{"id":769,"date":"2012-08-10T06:07:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-10T06:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/church-leaders-urge-egyptian-troops-to-rescue-sinai-hostages\/"},"modified":"2012-08-10T06:07:00","modified_gmt":"2012-08-10T06:07:00","slug":"church-leaders-urge-egyptian-troops-to-rescue-sinai-hostages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/08\/church-leaders-urge-egyptian-troops-to-rescue-sinai-hostages\/","title":{"rendered":"Church leaders urge Egyptian troops to rescue Sinai hostages"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Jerusalem, Israel, Aug 10, 2012 \/ 12:07 am (CNA<\/a>).- \u201cDramatic changes\u201d in the Sinai peninsula region offer Egypt's government a chance to rescue trafficking and torture victims, an assembly of Middle Eastern Catholic leaders said Aug. 9.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cDue to the deployment of Egyptian troops in Sinai following the recent violence on the Israeli-Egyptian border, a window of opportunity opens up,\u201d the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land said in a communique.<\/p>\n

\tThe opportunity \u201cmust be used to put an end to the ongoing, festering sore of the prison and torture camps in Sinai,\u201d the bishops and priests wrote, renewing their March 2012 appeal which echoed the concerns of Pope Benedict XVI about criminals' treatment of migrants in the region.<\/p>\n

\tEgypt deployed troops in the Sinai peninsula after militants killed at least 16 soldiers at a checkpoint on Aug. 5. The attackers took control of an armored vehicle and crossed into Israel, where six of them were killed in an airstrike.<\/p>\n

\tReinforcement were sent from Egypt on Thursday, as gunmen attacked a police station on the peninsula. President Mohammed Morsi said on Sunday that Egypt \u201cwill control all parts of Sinai,\u201d where Al-Qaeda-inspired militants are looking to set up a strictly Islamic state.<\/p>\n

\tTwenty regional Catholic leaders \u2013 including Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal, Melkite Archbishop Elias Chacour, and Holy Land Custos Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa \u2013 urged the Egyptian soldiers to put an end to another crisis that has caused immense suffering near the border.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe, the heads of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, continue to call out to the world in our deep concern for the fate of the African asylum seekers who have been kidnapped as they pass through Sinai,\u201d the Holy Land Church officials stated in Thursday's message.<\/p>\n

\tUntil now, they noted, Egyptian authorities have not taken effective action against \u201cthe general lawlessness in Sinai and the bands of criminals who prey on the African asylum seekers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cDespite increasing international pressure, Egyptian officials frequently explained that under the restrictions of the 1978 Camp David agreement and the demilitarization of the zone, Egypt is unable to take the required action.\u201d This inaction, they noted, \u201chas left the torture camps in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBut now, having deployed forces against the suspected Islamic militants, Egyptian authorities were urged to seize the chance \u201cto also shut down these camps and make sure the trafficking in human beings stops.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHundred of victims, many kidnapped in Sinai while on their way from Eritrea and Sudan, \u201care being tortured \u2013 suspended by the limbs, burnt by white hot irons, electrocuted on their body parts and systematically raped,\u201d the bishops and priests warned, citing documentation by human rights activists.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAt this very moment, the relatives of the victims are paying extortion money to release their loved ones,\u201d they wrote, calling upon the Egyptian security forces to take long-awaited action against the traffickers during their deployment in the peninsula.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cMay the cry of the oppressed,\u201d they said, \u201cbe heard by those who now have the opportunity to release them from their bondage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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