General

Pakistan: Christian family flees after WhatsApp blasphemy accusation

July 13, 2016 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Nadeem Masih, Sunni Tehreek

A Pakistani Christian and his family have fled their home in the religiously conservative city of Gujrat, after he was accused of committing blasphemy by sending an offensive message via mobile-phone text. Nadeem Masih, 23, from the Yaqoobabad area of the city, and his family are on the run after . . . Read More

Sudan’s Christians face ‘ethnic cleansing’

July 11, 2016 Sudan Blue Nile, Kadugli, Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, South Sudan, SPLM-N

Five years ago today (11 July, 2011), South Sudan became the world’s newest country after seceding from the North. Following a lengthy dispute over where a border should be drawn, it was decided that Sudan’s predominantly Christian South Kordofan and Blue Nile states would remain in the mainly Sunni Muslim . . . Read More

Central Asian Christians feel repercussions of governments’ focus on Islamist threat

July 6, 2016 Central Asia, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islam Karimov, Islamic extremism, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saparmurat Niyazov, Soviet Union, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

When the three suicide bombers who killed 44 people at Istanbul’s main airport on 28 June were identified as Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals, it provided another reminder that the threat from the so-called Islamic State reaches far beyond Syria and Iraq. And nowhere is that threat being taken more . . . Read More

Pastor hacked to death in Nasarawa, C. Nigeria

July 5, 2016 Nigeria Boko Haram, ECWA, Fulani herdsmen, Joseph Kurah, Nasarawa

A pastor with the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Obi town, in Nigeria’s central State of Nasarawa, was killed by suspected armed Fulani herdsmen on 30 June. Rev. Joseph Kurah, accompanied by three other people, went to his farm at about 7pm to cut down trees for roofing wood. . . . Read More

Colombian Church sceptical over FARC deal

July 4, 2016 Colombia ELN, FARC

La Catedral Primada, Bogota, Colombia.World Watch Monitor Thursday 23 June, 2016 was an historic day in Colombia. After four years of peace talks and more than 50 years of armed confrontation, a bilateral ceasefire was agreed between the Colombian government and representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), . . . Read More

Colombia: How will FARC deal impact the Church?

July 4, 2016 Colombia ELN, FARC, Juan Manuel Santos, Latin America, Russ Stendal

Colombians are celebrating after more than half a century of civil war was brought to an end on 23 June with the signing of a ceasefire between the government and the largest rebel group – the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. But what will the anticipated confirmation of . . . Read More

Human rights must not ‘go down’ because ‘EU has other priorities’

July 1, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Europe, Jan Figel, Religious freedom, UN

The report was launched on 30 June at the European Parliament in Brussels.European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief / Facebook The European Parliament *Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance (FoRB & RT) launched yesterday (30 June) its third annual report on the . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian who sought police help instead faces death for ‘blasphemy’

July 1, 2016 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gujranwala, Islamic extremism, Police, Shahbaz Bhatti

The Science Locus School of Science & Arts in Gujranwala, Pakistan.www.sciencelocusschool.edu.pk An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has sentenced a Christian man to death for committing blasphemy against the prophet of Islam. Anjum Sandhu, 60, had initially sought police protection in May 2015, after alleging he was the victim of . . . Read More

5 Pakistani Christians released, 2 jailed for ‘blasphemy’ of calling pastor a ‘prophet’

June 30, 2016 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gujrat, Islamic extremism, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Nawaz Sharif, Prophet Muhammad

Pastor Fazal Masih, who died 20 years ago, was hailed as a ‘prophet’ on a flyer inviting Christians to a memorial ceremony.World Watch Monitor UPDATE (1 July, 2016): Five Pakistani Christians charged with blasphemy last year in the religiously conservative city of Gujrat have been acquitted, but two others have been . . . Read More

‘House church’ prompts Muslims to attack Christian homes in Alexandria

June 28, 2016 Egypt Alexandria, Copts, House churches

The anti-Christian crowd welcomed the arrival of the police to their slum village of al-Bayda-1World Watch Monitor Although the number of casualties may not cross the world-attention threshold, the story of what happened in al-Bayda-1, a settlement outside Alexandria, is indicative of a pattern faced by minority Christians in . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye