Human Rights

Members of the German parliament have joined the global community in pressuring the Iranian government to free evangelical Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who remains in prison with a pending death verdict for alleged apostasy.

A commission in the German Bundestag (the national parliament) recently gathered signatures from Parliament members in a petition for Nadarkhani's release, local media have reported. Parliament members reportedly asked the Iranian government to overturn Nadarkhani's death sentence and to exonerate the embattled pastor – who has now become almost an international poster child for Christian martyrs – according to Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat News.

At the same time, signatories noted in the petition the existence of "restrictions that limit them in influencing the Iranian regime regarding political and Human Rights issues," the agency reported. more >>

International Justice Mission, a human rights agency fighting for victims of slavery, has launched a petition encouraging Americans to sign their names in an effort to get President Barack Obama to help end modern-day slavery, which affects millions of men, women and children globally. 

The "Stand for Freedom" campaign has acquired 7,641of the 27,000 necessary signatures – with one name said to represent 1,000 people who need freedom. According to the petition, there are 27 million people worldwide who are enslaved today.

IJM outlines five points that will help the U.S. government become a leader in the fight for this basic human right. "Americans want to end slavery once and for all," the petition reads. "The U.S. government can play a powerful role in fighting this crime by supporting robust law enforcement and victim relief at home and abroad." more >>

The eldest brother of North Korea's new "supreme leader" believes that the leadership of Kim Jong-un is doomed to "fail," according to a new book released in Japan last Wednesday.

It is unclear what a failed state would mean for the citizens of North Korea and the nation's Christian population specifically, but indications point to massive upheavals and large-scale problems for the country as a whole.

"(Kim Jong-nam is) not comfortable that his younger brother is succeeding the power of Kim Jong-il. He sees his brother failing. He thinks he has a lack of experience, he's too young and he didn't have enough time to be groomed," Yoji Gomi, author of the new book told CNN last week. more >>

NEW YORK -- As the Christian community expresses its concern over reports of a mass exodus of Christians from Iraq, an Iraqi official says the situation is not as bad as it seems, and that Iraq, with a tradition of religious tolerance, very much has a  chance to become an oasis of peace and tolerance in the region – but that would require the eradication of extremism.

The Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. T. Hamid Al-Bayati, met with a group of local interfaith religious leaders in the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the U.N. in New York City Thursday to discuss what the international Christian community can do to support the Iraqi government in protecting the vulnerable religious minorities. The ambassador addressed several Jewish and Christian religious leaders who have expressed concern about the international Christian community not engaging enough in helping their brethren. They have also expressed concern as to whether the Iraqi government was doing everything in its power to protect religious minorities. Among those present at Thursday's meeting were Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier, President of the New York Board of Rabbis and Dr. Paul de Vries, president of the New York Divinity School, along with several others.

News organizations as well as external research companies, and even the U.S. government have been reporting a rise in persecution of religious minority in the country – the aftermath of chaos and a rise in sectarian violence that followed the toppling of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. more >>

An Afghan Christian widow and three of her daughters were denied refugee status by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in New Delhi for the second time last month, and currently face imminent deportation to their home country where they could face imprisonment for apostasy and a potential death sentence.

The widow and her daughters, whose names have not been released for security reasons, received a deportation notice from the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs after their first application for asylum was rejected in October 2009, International Christian Concern (ICC), a global Christian advocacy group, informed The Christian Post. When the mother reapplied in July 2011 with her three daughters and a fourth daughter, who is widowed with a child, only the widowed daughter and the child were accepted. The others are no longer permitted to correspond with the UNHCR office and are currently living in India as illegal immigrants, ICC said.

"All members of the family left Afghanistan for the same reason, all of them are Christians, and all are facing the same kind of problem," Obaid S. Christ, a leader of the Afghan Christian community in New Delhi, told ICC. "If two members of the same family are recognized as refugees and four others are denied, there is definitely something wrong with the UNHCR judgment system. We believe that the UNHCR office blindly closed their application without making any inquiry, investigation, or considering the new facts and real danger that these women are facing back in their home country." more >>

Spirits were high in the freezing temperature Monday morning as a group of 70-odd protesters called for economic and social equality in front of the New York City Federal Reserve bank in downtown Manhattan.

The area, located only one block away from Zuccotti Park, where the "Occupy Wall Street" (OWS) movement originated, has already seen the banners and heard the slogans. But the Monday protest – held on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – was also complete with prayers and hymns. Protesters evoked the spirit of brotherhood and unity, while also evoking the legacy of King, the most revered civil rights activist in the United States.

“Occupy the Dream” (OTD) was born when members of the African-American faith community joined forces with OWS to launch “a new campaign for economic justice inspired by the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., faithful to its philosophical origin,” organizers said in a recent statement. Monday was only the first day of an initiative that is intended to last until the goal is achieved. more >>