Nicaragua 

Yet another prominent bishop has been forced to leave Nicaragua. During Mass on Sunday 10 November, Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez complained about some loudspeakers outside the church in Jinotega Diocese, which government officials had placed there. 

Our sources say that authorities across Nicaragua regularly play loud music outside parishes to try to disrupt church activities. Bishop Herrera Gutiérrez was arrested the very next day, and on 13 November he was exiled to Guatemala. The Facebook profile of the Jinotega Diocese was deleted after the bishop’s arrest. 

Bishop Herrera Gutiérrez Like several of his colleagues, Bishop Herrera Gutiérrez has been punished for speaking out against freedom of religion or belief violations under the regime of President Daniel Ortega; a regime that continues to do all it can to eliminate independent voices in the country.

India

Rana Ayyub is an Indian investigative journalist, known for her research on communal violence. She has experienced severe harassment after her personal phone number was posted on X (formerly Twitter) on 8 November. 

Maliciously posting someone’s details online is known as ‘doxing’. The owner of the social media account directed people to harass Rana, and by 19 November, she had received at least 200 calls, video calls and explicit WhatsApp messages. 

Rana has been facing similar harassment for several years now, particularly since the release of her 2016 book 'Gujarat Files'. Her book exposed the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (who was Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time) in the 2002 Gujarat riots, which are considered one of the worst cases of communal violence since India’s independence. 

According to a fact-checking site, Chandran Kumar owns the account responsible for doxing Rana Ayyub. He also handles another account which exposes Hindu women who are in relationships with Muslim men.

China

On 19 November, 45 high profile pro- democracy activists were sentenced by the Hong Kong High Court. They had been arrested in January 2021 and later charged under controversial national security legislation, which was introduced by the Chinese Communist Party in June 2020. 

Among the 45 activists is Benny Tai, who was accused of being the mastermind behind a democracy movement in 2019, calling for free and fair elections in Hong Kong. He received the longest sentence of ten years in prison.

The following day (20 November), 76-year-old Jimmy Lai, a prominent advocate for democracy and founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, faced his first trial since his arrest in 2020. Lai is accused of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious materials under the national security law. 

We stand in solidarity with these activists for democracy, freedom and justice. Their sentencing is the latest indicator of the highly concerning deterioration in human rights and freedoms in Hong Kong.

Iraq

Asya Kemal is a Yazidi woman from northern Iraq. She had been held captive by Islamic State (IS) terrorists since 2014, when she was 16 years old. In November 2024, we heard the good news that Asya was free and reunited with her family. She was found in Turkey and returned to Iraq with the help of the Iraqi authorities. 

Fawzia Amin Sido is another Yazidi former captive. She was kidnapped from Iraq at just 11 years old and eventually taken to Gaza, where she was held until her captor was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Fawzia, now 21 years old, was rescued on 3 October 2024.

We thank God that Asya and Fawzia are finally free after more than a decade of enslavement. Now we must work and pray with renewed hope that freedom will also be possible for the thousands of Yazidi women who are still held captive by terrorists. We ask God for the physical and psychological healing that will likely be necessary after a long-term traumatic experience for Asya, Fawzia and former and current captives. Human rights organisations estimate that over 2,500 Yazidi women are still missing following the August 2014 Islamic State invasion. Many are believed to be held in different locations in Syria and Turkey.