News

Coptic mother’s agony at trauma of son who saw Islamists kill his father

  May 25, 2018 Egypt Copts, Islamic State, Minya

One year ago Hanaa, a 42-year-old Egyptian mother of four, took a phonecall that changed her and her family’s life forever: her son called to say he and his brother had just seen their father shot by Islamist militants. On 26 May 2017 a convoy of Copts was travelling to . . . Read More

Eritrea: Rights groups call for renewal of UN Special Rapporteur’s mandate

  May 25, 2018 Eritrea East Africa, Eritrea, Human rights, Pentecostals, Refugees, Religious freedom

Rights groups have called for the mandate of the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur for Eritrea to be renewed in June. The human rights situation in the East African country has been monitored by the UN Human Rights Council since 2012, when it appointed Ms Sheila B. Keetharuth as the . . . Read More

Pakistani court hands down 14 years in prison for rape of 7 year-old Christian girl

  May 25, 2018 Pakistan Pakistan, Punjab, Rape, Sialkot, Women

A Pakistani court has sentenced a young man who raped a seven year old Christian girl on Easter Day four years ago, to 14 years in prison and a fine of 200,000 Pakistani rupees (c.US $2,000). The verdict has been greeted by activists, as one of the few examples where . . . Read More

Egypt: Coptic villagers persuaded to shut church to keep the peace

  May 24, 2018 Egypt Andrea Zaki, Beni Suef, Copts, Egypt

An Egyptian church that was attacked by a local Muslim mob after applying for legal recognition is to be temporarily closed following a conciliation session between Copts and Muslims aimed at containing the fallout of the attack. Eleven Muslims and nine Copts arrested after the attack on the church of . . . Read More

Malaysia: inquiry into Pastor Koh, missing for 15 months, hears of police collusion

  May 24, 2018 Malaysia Borneo, Joshua Hilmy, Malaysia, Raymond Koh

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) has resumed its inquiry into the mystery disappearance of church leader Raymond Koh, who was kidnapped in broad daylight by masked men on 13 February, 2017, and others. The inquiry was halted in January when part-time Uber driver Lam Chang Nam was suddenly . . . Read More

Protestant churches in Algeria call on government to treat them fairly

  May 23, 2018 Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Aïn Turk, Algeria, Algiers, Idir Hamdad, Oran, Protestant Church of Algeria

The organisation linking 45 Protestant churches in Algeria, l’Eglise Protestante d’Algérie (EPA), has called on the Algerian government to lift its measure for closing down churches, and to give equal treatment under the Maghreb country’s constitution. “As full citizens, we call on the highest authorities in the country to ensure . . . Read More

Chaldean Patriarch congratulates surprise Iraqi election winner

  May 23, 2018 Iraq Assyrians, Dohuk, Elections, Iraq, Kirkuk, Louis Raphael I Sako, Nineveh Plains, Shia, Sunni, Syriacs

The Chaldean Patriarch, Louis Sako, has telephoned Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr to congratulate him on his unexpected victory in the country’s recent parliamentary elections. The Patriarchate also said that Sako told Sadr he hoped for a government that promotes the common good of all the Iraqi people. According to . . . Read More

Philippines: Marawi, a year after Islamist siege, 50,000 still in temporary shelter

  May 23, 2018 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Catholics, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Philippines

 People in the battle-scarred Southern Philippines city of Marawi are trying to rebuild their homes and lives one year after the place was stormed by Islamist militants. On 23 May 2017, militants belonging to the Maute group, an affiliate of Islamic State, took over Marawi. In what followed, five . . . Read More

Egypt: Coptic mother recalls Minya bus attack that killed her son

  May 18, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Minya

26 May 2018 will mark the first anniversary of the attack on two buses carrying Coptic Christians on their way to St. Samuel’s Monastery to celebrate Ascension Day*. The convoy was stopped at 9.30am on a remote desert road, close to the border between the Minya and Beni Suef provinces, by masked . . . Read More

Indonesia: Death toll ‘unimaginable’ if bomb had exploded inside church

  May 18, 2018 Indonesia Churches, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, JAD, Surabaya

The leader of the Indonesian church most badly damaged by the suicide bombing attacks last Sunday, 13 May, has said he “can’t imagine” how much greater the damage could have been had the attacker detonated the bomb inside the church. Rev. Yonathan Budiantoro of Surabaya Pentecostal Church, told the Christian . . . Read More