General

Attempt on Syriac Patriarch commemorating genocide

June 23, 2016 Syria Armenians, Assyrians, Genocide, Kurds, Qamishli, Syria

As Christians were celebrating Pentecost in Qamishli, Syria, a suicide bomber disguised as a priest struck, killing three Assyrians and wounding five others. The Sunday attack on 19 June was apparently targeting Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, and was reminiscent of another nearly a century ago which killed the . . . Read More

Al-Azhar: to leave Islam is ‘treason’

June 22, 2016 Al-Azhar, Apostasy, Cairo, Converts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Mohammed Hegazy, Ramadan, Sharia, Sunni

To convert away from Islam is “treason” that should carry the death penalty, according to Sunni Islam’s topmost religious authority. “The penalty for an open apostate, departing from the community, is well stipulated in Sharia,” Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayyib declared on Egypt television last week. “An apostate must be . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian shot, family attacked after he asks for pay

June 22, 2016 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Kasur

The Pakistani district of Kasur became infamous in late 2014 when a young Christian couple were brutally attacked by a mob and burned alive. The trial of their attackers is still going on. Now a Christian peasant in a remote village in the same area has been beaten up after . . . Read More

Swiss missionary kidnapped in Mali ‘still alive’

June 17, 2016 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Kidal, Timbuktu, Tuareg

Beatrice Stockli settled in Timbuktu in 2000 and was first kidnapped for 10 days in 2012

Beatrice Stockly, left, in Timbuktu 2000. She was first kidnapped in 2012World Watch Monitor UPDATE (17 June): Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has released a video, purporting to show that a Swiss nun kidnapped in Mali in January is alive and in good health. The three-minute video, posted on . . . Read More

Pakistani policeman beats up church leader over ‘loudspeaker music’

June 16, 2016 Pakistan Caste, Dalits, Deobandi, Islamic extremism, Kasur, Lahore, Pakistan Peoples Party, Pentecostals, Police, Punjab

The Pentecostal United Church in Lahore, Pakistan, where Riaz Rehmat is pastor.World Watch Monitor A church leader in Lahore was beaten up during his Sunday service by a policeman, during a dispute over whether or not music was being played over his church loudspeaker. Lahore has the largest concentration . . . Read More

Mexican Protestants continue to face pressure for leaving ‘traditionalist’ churches

June 13, 2016 Mexico Burial, Catholics, Chiapas, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Lauro Pérez Núñez, Protestants, Tuxpan de Bolaños, Veracruz

Lauro Pérez Núñez has been arrested and detained several times since leaving ‘traditionalist’ church.Coordinación de Organizaciones Cristianas Mexican Christians who branch away from the “traditionalist” village churches, which blend aspects of indigenous paganism and popular Catholicism, continue to face pressure to return to the fold or leave their villages. . . . Read More

‘Refer Eritrea to ICC for crime against humanity of persecution’

June 10, 2016 Eritrea Eritrean Orthodox Church, Europe, International Criminal Court, Migrants, Mussie Zerai, Refugees, UN

In 2015, Eritreans made up 25 per cent of the migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. gettyimages.com A new report from the United Nations says “systematic, gross and widespread crimes against humanity”, including abuses of religious freedom, have been committed in Eritrea and should be investigated by . . . Read More

Iraq: Why Najiba can’t go home

June 9, 2016 Iraq Dohuk, Islamic State, Mosul, Tel Skuf

Najiba in her portacabin – her home as an IDP for the last two years, 2016World Watch Monitor Two years on from Mosul falling to Islamic State, World Watch Monitor hears from Najiba, a woman forced to flee her home on the frontline of fighting between the jihadist group . . . Read More

Nigeria considers giving Islamic appeals courts authority to take criminal cases

June 5, 2016 Nigeria Apostasy, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Hudud, Islamic extremism, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Plateau, Sharia, Yobe, Zamfara

A Sharia court in northern Nigeria.Courtesy of Open Doors The situation Nigeria’s National Assembly is considering a change to the country’s constitution that would expand the scope of jurisdiction of the country’s Islamic Sharia courts of appeal. Currently, the constitution limits those appellate courts to matters concerning family law. . . . Read More

Malaysian bill amendment to tighten Sharia punishments alarms non-Muslims

June 3, 2016 Malaysia Brunei, Hudud, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Kelantan, Najib Razak, PAS, Sharia, Southeast Asia, UMNO

On the last day of Malaysia’s latest session of Parliament, a member of the ruling coalition, UMNO (United Malays National Organisation), had a bill amendment approved which has provoked an outcry in the country. That’s because it aims to tighten the implementation of Sharia; and critics claim it intends to . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye