Human Rights

A North Carolina task force formed by the governor will discuss early next month the possibility of being the first state to compensate victims of forced sterilization programs – programs that seemed to target the poor and disadvantaged, especially in the black population – which were conducted in the U.S. as recently as the late 1970s.

Between 1907 and 1979, 33 states had programs of forced sterilization. While many of those states have officially apologized to the victims of those programs, North Carolina is the first and only state to take steps toward compensation for those victims.

In March of this year, North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue formed a task force, the North Carolina Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation, to make a recommendation for the possible compensation of those who were forcibly sterilized under the North Carolina Eugenics Board program. The task force has held, and will continue to hold, public hearings on the matter. Its next meeting will be held Dec. 6 and its final report is due Feb. 1, 2012. more >>

A Cuban pastor and his family are pleading with the Cuban government to allow them to leave the country. Pastor Omar Gude Perez, his wife and two children were granted asylum from the United States but have yet been allowed to leave Cuba.

The family was granted asylum in July, but the Cuban government told the family that they would not be issued exit visas. After much negative press and tremendous support from various sources, the Cuban government told the family that they would actually be leaving soon. It is now November and the family is still in limbo.

Pastor Perez, a leader in a growing network of independent churches called the Apostolic Movement, served almost three years of a six-and-a-half year prison sentence. The charges that led to his prison sentence were reportedly increased. He was released earlier this year on conditional liberty. A provision of that conditional liberty stated that he is prohibited from preaching or travelling outside the city of Camaguey. more >>

At a time when some members of Congress are more focused on the U.S. economy and other national matters, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) continues his decades-long crusade for human and religious rights. His first book, Prisoner of Conscience: One Man’s Crusade for Global Human and Religious Rights, details his work for those who have no voice.

Elected to the House of Representatives in 1980, he has represented Virginia for 16 terms. During much of his tenure, he has brought national and worldwide attention to persecution in such far-flung places as China, Sudan, Ecuador, Kabul, Romania, Tibet and the former Soviet Union.

Wolf has also been active in presenting bills before Congress in support of human and religious rights. This summer, the House passed legislation sponsored by Wolf and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) to create a special envoy at the U.S. State Department for religious minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia. That bill is now before the Senate. more >>

A transgender woman was expelled from California Baptist University (CBU) after revealing on a television show that she is biologically a man.

Domaine Javier, 24, from Riverside, Calif., applied into a nursing program at the Baptist school. She was accepted and even awarded a $3,500 academic scholarship, reported The Press-Enterprise, which interviewd Javier on Oct. 28.

In April, the young woman appeared on MTV’s "True Life" show, revealing that she is a transgender. Javier was born as a man in the Philippines. more >>

Three more Christians imprisoned for practicing their faith have died while inside military prison camps in western Eritrea, said officials from an international persecution watchdog group.

The number of believers in Christ now dying in the country while serving time in prison for their belief totals 21, said officials at Open Doors USA.

Terhase Gebremichel Andu, 28, and Ferewine Genzabu Kifly, 21, died as the result of starvation and untreated health problems, confidential sources inside Eritrea told Open Doors. Andu died on Oct. 16 and Kifly died one week later on Sunday. more >>

A watchdog group dedicated to countering the agenda of homosexual activists said that a brick-throwing incident over the weekend at an Illinois Christian school is not simply an act of vandalism, but an act of domestic terrorism allegedly committed by a gay rights group.

Early Saturday morning, according to police reports, two bricks were thrown through glass doors at Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights. The Americans for Truth About Homosexuality hosted a banquet later in the evening at the school run by the Church of Christian Liberty.

Dr. Scott Lively, who is a pro-family activist and author of The Pink Swastika, was an honoree at the event. A note attached to one of the bricks stated: "This is just a sample of what we will do if you don't shut down Scott Lively and AFTAH." more >>