Human rights

The Latest

Former Celtics player Enes Kanter Freedom will be the keynote speaker at the March for the Martyrs,

This Muslim NBA vet is marching for persecuted Christians on Saturday

Sep 23, 2022

By Joe Bukuras

Enes Kanter Freedom, a practicing Muslim from Turkey, will be speaking at the Sept. 24 March for the Martyrs in... Read more

Bishop José Álvarez Lagos is surrounded by police officers on Aug. 4, 2022. The bishop's detention was cited in a Sept. 13, 2022, U.N. human-rights report.

UN human rights report on Nicaragua cites ‘attacks on Catholic Church’

Sep 15, 2022

By Zelda Caldwell

The United Nations Human Rights Council released a report Sept. 13 that condemned the regime of Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega. Read more

Pavica Vojnović (right) and Lidia Rieder outside the Mannheim court.

German court rules in favor of right to pray near abortion counseling facility

Sep 1, 2022

By AC Wimmer

Silent prayer gatherings near an abortion counseling facility in a German town cannot be prohibited, according to a ruling by... Read more

Members of the faithful attend an Easter Sunday Mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lahore, Pakistan, on April 17, 2022. A July 2022 report from the Center for Social Justice discussed the issues of blasphemy laws, forced conversion, and biased school curriculum for religious minorities in the country.

Pakistani civil society rejects government’s allegations against Catholic-rights group

Aug 31, 2022

By Aftab Alexander Mughal

The government of Pakistan maligned the group for “alleged anti-state propaganda” by submitting a human-rights report in July to the... Read more

European Court of Human Rights.

Germany denies refuge to Christian convert from Iran

Aug 12, 2022

By Madeleine Teahan

The European Court of Human Rights has dismissed the case of an Iranian convert to Christianity, who is appealing his... Read more

Rose Lalor with her rosary in Liverpool, England.

English grandmother arrested for praying near abortion clinic wins religious freedom challenge

Jul 20, 2022

By Madeleine Teahan

A 76-year-old English grandmother who was fined for praying near to an abortion clinic has successfully overturned her financial penalty,... Read more

Congolese civil rights attorney Hervé Diakiese Kyungu testifying on July 14, 2022, at a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. on the use of child labor in China-backed cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Testimony: China-backed cobalt mines in Congo exploit 40,000 child workers

Jul 16, 2022

By Zelda Caldwell

The mines “are often no more than narrow shafts dug into the ground, which is why children are recruited —... Read more

Cardinal Joseph Zen.

European Parliament calls on Vatican to support Cardinal Zen

Jul 8, 2022

By CNA Staff

The European Parliament has called on the Vatican "to give full support to Cardinal Zen" and told the Holy See... Read more

The European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

'Women deserve better': Experts criticize EU Parliament resolution on ‘right to abortion’

Jul 7, 2022

By Hannah Brockhaus

Legal experts have called “inaccurate and misleading” a proposed resolution by the European Parliament to include a “right to abortion”... Read more

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Human rights advocates respond after Pope Francis says Vatican-China deal ‘moving well’

Jul 6, 2022

By Courtney Mares

Human rights advocates have raised concerns about heightened restrictions on Christians in China after Pope Francis expressed hope that the... Read more

European Court of Human Rights.

European court sides with Pakistani Christian convert

Apr 29, 2022

By CNA Staff

The court said the asylum applicant’s explusion to Pakistan would violate his human rights. Read more

British human rights campaigner Benedict Rogers

‘We will not be silenced,’ says UK Catholic activist after Hong Kong jail threat

Mar 14, 2022

By CNA Staff

Benedict Rogers was told he could face 3 years in prison under the National Security Law. Read more

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).

Marco Rubio condemns choice of China to host Winter Olympics

Feb 4, 2022

By Christine Rousselle

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has condemned China’s history of human rights violations and said the country should be prohibited from... Read more

Same-sex wedding cake.

European court rejects 'gay cake' case as inadmissible; ruling in favor of Christian bakery stands

Jan 6, 2022

By Jonah McKeown

The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a case brought by a Northern Irish gay rights activist, who claims... Read more

Uyghur women work in a cloth factory in Hotan county, Xinjiang province, China.

Senate sends Uyghur forced labor bill targeting China to Biden’s desk

Dec 16, 2021

By Katie Yoder

The U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan bill on Thursday, Dec. 16 banning goods made with forced labor in the Chinese... Read more

Jimmy Lai Chee Ying arrving at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court, Hong Kong, Oct. 15, 2020.

Catholic pro-democracy figure Jimmy Lai gets jail time for involvement in Hong Kong Tiananmen Square vigil

Dec 13, 2021

By Jonah McKeown

Jimmy Lai, a Catholic and prominent figure in the ongoing pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, has been sentenced to a... Read more

Tursunay Ziyawudun at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C.

Uyghur survivor of China’s detention camps testifies to their brutality

Jul 14, 2021

By Christine Rousselle

A two-time survivor of China’s detention camps in Xinjiang described suffering physical and sexual violence at the hands of camp... Read more

CNA

‘Reproductive rights are human rights,’ U.S. Secretary of State says

Mar 31, 2021

By CNA Staff

“Reproductive rights” are “human rights,” the U.S. Secretary of State emphasized on Tuesday upon the release of the State Department’s... Read more

Lord Alton of Liverpool

China imposes sanctions on British Catholic human rights campaigner

Mar 26, 2021

The Chinese Communist Party has imposed sanctions on a British Catholic human rights campaigner who highlighted widespread abuses in Xinjiang. Read more

Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič

Vatican diplomat criticizes ‘divisive’ UN Human Rights Council report on Islamophobia

Mar 10, 2021

A Vatican diplomat has said that a UN Human Rights Council report on Islamophobia risks “polarizing the international community.” Read more