If you'd like to be alerted to petition drives, as well as to other on-going initiatives to help victims of human rights abuses in the Middle East, please check out our enewsletter alerts.

ACTION NEEDED:

May 28, 2008: North Americans are urged to contact Algerian embassies and consulates to express concern over the unprecedented forced closures of churches among Algeria's Protestant minority.

Over the last six months, Algerian authorities have closed half of the Protestant churches in the country. If the trend continues, the Algerian Protestant church will be non-existent by the end of 2008. Algerian officials have closed 26 Algerian churches by either written order or verbal warning since November 2007. Ranging in size from several dozen to more than 1,000 members, 32 congregations in Algeria belong to the Protestant Church of Algeria, while another 20 small fellowships exist independently. Algeria, a country of 33 million in northern Africa, is home to at least 10,000 Protestants. Click here to read more and to obtain contact information for the Algerian government, as well as U.S. congressional representatives.

May 21, 2008: (Numerous sources) - Journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani, a prominent advocate for democracy in Yemen, is facing sentencing for "insulting the president." Last year, during his arrest, he was beaten, and his six-year-old daughter was slapped unconscious by police. Click here to sign a letter advocating for his release.