Parliamentarians met in Berlin last month at the invitation of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB) for a series of workshops and seminars aimed at building their capacity to defend this right. (More) During the course of the week, Parliamentarians addressed specific freedom of…
Advancement of religious literacy and religious freedom literacy in international diplomacy is increasingly needed, a panel on religious freedom and international diplomacy stated on 23 September in Geneva. A panel discussion “Religion and Religious Freedom in International Diplomacy” was organised during the 33rd session of the UN Human Rights Council by the United Nations special…
Over 100 Parliamentarians from 60 countries are meeting the German Chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel in Berlin today, part of a conference intended to agree to ways in which they can work together to protect and promote freedom of religion or belief for all. [You can view the session opened by Chancellor Merkel here – Baroness Berridge…
Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con) I thank Mr Speaker for granting me the opportunity to raise the plight of religious minorities in Bangladesh. It is apposite that this debate is being held today, because it is exactly the first anniversary of the visit to Bangladesh by the UN special rapporteur Heiner Bielefeldt. I welcome my…
Stephen Twigg (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab/Co-op) I beg to move, That this House has considered the missing Chibok schoolgirls in Nigeria. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. Earlier this year the Select Committee on International Development, which I chair, visited Nigeria as part of an inquiry into the work of…
Question for Short Debate, asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to promote Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB) My Lords, in welcoming the Minister to her fairly new responsibilities, the lodestar in today’s short debate is Article 18…
The Pew Research Center recently updated a post on this topic. “In dozens of countries around the world, laws against apostasy and blasphemy remain on the books and often are enforced. Last December, for instance, authorities in Sudan charged 25 men for apostasy – the act of abandoning one’s faith — including by converting to…
Robert Joustra teaches politics and international studies at Redeemer University College (Canada). He has written an essay: Advice for the Next American President: Commonwealth Collaboration, Cooperation, and Concern on Freedom of Religion or Belief Here are some key extracts: The Commonwealth is such a sprawling, cosmopolitan group that its sheer diversity makes it startling that a common…
The U.S. State Department has released its 2015 International Religious Freedom Report. Required by U.S. law, the report contains an assessment of the conditions supporting, or suppressing, freedom of religion or belief in nearly 200 countries, excluding the United States. View the report online The following are extracts from today’s press briefing given by David N. Saperstein, Ambassador-at-Large…
Lord Alton of Liverpool has written a blog for CTS Catholic Compass: Earlier this year I launched a report in Parliament cataloguing the systematic campaign targeting Pakistan’s religious minorities, particularly Christians and Ahmadis. Among those targeted was Shahbaz Bhatti, the murdered Catholic Minister for Minorities. The report is a catalogue of outright persecution. It followed…