Tag: UN

‘Crimes against humanity’ in North Korea’s prison camps

December 15, 2017 North Korea China, Human rights, International Criminal Court, Kim Jong-Un, North Korea, UN

An icy Tumen river forms the border between China and North Korea, 2009. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

North Korea’s president, Kim Jong-un, and top officials should be held accountable for committing “crimes against humanity” in prison camps in the country, three international jurists said earlier this week. They called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to establish a special tribunal to prosecute the country’s leaders. The jurists’ . . . Read More

Mali the ‘epicentre’ of jihadist groups in the Sahel

December 14, 2017 Mali Bamako, Mali, Sahel, Sub-Saharan Africa, Tuareg, UN

A Catholic bishop in Mali has highlighted the ongoing insecurity in the country and welcomed the decision to deploy a new multinational stabilisation force. “The security situation in different areas of Mali has been a concern for several months,” Fr. Edmond Dembele, General Secretary of the Episcopal Conference of Mali, . . . Read More

Over 800,000 call on UN to protect Christians in Middle East

December 12, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Bartella, Bashar Warda, Brazil, India, Iraq, Islamic State, Karamles, Middle East, Mike Pence, New York, Qaraqosh, Syria, UN, USA

Noeh (bottom) with his parents, Hathem and Almas, and siblings Sam (17), Jan Hannah (14), and Salina (7). (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A petition signed by more than 800,000 people will be presented at the United Nations in New York today (12 December), calling for the protection of Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria, and recognition of the key role faith leaders can play in rebuilding efforts post-Islamic State. The . . . Read More

CAR Christians and Muslims risk crossing ‘red line’ to establish peace

December 7, 2017 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Central African Republic, Religious freedom, Seleka, UN

At the market in Boda, a mining town in the southwest of the Central African Republic, Christians and Muslims come together to purchase goods set on wooden tables along the dusty roadside. It’s a picture of peaceful coexistence that would be unthinkable in some parts of a country that has . . . Read More

Nigeria: Boko Haram survivor and her baby ‘shamed’

December 1, 2017 Nigeria Acid attacks, Boko Haram, Borno, Converts, Gwoza, Islamic extremism, Nigeria, Rape, Trauma, UN, West Africa, Women

Boko Haram survivor Esther*, holding her daughter Rebecca in her arms. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

As Islamic extremist group Boko Haram continues to hold young women captive in West Africa, some have been rescued only to return to their homes in shame, finding themselves labelled “Boko Haram women”. Until October 2015 Esther* lived the normal life of a 17-year-old in Gwoza, a town in southern . . . Read More

Young refugees ‘urgently need access to education’

November 30, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Amman, Children, Education, Erbil, Hungary, Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Nineveh Plains, Refugees, UN, Youth

The new Catholic University of Erbil offers displaced young people an opportunity to continue their education.

At the start of the 10th session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues, which this year focuses on ‘minority youth’, human rights advocate Ewelina Ochab draws attention to the obstacles displaced young people face in accessing education. Ochab describes meeting Iraqi Christian youth and children in Jordan. Their families . . . Read More

Iraq and Philippines Christians join Red Wednesday religious freedom solidarity display

November 22, 2017 Bashar Warda, Belgium, China, Copts, Egypt, France, IDPs, India, Iraq, Islamic State, London, Manila, Myanmar, Nineveh Plains, Religious freedom, Rohingya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, UN, Uyghurs

Landmarks in the UK, Ireland, Iraq and the Philippines are due to be floodlit in red today (22 November) to highlight the persecution of faith groups for their “peacefully held beliefs”. The “Red Wednesday” initiative is in its second year and has been pioneered by Aid to the Church in . . . Read More

CAR: 7 dead after attack on peace concert in Bangui

November 14, 2017 Central African Republic Bangui, Bocaranga, Central African Republic, PK5, UN

The Central Mosque of Bangui in the predominantly Muslim neighbourhood of PK5. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Four people were killed and 20 injured after a grenade attack at a peace concert in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, on Saturday (11 November). The event, which was held at a bar in the restive, mostly Muslim PK5 neighbourhood, had been organised by young Christians and . . . Read More

‘My daughters have no future in the Middle East’

November 10, 2017 Lebanon Beirut, Divorce, Iraq, Islamic State, Lebanon, Refugees, Syria, UN

Suha, an Iraqi Christian living in Beirut with her four daughters and her mother

“I lived with my in-laws for 35 years. At the beginning it was like going to the gallows!” recalls Lydia Babayan, 57, an Iraqi-born Armenian Catholic. “My mother-in-law was very aggressive and my father-in-law was very strict. But my husband’s sister was good to me, she never said a bad . . . Read More

Lives in limbo – Iraqi Christians’ long wait for asylum in Lebanon

November 8, 2017 Lebanon Armenians, Assyrians, Asylum seekers, Beirut, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Lebanon, Middle East, Refugees, Syria, Trauma, UN

Petros Babayan strains to sit up as if each bone of his paper-thin frame were heavy as iron. His wife Lydia and adult daughter Rita rush to help him. In their tiny rented apartment in Beirut, his single bed takes up a quarter of the room in which they live . . . Read More

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