AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE AFGHAN CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

July 2010

Christians in Afghanistan have written an ‘Open Letter’ to believers around the world calling for help in defending those who are being persecuted for their faith. The letter was written by Afghan Christians currently living in exile from their beloved homeland because they were forced to flee their country in order to save their lives and the lives of their families, due to orders of execution issued against them by the Afghan government for "choosing to convert to Christianity.” 

The letter addresses recent events inside Afghanistan following showing of an incendiary documentary showing photos and videos of secret “Afghan Christian Converts” aired on an independent TV station based in Kabul. The documentary was the first of its kind to ever air publicly on national TV in Afghanistan, a country that considers itself to be 100 percent Muslim. The controversial content, revealing names and faces of supposed Afghan Christian converts, sparked riots and demonstrations throughout Afghanistan in the days that followed.  

Demonstrators called on President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan government to take strong and decisive actions against the Afghan Christian converts by enforcing Islamic Sharia law, which clearly calls for the arrest and public execution of anyone who leaves Islam for another religion. Abdul Sattar Khawasi, deputy secretary of the Afghan lower house, called for the execution of Christian converts from Islam saying, “those Afghans should be executed in public, the house should order the Attorney General and the police to arrest these Afghans and execute them.” 
 
In another reported statement, Qazi Nazir Ahmad, a lawmaker from Herat, declared that killing a Muslim who converts to Christianity is “not a crime.” Reports from inside Afghanistan tell of many arrests in recent days, frequent and ongoing searches of homes and businesses, as well as claims of torture by those under arrest in an effort to forcibly extract the names of other Afghan Christian converts and the locations of secret Afghan Christian “churches” and underground fellowships.

The letter says: “In light of all these events, and the perplexing media silence on these atrocities occurring in plain view of the international community, we are pleading with the Body of Christ around the world to support our Afghan Christian brothers and sisters during this critical time by taking a firm and vocal stand against the severe and devastating wrongs being committed against them by their own government!” The letter-writers say: “We ask that you please forward and share the enclosed “open letter to the church” with your friends, churches and prayer groups.  

We need everyone’s help to make our voices heard!  “We must make people aware that right now our Afghan Christian brothers and sisters are being subjected to forcible arrest, intimidation, fear, torture and certain public execution merely for choosing to be Christian! We must raise up a standard against these egregious injustices and blatant human rights violations by taking a strong and public stand against these unconscionable actions being perpetrated and condoned by the Afghan government from the parliament floor against its own people!”

Source: Assist News