FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ICC’s Hall of Shame Awards

The World’s Top Ten Persecutors of Christians

You are free to disseminate the following news. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address www.www.persecution.org. Contact Jeremy Sewall, Advocacy Director, 1-800-ICC (422)-5441, icc@www.persecution.org.

(February 4, 2009) The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.www.persecution.org has just released its annual Hall of Shame Awards. The Hall of Shame is a list of the world’s top ten persecutors of Christians.

This report calls attention to the high level of Christian persecution in many Islamic countries and also highlights the year’s worst anti-Christian violence, which began in Orissa, India in August and has yet to be resolved. In addition, it reveals the massive effort undertaken by the Chinese government to silence underground church activities during the 2008 Olympics.

In keeping with ICC’s mission to raise awareness of Christian persecution, our website, www.persecution.org, is updated daily with the latest reports of anti-Christian violence from web sources and ICC correspondents. Consequently, www.persecution.org is the only website where this kind of information is warehoused in such a comprehensive manner. The Hall of Shame list is an attempt to compile and analyze these news reports from the ten countries where Christian persecution has been most severe in 2008.

ICC’s Advocacy Director, Jeremy Sewall, said, “This report reminds us of the need for constant vigilance in the struggle to defend the fundamental human right of religious freedom. It is especially overwhelming to consider that this report only reveals the tip of the iceberg. Instead of allowing religious persecution to be swept under the rug, we call on journalists and all concerned individuals to help shine the light on persecution in 2009.”

In order, ICC has ranked the world’s worst persecutors for 2008 as: North Korea, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, India, China, Pakistan, Iran, Eritrea, and Vietnam.
The report is in PDF format, and can be found on the ICC website www.www.persecution.org, or it can be accessed directly at Hall of Shame 2009 (https://www.persecution.org/suffering/pdfs/ICC_Hall_of_Shame_2009.pdf).

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ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC delivers humanitarian aid, trains and supports persecuted pastors, raises awareness in the US regarding the problem of persecution, and is an advocate for the persecuted on Capitol Hill and the State Department. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.