Canada, Netherlands Will Assist In Case Against Myanmar For Genocide Against Rohingya

 In a Joint Statement (full text) issued on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministers of Canada and the Netherlands said that their governments plan to intervene in the genocide case that has been brought against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice. In the case, Gambia claims that Myanmar has taken and condoned actions against Rohingya Muslims that violate the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. In an initial decision, the International Court imposed provisional measures on Myanmar.  In their Joint Statement, Canada and the Netherlands said in part:

The Gambia took a laudable step towards ending impunity for those committing atrocities in Myanmar and upholding this pledge. Canada and the Netherlands consider it our obligation to support these efforts which are of concern to all of humanity. As part of this intervention, Canada and the Kingdom of the Netherlands will assist with the complex legal issues that are expected to arise and will pay special attention to crimes related to sexual and gender-based violence, including rape.

Al Jazeera reports on these developments.

Dutch High Court Rules Pastafarianism Is Not A Religion

The Guardian reported yesterday that Netherlands highest court, the Council of State, has ruled that law student Mienke de Wilde who is a Pastafarian cannot wear a colander on her head in her passport and drivers license photo. While Dutch law allows the head to be partially covered for such photos for genuine religious reasons, the court ruled that the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster lacks the seriousness and coherence required of a religion.  The court said:

It is important to be able to criticise religious dogma freely through satire but that does not make such criticism a serious religion.

Dutch Appeals Court Denies Scientology Tax Exempt Status

In the Netherlands last Wednesday, a Dutch appellate court held that the Church of Scientology has not carried the burden of showing that it qualifies as a tax exempt public benefit organization.  The full text in Dutch of the Oct. 21 decision by the Court of the Hague is available online. As explained by The Underground Bunker, under Dutch law, an organization must show that 50% of its activities have a public benefit in order to obtain tax exempt status. The Dutch Supreme Court had remanded Scientology's case to the appellate court to determine if this criterion was met.  The appeals court concluded that over half of Scientology's activity in Amsterdam involved auditing and training courses offered at high prices. This suggests that private commercial interests were being served more than the public interest.