Tag: Sri Lanka

Main suspect behind Sri Lanka Easter churches’ deaths arrested

March 31, 2020 Sri Lanka Catholics, Churches, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Minorities, Sri Lanka

Detectives have arrested the man suspected of being the ‘handler’ of the bomber of Zion Protestant Church in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday 2019, 21 April. The man, from Mount Lavinia, south of the capital Colombo – across the complete width of the island from Zion Church, around . . . Read More

176 children lost one or both parents in Sri Lanka Easter bombings

August 12, 2019 Sri Lanka Bombing, Catholics, Children, Colombo, Minorities, Negombo, Sri Lanka

Woman kneels at altar at St Anthony's shrine, Colombo where 54 died on Easter Sunday, 2019

At least 176 children lost either one or both of their parents in the Sri Lanka Easter Sunday bombings, according to the Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. Just over three months ago, at St. Anthony’s Shrine in the country’s capital saw a powerful explosion rip apart the bodies of . . . Read More

Sri Lankan Christians grapple with aftermath of Easter bombings amid fears of fresh attacks

May 9, 2019 Sri Lanka Catholics, Churches, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Sri Lanka

Poster memorials and crosses for Christians who died in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Easter Sunday, 2019

Sri Lankan Arasaratnam Verl is deep in mourning. His son Jackson (13) and sister Verlini (36) were killed instantly when a bomb exploded in the evangelical Zion Church in the eastern city of Batticaloa on Easter Sunday morning, 21 April. Verlini’s husband Ranjith (39), an engineer and Blackbelt in karate, . . . Read More

Sri Lanka: Sharp increase in violence against Christians

October 29, 2018 Sri Lanka Buddhist nationalism, Constitution, Hindu nationalism, RSS, Sri Lanka, UN

Buddhists visiting a temple in Sri Lanka. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Christians in Sri Lanka have experienced a sharp increase in attacks this year, with 67 reported cases between January and September, according to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL). September saw the highest number of cases, with 12 documented attacks. Comparatively, in the first five months of . . . Read More

Sri Lankan Christian: ‘They took everything from us’

July 31, 2018 Sri Lanka Converts, Minorities, Sri Lanka

This is the story of a Sri Lankan brickmaker who received death threats after his conversion to Christianity, which is often seen as a “foreign” religion, even though it arrived in the Indian sub-continent almost two thousand years ago. Nimal is illiterate, but attended Bible school. He says when he talks . . . Read More

Report: UN weakness on religious freedom undercuts its authority on human rights

May 9, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Anti-conversion law, Apostasy, Bhutan, Blasphemy, Human rights, India, London, Minorities, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Sam Brownback, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, UN, USA, Uttarakhand

Dressed in the saffron colour, groups such these are promoting the nationalist cause for India to be a Hindu-nation. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The UN cannot strengthen, promote and protect human rights if it does not prioritise religious freedom, a report published by the Washington-based human rights alliance, ADF International has argued. The 73-page report, titled “Anti-Conversion Laws and the International Response”, claims that “some UN entities, especially special rapporteurs, have highlighted the . . . Read More

Ongoing religious freedom challenges in the Commonwealth

April 20, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Bangladesh, Brunei, Commonwealth, India, Justin Welby, Kenya, London, Lord Alton, Malaysia, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Religious freedom, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Theresa May

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed Heads of State of the Commonwealth member states at Windsor Castle, west of London, on 20 April 2018. (Photo: JACK TAYLOR/AFP/Getty Images)

A new report on religious freedom in Commonwealth member states says minorities in India, Malaysia and Nigeria have the least freedom to practise their faith. Using data from the Pew Global Religious Futures Project, the new report by the Council of Christians and Jews noted that Christianity is the largest . . . Read More

Sri Lanka: Facebook told to block religious hate speech

April 19, 2018 Sri Lanka Buddhist nationalism, Censorship, Colombo, Education, Minorities, Sri Lanka, Youth

A young girl in Colombo looks at her mobile phone while Sri Lanka's civil society has called on Facebook to block hate speech. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Civil society groups in Sri Lanka have asked Facebook to do more to prevent hate speech, including comments that discriminate on religious lines, following recent anti-Muslim riots. “There was a post in the Sinhala [Sri Lanka’s largest ethnic group] language on Facebook for six days, which mentioned ‘killing all Muslims, . . . Read More

Commonwealth worst offenders urged to face up to poor levels of religious freedom

April 13, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Al-Shabaab, Asia Bibi, Bangladesh, Boko Haram, Brunei, Commonwealth, Delta State, Islamic extremism, Justin Welby, Kenya, Leah Sharibu, London, Lord Alton, Malaysia, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Sri Lanka

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari received Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, at Nigeria's High Commission in London on 11 April 2018. (Photo: Facebook)

A charity that supports persecuted Christians has urged Commonwealth heads of government meeting in England next week to address poor levels of religious liberty in their countries. The charity Open Doors warned that unless representatives of the 53 Commonwealth nations “explicitly include[ed] the right to freedom of religion or belief . . . Read More

Amnesty: ‘Discrimination rife in all regions of the world … with deadly consequences’

February 23, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Boko Haram, Censorship, Cuba, Fidel Castro, Fulani herdsmen, Gujrat, Human rights, Iran, Lakshan Dias, Marawi, Mardan, Nadeem Masih, Nawaz Sharif, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Religious freedom, Sri Lanka, Sub-Saharan Africa

Buddhist flags are waved during a mass demonstration against Christianity in Sri Lanka, April 2017. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A review of the human-rights situation in 159 countries during 2017, published by Amnesty International yesterday (22 February), shows that religious persecution continues in the form of threats, attacks, extrajudicial killings and even genocide, while harsh sentences continue to be handed out – sometimes even death sentences – for changing . . . Read More

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