Nova Scotia Scott

Children with dual Egyptian-Israeli citizenship threaten national security, don’t cha know.

US President Barack Obama has chosen Egypt as the site of his promised major speech to the Muslim world.  Christian Freedom International (CFI) hopes he will not overlook Egypt’s atrocious record of trampling on the religious liberties of Christians. According to [CFI President Jim] Jacobson, “When it comes to human rights and the treatment of [...]

Horrific news of an outrageous incident of official persecution against Christians in Egypt has arrived from Assyrian International News Agency. On the morning of Sunday, 26 April, hundreds of Egyptian State Security officers demolished a service building belonging to the Coptic Orthodox Church.  When news of the attack was disseminated to local Christians, people gathered [...]

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak issued a letter of greeting to the Coptic Diaspora on the occasion of Easter, which Eastern Christians celebrated on 19 April. Voice of the Copts says President Mubarak’s letter contains Taquiah—dissimulation or falsehood permitted by Islam under certain conditions. (The word is also spelled “Taqiyya” in English.) In last week’s letter, [...]

Police in the southern African nation of Botswana have smashed a human trafficking ring that sent 1000 victims as far away as Canada.  Foreign business consultancies were used as fronts for smuggling slaves across international boundaries. Fourteen people have so far been taken into custody for questioning in Gaborone, Botswana police chief, Assistant Superintendent, Selebatso [...]

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) today condemned the continued detention of Christian blogger Hani Nazeer, who was arrested by State Security last October.  His arrest was prompted by complaints from Muslims over material posted at his blog. ANHRI also alleges that the arrest “occurred with the collaboration of the Church in [his [...]

An Egyptian woman who converted from Islam to Christianity has been arrested for marrying a Christian man, even though that is not illegal under Egypt’s penal code. (It is, however, illegal under sharia law.) What’s more, the police carried out the arrest even though they don’t have a copy of the marriage contract. Christian convert [...]

Human Rights Watch has issued a scathing report on the tiny African nation of Eritrea. Under the autocratic rule of President Isayas Afewerki, Eritreans are subjected to “arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, forced labor, and inhuman conditions in detention; rigid restrictions on freedom of movement and expression; and religious persecution”, causing a humanitarian crisis. “Eritrea’s [...]

Muslim militants set upon Christians and burned churches in Niger state, northern Nigeria, during Easter celebrations last weekend. Christian services and processions were attacked in the state capital of Minna and the nearby town of Gwada. [T]he day turned bloody in Gwada, where three churches were burnt while about 26 Christians were injured. In Minna, [...]

The Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt has for the first time issued a certificate of conversion to a Muslim-born Christian. Maher al-Gohari, who is seeking to change his religion on his official documents from Muslim to Christian was asked by a court to provide a conversion certificate from the Egyptian church. […] It is only [...]

Human rights activist Dania Avallone was seriously injured in Rome last October while participating in a peaceful protest at an Eritrean festival when rocks and bottles were thrown at her. Now, some Eritreans living in Italy have charged Ms Avallone with “disruption”. She is to appear in court next week. Maria Daniela (Dania) Avallone is [...]

Muslim-born Christian convert Maher Mu’Tasim—whose Christian name is now Peter Athanasius—has sued to force Egyptian authorities officially to recognise the change of religion for himself and his 14-year-old daughter Dina (at right).  During a court session in February, a state lawyer made the ludicrous claim that Christianity mandates killing of apostates. Last week in court, [...]

The police commissioner of Kano State, Nigeria, has been warned not to block enforcement of Sharia law, especially the provisions against consuming or distributing alcohol. Sheik Umar Sani Fagge, Commissioner of the Sharia Commission, said this in a recent speech. Speaking in Kano, while delivering lecture on challenges of shariah implementation, Fagge said, ” the [...]

Over a year ago in Guelendeng, southern Chad, a 14-year-old girl named Mariam was forced by her father to marry a 60-year-old man. Mariam tried to commit suicide by setting herself on fire. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports. “After the wedding, my husband told me he wanted me to sleep [...]

A Coptic Christian couple in Egypt recently accused the country’s Civil Registry of fraud for registering their two children as Muslims, even though they were born to two Christian parents and had never converted. Now the mother Mrs Suhair Abdo has been arrested by security agents and charged with forgery for claiming to be a [...]