Nazila Ghanea

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DOI: 10.1080/13642980500350004

This report seeks to analyse the main highlights of this year's session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The Commission was set up in 1947 and is the UN's principal human rights body. It is currently the subject of major reform proposals stemming primarily from the UN Secretary-General and agreed upon, in general terms by member states at the 14–16 September 2005 World Summit. The review below, focusing on the main country and thematic issues discussed at the March–April 2005 session, will be indicative of how badly and in what ways reform of the Commission on Human Rights is required.

ISBN: ISSN 1364-2987

DOI: 10.1093/ojlr/rwr029

This article will argue that although, historically, religious minorities were the primary trigger for the institutionalization of the international framework of minority rights, they have long since been sidelined from its protections. This sidelining is evident in a variety of international human rights norms and mechanisms, the focus below being on the jurisprudence of the UN Human Rights Committee. The article offers a number of explanations for this diversion of religious minorities away from the international minority rights regime. It also argues for a cautious reintegration of religious minorities within the minority rights regime after having sought understanding with regard to some issues of concern.

ISBN: ISSN 2047-0770

Where can religions find sources of legitimacy for human rights? How do, and how should, religious leaders and communities respond to human rights as defined in modern International Law? When religious precepts contradict human rights standards - for example in relation to freedom of expression or in relation to punishments - which should trump the other, and why? Can human rights and religious teachings be interpreted in a manner which brings reconciliation closer? Do the modern concept and system of human rights undermine the very vision of society that religions aim to impart? Is a … read morereference to God in the discussion of human rights misplaced? Do human fallibilities with respect to interpretation, judicial reasoning and the understanding of human oneness and dignity provide the key to the undeniable and sometimes devastating conflicts that have arisen between, and within, religions and the human rights movement? In this volume, academics and lawyers tackle these most difficult questions head-on, with candour and creativity, and the collection is rendered unique by the further contributions of a remarkable range of other professionals, including senior religious leaders and representatives, journalists, diplomats and civil servants, both national and international. Most notably, the contributors do not shy away from the boldest question of all - summed up in the book's title. The thoroughly edited and revised papers which make up this collection were originally prepared for a ground-breaking conference organised by the Clemens Nathan Research Centre, the University of London Institute of Commonwealth Studies and Martinus Nijhoff/Brill.

ISBN: ISBN13:9789004152540

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has organised, in 2011, a series of expert workshops on the prohibition of incitement to national, racial or religious hatred, as reflected in international human rights law. The objectives of the expert workshops are: •To gain a better understanding of legislative patterns, judicial practices and different types of policies, in countries of the various regions of the world, with regard to prohibiting incitement to national, racial, or religious hatred, while ensuring full respect for freedom of expression as outlined in articles 19 and 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; •to arrive at a comprehensive assessment of the state of implementation of this prohibition of incitement in conformity with international human rights law and; •to identify possible actions at all levels.

DOI: 10.1163/157181110X512151

The international concern with minorities has benefitted from a range of rationales and gone through a number of permutations over recent decades. Within these are included a wide spectrum of objectives from concern with their very obliteration covered under genocide instruments to soft law instruments concerned with their positive flourishing. This article will address just one aspect of those concerns – those protecting minorities from hate speech.

The present volume, in honour of Professor Patrick Thornberry, presents new thinking on minority and indigenous rights in international law. Contributors to this 17 chapter volume include an impressive range of academics, thinkers, practitioners and international civil servants with a number of different approaches to this complex area. Not all of them take a legal approach, and this exploration benefits from the variety of frameworks utilised in contributing to the controversial area of minority and indigenous rights. Debates that receive attention in this volume include self-determination, … read moredefinitional issues, collective rights and rights to natural resources. Other chapters unravel challenges that have not attracted sufficient attention to date, such as multiculturalism, integration, colour as a ground for discrimination and the economic and social rights of minorities. The volume also looks critically at the work of the World Bank, the African Union, the Council of Europe and the OSCE in this arena. Finally, case studies highlight the regrettable similarities in the suffering of groups in different parts of the world as well as the stark contrast between state claims and their actual practice. The contributors are: Gudmundur Alfredsson, Michael Banton, Joshua Castellino, Erica‑lrene A. Daes, María-Amor Estébanez, Nazila Ghanea, Geoff Gilbert, Bülent Gökay, Tom Hadden, Dominic McGoldrick, Timothy Murithi, John Packer, Chandra K. Roy, Malcolm N. Shaw, Martin Scheinin, Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark, and Alexandra Xanthaki.

ISBN: ISBN13: 978900414301

The protection of the human rights of all without discrimination on the basis inter alia of religion or belief, the protection of religious minorities, and manifestation of religion or belief in association with others - these are all well-established norms of international human rights law. Yet violations continue world-wide, and new manifestations of these age-old problems continue to multiply.[1] All Muslim states have ratified, and therefore voluntary adopted, legal commitments with regards to these obligations. Nevertheless, these protections remain very much wanting in many instances with respect to both Muslim and non-Muslim minorities in Muslim states. In fact, freedom of religion or belief and religious minority rights have long been recognised as being amongst the most pressing of human rights concerns in these states. Whilst the need to enhance the protection of freedom of religion or belief and religious minority rights (ForbRM rights) within Muslim states has been much written about, few publications have extended their focus to Muslim minorities in Muslim states. This article seeks to establish that enhanced respect for the legal rights of non-Muslim minorities would, by default, also benefit ‘Muslim minorities’ within Muslim states. The contention of this article is that if sufficient progress were made regarding the respect of ForbRM rights for non-Muslims, Muslim religious minorities would see their own situations improved and claims addressed. The article will take one of the most entrenched of such cases – snapshots of the case of the Bahá’ís of Iran over the past 30 years – as its main illustration of this point.

An examination of freedom of religion or belief as upheld in the constitutions of Commonwealth Member States and why the Commonwealth should hitherto acknowledge freedom of religion or belief more fully as part of the spectrum of Commonwealth concerns.

Hardly a week goes by without some world event relating to the burgeoning field of religion and human rights. Whether attacks carried out in the name of religion by individuals or states, violations of the rights of individuals or communities due to their religious or other beliefs, or clashes between religious and other competing rights (most notably, freedom of speech), matters relating to religion and human rights are not only an area of expert and academic interest, but also of increasing interest to policy-makers, governments, international organizations, and NGOs. This new four-volume Major Work collection from Routledge examines the background, history, and nature of human rights—both individual and collective—as well as economic, social, and cultural rights; and also civil and political rights. Standards, mechanisms, and jurisprudence at international and national levels are included, and form part of the discussion of the conflict of rights and freedom of religion or belief. Religions featured include Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and African religions, and the persecution or discrimination of religious or belief communities are discussed. Relevant human rights documents are also included. The range of subject areas that contribute to discussions on religion and human rights are many, and include: political science; law; international relations; anthropology; philosophy; religious studies; sociology of religion; and theology. Students, scholars, teachers, and practitioners from these and other disciplines will welcome this collection as a vital one-stop compendium of the very best canonical and cutting-edge research.

ISBN: ISBN 9708-0-415-5436

This book will present and analyse key results of the Religion and Society programme (Arts and Humanities Research Council/Economic and Social Research Council) research project “Religion and Belief, Discrimination and Equality: Theory, Policy and Practice, 2000-2010” research project. Reflecting on a decade of change, the book will compare these results with those of a 1999-2001 Home Office commissioned research on “Religious Discrimination in England and Wales”. These findings will include data from a national questionnaire survey; the reported experiences of individuals interviewed during the project’s fieldwork; and the perspectives of those who understand themselves not be to be of any religion and who took part in project focus groups. The book will set these findings within the context of a broader consideration of the impact of legal and policy developments on religion and human rights in which, over the last decade, the category of religious discrimination has become more widely accepted, while modified by reference to belief, and also in relation to a shifting policy focus around shared values and social cohesion. The proposed book will therefore be a groundbreaking, benchmark, seminal and interdisciplinary contribution to both public and academic debate about these issues.

This paper considers minorities in English law through the prism of international standards related to both freedom of religion or belief and minority rights. These two sets of international normative standards are brought together in order to emphasize the fact that persons belonging to religious minorities have access not only to general human rights standards including freedom of religion or belief, but also to minority rights. Combining the implications of these applicable rights, the paper will suggest that ‘religious minorities’ should be (i) taken to include persons belonging to minorities on grounds of both religion or belief; (ii) that their religious practice should not only be considered ‘manifestation’ of religion or belief but also the practice of a minority culture; and that (iii) States have a duty to protect the survival and continued development of the identity of religious minorities and allow such persons to enjoy their culture. The paper will then move to considering a few recent cases in English law, in order to examine the extent to which these three implications are realized within them.

ISBN: ISBN 978-90-04-19521

DOI: 10.1080/09637490802260385

The Middle East region has had a long, and periodically impressive, record of religious diversity, yet there is much concern regarding the contemporary standing of its religious minorities. Rather than assessing the chequered historical record of religious minorities in the Middle East, the purpose of this article is to provide an assessment of how international human rights standards may best be utilised to advance their rights. The contention of this article is that the human rights of religious minorities in the Middle East have primarily been considered under the lens of freedom of religion or belief. Relevant though this framework is to their concerns, it will be suggested that promoting the rights of the Middle East's religious minorities through the framework of minority rights may provide a more promising avenue for their protection. The purpose of the article is therefore to provide a reassessment of how best to negotiate the rights of religious minorities in the Middle East. The focus will be on formal legal and political obstacles to the enjoyment of their rights entitlements. Though a broader contextual analysis also assessing economic, cultural and sociological factors would be highly informative, it lies beyond the scope of this article. Despite the fact that minority rights provisions apply to members of minorities alongside all other human rights – among them freedom of religion or belief – the two lenses of minority rights and freedom of religion or belief highlight somewhat different provisions and protections. The two are certainly not mutually exclusive or in contradiction with one another, but a state that prioritises one set of legal and policy options over the other will arrive in different places.

ISBN: ISSN 0963-7494

DOI: www.minorityrights.org/download.php?id=939

Violations of minority rights in Iran take place within a wider, well-documented context of human rights violations, and intolerance of dissent and difference. Against this background, this briefing reflects on the historical and current situation of Iran’s ethnic, religious and linguistic minority groups, which are typified in Iran by their lack of political power and influence. It also considers the new popular and political consciousness that is emerging in Iran in regard to human rights in general, and minority rights in particular, following the political debates leading up to the disputed 2009 elections, and the popular protests that came afterwards. This shift may represent an opportunity for members of minority groups in Iran at long last to enjoy equal citizenship rights, educational and economic opportunities, and the right to maintain their cultural identity.

The themes and issues explored in this book - religion, human rights, politics and society could not be more relevant to the post 11 September 2001 world. They lie at the heart of global political debate today. The collection explores these issues after the passing of just over two decades from the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination based on Religion or Belief. That declaration set out minimum international standards for the elimination of such discrimination. Sadly the challenge of intolerance on the basis of religion … read moreor belief continues to plague us, and tackling it seems to have become increasingly entrenched. The complexity of this phenomenon requires expertise from different quarters. This collection draws from diplomatic, activist and theological quarters and benefits from the analysis of scholars of law, history, religious studies and sociology. The ten chapters of this collection examine the relationship between human rights, law and religion; offer a typology for the study of religious persecution; problematise the consequences flowing from religious establishment in religiously plural society; analyse the implications of the directions being taken by the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the protections offered by the European Commission council Directive 2000/43/EC outlawing workplace discrimination; study the 1981 Declaration and its promotion through the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief; and explore the intricacies of this freedom in detail from within the context of the United Kingdom and The Netherlands.

ISBN: ISBN13: 978900413641

This report examines the human rights protection systems of the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union. It explores the substantive rights, protection mechanisms, modes of engagement within, and the interactions between each system. The report also outlines the protection of minority rights, and the political processes through which human rights and institutions evolve and interact. A series of recommendations are made on how to advance the EU human rights system.