Law and Religion Headlines

Monday, 13 March 2023

Song lyrics shouldn’t get you the death penalty: A Nigerian musician sentenced to death for musical ‘blasphemy’ is challenging his country’s law
(Alliance Defending Freedom)

Bangladesh: Fatal attack against Ahmadiyya Muslim
(Forum for Religious Freedom-Europe)

Religion Watch, Volume 38 No. 4
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)

Human Rights Council hears that a new philosophy of services and support centred in social inclusion is needed for persons with disabilities, and that the abuse of religion or belief as a tool of discrimination, hostility and violence must cease
(Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations)

Christians and Muslims: migration challenges everyone's conscience
(Vatican News)

Speaking for Evangelicals at the UN, Gaetan Roy seeks to serve
(Ken Chitwood, Christianity Today)

Weekend scholarship roundup - 24 February 2023
(Islamic Law Blog)

Articles of interest - 13 March 2023
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Nicaragua proposes suspending Vatican ties after comments
(Gabriela Selser and Frances D’Emilio, Associated Press)

Hong Kong’s Taoists cancel annual parade on police order
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

ISIL claims attack targeting journalists in Afghanistan
(Al Jazeera)

South Sudan Council of Churches releases statement on nonviolence
(World Council of Churches)

WCC supports Korean churches in the Korea Peace Appeal campaign
(World Council of Churches)

Myanmar army kill more than 28 in monastery attack - insurgent group
(Jonathan Head and Kelly Ng, BBC News)

New Zealand: Online hate towards Muslims 'increasing' since mosque attacks
(Laura Frykberg, 1News)

Rohingya camp fire was 'planned sabotage' - investigators
(Kelly Ng, BBC News)

Palestine, Vatican reiterate importance of free access, worship in Jerusalem
(Middle East Monitor)

Malaysia: Gov't announces RM2 Mln contribution to empower tahfiz institutions
(Bernama)

China weakens itself by suppressing civil society and independent voices
(Radio Free Asia)

Legal Journal Number 5 (18): February/March (Spanish)
(Observatorio de Libertad Religiosa de América Latina y El Caribe)

Friday, 10 March 2023

UN observes first International Day against Islamophobia
(United Nations)

Additional humanitarian assistance for the Burma and Bangladesh regional crisis
(Antony J. Blinken, U.S. Department of State)

Indigenous voices of faith
(Andrew Bennett, Cardus)

An LGBTQ revolution in India sets the pace for global change
(Kai Schultz and Muneeza Naqvi, Bloomberg)

Razia Muradi: the Afghan woman who won university gold in India
(Cherylann Mollan, BBC News)

Abortion may be legal in Argentina but women still face major obstacles
(Agustina Latourrette, BBC News)

The Vatican is turning its back on Belarus’ Catholics
(Amanda Coakley, Coda Media)

Freedom for a fool: An Egyptian anti-Christianity activist should not have been imprisoned
(The Critic)

Championing faith-based education—forced closure of teachers college prompts the Bolivian Catholic Conference of Bishops to sue government 
(ADF International)

Kenyan launches LGBTQ crackdown in schools
(BBC News)

Saudi Arabia rebrands as Ramadan approaches
(Jennifer Holleis, Deutsche Welle)

Hong Kong bishop to visit China in bid to build bridges
(Elise Ann Allen, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Monks and militias in Myanmar
(Amara Thiha and Marte Nilsen, East Asia Forum)

Pope Francis: Jerusalem holds universal spiritual value
(Devin Watkins, Vatican News)

Report on sanctions impact launched at the UN Human Rights Council
(World Council of Churches)

Religious and ethnic leaders appeal to Iraq president for equal rights to all citizens
(World Council of Churches)

Canada: The provinces could pass on expanding assisted death—regardless of the federal government’s wishes
(Brian Bird, The Hub)

Ukraine orders Russian-aligned Orthodox church to leave Kyiv monastery
(Reuters)

Guatemala: Attorney General participated in the Latin American Symposium on Religious Freedom (Spanish)
(Ministerio Público)

Wednesday, 8 March 2023

In focus: International Women’s Day
(UN Women)

Women’s higher education in an ultra-conservative Islamic community
(Iman Dawood, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)

Reflection on International Women's Day
(Twitter, International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), Brigham Young University)

Global Council Chair reflection on Women's Day
(United Religions Initiative)

International Women’s Day: The exclusion of Afghanistan’s women
(Alia Chughtai and Marium Ali, Al Jazeera)

‘Woman, life, freedom’ – Iran faces a crisis with freedom of religion or belief and gender equality at its core
(FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)

Interview: taking walks without wearing a hijab in Iran
(Nahid Naghshbandi, Human Rights Watch)

International Women's Day: Inspiring female KAICIID fellows making a difference in interreligious dialogue
(KAICIID Dialogue Centre)

Bangladesh criticized for failing to protect Ahmadiyya Muslims
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

Jahid Hasan: An Ahmadi young man clobbered to death in Bangladesh: A three-night attack by Muslim fanatics happened in daylight and in front of the police.
(Marco Respinti, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)

Israel: Christian-Jewish fellowship donated nine bomb shelters to Tiberias
(The Jerusalem Post)

South Africa: Parliament’s first House approves hate speech bill
(Daniela Ellerbeck, Freedom of Religion South Africa)

South Africa: Update on recent or current religious freedom issues and cases
(Freedom of Religion South Africa)

Russia: New law restricting missionary work breached the European Convention
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

'Court' in Russian-occupied Crimea passes long sentences against three Ukrainian Jehovah’s Witnesses
(Halya Coynash, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group)

The travails of the Nicaraguan church
(Edgar Beltrán, Law & Liberty)

Vietnam police tell Church of God followers to renounce their faith
(Radio Free Asia)

China: “Smart Religion” app: Christians must submit online form to attend church
(Gao Zhensai, ChinaAid)

Israel must recognize online marriages conducted via Utah, Supreme Court rules
(Jeremy Sharon, The Times of Israel)

COMECE offers recommendations on EU Human Rights Defenders Guidelines
(The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE))

India: Freedom of religion is alive
(Nepal News)

Indian Christian educators granted bail in conversion case
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

Keeping faith in a plural and diverse India
(Urmi Chanda, South Asia Watch)

India’s ‘cow protectors’ are getting away with murder
(Alishan Jafri, Coda Media)

India's Supreme Court rejects bid to rename historical places
(Shaikh Azizur Rahman, Voice of America)

India's Supreme Court rejects petition on renaming of historical cultural religious places
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Christians slam ban on healing prayers in northeast India
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

Canada: Fundy Albert backtracks on council meeting prayer
(Shane Magee, CBC News)

Hezbollah supports Christian ally to become Lebanon's president
(Daily Sabah)

Tuesday, 7 March 2023

Somalia: revamp intelligence agency bill
(Human Rights Watch)

Tanzania should halt plan to relocate Maasai pastoralists
(Juliana Nnoko-Mewanu and Oryem Nyeko, Inter Press Service)

Monday, 6 March 2023

Religicide: Examining religious, ethnic, and racial violence
(JoAnne Wadsworth, Viewpoints: A blog of the G20 Interfaith Forum)

World Interfaith Harmony Week: The role of religion in conflict resolution and peacebuilding
(Pieter Francois, Viewpoints: A blog of the G20 Interfaith Forum)

Use human rights frameworks to promote freedoms of religion, belief, and expression: UN experts
(Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations)

Enhanced interactive dialogue on human rights in Eritrea
(Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations)

Nicaragua’s dictatorship sentences Bishop Rolando Álvarez to 26 years in prison
(Walter Sanchez Silva, Catholic News Agency)

Benjamin Netanyahu on the occasion of Purim
(Twitter, Prime Minister of Israel)

Jerusalem police meet with members of Armenian church and community
(The Jerusalem Post)

Uganda’s parliament threatens to criminalize homosexuality
(Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, Human Rights Watch)

Use global meeting to highlight Bahrain’s abuses
(Human Rights Watch)

Nicaragua: UN Rights Council should renew experts’ mandate
(Human Rights Watch)

Religious minorities in Pakistan face problems in obtaining national ID card: Report
(ANI News)

'Gender discrimination': Afghan universities reopen without women
(TRT World)

In India, former civil servants call on Prime Minister to stop anti-Christian discrimination
(Nirmala Carvalho, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

India: Ahead of polls, Christian orgs in Andhra & Telangana lobby to repeal GO mandating verification of religion for SCs
(Shivani, The Commune)

Pro-Tibetans to hold march in Taipei to show solidarity with Tibetans, other minorities
(The Print)

Articles of interest - 6 March 2023
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Taliban's persecution of women could be 'crime against humanity' - UN report
(Reuters)

Don’t overlook the faith in climate action
(Simran Jeet Singh, Religion News Service)

UOC-MP should leave two monasteries and the Cathedral of the XI century in Chernihiv, - decision of the Ministry of Culture
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))

Can we "educate" anti-Semitism away?
(Reuven Brenner, Law & Liberty)

Afghanistan universities reopen but women still barred by Taliban
(Al Jazeera)

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The International Center for Law and Religion Studies maintains a Law and Religion Headlines service covering news about freedom of religion or belief internationally. All interested may subscribe to this service, free of charge, using the link below.