Research Writer
Turkey: Hopes for 2009 disappointed
Hopes for improvements in the rights of religious communities in Turkey in 2009 have once more come to nothing, notes Otmar Oehring of the German Catholic charity Missio www.missio-aachen.de/me...
Turkey: No progress on religious property in 2009
Turkish religious communities as diverse as the Alevi Muslims, Catholics, the Greek Orthodox, Protestants, and the Syrian Orthodox Church have seen no significant progress in 2009 in resolving long-st...
Turkey: Religious freedom survey, November 2009
Ahead of the UN Human Rights Council May 2010 Universal Periodic Review of Turkey, Forum 18 News Service has found that the country continues to see serious violations of international human rights st...
Egypt: Persecution Still Escalating
In May 1980 Egypt amended its constitution to elevate Sharia (Islamic Law) as 'the principal source of legislation'. This provision is now common in Muslim constitutions, including the new constitutio...
Kenya: Islamic Courts Issue Stirs Strife
Last Sunday 13 June, six people were killed and some 104 wounded when grenades were thrown into a massive Christian rally in Nairobi's Uhuru Park. The rally was organised by religious leaders who advo...
Afghanistan: Christians Menaced as Karzai Woos Taliban
The government of Afghanistan suspended two church-based aid organisations -- US-based Church World Service (CWS) and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) -- on 31 May over allegations of proselytising.
Eritrea: More Arrests; Relentless Persecution
In recent decades a Biblical revival movement known as 'Medhane Alam' (lit. Saviour of the World) has grown within the EOC. While some priests and churches have been accommodating, even open, others h...
Kyrgyzstan: Opportunities, though threat remains
The former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan became an independent state in 1991 under the leadership of Askar Akayev. Akayev introduced multi-party democracy and ensured that Kyrgyzstan had a level of op...