Tag: Religious freedom

Indonesia church attacker acted alone, police say

February 15, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Bogor, Churches, GKI Yasmin, Human rights, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Java, Joko Widodo, Nahdlatul Ulama, Protestants, Religious freedom, Sulawesi, Yogyakarta

Altar of the Stasi Kinali Catholic Church, West-Sumatra, Indonesia, which was attacked in May 2014. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The man accused of injuring four people in an attack on an Indonesian church on Sunday morning (11 February) acted alone and obtained the weapon – a one-metre-long sword – in exchange for his mobile phone, police say. The suspect, a 23-year-old student identified as Suliyono from Bayuwangi in East . . . Read More

US agency accuses Russia of abusing anti-extremism laws

February 14, 2018 Russia Churches, Jehovah's Witnesses, Missionaries, Moscow, Protestants, Religion Law, Religious freedom, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Soviet Union, Terrorism, USA, Yarovaya Law

Russia’s anti-extremism laws are being used to crack down on peaceful religious minorities such as Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Hare Krishnas, the top US religious-freedom watchdog says. A report commissioned by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) found that “vague and problematic definitions of ‘extremism’ in Russian law . . . Read More

Malaysia’s reputation as moderate Muslim nation hangs by a thread

February 9, 2018 Malaysia Children, Churches, Converts, Donald Trump, Hudud, Islamic extremism, Joshua Hilmy, Kidnapping, Malaysia, Minorities, Najib Razak, PAS, Raymond Koh, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, UMNO, USA, Wahhabism

Malaysia is seen by most Western countries as one of the moderate Muslim nations, an ally to be cultivated and befriended in the battle against militant Islam. The country’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, was among one of the leaders to visit US President Donald Trump in his first year of . . . Read More

China’s new religion regulations expected to increase pressure on Christians

February 1, 2018 China Chengdu, China, Guiyang, Guizhou, Religious freedom, Sichuan

All religious establishments in China will be bound by the new Regulations for Religious Affairs that came into force today (1 February). The regulations, which define the administrative framework around religious activities, have the stated aim of “protect[ing] citizens’ freedom of religious belief”. Detailed criteria are given for religious organisations . . . Read More

Bolivian Christians can still evangelise … for now

January 26, 2018 Bolivia Bolivia, Churches, Constitution, Evo Morales, Latin America, Religious freedom

Bolivia's president repealed a controversial new penal code in which evangelism alongside terrorism would be a crime. (Photo: Flickr / CC / Szymon Kochański)

After much criticism, Bolivian president Evo Morales announced earlier this week that his government would repeal a new law that seemed set to make evangelism a crime. The new penal code, adopted by Bolivia’s parliament in December, placed the “recruitment of persons for their participation in religious organisations or cults” . . . Read More

Bangladesh: Christians ‘appreciated’ but attacks continue

January 26, 2018 Bangladesh Bangladesh, Catholics, Converts, Religious freedom, Tangail

Christians protest following an attack by local thugs on a church last Saturday in which three men were injured and the building damaged. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Portuguese Christians, initially merchants and later also missionaries, arrived in Bangladesh 500 years ago and started communities. Today Bangladeshi Christians form a tiny group in the Muslim-majority nation and face various challenges because of their faith. According to Fr. David Bipul Das, a Catholic priest in the diocese of Barisal, . . . Read More

Evangelical churches in Turkmenistan want official registration

January 26, 2018 Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Protestants, Religion Law, Religious freedom, Turkmenistan

Six Evangelical churches in Turkmenistan have submitted a letter to President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, asking to be allowed to register as official religious communities. Following the adoption of a new Law on Religious Organisations and Religious Freedom in March 2016, all religious entities are required to re-register in order to operate . . . Read More

Indonesia’s president tells Catholic students to work for ‘harmony’

January 25, 2018 Indonesia Catholics, Indonesia, Joko Widodo, Religious freedom, Sumatra, Youth

Catholic students meet in Palmbang, Sumatra, this week. (Photo: Matters India)

Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, opened the 30th Catholic students congress in Palembang, on the island of Sumatra, this week by telling them to work together for “peace” and “harmony”. The president told the 3,800 participants that the “Pancasila”, the five principles that make up the state philosophy of the Indonesian . . . Read More

US installs Sam Brownback as religious freedom ambassador

January 25, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Darfur, Mike Pence, Religious freedom, Sam Brownback, USA

Sam Brownback was confirmed as Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom in January.

The US Senate has confirmed Sam Brownback as the new head of the Office of International Religious Freedom. Brownback is the first ambassador under the US’s revised International Religious Freedom Act, which affirms a commitment to international religious freedom as a foreign relations policy. Brownback, 60, ran for president in . . . Read More

Indonesia sees reduction in religious freedom violations

January 24, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Churches, Indonesia, Indonesian Ulema Council, Islamic Defenders Front, Jakarta, Java, Pentecostals, Religious freedom

In 2010, Bogor’s GKI Yasmin church was sealed and padlocked by order of the mayor and city government. They still hold Sunday services outside the church, and stage monthly services outside Indonesia’s Presidential Palace.. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Indonesia saw fewer violations of religious freedom in 2017 than the year before, a national human rights group said this week, although it said it remained concerned about “the politicisation of religious and social differences”. In its ‘2017 Report on Religious Freedom and Religious Minorities in Indonesia’, the Setara Institute . . . Read More

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