a.m. about 45 extremists from the Bajrang Dal broke into the service shouting Hindu slogans, followed by police, as Pastor Francis Zavier of the Apostolic Christian Assemblies was leading the service. Police took Vinay Ashwaley, Mangal Das Chowdhary, Panchwati Chowdhary, Shailesh Philemon, Mamta Chowdhary and Kanti Bai Chowdhary to the Ranjhi police station. A police official told Compass that the intruders were acting on a written complaint from a known Bajrang Dal activist identified only by his surname, Sonekar, that “conversion activities” were taking place at the church. Conversion and conversion activities are legal in India. After questioning the Christians for nearly three hours, police released them without charges as the allegations were baseless, an officer told Compass. The Fellowship of Pastors subsequently sent a written request for additional police security for Good Friday and Easter Sunday services.

New Delhi – Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) attacked Pastor Galdwin Masih and another Christian identified only as Pritam on March 25 in the Seema Puri area of New Delhi. The pastor was leading a prayer meeting where three RSS members were present. In the middle of the meeting they alerted other RSS members and, as they began to leave, threatened to beat the Christians. As Pastor Masih and Pritam were returning home, about 25 extremists stopped them on the road and beat them with cricket stumps and hockey sticks, leaving their bodies badly bruised. Pastor Gladwin called police, who rushed to the site as the extremists fled. A First Information Report was filed against the attackers, but no arrests had been made at press time.

Tamil Nadu – Local Hindu villagers in Palladam, Tiruppur, on March 23 filed a complaint against five Christians for carrying brochures depicting Hindu religion and gods as barbaric and glorifying Christianity. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that the Christians from Nagercoil village, identified only as Kannian, Pride, Mathew, Paulraj and Vincent, visited Christians in Kullampalaya slum area to provide medical help. A local daily reported that the Christians were carrying brochures favoring Christianity over Hinduism and that their primary aim was “forcible conversion” by offering promises of free homes, money, food and jobs in foreign countries. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reported that Kama Nayakkampalayam police took the five Christians into custody, but after questioning them found them innocent and released them. They were released with a “soft warning to not indulge in such activities again,” reported the local-vernacular daily.

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists in Anakapalli Mandal attacked Pastor Nireekshana Roa and his wife on March 22. Led by village head Ram Naidu, the extremists accused the couple of forceful conversion and beat them for preaching in the area. The couple was earlier attacked for organizing a prayer meeting in the area. Police refused to file the pastor’s complaint, and area Christian leaders were trying to intervene on the couple’s behalf at press time.

Chhattisgarh – About 25 Hindu extremists forced their way into the Sunday worship service of Believers Church of India in Raipur on March 21, threatening and cursing the Christians and seizing Bibles and other literature. An area source reported that at about 2 p.m. the extremists entered and threatened to beat the Christians if they did not leave the area; they also threatened to get a government employee present fired from her job if she continued in her Christian faith. Police detained the Christians for about three hours, during which they also issued threats for them to leave the area. The church members were said to be living in fear.

Chhattisgarh – About 40 Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal stopped the Sunday prayer meeting of Ebenezer Church in Kasdol on March 21. A source told Compass that at 3:30 p.m. the extremists angrily barged into the prayer meeting, accused the Christians of forceful conversion, tore Bibles and Christian literature and shut the church. They threatened the Christians with violence if they continued to hold prayer meetings. The extremists alerted police, and officers took some Christian leaders of the church, including Pastor Ravi Bagha, to the police station for about seven hours. Area Christians intervened and they were released without charges. Police refused to take the complaint of the Christians, reported the source.

Chhattisgarh – About 40 Hindu extremists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) on March 21 attacked Christian students and teachers at Personality Development Centre for Youth, a training center managed by Care for the People of India, in Durg. The extremists verbally abused them, burned Bibles and gospel literature and got them arrested on false charges of insulting the national flag. A source told Compass that at about 2 p.m. the extremists, carrying a national flag on which they had painted a red cross, forcefully entered the center and began beating the students. Later, with the criminally defaced flag as supposed evidence, the extremists filed a complaint of insulting the Indian flag against three teachers of the center. The three Christians were booked for insulting the national flag and were later released on bail. Praful Barrik, head of Care for the People of India, received medical treatment for injuries sustained in the attack.

Chhattisgarh – Hindu extremists from the Dharma Sena (Religious Army) on March 21 accused members of The Pentecostal Church of forceful conversion and beat them in Nandini, Durg. A source told Compass that about 35 extremists forcefully entered the church at about 1:30 p.m., as the Sunday meeting was winding up. At press time area Christian leaders were taking steps to register an FIR against the attackers.

Karnataka – Police arrested a pastor on March 15 after Hindu extremists filed a complaint against him of forceful conversion in Borgunta, Sullai Taluk, Mangalore. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reported that the incident took place when a Christian identified only as Pastor Valsalan of Bethesda Assemblies of God Church, along with his family, was visiting a church member’s home; about 30 Hindu extremists barged into the house and accused the pastor of forceful conversion. An area Bharatiya Janata Party member of the Legislative Assembly and other extremists pressured police authorities to arrest the pastor. Officers arrived and arrested him, and he was sent to central jail in Mangalore.

Madhya Pradesh – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal in Badwani on March 13 stopped a meeting at a Christian convention and accused those in attendance of forceful conversion. Satsang (Fellowship) Ministry organized the three-day spiritual convention after obtaining permission from local police on March 12. The Christians went to police to say they had obtained permission for the convention, but officers sided with the extremists, telling the Christians to cease attending.

Karnataka – Based on a complaint by an area leader of the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad of forcible conversion, police on March 10 arrested Pastor Hanume Nayak of Good Shepherd Community Church and his wife. Officers questioned the couple in Chellur, and they were held in custody the entire night. With the intervention of area Christian leaders and that of a member of the Legislative Assembly, the Christians were released on bail the next day.

Chhattisgarh – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena on March 9 attacked a pastor and warned him to leave the Kawardha area. Massing near the Christian’s house, about 20 Hindu extremists called for Pastor Sanatan Masih of The Christian Church to come out of his home, and then they began beating him, reported the Evangelical Fellowship of India. In an earlier incident on Feb. 15, the extremists had threatened to harm the pastor if he conducted any Christian activity. On March 3 they broke into The Christian Church and vandalized it, and police refused to register the complaint of Christians. In the March 9 attack, Pastor Masih sustained injuries to his mouth, back and stomach. At press time, he had relocated as a safety measure.

Karnataka – Hindu radicals in Periyapattinam, Mysore brutally beat Pastor Ravi Chandran, 30, on March 8. The pastor was leading a prayer service at a house in Banavara village, Periyapattinam at 11:30 a.m. when 10 to 15 Hindu extremists forced their way into the house. They hit the pastor with soda bottles and kicked and punched him repeatedly before leaving. Pastor Chandran received hospital treatment for a leg injury and for swelling on his head. A native of Chankeshwara Puram, Periyapattinam, Pastor Chandran has been in church leadership for the seven years and ministers at Gospel in Action Fellowship, with about 35 believers. The attack was reported to Somvarpet police station.

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists beat a Christian identified only as Pastor Devaraju of Good Shepherd Community Church on March 7, locked his church building and confined him to his house for several hours in Timmajipet, Mahabubnagar. The All Indian Christian Council reported that the pastor and church members had opposed Hindu extremists trying to bury a body in a Christian cemetery with Hindu rituals on March 5. In response the Hindus retaliated with the March 7 attack. They confined the pastor to his room for nearly a day, threatening to take possession of the church building and turn it into a local community hall. At press time local Christian leaders were trying to help resolve the matter.

Karnataka – Hindu extremists allegedly led by a municipal councilor on Feb. 28 accused Christians in Karwar of forceful conversion and beat them till they fell unconscious on a roadside. Led by Raja Gowda, the extremists at about 6:30 p.m. charged onto the premises of New Life Fellowship Church, where Christians David Lambani and Satish Ambedkar were staying. The extremists verbally insulted them and dragged them out to the street before beating them unconscious. The Christians were rushed to the hospital. Lambani’s left ear drum was damaged, while Satish sustained head injuries and broken bones. Police registered a First Information Report against the attackers, but no arrests had been made at press time. Legal documents for the church site had been obtained, but area village leaders had stopped construction on November 2009 and in February.

Chhattisgarh – State police on Feb. 28 arrested six Christians after extremists filed a false complaint of forcible conversion. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that Pastor Jose Thomas of the Indian Missionary Movement organized a meeting for around 40 Christians at Holy Kingdom English High School in Kawardha district. At around 2:30 p.m., a mob of nearly 50 Hindu nationalist extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh stormed into the school, verbally abused the Christians and made false allegations of forcible conversion. Kawardha police officials came to the school and arrested Pastor Thomas and five Christians, who were also charged with injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class. Police Inspector Surinder Singh told Compass that local resident Chandra Prakash had filed the complaint against the Christians, and that they were released on bail on March 9. Singh denied GCIC allegations that the Christians were beaten inside the police station.

Madhya Pradesh – Police arrested a Christian who goes by this a single name, Adhwan, on Feb. 20 on charges of forceful conversion. A source reported that officers accused the preacher of forceful conversion and had previously arrested him on Jan. 23 for alleged forceful conversion, when he was sent to Champa district jail. Authorities also confiscated his passport. He had been released on bail on Jan. 27. On Feb. 20 police arrested him again on the same charges and released him the next day. Attorney Anurag Nath told Compass that police had no grounds for the arrests.

Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists on Feb. 15 ostracized an elderly couple for following Jesus in Timmaipet, Mahabubnagar, Hyderabad. The All Indian Christian Council reported that Mullugula Buddaiah, 70, and his 60-year-old wife Pullamma were cast out of the community for their faith in Christ as the extremists ordered the couple to vacate their house and leave the village. An area pastor identified only as Devaraju filed a police complaint, which officers refused to register. Local Christian leaders were taking steps to resolve the matter at press time. 

Report from Compass Direct News 

European Human Rights Court Rules in Favor of Turkish Church

Christians hope decision will lead to greater religious freedom.

ISTANBUL, December 18 (CDN) — In a decision many hope will lead to greater religious freedom in Turkey, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that a Turkish court ruling barring a church from starting a foundation violated the congregation’s right to freedom of association.

Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a Turkish attorney and legal advisor for the litigants, said the decision earlier this year was the first time the ECHR has held that religious organizations have a right to exist in Turkey. Other issues the court addressed dealt with organizations’ rights to own property, he said.

Cengiz added that this case is just the first of many needed to correct conflicts within the Turkish legal system in regard to freedom of association, known in Turkey as the concept of “legal personality.”

“This case is a significant victory, but it is the first case in a long line of cases to come,” Cengiz said.

Ihsan Ozbek, pastor of Kurtulus Church in northeast Turkey, which set out to establish the foundation, said he was pleased with the court’s decision.

“It’s a good thing to have that decision,” he said. “It will help future churches and Christian organizations.”

On Dec. 21, 2000, Ozbek and 15 other Turkish nationals applied to a court in Ankara to form the “Foundation of Liberation Churches,” to provide assistance to victims of disasters. The court referred the matter to the Directorate General of Foundations, which opposed it because, according to its interpretation of the organization’s constitution, the foundation sought to help only other Protestants. Such a purpose would be in violation of the Turkish civil code, which states that establishing a foundation to assist a specific community at the exclusion of others was prohibited.

On Jan. 22, 2002, the church group appealed the decision to the higher Court of Cassation. They agreed that the constitution should be changed to more accurately reflect the true nature of the organization, which was to give assistance to victims of natural disasters regardless of their spiritual beliefs. In February of the same year, the court rejected their appeal.

Later that year, on Aug. 29, 2002, under the guidance of Cengiz, the group appealed the decision to the ECHR. Founded in 1959 by the European Convention on Human Rights, the ECHR is the highest civil human rights court in Europe. Of the 47 countries that are signatories to the convention, Turkey accounts for more that 11 percent of the court’s caseload.

On Oct. 11, 2005 the court agreed to hear the case. More than four years later, on June 10, it publicly issued a verdict.

In its decision, the court unanimously found that the Turkish Courts’ “refusal to register the foundation, although permitted under Turkish law, had not been necessary in a democratic society, and that there had been a violation of Article 11.”

Article 11 of the convention deals with the rights of people to associate and assemble with others.

“The applicants had been willing to amend the constitution of their foundation both to reflect their true aims and to comply with the legal requirements for registration,” the court decision stated. “However, by not allowing them time to do this – something they had done in a similar case – the Court of Cassation had prevented them from setting up a foundation that would have had legal status.”

The decision was issued by seven judges, one of them Turkish. The court awarded 2,500 euros (US$3,600) to each of the 16 members of the group, in addition to 5,200 euros (US$7,490) to the group as a whole.

After being forbidden to open a foundation, the Protestant group opened an association in 2004, after Turkish law had been amended allowing them to do so. Foundations and associations in Turkey differ mostly in their ability to collect and distribute money. The aims of the association were similar to that of the proposed foundation, with the exception of reference to supporting one particular community.

Ozbek said the directorate’s office has been the main obstacle in preventing people from forming Christian foundations.

“Now that they have the decision, they will be forced to say yes,” he said.

Report from Compass Direct News 

US Evangelical Lutheran Church approves homosexual clergy

On Friday, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted in favor of allowing practicing homosexuals, in committed relationships, to hold positions of authority within the sect, reports Thaddeus M. Baklinski, LifeSiteNews.com.

By a vote of 559 to 451 at last week’s national convention, representatives of the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States decided “to open the ministry of the church to gay and lesbian pastors and other professional workers living in committed relationships.”

“The actions here change the church’s policy, which previously allowed gays and lesbians into the ordained ministry only if they remained celibate,” ELCA information director John Brook told AFP.

“This is not simply rules and procedures for implementing something new,” said Rev. Stanley Olson, executive director of ELCA Vocation and Education. “We have these policies because we are committed to having the kind of leaders who will serve the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who will respect this church and other churches, and who will have the world in view.”

Members of Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Reform), representing over 400 conservative congregations that fought against the homosexualist resolution, renounced the ELCA vote.

“ELCA has broken faith with its members and Lutherans worldwide,” CORE said in a statement released on Friday.

“Lutheran CORE is continuing in the Christian faith as it has been passed down to us by generations of Christians,” Rev. Paul Spring, chairman of Lutheran CORE, said in the statement. “I am saddened that a Lutheran Church that was founded on a firm commitment to the Bible has come to the point that the ELCA would vote to reject the Bible’s teaching on marriage and homosexual behavior. It breaks my heart.”

Rev. Spring said CORE will encourage ELCA members and congregations to withdraw financial support from the denomination.

“Lutheran CORE leaders are inviting faithful Lutheran congregations and individuals to direct funding away from the national church body because of the decisions made this week by the Churchwide Assembly. Lutheran CORE will participate in and support faithful ELCA ministries, but cannot support ELCA ministries that reject the authority of God’s Word,” the group’s statement stated.

Rev. Richard Mahan, pastor at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Charleston, W.Va., told AFP that he believed a majority of his congregation would want to now break away from the ELCA.

“This will cause an ever greater loss in members and finances. I can’t believe the church I loved and served for 40 years can condone what God condemns,” Mahan said. “Nowhere in Scripture does it say homosexuality and same-sex marriage is acceptable to God. Instead, it says it is immoral and perverted.”

Lutheran CORE announced it will hold a convention in Indianapolis, September 25-26, to plan its further response to the ELCA announcement.

Report from the Christian Telegraph

CHRISTIANS DEFIANT IN INDIA’S TROUBLED KANDHAMAL – FEATURE

Christians in India’s troubled Kandhamal district of eastern Orissa say they remain firm in their faith despite being battered by waves of violence in 2008 that displaced 50 000 of them and left 75 dead, reports Ecumenical News International.

“The fear is there, but we trust in God,” said the Rev. Subendra Pradhan, one of three people ordained as full-time pastors at an evangelistic convention organized at the end of February in remote Sunamaha by the Church of North India.

Another 12 candidates were ordained as honorary pastors. The violence in Orissa broke out following the killing of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in August 2008.

Report from the Christian Telegraph