Tag: Minorities

India: Life sentence for top politician gives hope for justice for Kandhamal Christians

December 21, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, Christmas, India, Jharkhand, Kandhamal, Madhya Pradesh, Minorities, Odisha, Tamil Nadu

Rights activists say the lifetime prison sentence given to a top politician in India on 17 December for his involvement in the riots that led to the killing of thousands of Sikhs in 1984, gives hope to India’s Christian minority still waiting for justice, reports Matters India. The High Court . . . Read More

Two Pakistani Christian brothers sentenced to death for blasphemy

December 17, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Lahore, Minorities, Pakistan, Punjab

Islamist activists carry placards against Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman who was recently released after spending eight years on death row for blasphemy, during a rally in Karachi on 21 November. (Photo: Getty Images)

A Pakistani court last week sentenced two Christian brothers to death for blasphemy. Since their arrest in 2014, Qaisar and Amoon Ayub had been held in District Jail Jhelum, in Punjab province, 200 km north of Lahore, for allegedly posting “disrespectful material” on their website, according to AsiaNews. For security . . . Read More

Pakistan joins US list of worst religious freedom violators

December 13, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, China, Comoros, Eritrea, Iran, Minorities, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan

Burial of victims of a suicide attack on the Methodist Bethel Church in Quetta, Pakistan, on Sunday 17 December 2017 in which at least 9 people were killed. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Pakistan is among the ten countries that appear on the US State Department’s latest list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) for religious-freedom violations, Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced in a press statement on Tuesday, 11 December. China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and . . . Read More

Indian Christians heave sighs of relief as Hindu nationalists lose elections in key states

December 12, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Christmas, Delhi, Elections, Hindu nationalism, India, Madhya Pradesh, Minorities, Police, Rajasthan

Christians can heave sighs of relief as the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP has been thrown out of power in three key states in central India that have reported dozens of incidents of anti-Christian violence and harassment. The BJP, which had enjoyed unstinted power in two of the states – Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh – for 15 . . . Read More

Indonesian Christian governor Ahok set for early release from prison

December 11, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Jakarta, Minorities

Jakarta’s former governor, known as “Ahok”, who was sentenced last year to two years in jail for blasphemy against Islam, is to be released from prison next month, four months ahead of schedule. The ethnic Chinese Christian, whose real name is Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, was due to be released in . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian asylum seekers in Thailand ask for help

December 4, 2018 Asylum seekers, Bangkok, Human rights, Imran Khan, Migrants, Minorities, Pakistan, PTI, Refugees, Thailand, UN

Death, disease, starvation, and continuous living in hiding from immigration authorities to escape permanent imprisonment in stinking dungeons – this is what life has become for many stateless Pakistani Christians stranded in Thailand for years now. Several heroic Thai locals have come forward to help sustain these starving asylum seekers, . . . Read More

Algeria: Christian family charged with ‘inciting a Muslim to change his religion’

December 4, 2018 Algeria Algeria, Churches, Kabylie, Minorities, Proselytism

A sign at the entrance of a mosque which was once a church.

Four Algerian Christians appeared in court last week, charged with “inciting a Muslim to change his religion” and “performing religious worship in an unauthorised place”, reports Middle East Concern (MEC). If found guilty they face to two to five years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million . . . Read More

Egypt: Fighting discrimination will need ‘a lot more than taking religion off ID cards’

November 29, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Minorities

Coptic Christians traditionally have a tattoo of a cross on their wrists to demark their religious affiliation. (Photo: Open Doors International)

The Egyptian Parliament will soon look into removing religious affiliation from ID cards, Al-Monitor reported last week. The proposed bill will be submitted to the parliament by Ismail Nasr El-Din to “pave the way for a civil state that respects the values of citizenship”, according to the website Cairo Scene. . . . Read More

Persecution of minority Christian women ‘hidden, complex, and interwoven with “everyday” discrimination’

November 26, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Central African Republic, Colombia, Education, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Minorities, Religious freedom, Women

Women's suffering because of their faith is often in daily life. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Five new reports – about Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Colombia and the Central African Republic – unmask the multiple domestic, societal and state dynamics used in the persecution of Christian women and girls in each country. When viewed individually, the tactics used against women – from subtle discrimination surrounding access to . . . Read More

West ‘failing to convert words of concern into action’ against ultra-nationalism

November 23, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Buddhist nationalism, Hindu nationalism, Islamic extremism, Kyrgyzstan, Minorities, Nigeria, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Shia, Sunni

“Ultra-nationalism” promoted by governments and non-state bodies has triggered a rise in hatred against minorities, according to a new report by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Countries where such hatred is on the rise include “key parts of the world” such as China, India, Pakistan and . . . Read More

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