Ethiopian Christians Imprisoned in Saudi ArabiaInternational Christian Concern has learned that 35 Christian Ethiopian men and women were arrested after holding a prayer meeting at a private home in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on December 15th. Our sources indicate they have been imprisoned without trial and have not been told when or if they will be released. Our sources also indicate that the men in the prison have been violently assaulted by their interrogators and that one of them has sustained serious injuries to his ribs and was unable to move until recently. During interrogations, some of the prisoners have been mocked by authorities for their Christian beliefs. The women report that they were strip searched upon their arrest and that unsanitary conditions during the search have led to illnesses among some of the prisoners for which they are unable to obtain proper medical treatment. Although officially the authorities are saying the arrest was due to the improper mixing of genders, one of the employers of the imprisoned Christians was initially told by officials that the arrests were due to holding Christian meetings. The prisoners themselves are also convinced that they were arrested for holding the prayer meeting and point out that the questioning they have faced under interrogation confirms this. Join us as we advocate on behalf of these brothers and sisters in Christ who have been arrested simply for gathering together to pray. Sign our petition to the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, urging him to take immediate action with his government in resolving the cases of all 35 Ethiopian Christians. Follow the instructions below and have your signatures back to us by February 25th. Here's How You Can Help #1 Pray: The first thing you can do to help is stop right now and ask the Lord to intervene on behalf of the imprisoned Ethiopian Christians in Saudi Arabia. #2 Next, review our petition. #3 Electronically sign the petition by clicking here. #4 Print out the petition and take it to your friends and church and have everyone you know sign it. Send it back to us so we can compile the responses. Feel free to print out extra signature pages for large numbers of sign ups. When you have collected all your signatures, please mail the signature pages to: ICC PO Box 8056 Silver Spring, MD 20907 or fax them to us at (301) 585-5918 Please get them back to us by February 25th. |
