“Brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election”
[Nov.19.2022] The Algerian government has recently closed 16 evangelical churches and has been found to be enforcing strict religious regulations, including arresting church members on charges of blasphemy and conversion. The USCIRF, a bipartisan body in the U.S. Congress, recently released a fact sheet on the religious freedom situation in Algeria, the world’s largest Arab country, where 99% of the population is Sunni Muslim.
The report warned that the North African country’s criminal law and statute 06-03 on non-Muslim groups “does not conform to international legal protection of religious or religious freedom” and “violates international conventions on civil and political rights” ratified by Algeria in 1989.
“In recent years, the Algerian government has strengthened these laws and imprisoned people on charges of blasphemy and conversion,” the USCIRF said. “The Algerian government interprets other laws in a way that violates Algerian rights to worship.”
According to the fact sheet, the Algerian government refused to accept applications for registration from the Evangelical Protestant Association (EPA) and forced the closure of at least 16 EPA churches for reasons of non-registration.
In November 2021, Algerian authorities indicted Salahhedin Chala, the EPA’s pastor, and four other Protestant Christians on charges of unauthorized worship. In March 2022, Chala was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and four other Christians to six months in prison.
Article 11 of Act 06-03 criminalizes conversion. In January 2020, for example, the Orancy District Court closed the Hope Evangelical Church, and in February sentenced the church’s pastor who is also the bookstore owner, Rachid Mohammed Seihir, and his bookstore assistant, Muh Hamimi, to two years in prison and about $3,500 in fines.
Article 144 of the Algerian Criminal Code defines blasphemy as a crime. The law imposes three to five years in prison and fines of about $350 to $710 for those who “insult prophets and god’s messenger through writings, art, speeches or other media, or disparage Islamic doctrines or lessons.”
“In recent years, the Algerian government has charged several individuals, including Christians, Muslims, and free thinkers, with blasphemy,” the report reported. Last year, a Christian, Hamid Sudad, was sentenced to five years in prison for “insulting an Islamic prophet” after sharing a caricature of the Prophet on personal social media.
However, churches are said to be growing despite the oppression of the Algerian government. “The number of Christians increased from about 10,000 in 2008 to 380,000 in 2015,” said Dr. Rex Rogers, chairman of SAT-7 USA, a Christian broadcaster in the Middle East, in 2019. “Now it may have reached nearly 500,000.”
Joshua Project, an organization that tracks the progress of missions among 17,000 ethnic groups around the world, also estimated that there are at least 600,000 Christians in Algeria. (Source: Christian Today Comprehensive)
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:10-11)
God, I praise You for the growth of Algerian Christians amid the closure of churches from strict religious regulations and persecution. May the church firmly hold on to the calling and election even in the increasingly difficult situation and have hope for the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ. Also, may You have mercy on the Algerian government though they continue its oppression, and hear the prayers of saints and evangelize the land, so that Algeria can stand as a base of the gospel camp in North Africa.
Prayer 24·365
prayer@prayer24365.org
