France retreating on burqa ban

France retreating on burqa ban - Europe - World - The Times of India
PARIS: France is moving towards outlawing full Islamic veils in certain public buildings, stopping short of a broader ban that could violate the right to religious freedom, Le Figaro newspaper reported on Wednesday.

“Permanently masking one's face in public spaces is not an expression of individual liberty,” Jean-Francois Cope, the parliamentary party leader of Sarkozy's UMP party, said in an opinion piece in newspaper Le Figaro. “It's a negation of oneself, a negation of others, a negation of social life,” he said, but conceded that a complete ban faced certain legal obstacles.

Le Figaro quoted advisers as saying such a ban could be challenged before the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that it hurt religious freedom.

Instead, the government will seek to banish the garments from public buildings such as town halls and police headquarters, where it can cite security concerns, it said. Universities, streets and public transport would not be touched by the ban.

Kazakhstan: Calls to probe Kyrgyzstan journalist's murder

Media watchdog groups have called for an immediate investigation into the murder of Kyrgyzstan journalist Gennady Pavlyuk.
(Left : Pres. Bakiyev, Kyrgystan)
Reporters Without Borders and the International Press Institute also warned of increasing dangers to journalists in the region.

Last week, Mr Pavlyuk was apparently thrown from the sixth floor of an apartment building in Kazakhstan. 
He died on Tuesday after several days in a coma.
Police in Kazakhstan said Mr Pavlyuk's death was being treated as murder.
He was visiting the Kazakh city of Almaty where he was found at the foot of the apartment building, with his hands and feet bound with duct tape.
Pressure pattern
Human rights groups say attacks on Kyrgyz journalists have become increasingly frequent.
"There must be an immediate, thorough and transparent investigation," said David Dadge, director of the International Press Institute.
"This was a particularly brutal and callous murder, and I would encourage the international community... to vocally condemn Pavlyuk's murder and to pressure the authorities in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to make sure that this case does not join the appalling list of unsolved attacks on Kyrgyz journalists," he added.
Mr Pavlyuk, a leading critic of Kyrgyzstan's President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, had been planning to set up a newspaper for the Kyrgyz opposition.
He was hospitalised on 16 December in Kazakhstan's capital Almaty, according to Kazakh media reports, with multiple injuries, including broken ribs.
"There is a version that it is an attempted murder," a Kyrgyz interior ministry spokesman told AFP.
"Ten days ahead of taking over the presidency of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Kazakh authorities cannot allow a murder like this to go unpunished and the Kyrgyz side must cooperate in resolving this case", Reporters Without Borders said.
The advocacy group noted that the attack on Mr Pavlyuk was the third in a week launched against Kyrgyzstan journalists of Russian origin.
Political analyst Alexander Knyazev was attacked in the capital Bishkek on 9 December and the correspondent for Russian news agency BaltInfo, Alexander Evgrafov, was struck and threatened by uniformed police on 15 December, it reported.
The IPI also pointed out that the 2007 murder of an Uzbek journalist in Kyrgyzstan had yet to be solved.

Moultrie Observer - Pew study can give us perspective on religious freedom

Moultrie Observer - Pew study can give us perspective on religious freedom

On the other hand, in most cities and towns it’s difficult to look in any direction without seeing a church steeple or reading about a program sponsored by faith organizations with many people involved. Churches run the gamut from architectural masterpieces to store front chapels. Some are conservative and some are liberal and some are in between. And seemingly, none are without some differences of opinion that become or bridge on national controversy when it comes to doctrine, interspersed with politics.

Our First Amendment provides us with religious freedom and freedom from the state establishing a religion.

Now consider this, a recent study by the famous Pew Research Center shows that people living in a third of all countries are restricted from practicing religion freely, either because of government policies and laws or hostile acts by individuals or groups,

In Indonesia, Muslim groups burned down a mosque belonging to the minority Ahmadiyya. In Singapore, the government refuses to recognize Jehovah’s Witnesses. In Belgium, 68 religion-based hate crimes are reported in 2007 alone.

The United States, Brazil, Japan, Italy, South Africa and the United Kingdom have the least amount of restrictions on religious practices when measured by both government infringement and religion-based violence or harassment, according to the study.

Keep in mind that the study said “religion,” it did not say Christianity. Perhaps Americans make the mistake of equating the two terms which leads to some of the confusion especially when it comes to defining “oppression” in this context. And a lot depends on how a survey question is asked. In other words, is it a documented fact that you feel your religion is oppressed or is it just your opinion.

There are those who would wrongly suggest that the First Amendment really means for us to choose between a number of Protestant faiths.

Here in the U.S. , if we are honest with ourselves, and with respect to the concept of not imposing our religion on others, we would be very hard pressed in the United States to declare that we are denied freedom of religion or that our faith suffers from government oppression.

Sometimes we just need to look around us ... and particularly at other countries ... to draw a better perspective or our rights and perhaps a better appreciation for our Constitution.

It could be that we spend too much time blaming the courts for our own individual shortcomings in the venue of faith and religion.

Religious Freedom: Too many chains

Two centuries after the French and American revolutions, and 20 years after Soviet communism’s fall, liberty of conscience may be receding again

The Economist

THE Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of the great moral statements of the 20th century, could not be clearer. It says that “everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,” including the right to change religion and to “manifest his religion in teaching, practice, worship and observance”.

America’s Founding Fathers, albeit living in a world where most people were assumed to be theists and Christians, used finer prose to affirm their belief in liberty. Given that God had endowed the human mind with freedom, said Thomas Jefferson, “all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness.”

So it is sad to find that according to most people who study the subject, the cause of religious liberty is treading water at best, retreating at worst. Two decades have passed since the downfall of most of the regimes where atheism was state policy and religion existed only on sufferance; and over that time, liberal democracy has advanced. But political freedom and the religious sort do not always go together.

A report by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, published this week, found that nearly 70% of the world’s 6.8 billion people live in countries with “high restrictions” on religion. This refers both to official curbs on faith and to the hostility that believers endure at the hands of fellow citizens.

France's War Against Religious Liberty; Targeting of Muslims Just Another Element of Ongoing Government Discrimination of Religious Minorities

In yet another statement targeting religious minorities, the French government has demonstrated its lack of commitment to religious liberty and its targeting of religious minorities.

On December 16, Eric Besson, France's immigration minister, announced that he wants the wearing of Muslim veils that cover the face and body to be grounds for denying citizenship and long-term residence. Minister Besson insisted that he intends to take "concrete measures" regarding such veils, which are worn by a small minority of women in France but have become the object of a parliamentary inquiry into whether a ban should be imposed.

"France has a tragic modern history of religious discrimination," stated Joseph K. Grieboski, Founder and President of THE INSTITUTE on Religion and Public Policy.  "From the recent raiding of Catholic Churches by French government agents to the establishment of secret anti-sect lists to the ongoing functioning of an anti-religion agency housed in the office of the Prime Minister, France continues to violate fundamental rights, fails to uphold its political commitments to institutions such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe, and serves as a negative model to other countries around the globe."

Last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy sent mixed messages on the place of Islam in France, calling on native French citizens to be tolerant while warning Muslim immigrants "that in our country, where Christian civilization has left such a deep trace, where republican values are an integral part of our national identity, everything that could be taken as a challenge to this heritage and its values would condemn to failure the necessary inauguration of a French Islam."

"French Evangelicals remove the word 'evangelical' from the titles of their churches for fear of being raided or targeted as 'sectarian', while violent acts or threats against French Jews in the first half of this year outnumbered all similar incidents in 2008," commented Mr. Grieboski.  "The Government of France has created an atmosphere of discrimination against religious minorities and has used its resources to restrict religious rights across the religious spectrum."
www.religionandpolicy.org

Switzerland: The Minaret Ban and it's Implicatiohs

“Religious Freedom as the Prerequisite for Interfaith Dialogue”

The Minaret Ban and its Implications

This speech has been given by Peter Zoehrer, FOREF Europe

(Thursday, December 03, 2009, at 5:30 PM, Vienna International University)

---

Ladies and gentlemen: in 1948, exactly 61 years ago, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which operates as an authoritative guide in the field of human rights. FOREF Europe seeks to promote the vision of religious freedom found in Article 18 of the Declaration:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, alone or in community with others, and, in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has largely been drafted by experts of religion.

Yet, in spite of the existence of those clear standards during the recent decades humanity has suffered numerous conflicts that have been marked by religious intolerance.

The possibility of religious wars always looms ominously above our heads like the sword of Damocles.

Therefore continuous inter-religious dialogue is of paramount importance to overcoming misunderstandings amongst peoples of differing religious backgrounds.

One popular Austrian saying contains a simple, yet profound truth: “Talking to each other brings the people together!”

The following issues have recently caused great controversies and even ignited religious hatred on our European continent:

• Mohammed Cartoon Controversy (Denmark
• Crucifix ban (Italy) – European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
• Last Sunday: Minaret ban Switzerland (57%) – over 1 Million Suisse citizens have cast their vote in the peoples referendum.

From the viewpoint of human rights standards there is no doubt, that such a ban on building minarets is violating religious freedom. The point however is that during the recent years the fear of Islamist extremism has swept throughout the European continent. These concerns are very real. They don’t just go away by governments, religious leaders liberal media or rights defenders preaching to people or accusing them of intolerance or xenophobia.

Swiss Sharply Criticized After Vote to Ban New Minarets - NYTimes.com

Swiss Sharply Criticized After Vote to Ban New Minarets

By NICK CUMMING-BRUCE
GENEVA — Switzerland’s political leaders faced a chorus of criticism at home and abroad on Monday over a ban on the construction of minarets that passed overwhelmingly by referendum on Sunday.

The ban has propelled the country to the forefront of a European debate on how far countries should go to assimilate Muslim immigrants and Islamic culture.
Government ministers trying to contain the fallout voiced shock and disappointment with the result, which the Swiss establishment newspaper Le Temps called a “brutal sign of hostility” to Muslims that was “inspired by fear, fantasy and ignorance.”
The country’s justice minister, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, said that the vote was not a rejection of the Muslim community, religion or culture, but that it reflected fears among the population.
With support for the ban from 57.5 percent of voters, however, ministers were forced to admit they had failed to quell popular anxieties about the impact of what right-wing parties have portrayed as “creeping Islamization.”
Ms. Widmer-Schlumpf acknowledged it was “undeniably a reflection of the fears and uncertainties that exist among the population — concerns that Islamic fundamentalist ideas could lead to the establishment of parallel societies.”
Outside Switzerland, criticism was harsh.
“I am a bit shocked by this decision,” France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said in an interview with RTL radio, calling it “an expression of intolerance.” He added: “I hope the Swiss come back on this decision.”

USCIRF Questions Legitimacy of Kazakhstan’s OSCE Chairmanship

11/16/09: USCIRF Questions Legitimacy of Kazakhstan’s OSCE Chairmanship

 
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today (Nov. 16) questioned the legitimacy of the Kazakh chairmanship of the 56-nation Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010, due to Kazakhstan's poor human rights record.

“Due to recent and troubling developments, USCIRF questions how Kazakhstan's human rights record is consistent with its upcoming OSCE chairmanship, particularly since human rights are such a key element of the Organization,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair. “Indeed, while Kazakhstan tomorrow (Nov. 17) hosts a high-profile event in the U.S. Congress to highlight its official human rights action plan, the Kazakh government continues to imprison a key drafter of that very plan, Evgeny Zhovtis.”

Mr. Zhovtis is a leading human rights defender and is the director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law.  Mr. Zhovtis was involved in a car accident in July that resulted in the tragic accidental death of a pedestrian.  The resulting case against Zhovtis was marred by legal irregularities. For example, officials delayed two weeks in notifying Zhovtis that he was an official suspect, thereby depriving him of certain legal rights. Zhovtis was transferred in late October to a labor colony about 750 miles from his native city of Almaty.

CHINA: USCIRF Recommendations for Obama Trip

11/10/09: CHINA: USCIRF Recommendations for Obama Trip

USCIRF sent the following letter to President Obama Nov. 9, 2009: http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2818&Itemid=1 The President The White House Washington, DC Dear Mr. President: The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom hopes your upcoming trip to China is both successful and productive.  During your visit, we urge you to raise critical issues of religious freedom and the rule of law with Chinese officials, seek meetings with prominent human rights defenders and repressed religious leaders, and make a strong public statement about the importance of human rights to the future of U.S.-China relations.  The trip is an opportunity to dispel any notion that human rights and religious freedoms are not priorities, and to set the record straight on any of the Administration’s prior statements on the place of human rights in our bilateral relationship with China. Religion matters in China and it should matter in Sino-American relations as well.  Religious adherence is growing in China, as hundreds of millions of Chinese seek to worship and exercise other religious freedom rights, such as expression, freely, without interference or harassment.  Increasingly, religious believers are demanding rights guaranteed by China’s Constitution and international human rights conventions to which China is a party.   Religious organizations are a large segment of China’s civil society and Chinese officials, including President Hu Jintao, have stated publicly that religious groups can play a beneficial role in the development of Chinese society. The Chinese government has accommodated some religious practice, but repression of peaceful religious activity remains intense and widespread, focusing on unregistered Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, Falun Gong practitioners and religious groups the government considers “evil cults.”  In Tibetan and Uighur areas of China, repression of religious freedom has created deep resentments that cannot be mitigated by the inappropriate use of force or other repressive measures.  Repression of peaceful Uighur and Tibetan religious practice has fueled, not solved or resolved, ethnic unrest.  The importance of defending freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief has also shaped a growing movement of Chinese rights defenders, intellectuals and lawyers who, at great personal and professional expense, seek to advance religious freedom, promote the rule of law, and protect internationally guaranteed rights and freedoms in China.

CHINA - Persecution of Falun Gong

CHINA

Parsippany man says his daughter-in-law's only crime is Falun Gong activism

Eugene Paik

The Star-Ledger (16.11.2009) / HRWF (18.11.2009) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - What 80-year-old John Shen knows is this: His son is dead and his daughter-in-law is imprisoned because of their activism with the Falun Gong.

In the nearly eight years since they were arrested in China, Shen has labored to free Luo Fang from a Chinese jail cell while he grapples with his son's death.

Shen says Luo and his son Shen Lizhi are some of the thousands of prisoners who have been arrested over the past decade for being a practitioner of Falun Gong, a lifestyle that has its roots in an ancient Chinese tradition but is considered a cult by Chinese authorities.

"We are a peaceful people. We've done nothing wrong," said Shen, also a Falun Gong follower, through an interpreter.

OSCE Press release - Head of OSCE human rights office dismayed about appeals hearing of Kazakh human rights defender

OSCE Press release - Head of OSCE human rights office dismayed about appeals hearing of Kazakh human rights defender

LDS Newsroom (Mormons): Elder Dallin H. Oaks: Religious Freedom at Risk

13 October 2009 Transcript of Elder Dallin H. Oaks speech given at BYU-Idaho on 13 October 2009.

My dear young friends, I am pleased to speak to this BYU-Idaho audience. I am conscious that I am also speaking to many in other places. In this time of the Internet, what we say in one place is instantly put before a wider audience, including many to whom we do not intend to speak. That complicates my task, so I ask your understanding as I speak to a very diverse audience.

In choosing my subject I have relied on an old military maxim that when there is a battle underway, persons who desire to join the fray should “march to the sound of the guns.”[i] So it is that I invite you to march with me as I speak about religious freedom under the United States Constitution. There is a battle over the meaning of that freedom. The contest is of eternal importance, and it is your generation that must understand the issues and make the efforts to prevail.
Read more ...

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | 'Moonies' mull future without founder

By Christopher Landau
BBC religious affairs correspondent, Seoul


It is one of the most controversial religious movements of the last century.

Founded in Seoul in the 1950s by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, Unificationism has attracted hundreds of thousands of members worldwide. But the movement has been accused of cult-like practices, with its leader's followers dubbed "Moonies". As Sun Myung Moon approaches his 90th birthday, he has handed over key responsibilities to one of his sons.

Hyung Jin Moon is just 30 years old and grew up in the United States, where he studied theology at Harvard University.
His background means he has already been exposed to a wide range of religious traditions and seems unafraid to introduce aspects of how other faiths worship into Unification Church services.
Attending a meeting for English speakers on a Saturday afternoon at the Unification Church's Korean headquarters, the very first sounds I heard were pretty unexpected.
Family values
Earlier that week, I had interviewed Hyung Jin Moon and met members of the church's choir, rehearsing for the weekend's services.
They had been singing a specially written song about true love, reflecting the traditional family values which are so important in Unificationist beliefs.
But the service I attended began not with one of the movement's own hymns, but with contemporary mainstream Christian songs written in the US.

"It's modified greatly, where now people can meet, they can date, find out about each other"

Read more ... 

RUSSIA: Altai court condemns Jehovah’s Witnesses for “extremism”

THE INSTITUTE on Religion and Public Policy

Some of the groups publications are blamed for inciting religious confrontation. Jehovah's Witnesses respond saying the texts in question are distributed in 200 countries around the world. The Altai court ruling is like one handed down in Rostov in mid-September. Similar trials are underway before other Russian courts.

Moscow (AsiaNews/Agencies)  A city court in the city of Gorno-Altaisk, Altai Republic, found the Jehovahs Witnesses guilty of religious extremism. The sentence follows a similar decision handed down against the religious group in mid-September by a court in Rostov, which ruled that the groups publications contain extremist material (see Court in Rostov bans Jehovahs Witnesses for being religious extremists, AsiaNews, 17 September 2009). Altogether the court in the Siberian Republic banned 18 publications by the Jehovahs Witnesses after they were submitted to expert analysis, which concluded they included incitement to religious confrontation.

The Jehovahs Witnesses Administrative Centre in Moscow, which is recognised by Russian authorities, has already appealed the decision by the court in Gorno-Altaisk. However, the situation for the religious group is very delicate. The latest ruling comes in the wake of that in Rostov and before others expected in other regions of the Russian Federation, where legal proceedings are currently underway. The charge is the same: incitement of religious extremism.

The "Grand Inquisitor" on YouTube

Tom Sackville, the new president of FECRIS once again making outrageous statements at the OSCE. He is slandering religious minority groups and calling on the OSCE to shut them out of their human rights conferences. The moderator (once again - like before in Vienna) corrected him for not being aligned with OSCE policy on minorities.

Annual OSCE human rights conference opens with calls for improved implementation of international standards

Press release - OSCE:
"Everyone who experienced the tragedy of living through wars or totalitarian regimes knows about the value of the respect for fundamental human rights and dignity," Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, former Polish foreign minister, said at the opening.

"There is probably no generally valid recipe for preventing once and for all the return of the traumatic and incomprehensible breakdowns of civilization we have experienced in Europe and elsewhere in the world. But I place my hopes in the solid anchoring of values such as tolerance, openness and justice in society, as well as education."

Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), said that there are various ways to implement the OSCE's human rights and democracy commitments, and states by necessity develop at different paces.

But he dismissed claims referring to country specificities as an excuse for lack of implementation:

"I believe this argument can be answered easily: no one naturally, or because of cultural specificities, enjoys being deprived of the rights and freedoms whose promise is enshrined in the OSCE commitments."

Some 1,000 government representatives, experts and human rights defenders are attending the two-week meeting, which reviews the progress states have made in putting their international commitments into practice.

"The meeting provides a unique opportunity to share experiences, identify shortcomings and support progress in light of our human dimension commitments," said Ambassador Nicolaos Kalantzianos, the representative of the Greek OSCE chairmanship and head of the OSCE task force in the Greek foreign ministry.

In addition to regular working sessions, more than 50 side events will focus on specific human rights concerns and country situations.

For PDF attachments or links to sources of further information, please visit: http://www.osce.org/item/39771.html

Protest at the OSCE Conference in Warsaw
this Monday morning during the speech of the Kazakh government delegate: Human Rights activists showed their "Free Evgeny Zhovits" & "Fair trial for Zhovits" T-shirts

Photos by Peter ZOEHRER

Kidnapping & Faithbreaking in Japan

Since 1966, More than 4,000 members of the Unification Church of Japan have been illegally confined by their families and “deprogrammers”  in an attempt to make them leave the religion which they, as adults, freely chose to join. Those who escaped their captors report that every case involved the use of force, prison-like conditions, deprival of the right to communicate with the outside world, and an intense effort to pressure the believer to change his or her faith. 

We therefore appeal to the leaders of the United States and the international human rights community to support the campaign for justice. A clear signal must be sent to those who perpetrate these crimes that their behavior will not be tolerated. Japan must adhere to international human-rights standards and live up to its own constitution, which affirms a commitment to protect religious freedom.

The Case of Mr. Goto

• Toru Goto’s Appeal
• HSA-UWC Japan’ Appeal
• Toru Goto’s Profile
• Toru Goto’s testimony at NGO

More background info here: www.religiousfreedom.com

Please sign the petition

PETITION: Witness for Kazakh human rights defender Evgeny Zhovtis Petition

DEAR READERS, PLEASE SIGN & help a great champion for human rights to get a fair trial (re-trial)
View Current Signatures   -   Sign the Petition

To:  World Community

International Committee for Observation of the Law
in the Legal Case against Evgeny Zhovtis

BACKGROUND: A Kazakh court has sentenced the country's leading human rights defender to four years of imprisonment in a trial that did not meet basic fair trial standards, (Human Rights Watch). On September 3, 2009, the second day of his trial, Evgeniy Zhovtis was found guilty of manslaughter for a fatal automobile accident and arrested in the courtroom. Witnesses told (out of court), a young man wlked across the highway and there was no way to for Mr. Zhovits to avoid the accident. Evgeny Zhovtis is the founding director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law.

STATEMENT:

Uphold rule of law and impartiality in the case of Kazakh human rights defender Evgeny Zhovtis

21 August, 2009

1.International Committee for Observation of the Law in the Legal Case against Evgeny Zhovtis expresses deep condolences to the family and friends of Kanat Moldabayev, who tragically died in the traffic accident. The Committee fully realizes the tragedy of the situation, when concurrence of circumstances led to the loss of life.

2. At the same time, the Committee points out that developments after the incident have generated wide public and international response, various interpretations of what had actually happened as well as attempts of manipulation of the public opinion and imposition of pressure on the investigation.

3. We call on the political parties, movements, NGOs, and mass media of Kazakhstan to refrain from politicization of the case and its consequences, distorting of the information around the case, or using it for their own interests.

GOD IN GOVERNMENT : Troubled Commission Faces the End

Is the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom going to disappear in 2011? That is when it's set to sunset under its authorizing legislation.

The agency, an independent commission charged with pressing the U.S. government to include religious freedom in its foreign policy, has been struggling recently. Its executive director quit abruptly after less than a year on the job, and sources say some of the eight members of the panel aren't exactly hitting it off. Sources say there is a lot of tension, a claim commission Vice Chairman Michael Cromartie denies. It's more that commission members feel strongly about the subject of religious persecution, he said.
"Sometimes people bring strong emotions and strong opinions to the table. . . . Understandably, passions can run high," Cromartie said.
Read more ...

The Big Question: Does God Tweet?

Please join the interesting discussion on the Washington Post Blog: On Faith:

Thanks to new digital technologies, you can 'tweet' prayers via Twitter to the Western Wall or prayer requests to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. You can pray the rosary or pray the hours from your laptop. You can participate in worship services and discuss holy texts via Facebook. You can create and join faith communities on Second Life. Are social media tools a blessing or a curse for people of  faith? Should we use digital technology to commune with the divine? Does God tweet?
Read more ...'

Swiss Catholic bishops oppose proposal to ban construction of minarets | USCatholic.org

FRIBOURG, Switzerland (CNS) -- The Swiss Catholic bishops' conference said it opposed a proposal to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland.

A statement on the conference's Web site said the ban would hinder interreligious dialogue and that Swiss building codes already regulate the construction and operation of minarets, the high, slender towers attached to mosques.
The statement said that, "as bishops and Swiss citizens, we are pleased that there are no longer any special articles relating to religion in the constitution and we wish that no new ones should be introduced."  Read more ...

Update: wave of arrests of Christians in Iran

Iran (MNN) ― Iranian Christians have seen a wave of trouble coming from the government over recent weeks.
Last month, authorities arrested 27 believers of a Muslim background (BMBs) at a home church, seven of whom are still being detained.
Glenn Penner of Voice of the Martyrs Canadasays, "There does seem to be a certain pattern of deliberateness to this. Why again? We can only speculate. But we simply observe that this is taking place."   Read more ...

New Reports Track Democratic Declines in Former Communist States

Russia's descent into the ranks of the world's consolidated authoritarian regimes is explained in a new analysis from Freedom House. Full country reports are now available for all 29 countries covered in Nations in Transit, an annual study of democratic reform in the former communist states of Europe and Eurasia.    Read more ...

U.S. Commission Names 13 Countries as Religious Freedom Violators

Saturday, May 2, 2009 (4:58 am)

By Dan Robinson, Voice of America Correspondent, special to Worthy News

WASHINGTON, USA (Worthy News)-- The latest annual report by the independent United States Commission on International Religious Freedom names 13 countries as serious violators of religious freedom, Worthy News monitored Saturday, May 2, with reporting by the Voice of America network (VOA).

The commission expresses concern about increasing extremism in many countries, including sharp criticism for Pakistan, saying extremism poses a particular threat to religious freedom.

The 13 countries named as Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) in this year's report are Burma, North Korea, China, Vietnam, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.  Read more ...

Human Rights in Kazakhstan: Seven Months before the OSCE Chairmanship | Human Rights Watch

In seven months, Kazakhstan will take on the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the first Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) country to lead the organization. It is therefore an important time for Kazakhstan to make positive changes in light of the gaps between the country's human rights record and the prominent role and responsibilities the chairmanship of the OSCE entails.
Read more ...

Kazakhstan: Review Rights Defenders Harsh Sentence | Human Rights Watch

Case Underscores Concerns about Country’s Upcoming OSCE Chairmanship

(New York) - A Kazakh court has sentenced the country's leading human rights defender to four years of imprisonment in a trial that did not meet basic fair trial standards, Human Rights Watch said today.
On September 3, 2009, the second day of his trial, Evgeniy Zhovtis was found guilty of manslaughter for a fatal automobile accident and arrested in the courtroom. Zhovtis is the founding director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law.   Read more ....

Prominent Kazakh Rights Activist Sentenced To Four Years In Jail

 By Radio Free Europe
A court in Kazakhstan has sentenced a prominent human rights activist to four years in jail for manslaughter, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Yevgeny Zhovtis, the director of the International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, was driving a car on July 26 in Almaty Oblast when he struck and killed a 35-year-old man. Kazakh human rights activist Andrei Sviridov told RFE/RL that Zhovtis refused to make any last statement after the verdict was announced, saying only that the trial was a "political punishment."   Read more ... 


 Link (Freedom House): Kazakhstani Activist Denied Right to Fair Trial

Religious Discrimination in Belgium

In the wake of a controversial parliamentary commission

Ten years after the establishment of the “Observatory on Sects”, it is time to draw some conclusions and raise questions about the results of what is widely considered to be, at least beyond the Belgian borders, an out of proportion and discriminatory series of measures that target religious organizations, violating international human rights treaties ratified by Belgium...

Read more ...

"New Inquisition" in Russia: Christian communities appeal for help!

Dear Mr. Peter Zoehrer - secretary general of FOREF Europe,

On behalf of Russian Evangelical Churches and thousands of believers throughout Russia we appeal to you to attract your attention to an outstanding situation we have today in the area of religious freedom and human rights in Russia.

In April 2009 Ministry of Justice of Russian Federation founded a Committee on Religious Expertise. The Committee has the right to control and monitor activities of already registered religious organizations. In fact they are persecuting those who are not of the Orthodox Christian Faith. The Committee members have the right to speak out on behalf of the Russian Government and give recommendations to the Enforces of the Law to persecute Evangelical religious organizations. Now our freedom of consciousness and belief is put under this Committee’s decisions. The same measures were only delegated to the Committee on Religion during the Soviet regime. 

Reafd more ...

Unbelievable: Violation of religious freedom in Japan - Kidnapping & Faithbraking

Mr. Toru Goto was imprisoned in an apartment for 12 years and 5 months by his family and paid "deprogrammers" in an effort to break his religious faith. Mr. Goto is a member of the Unification Church in Japan.

VIENNA: OSCE meeting on freedom of religion or belief gets underway with calls for better implementation of commitments

OSCE participating States have agreed to one of the most extensive sets of freedom of religion or belief standards, but governments are not doing enough to implement these commitments and let themselves be guided by them in tackling challenges, participants at the meeting were told.

"There can be no doubt that the promotion of freedom of religion or belief offers the best remedy to extremism, and adds an important safeguard to our collective security," said Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, the director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which organized the meeting.
But he also stressed that religious commitment must not conflict with the respect for the rule of law: "Having obtained the status of a religious or belief community is not a licence for disregarding the law."
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No fun for small churches in Putin's Russia

One of the most controversial figures – well known to the hundreds of religious minority groups in Eastern Europe – Alexander Dvorkin has been appointed Chairman of the Justice Department’s “Commission for the Implementation of State Expertise on Religious Science”.

Furthermore. Dvorkin has also been elected vice-president of the "European Federation of Research Centers for Information about Sects" (FECRIS). His range of attack includes not just Jehovah Witnesses, Scientology, the Hare Krishna community, Falun Gong or the Unification Church.  Alexander Dvorkin has been known to fight Christian groups, such as the Baptists, Pentecostals and many other Christian churches which have been growing impressively during the last two decades in the post communist era.
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KAZAKHSTAN: How far does tolerance of religious minorities go?

Baptist Churches & Krisha Homes bulldozed by government forces: Report by FORUM 18

Krishna Press Release: As an effort to resolve the conflict caused by the destruction of 26 homes and confiscation of 116 acres of property of the Society for Krishna Consciousness the Kazakhstan government has continually offered unsuitable land plots.

See the the shocking video: http://www.registan.net/index.php/2006/11/27/kazakhstan-krishnas-and-web-video/

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Kremlin/St. Petersburg/: Religions under attack

Antisecterian Conference in St. Petersburg

Sect-Warrior Alexander DVORKIN becomes "FECRIS" Vice President

The leading Russian sect scholar, professor, director of "Center of Religious Studies Research" and "Russian Association of Centers for the Study of Religions and Sects," and chairman of the Council for Conducting State Religious Studies Expert Analyses of the Ministry of Justice of RF, Alexander Dvorkin, was elected vice president of the "European Federation of Research Centers for Information about Sects" (FECRIS).
This was the result of the annual conference of the organization which was held 15-17 May in St. Petersburg. FECRIS itself was organized fifteen years ago and is the official consultant of the Council of Europe on matters of totalitarian sects. Members of the organization have gathered annually for their conferences. Previous ones have been held, for example, in Vienna, Barcelona, Brussels, and Hamburg. Now the honor of conducting FECRIS conferences has been handed for the first time to Russia. It is symbolic that the place for the forum was the Law Faculty of St. Petersburg State University, where Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev studied.

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RUSSIA: A New Inquisition

The powers of the Russian Justice Ministry's Expert Council for Conducting State Religious-Studies Analysis were considerably widened in February 2009, allowing it to investigate the activity, doctrines, leadership decisions, literature and worship of any registered religious organisation and recommend action to the Ministry. The subsequent appointment of renowned "anti-cultists" and controversial scholars of Islam to the Council - and the choice of prominent "anti-cultist" Aleksandr Dvorkin as its chair - have led a wide range of religious representatives to liken the Council to a new "inquisition", Forum 18 News Service notes. If the Council is given free rein, it is likely to recommend harsh measures against certain religious organisations.

At the Council's first meeting, Dvorkin named the Russian Bible Society as a possible target for investigation, but its executive director told Forum 18 no action has followed. Forum 18 asked the Justice Ministry how many commissions it is likely to give the Council each year, whether the Ministry will automatically accept its conclusions and, if not, who will decide. However, the Ministry has so far failed to respond.

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RUSSIA: Controversial figure heads the new

On 3 April, Alexander Dvorkin, the Russian priest most famous for the defamation of religious groups not belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Orthodox faith, was elected Chairman of the Justice Department’s “Commission for the Implementation of State Expertise on Religious Science”, reports Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists. This committee had been officially founded a month earlier on 3 March. Dvorkin, a US citizen and according to some reports a 1983 graduate of Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood/New York, is a self-avowed specialist on the cults. He is known for the broken glass and other acts of vandalism committed against religious buildings following in the wake of his public appearances across Russia.


The result of his election was a vociferous and immediate outcry from academic experts on religion and others acknowledging the multi-ethnic and multi-religious character of Russian society. Citing Russian literature, the religion expert Michael Sitnikov compared Dvorkin’s election to “authorising the donkey to guard the vegetable patch”.

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