Tag: Religious freedom

China: 6 Christians jailed as pressure on churches increases

January 23, 2018 China China, Churches, Communism, Guizhou, Huoshi Church, Religious freedom, Shanxi, Su Tianfu, Xi Jinping, Xinjiang, Yang Hua, Yunnan

Group of Christians praying together in Beijing. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A Chinese court in the southwestern province of Yunnan sent six Protestant Christians to prison last week for their membership of an “evil cult”. The verdict comes as part of a provincial crackdown on cults, as the ruling Communist Party continues its national campaign to restrict unregistered churches before new religious . . . Read More

Malaysian pastor Raymond Koh’s kidnap inquiry halted

January 19, 2018 Malaysia Borneo, Converts, Joshua Hilmy, Kidnapping, Malaysia, Minorities, Police, Proselytism, Putrajaya, Raymond Koh, Religious freedom, Sabah, Sarawak

The fragile hopes of a Malaysian family in search of answers to the abduction of church leader Raymond Koh were dashed by a surprise development on Wednesday (17 January). Almost a year after Koh went missing, after little or no progress in police investigations, Malaysia’s newest Inspector General of Police . . . Read More

UK Parliament hears ‘squeeze’ of persecution of Christians ‘as dangerous as violence’

January 18, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Blasphemy, Children, Commonwealth, Egypt, India, London, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Sweepers, UK, Women, Youth

Christian women are particularly vulnerable because of their gender and their faith. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Most of the 200 million Christians globally under pressure for their faith don’t experience violence but a ‘daily squeeze’ which is more insidious and – if left unchallenged – can lead to violence, MPs and others heard yesterday (17 January) at the launch of Open Doors’ World Watch List 2018 . . . Read More

Eritrea: mental health challenges for Christian man freed after 13 years in prison

January 16, 2018 Eritrea Asmara, Barentu, Eritrea, Eritrean Orthodox Church, Prisons, Religious freedom, Seventh-day Adventists

Eritrea remains “one of the worst examples of state-sponsored repression of freedom of religion or belief in the world”, says USCIRF Commissioner. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Shiden* was young and full of optimism for the future when he was imprisoned for his Christian faith. For the next 13 years he was exposed to torture of different kinds, including months in a very small cell in solitary confinement, and even his eventual release failed to bring about . . . Read More

Could Pakistan’s place on US ‘Watch List’ create more problems for minorities?

January 11, 2018 Pakistan Afghanistan, Donald Trump, Human rights, Joseph Colony, Minorities, Multan, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Taliban, USA

The US State Department last week placed Pakistan on a ‘Special Watch List’ for “severe violations of religious freedom”. The US did not, however, go as far as adding it to its ten ‘Countries of Particular Concern’* – for countries where “governments have engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, and . . . Read More

Maldives activist investigated for ‘blasphemy’ over ‘religions other than Islam’ tweet

January 8, 2018 Maldives Abdulla Yameen, Apostasy, Blasphemy, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Maldives, Religious freedom, Sharia

An activist in the Maldives has received death threats and is being investigated for “blasphemy” after posting a tweet in response to President Abdulla Yameen’s comment that his government would not allow any other religion in the country than Islam. Shahindha Ismail, executive director of the Maldives Democracy Network, tweeted: . . . Read More

Iranian Christians safe if ‘practise faith discreetly’ – European Court of Human Rights

January 8, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Aideen Strandsson, Asylum seekers, Europe, Germany, Human rights, Iran, Religious freedom, Sweden, Switzerland

Activists in the Swiss capital of Bern raise awareness of religious persecution of Christians around the world (2014). (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The European Court of Human Rights ruled last month that an Iranian who sought asylum in Switzerland based on religious grounds could be deported to his home country because his life was not in danger, despite various reports detailing how Iran persecutes religious minorities and converts to Christianity. Human Rights . . . Read More

US State Department adds Pakistan to religious-freedom watch list

January 5, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Central African Republic, China, Eritrea, Iran, Minorities, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Russia, Sanctions, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

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)

The US State Department has placed Pakistan on a “Special Watch List” for severe violators of religious freedom, it announced yesterday (4 January) with the publication of its annual list of ‘Countries of Particular Concern’. The announcement comes as the US government cuts security aid to Pakistan, saying the country . . . Read More

Chinese church leaders released, as parents ignore religious-teaching ban

January 5, 2018 China Chongyi Church, Education, Hangzhou, Joseph Gu, Peter Shao Zhumin, Religious freedom, Shaanxi, Wenzhou, Zhejiang

A Chinese Christian holds a Bible standing outside the largest Chinese church in the world: the Three Self church which seats 5,000 people, in Hangzhou city. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Chinese bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of the coastal city of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, was released on Wednesday (3 January) after being detained for seven months – the second high-profile church leader released in the past two weeks. It is thought international pressure helped secure the bishop’s release, according to AsiaNews. In . . . Read More

India’s top Catholic on Hindutva attacks: ‘country being divided on basis of religious belief’

December 22, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, Catholics, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, India, Madhya Pradesh, Minorities, Rajasthan, Religious freedom, Tripura, Vishva Hindu Parishad

The President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, has expressed a lack of trust in the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the leader of the ruling BJP – known for pursuing a Hindu nationalistic agenda. “The country is being divided on the . . . Read More

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