harassment – Page 18 – FoRB in Full

Unregistered and unrecognised: the plight of Vietnam’s Duong Van Minh community

Posted on 12/12/2022 by cswpress in Asia, Vietnam

One year ago today, on 12 December 2021, hundreds of persons in medical protective suits and plainclothes, and police, some armed with shields and batons, disrupted the funeral of Duong Van Minh, the ethnic Hmong founder of an eponymous religious community in Northern Vietnam.

The authorities claimed they were there to force people to take COVID-19 tests, despite no infection having been reported in the area.

Police in Tuyen Quang province arrested and beat at least 36 people as they attempted to attend the funeral. Seven more were arrested a day later, on 13 December, when they went to protest the police action. On 15 December, police announced over loudspeakers that five more people had to surrender. These five were subsequently arrested and accused of assaulting officials.

In total, at least 48 people were arrested.

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A Dalit manual scavenger in Nasik, Maharashtra, India.

La intolerancia hacia los cristianos en muchas comunidades tribales de la India no termina aun ni con en la muerte

Posted on 01/12/2022 by cswpress in Asia ES, español, India ES

A la familia de Janki Sori no se le dio mucho tiempo para llorar. Después de haberla enterrado en su propia tierra el 1 de noviembre, solo pasaron dos días antes de que su cuerpo fuera exhumado contra los deseos de su familia por miembros de un grupo tribal conocido como Sarv Adivasi Samaj, la razón, fue debido a su conversión al cristianismo.

Sori, que tenía 35 años cuando murió, vivía en la aldea de Antagarh, en el estado indio de Chhattisgarh, donde la mayoría de la comunidad son animistas que adoran la naturaleza y los espíritus, al tiempo que obtienen cierta influencia del hinduismo.

Los que exhumaron su cuerpo afirmaron que su aldea pertenece solo a aquellos que siguen su religión y, después de enterrar a la Sra. Sori en una aldea diferente el 4 de noviembre, el grupo afirmó que continuarían atacando a los conversos al cristianismo de la misma manera hasta que se “reconviertan” a la religión o a su ascendencia y cultura.

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Intolerance towards Christians in many tribal communities in India does not end even in death

Posted on 21/11/2022 by cswpress in Asia, India

Janki Sori’s family were not given much time to grieve. Having laid her to rest in their own land on 1 November, only two days passed before her body was exhumed against her family’s wishes by members of a tribal group known as the Sarv Adivasi Samaj – all because of her conversion to Christianity.

Ms Sori, who was 35 years old when she died, lived in the village of Antagarh in India’s Chhattisgarh state, where the majority of the community are animists who worship nature and spirits, while also drawing some influence from Hinduism.

Those who exhumed her body claimed that their village belongs only to those who follow their religion, and, after burying Ms Sori in a different village on 4 November, the group claimed that they would continue to target converts to Christianity in the same manner until they ‘re-convert’ to the religion or their ancestry and culture.

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El referéndum de Cuba del 25 de septiembre es mucho más que un tema sobre matrimonio homosexual

Posted on 20/09/202203/10/2022 by cswpress in Cuba ES, español, Latin America ES

El 25 de septiembre los cubanos acudirán a las urnas para votar en referéndum popular un nuevo Código de las Familias que, de ser aprobado, se convertirá en ley. La cobertura de los medios, dentro y fuera de Cuba, incluso en la prensa británica y estadounidense, ha presentado el referéndum como una votación sobre el matrimonio homosexual. La verdad es que la propuesta del Código de las Familias tiene más de 100 páginas; pero solo un puñado de los 474 artículos son relevantes para los derechos LGBTQ+.

Presentarlo como un referéndum sobre los derechos de los homosexuales no solo es incorrecto sino también peligroso; permite al gobierno cubano oscurecer algunos de los aspectos altamente problemáticos del Código, que tienen el potencial de violar los derechos fundamentales de todos los cubanos y daría a las autoridades otra forma, muy efectiva, de silenciar las voces independientes o críticas.

Lo más preocupante es el artículo 191 que permitiría la separación de los hijos si sus padres no cumplen con las responsabilidades detalladas en el artículo 138 del nuevo código, que incluyen los deberes de inculcar en sus hijos el amor a la patria, el respeto a sus símbolos y el respeto a las autoridades (artículo 138 (ñ)).

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Cuba’s referendum on 25 September is about far more than gay marriage

Posted on 20/09/2022 by cswpress in Cuba, Latin America

On 25 September Cubans will go to the polls to vote in a popular referendum on a new Family Code, which, if approved, will become law. Media coverage, in and outside of Cuba, including in the UK and US press, has presented the referendum as a vote on gay marriage. The truth is that the proposed family code runs over 100 pages; only a handful of the 474 articles are relevant to LGBTQ+ rights.

Presenting it as a referendum on gay rights is not only incorrect but also dangerous. It allows the Cuban government to obscure some of the highly problematic aspects of the code, which have the potential to violate the fundamental rights of all Cubans and would give the authorities another, and very effective, way of silencing independent or critical voices.

Most worrying is Article 191 which would allow for the removal of children if their parents fail to fulfil a list of responsibilities detailed in Article 138. These include the duties to instill in their children love for the homeland, respect of its symbols, and respect for the authorities (Article 138 (ñ)).

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