News

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

Pakistani Christians on the run after blasphemy accusation

  June 3, 2016 Pakistan Blasphemy, Gujrat, Islamic extremism, Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab, Sheikhupura

Jhonpari (hut), Sheikhupura.Sheikhu / Flickr / CC   At least 10 Christian families have fled a village in eastern Pakistan after a man from a Christian community, who apparently converted to Islam ten years ago, was accused of sending a blasphemous message on Facebook Messenger. Tensions arose in Kot Amam . . . Read More

Bishop pleads for justice as attack on Copt grandmother ‘stripped naked’ stirs Egypt

  June 3, 2016 Egypt Bishop Angaelos, Copts, Minya, Soad Thabet

Souad Thabet and Bishop Makarius of the Coptic Church have both stood for justice and reconcilliation.Courtesy of Wataninet, Diocese of Minya   A Coptic bishop has urged full recourse to law to punish those behind an attack in Minya, Upper Egypt, which saw the 70-year-old mother of a man rumoured . . . Read More

Freedom of religion or belief ‘undermined’ in corrupt countries

  June 2, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Asia-Pacific, Central Asia, Colombia, Corruption, David Cameron, Eastern Europe, Europe, G20, Libya, London, Mexico, Middle East, Nigeria, North Africa, Religious freedom, Somalia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan, Yemen

Corruption is increasingly seen as a factor behind the persecution of minority Christians around the world, and the world leaders who gathered at an Anti-Corruption Summit in London in May showed they are beginning to pay more attention to the effects of corruption on freedom of religion or belief. Evidence . . . Read More

Argentinian Baptist pastor continues to face intimidation, threats

  May 31, 2016 Argentina Argentina, Córdoba, Marcelo Nieva, Río Tercero

Marcelo Nieva.World Watch Monitor   Argentinian pastor Marcelo Nieva continues to face intimidation and threats, despite the 24/7 presence of the National Gendarmerie outside his church building. Eighteen months since he and his colleague, Daniel Carreño, were shot at as they were driving through the city of Córdoba, Nieva was . . . Read More