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December 30, 2020
Dec 30, 2020
Since it's independence in 1984, Brunei has operated with a dual legal system: one secular and one Shari’a, the latter only enforceable for Bruneian Muslims. However, the Syariah Penal Code Order 2013 blurs those lines. The country started fully implementing this new penal code in 2019. It is the end result of decades of pushing by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah for a hardline interpretation of Shari’a to be incorporated in the penal code.
Listen to our discussion about the religious freedom implications of Brunei's legal system in USCIRF Spotlight.
Featuring:
Dwight Bashir, Director of Policy and Outreach, USCIRF
Patrick Greenwalt, Researcher, USCIRF
November 17, 2020
Nov 17, 2020
The United Nations system has several structures and entities that were created to address human rights concerns globally, many of which are relevant to universal right to freedom of religion or belief. Although some of these bodies have limitations, they provide opportunities for advocacy by and collaboration among governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working to promote and protect freedom of religion or belief internationally.
In this episode of USCIRF Spotlight, we discuss the UN human rights mechanisms and structures related to international religious freedom and the limitations.
Featuring:
Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF
Kirsten Lavery, Supervisory Policy Analyst, USCIRF
Read our recent report on UN Human Rights Systems here: https://www.uscirf.gov/publication/fa...
December 15, 2020
Dec 15, 2020
Several religious groups, including followers of Judaism and Islam, mandate that animals are uninjured (unstunned) prior to killing. However, nearly a third of European countries limit this practice through ritual slaughter laws.
Ritual slaughter is required for meat to be classified as kosher or halal. Therefore, laws preventing ritual slaughter cause individuals to abandon deeply held religious practices and imply a message of exclusion to all those who seek to follow their religion’s dietary laws.
During the Hanukkah season, USCIRF highlights the impact that ritual slaughter laws have on religious communities in select countries, such as those where it is necessary to import kosher meat.
Featuring:
Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF
Zachary Udin, Researcher, USCIRF
October 09, 2020
Oct 9, 2020
Welcome to USCIRF's new series! In USCIRF Spotlight, we discuss major topics in the news and explore how they impact religious freedom around the globe. For this week's episode, listen to what our research team has to say about the situation in Belarus.
Featuring:
Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF
Dr. Jason Morton, Policy Analyst, USCIRF
April 22, 2021
Apr 22, 2021
USCIRF released its 2021 Annual Report documenting developments over the past year, and providing policy recommendations to enhance the U.S. government’s promotion of freedom of religion or belief abroad. In its report, USCIRF also monitored public health measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and their impact on religious freedom.
USCIRF’s independence and bipartisanship enables it to unflinchingly identify threats to religious freedom around the world. The 2021 Annual Report recommends 26 countries for designation as either a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) or to be placed on the State Department’s Special Watch List (SWL). The report also highlights important global developments and trends related to religious freedom including political unrest leading to religious freedom violations, blasphemy laws, and global antisemitism.
USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin joins us to elaborate on some of the key elements of the 2021 Annual Report.
You can find the full report here.
Featuring:
Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF
Gayle Manchin, Chair, USCIRF
May 14, 2021
May 14, 2021
The central Sahel region of West Africa is currently home to an extremely complex and fluid landscape of Islamist insurgent actors that stem from both locally grown and foreign movements. Several violent insurgent actors have been gaining power in the Sahel region, and committing religious freedom violations in the areas they control.
Security challenges in the Central Sahel, compounded by climate change, have yielded a devastating humanitarian crisis with over 15 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, 5 million people facing food insecurity, and nearly 2 million people displaced. In one pocket of this region at the borders of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, growing violent Islamist insurgencies represent one facet of this complex crisis. Groups there are now engaging in violence and targeting individuals based on their religion or belief.
USCIRF recently published a factsheet on Islamists in the Central Sahel region of West Africa. USCIRF Policy Analyst Madeline Vellturo, who authored the report, joins us on the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast to discuss these developments in the Sahel.
June 11, 2021
Jun 11, 2021
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief is an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council. The Special Rapporteur identifies existing and emerging obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief and presents recommendations to the Council on ways to overcome these obstacles.
In recent years, the Special Rapporteur has produced several thematic reports on a range of issues, including on Islamophobia and anti-Semitism globally, the intersection of religious freedom with gender equality and freedom of expression, discrimination and violence against individuals in the name of religion, as well as the nexus between security and freedom of religion or belief.
The current mandate holder, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, joins us today to discuss what he thinks are the most pressing challenges to freedom of religion or belief globally.
Read USCIRF’s Factsheet on Shari'a and LGBTI Persons
Click here for Ahmed Shaheed’s report on Report on freedom of religion or belief and gender equality
Featuring:
Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF
Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, United Nations
June 25, 2021
Jun 25, 2021
Ethiopia has been going through a democratic transition amidst a civil war that broke out in Tigray at the end of 2020. In November of last year, a massacre took place in Tigray that was slow to be reported in major news outlets globally. USCIRF has been closely monitoring religious freedom violations in that region and in Ethiopia more broadly.
The U.S. Department of State recently announced that it would impose sanctions on individuals responsible for human rights violations in the Tigray region, following a visit by U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman.
USCIRF Policy Analyst Mohy Omer joins us today to discuss the situation in Tigray and how this impacts freedom of religion or belief in Ethiopia.
Featuring:
Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF
Mohy Omer, Policy Analyst, USCIRF