International Day Commemorating Victims Of Religious Persecution

Today was International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence based on Religion or Belief, so designated by a United Nations General Assembly Resolution (full text) adopted in 2019. A U.N. web page sets out the background and importance of the day. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken issued a statement (full text) saying in part:

May this day offer assurance to those suffering for their beliefs that the United States and likeminded partners have not forgotten or forsaken you.  We see you, we hear you, and we remain unwavering in our commitment to ensure your freedom, protection, and peaceful exercise of your beliefs.

The Council of the European Union issued a press release marking the occasion, saying in part:

In these times of armed conflicts and humanitarian crises across the globe, individuals, including those belonging to minority groups, continue to be discriminated against, persecuted targeted, killed, detained, expelled or forcefully displaced because of their religion or for holding humanists and /or atheist beliefs. Today is an opportunity to highlight their situation.

Commission Recommends Changes In Australian State's Anti-Discrimination Laws

On Aug. 16, the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia sent to Parliament its 297-page Final Report on its Review of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA) (full text). The Report makes 163 recommendations for changes in Western Australia's anti-discrimination laws. In connection with the Act's ban on discrimination based on religious conviction, the Report's Recommendation 51 provides:

Religious conviction should be defined in the Act. It should be defined as:
• having a religious conviction, belief, opinion or affiliation;
• engaging in religious activity;
• appearance or dress required by, or symbolic of, the person’s religious conviction;
• the cultural heritage and distinctive spiritual practices, observances, beliefs and teachings of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
• engaging in the cultural heritage and distinctive spiritual practices, observances, beliefs and teachings of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
• not having a religious conviction, belief, opinion or affiliation; and
• not engaging in religious activity.

The word religious should not be defined.

The Report also makes recommendations relating to discrimination on the basis of gender identity, sex characteristics and sexual orientation. It makes extensive recommendations on religious exceptions to anti-discrimination rules.

Christian Schools Australia issued a press release criticizing the Report.

U.N. Appoints Oxford Prof As Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief

At the end of its 50th annual session on July 8, the United Nations Human Rights Council appointed Nazila Ghanea as Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief (press release). Ghanea is Professor of International Human Rights Law and Director of International Human Rights Programs at Britain's Oxford University (biography). Her research has included a focus on religious minorities in the Middle East, including Bahá'is in Iran. The United Nations press release announcing Ghanea's selection lists her nationality as Islamic Republic of Iran. 

State Department Issues International Religious Freedom Report

On June 2, the State Department issued its annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom.  Issued in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the Report describes the status of religious freedom in nearly 200 foreign countries. The 2000-page Report is available on the State Department's website only in a format that allows the reader to choose one country at a time and read the report on that nation.  Appendices to the Report, also available on the website, give additional information on the legal framework that attempts to assure religious freedom internationally. Secretary of State Blinken and Ambassador At Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain delivered remarks (full text) on the release of the Report, highlighting issues in a number of  nations.  Ambassador Hussain said in part:

I’d like to lay out three key themes in the report.

First, too many governments use discriminatory laws and policies and abuse their own people. We have seen two genocides of religious minority communities in recent years – in China and in Burma.

Second, rising societal intolerance and hatred are fueling violence and conflict around the world. Governments must not sit silent or stand idly by in the face of such oppression.

Third, powerful collaboration among civil society, governments, and multilateral partners has led to some progress and provides hope in addressing these complex challenges.

European Court: Lithuania Should Have Provided Civilian Service Alternative To Jehovah's Witness

In Teliatnikov v. Lithuania, (ECHR, June 7, 2022), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber Judgment held that Lithuania violated Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) of the European Convention On Human Rights when it refused to grant a Jehovah's Witness deacon alternative service under civilian control. The petitioner has religious objections to military service or any alternative service controlled, supervised or directed in any way by the military, or which supports military activity. Lithuania only provides alternative national defense service under military supervision. The court concluded:

the Court finds that the system in Lithuania failed to strike a fair balance between the interests of society and those of the applicant who has deeply and genuinely held beliefs.

The court also issued a press release summarizing the decision.

European Court Says Russia Violated Rights of Jehovah's Witnesses

In a 6-1 Chamber Judgment in Taganrog LRO and Others v. Russia, (ECHR, June 7, 2022), the European Court of Human Rights held that Russia's forced dissolution of Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organizations, banning of Jehovah's Witness religious literature and international website on charges of extremism, banning distribution of their religious magazines, criminal prosecution of individual Jehovah’s Witnesses, and confiscation of their property violate protections for freedom of religion, expression and assembly found in Articles 9, 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as other protections. The Court said in part:

152. The first ground for declaring the Taganrog LRO to be an “extremist” organisation was the charge that its texts stoked religious hatred by casting “traditional” Christian denominations in a negative light, undermining respect for their religious figures, urging people to leave those religions, and proclaiming the superiority of the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses....

153.  The Court reiterates that preference for one’s own religion, the perception of it as unique and the only true one or as a “superior explanation of the universe” is a cornerstone of almost any religious system, as is the assessment of the other faiths as “false”, “wrong” or “not conducive to salvation”....  In the absence of expressions that seek to incite or justify violence or hatred based on religious intolerance, any religious entity or individual believers have the right to proclaim and defend their doctrine as the true and superior one and to engage in religious disputes and criticism seeking to prove the truth of one’s own and the falsity of others’ dogmas or beliefs....

154.  ... [I]n a pluralist and democratic society, those who exercise their right to freedom of religion ... cannot reasonably expect to be shielded from exposure to ideas that may offend, shock or disturb. They must tolerate and accept the denial by others of their religious beliefs and even the propagation by others of doctrines hostile to their faith.... Religious people may be genuinely offended by claims that others’ religion is superior to theirs. However, just because a remark may be perceived as offensive or insulting by particular individuals or groups does not mean that it constitutes “hate speech”....

The Court also issued a press release summarizing the lengthy opinion. 

USCIRF Issues 2022 Annual Report

Yesterday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released its 2022 Annual Report (full text) which documents developments during 2021.  USCIRF issued a press release summarizing the 100-page report, saying in part:

USCIRF recommends 15 countries to the State Department for designation as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) because their governments engage in or tolerate “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations.” These include 10 that the State Department designated as CPCs in November 2021: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan—as well as five others: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Syria, and Vietnam. For the first time ever, the State Department designated Russia as a CPC in 2021, which USCIRF had been recommending since 2017. Regrettably, the State Department removed Nigeria as a CPC....

The ... Report also recommends 12 countries for placement on the State Department’s Special Watch List (SWL) based on their governments’ perpetration or toleration of severe violations. These include three that the State Department placed on that list in November 2021: Algeria, Cuba, and Nicaragua—as well as nine others: Azerbaijan, CAR [Central African Republic], Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan....

The 2022 Annual Report further recommends to the State Department seven non-state actors for redesignation as “entities of particular concern” ... for systematic, ongoing, egregious violations...: al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, the Houthis, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham ..., Islamic State in the Greater Sahara ..., Islamic State in West Africa Province ..., and Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin....

... The report also highlights [other] important global developments and trends related to religious freedom.... These include: the COVID-19 pandemic and religious freedom, blasphemy and hate speech law enforcement, transnational repression, religious intolerance in Europe, deteriorating religious freedom conditions in South Asia, and political upheaval that raises religious freedom concerns.

State Department Issues 2021 Report On Human Rights Practices Around The World

On Tuesday, the State Department released the 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. This year's reports cover 198 countries and territories. While these reports include information on the status of religious freedom in the countries surveyed, the State Department also issues a report each year focused specifically in International Religious Freedom. The 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom will be issued later this year.

U.S. Imposes New Sanctions On China For Repression Of Ethnic And Religious Minorities

On Monday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced (full text of press statement) that the U.S. is imposing new sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights violations. He said in part:

The Department of State is taking action against PRC officials for their involvement in repressive acts against members of ethnic and religious minority groups and religious and spiritual practitioners inside and outside of China’s borders, including within the United States....

Today’s action imposes visa restrictions on PRC officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, policies or actions aimed at repressing religious and spiritual practitioners, members of ethnic minority groups, dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists, labor organizers, civil society organizers, and peaceful protestors in China and beyond....

We call on the PRC government to end its ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, repressive policies in Tibet, crackdown on fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, and human rights violations and abuses, including violations of religious freedom, elsewhere in the country.

CBS News reports on the State Department's action.

French High Court Upholds Ban On Lawyers Wearing Religious Garb In Court

France's Court of Cassation, one of the country's four courts of last resort, this week upheld a rule of the Lille bar association that provides: "the lawyer may not wear with the robe either decoration or sign ostensibly manifesting a religious, philosophical, community or political affiliation or opinion."  One of the litigants was a law student who wears a hijab.  In Appeal No. 20-20.185, (Ct. Cassation, March 2, 2022), the court said in part:

[T]he Court of Appeal held that the will of a bar association to impose on its members, when they appear before a court ... to wear a uniform suit contributes to ensuring the equality of lawyers and, through this, the equality of litigants..., that in order to protect their rights and freedoms, each lawyer, in the exercise of his functions of defense and representation, must erase what is personal to him and that the wearing of the costume of his profession without any sign distinctive is necessary to testify to its availability to any litigant.

24. The Court of Appeal ... rightly deduced that the prohibition ... was necessary in order to achieve the legitimate aim pursued, namely to protect the independence of the lawyer and ensure the right to a fair trial, but was also, without any discrimination, adequate and proportionate to the objective sought.

Jurist reports on the decision.

Rashad Hussain Confirmed As International Religious Freedom Ambassador

Yesterday the U.S. Senate, by a vote of 85-5, confirmed Rashad Hussain to be Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom. The White House issued this biographical background when Hussain was nominated for the post:

Rashad Hussain is Director for Partnerships and Global Engagement at the National Security Council.... During the Obama Administration, Rashad served as U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), U.S. Special Envoy for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, and Deputy Associate White House Counsel. In his roles as Envoy, Hussain ... spearheaded efforts on countering antisemitism and protecting religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries.... Rashad received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal, and Master’s degrees in Public Administration (Kennedy School of Government) and Arabic and Islamic Studies from Harvard University....

State Department Designates "Countries of Particular Concern" For Violating Religious Freedom Rights

Last week, in a little noticed move, pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act the U.S. State Department published this year's designation of countries and non-state actors that are major violators of religious freedom. In a statement, Secretary of State Blinken said:

I am designating Burma, the People’s Republic of China, Eritrea, Iran, the DPRK, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as Countries of Particular Concern for having engaged in or tolerated “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”  I am also placing Algeria, Comoros, Cuba, and Nicaragua on a Special Watch List for governments that have engaged in or tolerated “severe violations of religious freedom.”  Finally, I am designating al-Shabab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Greater Sahara, ISIS-West Africa, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, and the Taliban as Entities of Particular Concern.

Many of the designations are the same as last year, except that Russia was moved from the Special Watch List to become a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and Nigeria was placed on the Special Watch List instead of being designated a CPC. Also the State Department noted "The Taliban’s designation is based on information analyzed as of August 15, 2021." As is often the case, the State Department's designations vary to some extent from the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

President Biden's Statement On International Religious Freedom Day

Yesterday was International Religious Freedom Day, commemorating the signing of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.(Current version). Yesterday President Biden issued a Statement (full text) marking the day, saying in part:

We stand in defense of religious freedom not only as an expression of our deepest values but also because it is a vital national security priority. The United States will continue to rally the globe to protect and promote the right of freedom of religion or belief, including through multilateral coalitions such as the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance.

USCIRF Calls Attention To Persecution of Ahmadiyya Muslims

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has recently issued a new Factsheet on Persecution of Ahmadiyya Muslims, focusing particularly on issues in Pakistan, Algeria and Malaysia, saying part:

In these countries, authorities have targeted Ahmadis through hate speech and speech inciting violence against them, denied them citizenship, restricted their rights to worship, and prosecuted them for practicing their faith, including by charging them with, and in some cases convicting them of, blasphemy. Some states prohibit Ahmadis from declaring their faith publicly, criminalize them for identifying as Muslim, and prohibit them from calling their houses of worship mosques....

 USCIRF explains:

Because of the differences between Ahmadiyya beliefs and beliefs in Sunni and Shi’a Islam, many Muslims consider Ahmadiyya Muslims to be heretics.

Canadian Court Upholds COVID Restrictions On Churches

In Gateway Bible Baptist Church v. Province of Manitoba, (MBQB, Oct. 21, 2021), a Manitoba (Canada) trial court, in a 156-page opinion, upheld against constitutional challenges the public health restrictions imposed by the province on gatherings at places of worship and at private homes.  Plaintiffs were several churches and individuals. The court concluded that while the restrictions infringed the rights to freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression; and freedom of peaceful assembly, the Public Health Orders are constitutionally justifiable as reasonable limits under Section 1 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court said in part:

[T]he decision to temporarily close places of worship and otherwise limit the size of gatherings, was rational, reasoned and defensible in the circumstances of an undeniable public health crisis.

The court went on to conclude that the restrictions did not infringe the rights of liberty or security and did not amount to religious discrimination. The court said in part:

It is the position of the applicants that the impugned PHOs discriminate on the basis of religion in that they classify liquour, cannabis and big-box retailers as “essential” and therefore allow them to remain open [while they] classify churches and religious gatherings as “non-essential”.... Put simply, the applicants submit that it is discriminatory to allow people to assemble in liquor and grocery stores, but not worship at church.... [T]he applicants have inaccurately described Manitoba’s use of the adjective “essential” as it relates to churches and religious gatherings just as they have also failed to appreciate that the distinction in question (between what is permitted to remain open and what must remain closed) is not based on religion.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms issued a press release discussing the decision.

Biden Announces Religious Freedom and Anti-Semitism Nominations

President Biden today announced the names of four individuals who he intends to nominate to key positions involving religious affairs. Two of the nominations are for positions at the ambassadorial level:

Rashad Hussain, Nominee for Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom

Deborah Lipstadt, Nominee for Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism with the Rank of Ambassador

Two others are nominations to USCIRF: 

Khizr Khan, Appointee for Commissioner of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom

Sharon Kleinbaum, Appointee for Commissioner of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom

The White House announcement sets out extensive biographical facts on each nominee.

State Department Releases 2020 International Religious Freedom Report

 Secretary of State Anthony Blinken yesterday announced release of the 2020 International Religious Freedom Report. The report surveys the status of religious freedom in virtually every foreign nation. In his remarks, Secretary Blinken said in part:

To name just a few examples from this year’s report, Iran continues to intimidate, harass, and arrest members of minority faith groups, including Baha’i, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Sunni and Sufi Muslims.

In Burma, the military coup leaders are among those responsible for ethnic cleansing and other atrocities against Rohingya, most of whom are Muslim, and other religious and ethnic minorities around the world.

In Russia, authorities continue to harass, detain, and seize property of Jehovah’s Witnesses as well as members of Muslim minority groups on the pretense of alleged extremism.

In Nigeria, courts continue to convict people of blasphemy, sentencing them to long-term imprisonment or even death.  Yet the government has still not brought anyone to justice for the military’s massacre of hundreds of Shia Muslims in 2015.

Saudi Arabia remains the only country in the world without a Christian church, though there are more than a million Christians living in Saudi Arabia.  And authorities continue to jail human rights activists like Raif Badawi, who was sentenced in 2014 to a decade in prison and a thousand lashes for speaking about his beliefs.

And China broadly criminalizes religious expression and continues to commit crimes against humanity and genocide against Muslim Uyghurs and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.

Today, I’m announcing the designation of Yu Hui, former office director of the so-called Central Leading Group Preventing and Dealing with Heretical Religions, of Chengdu, for his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely, the arbitrary detention of Falun Gong practitioners.  Yu Hui and his family are now ineligible for entry into the United States.

European Commission Appoints New Special Envoy For Freedom of Religion

 In-Cyprus reports today:

The European Commission has decided to appoint former crisis management and ebola coordination Commissioner Christos Stylianides, a Cypriot national, as Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU, effective immediately.

According to the Commission, the Special Envoy will be attached to Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, who is in charge of leading the Commission`s dialogue with churches and religious associations or communities, and with philosophical and non-confessional organisations. Freedom of religion or belief is under attack in many parts of the world.

An ADF press release points out that the appointment comes after the position has been vacant for two years.

Biden Nominates Sarah Margon To State Department Human Rights Post

Yesterday President Biden submitted to the Senate the nomination of Sarah Margon to be Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. According to Wikipedia:

Margon began her career as a humanitarian and conflict policy advisor for Oxfam. She later worked as a staffer on the United States Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy and as a foreign policy advisor to Senator Russ Feingold. She later worked as the associate director for sustainable security and peace-building at the Center for American Progress and deputy Washington director of Human Rights Watch. Margon has most recently worked as a U.S. foreign policy advisor for the Open Society Foundations.

The State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor works to advance human rights, including freedom of religion.

USCIRF Issues Annual Report On International Religious Freedom

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom yesterday announced the release of its 2021 Annual Report (full text).  The 108-page Report focuses on religious freedom violations in 26 countries. Summarizing it findings, the Report said in part:

For 2021, based on religious freedom conditions in 2020, USCIRF recommends that the State Department:

• Redesignate as CPCs [Countries of Particular Concern] the following ten countries: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan;

• Designate as additional CPCs the following four countries: India, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam; 

• Maintain on the SWL [Special Watch List] the following two countries: Cuba and Nicaragua;

• Include on the SWL the following 10 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan; and

• Redesignate as EPCs [Entities of Particular Concern] the following seven nonstate actors: al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, the Houthis, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), and the Taliban.

The Report also makes numerous policy recommendations to the U.S. government, including the prompt nomination of the ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom (IRF), special adviser for IRF on the National Security Council staff, special coordinator for Tibetan issues, and special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism. It also recommends changes in U.S. handling of refugees and asylum seekers.