British parliamentary RF group launch report
The newly formed All Party Parliamentary Group on International Religious Freedom launched a report at the House of Lords on Wednesday, 26 June 2013, revealing that millions of people in 184 countries have experienced aggression or intimidation because their beliefs. Article 18: An Orphaned Right
President joins signatories to G8 letter
IARF President Most Rev. Mitsuo Miyake and Council member Rev. Takeshi Nishida were among 80 religious leaders signatory to a letter to the Financial Times urging G8 countries to follow the UK in meeting existing commitments to spend 0.7% of national income on aid. Original FT article requires subscription to view, but this story is reported on […]
Freedom of religion or belief in the UN human rights system: gaps & perspectives
Article by Willy Fautré of Human Rights Without Frontiers Int’l regarding Expert Seminar on “UN and Freedom of Religion or Belief”, 14 December 2012 @ UN, Geneva Freedom of religion or belief in the UN HR system (PDF, 2 pages)
British Unitarians raise concerns about growing threats to religious freedom with UK Government
07 September 2012 IARF British Chapter board member Derek McAuley, Chief Office of our member group in Great Britain the GAUFCC (General Assembly of Unitarian & Free Christian Churches), has raised his concerns about the growing threats to religious freedom in many parts of the world with new government International Development junior minister, Lynne Featherstone MP. […]
European bans of Muslim veil & the freedom of choice
…proponents of bans on veils in Europe see them as a way to liberate women and protect women and girls from societal pressure to veil themselves. As alien as it may seem to some Europeans, veiling can be a choice, in the same way that other convictions or conduct that have been shaped by […]
Islam, Democracy & the Pursuit of Civil Society – Tariq Ramadan
September 10, 2012 Professor Tariq Ramadan at the University of Michigan “From the Arab Awakening, Forward: Islam, Democracy & the Pursuit of Civil Society” (YouTube) The new book: Islam and the Arab Awakening
Pew Report: Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion
September 20, 2012 …third in a series of reports by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life analyzing the extent to which governments and societies around the world impinge on religious beliefs and practices. These reports have drawn widespread attention to the fact that a substantial portion of the world’s population […]
US State Dept. International Religious Freedom Report for 2011
The report focuses special attention on key trends such as the impact of political and demographic transitions on religious minorities, who tended to suffer the most in 2011; the effects of conflict on religious freedom; and the rising tide of anti-Semitism. Impacted groups, to name just a few, included Baha’is and Sufis in Iran; Christians in Egypt; Ahmadis […]
UK criminalises forced marriage: Comment
Baroness Warsi of the Conservative party summarises the situation, and the arguments. Forced marriage has always been a crime in spirit
Anti-Blasphemy Laws in the Arab Spring
The Emir of Kuwait is faced at this very moment with the decision of approving a law that would impose the death penalty against unrepentant Muslims (and varying prison sentences upon others) who exercise their religious freedom of speech in a way deemed blasphemous. So far, this is the most extreme version of such a […]