Speakers at the launch of the Swiss Peace Initiative in Bern in May, left to right: Erich Vontobel, Sarkis Shahinian, Vartan Oskanian, Joel Veldkamp. csi
Nigeria: Escalating massacres of Christians draw international attention
In November, U.S. President Trump put Nigeria back on the list of countries of particular concern for religious freedom (it had been removed in 2021), stating that Christians there faced an existential threat from radical Islamists. The CPC designation reflected ongoing attacks on Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. In the run up to Easter, at least 56 villagers — among them 15 children — were killed in attacks by suspected Fulani militants in Plateau State. The violence did not let up. In July, 27 were killed in an attack in Plateau in which a church was burned down, and in October 25 Christian villagers were killed over the course of one week in the state. CSI teams were on the ground during all three of these attacks, and were able to meet with and respond to the needs of survivors, including seven-year-old Nenche, who suffered a deep machete cut to the back of his neck.
Nenche Stephen, 7, was one of the youngest victims of a Fulani attack on his village. csi
In July, a local partner of CSI, Catholic priest Daniel Alphonsus Afina, was abducted by Boko Haram while traveling in northeastern Nigeria, a center of the Islamist insurgency. Thankfully, after 51 days’ captivity, Father Afina was released. Over the course of the year, at least 15 members of the clergy were abducted for ransom in Nigeria, some of whom were killed or are still in captivity.
As international attention focused on Nigeria in November, the attacks only seemed to intensify. A Fulani militia stormed a church in Kwara State, killing two and abducting 38 worshipers, who were later released. In other brazen attacks, 24 girls were snatched from a school dormitory in Kebbi State, all of whom were later freed, aand more than 250 children and staff were kidnapped from a Catholic school in Papiri, Niger State. At the end of December, it was reported that all the schoolchildren had been freed.
Armenia/Nagorno Karabakh: growing international support for the right of return
On May 26, a cross-party Swiss parliamentary committee launched the Swiss Peace Initiative for Nagorno Karabakh. On September 19, 2023 Azerbaijan invaded the Armenian Christian region, forcibly displacing its 120,000-strong population. The Peace Initiative was launched after Switzerland’s parliament approved a motion mandating the Swiss government to hold a peace forum between Azerbaijan and representatives of the displaced Armenian people of Nagorno Karabakh.
In July, CSI organized a delegation of Swiss parliamentarians led by Erich Vontobel to visit Washington D.C. to present the peace plan and win U.S. backing. The previous month the Peace Initiative had garnered support in the United Kingdom, including from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Freedom of Religion, human rights defenders and former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. On September 29, two years after Azerbaijan’s invasion of Nagorno Karabakh, Vontobel and fellow Swiss parliamentarian Nicolas Walder outlined the Swiss Peace Initiative at a CSI side event at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The Peace Initiative was then presented the following month at an event in Berlin hosted by CSI and the Central Council of Armenians in Germany, in a sign of growing international support for the planned peace forum.
Faces of the 23 Armenian hostages being held by Azerbaijan. freearmenianprisoners.com
The plight of 23 Armenians being illegally detained by Azerbaijan was the subject of a CSI side event at the Human Rights Council on March 18. The hostages include POWs, civilian hostages, and members of Nagorno Karabakh’s elected government. Among the most prominent is Ruben Vardanyan, a businessman, philanthropist and former minister in the Nagorno Karabakh government. Vardanyan, who faces terrorism charges, has been outspoken in calling for a trial in accordance with the law and staged a hunger strike over the harsh conditions in which he is being held.
Another hostage who resorted to hunger strikes was Vicken Euljekjian, an Armenian-Lebanese civilian who was kidnapped by Azerbaijani troops during the 2020 war in Nagorno Karabakh. In November, Euljekjian’s family and supporters went public with their grave concerns over his health. President Trump had pledged on August 8 to ask Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to release all 23 Christian detainees. Noting that Aliyev has so far failed to meet this humanitarian request, CSI urged President Trump to demand the immediate release of Euljekjian and all other hostages held by the Azerbaijani regime.
Armenia: Government attacks on church
In June, simmering tensions between the Armenian government and the national church escalated with the detention of archbishops Mikayel Ajapahyan (later sentenced to two years) and Bagrat Galstanyan alongside a prominent church benefactor, Samvel Karapetyan. CSI joined with other religious freedom advocates in calling on the Armenian government to end its campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church. But in October another round of persecution followed with the arrests of a bishop, 12 priests, church workers and a lawyer. On December 4, a third archbishop, Arshak Khachatryan, was arrested.
CSI held a press conference at the end of a fact-finding visit to Armenia. csi
In November, CSI undertook a fact-finding mission to Armenia. The CSI delegation was able to meet with lawyers and family members of the detained clergy and supporters of the church, as well as the head of the Armenian church, Catholicos Karekin II – whose resignation Prime Minister Pashinyan has demanded. At the end of their visit, the CSI team held a press conference in Yerevan, at which they shared their findings and called for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Armenia.
Syria: from hope to fear
In March — four months after the collapse of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad — sectarian violence swept across Syria. Thousands of civilians—primarily from the Alawite minority – were massacred by forces allied with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)-led interim government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
On June 22 it was the turn of Christians: attackers detonated a bomb and opened fire on worshipers in an Orthodox church in Damascus, killing close to 30. An HTS splinter group claimed responsibility. The day after the massacre, CSI warned at the Human Rights Council of the threat of genocide facing Syria’s religious minorities.
Syria experts Fabrice Balanche and Joshua Landis — speakers at a CSI side event on the topic of religious minorities in the “new Syria” held at the UN on July 1 — agreed that minorities were at imminent risk under the new regime, with its ideology of Sunni supremacism. Two weeks later, Syrian government forces carried out atrocities against minority populations in Suwayda province, a majority-Druze region. Over 1,300 people were killed and 128,000 displaced.
On May 13, President Trump announced his intention to lift the broad economic sanctions imposed on Syria in 2011 in a bid to hasten the overthrow of the Assad regime. CSI, which has long campaigned for the lifting of sanctions on Syria, welcomed the move as long overdue. But it warned of the need to maintain individual sanctions on al-Qaeda linked leaders to protect religious minorities from further attacks. Unfortunately, the U.S. and the UN later lifted these sanctions as well. There has been no international attempt to hold Syria’s new leaders accountable for the massacres of Alawites and Druzes.
Suleiman Khalil, former mayor of Sadad, has been held incommunicado since February 8. csi
In other advocacy for Syria, CSI on September 9 launched a campaign on behalf of Suleiman Khalil, the former mayor of the Christian-majority town of Sadad. As mayor, Khalil organized the town’s defense when it came under attack by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2015, and he is viewed by locals as a hero. Khalil was arrested in Sadad on February 8 and is still being held without charge. In November, CSI brought Khalil’s daughter Natalie Khalil to Washington DC to advocate for his release.
The arrest of Khalil is not an isolated case, with arbitrary detentions occurring on a daily basis in Syria and targeting respected social figures from religious minorities, commented Syrian activist Joseph Lahdo in a guest piece for the CSI website.
South Sudan: 30 years of slave liberation
In 2025, CSI marked the 30th anniversary of its slave liberation program, which has freed more than 160,000 people from slavery in Sudan, and returned them home to South Sudan.
Between 1983 and 2005, a systematic slave trade flourished in Sudan. Armed Arab militias, backed by the fundamentalist regime in Khartoum, targeted the non-Muslim populations of what is now South Sudan and enslaved tens of thousands of people. Although the slave raids ended 20 years ago, after the peace accord between Sudan and South Sudan, thousands remain in bondage, including those born into slavery.
CSI’s project worker distributes sorghum, a food grain, to rescued slaves. csi
CSI began its work of liberating Christians and other enslaved non-Muslims in 1995. Its approach at the outset was to partner with local communities who were trying to rescue their own people. CSI continues to work with Arab traders and local officials to free slaves still in the north and bring them home. CSI provides returnees with “starter kits” including tools and essentials to help them become self-sufficient.
Pakistan: Blasphemy victims released
After spending 24 years on death row, Anwar Kenneth was finally freed from prison on October 21. Charged with blasphemy, Kenneth was sentenced to death in 2001. Last year, a legal team supported by CSI filed an appeal with Pakistan’s supreme court on Kenneth’s behalf. In June, his death sentence was lifted, paving the way for his acquittal.
Kenneth was 72 at the time of his release. Haider Ali, on the other hand, was just 17 when he was acquitted of blasphemy charges and freed in April, thanks to the intervention of a CSI-supported legal team. At the time of his arrest, he was a 13-year-old minor. Kenneth and Haider are just two of thousands of people, both Christian and Muslim, to have been prosecuted under Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws.
Haider Ali has been acquitted of blasphemy charges. csi
CSI also provided support in the case of Tabish N., a Christian convert who fought for 17 years to have her new religion formally recognized. In July, a court ruled that Tabish should be issued a new identity card stating her religion as Christian. The landmark ruling was a rare victory for Christian converts, who normally find it impossible to legally change their religion in the Islamic Republic.
