Ten years since the abduction of the Chibok Girls, the Nigerian government must finally protect vulnerable communities

Last month, 137 families in Kuriga in Nigeria’s Kaduna State breathed a collective sigh of relief as their sons and daughters returned home after over two weeks in terrorist captivity.

The children were abducted from their school on 7 March when armed assailants descended on the premises just as classes were about to commence. The school reported that 287 students were taken; however Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has since attempted to dismiss the figure as being a ‘figment of someone’s imagination’, despite initially citing the same number himself.

Several questions emerge from this: what is being done to confirm that all of the students have indeed been freed? What about the thousands of other individuals who have been abducted by terrorist groups in recent years? And finally, how can this still be happening a decade after mass kidnappings in Nigeria first landed on the international agenda?

Continue reading “Ten years since the abduction of the Chibok Girls, the Nigerian government must finally protect vulnerable communities”
The Episcopal/Evangelical Church in Omdurman, which was shelled on 1 November 2023.

No se debe permitir que Sudán quede fuera de la agenda internacional

“La tierra es valiosa y será más fácil apoderarse de ella si los edificios han sido destruidos por la guerra”.

Esta fue la reacción de una fuente de CSW ante el bombardeo de iglesias y propiedades en Omdurman y Jartum El-Shajara en Sudán a principios de mes.

El 1 de noviembre, las Fuerzas Armadas Sudanesas bombardearon y destruyeron por completo una iglesia utilizada por las denominaciones episcopal y evangélica en Omdurman. Era la iglesia más grande y la segunda más antigua de la zona, y su destrucción se produjo apenas tres semanas después de que también fueran bombardeadas la Escuela Comercial Evangélica y la Escuela Secundaria Evangélica.

Continue reading “No se debe permitir que Sudán quede fuera de la agenda internacional”
The Episcopal/Evangelical Church in Omdurman, which was shelled on 1 November 2023.

Sudan must not be allowed to slip off the international agenda

‘The land is valuable, and it will be easier to seize it if the buildings have been destroyed by war.’

This was the reaction of a CSW source to the bombing of churches and properties in Omdurman and Khartoum El-Shajara in Sudan at the start of the month.

On 1 November the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) shelled and completely destroyed a church that was used by the Episcopal and Evangelical denominations in Omdurman. It was the largest and second oldest church in the area, and its destruction came just three weeks after the Evangelical Commercial School and the Evangelical Secondary School were also bombed.

Continue reading “Sudan must not be allowed to slip off the international agenda”
A church in Araucania, Chile.

‘The only church that enlightens is the one that burns’: The glowing embers of Chile’s Latin American success story

Today marks 50 years since Augusto Pinochet’s coup d’état forever changed the course of Chilean history. His rule brought about years of egregious human rights violations, during which many Chileans were tortured, murdered or forcibly disappeared, and their bodies never found. The trauma still scars the population today.

Pinochet was removed from power in 1990 after 17 years of brutal military dictatorship, and as President Patricio Aylwin took office on 11 March 1990, he declared, ‘Chile doesn’t want violence or war; it wants peace’. Whilst Chile has enjoyed relative peace and human rights have generally been respected since 1990 compared with the 17 years preceding it, Aylwin’s words still ring true more than 30 years later.

Success wearing thin

Chile has largely been heralded for its stability for the last decade or so; prosperous and peaceful, largely untouched by the levels of violence experienced by other countries in the region. The Latin American success story is largely backed up by statistics, such as those of the Global Peace Index, which ranked Chile at 58 out of 163 countries for its levels of peace in 2023.

Continue reading “‘The only church that enlightens is the one that burns’: The glowing embers of Chile’s Latin American success story”
A church in Araucania, Chile.

‘La única iglesia que ilumina es la que arde’: Las brasas ardientes de la historia de éxito de Chile en América Latina

Hoy se cumplen 50 años desde que el golpe de Estado de Augusto Pinochet cambió para siempre el curso de la historia chilena. Su gobierno provocó años de atroces violaciones de derechos humanos, durante los cuales muchos chilenos fueron torturados, asesinados o desaparecidos por la fuerza, y sus cuerpos nunca fueron encontrados.  El trauma aún hoy deja cicatrices en la población.

Pinochet fue derrocado del poder en 1990 después de 17 años de brutal dictadura militar, y cuando el presidente Patricio Aylwin asumió el cargo el 11 de marzo de 1990, declaró: “Chile no quiere violencia ni guerra; quiere paz”. Si bien Chile ha disfrutado de una paz relativa y los derechos humanos en general han sido respetados desde 1990 en comparación con los 17 años anteriores, las palabras de Aylwin todavía suenan ciertas, a más de 30 años después.

El éxito se está agotando

Chile ha sido ampliamente elogiado por su estabilidad durante la última década; próspero y pacífico, en gran medida al margen de los niveles de violencia experimentados por otros países de la región. La historia de éxito latinoamericana está respaldada en gran medida por estadísticas, como las del Índice de Paz Global, que ubicó a Chile en el puesto 58 de 163 países por sus niveles de paz en 2023.

Continue reading “‘La única iglesia que ilumina es la que arde’: Las brasas ardientes de la historia de éxito de Chile en América Latina”