While Lobbying Congress for Weapons and Recognition Somaliland Jails Woman for Five Years for Converting to Christianity

Somaliland is trying to keep its persecution of Christians quiet as its lobbies Congress for U.S. funds, weapons, and recognization.

WASHINGTON, D.C., DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES, November 29, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- According to the International Christian Concern (ICC), a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to calling attention to the persecution of Christians and religious minorities, Hani is a young woman in her mid-twenties serving a five-year sentence in Somaliland for converting to Christianity. According to the ICC, "Somaliland is trying to keep all things quiet because they know this could interfere with the process of them trying to get international recognition as an independent country from Somalia." The secessionist Somaliland regime is currently lobbying the U.S. Congress for U.S. funds, weapons, and recognization.

Somaliland has a long history of religious persecution. As reported by the Barnabas Aid organization, a charity organization that works to provide aid to persecuted Christians, on January 21 and 22, 2021, Somaliland security forces arrested Mohamed and Hamdi and their newborn baby and charged them with converting to Christianity.

A handful of legislation and amendments have been introduced in Congress on Somaliland's behalf, including H.R. 7170 - Republic of Somaliland Independence Act which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Republican Congressman Scott Perry of Pennsylvania’s 10th district. Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. is currently working to block H.R. 7170 and other Somaliland-related bills and amendments and has spent almost a year briefing members of Congress and the Biden Administration about the true nature of the Somaliland government.

The Somaliland government is a secessionist regime attempting to illegally break away from Somalia. The Somaliland regime has been accused by Amnesty International, the United Nations, and pro-democracy activists of gross human rights violations and corruption. The U.K.'s Guardian newspaper has also reported the Somaliland regime is among a group of governments with questionable human rights records discovered giving "gifts and donations" to influence members of the U.K. Parliament.

From banning BBC News in July 2022 to using imprisonment and murder to censor free speech, the Somaliland regime has spent years misleading the international community. Von Batten-Montague-York will engage with Somaliland's friends in Congress, including Congressman Scott Perry, to ask them to request the release of Hani and all political and religious prisoners in Somaliland. The Somaliland regime must allow Hani and all religious prisoners in Somaliland to "leave" Somaliland peacefully and without harm to their persons.

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/least-five-people-killed-100-hurt-somaliland-protests-2022-08-12/
https://www.persecution.org/2022/11/28/hani-is-serving-a-five-year-term-in-a-somaliland-jail-for-converting-to-christianity/
https://www.barnabasfund.org/us/news/six-somaliland-christian-converts-charged-with-offences-against-islam/
https://www.voanews.com/a/somaliland-announces-ban-on-bbc-broadcasts-/6665264.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/29/qatar-lavished-british-mps-with-250000-worth-of-freebies-ahead-of-world-cup
https://www.wsj.com/articles/somaliland-offers-u-s-military-access-to-port-airfieldas-it-pushes-for-nationhood-11643705732
https://web.archive.org/web/20220128025247/https://somalilandsun.com/somaliland-christians-fear-more-persecutions-after-couple-detained-for-evangelism/
https://press.un.org/en/2022/gashc4360.doc.htm

For all inquiries relating to this press release, please contact:

Blossom Rolly
Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C.
blossom.rolly@montagueyork.com
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