EME Regional Conference 2016: Programme and Registration

The quadrennial conference of the EME, IARF’s Europe and Middle East region, will be held on 22-25 August 2016 in Tetovo, FYR Macedonia. It will be hosted by the Bektashi Community and the Evropa Centre for Human Rights. The theme will be Religion and Conflict Prevention. You will find the programme and other details here. […]

President’s New Year Message 2016

Dear friends in IARF, Acts of religiously motivated crimes have been dominating the news during 2015. The fanaticism with which oppression and war are being pursued is viewed by many to stem from religious zeal. Now, more than ever, there is a need for IARF to speak out on peaceful coexistence for religions. IARF does […]

March 2012 ToM: Religious violence in Nigeria

Some recent coverage of the rise of Boko Haram in northern Nigeria:   Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Lurid Picture of Nigeria’s Muslims in Newsweek (13 Feb 2012) Nigeria names former soldier as suspect in the Christmas Day church bombing (15 Feb 2012) Islamist sect has support in Nigerian government – president Plus: Written statement submitted by the Jubilee Campaign to […]

January 2012 ToM: Resolution 16/18

  Resolution 16/18,  a measure adopted “by consensus” – without a vote – at the U.N. Human Rights Council – was introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), a coalition of 57 Muslim states. Formally entitled “combating intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of, and discrimination, incitement to violence and violence against […]

December 2011 ToM: Syrian secularism under transformation

  Topic of this month is the demise of secularism in an Arab republic. http://wwrn.org/articles/36648/   Site of film to which above article refers    

November 2011 ToM: The fate of USCIRF

  Has the U.S. Senate “chosen to quietly shut down the independent U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom” (USCIRF)? Do the American people “need to remind their senators of the importance of religious freedom in foreign policy and of USCIRF’s key role”? Consider this article by Nina Shea.