China: An Yankui's wife shares detention notice
On Wednesday, Yao Congya, the wife of Zion Reformed Church minister An Yankui, received the detention notice issued by Shanxi Province Fenyang Municipal Bureau of Public Security. |
UZBEKISTAN: Religious freedom survey, November 2021
Freedom of religion and belief, with interlinked freedoms of expression, association, and assembly, remains severely restricted in Uzbekistan. |
With Christmas approaching, Indian Christians brace for persecution
India ranks in the top 10 worst countries for Christian persecution by the World Watch List.
|
Christians in Vietnam count high cost for faith
arlier this year a husband and father in northern Vietnam was released from prison, where he had served more than two years – and not for the opium-smoking so popular in his village. |
Please keep Sudan in your prayers
Join us in praying this verse over Sudan today, where there is still much instability and uncertainty in the aftermath of the military coup. |
Dozens of Christians Slain as Nigeria Moves Off CPC List
Six are killed in Plateau state, 38 in Kaduna state.
|
Armenia, Azerbaijan renew fighting
Armenia and Azerbaijan reported dozens of casualties and soldiers missing last week after a fresh outbreak of fighting. Russia mediated a new ceasefire. |
Despairing Afghan refugees find aid and hope
An Afghan woman who fled Taliban rule lived the nightmare that tens of thousands of other Afghan refugees are trying to avoid. |
Shanxi minister suddenly detained
On November 21, 2021, Police took An Yankui, the minister of Zion Reformed Church in Taiyuan, and a fellow believer to the precinct. Neither has been released at the time of this article. |
China: Elder and former deacon criminally detained in Deyang
On November 19, officers of Denyang criminally detained Early Rain Qingcaodi Church’s Elder Wu Jiannan and former deacon, Hao Ming, under suspected “fraud” charges. |
China strict on COVID-19 ahead of Olympics
In China, some local health workers broke into the homes of quarantined COVID-19 patients, killing their pets. |
NIGERIA | High Court Adjourns Trial of Du Merci Orphanage Founder
A High Court in Nigeria’s Kano state has once again adjourned the trial of Professor Richard Solomon Musa Tarfa, co-founder of the Du Merci orphanages for vulnerable children in Kano and Kaduna states, this time until Feb. 22, 2022. |
Animist Villagers in India Force Christians to Exhume Body
Hindu extremist influence seen in opposition to burial.
|
Two Christians Accused of Blasphemy in Pakistan Released on Bail
ccording to Morning Star News, two Christian nurses accused of blasphemy in Pakistan received bail and were released from prison in September. |
Philippines Lifts Ban on Carol Singing
On November 10, the Department of Health in the Philippines lifted a ban on carol singing which was imposed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Christian Man in Indonesia Attacked by Islamic Radicals
An attack on a Christian man in Indonesia took place at the end of October, but only surfaced in recent days. |
ISIS Claims Responsibility for Deadly Bombings in Uganda
The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for two bomb blasts that killed at least six people and injured over 30 in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, on Tuesday. |
November Update, incl. Algeria, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Burma (Myanmar), North Koreans, Togo and Burkina Faso, Sudan, Uganda.
An Algerian pastor and two members of his congregation will face court on 5 December charged with 'calling for the disobedience of laws by a clergyman', 'practising non-Muslim rites without permission' and 'calling to organise an unarmed assembly' (a demonstration). |
NEPAL | Pastor Found Guilty of Proselytization
Pastor Keshav Raj Acharya of the Abundant Harvest Church in Pokhara, Nepal, was found guilty of proselytization by the Dolpa District Court on Nov. 22.
|
USCIRF News Digest - November 23, 2021 |
EVENT: Democracy and Religious Freedom
Please join the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a virtual event about intersection between democracy and religious freedom. |
USCIRF Releases New Report on Religious Freedom Violations in Belarus
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following report on religious freedom violations in Belarus: |
Update from the 21Wilberforce team
In the 19th century, British Parliamentarian William Wilberforce identified the slave trade as the single greatest violation of human rights. |
US removes Nigeria from religious freedom list
The U.S. Department of State did not designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) with regards to religious freedom in its 2021 report. |
Hindu priest calls for beheading of Christians
A Hindu priest in India called for the beheading of Christian converts at a rally. |
Christian couple's appeal rejected, facing seven years in jail
On November 16, 2021, Shaanxi Province Xi’an Municipal Intermediate Court issued its verdict regarding the appeal of Christian couple Chang Yuchun and Li Chenhui’s “illegal business operation” charges. |
Journalist arrested after reporting on attacks against Christians in Nigeria
A Nigerian Christian journalist faces prolonged imprisonment following his reporting of attacks against mainly Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and critical assessment of the government’s response. |
Two of 17 abducted missionaries and children released in Haiti
Two members of a group of 17 Christian missionaries and children abducted by an armed gang in Haiti on 16 October have been set free by their captors. |
Armenian Church leaders “deeply concerned” about Azerbaijani aggression
The leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church has raised concerns regarding the recent outbreak of hostilities between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces. |
Fears abducted 12-year-old Christian girl will be forced to convert to Islam and marry Muslim
The mother of a 12-year-old Christian girl, abducted in Punjab, Pakistan, has raised fears that her daughter will be forced to marry her captor and convert to Islam. |