CSW Fights Persecution Launching 'Cut the Chains' Campaign

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) will launch its new 'Cut the Chains' campaign 1 September, aimed at highlighting the injustices faced by prisoners of conscience.

The campaign, which focuses on those incarcerated for the peaceful expression of their beliefs, is being launched in the wake of the appointment of a new ministerial team at the UK Foreign Office. It aims to secure commitments from politicians to exert diplomatic pressure in order to help secure the release of thousands of prisoners of conscience worldwide.

The campaign has three core goals related to freedom, fair trial and fair treatment.

'Cut the Chains' will ask for the release of all those incarcerated for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.

In addition, it will insist that every person is given a fair and public hearing, and will call for the humane and dignified treatment of prisoners, including as far as practicable the freedom to assemble to worship, access to a minister of religion and access to religious texts.

The campaign will launch with a postcard petition to the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, requesting that he will "commit to continue exerting diplomatic pressure for the freedom, fair trial and fair treatment of prisoners of conscience" around the world.

This will be followed by lobbying of the UK and European Parliaments.

CSW has continually taken up new cases of Christians who have been detained.

It tells that there are now over 2000 Christians detained in Eritrea. In Vietnam, a crackdown on human rights activists earlier this year included the imprisonment of a Catholic Priest and two lawyers who have defended religious freedom cases.

At the end of May, a Pakistani Christian, Younis Masih, was sentenced to death under the notorious blasphemy laws which are regularly used to target religious minorities or settle personal scores.

CSW's National Director, Stuart Windsor, spoke out ahead of the launch of the campaign, saying: "There are thousands of prisoners worldwide who have been detained for the peaceful expression of their beliefs. We are dedicated to ensuring that their individual cases are not forgotten by those in a position to help them.

"With a new ministerial team in the Foreign Office, we are launching this campaign to ensure a commitment from our government in the UK that they will proactively raise the cases of these suffering people in their diplomatic relations with other countries. We pray Christians around the country will actively take part in this campaign and represent their Christian family and others to the heart of Government."