christians – FoRB in Full

Even in death, Christians in India’s tribal communities are denied their rights and dignity

Posted on 08/12/2025 by cswpress in Asia, China

On 5 November the family of Gajendra Sahu, whose name has been changed for security reasons, attempted to bury him in his ancestral village of Kodekhursi, in Kanker District, in India’s Chhattisgarh State.

Gajendra had converted to Christianity three years previously. He had also given up drinking after years of alcohol addiction, but sadly passed away following a prolonged period of ill-health caused by it.

His relatives should have been permitted to lay him to rest in peace, however, because of his conversion to Christianity, residents of Kodekhursi refused to permit his burial within village boundaries, and even on his family’s own plot. Repeated requests for intervention from the authorities proved unsuccessful, and the family was ultimately forced to travel close to 200km – with a police escort – to the state capital Raipur where they were finally able to conduct a dignified funeral service in a Christian cemetery.

Continue reading →

Despite government promises, ‘Total Peace’ remains elusive in Colombia today

Posted on 11/11/202512/11/2025 by cswpress in Colombia, Latin America

On 4 April Maribel Silva, Isaíd Gómez and Isaíd’s uncle, Carlos Valero obeyed the summonses of an illegal armed group operating in the Calamar Municipality of Colombia’s Guaviare Department. The next day, James Caicedo, Jesús Valero, Maryuri Hernández, Nixon Peñalosa and Oscar García did the same.

After the individuals failed to return home to their families in the hamlet of Agua Bonita in Pueblo Seco their family members reached out to representatives of the illegal armed group who had issued the summonses, but the group denied that any summonses had been issued. Later, the family members were indirectly warned that they should stop looking for their loved ones and ‘consider the case to be closed.’ 

So their families were left waiting, in the horrific uncertainty of what might have happened to them, wondering whether to sit tight, holding onto hope that their family members still might return home, or to flee the region out of fear of reprisals and for the safety and protection of the lives of the children and parents of the disappeared individuals. All eight individuals had already relocated and settled in Guaviare after being displaced from Arauca Department due to violence and severe violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), including the closure of churches and the targeting of Protestant pastors by illegal armed and criminal groups over the past decade. 

Continue reading →

A pesar de las promesas del Gobierno, la «Paz Total» sigue siendo una utopía en Colombia

Posted on 11/11/2025 by cswpress in Colombia ES, español, Latin America ES

El 4 de abril, Maribel Silva, Isaíd Gómez y el tío de este, Carlos Valero, se dirigieron a acudir a una reunioón solicitada por un grupo armado ilegal que opera en el Municipio de Calamar, Departamento de Guaviare, Colombia. Al día siguiente, James Caicedo, Jesús Valero, Maryuri Hernández, Nixon Peñalosa y Óscar García hicieron lo mismo.

Tras no regresar a sus hogares en el paraje de Agua Bonita, en Pueblo Seco, sus familiares contactaron a representantes del grupo armado ilegal que había emitido las citaciones, pero ellos negaron haberlas emitido. Posteriormente, se advirtió indirectamente a los familiares que debían dejar de buscar a sus seres queridos y «considerar el caso cerrado».

Así, sus familias quedaron en el limbo, sumidas en la terrible incertidumbre de lo que les habría ocurrido, preguntándose si debían permanecer allí, aferrándose a la esperanza de que sus familiares regresaran a casa, o huir de la región por temor a represalias y por la seguridad y protección de la vida de los hijos y padres de las personas desaparecidas. Esas mismas ocho personas y sus familias se habían reubicado y establecido en Guaviare tras ser desplazadas del Departamento de Arauca debido a la violencia y las graves violaciones a la libertad de religión o de creencias, incluyendo el cierre de iglesias y los ataques contra pastores protestantes, por parte de grupos armados y criminales ilegales durante la última década.

Continue reading →

How the education system perpetuates religious intolerance in Pakistan, and how it could be a route to change

Posted on 06/10/202506/10/2025 by cswpress in Asia, Pakistan

‘No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate.’

These oft-quoted words of Nelson Mandela have proven all too true in far too many contexts throughout human history, as indeed they do in a very literal sense in Pakistan today.

While hatred can be ‘learned’ in many ways – from one’s family, or cultural background, or even from negative experiences with the object of said hatred – in Pakistan the teaching of hatred, specifically religious intolerance, is embedded in various forms into the very fibre of the country’s education system.

Continue reading →

Pastor Rudy Palacios Vargas dared to speak out against injustice in Nicaragua. For that he has been labelled a murderer and a terrorist.

Posted on 04/08/202515/10/2025 by cswpress in Latin America, Nicaragua

On the evening of Thursday 17 July, armed police officers – some in uniform and others dressed in black or blue and with their faces covered – arrived in a coordinated operation at the homes of Pastor Rudy Palacios Vargas and several of his friends and family in Jinotepe Municipality, Carazo Department, Nicaragua.

The police, who did not show any arrest warrants, broke down the doors of each house using their rifle butts and a tool called a ‘pig’s foot’ before proceeding to arrest Pastor Palacios Vargas, his sister Jéssica Palacios Vargas and brothers-in-law Pedro José López and Armando José Bermudez. Mauricio Alonso Petri, a political activist and friend of the pastor, and his adult son of the same name, who is a part of the worship team at Pastor Palacios Vargas’ church were detained as well. Family friend Olga María Lara Rojas, a former political councillor, who is a Protestant Christian but not a member of Pastor Palacios Vargas’ church, was also arrested at her home.

The officers confiscated the detainees’ cell phones and other electrical devices and were reported to have taken them to the 3^rd Police District, though the authorities initially refused to provide their family members with any information as to their whereabouts.

Continue reading →