North Korea Again Tops List of World’s Worst Persecutors of Christians

The communist nation has topped the missions organization’s
World Watch List for eight consecutive years because of its long history of
targeting Christians for arrest, torture and murder. California-based Open
Doors estimates that of the 200,000 North Koreans languishing in political
prisons, 40,000 to 60,000 of them are Christians.

“It is
certainly not a shock that North Korea is No. 1 on the list of countries where
Christians face the worst persecution,” said Open Doors USA President Carl
Moeller. “There is no other country in the world where Christians are
persecuted in such a horrible and systematic manner. Three generations of a
family are often thrown into prison when one member is incarcerated.”

Although Iran has repeatedly surfaced in Open Doors’ Top 10,
the nation rose from No. 3 to No. 2 on this year’s list because of a recent
wave of arrests of Christians that began in 2008 and grew stronger in 2009. The
ministry estimates that at least 85 Christians were arrested last year,
including two sisters who became the focus of an advocacy campaign by Open
Doors and other Christian ministries.

“Iran
jumping to No. 2 is noteworthy,” Moeller said. “Iranian Muslim background
believers Maryam Rustampoor and Marzieh Amirizadeh were arrested simply for
being Christians and refusing to recant their faith in Jesus Christ. They were
released almost two months ago, helped by an advocacy campaign by Open Doors
and other Christian organizations. But these two brave women along with
hundreds of other believers still remain at risk inside Iran.”

Saudi
Arabia remains at No. 3, though Open Doors said it received no reports of
Christians being killed or physically harmed for their faith, and only one
report of a Christian arrested was noted.

Somalia
moved from No. 5, to the No. 4 spot after its Parliament in April voted
unanimously to institute Islamic law. Open Doors leaders said the ministry also
received reports of Christians being killed and arrested.

Rounding out the top 10 are Maldives, Afghanistan, Yemen,
Mauritania, Laos and Uzbekistan, respectively. Yemen’s position at No. 7 was
unchanged over last year. But concern about Islamic fundamentalism in the
nation has grown since U.S. officials discovered that al-Qaida leaders in Yemen
planned a failed attempt to bomb a plane en route to Detroit on
Christmas Day.

Open Doors reports that the Yemeni Constitution guarantees
religious freedom but has declared Islam to be the state religion and Sharia
law the source of its legislation. Although expatriates can practice religions
other than Islam, Open Doors said Yemeni citizens who convert from Islam could
face the death penalty.

Even with the limited religious liberty, nine expatriate
Christian health workers were kidnapped by armed men last June. A few days
later the bodies of three of them were found, and the fate of the remaining six
remains unknown.

While most of the worst offenders in the World Watch List
ranked in the Top 10 last year, there were notable exceptions. Mauritania moved
up 10 positions from No. 18 last year to No. 8 this year. Open Doors attributed
the jump to the assassination of Christian aid worker Christopher Leggett in
June, the arrest and torture
of 35 Mauritanian Christians in July and the arrest of a group of 150 of
sub-Saharan Christians in August.

And though
the situation for Christians is still severe there, Eritrea fell from No. 9
last year to No. 11 this year. Open Doors also recorded fewer incidents
of Christian persecution in Algeria,
India, Cuba, Jordan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, which made the biggest improvement,
dropping from No. 41 to No. 48.

The change
in rankings is not necessarily a sign of improved religious liberty, however. “There
was definitely an intensifying of persecution of Christians in quite a few
countries this year, which I think outweighed the improvements in other
countries,” said Lindsay Vessey, advocacy director for Open Doors, pointing to
the increased arrests and murders in Iran, Somalia and Mauritania.

“Those types of huge number of arrest and restrictions on
religious freedom, I think, outweigh the rather small improvements in the
countries we reported on, such as the improvements of India or Cuba,” she
added.

Despite the persecution, Vessey noted that churches continue
to grow in the world’s most restrictive nations.

“North Korea has been on the top of our World Watch List as
the very worst persecutor of Christians for the past eight years in a row,”
Vessey said. “The situation there is very dark. There really is no religious
freedom whatsoever. If people are caught, they are put in prison or executed.
And we’ve been receiving reports very regularly the past several years and
continuing on into this year that the church is very vibrant, the underground
church, and it’s growing.”

“I think that’s really encouraging,” she added. “Just the
testimony that even that when there is persecution, that’s what God uses to
grow His church.”

Open Doors develops its World Watch List by sending its
workers, church leaders and recognized experts in 70 countries a 53-question
survey. The questionnaire examines such issues as the degree of legal
restriction, state attitudes toward religious freedom, the liberty churches
have to organize themselves, and incidents of anti-Christian violence.

Open Doors works in 46 of the 50 nations included in its
World Watch List.