Tag: USA

US Senate condemns IS sexual violence

December 18, 2015 Iraq, Islamic State, Minorities, USA, Women, Yazidis

The U.S. Senate has “ongoing sexual violence” by the self-proclaimed Islamic State against Christian and other minority women in Iraq. The resolution, , arose from a September hearing at which an Iraqi woman told members of Congress about her escape from sexual enslavement at the hands of an American fighting . . . Read More

Push to include Christians in IS ‘genocide’ charge

December 8, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Asylum seekers, Genocide, Iraq, Islamic State, Jizya, Syria, USA, Yazidis

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called on its government to include Christians in the definition of those at risk of genocide from Islamic State’s campaign in Syria and Iraq. A calls for a broader inclusion of Christians, Shi’a, Turkmen and Shabak communities as well as Yazidis, . . . Read More

Why do we not save Christians?

October 7, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Iraq, Israel, Jews, Middle East, Sunni, Syria, USA, Yemen

Why is the West, with its “overwhelming” majority of Christians, showing reluctance to offer a home to Christians fleeing the Middle East, asks Elliott Abrams, writing in The Weekly Standard. The former foreign policy advisor to President George W. Bush compares the reluctance with Israel’s willingness to accept Jews persecuted . . . Read More

Obama appoints religious minorities envoy

September 28, 2015 Barack Obama, Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, Minorities, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Syria, USA

President Obama has created a new special envoy position to address the persecution of religious minorities. Knox Thames was appointed to the long-awaited position of special envoy for religious minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia to coincide with the visit of Pope Francis to the White House . . . Read More

Religious freedom network should be as ‘outspoken and organised’ as the extremists

September 22, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Brazil, El Salvador, Europe, Germany, Honduras, Iran, Migrants, Netherlands, New York, Norway, Religious freedom, Saeed Abedini, South Sudan, Taiwan, UN, USA

In the face of rising persecution of people on the grounds of faith or belief, more than 100 parliamentarians from almost 50 countries met on 18 September in New York to discuss ways to advance religious freedoms. One hundred and thirty delegates packed into a room that was booked for . . . Read More

UK and US must ‘do God’ together

September 8, 2015 Religious freedom, UK, USA

The UK and US must better respond to a “stubbornly and pervasively religious world”, says a report by the British University of Leeds. ‘Toward Religion-Attentive Foreign Policy’ suggests former Prime Ministerial adviser Alastair Campbell’s quip that “We [Tony Blair’s governing Labour Party] don’t do God” is outdated, now that the . . . Read More

‘Tolerated’ Christianity in N Korea?

August 4, 2015 North Korea Hyeon Soo Lim, North Korea, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, South Korea, USA

In the first of a series about the worst places in the world for Christian persecution, BBC reporter Stephen Evans finds that Christians in North Korea are tolerated in some areas so long as they do not proselytise by, for example, handing out bibles. North Korea has topped the Open . . . Read More

2014: A year of particular concern

April 30, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Anti-balaka, Bashar al-Assad, BJP, Boko Haram, Central African Republic, Chibok girls, Chin, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, India, Iran, Iraq, Islamic State, Kachin, Kano, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Potiskum, Rohingya, Saudi Arabia, Seleka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

If ever there were a year that made plain the importance of religious freedom, 2014 was it, according to the just-released annual report by an American government advisory group. “By any measure, the horrors of the past year speak volumes about how and why religious freedom and the protection of the . . . Read More

US ‘passive’ on IS’s ‘war on Christianity’

March 13, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Assyrians, Chaldeans, Genocide, Islamic State, Middle East, Syria, USA

The Islamic State is “crucifying Christians and demolishing ancient churches” in a “war on Christianity” in the Middle East, according to an opinion piece on the US-based website, Foreign Policy. Why, the title asks, is this being met with silence from the halls of Congress to Sunday sermons? In-house writers . . . Read More

UN Security Council is ‘failing Syria’

March 12, 2015 Syria Civil War, Syria, UK, UN, USA

Leading humanitarian groups, including Oxfam and Save the Children, in a report to mark four years of the Syrian war, accuse UN Security Council members of lacking the will to stop the fighting. The Failing Syria report says the 15-member Security Council, which includes the US and UK, has not . . . Read More

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