Buddhists in Vietnam may not face violent attacks, but government restrictions on their faith are keenly felt.
While reports of arrests of, or attacks on, Buddhists in Vietnam are not frequent, the religious community has for decades lived in a perpetual atmosphere of persecution, which cannot be quantified by the number of “incidents” but instead manifests through official and unofficial restrictions imposed by the Southeast Asian country’s communist government.
Read MoreAn overview from Nadine Maenza, vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
Persecution of religious minorities, particularly Christians and Muslims, has risen around the world over the last few years, and a new trend is emerging where non-state actors are playing an increasing role in targeted attacks, said Nadine Maenza, vice chair of the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Read MoreMore than a year since the electoral victory of the Pakatan Harapan coalition in May 2018, reforms of repressive legislation restricting fundamental freedoms have progressed extremely slowly. While steps have been taken to establish a self-governing media council and some positive amendments to the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, the government has not followed through on commitments in its campaign manifesto to repeal or review repressive legislation, including the Sedition Act 1948, Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
Read the article by the Civicus reviewing the repressive legislation in Malaysia that continue to restrict fundamental freedoms here.
Read MoreOver the decade from 2007 to 2017, government restrictions on religion – laws, policies and actions by state officials that restrict religious beliefs and practices – increased markedly around the world.
To access the tenth annual report on Religion and Public Life, published by the Pew research Centre which dives deeper into the ways government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion have changed, from 2007 to 2017, please click here.
Read MoreToday, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or the "Court") requested the Court's Judges to authorise an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity, namely deportation, other inhumane acts and persecution committed against the Rohingya people from Myanmar.
Read MoreThe question of whether Indonesia should become an Islamic state, or become more sharia-friendly, was not supposed to be a key issue that drove people to the polls in April’s election. But no doubt for many people – regardless of their position on the issue – it was the only issue that mattered.
Read MoreDelik Agama Diskriminatif, Tunda Pengesahan RUU KUHP!
Terkait rencana Pemerintah untuk segera mengesahkan R KUHP sekitar akhir Juli 2019 Koalisi Advokasi Kemerdekaan Beragama atau Berkeyakinan berpendapat meskipun ada perkembangan baik terkait delik-delik keagamaan, namun masih ada pasal-pasal yang menimbulkan kekuatiran apabila diberlakukan.
Read MoreThe Bogor Police have detained SM, the woman who entered a mosque in Sentul on Sunday with a dog and her shoes on, and charged her with blasphemy.
Read MoreTop Indonesian scholars have supported the nomination of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s two largest Islamic organizations, for the Nobel Peace Prize, saying the two groups have played a key role in promoting religious tolerance in the country and the region.
Read MoreSINGAPORE - Diversity is a source of strength for societies, and engaging meaningfully with difference is not easy, but it is necessary, President Halimah Yacob said on Wednesday (June 19) in a speech where she outlined three key ingredients for social harmony.
Read MoreFrom January’s church bombings in southern Philippines which killed at least 20 and wounded scores more, to the decades-old persecution of Myanmar’s Rohingya population which has seen a mass exodus of 1.2 million people fleeing for their lives, religious freedom isn’t exactly one of ASEAN’s strong points.
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