General

Turkish court blocks US Christian’s deportation

February 17, 2017 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Ankara, Coup, David Byle, Gaziantep, Istanbul, Proselytism, Ryan Keating

David Byle preaching in Turkey.World Watch Monitor Turkey’s Constitutional Court intervened promptly this week to block temporarily the pending deportation and re-entry ban ordered against a US citizen active in Christian ministry in Turkey for the past 17 years. Without the high court’s provisional ruling, Canadian-American David Byle would . . . Read More

Charges reinstated against men accused of stripping elderly Coptic woman in public

February 17, 2017 Egypt Bishop Angaelos, Copts, Minya, Soad Thabet

Soad Thabet and Bishop Makarius of the Coptic Church.Watani UPDATE (17 Feb, 2017) The case against three men accused of publicly stripping naked a 70-year-old woman has been reopened. A month ago today (17 January), charges were dropped against the three men over a reported lack of evidence, despite . . . Read More

Iranians end hunger strike

February 17, 2017 Iran Amin Afshar Naderi, Amir Saman Dashti, Armenians, Assyrians, Ebrahim Firouzi, Hadi Asgari, Mohammad Dehnavi, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Ramil Bet-Tamraz, Saheb Fadaie, Tehran, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

Amin Afshar Naderi, left, and Hadi Asgari began their hunger strike on 5 February.Article 18 UPDATE (17 Feb) Two imprisoned Iranian Christians have ended their hunger strike after being promised medical care and progress in their case. Amin Afshar Naderi and Hadi Asgari, both of whom had reportedly suffered . . . Read More

India’s religious freedom failings ‘enshrined in constitution’

February 16, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Dalits, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, Narendra Modi, Religious freedom

Religious freedom in India will never be achieved unless the country is willing to make substantial amendments to its constitution and legal framework, says a new report. It also asks the US to put human rights at the heart of trade and diplomatic interactions with India. A tide of religiously . . . Read More

Iraqi Christian refugees protest against UNHCR resettlement delays

February 15, 2017 Iraq IDPs, Islamic State, Lebanon, Refugees, UN

Dozens of Iraqi Christians in Lebanon protested in central Beirut this week, demanding the UN to grant them quicker resettlement abroad. Between 150 and 200 demonstrators gathered outside a UN building, carrying placards that read: “the future of our children is wasted” and “our only demand is to [go] . . . Read More

‘UN failing religious minorities and Christian converts’

February 15, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Blasphemy, China, Genocide, Indonesia, Islamic State, Myanmar, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, UN

The suffering of persecuted Christians around the world is exacerbated by the failure of UN bodies to fulfil their obligations to uphold religious freedom, a damning report has claimed. The 27-page report, starkly entitled The UN’s Failure to Promote and Protect Religious Freedom, argues that concerns about the protection of . . . Read More

Turkey nightclub-massacre accused says he targeted Christians

February 14, 2017 Turkey Ankara, Coup, Islamic State, Terrorism

The man charged with killing 39 people on New Year’s Eve at Istanbul’s exclusive Reina nightclub attack, Abdulkadir Masharipov, has testified before a Turkish court, saying: “My purpose was to kill Christians”. The Uzbek national was arraigned in court 11 Feb., nearly a month after he was captured by Istanbul police 16 . . . Read More

Iraqi Christian couple despair at sight of house IS destroyed

February 14, 2017 Iraq IDPs, Islamic State, Karamles, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Tel Skuf

Almas and her husband, Hathem, stand inside the remains of their house, destroyed by IS, Jan 2017.World Watch Monitor Hathem and Almas are hoping to be among the first people to return to Karamles, a now-deserted town in the Nineveh Plains of northern Iraq. “This is our town, where . . . Read More

Pakistani boy refused bail in Kaaba ‘blasphemy’ case

February 13, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Kasur, Lahore, Nabeel Masih, Nadeem Masih, Sweepers

UPDATE (13 Feb, 2017): A Pakistani Christian boy 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 refused bail. Lawyers for Nabeel Masih, 16, argued that he . . . Read More

Pastor killed, 2 churches destroyed in renewed violence in Central African Republic

February 13, 2017 Central African Republic Bambari, Bangui, Bocaranga, IDPs, PK5, Seleka

Hundreds of internally displaced people (IDPs), shaken by the renewed violence, have returned to the refugee camp at Bangui M’Poko Airport, where they sought refuge when the violence first erupted in 2013. A flare-up of violence in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), on 7 February left . . . Read More

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