Securing justice for victims of religious persecution — Faith under Fire
Through God’s grace and your generous support, we are protecting and promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief, defending and expanding legal protections to slow, stop, and ultimately reverse the spread of religious persecution, anti-conversion laws, apostasy laws, and blasphemy laws.
Securing justice for victims of religious persecution — Faith under Fire
Through God’s grace and your generous support, we are protecting and promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief, defending and expanding legal protections to slow, stop, and ultimately reverse the spread of religious persecution, anti-conversion laws, apostasy laws, and blasphemy laws.
Across continents and creeds, Christian leaders face mounting legal and cultural hostilities – and yet, their stories of religious persecution and punishment often go unshared.
Faith is under fire across the world – Including in the West. Censorship zones, also known as “buffer zones”, criminalize silent prayer, and pastors and bishops are thrown in jail for preaching the gospel.
A common thread is weaving its way throughout Western and non-Western institutions and governments alike: discrimination through the law and persecution of the Christian church. This isn’t something that can be ignored any longer. Many people can sense this incremental change, and our clients’ faith is under fire right now.
Who are these Christians facing religious persecution?
They all have one thing in common: they are faith leaders forbidden to speak about or publicly practice their faith without punishment. Now more than ever, the threat to free speech has arrived at the Church’s front door. And along with it, a rise in religious persecution on account of Jesus.
Pastors & Ministry Leaders, Nicaragua
Eleven pastors and ministry leaders were convicted on sham charges of money laundering after they successfully rallied hundreds of thousands of people for evangelistic events in the country
Dia Moodley, United Kingdom
The police force had issued a warning notice to Moodley, who has engaged in occasional street evangelism for the past five years, which forbade him from, inter alia, “passing comments on any other religion or comparing them to Christianity” and “passing comments on beliefs held by Atheists or those who believe in evolution”.
Pastor Youssef, Algeria
Converted to Christianity as a student and sentenced 2 years’ imprisonment with a fine of 100,000 Algerian dinars in 2023 for his involvement and leadership at his church, although the Authorities could provide no evidence of a crime
Evangelists in Türkiye
Punished with entry bans and security codes designated for terrorists, resulting in imminent deportation. We’re bringing these fundamental freedom violations to the European Court of Human Rights.
Bishop Pohjola, Finland
Charged for publishing Päivi Räsänen’s pamphlet for his congregation almost two decades ago. He’s been acquitted twice already, but the state prosecutor has appealed to the Finnish Supreme Court.
Bishop Rolando Álvarez, Nicaragua
Sentenced to 26 years in prison for “undermining national integrity” and “propagation of false news” for preaching to his congregation on themes of God-given human dignity and justice. We filed a petition before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to defend his religious freedom and freedom of speech.
Pastor Soudad, Algeria
Arrested, convicted, and sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly insulting Islam and the Prophet Muhammad through a cartoon he shared on Facebook in 2018. We advocated for his release, and he was thankfully released this past August.
Daniel Kefee, Nigeria
Evangelist Daniel received death threats and subjected to kidnapping charges for securing the physical safety of a young female Christian convert. He has been completely acquitted by northeast Nigerian court in November following our support for his legal defence.
Pastors Wilson* and Phillip*, India
Imprisoned for five months on false charges of coercing people to convert to Christianity for money. They were abused in prison by guards and inmates for their faith before being released.
How religious persecution affects every Christian, regardless of where you live
Though not every Church leader in the West experiences censorship today, the tension and hostility against the biblical worldview is ever-rising.
Discrimination and persecution aren’t isolated among evangelicals, Catholics, or Orthodox believers. Religious freedom is a fundamental, inalienable, and pre-political right that belongs to every person regardless of their religion or belief.
In the West, so-called non-discrimination laws seem to trump over religious freedom claims, while in other parts of the world, persecution is severe, restricting religious freedom by laws criminalizing conversion, apostasy, blasphemy, evangelism, church autonomy, and communal worship for Christians and other minority groups. Leaders across denominations are facing mounting pressure to compromise or be silenced or face punishment and persecution, which, at worse, could cost them not just their livelihoods but also their lives.
Christians are called to live out their faith publicly in speech, action, and worship. Yet, pervasive censorship, attacks on conscience, and worship restrictions may have you believe that faith is a private matter, and expressions of Christianity are harmful. This is false. Freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental, universal human right, recognized in core international human rights treaties.
It protects every person, regardless of their religion, belief, or lack thereof. The state has no authority over the religion or beliefs of an individual’s choosing. This applies to everyone and should not be impacted by the perceived validity of the beliefs.
The time to stand up for this fundamental freedom is now.
How can I help stop the spread of religious persecution?
The protection of religious freedom recognizes and preserves human dignity. One of government’s primary tasks is to preserve the freedom of every person to follow their own convictions. And nobody should be punished for peacefully expressing their deeply held beliefs.
As made clear in places of persecution across the world, a society cannot know peace if it violates the right to religious freedom. To be successful in protecting this fundamental human right, we need you.
We are working tirelessly to advance:
- Protecting and promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief, coordinating key advocacy at the international organisations.
- Defending and expanding legal protections for freedom of religion or belief at the national level.
- Securing justice for victims of religious persecution by supporting their defence in courts of law.
- Slowing, stopping, and ultimately reversing the spread of anti-conversion, apostasy, and blasphemy laws.
We want all people, everywhere, to have the freedom to share and live out their religious convictions, including the freedom to preach and follow the gospel free from persecution. And we will vigorously defend religious freedom and oppose all attempts to compel, punish, or persecute individuals for peacefully living out their faith.
Will you support us and join our mission to abolish laws that violate religious freedom and feed a culture of dangerous and often deadly persecution?
Case Updates
Stay Informed
Get involved! Sign up to receive updates:
"*" indicates required fields