“Doing more begins with finding the political will to use the many tools already at our disposal,” says Peter van Dalen, Member of the European Parliament for the Netherlands, Co-Chair of the European Parliament Working Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief, in a blog on the Huffington Post. “Freedom of religion or belief is recognized as…
Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom and Business Association, has analysed data from the most recent Pew Research Center studies and statistics from the United Nations, and concluded there is a direct correlation between religious freedom and gender equality. “When you have religious freedom, you have a diversity of both viewpoints and how that religion is…
Members of Pakistan’s Sikh community say they have been singled out and attacked increasingly, reports Reuters. “I have run this business for the last 22 years. Never in my life have I experienced such insecurity,” says Amarjeet. “Around 60 percent of our shops are closed due to security concerns. Many parents are not sending their…
The Vatican is demanding that Christians and other religious minorities from Iraq and Syria have the right to return to their homes that have been emptied by Islamic militants. Pope Francis summoned Vatican ambassadors from across the region for three days of meetings. At the conclusion on Saturday, they reaffirmed that military force was justified to…
Andrew Bennett, Canada’s religious freedom ambassador, begins a one-week fact-finding mission to Ukraine today, convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin is orchestrating the persecution of Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Muslim Tatars. Russian forces have kidnapped priests, detained nuns, fire-bombed churches and intimidated worshippers, he says. The Russian forces are targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the…
A draft government plan would entrench discriminatory policies that deprive Rohingya Muslims in Burma of citizenship and lead to the forced resettlement of over 130,000 displaced Rohingya into closed camps, Human Rights Watch said today. Burma’s international donors, the United Nations, and other influential actors should press the government to substantively revise or rescind its Rakhine…
A UN report highlights a “staggering array” of gross human rights abuses and “acts of violence of an increasingly sectarian nature” were committed by the group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) over a period of nine weeks. “This report is terrifying,” said Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov,…
Pakistan’s constitution was amended 40 years ago to declare Ahmadis to be non-Muslims. Regarded by orthodox Muslims as heretical, Ahmadis are not allowed to refer to their places of worship as mosques or to publicly quote from the Koran – acts punishable by imprisonment of up to three years. Critics of the anti-Ahmadi laws say…
Catholic Bishops in Nigeria have called on the government to protect the lives and property of its people, as militants intensify their killing spree across the country. In a statement ‘‘While Nigeria bleeds and burns’’ the Bishops urged the authorities to carry out their ‘primary duty’ to protect the life of every Nigerian, irrespective of tribe,…
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, speaking at the UN General Assembly this week, said the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine demand a revitalized United Nations where member states put their responsibility to protect persecuted peoples above personal interests and thoroughly apply international law. Cardinal Parolin said the blood of the many…