Human Rights Without Frontiers

IRAN: New bill would criminalise interaction with ‘hostile’ foreign media IFJ (20.08.2026) – On 16 August, Iran’s parliament approved the general framework of a new bill that would criminalise interaction with foreign media outlets considered ‘hostile’ and would impose severe restrictions on international contact. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly con...

Cameroon announces the closure of 1,400 revivalist churches A Pentecostal woman killed her daughter. A minister used the tragedy as a pretext to crack down on local Pentecostals. by Willy Fautré Bitter Winter (20.08.2026) – On July 8, Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, announced a policy—already being implemented—to close 1,400 revivalist chur...

SOUTH KOREA: Petition: EU scholars call for an alternative to pre-trial detention for 95-year-old Chairman Lee By Hans Noot, Associate Director of Human Rights Without Frontiers HRWF (19.08.2026) – European scholars are calling for a humane alternative to the pre-trial detention of 95-year-old Chairman Lee, the head of the Shincheonji Church. As of today on […]

RUSSIA: Religious issues and persecution – Bimonthly News Digest August 01-15 14.08.2026 – Court in Murmansk reduces sentence for 68-year-old Anatoliy Odintsov — believer released JW – On August 5, 2026, the Murmansk Regional Court modified the sentence of one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Anatoliy Odintsov: 6 years and 3 months of imprisonment were changed to […]

SOUTH KOREA: I visited Chairman Lee Man-hee in prison in Seoul A 95-year-old awaiting trial, a Korean August, and the standards Korea helped shape Hans Noot, Associate Director of Human Rights Without Frontiers   HRWF (17.08.2026) – HRWF report on visiting the 95-year-old Chairman Lee Man-hee of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. He is in pre-trial detention during an extreme h...