harassment – Page 5 – FoRB in Full

Prayer, outreach, free expression – the Cuban government won’t tolerate the truth

Posted on 02/06/2025 by cswpress in Cuba, Latin America

A mid-size church located in a population facing significant economic and social challenges organises a weeknight, evening prayer service. Members of the church attend and participate in a series of structured times of prayer. At times they pray silently, at others the pastor leads them in prayer, and in one session they gather around the national flag to pray for the needs facing those in their community and country. Their prayers speak of fundamental needs – for food, for medicine, for a reduction in crime, for the provision of basic services to all.

In another part of the country, the pastor of a church takes steps to address a specific need in his community, which is also enduring hardship. Together with the church leadership, he coordinates a general collection to meet the needs. Members of the church, and many in the larger community, join in the effort and together they are able to put together packages of essential goods to give away to the most desperate.

Neither of these scenarios would attract much notice in many parts of the world. Those who did not share the faith of those involved might think some of the practices a little strange, but not harmful. Not so in Cuba, however, where the simple act of praying for the country – especially in conjunction with the use of the national flag – and any effort by a religious group to meet the acute needs of the population, are met with hostility by the government, which is increasingly threatening religious leaders who organise such activities with criminal charges.

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Oración, labor social, libertad de expresión: el gobierno cubano no tolerará la verdad

Posted on 02/06/202530/06/2025 by cswpress in Cuba ES, español, Latin America ES

Una iglesia de tamaño mediano, ubicada en una población que enfrenta importantes dificultades económicas y sociales, organiza un servicio de oración vespertino entre semana. Los miembros de la iglesia asisten y participan en una serie de momentos estructurados de oración. A veces oran en silencio, otras veces el pastor los guía en la oración, en una sesión se reúnen alrededor de la bandera nacional para orar por las necesidades que enfrentan las personas en su comunidad y en su país. Sus oraciones hablan de necesidades fundamentales: alimentos, medicinas, la reducción de la delincuencia y la provisión de servicios básicos para todos.

En otra parte del país, un pastor de una iglesia toma medidas para cubrir una necesidad específica en su comunidad, que también atraviesa dificultades. Junto con los líderes de la iglesia, coordina una colecta general para cubrir las necesidades. Los miembros de la iglesia, y muchos en la comunidad en general, se unen al esfuerzo y juntos logran reunir paquetes de artículos esenciales para entregar a los más necesitados.

Ninguno de estos escenarios llamaría tanto la atención en la mayor parte del mundo. Quienes no comparten la fe de los involucrados podrían considerar algunas prácticas un tanto extrañas, pero no perjudiciales. Sin embargo, no es así en Cuba, donde el simple acto de orar por el país, especialmente junto con el uso de la bandera nacional, y cualquier esfuerzo de un grupo religioso por satisfacer las necesidades urgentes de la población, enfrentan la hostilidad del gobierno, que amenaza cada vez más con cargos penales a los líderes religiosos que organizan tales actividades.

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Truth matters: How misinformation and sensationalism undermines support for victims of human rights violations

Posted on 06/05/202509/05/2025 by cswpress in India, International Arenas, Syria

In early March, alarming reports surfaced of the killing of Christians in Syria. As a shocking outbreak of violence claimed the lives of over 1,000 people within just two days, including 745 civilians, many outlets were quick to claim that the country’s Christian community had been the target.

GB News led with ‘Christians massacred as Syrian jihadist launches killing spree just weeks after toppling Assad’; a writer for the Times of Israel lamented what he identified as the media’s ‘predictable’ disdain for Syrian Christians; the Christian outlet Relevant Magazine claimed that ‘hundreds of Christians’ were among those killed, and countless posts on social media amplified claims of Christians being deliberately targeted and murdered in large numbers.

Such reporting appeared to confirm the worst fears that many have harboured since December 2024, when President Bashir al-Assad was ousted by a coalition of rebel groups led by the Islamist military organisation Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an organisation sanctioned by the US government. In the immediate aftermath of the takeover, many predominantly – though not exclusively – Christian outlets expressed understandable concern over impending threats to the country’s Christian community, with some warning of potential ‘ethnic cleansing’, ‘persecution’ and ‘genocide’.

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A year since over 170 Protestants were forced from their homes, authorities in Mexico’s Hidalgo State must take action to protect religious minorities

Posted on 25/04/202525/04/2025 by cswpress in Latin America, Mexico

It was the end of 2015 when Rogelio Hernández Baltazar returned to his community in Rancho Nuevo in the Huejutla de Reyes Municipality of Hidalgo State. He had spent several months working in the fields of Coahuila in Northern Mexico, because there were no opportunities for work or to generate income to support his family in his own village.

This time things were different; he returned to his community transformed after having struggled for years with alcohol addiction and anger management. While he was working in Coahuila a colleague had invited him to the local Fundamental Baptist Church, where he made the decision to convert to Christianity. What he did not know was that it would have serious consequences within his community.

When Rogelio returned home things seemed not to have changed much, but something inside him had. He had only been attending the church in Coahuila for two months, but when he returned to his indigenous Nahuatl community, people noticed such a significant change in him that they began to wonder what had happened to him in his workplace. With the little understanding that he had, Rogelio began to explain that his radical change was due to what he had read in the Bible, so he invited people to Bible studies in his home.

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A un año de que más de 170 protestantes fueran expulsados de sus hogares, las autoridades del Estado de Hidalgo, México, deben tomar medidas para proteger a esta minoría religiosa

Posted on 25/04/2025 by cswpress in español, Latin America ES, Mexico ES

A finales de 2015, Rogelio Hernández Baltazar regresó a su comunidad en Rancho Nuevo, municipio de Huejutla de Reyes, estado de Hidalgo. Había pasado varios meses trabajando en los campos de Coahuila, en el norte de México, porque no había oportunidades de trabajo ni de generar ingresos para mantener a su familia en su propio pueblo.

Esta vez las cosas fueron diferentes; regresó a su comunidad transformado tras años de lucha contra la adicción al alcohol y controlar la ira. Mientras trabajaba en Coahuila, un colega lo invitó a la Iglesia Bautista Fundamental local, donde decidió entrar al cristianismo. Lo que no sabía era que esto le traería graves consecuencias en su comunidad.

Cuando Rogelio regresó a casa, las cosas parecían no haber cambiado mucho, pero algo dentro de él sí. Solo llevaba dos meses asistiendo a la iglesia en Coahuila, pero al regresar a su comunidad indígena náhuatl, la gente notó un cambio tan significativo en él, que empezaron a preguntarse qué le había pasado en su lugar de trabajo. Con la poca comprensión que tenía, Rogelio comenzó a explicar que su cambio radical se debía a lo que había leído en la Biblia, así que invitó a la gente a participar en estudios bíblicos en su casa.

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