Tag: Human rights

Malaysia: Nearly 500 days since his abduction, Raymond Koh’s wife renews call for action

June 26, 2018 Malaysia Borneo, Human rights, Joshua Hilmy, Kidnapping, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Raymond Koh

Susanna Liew (r), wife of Pastor Koh, supports Che Mat's wife, Norhayati Mohd Afriffin (l), as she calls for her husband's release at the meeting on Sunday (24 June). (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Dozens of people came together in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur on Sunday (24 June) to call for the release of pastor Raymond Koh, social activist Amri Che Mat and Christian couple Joshua and Ruth Hilmy, and for further investigation into their disappearances. At least 60 people met with the families . . . Read More

UN chief ‘personally concerned’ about return of Christians to Iraq and Syria

June 21, 2018 Afghanistan, Al-Shabaab, Antonio Guterres, Asylum seekers, Bashiqa, Human rights, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Kachin, London, Migrants, Myanmar, Patriarch Kirill, Refugees, Somalia, South Sudan, Southeast Asia, Syria, UN

Tree and Arabic painting on the wall in Bashiqa, a town near Mosul in Iraq where Christians are slowly returning, saying: "Tomorrow will be more beautiful." (will be better) (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The UN’s Secretary General has stressed the importance of Christians returning to the areas from which they fled in Iraq and Syria. “I am fully convinced that after the stability of the situation in Iraq and Syria and the adoption of a certain political decision, it is very important to . . . Read More

A ‘dire time for human rights in Russia’ as World Cup begins

June 14, 2018 Russia Crimea, Dagestan, Don Ossewaarde, Football, Human rights, Jehovah's Witnesses, Oryol, Religious freedom, Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Yarovaya Law

The 2018 FIFA World Cup started today with a kick-off at the Luzhniki stadium in the capital Moscow. (Photo: Sandra Montanez - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

“This is a very dire time for human rights in Russia,” according to the Russia programme director for Human Rights Watch, Tanya Lokshina, speaking ahead of the start of the 2018 Football World Cup, which kicked off in Moscow earlier today. Since Vladimir Putin became Russia’s president again in 2012 . . . Read More

North Koreans ‘betrayed’ by human rights omission in Trump-Kim agreement

June 12, 2018 North Korea Donald Trump, Human rights, International Criminal Court, Kim Hak Song, Kim Jong-Un, North Korea, Prisons, Pyongyang, Religious freedom, USA

After meeting Kim Jong-un in Singapore, US President Donald Trump said the many North Koreans currently being held in forced-labour camps were “one of the great winners today”. (Photo: ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/Getty Images)

North Koreans were “betrayed” by the failure of US President Donald Trump to include human rights provisions in his agreement with the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, following their historic meeting in Singapore, according to Human Rights Watch’s Asia Director, Phil Robertson. “The North Korean people have suffered for so long,” . . . Read More

UN rapporteur welcomes Uzbekistan’s religious freedom pledge

June 12, 2018 Uzbekistan Ahmed Shaheed, Human rights, Religious freedom, Urgench, Uzbekistan

Russian Orthodox St. Alexey Cathedral in Samarkand, southeast Uzbekistan. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion of Belief has welcomed Uzbekistan’s pledge to implement the recommendations he made in the wake of a visit there in October last year. Uzbekistan has promised to implement 12 recommendations made by Ahmed Shaheed, and has given a timeline for each one, as well . . . Read More

Vietnamese Christian rights defender exiled to Germany after release

June 11, 2018 Vietnam Exile, Hanoi, Human rights, Nguyễn Trung Tôn, Nguyen Van Dai, Vietnam

Vietnamese human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, 48, was sentenced to 15 years in jail in April. (Photo: -/AFP/Getty Images)

Vietnam has released a Christian human rights lawyer and his assistant – both of whom were given long prison sentences in April – and sent them to Germany. No statement was issued by the government on the release of Nguyen Van Dai, 48, and his assistant, Le Thu Ha, on . . . Read More

‘Christianity in Syria is under threat from forces the West is supporting’

June 11, 2018 Syria Bashar al-Assad, Civil War, Damascus, Free Syrian Army, Hezbollah, Human rights, Iran, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Maaloula, Middle East, Minorities, Russia, Salafism, Shia, Sunni, Syria, UK, USA

Two thousand years of Christianity in Syria could be wiped out by the very forces Western governments are supporting, an Anglican vicar has claimed. Rev. Andrew Ashdown, who has made ten trips to Syria since 2014 and is studying for a PhD in relations between Christians and Muslims there, also . . . Read More

North Korean ex-detainee was told his ‘hostile act against regime’ was prayer

June 7, 2018 North Korea Donald Trump, Human rights, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song, Kim Jong-Un, North Korea, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, Religious freedom, Tony Kim, USA

North Korean ex-detainee Kim Hak Song upon return to the United States, at the Joint Base Andrews. (Photo: Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

One of the American citizens who was released by North Korea and returned to the United States last month, was told by his captors he was detained because of the “hostile act” of prayer. Kim Hak Song was arrested on a train from North Korea’s capital Pyongyang to China in . . . Read More

Kazakhstan passes Religion Law that ‘undermines principles of human rights’

June 1, 2018 Kazakhstan Children, Human rights, Kazakhstan, Protestants, Religion Law, Religious freedom, Russian Orthodox Church

Kazakhstan's Parliament building in the capital Astana. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Kazakhstan’s Parliament has approved a set of wide-ranging amendments to the country’s Religion Law, refusing calls from civil society groups for a legal review by an independent body. The new set of restrictions, which are expected to further infringe upon religious freedom and have been criticised for violating international human . . . Read More

Uzbek pastor might face criminal charges after police repeat raids on his home

May 29, 2018 Uzbekistan Baptists, Fergana Valley, Human rights, Jehovah's Witnesses, Karshi, Kashkadarya, Khorezm, Religious freedom, Samarkand, Tashkent, Urgench, Uzbekistan

Members of Pastor Kim's church were, like these Christians elsewhere in Uzbekistan, having a meal together to celebrate Easter when the first police raid took place. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

An Uzbek Baptist pastor, who is already serving at home a two-year sentence for having religious books, might now be facing criminal charges. Police raided Pastor Stanislav Kim’s flat in Urgench, north-western Khorezm Region, twice last month, on Easter Sunday (8 April) and a week later (15 April), while the . . . Read More

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