Essay: Repression of women points to worsening religious freedom trends abroad
NURY TURKEL, co-founder of the Uyghur Human Rights Project and chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, and Rabbi ABRAHAM COOPER, director of global social action for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and vice chair of USCIRF, say that denying religious freedom and women’s rights go hand-in-hand…
Essay: State Department blacklists are only one tool to foster international religious freedom
KNOX THAMES, US State Department special adviser on religious minorities in the Obama and Trump administrations, looks, in an article first published on Religion News Service, at whether such designations help…
Essay: Myanmar coup – how the military has held onto power for 60 years
In an article first published on The Conversation, MICHAEL W CHARNEY, professor of Asian and military history at SOAS, University of London, says military control of the rovernment in Myanmar is nothing new…
Essay: Aung San Suu Kyi wins big in Myanmar’s elections, but will it bring peace – or restore her reputation abroad?
In an article first published on The Conversation, Australian academics ADAM SIMPSON and NICHOLAS FARRELLY look at the what the outcome of Myanmar’s recent election means…
Human rights advocates welcome ‘landmark’ UN ruling to prevent Rohingya genocide
RNS The United Nations’ top court has ordered the government of Myanmar to take urgent measures to prevent genocide against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in the majority-Buddhist country. The ruling comes more than two years after Myanmar’s military led a brutal crackdown against the Rohingya and forced over 700,000 refugees to flee to neighboring […]
Rebels in Myanmar who closed more than 100 churches allow 51 to reopen
Morning Star News Ethnic rebels who closed more than 100 churches in eastern Myanmar in 2018 have allowed 51 Baptist churches to reopen, sources said. Ethnic Wa rebels of the United Wa State Army last week announced they had permitted 51 Baptist churches to reopen in northern Shan state after investigating the congregations and their […]
Essay: Journalist killings, arrests and assaults climb worldwide as authoritarianism spreads
In an article first published on The Conversation, RANDY COVINGTON of the University of South Carolina, looks at how attacks on journalists are increasing around the world and in particular how Myanmar can be seen as a “case study of the tensions between authoritarian regimes and truth-seeking journalists”….
Rebels in Myanmar detain more than 90 Christian leaders, shut down more churches
Morning Star News After shutting down at least 10 churches in early September, ethnic Wa rebels in eastern Myanmar have closed dozens of other churches and detained 92 Christian leaders and 42 students in a bid to curtail Christian activities, sources said. The United Wa State Army in late September detained the Christian leaders and […]
Christian Solidarity Worldwide calls jailing of two journalists in Myanmar “outrageous” and demands their immediate release
A “grotesque and outrageous miscarriage of justice” is how Christian Solidarity Worldwide‘s Benedict Rogers has characterised the jailing of two journalists in Myanmar this week as the organisation issued a call for their immediate release. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were both sentenced to seven years in prison after they charged with violating the country’s […]
Christian Solidarity Worldwide supports calls for end to “culture of impunity” in Myanmar
Christian Solidarity Worldwide has thrown its support behind a call from members of the Kachin community around the world for the UN Security Council to refer the Myanmar Government to the International Criminal Court amid reports of renewed fighting in parts of Myanmar last month. Mark Cutts, head of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian […]