Tag: christians

MYA Video footage shows St Patrick's Cathedral on fire on 16 March. CREDIT RVA Kachin Facebook

An attack on St. Patrick’s Cathedral the day before St. Patrick’s Day is yet another indicator of the remorselessness of the Myanmar military

Posted on by cswpress in Asia, Burma

17 March is a significant date for the community of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the Banmaw diocese of Myanmar/Burma’s Kachin State.  

It is, of course, the feast day of the church’s patron saint – a day of prayer and celebration in honour of one of the most revered figures in Catholic Church history.  

This year, however, the community was unable to mark the occasion as they normally would have done, as on the evening of 16 March the cathedral was set on fire by soldiers from the State Administration Council (SAC), which falls under the authority of Myanmar’s ruling military junta. 

Continue reading “An attack on St. Patrick’s Cathedral the day before St. Patrick’s Day is yet another indicator of the remorselessness of the Myanmar military” →

El pastor Efrén Antonio Vílchez López es una de las cientos de voces independientes que el gobierno nicaragüense se apresura a silenciar. 

Posted on by cswpress in español, Latin America ES, Nicaragua ES

El 15 de mayo de 2022, el pastor evangélico-protestante Efrén Antonio Vílchez López fue golpeado y detenido al salir de la funeraria donde trabajaba en San Rafael del Sur, municipio a 50 km al suroeste de la Capital Managua.  

No se le informó de los cargos que se le imputaban, y su familia no supo su paradero durante tres días. Permaneció recluido en la Comisaría de la Policía Nacional de San Rafael del Sur durante más de dos semanas y luego fue trasladado al Sistema Penitenciario Nacional Jorge Navarro, conocido como “La Modelo”. 

Durante su detención, las autoridades no le proporcionaron al pastor Vílchez López, quien padece diabetes e hipertensión, la insulina diaria que necesitaba, lo que puso en peligro su vida y lo obligó a ser trasladado a una clínica para recibir urgentemente tratamiento médico. 

Continue reading “El pastor Efrén Antonio Vílchez López es una de las cientos de voces independientes que el gobierno nicaragüense se apresura a silenciar. “ →

Pastor Efrén Antonio Vílchez López is one of hundreds of independent voices the Nicaraguan government is desperate to silence

Posted on by cswpress in Latin America, Nicaragua

On 15 May 2022 Protestant Christian Pastor Efrén Antonio Vílchez López was beaten and detained as he was leaving the funeral home where he worked in San Rafael del Sur, a town and municipality 50km south-west of the Nicaraguan capital Managua.  

He was not told on what charges he was being arrested, and his family were kept unaware of his whereabouts for three days. He was held at the San Rafael del Sur National Police Station for over two weeks, and then transferred to the notorious Jorge Navarro National Penitentiary System known as ‘La Modelo’. 

While he was in detention the authorities did not provide Pastor Vílchez López, who is diabetic and hypertensive, with his required daily insulin, which ultimately proved life-threatening and resulted in him being sent to a clinic for urgent medical treatment.  

Continue reading “Pastor Efrén Antonio Vílchez López is one of hundreds of independent voices the Nicaraguan government is desperate to silence” →

‘Hope is resistance’: An interview with CSW’s India Researcher

Posted on by cswpress in Asia, India

CSW relies extensively on the documenters, journalists, experts and activists that gather first-hand evidence of violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in the countries we work on.

Last month, our Advocacy Intern Anna Shannon spoke with CSW’s India Researcher, whose name has been withheld for security reasons, to discuss what her work entails, the state of FoRB in India, and where she sees hope for the future.

As CSW’s India Researcher, what does your work entail?

My work entails documenting and reporting on violations of religious freedom across India, particularly against Muslims and Christians. So, whenever there are any attacks or any instances of discrimination against Muslims or Christians, I speak to victims, eyewitnesses, sometimes the lawyers who are working on these cases and I write the report.

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Where are they? Carmen María Sáenz Martínez and Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda are prisoners of a regime solely interested in its own survival

Posted on by cswpress in Latin America, Nicaragua

At 6am on 10 August 2024, fifteen police officers wearing ski masks and carrying AK-47s arrested 49-year-old Carmen María Sáenz Martínez at her home in Lomas de Santo Tomas in Matagalpa City, Nicaragua.

Two hours later police in two patrol cars detained Carmen’s colleague Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda, age 58, at the Guadalupana Farm in Samulali in the San Ramón Municipality.

Both women worked with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Matagalpa, formerly led by the now exiled Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos, who spent nearly a year and a half in prison before he was expelled to the Vatican in January 2024. Lesbia had worked with the diocese’s rural and urban credit project since 2006, and Carmen as a justice promoter in marriage annulment cases since 2018.

Their families have not heard from them since.

Continue reading “Where are they? Carmen María Sáenz Martínez and Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda are prisoners of a regime solely interested in its own survival” →