Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 21 December 2020
Israeli chief rabbi gives his blessing to institutions in UAE, marking new era of religious Jewish life in Dubai and beyond
(Asma Ali Zain, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Relatively light, but unjustified, sentences for Jehovah's Witnesses in south Russia
(Kavkazskii Uzel, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
About hundred new Orthodox churches opened in Moscow
(Interfax-Religion)
Divert arms money to fight COVID-19, ensure vaccine for all, pope says
(Philip Pullella, Reuters)
Top 10 religion-news stories of 2020: Coronavirus pandemic touched almost everything
(Bobby Ross Jr., GetReligion)
Saturday, 19 December 2020
‘A huge game-changer’: Report says more than 570,000 Uighurs forced to pick cotton
(France 24)
Friday, 18 December 2020
Uyghur forced labor in the cotton fields: Denial is futile, the evidence is here
(Ruth Ingram, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)
Thousands of pastors go into hiding amid China’s rising persecution, attempts to eradicate Christianity
(Jackson Elliott, The Christian Post)
China claims there’s religious freedom in Xinjiang. Not even close.
(William Echols, Polygraph)
In a year of pandemic and pain, women fight back
(Hillary Margolis, Human Rights Watch)
Argument: Tibet was China's first laboratory of repression
(Kelsang Dolma, Foreign Policy Argument)
Kaifeng Jews: As Hanukkah gift from CCP, more repression
(Wang Yichi, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)
Black Lives Matter and the UN Human Rights System: Reflections on the Human Rights Council Urgent Debate
(E. Tendayi Achiume, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
Combatting domestic violence is dangerous work in Russia
(Yulia Gorbunova, Human Rights Watch)
Azerbaijan: Attack on church possible war crime
(Human Rights Watch)
Pakistani court acquits Christian imprisoned for blasphemy
(Ken Camp, Baptist Standard)
USCIRF condemns Boko Haram attacks and threats against Christians
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Bahrain country update
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Christmas holiday bus attacks in Kenya bring condemnation from Christian and Muslim leaders
(Fredrick Nzwili, Religion News Service)
Latin patriarch of Jerusalem says Biden will need to ‘rebuild trust’ with Palestinians
(Claire Giangravé, Religion News Service)
17 Christian groups ask Biden to change US policy in the Holy Land
(Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post)
Pope Francis to take part in Netflix series on perspectives of the elderly
(Catholic News Agency)
Pope Francis: Hundreds of millions of children ‘left behind’ amid pandemic
(Catholic News Agency)
Islamic State continues to pose threat in Syrian desert
(Sultan al-Kanj, Al-Monitor: Syria Pulse)
Me Too movement rattles Turkey’s literary world
(Nazlan Ertan, Al-Monitor: Turkey Pulse)
To herald a new era, global religious leaders from all faith institutions and traditions, call for a vaccine for all
(Religions for Peace)
In the year of the pandemic, counting down the top 10 religion stories of 2020
(Bobby Ross Jr., Religion Unplugged)
Nigeria school attack: Hundreds of boys return home after kidnap ordeal
(BBC News)
Kankara students’ release show God’s faithfulness to Nigeria, Buhari – Interfaith group
(Vanguard Nigeria)
After 100,000 assassinations, an urgent call for religious freedom in Nigeria
(Msgr. Obiora Ike, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)
Nigerian Christians facing 'calculated genocide,' Catholic bishop tells Congress
(Matt Hadro, Catholic News Agency)
Nigeria one of the most dangerous countries for Christians
(ADF International)
U.S. Human Rights Commission calls Nigerian violence 'genocide' and a violator of religious freedom
(Jillian Cheney, Religion Unplugged)
Photos of the Week: Nativities, Boko Haram kidnaps schoolboys
(Kit Doyle, Religion News Service)
Egyptian court acquits men accused of abusing Coptic woman
(Associated Press)
COVID’s toll on the Orthodox Christian Church
(George E. Demacopoulos, Commonweal)
Iraqi parliament formally declares Christmas a national holiday
(Elise Ann Allen, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Malaysian Christian will soon hear court decision on her religious freedom case
(International Christian Concern)
Maldives COVID burial plan ‘will marginalise Sri Lankan Muslims’
(Rathindra Kuruwita and Zaheena Rasheed, Al Jazeera)
Four facts that will change relations between Christians and Jews in the next decade
(A. James Rudin, Religion News Service Opinion)
Woman Jehovah's Witness spends 14 months in prison without trial
(Memorial Civil Rights Center, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
Court sentences for mere membership in Jehovah's Witnesses congregation
(Kavkazskii Uzel, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
Tajikistan stops treating incitement of religious hatred as criminal offence
(Interfax-Religion)
Russia: Raids, investigations, torture
(Victoria Arnold, Forum 18 News Service)
Supporters of hardliner Rizieq Shihab clash with Indonesia police
(Al Jazeera)
Gender equality: Families as basis for change (New Delhi)
(Bahá’í World News Service)
European government ministers and parliamentarians condemn denial of higher education to Baha’is in Iran
(Bahá’í International Community)
International support for Iran’s Baha’is highlights growing rights violations
(Bahá’í International Community)
Reflections on the 2020 G20 Interfaith Forum in Saudi Arabia at the Time of Handover
(W. Cole Durham, Jr., G20 Interfaith Forum)
Elevating Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism to Ambassador-at-large demonstrates America’s commitment to fighting this enduring evil
(Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice)
Ontario abandons changes to the Marriage Act
(Deina Warren, Canadian Centre for Christian Charities)
'Love jihad': What a reported miscarriage says about India's anti-conversion law
(Geeta Pandey, BBC News)
Why India is evicting Muslims from forests in Kashmir and axing thousands of trees
(Zaffar Iqbal, Religion Unplugged)
India-Muslims marrying Hindu girls: Beaten by their own lawyers
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)
India's minorities 'face increasing intolerance'
(Bijay Kumar Minj, Union of Catholic Asian News)
Would the Prophet Muhammad convert Hagia Sophia?
(The New York Times Opinion)
Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Jehovah's Witnesses: The world's most persecuted religion
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)
USCIRF: The global persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
(United States Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Boko Haram claims kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerian students
(Al Jazeera)
Boko Haram claims responsibility for kidnapping hundreds of boys in Nigeria
(Jason Burke and Isaac Abrak, The Guardian)
Boko Haram claims kidnapping of over 300 boys in Nigeria, marking an alarming move west
(Danielle Paquette, The Washington Post)
The ICC concludes its preliminary examination in Crimea and Donbas: What’s next for the situation in Ukraine?
(Iryna Marchuk, Aloka Wanigasuriya, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
Interfaith declaration seeks forgiveness for harm caused to LGBT people
(Ed Thornton, Church Times)
Declaring the sanctity of life and the dignity of all: Join us in calling for an end to violence and criminalisation against LGBT+ people and for a global ban on conversion therapy.
(Global Interfaith Commission on LGBT+ Lives)
Gujarat: MP wants law against interfaith marriages
(The Times of India)
Role of theology in the Global Development Agenda (SDGs) and human rights
(Rev. Dr. Lydia Mwaniki, Religions for Peace)
Prof. Azza Karam congratulates newly elected officials of the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL)
(Religions for Peace)
Women in many countries face harassment for clothing deemed too religious – or too secular
(Virginia Villa, Pew Research Center Fact Tank)
Biotechnology research viewed with caution globally, but most support gene editing for babies to treat disease
(Cary Funk, Alec Tyson, Brian Kennedy, and Courtney Johnson, Pew Research Center)
Religious Freedom in the Anglosphere: The History of a Foundational Liberty in the UK, the US, and Canada
(Cardus & RFI)
Bullying in churches- legal implications
(Neil Foster, Law and Religion Australia)
USCIRF Commissioner Johnnie Moore adopts Jimmy Lai through the Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Nigeria country update
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Weekly Highlight #136: Vaccination hopes and worries, marking Human Rights Day
(Berkley Center, Joint Learning Initiative, WFDD)
Uzbek authorities close 3 illegal Islamic schools in Tashkent
(Interfax-Religion)
Uzbekistan: Registration applications denied, officials refuse to explain why
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
Russia: "A fresh bloody wound on his forehead"
(Victoria Arnold, Forum 18 News Service)
Teenagers win legal struggle to attend school in Vietnam
(ADF International)
Christmas message from Cuba’s Bishops (‘Cubans want a better and more peaceful future’)
(Zenit: The World Seen from Rome)
Cuba’s bishops want ‘plurality and dialogue’ for Christmas
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
As chief rabbi, I can no longer remain silent about the plight of the Uighurs
(Ephraim Mirvis, The Guardian)
Substantial prison term imposed on Jehovah's Witness
(Olga Tarabanova, Nash Dom Novosibirsk, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
Two young women suspected of offending religious sentiments in Russia's Murmansk Region
(Interfax-Religion)
Biblical illiteracy is 'biggest problem' facing global evangelicalism
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
Row erupts in Israel over missionaries allegedly using Jewish Agency facilities
(Jenni Frazer, Jewish News)
Israel’s perspective on Key legal and practical issues concerning the application of International Law to cyber operations
(Roy Schondorf, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
Tzipi Hotovely: ‘I’ll be an ambassador for all Jews’
(Justin Cohen, Jewish News)
KAICIID launches COVID-19 guide at virtual event featuring interfaith and public health experts
(KAICIID Dialogue Centre)
Tuesday, 15 December 2020
China: Special weekly FoRB newsletter (07-14.12.2020) from Bitter Winter
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Switzerland-China secret deal: Did it affect religion-based refugees?
(Rosita Šorytė, Bitter Winter)
Monday, 14 December 2020
Banning religious gatherings defies common sense, and perhaps the Constitution
(Brian Bird, Vancouver Sun)
CCCC attended Supreme Court of Canada hearing on the Aga Case
(Barry W. Bussey, Canadian Centre for Christian Charities)
The hidden economy: How faith helps fuel Canada’s GDP
(YouTube Video, Cardus Religious Freedom Institute)
'Love jihad' and the 'social network' -- how interfaith couples are tracked
(Sandeep Rai and Anuja Jaiswal, The Times of India)
UN rights experts send 2nd letter to India voicing concern over persecution of Muslims
(UrduPoint)
Anti-Christian violence in India
(Chad M. Bauman, Cornell University Press)
Muslims targeted under Indian state's 'love jihad' law
(Hannah Ellis-Petersen, The Guardian)
Sri Lanka's anti-cattle slaughter law: Lessons from India
(CSWPress, FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
New law in India targets interfaith couples
(Shuriah Niazi, Anadolu Agency)
Xi Jinping's thought on the rule of law: A new key tool of CCP ideology
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)
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