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Elections in Mexico: Freedom of religion or belief remains an unaddressed issue

Posted on 31/05/202431/05/2024 by cswpress in Latin America, Mexico

This weekend Mexico will elect 20,286 representatives, including a new president, 128 new senators, 500 federal deputies, governors, municipal presidents and members of state legislatures.

Although several challenges have been addressed during the electoral campaigns, one topic that has hardly been talked about is human rights, despite the continued calls by civil society organisations for this to change.

In 2022, Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) recorded 156,743 human rights violations. The most frequently occurring types of violations were arbitrary detention, acts of discrimination carried out by public officials, and the denial or inadequate provision of public services like water and electricity.

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Elecciones en México: La libertad de religión o de creencias sigue siendo una asignatura pendiente

Posted on 31/05/202431/05/2024 by cswpress in español, Latin America ES, Mexico ES

Este fin de semana México elegirá a 20 mil 286 representantes, incluyendo un nuevo Presidente, 128 nuevos senadores, 500 diputados federales, gobernadores, presidentes municipales y miembros de las legislaturas estatales.

Aunque durante las campañas electorales se han abordado varios desafíos, un tema del que apenas se ha hablado es el de los Derechos Humanos, a pesar de los continuos llamamientos de las organizaciones de la sociedad civil para que esto cambie.

En 2022, el Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI) de México registró 156,743 violaciones a los derechos humanos. Los tipos de violaciones más frecuentes fueron la detención arbitraria, los actos de discriminación cometidos por funcionarios públicos y la denegación o prestación inadecuada de servicios públicos como el agua y la electricidad.

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Twenty years is too long: The Eritrean government must release imprisoned church leaders

Posted on 23/05/2024 by cswpress in Eritrea, Sub-Saharan Africa

Twenty years ago today the Eritrean authorities arrested Reverend Haile Naizge and Dr Kuflu Gebremeskel. Both were prominent religious leaders in the country, the former serving as the chair of the Full Gospel Church, and the latter as chair of the Eritrean Evangelical Alliance and a visiting lecturer at the former University of Asmara.

They have been detained incommunicado ever since.

The arrests of Reverend Naizge and Dr Gebremeskel are not the only anniversaries Eritrea marks this month. In May 2002 the government effectively outlawed religious practices not affiliated with Sunni Islam or the Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran or Orthodox Christian denominations. Since then, all other religious groups have been required to register in order to freely practise their faith, but the process to do this is onerous, intrusive and ultimately inconclusive, as the final step consists of the president’s signature.

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Reflexiones sobre mi amada India en un año electoral

Posted on 22/05/2024 by cswpress in Asia ES, español, India ES

La India está celebrando actualmente elecciones generales en siete fases, que se celebrarán del 19 de abril al 1 de junio de 2024. El investigador de CSW en la India, cuyo nombre se ha mantenido en el anonimato por razones de seguridad, vive en el estado de Tamil Nadu, en el sur del país. Aquí nos presenta algunas reflexiones sobre lo que está en juego para el futuro de la nación.

Un día antes de que mi estado, Tamil Nadu, empezaran las elecciones, estaba navegando por las redes sociales cuando noté una imagen publicada por un viejo amigo mío que estudió conmigo en una escuela cristiana. La imagen era de una mujer vestida con un sari blanco que representaba a un hindú indio. A su alrededor había otros tres hombres, un comunista cristiano, un musulmán y un miembro del partido político dravídico, todos con armas en la mano tratando de apuñalar a una mujer hindú visiblemente asustada. La leyenda decía “vota sabiamente”, un aparente mensaje de advertencia a todos los hindúes de su lista de amigos de que están en peligro y que deben votar por el partido que afirma protegerlos.

Me sorprendió bastante. Sí, lo sé que miles de hindúes radicales en la India creen genuinamente que su religión está amenazada. Pero ver a alguien que conocido, que había recibido toda su educación en una escuela cristiana y seguía siendo hindú, sucumbir a la falsa narrativa de que el hinduismo está amenazado, fue sorprendente. En los últimos años, tristemente me he encontrado con muchos otros amigos y conocidos hindúes que han llegado a creer eso.

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Protestant, Catholic, Critic, Ally: No-one is safe in Nicaragua

Posted on 21/05/202404/03/2025 by cswpress in Latin America, Nicaragua

The government decides to whom to extend its hand and to whom to close it, the Protestant churches that today shake the hand of the dictatorship could tomorrow be strangled by the same hand.

A Nicaraguan human rights defender

On Tuesday 12 December 2023, Nicaraguan security forces carried out an operation that would see 11 Protestant leaders arrested and detained across the country by the end of the day. The organisation with which the leaders were affiliated, Mountain Gateway, a Protestant organisation based out of Texas, and which has operated legally in Nicaragua since 2015 under the name Puerta de la Montana, was stripped of its legal status, and its assets, including 47 vehicles and four properties, were confiscated by the government.

One month later, the government announced that it was pursuing criminal charges against those detained as well as three United States citizens (in absentia), on accusations of money laundering and organised crime. Show trials, in which the government produced no evidence to back up the charges, were held, and in March 2024, the 11 detainees were sentenced to between 12 and 15 years in prison and fined $80 million US dollars.

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