General

Pakistan sewage workers’ widows pressured to drop criminal negligence cases

November 22, 2021 Pakistan discrimination, Human rights, legal, Minorities, Pakistan, Sweepers

Mariam, widow of sewer cleaner Nadeem Masih, Oct 4, 2021

“I so wish wish I hadn’t pushed him to go that night”…. Widow Mariam Bibi, mother of six at the age of 32, desperately wishes she could turn the clock back. “It was about 10pm on Sunday night and we were preparing for bed, so [my husband] Nadeem didn’t want . . . Read More

Her co-hostage freed a year before; nun meets Pope after Islamists let her leave Mali

October 12, 2021 Mali Colombia, Gloria Argoti, Islamic extremism, Jeff Woodke, Ken Elliott, Kidnapping

Sr. Gloria Argoti meets Pope Francis straight after being freed by Islamists in Mali, oct 10 2021

After almost 5 years as a captive of an Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group in Mali in West Africa, a Colombian nun, Gloria Cecilia Narvaez Argoti, has been freed. She was flown from Bamako, Mali’s capital, direct to Rome where Vatican Media posted photos of her being greeted by the Pope . . . Read More

Pakistani Senator alleges police collusion with gang whose gun attack injures seven, one critically

September 27, 2021 Pakistan Minorities, Pakistan, Women

The most senior political leader of Pakistan’s minority Christians has complained of what he calls ‘prejudicial treatment’ by police in the way the force responded to a terrifying gun attack in a mixed faith neighborhood which injured at least seven, one of them critically ill and fighting for her life . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian couple acquitted of blasphemy after 7 years on death row

June 3, 2021 Pakistan Blasphemy, Catholics, Gojra, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Pakistan, Shafqat Emmanuel Masih, Shaguftah Kausar Masih

Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel faced execution for allegedly sending ‘blasphemous’ texts to a mosque cleric, from a phone containing a sim registered in Shagufta’s name. The couple have consistently denied all allegations and believe Shagufta’s National Identity Card was purposely misused. Imprisoned since 2013, the couple were convicted and sentenced to death in April 2014. Their appeal was due to be heard in April 2020, six years after they
were sentenced, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. At their last two hearings in 2021, the judges left the court as they were due to hear the appeal against their death sentences,

The Pakistani woman who replaced Christian Asia Bibi in her prison cell on death row, a mother of 4, Shaguftah Kausar, has – after a dozen delays since April 2020 due to COVID-19 – been acquitted from the death penalty by Lahore High court. Kausar, with her disabled husband Shafqat . . . Read More

Boko Haram ‘flies flag 2 hours from Abuja’ warned Governor, as Nigerian captive teen turns 18

May 14, 2021 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Sharia, Women

Leah Sharibu was 14 when she was abducted, Feb 19, 2018

Today (14 May), Leah Sharibu is 18 years old; it’s her fourth birthday as the captive of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Nigerian Leah is the girl who defied one of the most globally well-known terrorist groups, a splinter group of Boko Haram. The then-14 year old was among . . . Read More

Death threats, by Islamic State in Sinai, against Egyptian Copt sons who mourn dad

April 26, 2021 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Middle East

Nabil Habashi Salama, taken by unseen watchers; he was 'executed' by ISIS, March 2021

Fears that ‘Islamic State’ once again threatens the lives of some of the Middle East’s largest Christian population have emerged again, after the radical militant group killed an Egyptian Coptic businessman who’d funded the construction of the only church in his north Sinai village. The death of 62 year old . . . Read More

‘Bring back our 112 Chibok girls – now and alive!’ Demands for closure and disclosure 7 years on

April 16, 2021 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Islamic extremism, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Women

Pictures of 82 girls freed in 2017; 112 are still un-accounted for ‘I’m Chibok girl Dad. Bring Back Our Girls Now’ read the white letters on the man’s red T-shirt. The same morning, 15 April seven years ago, he woke to hear his daughter had been abducted from her . . . Read More

Malaysian woman wins 13 year fight for right to call God ‘Allah’

March 17, 2021 Malaysia 'Allah', Bibles, Catholics, Islamic extremism, Jill Ireland, Malaysia, The Herald

A Malaysian woman’s campaign for Christians’ right to use the word “Allah” for “God” has succeeded after almost 13 years of court hearings and delays. Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill has been campaigning for the right to use the word ever since immigration officials at a Kuala Lumpur airport seized eight . . . Read More

Freed on bail after 4 years in jail; no evidence Pakistani ‘liked’ blasphemy Facebook post, aged 16

March 8, 2021 Pakistan Facebook, juvenile, Kaaba, Pakistan

The boy is alleged to have "defamed" the Kaaba in Mecca

A Pakistani Christian accused of blasphemy for “liking” and “sharing” a Facebook post which “defamed and disrespected” the Kaaba in Mecca – the building at the centre of Islam’s most sacred mosque – has been granted bail after four years in prison. . . . Read More

COVID-19 exacerbates discrimination against minority Christians globally

January 13, 2021 Global News -- No Particular Country Boko Haram, China, Fulani herdsmen, Hindu nationalism, Human rights, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Middle East, Minorities, Nigeria, Religious freedom, Turkey, Women

• Christians refused coronavirus aid in countries from India to Yemen to West Africa • COVID-19 legitimises increased surveillance and restrictions by authoritarian governments • Organised criminal groups use virus as means to extend their control, including over churches • Nationalism driven by majority religious identity rises in countries such . . . Read More

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