Contact: Jeff King, President, International Christian Concern, 800-422-5441, icc@persecution.org

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 /Standard Newswire/ -- The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) has just released its annual Hall of Shame Awards. This list details the world's top ten persecutors of Christians.

This report calls attention to a growing trend that shows the source of Christian persecution shifting from nations with Communist governments to Islamic nations.

The first example of this trend is Iraq. One of the unintended consequences of the war in Iraq was to bring more pressure on the Christian communities there. Much of the media attention has focused on bloodshed between Sunni and Shiite, but hardly any coverage has been given to the disproportionately large number of brutal attacks on the small Christian minority. Therefore, ICC has ranked Iraq as the second-worst persecutor of Christians.

In addition, radical Islam has gained a foothold in the Horn of Africa through the anarchy in Somalia. This has contributed to a sharp rise in violence against Christians in Somalia and Ethiopia. It remains to be seen what effect the recent defeat of the Union of Islamic Courts in Somalia will have on the region.

ICC's President Jeff King said, "Persecution must and can be fought. Religious persecution must be named and shamed on an international level. Journalists need to speak out about Islam's mistreatment of other religions, while concerned individuals should get involved in the fight by contacting their elected representatives and by calling embassies and requesting fair treatment for Christians overseas."

In order, ICC has ranked the world's worst persecutors as: North Korea, Iraq, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Iran, Eritrea, China, Vietnam, and Pakistan.

The report is in PDF format, and can be found on the ICC website www.persecution.org, or it can be accessed directly at http://www.persecution.org/suffering/pdfs/HallofShame2007.pdf.

ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides practical assistance, awareness, and advocacy for persecuted Christians. For interviews, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.