Widespread Torture Reported in Burma’s Prisons
A major report has been published this weekend documenting for the first time the extent of the government backed torture in Burma’s jails, human rights investigators said.
Human Rights
Protestant Pastor Killed In Egypt after Threats
Egypt’s Protestant Christian community remained on edge Sunday, December 4, amid reports that one of its pastors, Ezzat Habib, was killed after he was run down by a taxi in Cairo following threats from the country’s feared security police.
China Releases Kidnapped House Church After Bush Visit
An influential house church leader who was reportedly kidnapped along with his son by Chinese security forces was released Monday, November 21, just hours after American President George W. Bush left China, a religious rights group said.
Christian Couple shot in Indonesia
Masked gunmen shot and wounded a Christian couple in the Indonesian province of Central Sulawesi in the latest in a series of attacks against Christians there, police and hospital sources confirmed Monday, November 21.
Islam’s Power Grab in Niger State, Nigeria
For Ishaya Kpotun Shaba of Niger state in north-central Nigeria, the past four years have been a jumble of tears and pain. He has not set his eyes on his daughter, Saratu, since she was abducted in December 2001 at age 19 by extremists bent on converting and marrying her to a Muslim.
House Church Leader Jailed for Three Year as Chinese President Visits UK
Pastor Cai was abducted from a bus stop and dragged into a van by three plain-clothed State Security officers on September 11 2004. According to a former fellow inmate, Pastor Cai was repeatedly tortured with electric shocks and forced to give false confessions to serious charges.
Christian Girls Shot in Indonesia’s Tense Poso Region
Two Indonesian Christian girls were fighting for their lives late Tuesday, November 8, after they were shot in the head in Indonesia’s tense Poso region where three other Christian girls were beheaded last week, an influential religious rights organization said.
China Closes Top Law Firm for Defending Christians, Group says
China’s government has ordered a top law firm in Beijing to close for one year because of its involvement in defending Christians, including house church leaders, and other religious minorities, a religious rights watchdog said.
China House Church Leader and Family Members “Tortured”
The leader of six house churches in China’s capital Beijing, who was detained by security officers last year, is held at a detention facility where he is forced to carry out hard labor, human rights investigators said Friday, October 28.
Christian Freedom International Finds More Evidence of Growing Religious Persecution in Bangladesh
Shahjahan Mollah, 35, lives in the village of Butia about 120 miles north of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Shahjahan, a former Muslim, converted to Christianity in 1991. He currently pastors a church of some 27 Muslim converts to Christianity in Butia.
Uzbekistan Christian Villagers Beaten and Expelled From Homes
Former Muslim residents in a remote village of the ex-Soviet union republic of Uzbekistan are being beaten, publicly humiliated and forced from their homes and jobs for converting to Christianity, a news agency investigation religious persecution said Friday, October 21.
Arrested Church Leaders Released Under International Pressure
The China Aid Association learned that as of October 21, 2005 at 7:30am, following more than 25 hours of house arrest, all of the nearly 50 arrested house church leaders were released.
Cuba Closes Christian Printing Press amid Crackdown On House Churches and Dissidents
Cuban police forces closed down a Christian printing press and detained a pastor for distributing “subversive” materials amid a nationwide government crackdown on house churches and pro-democracy activists on the Communist island, dissident sources and human rights investigators said Tuesday, October 18.
Indonesia Islamic Militants Close New Churches
Islamic militants have launched fresh raids on churches on the Indonesian island of Java, human rights investigators said Wednesday, October 19.
Nigeria Christian Students “Forced” To Convert To Islam
Christians in rural areas of Nigeria’s tense northern Kano state are afraid to send their children to public schools for fear that they will be forced to convert to Islam, a Christian news agency reported Thursday, October 20.
Nigeria Pastor And Wife Nearly Killed For Preaching Against Idol Worship
Human rights investigators expressed concern Wednesday, October 19, about the situation of Christians in Nigeria, after a pastor and his wife were allegedly attacked by an angry mob for preaching and condemning idol worshipping.
China Police Expel “Tortured” Christian From Hospital, Raid Christian House
Chinese police raided the house of a prominent Christian activist in Beijing shortly after other security forces first tortured and than expelled a Christian businessman from the hospital where he was treated for his wounds, church sources said Monday, September 10.
Pentecostal Christian Assassinated in Indonesia, New Violence Feared
A member of a Pentecostal church in Indonesia’s tense province of Central Sulawesi was assassinated amid fresh concerns over new religious violence in the area where thousands of Christians were killed in recent years, human rights watchers said Thursday, October 6.
Major Islamic Crackdown on Churches in Indonesia Reported; Churches Closed, Pastors Threatened
A Christian human rights group urged Indonesia’s government Tuesday, October 4, to immediately halt the activities of known Islamic militants who it claims have closed dozens of churches, threaten pastors and other believers, and promote the abduction of Westerners “in cooperation” with local authorities.
China Agents “Torture” Christian Businessman Amid Crackdown
A Christian businessman and friend of an evangelist in China’s Xinjiang province was rushed to hospital after being “tortured” by security agents amid an ongoing “comprehensive campaign” against Christians in the region, a US-based religious rights organization said Saturday, October 1.