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IRAN: Religious persecution and issues – Monthly Digest August 2026 Christians Canadian couple sponsor resettlement of deported Iranian Christian refugees Article 18 (01.09.2026) – A Canadian couple who “couldn’t sleep” after reading about the plight of an Iranian Christian convert deported from the United States to Panama have helped to sponsor her resettlement to Canada.

ECHR: The ECHR has abandoned Russians who are victims of their own Government By Grigory Vaypan and Nataliya Sekretareva Moscow times (04.09.2026) – On September 3, the European Court of Human Rights adopted a decision that is unprecedented in the history of international justice as a whole: it struck out 879 remaining applications for cases against Russia, whose applicants included more than 1,500 people and organisations in total. In its decision in the case of Lebedeva and Others v.

RUSSIA: Concerns about a criminal case opened against the leader of a local Mormon community By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers HRWF (05.09.2026) – On 6 August, the police directorate St Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast announced that officers had detained Valentin Gavrilov, a 74-year-old religious leader in Vyborg, for allegedly financing an extremist organization about five years ago.

RUSSIA: Religious issues and persecution – Bimonthly News Digest August 15-31 01.09.2026 – Jehovah’s Witnesses say six believers sentenced in Russia on evidence from ‘bereaved’ informant Reuters – Six Jehovah’s Witnesses have been convicted of “extremist” activity in Russia after being entrapped by an informant of the FSB security service who ​posed as a bereaved woman seeking comfort in religion, a spokesperson for ‌the faith group said on Tuesday.

OCCUPIED EASTERN UKRAINE: The Russian Orthodox Church has annexed over about 800 Orthodox churches (3) Ukrainian Orthodox Church priests facing a painful dilemma See Part 1, Part 2 Metropolitan Epiphanius, the head of the UOC.

Conference in Geneva: Sudan’s War on Civilians Speakers Moderator Thierry Valle, Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience (CAP LC) Panellists MEP Matej Tonin, EPP Group, Slovenia (online) Kholood Khair, Confluence Advisory Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers Wimco Ester, Open Doors Father Jorge Naranjo, Combonian Missionary, (online from Khartoum – TBC) Post Views: 19

OCCUPIED EASTERN UKRAINE: The Russian Orthodox Church has annexed about 800 Orthodox churches (2) How did the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), historically associated with the Moscow Patriarchate, react to the progressive stranglehold from 2022 to 2024? See Part 1 Holy Protection Cathedral, Zaporizhzhia. Credits.

CHINA: Religious persecution and issues – Bimonthly Digest August 15-31 General 27.08.2026 – Cash for accusations: How China rewards those reporting “illegal religious activities” Bitter Winter – In most social contexts, reward mechanisms are designed to encourage positive behavior and transmit constructive energy. They can stimulate motivation, reinforce good habits, clarify direction, and satisfy the human need for recognition.

OCCUPIED EASTERN UKRAINE: The Russian Orthodox Church has annexed about 800 Orthodox churches (1) How did the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church/ Moscow Patriarchate interact from 2014 to 2022? (*) Vladimir Putin with Patriarch Kirill. Source: Presidency of the Russian Federation.

UKRAINE: Russia’s genocidal war: Strikes destroy 12 million books 1.3 million schoolbooks gone up in smoke on the eve of back to school. Russia revamps the autodafé practice of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages.