Compass Direct reports that on November 23, a Pastor and seven of his congregation were arrested and imprisoned by the police. The reasons for the arrests are not known and friends of those arrested have, according to Compass, "not been able to confirm the alleged charges against the pastor and his church members." Compass reports that local sources say, "They are in prison only because of their faith."

In a separate incident, Compass says that 10 young women from different Pentecostal Churches have also been arrested. They were believed to have been imprisoned during a compulsory military training camp. It is also believed that 6 of the approximately 60 young people arrested for having bibles at a separate camp earlier this year, remain imprisoned.

Compass says that, "according to lists compiled by local Protestants, currently at least 334 evangelical believers are imprisoned for their religious beliefs in nine known locations across Eritrea."

Christian Aid Mission (CAM) has reported that "Ma Van Bay, a missionary to the Hmong tribe, was arrested recently and is being held in a jail in southern Vietnam." Hailing from the Ha Giang Province next to the China border, Ma Van Bay originally cam to the Lord after listening to FEBC radio in 1990.

The date of his arrest is uncertain but it is known that the police in his home province searched his house and after finding money in the collection basket from the underground Church he ran in his home, "accused him of using religion to take money from the people and said he was abusing religious freedom." He was sentenced from 3 to 12 years in prison.

After escaping from the North and fleeing to the South of Vietnam, he was recaptured. It is feared that if he is returned to the North he will be severely beaten.

Reports have been received that Christians in China's southern Guangxi province have been imprisoned in labor camps for owning bibles. The arrests on April 27 were, according to one report, part of "a campaign to weed out 'illegal religious organisations.'"

The news report states that: "Written testimony supplied to AFP by villagers in Xilin county accused up to 40 policemen of descending on Christian villages in the middle of the night and ransacking homes in search of Bibles and other religious materials."

It is reported that three people; Li Hualiang, Wu Zhengxin and Wu Xinhua; from "Weishan and Tianbao villages were sentenced without trial to 18 months in a labor camp run by the Nanning Glass Factory in the provincial capital. "

Confirmation of the sentences was only given on September 27 and relatives of those imprisoned have, after repeated attempts, been allowed to visit. It is thought that this latest crackdown in China may affect up to 50 million Chinese Christians.

In a separate incident, in a move that has shut an estimated 3000 Chinese Christians off from places of worship, authorities in Jiangsu province in east China, north of Shanghai, have, since July, sealed off 125 Christian gathering places.

The closures are among the many incidents directed against Chinese Christians during the latest crackdown on non-state authorized religious groups. The alleged closures have all taken place in Suqian city, Danyang city and Xushui County.

According to a Reuters report, "Islamic militants burned to the ground thirteen churches and several houses in a remote northern Nigerian town after a Christian student was accused of blasphemy." The incident occurred late last week Tuesday, November 18 in Kazaure, a town 50km north of Kano. The report also says that shops were also torched.

Reuters says, "the dispute began when a Christian student was accused of insulting the Prophet Mohammad and a group of Muslims were not satisfied with the response of school authorities." After attempting to invade the school and being repelled by the police, the students went on the rampage.

Police commissioner Abubakar Sale said, after being repelled "the hoodlums then mobilised and went into town where they started looting and burning people's property."

According to a separate Reuters report, "Scores of Christians fled Kazaure after Tuesday's rampage, which gutted 54 shops run by Christians as well as the churches." Eze Aloy, a Christian community leader whose shop and house were destroyed, said "We have made this place our home but now we are afraid and many have left."

The Barnabas Fund (BF) reports that in protest to the desire of Christians to convert a small home they own into a Church, "Muslims have gone on an anti-Christian rampage, burning and looting homes in Al-Ayat, 30 miles to the south of Cairo."

The BF reported that on November 7, just after 8:00pm, a crowd of 5000 Muslims, "armed with sticks and containers full of either petrol or paraffin", descend on the Christian quarter of Girza, a village near Al-Ayat. The BF reports that the crowd (mob) "burned down four homes belonging to Christian families, looting and destroying six more." The BF continues, "they also burnt down eight shops and torched the fields of eight further families." It is reported that "eleven Christians were injured including eighteen month old Christina Yousri; five were hospitalised."

Apart from the general destruction of Christian property, the house at the heart of the protest was completely destroyed so that even the foundations need to be rebuilt.

The Malino Peace Accord brokered between Christians and Muslims to end communal conflict in Sulawesi has, according to a source in Indonesia, been frequently violated. The first five months of 2003 saw a decrease in the violence in the region. This apparent calm in the situation resulted in the Indonesian government withdrawing 1000 police officers and troops. Since their withdrawal, there has been a marked increase in violations of the peace accord.

According to the source in Indonesia, "since the Malino Accord was signed in December 2001 99.9% of the victims have been Christians, and none of the attackers have been discovered!"

A sample of a list of violations include, attacks on Christian villages, return of snipers to Poso, the killing of Christians, and the planting of bombs at Christian parties, Churches and food markets.

Gospel For Asia (GFA) reports that, "native missionary pastor John Nayak and six other Gospel workers are on the line as anti-Christian groups pursue them in an area of Orissa, India, long known for the persecution of Christians." According to the report, "God is using Pastor John to touch lives in the community" whose prayers God has faithfully answered and through whom the Lord has built a 45 strong Church that meets regularly in the village.

These actions of Pastor Nayak have not gone unnoticed by "anti-Christians" who have allegedly threatened members of Pastor Nayaks church and his wife. Four days after the threats, Pastor Nayak and the missionaries accompanying him were attacked. The report says that "By God's grace, the missionaries broke free and ran home"

On the same day of the attacks, a crowd of 200 "anti-Christians," who oppose conversions, marched on Pastor Nayak's home.

Freedom House has announced the release of a new 148 page report on religious oppression in India. According to the press release (PR) announcing the report, "India's Home Ministry (internal security) and National Commission for Minorities list over 100 annual attacks against Christians in recent years. The attacks include the murder of missionaries and priests, the sexual assault of nuns, the ransacking of churches, convents and other Christian institutions, the desecration of cemeteries and Bible burnings." The report also expresses concern over violence directed against Muslims.

According to FH the report identifies the rise of Hindu nationalism as a "a worrisome new trend in the world's largest democracy" and notes that the ideology of this religious based nationalism is aimed at "ensuring the predominance of Hinduism in Indian society, politics, and culture." According to FH these objectives are achieved through "tactics that include violence and terror."

The report is available for purchase from Freedom House for US$12.00.

Open Doors reports that Colonel David de Vinatea, imprisoned for alleged drug smuggling, has, after serving 8 years of a 10 year sentence, been released. According to Open Doors, "Observers who closely followed the case became convinced that de Vinatea was not only innocent of the charges, but that high-ranking officials in the government of former president Alberto Fujimori falsely accused the respected army officer of wrongdoing in order to cover up their own illicit activities."

Open Doors Latin America Director Richard Luna said, "We have seen a lot of cases of Christians going to jail for believing in Christ." He continued, "In David's case, he went to jail for obeying Christ. I think that we are going to see more of this kind of thing in the future."

Open Doors reports that during his incarceration Colonel de Vinatea was able to maintain a "strong Christian witness."