Tags

2023-07-27

• Increasing Violence by IS Terrorists

  

  According to an analysis conducted by BBC Monitoring, the self-declared terrorist group, Islamic State (IS), and its affiliated members have significantly escalated a campaign of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. During the first half of 2023, the terrorists claimed to have instigated 58 violent attacks in the DR Congo, targeting those whom they identify as Christians. These attacks are concentrated in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.

• Imprisoned Pastor Faces Health Issues

  

  Vietnamese pastor Nguyen Trung Ton was imprisoned in 2011 on charges of "anti-state propaganda." He was rearrested in 2017 and convicted in April 2018 for "carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the government." The Christian leader was sentenced to 12 years in prison. (To review previously published information on the pastor's sentencing, go to this page.)

• Christian Convert Receives Presidential Pardon

  

  Algerian Christians are rejoicing over the release of Hamid Soudad, a Christian convert who was sentenced in March 2021 to five years in prison for blasphemy (read more). Hamid was among the 8,500-plus prisoners who were released or had their sentences decreased as part of the Algerian Independence Day celebrations on July 5th.

• Pastors Endured 7,000 Days in Prison

  

  In 2002, the government of Eritrea passed legislation that locked down religious freedom in the country, outlawing every religion except Sunni Islam, Eritrean Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism. Since that time, hundreds of believers have been detained without charge and often held for many years without trial.