Iran: Prisoner List Update

Stacy L. Harp
February 23, 2012 

The Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat News recently published a list of Christians imprisoned in Iran. The list, which was current as of February 2012, consists of prisoners known by and confirmed by Mohabat News.

For security reasons, the prisoners listed below or their families have asked that they not be featured on VOM’s www.prisoneralert.com. However, please pray for each one of these believers. For a list of Iranian prisoners to whom you can write, visit the PrisonerAlert.com Iran country profile.

 

 

 

Prisoner Name	City of Arrest	Date of Arrest	Prison
Noorallah Qabitzade	Dezful	Dec. 24, 2010	Dastgerd
Farshi Fathi	Tehran	Dec. 26, 2010	Evin
Fariborz Arazm	Tehran	Oct. 17, 2011	Evin
Farshad Sabokroh	Ahwaz	Dec. 23, 2011	Karoon
Naser Zamen-Dezfuli	Ahwaz	Dec. 23, 2011	Karoon
Davoud Alijani	Ahwaz	Dec. 23, 2011	Karoon
Massis Moussian	Tehran	Feb. 8, 2012	Rajei-Shahr
Mojtaba Houseini	Shiraz	Feb. 8, 2012	Pelak 100
Fariba Nazemian	Shiraz	Feb. 8, 2012	Pelak 100
Homayoun Shokoohi	Shiraz	Feb. 8, 2012	Pelak 100
Nima Shokoohi	Shiraz	Feb. 8, 2012	Pelak 100
Vahid Hakkani	Shiraz	Feb. 8, 2012	Pelak 100
Shrifeh Dookh	Shiraz	Feb. 8, 2012	Pelak 100
Masoud Golrooyan	Shiraz	Feb. 8, 2012	Pelak 100

Source: Mohabat News

Islamic Extremists Behead Another Convert in Somalia

Young Christian man murdered outside Mogadishu.

NAIROBI, Kenya, February 8 (CDN) — Islamic extremists from the rebel al Shabaab militia in Somalia beheaded a Christian on the outskirts of Mogadishu last month, sources said.

The militants fighting the transitional government in Mogadishu murdered Zakaria Hussein Omar, 26, on Jan. 2 in Cee-carfiid village, about 15 kilometers (nine miles) outside of the Somali capital, they said. Omar had worked for a Christian humanitarian organization that al Shabaab banned last year.

His body was left lying for 20 hours before nomads found it and carried it into Mogadishu, a close friend said.

“We have been communicating with Omar, and he was sharing with me his life as a Christian,” the friend said. “Last year he mentioned to me that his life was in danger when the NGO [Non-Governmental Organization] he worked for was banned by the al Shabaab.”

The friend said he identified the body.

“One of the persons who saw him said, ‘This is the young man who stayed in Ethiopia, and people have been saying that he left Islam and joined Christianity.’”

Omar converted to Christianity seven years ago while in Ethiopia, where he lived with relatives. He returned to Somalia in 2008 and completed his university education in 2009 with a degree in accounting.

Omar had married in the latter part of 2010. He is survived by his wife, his parents (originally from central Somalia), a brother and four sisters.

Last September, the militants beheaded another young Christian near Mogadishu. The militants, who have vowed to rid Somalia of Christianity, killed Guled Jama Muktar on Sept. 25 in his home near Deynile, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mogadishu (See www.compassdirect.org, “Islamic Extremists in Somalia Behead 17-year-old Christian,” Oct. 19, 2011).

Earlier that month, a kidnapped Christian convert from Islam was found decapitated on the outskirts of Hudur City in Bakool region, in southwestern Somalia. Juma Nuradin Kamil was forced into a car by three suspected Islamic extremists from the al Shabaab terrorist group on Aug. 21, 2011 and murdered on Sept. 2, area sources said (See www.compassdirect.org, “Somali Convert to Christianity Kidnapped, Beheaded,” Sept. 12, 2011).

With estimates of al Shabaab’s size ranging from 3,000 to 7,000, the insurgents seek to impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law), but the transitional government in Mogadishu fighting to retain control of the country treats Christians little better than the al Shabaab extremists do. While proclaiming himself a moderate, President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed has embraced a version of sharia that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam.

Al Shabaab was among several splinter groups that emerged after Ethiopian forces removed the Islamic Courts Union, a group of sharia courts, from power in Somalia in 2006. It has been designated a terrorist organization by several western governments.

Sudan bombs US-funded Bible school, forcing students, teachers to flee; US condemns attack

By Associated Press,

NAIROBI, Kenya — Sudan’s military bombed a Bible school built by a U.S. Christian aid group, prompting students and teachers at the school to run for their lives in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan state.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations condemned the attack.

Pictures obtained by The Associated Press on Friday showed that two stone school buildings were demolished in the attack. No one was hurt or killed despite the fact school was in session.

Ryan Boyette, a former aid worker who lives in Sudan and is now leading a team of 15 citizen journalists, spoke to a teacher at the site of Wednesday’s attack in the Nuba Mountains. The teacher, Zachariah Boulus, told Boyette that he couldn’t find his wife and children after the attack because everyone ran into the mountains for safety.

Boyette said that two of eight bombs dropped hit the school.

The Heiban Bible College was built by Samaritan’s Purse, a North Carolina-based aid group. Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham said the attack was carried out by the Sudanese Air Force.

“Please pray for the safety of believers, and that God would intervene,” Graham said.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said she was outraged by what she called a “heinous” bombing.

“It was the first day of school, and the campus was full of students, teachers and families,” Rice said in a statement. “While miraculously no one was killed, this attack-involving eight bombs dropped from the air-underscores the viciousness of Sudan’s ongoing military campaign in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.”

The Nuba Mountains have been an area of conflict between Sudan’s military and a rebel group formerly aligned with South Sudan for months. Tens of thousands of people have fled the violence. Rice said the conflict is affecting more than 500,000 people.

If the conflict continues, it could precipitate a famine, Rice said. Sudan is preventing aid groups from accessing parts of Sudan’s South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.