Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has welcomed the release of a Baptist pastor who was held by Syrian authorities for two weeks.
Pastor Nihad Hassan is a Kurd from an Islamic background. While visiting family members in Afrin, Syria, he was arrested reportedly for Facebook posts that insulted Islam and Mohammad.
Pastor Hassan leads a Kurdish-speaking congregation in neighbouring Lebanon.
He was held without charge from 20 July to 3 August. Upon his release Syrian authorities urged him to return to Lebanon for his own safety, which he subsequently did.
Pastor Hassan has also become known for raising the plight of Kurds in Syria.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in late 2024, Syria has experienced an extremely uneasy peace with Christians remaining fearful of the Islamist group that spearheaded his removal.
Over a decade of civil war and a plethora of armed groups representing different ethnic and religious interests mean the country remains volatile and the new government has struggled to bring order.
In March last year hundreds of Alawites were massacred by an armed group. A few months later in July fighting broke out between the Druze and Bedouins in Suwayda and towards the end of the year fighting broke out between government forces and Kurds in Aleppo, following the first parliamentary elections since the takeover of power.
In one of the latest developments, Christians in the town of Saydnaya were told to restrict their religious activities to the inside of their churches. Some local church leaders accused security forces of targeting Christians for long stops at security checkpoints, while other local sources claim the security services are looking for Christians connected to Assad-era atrocities.
Mervyn Thomas, founder president of CSW, said, “While news that Pastor Hassan has been released and reunited with his family is welcome, we are concerned that he was detained for two weeks without charge and call on the transitional government of Syria to work towards ending the use of arbitrary arrest and detention in areas under its control.
“We encourage the leaders of every faith community to unite against sectarianism, and to counter it through the proactive promotion of peace, justice and reconciliation. We also call on the Syrian government to address issues related to intercommunity relationships with full transparency and in accordance with law.”
