Tag: Santa Clara

Cuba: Religious-freedom advocate freed after two days’ detention

March 6, 2018 Cuba Churches, Cuba, Human rights, Religious freedom, Santa Clara

A church in Cuba. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A prominent Cuban religious-freedom advocate was released on Friday (2 March) after two days in detention, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). Leonardo Rodríguez Alonso was arrested while on his way home from meetings with human-rights defenders on 28 February, and held without charge in the Provincial Unit for Investigations in the . . . Read More

Indonesia: ‘zero flexibility’ for adoptions by religious minorities

October 27, 2017 Indonesia Bekasi, Blasphemy, Children, Indonesia, Religious freedom, Santa Clara, Sumatra

Religious minorities in Indonesia are discriminated against when they want to adopt, according to Human Rights Watch’s report, which highlights the case of a Christian policewoman from North Sumatra. Ida Maharani Hutagaol, took a month-old boy, found abandoned in a ditch in Binjal, to hospital and ensured he was well cared for. In . . . Read More

Indonesia: ‘Saudi influence behind rise in Islamic extremism’, as churches continue to be closed

September 19, 2017 Indonesia Banten, Bekasi, Bogor, Churches, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Java, Nahdlatul Ulama, Pentecostals, Santa Clara, Saudi Arabia, Tangerang, Wahhabism

Thousands of Muslims from across Indonesia joined the Islamic-hardliners in Jakarta to protest against Jakarta’s (former) Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama ('Ahok') on 4 November 2016 for allegedly insulting Islam when citing a Quranic verse. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

“The election and trial of Jakarta’s former governor ‘Ahok’ have exposed increasing radicalization in Indonesia, especially among the young … and it has led to a more aggressive campaign to confront Islamist radicalism,” writes Paul Marshall. In his article for the Lausanne Movement, the Wilson Professor of Religious Freedom at . . . Read More

Indonesia’s social and political fabric stretched as bombs hit Jakarta

May 25, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Bekasi, Blasphemy, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Indonesia, Indonesian Ulema Council, Jakarta, Java, Santa Clara

Churches in Jakarta are on high alert after Indonesia’s capital was the target yesterday (24 May) for two suicide bombers. The attacks killed three policemen based at a bus terminal ahead of policing for a pre-Ramadan parade. Yohanes Bao Keraf, head of security at St Joseph’s church, which is a . . . Read More

Concerns about tolerant Indonesia: 3 more churches closed

March 22, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Bandung, Bekasi, Bogor, Churches, GKI Yasmin, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, JAD, Java, Joko Widodo, Santa Clara, Saudi Arabia

Church members of the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) of Yasmin Bogor and the Batak Christian Church (HKBP) of Filadelfia Bekasi, along with inter-faith human rights activists and students of the Jakarta Art Institute, held the 100th open-air Sunday Service in front of State Palace in September 2015 after their church buildings were sealed in 2010. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Indonesian authorities in Bogor, West Java, have banned three churches from holding religious activities. According to UCANews the Methodist Church Indonesia, Huria Batak Protestant Church and a house used by Catholics for catechism classes were ordered to close their doors. Local authorities said they could not guarantee the safety of the . . . Read More

Islamists close Indonesian church weeks after it opened

April 12, 2016 Indonesia Bekasi, Bogor, GKI Yasmin, Islamic extremism, Jakarta, Protestants, Santa Clara

In 2010, Bogor’s GKI Yasmin church was sealed and padlocked by order of the mayor and city government. They now hold Sunday services outside the church, and stage monthly services outside Indonesia’s Presidential Palace. To date, they have held 115 such services.World Watch Monitor An Islamist group in Indonesia . . . Read More

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