Persecution of Christians (Middle East)

David Burrowes Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2013 Westminster Hall

[Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to speak on this topic under your chairmanship, Mr Williams. The number of Members in the Chamber testifies to the debate’s importance.

Article 18 of the universal declaration of human rights states:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief; and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. When citizens are prevented from enjoying that right, the social, political and cultural implications can be serious, as the debate will show. The loss of other human rights can swiftly follow. The debate is therefore important not only for Christians, but for all religious groups and minorities, and indeed for everyone seeking to live out the dictates of their conscience in worship, teaching, practice and observance, respectful of others’ right to do likewise, and under the protection of a state striving to achieve that positive vision under the rule of law. That is a far cry from the reality for many Christians in the middle east.

[Mr David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. She is being characteristically generous in giving way. It is right that we should stand up to champion the cause of religious freedom across all religions and faiths, but is it not a stark fact of Christian persecution that 80% of all discrimination is against Christians?

[Fiona Bruce]

My hon. Friend is quite right. Christianity is the most persecuted faith worldwide, so the problem exists not only in the middle east, but globally.

The former Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, in his outgoing interview with The Daily Telegraph, discussed the persecution of Christians in the middle east with the deepest concern of any current issue, saying that

“this is a human tragedy that is going almost unremarked… it is the religious equivalent of ethnic cleansing. We are seeing Christians in Syria in great danger; we are seeing the burning of Coptic churches in Egypt. There is a large Coptic population in Egypt, and for some years now it has been living in fear. Two years ago the last church in Afghanistan was destroyed, certainly closed. There are no churches left in Afghanistan. Between 500,000 and 1 million Christians have left Iraq. At the beginning of the 19th century, Christians represented 20% of the population of the Arab world, today 2%. This is a story that is crying out for a public voice”.

Let us be that voice today.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) on securing this debate.

Why are we particularly focusing on Christian persecution? The reason has already been given, but it is worth emphasising. I am sure, Mr Williams, that you would like me to focus particularly on the middle east, but the reality is that in a disturbing total of 139 nations Christians face persecution, which is extraordinary.

We have already heard various statistics, but it is worth reminding ourselves of one statistic from the Centre for the Study of Global Christianity, which has worked out that 11 Christians are killed around the world every hour, seven days a week, 365 days a year, for reasons related to their faith. And increasing numbers of Christians are being killed in the middle east, which is why it is right to focus on the region.

Is this a debate just for Christians? There are a number of Christians here, including members of Christians in Parliament, the all-party group, but there are other Members who are here who are not Christians, and quite rightly so. It is right that we should recently have heard the words of Pope Francis when addressing the general audience. He said:

“When I hear that so many Christians in the world are suffering, am I indifferent, or is it as if a member of my own family is suffering?”

Christians very much feel that members of their family—brothers and sisters—are suffering and they need to speak up about it, but they are members of all our family who are suffering, and anyone who is concerned about freedom of religion feels that; it is not the exclusive preserve of Christians but is felt by anyone who cares about a good society and wants to stand up for common freedoms, and the desire for freedom of religion is very much a common concern. We will hear today from other Members who do not share the Christian faith with us but very much share that same passion and desire for freedom of religion. It is quite right that we are all united across the House and across the faiths on this issue.

The term “Christian persecution” is sometimes bandied about carelessly. In this country, we can talk about Christian persecution, but let us just remind ourselves that if there is Christian persecution in this country then at worst its victim is likely to be sued, but in the middle east the victim will be killed. That is the stark reality that we are facing and that is why we are focusing today on Christian persecution in the middle east.

As I say, Christian persecution is a reality in the middle east, but I will particularly focus on Iran. As has been mentioned, Christians in Parliament, the all-party group, produced a report last year on the persecution of Christians in Iran, but now sadly we need to produce an update on how such persecution has been extended. Hassan Rouhani has been elected and religious freedom in Iran formed part of his campaign pledges. He said in his election campaign:

“All ethnicities, all religions, even religious minorities, must feel justice”.

We have to challenge that and ask how there has been justice for Christians in Iran, even in the time that he has been President. What he was doing in making that remark was effectively referring to the Iranian constitution, article 23 of which states:

“The investigation of individuals’ beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief.”

That principle has been overridden by sharia law, which has taken precedence on this issue. However, the basic constitutional work in Iran, and indeed the pre-revolution heritage of Iran, was about having sympathy with religious minorities and the Iranian people here in Britain hang their head in shame at what is happening in their country now in the name of Iran and its current regime, and that has continued under the watch of Rouhani; the situation in Iran for all religious minorities, but particularly for Christians, has continued to deteriorate.

Just at the end of last month, two Christians in Iran were lashed for drinking communion wine; they were punished simply for partaking in a sacrament that has obviously been practised for centuries, since the time of Jesus. Two other Christians in Iran are now awaiting the same punishment for drinking communion wine. In Iran, Christians continue to be arrested, detained and interrogated, before harsh sentences are handed down on erroneous, trumped-up and political charges, on the basis of protecting security, and those sentences are upheld on appeal.

Our all-party group’s report on Iran particularly highlighted the concerns that exist for the house church movement, the members of which have suffered appalling persecution. In addition, there is now visible persecution of people in churches, including of people in Orthodox churches. Also, the Catholic Church in Tehran has been pressured by the Iranian authorities into barring Persian-speaking Iranians. Why is that? No doubt, it is because the regime presumes that such people are from a Muslim background and it wants to suppress any profession of Christian faith by them. Previously, such treatment has been limited to Protestant Churches, but now it is being extended across the board.

We have had the September session at the UN General Assembly, and perhaps we are seeing a thawing of relations with Iran. Eighty prisoners of conscience were released from Iranian prisons. So can we sit down and say, “All is good now in Iran”? We have to recognise that two of the Christian women released were near the end of their sentence. Also, when Iran says that it is trying to be good and says, “Yes, we are going to release all prisoners of conscience,” we must look at the individuals concerned. Mr Williams, I hope that you and the Hansard writers will forgive me, but I need to put on the record the names of the 16 Christians who are serving time in jail in Iran whom we know of and who can be named. They are Maryam Zagaran, Farshid Fathi, who has already been mentioned, Farhad Sabokrooh, Shahnaz Jaynaz, Nasser Zamen-Dezfuli, Davoud Alijani, Mostafa Bordbar, Mojtaba Hossein, Mohammad-Beza Partoei, Homayoun Shokouhi, Vahid Hakkani, Ebrahim Firouzi, Saeed Abedini, Shahin Lahooti, Alireza Seyyedian and Behnam Irani. Forgive my pronunciation of their names, but the point is that these people need to be released if Rouhani is to make good on the promises that he made.

I wish to give others an opportunity to speak, Mr Williams, but we must recognise that despite the suffering that these Christians experience, they deal with it with incredible grace, humility and fortitude. Farshid Fathi recently wrote:

“How can I complain about my suffering when my brothers and sisters are paying a high price for their faith all over the world? How can I complain?”

Today, we can complain on their behalf. In fact, we can properly take the words of the Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, and I will finish by quoting him. We have already heard that Israel is very much set apart from concerns about freedom of religion, by contrast to the countries that neighbour it. In 2011, Fouad Twal said:

“Does anybody hear our cry? How many atrocities must we endure before somebody, somewhere, comes to our aid?”

The opportunity for the Minister today is to respond to this debate and to show that the Government take these atrocities seriously and will complain and ensure that the relations between Iran and the UK are thawed. Human rights and the freedom of religion are central to restoring diplomatic relations with Iran, and Iran must respond to our recommendations. We must ensure that we use all the channels that we can to stand up for persecuted Christians in Iran.