In a piece written for Politics Home to mark Commonwealth Day, Baroness Berridge has highlighted how the Commonwealth provides a platform for dialogue on the role of religion in promoting peaceful societies. “As a UK Parliamentarian and a member of the Commonwealth family, I get a thrill from seeing the billowing array of Commonwealth country…
Amal Clooney today urged Iraq and the world’s nations not to let Isis “get away with genocide”, reports The Independent. The human rights lawyer, who represents victims of Isis rapes and kidnappings, told a UN meeting that what’s “shocking” is not just the group’s brutality but the “passive” response by the world’s nations to the…
Countries around the world are being urged to act now to promote and protect the right to freedom of religion or belief, by a United Nations expert. The appeal by the Special Rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed, was made at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, where Mr. Shaheed has been setting out his priorities for the…
Two men in Sudan – Rev Hassan Abduraheem, a church leader, and Mr Abdumonem Abdumawla, an activist – have been given lengthy prison sentences, all because of an act of kindness, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Their only crime was helping to raise money to treat a badly burned young man who had taken part in…
With the strapline Business: A powerful force for interfaith understanding & peace, the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation educates the global business community about how religious freedom is good for business, and engages the business community in joining forces with government and non-government organisations in promoting respect for freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). Their…
The UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Karima Bennoune, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva: “We face a global avalanche of hate in the form of rising fundamentalism and extremism around the world. This must be tackled with urgency, using a human rights approach. Culture and cultural rights are critical components…
On 20 and 21 February Lord Alton of Liverpool asked the following two questions: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office was asked what progress they have made in fulfilling their 2015 manifesto commitment to “Stand up for the freedom of people of all religions—and non-religious people—to practice their beliefs in peace and safety, for example by supporting persecuted…
The All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group (PHRG) and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief held a panel event on “The Persecution of Ethnic and Religious Minorities in Iran”, on 27 February, with the following speakers: Ahmed Shaheed (AS1), current UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief and former UN…
The Battle for China’s Spirit: Religious Revival, Repression, and Resistance under Xi Jinping is a new report from Freedom House. The Chinese government’s controls over religion have intensified under Xi Jinping, seeping into new areas of daily life and triggering growing resistance from believers, according to the report. “Many spiritual activities practiced freely around the…
The attack was the country’s deadliest in years: a suicide bomber detonated a bomb among crowds gathered for the busiest day of the week at the shrine to Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, a town in the southern Sindh province. Amaq, a news agency affiliated to Isis, claimed the jihadi group had carried out Thursday’s attack….