India, March 21, 2012: The US government panel that monitors global religious freedom has once again listed India among countries that require close monitoring due to religious freedom violation.   USCIRF Identifies World’s Worst Religious Freedom Violators    

 25 March 2012 The 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council has just ended.  You can read here a statement made by Heiner Bielefeldt, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, during the interactive dialogue, and also download his latest (2012) Report presented to the Council.    

  State prosecutors in Tomsk seek to ban the Russian translation of the Bhagavad Gita, contending it is an extremist religious text that should be on a blacklist that includes Hitler’s Mein Kampf. http://wwrn.org/articles/36643/      

  During the period in which Obama has been in office, we have indeed witnessed an assault on religious freedom unprecedented in recent history. http://wwrn.org/articles/36976/    

  Muslim women in Australia’s most populous state will have to remove their face-veils to have their signatures officially witnessed under new stricter identity check laws. Those who refuse would not have their document authenticated and could also face a fine of $220. http://wwrn.org/articles/36980/

“The role of youth in the progress of Afghanistan” Work by Afghan members of our youth network (‘RFYN’)  submitted for:    High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on Youth @ UN Headquarters, New York25-26 July 2011 RFYN contribution to UN High-Level Meeting (PDF, 3 pages) Illustrated article “The role of youth in the progress of Afghanistan” […]

  This year’s  IARF-US conference was held February 3-5, 2012 at Hilton Head, South Carolina, at the Hilton Oceanfront Resort, in connection with the UN-sponsored World Interfaith Harmony Week (theme: “Faith, Interfaith, and Freedom”). For reportback, see the relevant Chapter Newsletter (PDF). Sri Kota’s conference notes Photos (link to US chapter site) Opening Ceremony performance by college group Cocktails  

  A new chapter has been founded in Nepal. Formed in May 2003, the chapter has already held an inauguration ceremony (attended by 125 people) and sponsored both an art and essay competition at two secondary schools. In October 2003, the chapter sponsored four half-day programmes in western Nepal (Terai region) that examined the situations […]

May 2009 from the Report (PDF, 2 pages): In May the second phase of the HRE program in Kerala began enthusiastically, with a new India Chapter branch opening after a program at the Adivasi & Dalit House Settlement Colony at Kurumthar in Pathanamthitta district.   [nggallery id=18]