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Map reflects the 30 most recent Persecution Reports. Click HERE for the Map Legend.
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Friday, May 17th, 2013
Two Baptists in Azerbaijan had been punished for exercising their right to religious freedom have had their fines overturned. They had violated Article 299.0.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences which punishes "clergy and religious associations holding special religious meetings for children and young people, as well as the holding by religious bodies of literature circles or other specialised groups.” Though the fines are overturned, they are still not allowed to meet together for worship, as the country has refused them registration.
Posted in Azerbaijan, Countries, News | No Comments »
Friday, May 17th, 2013
With the persecution of Christians increasing in Bangladesh the World Council of Churches has reached out to believers in the country to express solidarity.
Posted in Bangladesh, Countries, News | No Comments »
Friday, May 17th, 2013
Since Egypt’s revolution in 2011, more than 80 Christians have been killed and several churches have been destroyed, prompting more than a hundred thousand Christians to seek immigration and leave their homeland permanently. The revolution, which hoped to instill democratic change and greater freedoms, has instead given unprecedented freedoms to Islamists—with the Muslim Brotherhood at the forefront—to impose a radical Islamic agenda on Egyptian society.
Posted in Africa, Countries, Egypt, News | No Comments »
Friday, May 17th, 2013
A car bombing following Pakistan’s elections significantly damaged a church and wounded several Christians, Agenzia Fides reports. Eight people were killed in the attack, which was politically motivated and unlikely meant to target the church.
Posted in Asia, Countries, News, Pakistan | No Comments »
Thursday, May 16th, 2013
Dimyana Obeid Abd Al-Nour, a 23-year-old elementary schoolteacher in Al-Edisat, located in Luxor Province, was arrested on May 8 after three students complained that she made blasphemous comments in the classroom. On May 11, Al-Nour’s incarceration was extended an additional 15 days, but she reportedly paid 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,870) on Tuesday for her release while an investigation takes place, Morning Star News reports. Al-Nour’s court hearing is set for May 21.
Posted in Africa, Countries, Egypt, News | No Comments »
Thursday, May 16th, 2013
“The candidates [who campaigned] in this election, rather than arguing for the rights of all Pakistanis, have further marginalized religious minorities and given license to those who attack them,” Manan Ahmed Asif writes in a op-ed for the New York Times. Days after Pakistan’s elections, Asif reports on how religious minorities have been treated, including Christians, by the “tyrannical majority” following the country’s independence.
Posted in Asia, Countries, News, Pakistan | No Comments »
Thursday, May 16th, 2013
Christian-owned businesses were reportedly attacked by a mob this week in Minya, Egypt, according to Mideast Christian News. ICC has yet to verify the incident and the details behind the attack.
Posted in Africa, Countries, Egypt, News | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
Although Burma has moved away from a military controlled dictatorship in recent years and opened up the country in many ways, including greater freedom of the press and the release of hundreds of political prisoners, "grave challenges" remain for Christians and other religious minorities across the country. In a new in-depth report Christian Solidarity Worldwide reveals some of the most horrific human rights violations, including torture of Christians Kachin's, yet recorded in the country.
Posted in Asia, Burma, Countries, News | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
Demyana Emad, a 23-year-old Christian schoolteacher, was detained in Upper Egypt for allegedly insulting Islam. Emad denied the allegations, saying that several Islamic "extremists" had incited school students to testify against her. Similar accusations were made against Bishoy Kamel, another Christian schoolteacher, last year, Patheos reports. Kamel was sentenced to six years in prison. Arrests for ‘insulting Islam’ have skyrocketed in Egypt following the country’s revolution and the political rise of Islamist parties.
Posted in Africa, Countries, Egypt, News | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
Rozi Munir, a 14-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan, was abducted and forcibly married to a Muslim man on May 3, the Pakistan Christian Post reports. According to the article, her birth certificate was forged to make the marriage legal. The kidnappings of Christian girls in Pakistan are often accompanied by acts of extreme violence, including rape, beatings, and other forms of physical and mental abuse. Once abducted, the girls are often never heard from by their families again.
Posted in Asia, Countries, News, Pakistan | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
In this brief update from ChinaAid, it appears that Zhu Yufu, a Christian dissident and activist, is suffering from serious health concerns in prison even as prison authorities tighten restrictions on him. Zhu Yufu was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment last year after posting a poem online deemed "subversive" by the Communist government.
Posted in Asia, China, Countries, News | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American and devout Christian, was arrested in North Korea in April for unspecified crimes. It has now been revealed by an official North Korean news source that Bae was involved in "covert" missionary activities and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. For the North Korean regime, spreading Christianity amounts to treason and many North Koreans have faced life imprisonment or even execution when accused of this crime. It is uncertain what, if anything, the U.S. can do to try to secure Bae's release.
Posted in Asia, Countries, News, North Korea | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
An Assemblies of God (AOG) pastor, his wife and two church workers were arrested for the second time on May 1 on charges for “propagation against the Islamic regime through evangelism" and for converting to Christianity, Christians Solidarity Worldwide reports. The Christians had also been arrested in December 2011 and imprisoned for a year after authorities raided their Christmas church celebration in Ahwaz and detained everyone attending, including children.
Posted in Countries, Iran, Middle East, News | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
Dimyana Obeid Abd Al-Nour, a 23-year-old Christian schoolteacher, will remain in jail for at least 15 more days while police investigate whether or not she committed blasphemy by insulting Islam in the classroom, Morning Star News reports. Amnesty International condemned the detention and demanded Al-Nour’s release. Blasphemy laws in Egypt, which were rarely enacted prior to the country’s revolution, are disproportionately used against Christians. “Forty-one percent of blasphemy cases taken to court from Jan. 25, 2011, to Dec. 31, 2012, were filed against Christians, who make up only about 10 percent of Egypt’s population,” the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights told Morning Star News.
Posted in Africa, Countries, Egypt, News | No Comments »
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