Law and Religion Headlines
Friday, 2 June 2023
Rastafari gain sacramental rights to marijuana in Antigua and Barbuda, celebrate freedom of worship
(Luis Andres Henao, Associated Press)
India: Bishops seek end to Christian persecution in Indian state
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Taiwan: China’s infiltration strategy into Taiwan’s religious organizations
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Defending human rights as a threat to national security? The perverse consequences of ignoring the legitimate aim question in Kogan and Others v. Russia
(Tobias Mortier, Strasbourg Observers)
Ukrainian religious scholars provide advice to British experts collecting evidence of Russian crimes for trial in The Hague
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
UK-based Islamic charities donate $24.4bn a year to good causes
(Arab News)
Ukrainian Parliament called for actions against Russian presence in the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Russia: "Would Jesus Christ have gone to kill in Ukraine?"
(Victoria Arnold, Forum 18 News Service)
Ukraine: conscientious objector freed, new trial ordered
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Yunnan protest: Mosque closure sees clashes with security forces
(Nicholas Yong, BBC News)
Crowd in China clashes with police over plans to demolish mosque
(Associated Press)
Canada: NCCM and CCLA launch joint challenge to Quebec governments ban on prayers in public schools
(Harini Sivalangam, Canadian Civil Liberties Association)
Canada: York Catholic school board votes against flying Pride flag at education centre
(CBC News)
A new anti-gay law in Uganda calls for life in prison for those who are convicted
(Jackie Northam and Halima Athumani, NPR)
Iran tries female journalists who reported on Mahsa Amini's death
(David Gritten, BBC News)
Apology for Ghana textbook critical of missionaries
(BBC News)
Another hitch in Malawi preacher extradition case
(Peter Jegwa, BBC News)
Jordan’s churches approve law on equal inheritance for Christian women
(Daoud Kuttab, Christianity Today)
Uganda’s president signs repressive anti-LGBT law
(Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, Human Rights Watch)
Yemen: Houthis forcibly disappear Baha’is
(Human Rights Watch)
India: Investigate police bias alleged in Manipur violence
(Human Rights Watch)
Politics as a form of social friendship
(Ryan Service, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)
"Little Tibet": Positioning Ladakh as a Homeland for Tibetan Buddhism in India
(Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg, Project MUSE)
Nepal raises concerns to the US over religious freedom report in diplomatic note
(Asim Khan, BNN)
IGE announces leadership transition
(Institute for Global Engagement)
Registration, recognition, and freedom of religion or belief
(Brandon Reece Taylorian and Marco Ventura, Oxford Journal of Law and Religion)
Accommodating Non-Muslim Rights: Legal Arguments and Legal Principles in the Islamic Jurisprudence of the Indonesian Supreme Court in the Post-New Order Era
(Muhammad Lutfi Hakim and Khoiruddin Nasution, Oxford Journal of Law and Religion)
Cogency, Seriousness, Cohesion, and Importance: Assessing the Strasbourg Case-Law on Religion or Belief
(Tim Wolff, Oxford Journal of Law and Religion)
8 killed in northern Cameroon by Boko Haram fighters, regional official says
(Edwin Kindzeka Moki, Associated Press)
“Violent acts”: Armed Houthis attack Bahá’í gathering in Yemen, arresting at least 17, in fresh crackdown
(Bahá’í World News Service)
Nexus of Religion and Immigration: Islamicized and Securitized
(Jocelyne Cesari, Oxford University Press)
Pakistani Christians just ask fair treatment, leaders say
(John Burger, Aleteia)
Cuba: Here’s the most important thing Catholic bishops in Cuba should not concede to the regime
(Teo A. Babun, Miami Herald)
World religions to share values and knowledge at COP28
(Vatican News)
Israel Foreign Ministry to boycott event focused on spitting attacks against Christians
(Barak Ravid , author of Axios from Tel Aviv, Axios)
Brazil: Reject harmful bill on Indigenous rights
(Human Rights Watch)
Monday, 29 May 2023
Not just Israel’s Ben-Gvir: A new Al-Aqsa provocation is rising
(Eliyahu Freedman, Al Jazeera)
Jewish settlers erect religious school in evacuated West Bank outpost after Israel repeals ban
(Associated Press)
Orthodox Jews demonstrate against Christian 'missionaries' at Western Wall
(Zvika Klein, The Jerusalem Post)
Al-Shabab terrorists target African Union army base in Somalia
(Daily Sabah)
The Moscow Mechanism Expert Report on the Forcible Transfer and Deportation of Ukrainian Children
(Veronika Bilkova, Cecilie Hellestveit and Elīna Šteinerte, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
Iran: ‘We use money that could feed hungry Muslims to restore Christian churches’ – tourism minister
(Article 18)
Religious leaders commitment to building trust and joint action on peace and security in Mombasa County
(Inter-Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK))
Nigeria should release prisoner accused of blasphemy
(Katrina Lantos Swett, Real Clear Politics)
Articles of interest - 29 May 2023
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Being a Turk and a Christian at the same time? You can't do that in Turkey
(Christian Network Europe)
Sri Lanka to introduce law against religious slander on social media
(The Times of India)
Sri Lanka arrests stand-up comedian for insulting Buddhism
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Amid repatriation attempts, OIC chief visits Rohingya in Bangladeshi camps
(Md Kamruzzaman and SM Najmus Sakib, Anadolu Agency)
The Department of State and the drama of religious liberty in Japan
(Massimo Introvigne, The Washington Times)
Taiwan: The U.S. State Department Report focuses on religious property law
(Zsuzsa-Anna Ferenczcy, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Pluralistic Islamic religious education: A vision for Indonesia
(Abdul Mu’ti, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)
Measuring subnational variation in freedom of religion or belief violations: Reflections on a path forward
(Jason Klocek and Dennis P. Petri, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)
Revisiting religious freedom as a national security lens: The case of China
(Eric Patterson, Piper Smith and Linda Kamau, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)
Can we have religious freedom and social harmony?
(Dennis R. Hoover, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)
Clergy as first responders: Rethinking leadership in religion and peacebuilding
(Gladys Ganiel, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)
Religious communitarianism, covenants, and liberal theory: On the political thought of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
(Nahshon Perez, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)
Is interreligious dialogue in international relations “dialogue-washing” for authoritarian regimes? An exploration of KAICIID and ICCS as track 1.5 diplomacy
(Paul Hedges, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)
China’s religious diplomacy for its Belt and Road Initiative: A review and assessment
(Juyan Zhang, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)
The effectiveness of freedom of religion or belief as a framework in international relations: The case of Uyghur Muslims and other religious minorities in Xinjiang, China
(David Garciandía Igal, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)
Indonesia’s fragmented responses to international pressure during the 2016–2017 blasphemy case
(Rizky Alif Alvian, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)
Brazil: Religious freedom at risk in business (Portuguese)
(Cristiano Stefenoni, Comunhão)
Brazil: It has never been so urgent to face religious intolerance (Portuguese)
(Magali Cunha, Carta Capital)
Friday, 26 May 2023
Pope sends Vatican official to Bolivia as abuse allegations escalate
(Carlos Valdez, Associated Press)
Happy birthday, Buddha! Why the founder of Buddhism has so many different birthdays around the world
(Megan Bryson, The Conversation)
Shavuot: The Jewish holiday that became all about children
(Laura Yares, The Conversation)
IRFBA statement on Christians
(U.S. Department of State)
IRFBA Chair’s statement on the arbitrary detention of Reverend Dr Hkalam Samson
(International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA), U.S. Department of State)
MP introduces urgent legislation for accountability in Canada’s security agencies
(Steven Zhou, Canada's National Observer)
Revictimization in the search for a solution to conflicts related to religious freedom
(Pablo Vargas, FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
Religious persecution at the far edge of India
(Knox Thames, The Diplomat)
The crisis in Manipur has been brewing: Depths of discord in northeastern India
(Martin Macwan, South Asia Monitor)
India: Atal Behari Vajpayee: The man who made Hindu nationalist politics acceptable
(Soutik Biswas, BBC News)
Sacred Spheres: Religious Autonomy as an International Human Right
(Diana V. Thomson and Kayla A. Toney, Catholic University Law Review)
New book: Fatwa and the Making and Renewal of Islamic Law: From the Classical Period to the Present
(Omer Awass, Cambridge University Press)
Blasphemy laws in Nigeria
(UK Parliament)
Chechen leader slams Quran-burning incident in Volgograd as outrageous
(TASS)
Russia acknowledges Vatican peace initiative, says no steps yet for a mission to Moscow
(Paolo Santalucia and Nicole Winfield, Associated Press)
Ukraine: 110 damaged religious sites inspected and documented by UNESCO
(Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Uzbekistan: devout muslim jailed after return to country
(Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service)
New Ipsos survey includes newsworthy updates on religious attitudes worldwide
(Richard Ostling, GetReligion)
Israel's violations of Al-Aqsa threaten its Islamic identity, Islamic-Christian Committee warns
(Middle East Monitor)
Boosters of Israel emigration find friends, support among evangelical Christians
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)
Japan home to a growing Muslim presence as it embraces change
(The Asahi Shimbun)
Religious prisoner released in Tajikistan
(International Christian Concern)
Colombia: This is how the Comprehensive Public Policy on Religious Freedom and Worship advances (Spanish)
(Camila Camacho, Alcadía de Bucaramanga)
Chile: Protections for religious freedom advance in process for new Constitution in Chile (Spanish)
(Diego López Marina, ACI Prensa)
Brazil: Hospital that denied surgery to Jehovah's Witness will have to compensate (Portuguese)
(Rafa Santos, Conjur)
Brazil: Arminianism and religious freedom (Portuguese)
(Ediudson Fontes, Guiame)
Wednesday, 24 May 2023
AI and Commodification of Religion
(Johan Eddebo, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
Australia and India: Albanese should raise human rights concerns with Modi
(Elaine Pearson, Human Rights Watch)
Occupied Ukraine: First known "discreditation" case in Russian-annexed territory
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
Don’t legalize same-sex unions: Malawi’s Christian leaders to judges ahead of ruling
(Magdalene Kahiu, ACI Africa)
'No one should be sentenced to death for their belief': Concern over blasphemy cases in Nigeria and Pakistan
(Premier Christian News)
Priest killed in Mexico; 9th under the current administration
(Associated Press)
Pope’s Ukraine peace envoy blasts war as a ‘pandemic’ that affects everyone
(Nicole Winfield, Associated Press)
Brazil’s liberation theologians back Lula, and the Pope, on Ukraine
(Eduardo Campos Lima, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
It will be easy for journalists to find God connections in Turkey's run-off election
(Julia Duin, GetReligion)
Colombia Catholic Church highlights youth, family for nation building
(La Croix International)
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