World Watch Monitor reports that Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, has won a landslide victory in the first freely-contested election in 25 years, winning the needed two-thirds of the vote to enable it to nominate the country’s new President. Even though she herself is barred from that role, Suu Kyi has…
Lord Alton and Fiona Bruce MP write on Conservative Home that “it is not unreasonable to expect, where aid is being distributed, certain behaviour in terms of treatment of minorities, as well as the need for pluralism, tolerance and diversity. Such an approach can yield both a pragmatic harvest as well as chiming with the…
People accused of violating Pakistan’s draconian ‘blasphemy laws’ face proceedings that are glaringly flawed, said the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in a new report published last week. “Pakistan’s blasphemy laws fly in the face of Pakistan’s international legal obligations, including the duties to respect the rights of freedom of expression and freedom of religion…
We, the undersigned civil society organisations, are concerned that Vietnam’s draft Law on Belief and Religion is inconsistent with the right to freedom of religion or belief. We call upon the Government to comprehensively revise the draft Law to conform with Vietnam’s obligations under international human rights law in the course of an inclusive consultation…
Prime Minister David Cameron has been urged to raise the plight of India’s religious minorities and shrinking space for civil society in bilateral discussions with Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi on his first official visit to the United Kingdom, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). Mr Modi’s official visit from 12-14 November is the first by…
World Watch Monitor reports that a programme organised by Bargad, Pakistan’s biggest NGO for youth development, is attempting to tackle the social stigma Christians face from the word used in the Constitution for them. The Urdu Isai (derived from Isa, the Arabic word for Jesus used in the Qur’an) now carries strong overtones – from…
Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)(Urgent Question : To ask the Foreign Secretary to make a statement on the visit of President el-Sisi of Egypt and the human rights record of his Government, and, in particular, their use of the death penalty. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Tobias Ellwood):…
Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab) (Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the release of political activists and human rights ahead of the elections in Burma on 8 November. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (James Duddridge): I…
As hundreds gathered outside Downing Street in London on Wednesday (4 November) to protest against the visit of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, The Cairo Post reported that U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Chairman Robert P. George said that the religious situation in Egypt has been “complicated” over the past year, although President…
In its submission to the International Development Select Committee that was made public last week, the APPG for International Freedom of Religion or Belief has warned that the UK government’s commitment to take 20,000 of the most vulnerable refugees from camps in Jordan, Libya and Turkey risks failing to ensure that the most vulnerable are…