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This report, the first of its kind yet to be published, provides a detailed and impartial account of how the individual's right to hold beliefs is understood, protected or denied throughout the world. Consisting of accessible, short edited entries based on drafts commissioned from experts living in the countries surveyed, it exposes persecution and discrimination in virtually all world regions. The book: * provides an analysis of United Nations standards of freedom of religion and belief * covers over fifty countries, divided into regions and introduced by a regional overview * covers themes including: the relationships between belief groups and the state; freedom to manifest belief in law and practice; religion and schools; religious minorities; new religious movements; the impact of beliefs on the status of women; and the extent to which conscientious objection to military service is recognised by governments * draws on examples of accommodation and co-operation between different religions and beliefs and identifies the main challenges to be overcome if the diversity of human conviction is to be established.
Note from the editors
Religious Freedom in the World profiles 101 countries and territories, which between them contain more than 95 percent of the world's population, and uses a clearly comprehensible numeric scale to rank the level of religious freedom found in each. It also provides separately derived measures of government regulation of religion, government favoritism of religion, and social regulation of religion. The countries have been selected so that the survey represents each continent, major religion, and geographic area; covers countries with large populations; describes particularly egregious violators of religious freedom; and adequately illustrates variations within regions. The survey is not a catalog of the rights of 'religious people.' The persecution of all people of any or no religion should be equally as offensive in our eyes as that of believers in any particular religion. Furthermore, since most people in the world profess to be believers of one kind or another, then such a survey would necessarily include most of the world's human rights violations of whatever kind. Rather, the focus is on the denial to anyone of rights of a particular kind, those connected with practicing one's religion, and the denial of rights for a particular reason, because of the religious beliefs of those who are persecuted and/or those who persecute. Finally, in line with most human rights treaties, this survey covers freedom of 'religion or belief.' There are beliefs that, functionally, take the place of explicitly religious beliefs, and these, too, should be protected. Atheists and agnostics may also suffer loss of freedom of 'religion or belief' and, in turn, may deny such freedom to others.
The Price of Freedom Denied shows that, contrary to popular opinion, ensuring religious freedom for all reduces violent religious persecution and conflict. Others have suggested that restrictions on religion are necessary to maintain order or preserve a peaceful religious homogeneity. Brian J. Grim and Roger Finke show that restricting religious freedoms is associated with higher levels of violent persecution. Relying on a new source of coded data for nearly 200 countries and case studies of six countries, the book offers a global profile of religious freedom and religious persecution. Grim and Finke report that persecution is evident in all regions and is standard fare for many. They also find that religious freedoms are routinely denied and that government and the society at large serve to restrict these freedoms. They conclude that the price of freedom denied is high indeed.
Mapping freedom of religion or belief by identifying countries of particular concern is a difficult challenge to undertake. Indeed, what do we understand by freedom of religion or belief? What are the criteria for evaluation and how to view them in a balanced fashion? Can we distinguish the worse violators in black-and-white or a colour map from those respecting them "more or less"? How does one evaluate and rank a country like North Korea, which in the aftermath of the 1950-1953 War carried out a mass religious cleansing to such an extent that there is virtually no independent religious life in the country today? How does one evaluate and rank a country like Nigeria, where Christian communities in some regions are repeatedly attacked by Muslim groups on religious but also other grounds? Should a high number of incidents in India, Iran or China propel these countries to the top of a list of worst violators of freedom of religion or belief?This report has endeavoured to take these questions into consideration. Under freedom of religion or belief, HRWF Int'l affirms Article 18 of the ICCPR, which says: "Art. 18 (1): Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom [...] either individually or in community with others and in public or private to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.(2): No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.(3): Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others."This report aims to facilitate advocacy and is divided into several parts. The first three parts identify and analyse a number of constitutional and legislative provisions which restrict freedom of religion or belief in some problematic countries, in particular:(1) freedom to change one's religion or belief: Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Malaysia, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen;(2) freedom of expression within the framework of freedom of religion or belief: Azerbaijan, China, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Laos, North Korea, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam;(3) freedom of association, worship and assembly: Afghanistan, Algeria, Brunei, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Maldives, North Korea, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan.However, challenges to freedom of religion or belief issues can have other roots, such as social hostility leading to repeated and systematic acts of violence or conflicts between religious communities, despite adequate legal protections and the goodwill of the government. The fourth part addresses the issue of freedom of religion or belief from another angle. It lists ten countries (Azerbaijan, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan) which distinguished themselves in 2012 by a very high number of incidents related to freedom of religion or belief on various grounds, such as repressive governmental policies, social hostility and inter-ethnic or inter-communal tensions. These countries were selected on the basis of data collected by HRWF Int'l from numerous public and private sources. Many concrete examples support this ranking and illustrate the different facets of the violations that have been identified. They are also contextualized and analysed.If countries punish the exercise of freedom of religion or belief by death or heavy prison terms or by exorbitant fines - sometimes of up to 100 times the minimum monthly salary - such countries must be named publicly, held accountable and urged to revise their constitution, their laws and their practices.
V. Arrests and Trials
"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching practice, worship and observance." (Article 18 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Paris, 10 December 1948 -- from back cover}