Washington, DC — The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released its 2025 Annual Report. The report documents religious freedom conditions in 2024 and recommends policy to the White House, Congress, and State Department to advance freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) abroad. Congress mandated USCIRF’s Annual Report in the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998.
We welcome the news that the Thai Ministry of National Defence has promoted a study to allow exemption from reserve military service for conscientious objectors. Once again, the initiative takes its cue from the firm position of a Jehovah's Witness who is faithful to his beliefs.
We receive and publish this appeal by the British Asian Christians Association in support of five Christian pastors arrested on charges of forcibly converting Hindus. They are also accused of distributing copies of the Bible and other Christian literature. It is always sad to report such news of intolerance, which often inflames the animosity of crowds and results in acts of violence.
By Willy Fautré (HRWF) — On Friday 14 March, the Borgarting Court of Appeal issued a landmark judgment declaring the loss of registration and denial of state grants for the years 2021-2024 invalid.
It unanimously concluded that the practice of social distancing does not expose children to psychological violence or negative social control. Furthermore, the Court found that their practice is in harmony with the Faith Communities Act and in compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Can someone be imprisoned because he does not want to participate in a war? Can someone be imprisoned because he refuses to participate in the murder of other human beings? Yes, one can. According to the Ternopil Court of Appeals (Ukraine), refusing to take part in a war is neither a praiseworthy stance nor an inalienable right, but a criminal offence, which resulted in Ukrainian citizen Dmytro Zelinsky – a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church being sentenced to three years imprisonment.
Our partner CAP Liberté de Conscience, which has always been at the forefront in denouncing violations of freedom of belief that affect religious minorities, published an article, which we republish below, in which it stigmatises the connivance between the Pakistani police and the extremist zelot group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in the use of violence against Ahmadiyya Muslim communities, their places of worship and even the graves in their cemeteries. The role of social media in spreading hate speech against Ahmadiyya Muslims is also denounced.
The International Human Rights Desk (IHRD) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the UK reports that at around 1.30pm on 28 February members of the Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) extremist group stormed an Ahmadiyya place of worship in Daska, Sialkot District, chanting anti-Ahmadi slogans at a group of Ahmadis who had gathered for Friday prayers. Police were called to the mosque, however they proceeded to arrest 23 of the Ahmadis who were present, including three minors aged 11, 14 and 17.
Deported move comes as petition is lodged aimed at halting 'cruel treatment' and blocking deportation to China. A leading human rights group sought to petition the Criminal Court in Bangkok Feb. 27 seeking a halt to the deportation of 48 Uyghurs to China fromThailand, where they have been detained for more than 10 years, amid reports they were secretly repatriated overnight.
We publish the following study by Professor Emeritus in Sociology at Oxford University, Bryan Ronald Wilson (1926-2004), on the subject of apostates and the New Religious Movements. “As instances have indicated,” Wilson writes, “he [the apostate, ed.] is likely to be suggestible and ready to enlarge or embellish his grievances to satisfy the species of journalist whose interest is more in sensational copy than in a objective statement of truth.”
In January 2023, Danish lawyer and politician Ramus Paludan, founder and leader of the far-right Stram Kurs party with strong anti-Islamic connotations, burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, creating a diplomatic incident between Sweden and Turkey. Again, in 2023, Iraqi-born immigrant Salwan Momika publicly set Qurans on fire. Two years later, Momika was gunned down last Jan. 29 to “avenge” such burnings, increasingly inflaming the tempers of opposing factions. And what will tolerant Sweden do about it?
In the wake of the ongoing anti-cult campaigns featuring so-called “defectors” – or apostates – we repost the article “The Defector's Syndrome” signed by FOB counsel Fabrizio d'Agostini. The occasion comes to us from Zona Bianca, the TV program that is treating the issue of religious minorities with a questionable approach. In fact, the narration of the life of and in the targeted religious communities (Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.
The European Times (13.02.2025) - Last 27 January 2025 in Rome, the signing of the Agreement (Intesa) between the Italian Republic and the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy (DOR) represents a significant moment for religious pluralism in the country.
The Chinese government's anti-religious activities against religious minorities disliked by President Xi Jinping's Communist Party continue unabated. The following article reveals the uneducational behaviour of universities in Henan province, which, in essence, demand students who are believers of the Church of Almighty God to abjure their religion under penalty of being reported to the police. For those who do not adhere to the invitation, the gates are opened to forced indoctrination centers run by the CCP, often the scene of beatings, abuse and torture.
In this interview published by VaticanNews, Father Jens Petzold bears witness to a path of active pursuit of inter-religious coexistence between Muslim and Christians. Father Petzold's admirable philosophy can be encapsulated in his sentence: ‘Drinking tea together is probably much more effective for peacebuilding than having long discussions about human rights’.
by CAP Liberté de Conscience — The International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) in association with CAP Liberté de Conscience has continued to draw the world’s attention to the severe persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan.
Letter to the authorities of the Czech Republic about the announced liquidation of Jehovah’s Witnesses
This letter was sent (in Czech) to
By Willy Fautré (The European Times) — On 20 and 26 December 2024, Tbilisi City Court held hearings to decide whether Georgia should extradite Adina Stoian and her husband Mihai arrested in August 2024 on the Turkish-Georgian border on the basis of an Interpol arrest warrant issued on France’s request.
On December 2, 2024, UNADFI was condemned by the Marseille Magistrates’ Court, and forced to publish CAPLC’s right of reply on its website within 48 hours, subject to a penalty of 50 euros per day of delay. Convinced it could escape the law, UNADFI appealed in summary proceedings to obtain suspension of the decision. This action was curtly dismissed by the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal.
by Massimo Introvigne — When Petr Pavel was inaugurated as the new President of the Czech Republic in March 2023, he vowed to align the country with European Union human rights standards. He also emerged as a staunch critic of the human rights violations in Russia. Some developments with respect to small minority religions were in fact regarded by local human rights activists as hopeful.
France's state grants funded with taxpayers’ money said to be misused by anti-cult groups stigmatizing and inciting hostility against some religious or belief groups and their members. In the framework of its 2023 Call for Projects, MIVILUDES (Interministerial Mission of Vigilance and Combat against Cultic Deviances) generously allocated a state subsidy of 150,000 EUR to CAFFES (Family Support Center Facing Cultic Control). This represents a considerable, if not completely disproportionate, grant for a small association with 90% of its annual budget funded with public money.
