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The report from the USCIRF proposes some means by which to combat the violations to the rights of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to practice religion freely. One was recommending that the United States government state “Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as ‘countries of particular concern’ for their ongoing, systematic, and egregious religious freedom violations, and include Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on its Special Watch List.” https://www.newsintervention.com/uscirf-anti-cult-movement-and-religious-regulation-report/

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom publishes a document against Russian anti-cultist Alexander Dvorkin and his organization FECRIS, both supporters of religious persecution in China. On July 17, 2020, the USCIRF, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, unveiled a new document, whose title is “The Anti-cult Movement and Religious Regulation in Russia and the Former Soviet Union.” The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission created by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). Its Commissioners are appointed by the President and by Congressional leaders of both political parties. The title may indicate that the document does not concern China, and in fact its main focus is Russia. However, there are three important connections between the new USCIRF report and China. First, the report offers a detailed and accurate analysis of the activities of Alexander Dvorkin, a Russian activist who has led for almost thirty years campaigns against religious movements he has labeled as “cults.” As the report documents, he has been instrumental in preparing the repression of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, and has attacked many other religious minorities. The USCIRF asks the government of the United States to “publicly censure Alexander Dvorkin and [his organization], the Saint Irenaeus of Lyon Information-Consultation Center (SILIC), for their ongoing disinformation campaign against religious minorities.” The report mentions Dvorkin’s activities outside of Russia. Although this part of his “disinformation campaigns” is not mentioned by the USCIRF, Dvorkin has regularly supported the CCP in its repression of movements labeled as xie jiao. Dvorkin went repeatedly to China and Hong Kong to offer his support to the persecution of Falun Gong, to deny that the CCP is harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience, and to applaud the repression of The Church of Almighty God. In turn, the CCP has supported Dvorkin’s campaigns against the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, and “imported” them to China. While the CCP has introduced Dvorkin as an authoritative “Russian expert in sect studies,” the USCIRF report exposes him as a pseudo-expert “relying on discredited theories” and promoting religious intolerance and discrimination. Second, Dvorkin, as the USCIRF report notes, has been active internationally as vice-president of a transnational anti-cult organization known as FECRIS, the European Federation of Research and Information Centers on Sectarianism. FECRIS is also notorious for the support several of its members, in addition to Dvorkin, have offered to the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong in China. In turn, the CCP’s Anti-xie-jiao association has advertised and republished reports by the FECRIS against the Jehovah’s Witnesses and other groups. The more one investigates, the more one discovers a two-way relationship between FECRIS (and Dvorkin) and Chinese organizations who promote and justify the bloody persecution of Falun Gong, The Church of Almighty God, and other religious movements. Read more: https://bitterwinter.org/uscirf-exposes-who-support-ccp-campaigns/

Jon and Lily Adams have lost track of the numbers of letters they've posted. “It's a lot,” Mrs. Adams offered with a laugh. She and her husband settle in to write letter after letter at their home in Maumee on Fridays and Saturdays, the days they dedicate to ministry through their kingdom hall. Before the onset of the pandemic, they were joining members of their congregation in fanning out across the neighborhood; these days, they're sharing largely the same message in a more socially distant medium. “Usually I start off by explaining that I'm not able to come and speak with them in person because of everything that's going on with the pandemic, but I still wanted to share something with them,” Mr. Adams said of the individualized letters he's been writing. Read more: https://www.toledoblade.com/news/religion/2020/07/19/jehovah-s-witnesses-turn-to-letters-in-lieu-of-face-to-face-interactions/stories/20200719017

Por primera vez en 123 años los testigos de Jehová cambiaron la celebración de su reunión anual en los más grandes espacios públicos, de todo el mundo, por una multitudinaria asamblea virtual, que se difundirá en línea en casi 500 idiomas durante los meses de julio y agosto de 2020. Desde que comenzaron a celebrar asambleas anuales, en 1897, los testigos de Jehová han considerado estas reuniones no solamente una fuente de conocimiento bíblico, sino un motivo de encuentro personal con la familia, los amigos y personas nuevas. El cambio en la celebración de las asambleas en recintos públicos por reuniones virtuales se dispuso ante la expansión del brote de la pandemia de la COVID 19, según informan en un comunicado de prensa. Señalan que aún antes de que las autoridades sanitarias dispusieran el confinamiento generalizado, en casi todo el mundo, los testigos de Jehová suspendieron la predicación pública de las buenas noticias de parte de Dios, cerraron sus locales de reunión y, dieron el aviso de cancelación de la asamblea anual, de tres días, a los administradores de todos los espacios, grandes y pequeños, que estaban apalabrados con mucha antelación. El portavoz oficial de los testigos de Jehová en Bolivia, Carlo Sarmiento, explicó que “esta decisión histórica” está basada en dos principios cristianos: el valor sagrado de la vida y el respeto a las disposiciones de salvaguarda asumidas por las autoridades. "Por mucho que anhelamos reunirnos, la vida es demasiado preciosa para ponerla en riesgo" Leer artículo completo: http://www.laprensa.com.bo/interesante/20200719/asambleas-de-testigos-de-jehova-se-van-la-plataforma-virtual-por-la-emergencia

Russian authorities have detained a man in western Siberia “on suspicion of setting up a cell” of the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious group, considered an “extremist” organization under Russian law, state-run news agency TASS reported on Wednesday. Police detained the man recently in Seversk, a town in western Siberia’s Tomsk region. Investigators say the man and others affiliated with Jehovah’s Witnesses “organized meetings in 2017-2020, disseminated ‘extremist’ literature, and recruited new members” to the organization. In a statement released on Wednesday, the Russian Investigative Committee’s press service said: Investigators of the Russian Investigative Committee in the Tomsk Region based on the case files of the Federal Security Service and the Internal Affairs Ministry in the Tomsk Region opened a criminal case into … the activities of an extremist organization in the city of Seversk… The alleged organizer of the extremist organization’s activities was detained. He has been charged, the issue of choosing a restriction measure against him is being decided. #jwrussia Read more: https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2020/07/16/russia-escalates-war-christians-more-jehovahs-witnesses-arrests/

As part of the case, ten people are suspected of running a local religious organization affiliated with Jehovah’s Witnesses VORONEZH, July 15. /TASS/. The Leninsky District Court in the Central Russian city of Voronezh ruled to place in custody until September members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization, outlawed in Russia, the court’s press service said on Tuesday. "The court has chosen a pretrial custody for 1 month and 22 days, or until 03.09.2020 <...> as a measure of pretrial restraint for the individuals suspected of extremist activity," the statement says. As part of the case, ten people are suspected of running a local religious organization headlined ‘Tsentralnaya, Voronezh.’ The organization, active in Voronezh and surrounding districts, is a part of the Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses, earlier deemed extremist and outlawed by the Russian Supreme Court. The suspects are aged between 24 and 56. They were detained after more than 110 searches, during which large amounts of books and other prohibited printing works were seized. On April 20, 2017, the Russian Supreme Court declared Jehovah’s Witnesses and all affiliated regional organizations an extremist organization. The organization’s activities are outlawed in Russia. https://tass.com/society/1178595

La policía rusa realizó más de un centenar de registros en casas de miembros de testigos de Jehová, informó este martes este movimiento en un comunicado. Policías "armados con fusiles" registraron los domicilios de 110 adeptos del movimiento en Voronej (centro de Rusia), y "al menos dos fueron golpeados" por la policía, según el comunicado. "Es la serie más importante de registros contra los testigos de Jehová realizados en un solo día en la Rusia contemporánea", subraya. "Esperamos que las autoridades pongan fin a esta persecución y (podamos) preservar la libertad de religión y de culto que está inscrita en la Constitución", declaró Jarrod Lopes, portavoz de los testigos de Jehová, citado en un comunicado. https://www.infobae.com/america/agencias/2020/07/14/policia-rusa-realiza-mas-de-100-registros-entre-los-testigos-de-jehova-en-un-dia/

Rochester, its hotels and restaurants stand to lose out on tens of millions of dollars as a result of the decision by Jehovah's Witnesses to cancel all conventions worldwide due to COVID-19, including summer events in Rochester. "No doubt we long to be together," said Robert Hendriks, U.S. spokesperson for Jehovah's Witnesses. "But we do draw the line at putting somebody's life at risk." Rochester typically hosts five Jehovah Witnesses' conventions through July and August. The three-day events bring close to 20,000 people from the Upper Midwest and deliver $20 million in economic stimulus to the city from spending on hotels, restaurants and other venues. This would have been Rochester's 30th year of hosting the Jehovah's Witnesses. The group holds 800 conventions each year in the U.S that draws upwards of 2 million people. It self-styles itself as the "largest convention organization in the world." The U.S. is home to 13,000 Jehovah Witnesses congregations and 1.3 million adherents. https://www.postbulletin.com/community/events/6573172-A-20-million-hit-Jehovahs-Witnesses-cancels-all-conventions-in-Rochester

Russian authorities said they’ve carried out more than 100 raids in the homes of dozens of Jehovah’s Witnesses in a region that borders Ukraine. The joint searches by investigators, police and National Guard troops led to two criminal cases being opened against 10 worshippers aged between 24-56, investigators in the Voronezh region south of Moscow said in a statement Monday. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/07/14/raids-target-dozens-of-jehovahs-families-in-single-russian-region-a70873

Russian authorities armed with assault rifles raided 110 homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Voronezh Region on July 13, 2020, according to an official press release by the Voronezh Region Investigative Committee. This is the largest series of raids conducted in one day on Jehovah’s Witnesses in modern Russia. Preliminary reports from my colleagues indicates that at least two Witnesses were beaten. Some Witnesses reported that when the officers stormed into their houses to conduct the searches, they would force people to the ground and press their faces to the floor. Additionally, the law enforcement officers did not wear masks or take any precautions against the spread of COVID-19. Jarrod Lopes, spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses, states: “This month, the total number of Witnesses’ homes raided has surged to over 1,000 since 2017. For reasons passing understanding, heavily armed officers—as if being deployed for combat—are storming into the homes of peaceful Christians, many of whom are elderly. Human rights advocates and international judicial bodies continue to publicly condemn Russia for targetting Jehovah’s Witnesses. We hope Russian leaders will halt the persecution and uphold the freedom of religion and belief that is enshrined in its Constitution.” #jwrussia Read more: https://thezimbabwedaily.com/world/497627-russia-raids-110-homes-of-jehovahs-witnesses-largest-in-one-day.html

Article 6 of the Russian Constitution states that individuals cannot be stripped of their citizenship. Kim (and, more recently, two jailed Jehovah's Witnesses), however, was deprived of his Russian citizenship on the basis of an amendment to Article 22 of the 2002 Citizenship Law which entered legal force on 1 September 2017. Article 22 states that citizenship can be annulled if it was awarded on the basis of forged documents or "false information". The 2017 amendment added that conviction under particular articles of the Criminal Code, including Article 282.2 ("Organising" or "Participating in the activities of a banned extremist organisation", with which Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslim readers of Nursi's works are most commonly charged) and Article 282.3 ("Financing extremist activity", with which many Jehovah's Witnesses have also been charged), is taken as equivalent to knowingly presenting false information in a citizenship application. As a result, therefore, authorities may annul the citizenship of a person who has been found guilty of one of these offences, and who acquired Russian citizenship by naturalisation (rather than by birth). "This law on the annulment of citizenship is vicious," Alexander Verkhovsky, Director of the SOVA Centre for Information and Analysis, commented to Forum 18 from Moscow on 8 July. "It assumes that the person, when applying for citizenship, was already going to undermine the constitutional order, and in this sense gave false information about themselves, and therefore the decision to grant citizenship is invalid." Verkhovsky pointed out that a person then could change their views over time. "They might not even have imagined that their views imply a change to the constitutional order," he added. Read more: http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2585 #jwrussia

Las prácticas religiosas en todo el mundo se vieron alteradas drásticamente por la pandemia de coronavirus. Y los testigos de Jehová no son la excepción. Por primera vez en 123 años, la convención mundial de esa vertiente se realiza a través de una plataforma digital. Alejada de los estadios o centros de convención donde suele celebrarse, la celebración anual, con el lema "¡Alégrense siempre!", tendrá un programa virtual durante julio y agosto que comenzó este fin de semana. Se esperan congregaciones, familias e invitados de unos 240 países. Leer más: https://www.clarin.com/sociedad/coronavirus-testigos-jehova-celebran-asamblea-anual-forma-virtual-primera-vez-123-anos_0_Uco_szC55.html #2020asambleasregionales

What Did the Prison and Prosecutor's Office Do to Prevent the Danish Believer Dennis Christensen From Going Free? On June 26, 2020, the Lgov prison authorities illegally placed Dennis Christensen in a cell of a special punishment block (EPKT), typically used for malicious offenders. Given that his health has deteriorated, the move seems to be a calculated attempt to break him. At the same time, the prosecutor's office appealed the mitigation of his sentence, which they had originally supported in court. What happened? What did the prosecutor's office do? De jure, Dennis Christensen has already spent more than 4 out of 6 years in prison for his faith. Already one year ago, he was eligible for parole or another mitigation of his sentence. On the 4th attempt, his petition went to court, and on June 23, 2020, the Lgov District Court ordered the replacement of the remaining part of the sentence with a fine of 400,000 rubles. Artem Kofanov, Deputy Prosecutor of the Kursk Prosecutor's Office for the Supervision of Correctional Institutions, who took part in the trial, supported the mitigation of the punishment. But two days later, on June 25, Aleksey Shatunov, the prosecutor of the same prosecutor's office, stated that the court ruling was illegal and demanded to cancel it and sent the material for a new trial to the same court. What made the prosecutor's office change its position is unknown. Why did Prosecutor Shatunov consider the decision to have been illegal? In his presentation, he referred to the administration of the Lgov prison, which, according to him, characterized the prisoner unsatisfactorily: "Due to the lack of positive activity in his work and public life of the correctional facility." Shatunov's arguments were already considered invalid by the Lgov district court when they were voiced by the prison representatives during the trial on mitigation of the punishment. The defense submitted to the court expert reports confirming that Christensen has physical conditions that exclude him from physical labor: industrial work in the prison and participation in other types of labor. In turn, the representative of the penitentiary was forced to admit that the prison could not provide him with the type of work that would be in accord with his physical limitations. The court attached medical documents to the case and apparently relied on them in making its decision. What did the prison do? At the same time as the unexpected actions of the prosecutor's office, events were developing in the Lgov prison: on June 25, two reports against Christensen were made at the same time. The first one — for the fact that he was in the food room at a wrong time, and the second — for the fact that he was in the barracks in a T-shirt, without a jacket. This was enough to have him sent to the EPKT for 10 days. In penal colonies, this is the strictest of measures for particularly vicious violators of prison order. According to the law, such measure is taken only in a case of repeated, serious violations by the prisoner and only after a medical examination for the absence of diseases that prevent the detention in the EPKT. Neither of these measures happened with Christensen. "The colony administration chose a strange excuse to put Christensen in the EPKT as a particularly dangerous offender. The list of gross violations is given in Article 116 of the Penal Enforcement Code, and there is nothing in it that Christensen did. According to the administration of the colony, it turns out that being in a shirt in the barracks is the same as rioting or taking drugs," says Yaroslav Savulskiy, representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses. The believer and another prisoner are in a cell measuring 3.3 meters by 2.3 meters. The room is poorly ventilated and there is mold, which threatens the health of Christensen, who suffered pneumonia a few months ago. "Dennis has been diagnosed with a serious spinal cord condition. The administration of the colony is aware of this, but placed him in conditions where he has to sleep on a hard bed, experiencing excruciating pain," said the lawyer of the believer. Christensen himself told the lawyer that at the time of his alleged violations in similar circumstances, there were other prisoners with him, but he alone was sent to the EPKT. "This leads to the idea that there is a planned action, which is necessary to prevent Dennis from being released by court order," said the lawyer. https://jw-russia.org/news/2020/07/2.html

The new flu strain is similar to the swine flu that spread globally in 2009 A new strain of flu that has the potential to become a pandemic has been identified in China by scientists. It emerged recently and is carried by pigs, but can infect humans, they say. The researchers are concerned that it could mutate further so that it can spread easily from person to person, and trigger a global outbreak. While it is not an immediate problem, they say, it has "all the hallmarks" of being highly adapted to infect humans and needs close monitoring. As it's new, people could have little or no immunity to the virus. The scientists write in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that measures to control the virus in pigs, and the close monitoring of swine industry workers, should be swiftly implemented. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53218704 #swineflu #2020

Perlas 29 de Junio 2020.pdf

Some child sexual abuse survivors will miss out on compensation because organisations like the Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to join the national redress scheme. Religious, community, charity, education and sporting groups that fail to meet Tuesday's deadline to join the scheme will be "named and shamed" and face possible financial sanctions and changes to their charitable status. The Jehovah's Witnesses refuses to join despite the threatened action and legal service Knowmore expects other survivors will also miss out because the organisation responsible for their abuse has not signed up. "This will result in survivors receiving nothing," Knowmore principal lawyer Anna Swain told AAP. Institutions have had two years to opt into the redress scheme, with some Knowmore clients saying "they're punishing us" or "they're waiting for us to die". Read more: https://www.murrayvalleystandard.com.au/story/6809515/some-child-abuse-victims-wont-get-redress/ #childabuse

The plume of dust began to emerge off western Africa last weekend and has now traveled over 4,000 miles. "The main impacts are a whitening of the sky during daylight hours, redder sunsets, and decreased air quality." Some of the dust may then move as far north and east as the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic this weekend. It's almost here. The long-awaited cloud of Saharan dust is poised to "hit" the U.S. Gulf Coast on Thursday and Friday, forecasters say, promising hazy skies and fiery red sunsets but also potential health problems. Nicknamed "Godzilla" for its unusually large size, the plume of dust began to emerge off western Africa last weekend and now has traveled over 4,000 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, the Weather Channel said. Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/24/sahara-dust-storm-us-gulf-coast-texas-what-to-expect/3250102001/ #saharandust

On June 23, 2020, at 19:50 Lgov district court, considering Dennis Christensen's petition for mitigation of his sentence, replaced his unexpired part of the prison term with a fine of 400,000 rubles. A Jehovah's Witness convicted of faith will be released after the court ruling enters into force. The hearing was attended by Danish diplomats. No one else, including Dennis' wife Irina, was allowed into the building. Christensen himself attended the hearing via video. Dennis Christensen was arrested on 25 May 2017 and sentenced to six years in prison in February 2019. The court considered it extremist that the believer continued to gather with his fellow believers for religious meetings and welcomed them before the religious service. However, there were no victims of Christensen's "crimes". To date, the believer has actually been behind bars for about 3 years and 1 month. However, taking into account the fact that according to the law, one day in the pre-trial detention facility equals 1.5 days in the general regime colony, Christensen has served more than 4 years of the term appointed by the court. "From the moment of his arrest Christensen has behaved and behaved respectfully and correctly towards the employees of the investigation and court, the pre-trial detention facility and the employees of correctional colony № 3. He independently organized free English language training for prisoners, maintains friendly relations with other convicts," said Christensen's lawyer, explaining to Galina Petlitsa the grounds for the mitigation of punishment to the believer. The lawyer described the mistakes made by the courts, which put Christensen in prison. As stated in an appeal ruling of the Supreme Court on October 18, 2016, which confirmed the liquidation of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses "Oryol," believers in Russia "are not deprived of the opportunity to perform their own religious worship. Contrary to this, the courts interpreted Christensen's private religion as the continuation of a banned legal entity. "Judge Galina Petlitsa made a fair decision. This is a brave and honest act, which is not often decided recently by the judges hearing the cases of Jehovah's Witnesses," said the representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses, Yaroslav Sivulski. Replacing the punishment of a believer means for Christensen the opportunity to go free without any additional restrictions, except for the obligation to pay the fine, said Christensen's advocate. Currently, there are 10 convicts in Russian colonies for the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses, while another 24 people are imprisoned. A total of 353 people who hold the views of Jehovah's Witnesses are accused of extremism for their Christian faith. The religious persecution continues despite assurances from the Russian government and Vladimir Putin that there is no reason to persecute Jehovah's Witnesses. https://jw-russia.org/news/2020/06/16.html #dennischristenssen #jwrussia

At least two people have died after a powerful earthquake shook central and southern Mexico, swaying buildings and sending thousands of people into the streets on Tuesday. The 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck at 10:29 a.m. local time (5:29 pm CEST) on Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS estimated that two million people felt strong or moderate shaking and another 49 million felt weak or light shaking. Seismic alarms sounded in the morning, giving enough warning for residents to exit buildings. Read more: https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/23/powerful-7-4-magnitude-earthquake-hits-mexico

La pandemia del COVID-19 ha hecho que el tele trabajo sea la forma de vida de millones de personas, invitando al trabajo a quedarse en casa, sin delimitar horarios, sin embargo, es muy importante el equilibrio de cumplir con el trabajo pero sin descuidar la atención a la familia y lograr la armonía familiar para su buen desarrollo, así lo informó Ernesto Arámburo Ceseña, de Testigos de Jehová. Comentó en entrevista que a medida que el mundo cambia se haca cada vez más difícil separar el tiempo que se dedica al trabajo y el que se dedica a la familia. Las jornadas laborales son cada vez más largas y la tecnología abre la posibilidad de estar conectados resolviendo asuntos de trabajo, incluso en horarios que deberían de ser para la familia. La conciliación de la vida personal y laboral, dijo, es un reto del que hablan hoy los expertos. Esta conciliación consiste en saber ser equilibrado y separar el trabajo de los demás aspectos de la vida, lo que incluye el matrimonio, el cuidado de los seres queridos y el bienestar personal. Sin embargo, cada vez hay menos tiempo para conservar y dar prioridad a los asuntos familiares Leer más: https://tribunadeloscabos.com.mx/trabajo-en-casa-sin-descuidar-la-familia-proponen-testigos-de-jehova/ #jwmexico #teletrabajo

Marques Houston Defends His Engagement to 19-Year-Old Fiancée Miya Marques Houston said he doesn't "have anything to hide" when it comes to his engagement to his 19-year-old fiancée Miya. The Sister, Sister star's relationship became a source of controversy this week when people on Twitter began to question whether he actually started dating Miya when she was of legal age. One tweet, which has garnered over 40,000 likes, said in part, "Can someone please explain why Marques Houston, a 38-year-old geezer, is engaged to a 19-year-old girl who he allegedly knew before she was 18?" https://www.eonline.com/news/1162688/marques-houston-defends-his-engagement-to-19-year-old-fianc-eacute-e-miya #marqueshouston

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