Tag: Human rights

Georgia set to pass Constitutional amendments that ‘violate’ religious freedom

September 25, 2017 Constitution, Georgia, Human rights, Religious freedom

Georgia’s parliament is tomorrow (26 September) set to sign into law changes to the country’s Constitution, including restrictions to freedom of religion or belief, which, human rights defenders say, will be used to “legitimise” violations. The proposed amendments would restrict religious freedom on the basis of “state [national] security or . . . Read More

Silence on human rights ‘deafening’ as Turkmenistan hosts Asian Games

September 15, 2017 Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Azerbaijan, Baku, Caucasus, Central Asia, Human rights, Turkmenistan

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) – and by virtue so too the International Olympic Committee – has come under fierce criticism for allowing Turkmenistan to stage the fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, beginning this Sunday (17 September) in Ashgabat, while making “no visible efforts to urge the . . . Read More

‘Under no circumstances’ should Cambodia repatriate Montagnards to Vietnam

September 13, 2017 Vietnam Cambodia, Human rights, Montagnards, Vietnam

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging Cambodia not to carry out its threat to imminently return a group of ethnic Montagnards to Vietnam, saying “they would face severe persecution on political and religious grounds”. HRW also criticised Cambodia’s Interior Ministry for denying the asylum claims of 29 Montagnards and failing . . . Read More

US nominates new religious freedom ambassador

July 27, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Darfur, Human rights, Religious freedom, Sam Brownback, USA

US President Donald Trump intends to nominate Sam Brownback, a Republican Governor from Kansas, as Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, the White House has announced. He will become head of the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom which is dedicated to monitoring religious freedom abuses around the world. Religious . . . Read More

Protests as Indonesia cracks down on ‘groups that threaten state ideology’

July 17, 2017 Indonesia Aceh, Ahok, Blasphemy, Human rights, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Joko Widodo

An woman in Indonesia's Banda Aceh gets caning in public from an executor known as 'algojo' for spending time with a man who is not her husband, which is against Sharia law on March 20, 2017. Aceh Province is the only place in the Muslim-majority country which implements the strict version of Sharia Law. In a move to stop the rise of radical Islamist groups, the Indonesian government has adopted a law that will make disbanding such groups easier. (Photo: Getty Images)

In a move that has been severely criticised by civil society organisations, Indonesia on 10 July introduced a new law that allows the government to disband certain groups that threaten the state’s secular ideology. The law comes at a time when Indonesia is facing the increasing influence of hardline Islamist . . . Read More

Sudan sanctions extended for three months

July 13, 2017 Sudan Human rights, North Korea, Religious freedom, Sanctions, Sudan, USA

A Sudanese woman carries a bag of food-aid on her head at the El-Riyadh camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) in Geneina, the capital of Sudan’s West Darfur state, on 8 February 2017. Rights groups are calling for “a new set of “smart and modernised” sanctions that would “spare” the Sudanese people. (Photo: Getty Images)

The US has extended its sanctions against Sudan for another three months, saying “more time is needed” to review whether Sudan has done enough to merit their removal. Sudan’s President, Omar Bashir, responded by suspending his negotiating committee until the end of the three months. The committee has been in . . . Read More

European Parliament condemns ‘in strongest terms’ Eritrea’s human rights record

July 13, 2017 Eritrea Abune Antonios, Eritrean Orthodox Church, Europe, Human rights, UN

The European Parliament (EP) has passed a resolution condemning in “the strongest terms” the “systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations” in Eritrea, reports CSW. It follows 2016’s report by the UN that the country’s “crimes against humanity” should be investigated by the International Criminal Court. The EP resolution describes . . . Read More

Sudan’s rights record in spotlight ahead of US talks on easing sanctions

July 3, 2017 Sudan Human rights, Mariam Ibrahim, Nuba Mountains, Sanctions, USA

Sudan's government continues with the gradual confiscation of properties belonging to, among others, the SCOC and SEPC in Bahri (Khartoum North) and Omdurman. In June, Sudanese church leaders risked going public with their concerns by sending an open letter to the government.

The US Embassy in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, says it is still “very concerned” about Sudan’s human rights record, including restrictions of religious freedom, ahead of talks next week about the potential lifting of economic sanctions. In a statement on its Facebook page on 30 June, the Embassy said it . . . Read More

UNHCR accused of ‘negligence’ after Pakistani Christian dies in Thai detention centre

June 9, 2017 Asylum seekers, Bangkok, Blasphemy, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Malaysia, Migrants, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Quran, Refugees, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UK, UN

Thailand’s government and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Bangkok have been accused of “negligence” after a Pakistani Christian asylum seeker died in a detention centre last month. Ijaz Masih, 35, was reportedly refused medical treatment on 26 May, after complaining of chest pains, and died of a heart attack . . . Read More

Arrest of Philippines bishop condemned as ‘illegal’

May 16, 2017 Philippines Human rights, Philippines

The arrest and detention of Carlos Morales, Bishop of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church), for harbouring a man wanted by the police has been condemned as “appalling and a violation of human rights”, reports ACNS. Mathews George Chunakara, general secretary of the Thailand-based Christian Conference of Asia, said in a statement . . . Read More

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