Note: Brazil has turned a political corner and has become what appears to a socialist state. I have many relatives serving the Lord there as missionaries. My relatives have been bringing the Gospel to both Brazilian nationals and Indian tribes for over sixty years. The government has had a policy of fighting the evangelicals and stopping their reaching tribes with the Gospel. Many tribes do not have the Gospel, largely as a result of the hostile government anti-evangelical policy. Also, evangelicals have been persecuted there before, for many years, in Brazil, even as evangelicals now have grown in number to become one of the largest Christian groups in Brazil. Is the secularist, socialist government recently voted in attempting to fight back against Christianity, which is the only deterrant to its overreaching power grabs? If so, then Pastor Rocha's case is evidence of it. How else does this happen, case by case, individual by individual. This is the way it happens in America, case by case, individual by individual, as human rights of Christians are trampled on an aggressive secularist-socialist state power. Obama, on his recent visit to Brazil, was beside himself with praise for Brazil, completely overlooking its human rights abuses regarding the much exploited Indian tribes it has long treated as a prize species of monkey or ape for the anthropologists to study on reserves, while also ignoring its persecution of evangelicals. When I was applying for a visa and thinking about taking a Christian male friend from church who could share from the Word of God with them, my relatives diplomatically informed me that it might be difficult for me in the visa application process if I stated as my reason for coming that I was bringing a friend who would preach! Imagine this happening here in America! They don't want evangelical preachers coming into Brazil even on a short visit to relatives? Seems incredible, but missionaries must toe the line in modern Brazil, this coming world power that is increasingly socialist and secularist and anti-Christian.--Ed.]
"Brazilian pastor condemned to prison for spanking children, loses mind." by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
• Mon Mar 28, 2011 14:04 EST
LifeSiteNews.com Life, Family and Culture News
Jeremias Rocha has reportedly been imprisoned for months for spanking his daughters, in the absence of any evidence or even a conviction.
AMAZONAS, Brazil, March 28, 2011 ( LifeSiteNews.com ) - A Brazilian pastor from the nation’s Amazonas region has become mentally ill following his imprisonment for spanking his two daughters, according to local media reports . Until recently the pastor was reportedly handcuffed to a prison hospital bed, where he was forced even to go to the bathroom in front of staff.
Jeremias Albuquerque Rocha, who just turned 26, was an active Evangelical minister in the town of Carauari until May of last year, when a child protective services agent denounced him for spanking his children, for which he was accused of “torture.”
Despite a lack of any physical evidence submitted to the judge, Rocha was placed in preventative detention, in a prison cell so crowded that he was forced to stand during the day, and had to sleep crouched on the floor, which was covered in cardboard.
Months passed without a resolution. No doctor’s report documenting physical harm was ever presented, nor any bodily examination confirming injury - proofs that are required by law. By August, Rocha had reportedly begun to weep and faint within his cell. When he was taken to a nearby hospital and diagnosed with mental illness, Judge Jânio Tutomu Takeda refused to believe it, claiming Rocha was “faking it,” and ordered him handcuffed to the hospital bed.
Judge Takeda reportedly ignored physicians’ reports as Rocha continued to deteriorate. On December 9, doctors issued two reports on Rocha, diagnosing him with “serious panic attacks and profound depression, suicidal attempts” and recommending that he have his handcuffs removed and be transferred to a specialized psychiatric facility. Another similar report was issued on January 21 of this year, noting Rocha’s serious condition and recommending house arrest or removal to a specialized unit.
Despite the pleading of his doctors, Rocha was left handcuffed to the bed until February 2, when his father filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and a formal complaint with the Amazonas human rights commission. Although the handcuffs were removed, he reportedly still has marks on both his wrists and feet and remains in serious condition.
“Last week, more precisely on the third of March, Jeremias Albuquerque Rocha, who two years ago was an evangelical minister in Carauari, a municipality 786 kilometers from Manaus, turned 26 years old, but he was unaware of the fact,” the Portal do Holanda newspaper reported early this month. “Jeremias doesn’t remember his own birthday, and has difficulty remembering his name. His state is catatonic. He stares at the ceiling or the floor. He remains permanently silent, except for the moments in which he begins to panic, pleading for them not to handcuff him or passing hours in repeated crises of convulsive weeping.”
When Amazonas Human Rights Commission President Epitácio da Silva Almeida arrived on March 3 to examine Rocha and investigate the case, Judge Takeda suddenly announced that he had already passed sentence in February, although the file was reportedly nowhere to be found and the verdict had never been announced. Takeda said he had found Rocha guilty and sentenced him to six and a half years of prison.
Almeida says he plans to initiate legal proceedings against Takeda, and the president of the Amazonas Tribunal of Justice, João Simões, has also promised to take legal action in the case, following his own investigation.
Contact information:
Embassy of Brazil in the USA
3006 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC
20008-3634
Phone: (202) 238-2700
Fax: (202) 238-2827
Email: ambassador@brasilemb.org
Embassy of Brazil in Canada
450 Wilbrod Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6M8
Phone: (613) 237-1090 or (613) 755-5160
Fax: (613) 237-6144
E-mail: mailbox@brasembottawa.org
READER COMMENTS
Posted by jlcrosby031 on Mar 28, 2011 as Tudeau would not say…................“This is barbaric!”
Posted by ADHD on Mar 28, 2011
That “judge” Takeda sounds like he has a personal grudge against that poor man!!! May God Heal Mr. Rocha and severely punish that DEVIL of an impostor who not only claims that Mr. Rocha was tried and convicted of hurting his daughters - without evidence other than the denunciation of ONE man!! - but also drive him into insanity!!!!
Posted by weesodalis on Mar 28, 2011
May God heal this poor man.
Posted by Professor Robert King on Mar 28, 2011
In the Name of Jesus Christ bring YHWH’s Divine Justice to this situation.
Posted by savienu on Mar 29, 2011
What a horrid thing. :( That poor man.
Posted by christine o on Mar 29, 2011
I pray that we are not only decrying this horrid event, but are also writing to the Braziian Embassy to denounce this inhumane treatment.
Posted by Professor Robert King on Mar 29, 2011
Thank you VERY much, Christine. I just contacted the Brazilian embassy here in the U.S. I also forwarded this to political leaders here in Florida.
Posted by christine o on Mar 29, 2011
Thanks Robert. God bless you. If every pro lifer sent an email to the Embassy, one can only imagine the possibilities. We must NOT forget this man’s plight. Look how concern for baby Joseph changed the situation for him. Now it is Jeremiahs’ turn, to know that he is not alone.
Posted by Professor Robert King on Mar 29, 2011
Thank you VERY much, Christine. All that we can do is “spread the word.” I did send this out to my facebook political group called “Jesus Christ-centered Republicans” which includes many Pro-Life national and FL political leaders, e.g. people who were campaign staff on FL political campaigns, e.g. Rubio.
Posted by veronica on Mar 29, 2011
Lets hope we keep the pressure on by contacting the above mentioned Embassies. This can make a difference in such barbaric cases.
Posted by Campion on Mar 29, 2011
Dear God, help him!
And please, everyone, send a message to these embassies! If we all appeal we can win this fight against Satan.
Posted by veronica on Mar 30, 2011
We have to help each other when such things as these arise.Today it is Pastor Rocha,tomorrow it could be us. We must stand together.
Posted by GW on Mar 30, 2011
Does anyone know if there is any reaction on this from Amnesty International?
Posted by 01ziggy on Mar 30, 2011
I emailed the 2 embassies asking them to investigate.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, please have mercy and come to the aid of this man.
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