Page 55 - Chr News Today

When individuals complete prison or restricted freedom sentences for exercising freedom of religion or belief and other rights, punishment does not stop. Many still face often vague bans on specific activity, including exercising freedom of religion or belief. "The Financial Monitoring Agency List says it relates to finance, but its in fact about everything," one said. "When you want to get a job or open a bank account .. theres a block everywhere!" Restrictions include bank ...

Five of the nine known prisoners of conscience jailed for exercising freedom of religion or belief were punished for participating in an online Islamic discussion group. The other four are also Sunni Muslims. Dadash Mazhenov and Abdukhalil Abduzhabbarov are facing torture by being held in prolonged solitary confinement. Mazhenov has been physically tortured, most recently in a January 2022 beating with truncheons which broke his jaw. Abduzhabbarov was not allowed to attend his fathers funeral, w...

As expected, Malacañang disputed yesterday the latest report of the Commission on Human Rights on the conduct of the war on drugs.

Malacañang yesterday described as “rehash of old issues” the Commission on Human Rights latest report on President Duterte’s drug war even as it claimed that the outgoing administration would be leaving behind “a legacy of a safe and secure Philippines.”

Muslim prisoner of conscience Khasan Abdirakhimov was on 28 April jailed for four extra years in an ordinary regime labour camp. The Judge told Forum 18 he was jailed "because he put likes under [religious] materials, and shared them with others on the internet". On 11 April Muslim Bobirjon Tukhtamurodov who met others to read theologian Said Nursis works returned from exile in Russia to Uzbekistan. Despite previous assurances he was arrested, and is being held for six months in pre-tr...

The latest deadly prison violence in Ecuador has again highlighted the urgent need for a comprehensive reform of the country’s criminal justice system.

The Commission on Human Rights yesterday said it will investigate reports of human rights violations related to the conduct of the national and local elections.

Despite the official support for Russias invasion shown by many religious leaders, most notably those in the Moscow Patriarchate, small numbers of clergy and laypeople in Russia continue to protest for explicitly religious reasons against the renewed war in Ukraine. They often face detention, prosecution, and the loss of their jobs in consequence. One, Fr Ioann Burdin, told Forum 18 he is appealing against being fined "so that life is not a bed of roses for the authorities and judges".

From 2018 mosques have had to pay for surveillance cameras controlled by the regime to be installed inside and outside mosques. In early 2022, the Interior Ministry also ordered non-Muslim communities to install the cameras. Muslim and non-Muslim religious communities and followers have told Forum 18 that some people have stopped attending meetings for worship, for fear of being identified and then facing state reprisals. A Muslim commented that "we want to concentrate on our meetings for w...

The families of three executives of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. have filed a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights against the Senate leadership for allegedly violating their human rights over their continued detention.