Published by CQ Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc. www.cqresearcher.com Religious Repression Should U.S. support of religious freedom be stronger?

early 75 percent of the world’s inhabitants — 5.1 billion people — live in countries that restrict religious freedom, a fundamental human right N under international law. Draconian antiblasphemy laws, threats of imprisonment, physical attacks and the desecration of holy sites are among the tools used to stifle religious expression . Many foreign policy experts see religious oppression as a serious threat to global stability. Advocates in the United States are pushing Refugees from Sudan attend church services in a policymakers to make religious freedom a higher priority, arguing refugee camp in newly independent South Sudan in July 2012. After the south voted for independence in that promoting it abroad will help defuse tensions and foster 2011, following a 22-year civil war, thousands of Sudanese Christians in the largely Muslim north fled south, where the new constitution protects peace and democracy. But others say that making a focus religious freedom. Sudan’s imposition of draconian Islamic law, or Sharia, sparked the war. of foreign policy is a mistake because it is too complex and volatile an issue. Meanwhile, some countries, such as newly inde - I pendent South Sudan, have taken noteworthy steps to broaden THIS REPORT N THE ISSUES ...... 935 religious rights. S BACKGROUND ...... 941 I CHRONOLOGY ...... 943 D AT ISSUE ...... 949 E CQ Researcher • Nov. 1, 2013 • www.cqresearcher.com CURRENT SITUATION ...... 950 Volume 23, Number 39 • Pages 933-956 OUTLOOK ...... 951 RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 954 EXCELLENCE N AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD THE NEXT STEP ...... 955 RELIGIOUS REPRESSION

Nov. 1, 2013 THE ISSUES SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS Volume 23, Number 39

• Is religious repression on Repression Most Severe in MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas J. Billitteri 935 the rise? 936 Middle East, North Africa [email protected] • Is rising fundamentalism to Persecution is more widespread ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS: Lyn Garrity, blame for religious repression where restrictions are greatest. lyn.garrity@ sagepub.com, Kathy Koch , and persecution? [email protected] • Are Christians the main Most of World Lacks 937 Religious Freedom SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: targets of religious repression Thomas J. Colin Some 5 billion people live in [email protected] and persecution? countries with severe restric - tions on religion. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Sarah Glazer, Peter Katel , Reed Karaim, Barbara Mantel, BACKGROUND Christians, Domi - Tom Price, Jennifer Weeks 940 nate World SENIOR PROJECT EDITOR: Olu B. Davis 941 Holy Wars Most social hostilities occur Christians and Muslims where the government favors FACT CHECKER: Michelle Harris fought over Jerusalem. one religion.

U.N. Actions Chronology 942 The international body de - 943 Key events since 1939. clared religious freedom a basic right. Building Peace by 944 Protecting Holy Sites An Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc. Cold War “You can bring two sides to - 942 VICE PRESIDENT AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, Communists sought to stifle gether and make them stand HIGHER EDUCATION GROUP: religion. up for each other.” Michele Sordi Post-Communist Era Conflict Still Threatens EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ONLINE LIBRARY AND 944 Serbians waged a campaign 946 South Sudan REFERENCE PUBLISHING: of ethnic cleansing. “One thing they got right is Todd Baldwin freedom of religion.” 945 Modern Extremism Copyright © 2013 CQ Press, an Imprint of SAGE Pub - The Taliban imposed dracon - 948 U.S. Cites Worst Violators lications, Inc. SAGE reserves all copyright and other ian Islamic law. of Religious Freedom rights herein, unless pre vi ous ly spec i fied in writing. Fifteen countries make the list. No part of this publication may be reproduced electronically or otherwise, without prior written CURRENT SITUATION 949 At Issue: permission. Un au tho rized re pro duc tion or trans mis- Should Western countries sion of SAGE copy right ed material is a violation of U.S. Foreign Policy make religious freedom a federal law car ry ing civil fines of up to $100,000. 950 Activists seek closer link foreign policy priority? between religion and U.S. CQ Press is a registered trademark of Congressional foreign policy. Quarterly Inc. FOR FURTHER RESEARCH CQ Researcher (ISSN 1056-2036) is printed on acid- View Abroad free paper. Pub lished weekly, except: (March wk. 5) 950 For More Information The European Union issued 953 (May wk. 4) (July wk. 1) (Aug. wks. 3, 4) (Nov. wk. its first guidelines on religious Organizations to contact. 4) and (Dec. wks. 3, 4). Published by SAGE Publica - freedom. Bibliography tions, Inc., 2455 Teller Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. 954 Selected sources used. Annual full-service subscriptions start at $1,054. For OUTLOOK pricing, call 1-800-818-7243. To purchase a CQ Re - The Next Step searcher report in print or electronic format (PDF), 955 Additional articles . visit www.cqpress.com or call 866-427-7737. Single Democracy and Reform reports start at $15. Bulk purchase discounts and 951 Egypt is debating the role of Citing CQ Researcher electronic-rights licensing are also available. Periodicals religion in its constitution. 955 Sample bibliography formats. postage paid at Thousand Oaks, California, and at additional mailing offices . POST MAST ER: Send ad dress chang es to CQ Re search er , 2300 N St., N.W., Suite 800, Wash ing ton, DC 20037.

Cover: Getty Images/Paula Bronstein

934 CQ Researcher Religious Repression BY MICHELLE JOHNSON

of , rang - THE ISSUES ing from discrimination against Catholics to bans on Jews join - aaloula was once an ing country clubs, enrolling in oasis of calm in college or running for politi - M Syria’s civil war. The cal office in some states. And town of 17 churches and holy anti-Muslim sentiment spiked relics is one of the last places after the Sept. 11, 2001, ter - where people still speak Ara - rorist attacks. maic, the language of Jesus. But partly because of its At the start of the war near - First Amendment guarantee ly three years ago, the town’s of religious freedom and its religious leaders — Muslim and tradition of religious and cul - Christian — vowed to keep tural plurality, experts say,

the peace, said Mahmoud Diab, i the United States generally k u

Maaloula’s Sunni imam. But in o has avoided the kind of egre - s early September, al Qaeda- e gious D

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linked rebels attacked, shout - e playing out in many parts of l a ing “We are from the al-Nusra h the world. ( See map, p. 936. ) K /

Front and have come to make s For instance: e life miserable for the Crusaders,” g • In Egypt, Christians have a m I an Islamist term for Christians. been the primary target of re - y t The rebels killed at least 10 t ligious violence, particularly e G

Christians, some for refusing / since the July military ouster P to convert to . 1 F of President Mohamed Morsi, A Nearly three-fourths of the Mourners in Cairo, Egypt, carry the coffins of four a key member of the Islamist world’s people live in places Coptic Christians who were gunned down at a wedding , which with “high” or “very high” de - on Oct. 20, 2013. Since the July ouster of President blames Christians for his po - Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Islamist Muslim grees of restrictions on reli - Brotherhood, Christians have been the primary target of litical failure. gious freedom, according to fomented by the Brotherhood, • In Nigeria, the radical the Pew Research Center’s which blames Christians for Morsi’s ouster. Islamist group Boko Haram Forum on Religion and Pub - has killed more than 3,500 lic Life, a think tank in Washington. the best way to defuse conflict and in people since July 2009, including some Such repression can range from re - turn protect U.S. interests abroad. 3 40 university students massacred in strictions on worship to government But others worry that an overempha - September as they slept in their dor - complicity in mob violence against re - sis on religion could alienate allies or mitory. 4 The group Western ligious minorities. 2 Religious harass - have other unintended consequences. education is a sin. ment also includes physical assaults, Religious intolerance is “as big as oil, • In , Hindu nationalists are arrests, detentions, desecration of holy as nuclear weapons. It’s a huge threat, blamed for violence against religious sites and discrimination against reli - and underestimated, and not understood,” minorities, including a Christmas 2007 gious groups in employment, educa - says religion scholar Kelly Clark, a se - attack in Orissa state that destroyed tion and housing, according to Pew. nior fellow at the Kaufman Interfaith In - 55 Christian churches and 600 houses. 5 Religious persecution has destabi - stitute at Grand Valley State University • In Myanmar (formerly Burma), lized the social and political order in in Grand Rapids, Mich., and author of extremist Buddhist monks are lead - many parts of the world and con - Abraham’s Children: Liberty and Toler - ing what human rights groups call an tributed to numerous geopolitical con - ance in an Age of Religious Conflict. “Re - “ethnic cleansing” campaign against flicts, say advocates of religious free - ligion moves people’s passion. Some - Rohingya Muslims. The United Na - dom. They want the U.S. Department times you just need a tiny bit to push tions estimates that some 140,000 of State to push foreign governments people over the edge into violence.” people have been displaced by vio - harder to loosen restrictions on reli - The United States has experienced lence, and tens of thousands of oth - gion, arguing that greater freedom is its own, sometimes violent, incidents ers have fled by boat. 6

www.cqresearcher.com Nov. 1, 2013 935 RELIGIOUS REPRESSION

Repression Most Severe in Middle East, North Africa Twenty countries imposed tight restrictions on religion in 2011, twice as many as five years earlier. The Middle East and North Africa had the most severe restrictions, despite widespread expectations the Arab Spring uprisings would lead to greater freedoms. The number of countries with low restrictions dropped from 117 to 100 during the five-year period. Researchers say religious persecution and conflict are more widespread where government restrictions on religion are greatest. Forty percent of nations imposed such limits in 2011, a five-year high. Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and Russia were the most restrictive. The U.S. designation as “moderately” restrictive stems from recent attempts by states and cities to ban Sharia law or block construction of as well as a spike in religion-related terrorism, such as mass shootings at Ft. Hood, Texas, in 2009 and at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin in 2012. Government Restrictions on Religion

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B ARMENIA AZERBS AIJAN UZBEKIS TAN SPAIN OS N e M IeAd ALB TURKMENIS TAN KOREA - a HEi t AN S TATES OF PO RTUGAL RZe IA TURKEY TAJIKIS TAN NO R TH ErGGREECE rOV JA P AN a INA CHINA n CYPRUS SYa RIA AMERICA TUNISIeA a n S e LEBANON e A TLANTIC MOROCCO a ISRAEL S IRAQ AFGHANIS TAN IRAN CANA RY JOd RDAN e SOUTH OCEAN ISLANDS ALGERIA NE PAL BHU TAN Gulf of M exico WESTERN LIB YA EGYPT R QATAR PAKIS TAN KOREA BAHAMAS SAUDI UNITED SAHARA ARAB BANGLADESH CUBA ARABIA EMIR ATES WAN MEXICO JAMAICA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HONG KONG HAWAIIAN ISLANDS MAURI TANIA MALI NIGER CHAD OMAN INDIA MYANMAR LAOS PACIFIC BELIZE HAITI PUE RTO RICO SENEGAL ERITREA Arabian VIETNAM GU ATEMALA HONDURAS YEMEN Sea Bay ToHf AILAND TRINIDAD & SUDAN Bengal South NICARAGUA TOBAGO GAMBIA DJIBOUTI EL SA LVADOR GUINEA-BISSAU NIGERIA CAMBODIA China PHILIPPINES OCEAN VENEZUELA Sea GUINEA CENTRAL ETHIOPIA COS TA RICA G AFRICAN S REPUBLIC SRI BRUNEI U U SIERR A LEONE Celebes PACIFIC T Y O CAMEROON DEM. REP. OF PANAMA F AR B LANKA Sea R E G THE CONGO MAL AYSIA COLOMBIA NIN LIBERIA N O SOMALIA GALA PAGOS E IN UGANDA NAA ISLANDS ECUADOR C M IVO RY GHANA CONGO H RWANDA KEN YA PAPUA OCEAN G COAST BURKINA U BURUNDI INDONESIA NEW IA FASO TANZANIA INDIAN BRAZIL N GUINEA SOLOMON A GABON ISLANDS l MAL AWI e EQU ATORIAL n n OCEAN PERU ZAMBIA a GUINEA ANGOLA h VANU ATU MOZCAMBIQUE Co r al Sea BOLIVIA SOUTH e u q FIJI ZIMBABWE i b MAURITIUS m PARAGU AY A TLANTIC MaADAGASCAR z RÉUNION BOTS WANA o NEW CALEDONIA M OCEAN NAMIBIA AUSTRALIA CHILE SWAZILAND LESOTHO SOUTH URUGU AY AFRICA Levels of Restriction

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Source: “Arab Spring Adds to Global Restrictions on Religion,” Pew Research Center, June 2013, www.pewforum.org/files/2013/ 06/RestrictionsIV-web.pdf

• In Iran, members of the Baha’i forced-labor camps may be Falun Gong have drastically increased in parts of faith face violence and systematic per - adherents . 7 the Middle East and North Africa since secution in education and employment. Worldwide, about 100 million Chris - the Arab Spring uprisings that began • In China, some 3,500 practition - tians are targeted by acts ranging from in Tunisia in 2010, largely because of ers of Falun Gong, a Buddhist spiri - verbal harassment to torture and death sectarian hostilities between Sunni and tual discipline the government con - because of their faith, according to Shiite Muslims. 8 siders an illegal cult, reportedly have Open Doors, an interdenominational Experts say religious conflicts often been killed in a 14-year campaign to Christian group based in Santa Ana, are part of ethnic- or cultural-cleansing stamp out the group. The State De - Calif., that ranks the most oppressive efforts or campaigns to grab land or partment estimates that half of the es - conditions for Christians. power. While some religious conflicts timated 250,000 detainees in China’s Religious restrictions and violence “are the result of genuine intolerance

936 CQ Researcher of heresies and insults to religion,” says Nina Shea, director of the Hudson In - Most of World Lacks Religious Freedom stitute’s Center for Religious Freedom Nearly three-fourths of the world’s inhabitants — some 5.1 billion in Washington, others reflect efforts “to people — live in countries that impose severe restrictions on religious consolidate national identity. The gain freedom, a 6-percentage-point increase over 2007. During the same or consolidation of power seems to be the common goal or result, if not the period, the number of countries with “low” restrictions declined by driving force.” more than half. In some cases, laws intended to Percentage of Global Population and Level of Religious Restrictions protect a certain religion — often the majority faith — lead to persecution 68% 74% of religious minorities. Most Islamic countries — 95 percent of those in the Middle East and North Africa, for Levels of Restriction example — have constitutions or laws that favor Islam but lack a constitu - 18% High or very high tional guarantee of religious freedom. 14% 20% Moderate Many of those governments also out - Low law — switching to another 6% religion or renouncing one’s faith. 9 In countries such as Pakistan, Saudi 2007 Arabia and Iran, acts considered blas - 2011 phemous, defamatory or insulting to Islamic figures or symbols are pun - Source: “Arab Spring Adds to Global Restrictions on Religion,” Pew Research Center, ishable by death. Such laws have been June 2013, www.pewforum.org/files/2013/06/RestrictionsIV-web.pdf used against religious minorities and dissidents. In the United States, the Interna - the State Department’s Office of Inter - “We’ve seen, for instance, in the tional Religious Freedom Act of 1998, national Religious Freedom. 11 past year or so, especially since the which established the USCIRF, created Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., author of the beginning of the Arab awakening, the the strongest tools for pressing other 1998 law, sponsored a bill this year to increase and application of blasphe - countries to address religious persecu - create a special State Department envoy my laws in a number of countries tion and repression. The law requires focusing specifically on the plight of from Egypt to Pakistan and Tunisia, the State Department, acting on behalf religious minorities in the Middle East even Kuwait and Saudi Arabia,” says of the president, to impose penalties and South Asia. It passed the House Dwight Bashir, deputy director for pol - such as sanctions, embargos or foreign but is stalled in a Senate committee. icy and research at the U.S. Commis - aid restrictions on countries the de - This summer, the European Union sion on International Religious Free - partment finds to be consistently abus - (EU) adopted first-ever guidelines for dom (USCIRF), a federal panel that ing religious rights. A waiver can be how EU officials can promote religious monitors religious freedom abroad. “In issued, however. ( See graphic, p. 948. ) freedom abroad. a lot of these cases someone simply Many religious freedom advocates As religious groups raise concerns had an alternative view, a dissenting say the law has never been used to about their treatment and policymak - view, and they were prosecuted.” its full potential. “It would be difficult ers debate the role of religion in diplo - Religious freedom has been con - to name a single country in the world macy, these are some of the issues sidered a fundamental human right over the past 15 years where Ameri - being debated: since 1948, when the United Nations can religious foreign policy has helped adopted the Universal Declaration of to reduce religious persecution or in - Is religious repression on the rise? Human Rights. The International crease religious freedom in any sub - Pew researchers measuring restric - Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stantial or sustained way,” said Thomas tions on religion worldwide have found in 1976 extended and codified that Farr, director of the Religious Freedom a pattern: Physical persecution and right, but enforcement is limited to a Project at Georgetown University’s conflict are higher in places with greater periodic review of countries’ human Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and government restrictions on religion. 12 rights records. 10 World Affairs and a former director of In their latest report, the researchers

www.cqresearcher.com Nov. 1, 2013 937 RELIGIOUS REPRESSION

found that religious restrictions were formation through social media and the specific social, cultural or eco - rising in every region of the world, in - viral videos. nomic conditions involved, she says. cluding the Americas and sub-Saharan However, he says, “On the whole, Amjad Mahmood Khan, an attorney Africa, where they had previously been there’s probably a credible argument that who serves as spokesperson for the declining. 13 we’re in a better moment than we were Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, “We don’t say that there’s a direct 100 or even 75, 50 years ago” because a Silver Spring, Md., advocacy and net - causal effect, but where you see high of the U.N.’s development of human working group for Ahmadiyyahs, mem - social hostilities you also see high gov - rights standards and how they changed bers of a reformed Muslim movement ernment restrictions,” says Brian J. Grim, international relations and norms. founded in the 19th century, says the lead researcher of the Pew project. “We’ve In the United States, the U.S. Com - number of religious persecution cases been able to document with facts and mission on International Religious Free - he’s encountered has “dramatically in - figures a reality that many people on dom (USCIRF) publishes an annual list creased. The work I do concerns many the ground have seen. Previously, most of “countries of particular concern” regions — Southeast Asia, South Asia, people dealing with religious freedom (CPC) or those that commit or toler - Central Asia and the Middle East — relied on anecdotes and expert opin - ate “systematic, ongoing and egregious” and I think that is a disturbing trend ion to summarize the situation. These violations of religious freedom, includ - and one that is unfortunately devolv - reports have concrete measures and ing “torture, prolonged detention with - ing and not improving,” Khan says. track them over time. out charges, disappearances or other He points in particular to antiblas - “Certain types of restrictions have a flagrant denials of the right to life, lib - phemy and anti-apostasy laws. stronger association with hostilities and erty or the security of persons.” 16 Coun - “We see that in Pakistan very dra - vice versa,” Grim says. For example, so - tries can be dropped from the list only matically, we see that in Indonesia. We cial hostilities are most volatile in coun - if the State Department deems they are see that in a variety of Middle East tries where governments strongly favor improving the climate for religious free - countries. We see that there are con - one religion. Among the 13 types of dom. (See graphic, p. 948. ) tradictions in the pronouncements to social hostilities he measured, sectarian But commission members don’t al - the international community about violence was most closely associated ways agree on what constitutes im - human rights standards and religious with government restrictions, he says. provement. In its 2013 report, the com - freedom and the legislation that is In the 20 countries of the Middle mission acknowledged that Turkey had patently discriminatory against people East and North Africa, 95 percent of loosened its ban on Muslims wearing of faith,” Khan says. governments highly favor one religion, headscarves in government buildings He attributes much of the increase compared to 12 percent in the rest of and revised textbooks containing in religious persecution to weak inter - the world. 14 Countries with government- derogatory material about religious mi - national human rights laws guaran - favored religions also experienced a norities. Turkey is “moving in a posi - teeing religious freedom, such as the much higher incidence of sectarian tive direction with regard to religious International Covenant on Civil and violence — 50 percent versus 11 per - freedom,” the report said. 17 But four Political Rights. 19 Its only enforcement cent in the rest of the world. Reports commission members disagreed with mechanism is a periodic review of a of crimes and malicious acts motivat - the panel’s decision to remove Turkey country’s human rights record by the ed by religious hatred and of violence from the watch list, citing the gov - U.N. Human Rights Committee. or public tensions between religious ernment’s restrictions on minority re - groups were also higher. 15 ligious communities, including non- Is rising fundamentalism to Grim says looking at places where Sunni Muslims. 18 blame for religious repression religious repression or persecution is ris - Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, a North - and persecution? ing can serve as an “early warning sys - western University political scientist Fundamentalism is a term coined tem” for spotting threats of widespread who studies the role of religion in in the early 20th century when broth - human rights abuses or genocide. public life, says those who try to mea - ers Milton and Lyman Stewart published Michael Wahid Hanna, a senior fel - sure religious repression and persecu - a collection of essays by leading the - low at the liberal-leaning Century Foun - tion run the risk of oversimplifying the ologians, called “The Fundamentals.” The dation think tank, based in Washing - issue. “We need to stop trying to fix essays described an emerging kind of ton and New York City, says religious numbers to these things and making American Protestantism that saw the repression and persecution may seem charts and graphs,” she says. To truly core tenets of Christianity as being the worse than in the past, in part be - understand religious persecution or re - that the Bible is the literal word cause people have access to more in - pression, it’s necessary to understand of and that Jesus Christ would

938 CQ Researcher one day return to judge and rule the party Hizb ut-Tahrir who now works to won unless governments reform or re - world. 20 counter extremism through his London- peal the laws that give am - Today the term often is used to de - based think tank, Quilliam. 22 munition to these extremists,” he says. scribe political or religious groups that The Hudson Institute’s Shea blames Clark, of the Kaufman Interfaith In - advocate a literal interpretation of their both the rise of “political Islam” — groups stitute, says, however, it “would be a founding documents or holy texts. Some that seek a greater role for Islamic law mistake” to blame religious persecu - — but not all — of those groups seek in social and political life — and violent tion solely on the rise of religious fun - to replace secular law with religious religious extremist groups, such as al damentalism. “There are a lot of fac - law, and the most extreme advocate Qaeda and its offshoots, for an increase tors involved, and religion is one of violence to achieve their aims. 21 in religious persecution, particularly in them,” Clark says. For instance, he says But whether — and to what extent countries such as Iraq, Syria and Egypt. many non-Westerners associate Chris - — fundamentalism is to blame for re - The rise of such groups “has re - tianity with Western imperialism, and ligious repression and persecution is sulted in the targeting of Muslim and others resent American drone policy, a matter of strong debate among ex - non-Muslim minorities in countries which has led to numerous deaths of perts. Some argue fundamentalism is throughout the world,” Shea says. “And suspected terrorists — as well as an the primary force behind global reli - there’s also a power struggle going on undetermined number of innocent civil - gious suppression. But others, noting within Islam between Sunnis and Shi - ians — in the Middle East. 26 Recent that many religiously conservative ites, Islamists and secularists for state church bombings in Pakistan, for ex - groups shun aggression or violence, power, and that has resulted also in ample, were said to be in retaliation contend that political and social ob - religious repression and persecution.” for U.S. drone strikes. jectives are the driving force behind The sectarian conflict has roots in Hedieh Mirahmadi, president of the religious intolerance. theological differences and struggles Washington.-based World Organization Abdullahi An-Na’im, an Emory Uni - between Sunnis, who represent about for Resource Development and Edu - versity law professor and prominent schol - 85 percent of Muslims in the Middle cation, which works to counter violent ar on Islam and human rights, says fun - East and North Africa, and Shiites, who extremism by encouraging the devel - damentalism is “the phenomenon of dominate only in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and opment of community groups and non - claiming that we have the absolute, ex - Azerbaijan. 23 The oil-rich, Sunni-led Gulf governmental organizations, says she clusive truth to the exclusion of other states and the Islamic fundamentalist doesn’t see fundamentalism as causing people,” says. “And as such, it can be Shiite government of Iran fund much of religious persecution. “There are very political and ideological, as well as reli - today’s Sunni-Shiite power struggle. conservative, traditional Muslim com - gious. It is a mindset, an attitude of in - Harsh laws aimed at religious mi - munities that aren’t antipluralistic or tolerance to difference, to disagreement.” norities often contribute to a climate violent at all,” she says. The rise of religious extremism of repression. In Pakistan, for exam - Like the Hudson Institute’s Shea, worldwide is related to a “siege of ple, anyone can file a blasphemy Mirahmadi faults the rise of political identity,” says Chris Seiple, president charge, and, because the law doesn’t Islam, which she describes as “long-term of the Institute for Global Engagement, penalize a false allegation, it is com - social engineering projects” designed to a Christian think tank in Arlington, Va. monly used to intimidate religious mi - replace local culture and traditions with “If you don’t have a job, and you’re norities or to settle business disputes. extremist interpretations of Islam. looking for an explanatory framework Two prominent Pakistani officials were While religious extremism can lead for why your life sucks, hey, guess assassinated in 2011 because they op - to persecution and violence, experts what? A religion with all the answers posed the law. 24 Recently, however, say, government policies can also be to that blames the other guy makes a Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology blame. The U.S. Commission on Inter - whole lot of sense,” says Seiple. “Once — after affirming its support for the national Religious Freedom (USCIRF) others are defined and stereotyped, law — told the government the mea - has named China as a top violator of they’re dehumanized, and that means sure should be amended to impose religious freedom every year since the the potential for violence.” the death sentence on anyone mak - commission began issuing reports in Modern technology has allowed ex - ing a false accusation. 25 1999. Although the Chinese constitution tremist groups to recruit — and act — Khan, of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Com - calls for freedom of religious belief, the globally and helped far-flung groups munity USA, says such laws “embold - government requires religious institu - connect, making them feel more main - en” extremists, who use them as cover tions to operate under the auspices of stream and legitimate, said Maajid Nawaz, for violence against religious minorities. “patriotic religious associations” that gov - a former member of the global Islamist “The battle against extremists cannot be ern each of the five officially recog -

www.cqresearcher.com Nov. 1, 2013 939 RELIGIOUS REPRESSION

North Korea, which bans Christianity, Christians, Muslims Dominate World Religions has kept its No. 1 ranking for the past Christians comprise nearly a third of the world’s population, and 11 years as most restrictive of religious Muslims about one-fourth. Nearly three-fourths of the adherents to a freedom. Open Doors estimates that as many as 70,000 North Korean Chris - religion live in a country where their religious group is in the majority. tians have been sent to labor camps The most serious social hostilities involving religion tend to occur in on account of their faith. 30 countries where the government strongly favors one religion. Paul Estabrooks, senior communica - tions specialist for Open Doors, says sim - Global Population Percentages of mering resentment over the U.S. role in Ma jor Religious Groups, 2010 the Korean War, which ended 60 years 15% ago, fuels antipathy toward Christians. 16.3% “I don’t believe it’s because they have Christians an antagonism to the actual beliefs of 7.1% Muslims Christianity,” Estabrooks says. “It’s because 0.8% Unaffiliated they perceive that Christianity is an Amer - 5.9% (Other Hindus ican religion, and therefore anyone who religions) Buddhists 23.3% Folk Religions* practices it is not loyal to their country.” Other Religions** Christians in Muslim-majority countries 0.2% Jews also bear the brunt of anti-American sen - 31.5% (Jews) timent, including anger at U.S. drone strikes or support for the Jewish state of Israel. “It seems undeniable to me * Includes adherents of African, Chinese, Native American and Australian that we create a lot of animosity, and traditional folk religions. then we create a situation that’s hos - ** Includes Bahai’s, Jains, Sikhs, Shintoists, Taoists, followers of Tenrikyo, Wiccans, tile for Christians around the world and Zoroastrians. today,” Clark says. “Christianity is asso - ciated with colonialism and imperial - Source: “The Global Religious Landscape: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Major Religious Groups as of 2010,” Pew Research Center, December ism and Western values and Western 2012, www.pewforum.org/files/2012/12/globalReligion-full.pdf power. I think socio-politics is huge in why people commit violence. Religion nized religions — Buddhism, Daoism, adherents — nearly 32 percent of the gets the blame as the motivator, but Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism. global population. About 1.6 billion these are often dispossessed and pow - However, the government’s restrictions people identify as Muslims, 1 billion as erless people.” on the activities of Uighur Muslims from Hindus, nearly 500 million as Buddhists Fallout from the Arab Spring upris - Xinjiang Province in western China and and 14 million as Jews. 29 (See graphic , ings and the Iraq War have made the of Tibetan Buddhists are “systematic, above. ) situation “suddenly and acutely bad” for ongoing and egregious,” says Bashir, “The practitioners of other religions Coptic Christians in countries such as of USCIRF. are not even close to the persecution Syria, Iraq and Egypt, says Abdallah Nevertheless, religion is on the rise that Christians face around the world,” Schleifer, a professor emeritus at The today in China, with an estimated 65 says religion scholar Clark. American University in Cairo and a vet - million Protestants, 12 million Catholics The targeting of Christians is par - eran Middle East journalist. He says and about 20 million Muslims. 27 By ticularly acute in Muslim-majority coun - Christians are clearly the main target of 2050, China could have the world’s tries, he says. It ranges from subtle persecution, at least in the . largest populations of Christians and discrimination, such as being denied Discrimination against Christians Muslims. 28 access to government employment, to hasn’t always been a concern, Schleifer church bombings and killings, he says. says. “Quite to the contrary — in the Are Christians the main targets In its most recent report, Open Arab nationalist days in these coun - of religious repression and per - Doors said about 100 million Chris - tries — Iraq, Syria, Egypt — Christians secution? tians are persecuted around the world, participated fully in political life.” Christians comprise the world’s largest with the worst problems in North Korea, Today, however, Coptic Christians find religious group, with about 2.2 billion Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. themselves in the crosshairs of sectarian

940 CQ Researcher

violence, the target of extremist groups ing less than a blueprint for the stran - sacre in Yan Thei village, in Mrauk-U who consider Christians “infidels,” he gulation of the Baha’i community.” 33 Township, according to Human Rights says. Egypt’s Christian community has Baha’is are not allowed to build or Watch. 36 become the scapegoat for the failure maintain places of worship, schools or of President Morsi, who was over - religious organizations. They are barred thrown in a military coup in July. from enrolling in universities, holding The Hudson Institute’s Shea says Chris - government jobs or receiving govern - BACKGROUND tians are the “most widely persecuted” ment pensions. More than 650 Baha’is faith group in the world. “It varies from have been arrested since 2005, and as country to country. But in country after of February at least 110 are impris - country where there is a Christian mi - oned because of their beliefs. 34 Holy Wars nority, they are targeted; there is per - “They’re arrested simply for being secution, and by persecution I’m talk - Baha’is and suffer discrimination on a very major religion has been ei - ing about the most serious forms of daily basis, to the extent that even Ba - E ther the victim or the perpetrator repression: killings, arrests, driving peo - ha’i cemeteries are desecrated and bull - of religious repression — and some - ple into exile,” she says. dozed,” says Bani Dugal, principal rep - times both. Only about 1 percent of the world’s resentative to the United Nations for Egyptian pharaohs enslaved Jews. Christians live in North Africa and the the Baha’i International Community. In Judea, Roman authorities crucified Jesus. Middle East, where Christianity began, “So really, the persecution extends from The Prophet Muhammad led battles and Christian groups worry about the cradle to grave.” against the tribes around Medina and fate of those remaining in the region . 31 In Pakistan, Ahmadiyyah Muslims are Mecca (in what is now Saudi Arabia), In a letter to 300 faith leaders earlier disproportionally charged under that as he and his followers established their this year, Rep. Wolf reminded them that country’s blasphemy laws. The country’s new Islamic order. in 1948, roughly 150,000 Jews lived in constitution specifically declares that During the Golden Age of Islam (A.D. Iraq but that today fewer than 10 re - Ahmadiyyahs are not Muslims, legally 750 -1258), most Muslim leaders, including main. Egypt, once home to as many as stripping them of the right to self-iden - Saladin, tolerated Christians and Jews 80,000 Jews, today has fewer than 100. tify as Muslims and leaving them open living in the midst of Islam’s vast em - “It appears a similar fate awaits the to persecution. pire, which once stretched from Asia to ancient Christian community in these Buddhist extremism fuels the suffer - North Africa and Spain. As “dhimmis” same lands,” Wolf wrote. “Iraq’s Chris - ing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s — meaning “protected ones” — Chris - tian population has fallen from as many Arakan state, where up to 1 million Ro - tians and Jews paid a tax that entitled as 1.4 million in 2003 to between hingya are essentially stateless since being them to Muslim protection. 37 500,000 and 700,000 today.” 32 excluded from a 1982 citizenship law. The peaceful coexistence of faiths Almost every religious group faces Conflicts between Buddhists, by far the ended with the Crusades, a centuries- harassment, says Grim, the Pew reli - majority, and the Rohingya date back at long series of “holy wars” that began gion researcher. Christians face ha - least to World War II, when the Rohingya in 1096, when Pope Urban II responded rassment in 145 countries, and Mus - remained loyal to the British colonial gov - to a request from the Byzantine (Greek) lims in 129. But Jews, who make up ernment and the Arakanese — mostly Emperor Alexius for help fending off just 0.2 percent of the world’s popu - Buddhist — sided with the Japanese. 35 the Muslim Turks, who were expanding lation, have experienced harassment Over the years, the government of across Asia Minor. in 90 countries. “Some groups face ha - Myanmar (formerly Burma) has mount - The pope’s speech to the Council rassment in a far larger number of ed repeated campaigns to drive the of Clermont in November of 1095 called countries than you would expect given Rohingyas across the border into for taking up the cross and marching their population size,” he says. Bangladesh, which has an ethnically eastward “with the twin aims of free - In some cases, persecution is very similar Muslim population. Last year, ing Christians from the yoke of Islamic specific. In Iran, persecution of the an intense wave of violence against rule and liberating the tomb of Christ, Baha’i sect dramatically accelerated after the Rohingyas, reportedly organized the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, from a revolution in 1979 overthrew the by Buddhist monks and Arakanese po - Muslim control.” 38 The Christian war - shah of Iran and instituted an Islam - litical officials, killed scores of Rohingya riors of the First Crusade succeeded ic government. residents and displaced more than in capturing Jerusalem in July 1099, Advocates for the Baha’is say offi - 125,000. In the deadliest incident, at waging blood-soaked battles on the cial state policy toward them is “noth - least 70 Rohingya were killed in a mas - Temple Mount and inside the al-Aqsa

www.cqresearcher.com Nov. 1, 2013 941 RELIGIOUS REPRESSION

Mosque. They left no Muslim sur - at Humboldt University in Berlin, wrote ian Jews died in the Holocaust. Fol - vivors, historian John Esposito wrote, in 1966. 42 The International Covenant lowing Stalin’s death, the Soviet Union and women and children were mas - on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) was continued its campaign for universal sacred. 39 In 1187, Saladin led his armies adopted that year and went into force atheism. 44 in recapturing Jerusalem. a decade later. The treaty declares that Cold War-era American leaders bor - By the 13th century, the Crusades all people have a broad range of civil rowed on religious themes to mobilize “degenerated . . . into intra-Christian and political rights, including freedom the public against communism. “For wars, papal wars against [the papacy’s] of religion. many political commentators . . . , the Christian enemies who were denounced Originally, the U.N. Commission on Cold War was one of history’s great as heretics and schismatics,” Esposito Human Rights was responsible for re - religious wars, a global conflict between wrote. 40 viewing countries’ human rights records. the god-fearing and the godless,” wrote Created in the 13th century to en - But in 2006, in response to criticism that historian Dianne Kirby of the Universi - force orthodoxy, the Inquisition of the the commission had lost its credibility ty of Ulster, in Northern Ireland. A Na - Catholic Church led to widespread by allowing states with poor human tional Security Council document that persecution of Christians, Jews and rights records to be members, the U.N. was pivotal in committing the United other perceived “heretics” for nearly overhauled the process. It replaced the States to a massive arms buildup in 600 years. 41 commission with a Human Rights Coun - 1950 called for the United States to de - In 1517, German theologian Martin cil and implemented the Universal Pe - feat the “fanatic faith” of communism Luther’s challenge of Catholicism riodic Review process, which requires by mobilizing a “spiritual counter force” sparked the Protestant Reformation, a countries to do a self-evaluation every and harnessing the “latent spiritual en - bloody, decades-long war of ideas and four years and invites observations from ergies of free men everywhere.” 45 across northern Europe. The nongovernmental organizations and other Since the collapse of the Soviet Union Reformation led to the splintering of states. The council completed its first in 1991, religious activity has surged in the Roman Catholic Church and deep, round of reviews in 2011. Russia, but the U.S. Commission on In - lasting political and cultural changes. Religious freedom is also recognized ternational Religious Freedom has found More than 400 years later, the Holo - in the U.N. Declaration on the Elimi - reason for concern. It said Russia vio - caust became the single worst cam - nation of All Forms of Intolerance and lates the rights of nontraditional reli - paign of religious persecution docu - Discrimination Based on Religion or Be - gious groups and Muslims and applies mented in modern history. Beginning lief, ratified in 1981. It is much more its anti-extremism law under the guise with the Nazi Party’s rise to power in comprehensive than either the human of national security “against religious 1933, the German regime carried out rights declaration or the ICCPR, but it groups and individuals not known to genocide that claimed the lives of 6 mil - does not have legally binding status, use or advocate violence.” 46 lion Jews, among others, in Germany though many observers consider it im - In addition, said the commission, sev - and occupied countries in Europe be - portant in shaping human rights law . 43 eral post-communist countries — Rus - fore Allied forces liberated Nazi con - sia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajik - centration camps in 1944 and 1945. istan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine Cold War and Kyrgyzstan — are enacting “in - creasingly restrictive laws relating to re - U.N. Actions or much of the 20th century, the ligion and religious groups.” 47 F United States considered communism In China, there have “always been s a result of the atrocities of the primary threat to religious freedom. two competing positions about religion,” A World War II, the U.N. General Beginning with the Bolshevik Revo - wrote Fenggang Yang, a sociologist who Assembly adopted the Universal Dec - lution in Russia in 1917, when the gov - studies religion at Purdue University. Dur - laration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, ernment of Vladimir Lenin declared ing the Cultural Revolution, beginning 1948. It includes freedom of “thought, the state independent from the Russ - in 1966, religion was treated as “a re - conscience and religion.” ian Orthodox Church, communist gov - actionary political force that the [Chi - From the outset, U.N. members gen - ernments sought to snuff out religious nese Communist Party] must take po - erally agreed that the declaration should activity within their borders. Under litical measures to [conquer] and control, be expanded into “the hard legal form Joseph Stalin’s rule, from 1924-1953, and eradicate if possible.” The other, of an international treaty,” Christian To - tens of thousands of Russian clergy which prevails today, Yang wrote, “treats muschat, a professor emeritus of pub - were killed or sent to labor camps. religion as a false consciousness that lic international law and European law During World War II, 2 million Russ - Continued on p. 944

942 CQ Researcher Chronology

1981 2003 1939–1966 U.N. ratifies Declaration on the U.S. invades Iraq. Sectarian vio - Nazis commit genocide against Elimination of All Forms of Intol - lence increases between Shiites Jews, and the United Nations af - erance and of Discrimination and Sunnis. firms right of religious freedom. Based on Religion or Belief. It reaffirms the ICCPR and spells out 2006 1939–1945 in greater detail the right to reli - Palestinians in Gaza elect Hamas, During World War II, the Nazi gious freedom or belief. a radical Islamist party, to lead the regime murders an estimated 6 mil - government. Christians in Gaza lion Jews in Germany and occupied 1992 complain of religious persecution countries, considered the most severe Orthodox Christian Serbs launch under Hamas, including the ab - religious persecution in history. ethnic cleansing campaign against duction and murder of a Christian Bosnian Muslims and Catholic bookstore owner, the closure of 1948 Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina . . . . some Christian schools and the U.N. adopts Universal Declaration Hindu nationalists kill nearly 1,000 “I slamization” of Christian education. of Human Rights, which includes Muslims in India’s state. freedom of “thought, conscience or 2010 religion.” . . . Israel declares inde - 1994 Pakistani court sentences Asia Bibi, pendence; millions of Jews return An Israeli reserve officer opens fire a Christian woman, to death for to their spiritual homeland. inside the Ihbrahim in He - blasphemy after she allegedly defiled bron, killing scores of Muslims during the name of the Prophet Muham - 1949 Ramadan and sparking intense fight - mad during an argument with co- Communists gain power in China ing between Israelis and Palestinians. workers, sparking international and soon move to suppress reli - protest. She remains in jail. gious groups. 1998 Congress passes International Reli - 2011 1966 gious Freedom Act, which creates Arab Spring movement spreads U.N. General Assembly adopts In - the U.S. Commission on Internation - from Sunni-dominated North Africa ternational Covenant on Civil and al Religious Freedom and establish - to majority Shiite Bahrain. . . . Political Rights (ICCPR), a multi-lat - es sanctions the United States may Sunnis lead protests against Syria’s eral treaty that commits participat - impose against countries that violate minority Alawite (a branch of Shiism) ing countries to respect civil and religious freedom. regime of Bashar al-Assad. political rights, including freedom of religion. It goes into force in • 2012 1976. The United Nations Human Buddhist monks in Myanmar’s Rights Committee monitors compli - Arakan state organize attacks ance with the treaty. 2001-Present against Rohingya Muslims. Religious extremism spreads as • global tool for persecution. 2013 After supporters of deposed Egypt - 2001 ian President Mohamed Morsi are 1979-1998 Al Qaeda terrorists kill nearly 3,000 violently dispersed by security Violence rages in Muslim world. people by flying hijacked planes forces, they attack dozens of into the World Trade Center’s twin Coptic Christian churches and 1979 towers and the Pentagon; a fourth homes. . . . Suicide bombers in Islamists overthrow the shah of plane crashes in Pennsylvania. . . . Peshawar, Pakistan, attack a Christ - Iran and install the first Islamic United States launches military ian church, killing 81 and wounding theocracy in modern times. . . . campaign to drive al Qaeda from 100. . . . In late October, Abyei Chinese President Deng Xiaoping Afghanistan, where leader Osama residents vote in non-binding reso - relaxes restrictions on religious bin Laden is based as a guest of lution on whether to join Sudan groups as part of effort to mod - the Taliban — an Islamic funda - or South Sudan. ernize China. mentalist group ruling Afghanistan.

www.cqresearcher.com Nov. 1, 2013 943 RELIGIOUS REPRESSION

Building Peace by Protecting Holy Sites “You can bring two sides together and make them stand up for each other.”

ar was hell on Bosnia-Herzegovina’s holy sites. After building model for other areas, such as Israel and Palestine, where Bosnian Muslims and Catholic Croats voted for inde - religious differences can be exploited during conflict. 6 W pendence from Yugoslavia in 1992, Bosnian Serbs, About 40 percent of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s 3.8 million residents who are predominantly orthodox Christians, fought to make the are Muslim, 31 percent Orthodox Christian and 15 percent Catholic. breakaway region part of a greater Serbia. The conflict soon es - Most of the rest belong to Judaism or other faiths. 7 In a place calated into one of the 20th century’s worst episodes of ethnic such as Bosnia, where people’s ethnic identities are defined by cleansing. By the time a peace accord ended the war in 1995, their ancestors’ religious choices, mosques, churches, monasteries nearly 100,000 people — 65 percent of them Bosnian Muslims and cemeteries can have powerful meaning for the community. 8 — were dead. 1 What’s more, Serb forces had damaged or de - Religious leaders in Bosnia-Herzegovina had long con - stroyed nearly 70 percent of the country’s mosques, along with demned attacks on their own holy sites, but by having these scores of Roman Catholic and other Christian churches. 2 leaders speak out on behalf of others’ faiths — and inviting Such wartime desecration has long been a means of under - the police, media and public to witness these public condem - mining an enemy’s social cohesion and communal identity and nations — the project’s organizers hope they can thwart new “a way to get a lot of people upset very quickly,” says Sharon attacks and cultivate interfaith tolerance. Rosen, codirector of the Jerusalem office of Search for Common In one joint condemnation, an imam and a priest came together Ground, an international nongovernmental organization based in to condemn an attack on a Catholic church. The Interreligious Washington, D.C., that focuses on conflict resolution. Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina also noted a number of spon - The group is one of several nongovernmental organizations taneous condemnations organized without the council’s help. 9 developing an international code of standards for identifying, “Very often in post-conflict situations, [religious] communities monitoring and protecting holy sites. 3 The groups hope to con - live completely segregated,” says Anne Hushagen, a special ad - vince the United Nations to adopt an international treaty estab - viser at Norway’s Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights and lishing a uniform monitoring system to safeguard such sites. project manager of the Bosnian pilot project in its first year. “In Attacks on churches and other holy sites have grabbed head - this project we have seen that you can bring together two sides, lines in Egypt and Syria in recent months. In 2006, the de - or even three sometimes, and make them stand up for each struction of the Askariya Mosque in Samarra, Iraq, one of Shi - other. [These are] small, symbolic acts that can mean a lot to ite Islam’s holiest shrines, touched off fierce sectarian fighting the individuals who are living in a vulnerable situation.” between Shiite and Sunni Muslims in Iraq. 4 This year, a bomb - In the first year of the project, the Interreligious Council of ing at a Sunni mosque in Kirkuk, Iraq, at the start of the Mus - Bosnia and Herzegovina reported that desecrations of religious lim holiday Eid al-Ahda killed 12 and wounded 24. 5 sites dropped from 56 to 27. 10 Hushagen is reluctant to at - Deep religious, ethnic and cultural divisions pose serious ob - tribute the decrease directly to the project but says it has helped stacles to building greater social cohesion in regions torn by war. build trust and relationships among religious leaders. In 2010, Search for Common Ground and other interfaith orga - Even so, she says, religious leaders can’t be the only ones nizations began a pilot project in Bosnia-Herzegovina to track at - who do the work of protecting holy sites. Government insti - tacks on holy sites. Organizers say it holds promise as a peace- tutions, including local law enforcement agencies and the courts,

Continued from p. 942 freedom issues in diplomatic relations 1992. Bosnian Serbs, loyal to Serbian may be corrected through education and consider sanctions if necessary. nationalist leader Slobodan Milosevic, and propaganda over time.” 48 strongly opposed the vote because they In 1979, Chinese premier Deng Xi - wanted the region to become part of aoping lifted some restrictions on re - Post-Communist Era a greater Serbia. When the European ligion as part of his effort to mod - Union recognized Bosnia’s indepen - ernize the country. While religion is n the early 1990s, the former com - dence in April 1992, Serbian forces thriving there now, the U.S. Commis - I munist state of Yugoslavia began began a campaign of ethnic cleansing sion on International Religious Free - falling apart, as the country’s major eth - against Muslims and Croats in an at - dom (USCIRF) has consistently called nic groups pushed for independence. tempt to clear the land and carve out it a “country of particular concern” Slovenia and Croatia declared inde - a Serb republic. 49 By the time the war (CPC) and recommended that the State pendence in 1991, and Bosnian Croats ended in 1995, nearl y 100,000 people Department consider raising religious and Muslims followed in February had been killed. ( See sidebar, above. )

944 CQ Researcher must also be involved, as they are in Bosnia-Herzegovina. At least 10 international religious organizations have endorsed the Universal Code on Holy Sites. Rosen is developing a pilot project similar to the one in Bosnia-Herzegovina in Jerusalem, which is rich in holy sites, including Judaism’s holiest — the Temple Mount. Adjacent to it are the al-Aqsa Mosque and the d Dome of the Rock, the spot from which Muhammad is believed i m to have ascended to heaven. The site has been a major flash - a H

11 a point of conflict between Jews and Muslims. i D

Stein Villumstad, general secretary of the Oslo-based Euro - / s e

pean Council of Religious Leaders — Religions for Peace, an g a

interfaith coalition focused on peace building, points to the m I

y t

need for a universal code to safeguard access and protect holy t e

sites in times of conflict. G /

“In peacetime, places of worship and other holy sites are P F

peaceful places,” he says. But in times of conflict, he says, attacks A on such sites are used to generate hostility. The 2006 destruction of the Askariya Mosque in Samarra, Villumstad says the group of religious organizations has ap - Iraq (above), one of Shiite Islam’s holiest sites, sparked sectarian fighting between Shiite and Sunni Muslims in proached the United Nations and is working toward introduc - Iraq. This year the bombing of a Sunni mosque ing a holy sites resolution at the U.N. General Assembly. in Kirkuk killed 12 and injured 24. Finding member states willing “to invest their political cap - ital is a challenge,” he says. “It is a slow and meticulous process.” ciated Press, Oct. 15, 2013, www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/15/baghdad- mosque-bombing-sunni-worshippers-eid. — Michelle Johnson 6 For background, see Peter Katel, “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” CQ Researcher , June 21, 2013, pp. 545-572; and Jina Moore, “Peacebuilding,” CQ Global Researcher , June 21, 2011, pp. 291-314. 1 “Bosnia war dead figure announced,” BBC News, June 21, 2007, http://news. 7 “Bosnia and Herzegovina Profile 2013,” Index Mundi, www.indexmundi. bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6228152.stm. com/bosnia_and_herzegovina/demographics_profile.html. 2 Andras J. Riedlmayer, “From the Ashes: The Past and Future of Bosnia’s 8 Riedlmayer, op. cit. Cultural Heritage,” in Maya Shatzmiller, ed., Islam and Bosnia: Conflict Res - 9 “Monitoring of Attacks on Religious Buildings and Other Holy Sites in olution and Foreign Policy in Multi-Ethnic States (2002), p. 98, www.alumni BiH,” Annual Report, Interreligious Council of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nov. 1, 2011, connections.com/harvard/alumni/images/from_the_ashes.pdf. to Oct. 31, 2012, www.mrv.ba/images/stories/Monitoring/engl_monitoring %20 3 For background, see the Universal Code on Holy Sites, www.sfcg.org/pro izvjestaj%202012_final.pdf. grammes/jerusalem/Universal%20Code%20on%20Holy%20Sites.pdf. 10 IRC annual report, op. cit. , p. 7. 4 Ellen Nickmeyer and K.I. Ibrahim, “Bombing Shatters Mosque in Iraq,” The 11 For background, see “Why it matters that Jews are standing on the Temple Washington Post , Feb. 23, 2006, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ Mount,” The Christian Science Monitor , Sept. 23, 2013, www.csmonitor.com/ article/2006/02/22/AR2006022200454.html. World/Middle-East/2013/0923/Why-it-matters-that-Jews-are-standing-on-the- 5 “Iraq mosque bombing targets Sunni worshippers celebrating Eid,” The Asso - Temple-Mount.

In 1998, partly at the urging of Amer - ommendations to the State Department see improvement and decrease abuses ican Christians concerned about the on how to deal with the offending through diplomatic engagement.” persecution of Christians abroad, Con - countries. Using a combination of “car - gress passed the International Reli - rots and sticks,” the law allows for the gious Freedom Act. 50 It established State Department to use deterrents, Modern Extremism an ambassador-at-large position (held such as trade sanctions or travel bans, by Suzan Johnson Cook until her abrupt and incentives, such as economic aid he al Qaeda terrorist attacks of Sept. resignation in October) and the U.S. or cultural exchanges, to encourage a T 11, 2001, shocked the world into Commission on International Religious country to improve its climate for reli - paying attention to how religious ex - Freedom (USCIRF). Each year, the com - gion, says Bashir, the USCIRF’s deputy tremism can serve as a tool for religious mission issues a report identifying the director for policy and research. persecution, says Pew researcher Grim. countries that are the worst violators of “It’s not just about naming and sham - “With the attacks of 9/11, it became religious freedom, and it makes rec - ing,” he says. “The ultimate goal is to clear that religious actors — groups

www.cqresearcher.com Nov. 1, 2013 945 RELIGIOUS REPRESSION

Conflict Still Threatens South Sudan “One thing they got right is freedom of religion.”

merican Evangelical Christians often cite South Sudan ing across southern Egypt and northern Sudan. 3 In the 19th as a success story in the fight against religious repres - century, Britain and Egypt fought for control of the area. After A sion. Sudan’s 22-year civil war that ended in 2005, they 1899, they ruled the area jointly, then granted Sudan indepen - say, was a battle between the Muslim government in the north dence in 1956. During the colonial period, the British and Egyp - and the predominantly Christian population in the south. tians focused their resources on the Arab and Muslim north; Other regional experts see the conflict — and continuing the south remained underdeveloped. tensions between the north and south — as an example of “The little that was achieved in developing the economy, how religious violence can be ethnic or cultural in nature or providing education, health and other services, was largely the mask a struggle for power and resources. work of Christian missionaries and a small number of colonial In Sudan, it appears to be all of the above. officials,” wrote former U.S. Ambassador Don Petterson. 4 Thus, Sudan’s civil war had deep roots in ethnic, cultural and religious the church became a dominant institution in southern Sudan. differences, a colonial past that favored the Arab-dominated north In the 1980s, American Christians lobbied Congress to in - over the black African-dominated Christian south and a struggle tervene in the Sudanese civil war, and in time key evangeli - for control of oil resources, located mostly in the south. cals in Congress supported them. Together with the Congres - “I thought the conflict in Sudan was not really religious so sional Black Caucus and liberal human rights groups, they much as ethnic,” says former Sen. John Danforth, America’s first formed a powerful coalition. 5 Meanwhile, the U.S. Commis - special envoy to Sudan, who helped broker a peace deal in sion on International Religious Freedom, a government agency 2005. 1 “That is, it was Arab Africa versus black Africa. I thought that tracks religious freedom abroad, pushed for appointment it was more of a revolt against the imposition of Arab culture of a special envoy to Sudan, investigation of alleged war crimes on non- than it was specifically religious.” and the use of diplomacy and economic sanctions to pressure The war began in 1983 after former President Jaafar Nimeiri Sudan into peace negotiations. 6 imposed Islamic law (Sharia) on the nation. The conflict left Danforth, who met frequently with both sides in the civil war, an estimated 2 million dead and 4 million displaced. 2 As part also had a powerful ally in President George W. Bush, a born- of a peace treaty, the southern Sudanese voted in January 2011 again Christian who made peace in Sudan a foreign policy pri - for secession and became the independent country of South ority. “Bush did see it as a religious conflict, and so did some Sudan that July. But many issues remain unresolved, including members of Congress,” Danforth says. “He was very engaged per - border disputes in the Nuba Mountains and the oil-rich Abyei sonally. That’s what really made it work. Every time I went over region. International observers also worry about government there, I would either meet with him or talk to him by telephone. instability in South Sudan: Earlier this year President Salva Kiir That carried a lot of weight.” Mayardit dismissed his entire cabinet, and he said recently that After the independence vote, many Sudanese Christians in the 2015 presidential election might be delayed. the north fled to the south, where the new constitution spells Sudan’s cultural and religious divisions in part are a prod - out the freedom to worship and to teach religion. 7 An esti - uct of its colonial past. Christianity came to Sudan in the sixth mated 6 million Christians now live in South Sudan, compared century, when a missionary arrived in Nubia, a region stretch - to about 600,000 in Sudan. 8

— can have a dramatic effect on re - deaths of 11 Israelis, including five ath - the anti-Soviet mujahedeen (Muslim guer - ligious freedom within a country, that letes, during the 1972 Summer Olympics rilla warriors) to repel them — also social forces can have as much, or in Munich. 51 marked a turning point in the devel - perhaps even more, power in restrict - The 1979 Iranian Revolution, in which opment of religious extremism. 53 It ing people’s religious freedom,” he says. Shiite fundamentalists overthrew the “stimulated the rise and expansion of But the seeds of violent Muslim ex - U.S.-backed shah and instituted an Is - terrorist groups,” wrote John Moore, a tremism were sown in the late 1960s, lamic theocracy, also raised fears about former Defense Department analyst and with the rise of the Islamic national - religious extremism. Iran today is pre - now a security consultant. 54 After So - ist and revolutionary movement. After dominantly Shiite, and its constitution viet troops withdrew from Afghanistan Israel’s humiliating defeat of the Arabs provides limited protection for those of in 1989, the Taliban — a predominant - in the Six-Day War of 1967, Palestin - other faiths, specifically Zoroastrianism, ly Pashtun, ultraconservative branch of ian radicals turned to urban terrorism, Christianity and Judaism. 52 — emerged in Pakistan in launching a series of violent attacks The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan the early 1990s. After gaining a foothold that culminated in the kidnapping and in 1979 — and the American arming of in Afghanistan in 1994, the Taliban im -

946 CQ Researcher “There’s total freedom of worship” in South Sudan, says Ken 1 “President Appoints Danforth as Special Envoy to the Sudan,” Office of the Isaacs, vice president of programs and government relations for Press Secretary, White House, Sept. 6, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse. Samaritan’s Purse, a North Carolina-based Christian humanitar - archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010906-3.html. 2 ian organization led by Franklin Graham, the son of evange - “International Religious Freedom Report for 2003,” United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, Dec. 18, 2003, p. 22, www.state.gov/j/ list Billy Graham. “Christians are free to worship. Muslims are drl/rls/irf/2003/c10265.htm. For background on Sharia law, see Sarah Glazer, free to worship. There are all kinds of denominations here,” “Sharia Controversy,” CQ Global Researcher , Jan. 3, 2012, pp. 1-28. including the Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches. 3 Eric Patterson, “Sudan: Race and Religion in Civil War,” Religion and Conflict Case Study series of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, Isaacs sharply criticizes the human-rights record of Sudan’s pres - Georgetown University, August 2013, p. 5, http://repository.berkleycenter.george ident, Omar al-Bashir, who led a military coup in 1989 against Prime town.edu/130801BCSudanRaceReligionCivilWar.pdf. Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi. The International Criminal Court in The 4 Don Petterson, Inside Sudan: Political Islam, Conflict, and Catastrophe (2009), p. 10. Hague issued an arrest warrant for Bashir in 2009, accusing him of 5 9 Armin Rosen, “Birth of a Nation,” The Weekly Standard , May 21, 2012, war crimes and genocide in western Sudan’s Darfur region. www.weeklystandard.com/articles/birth-nation_644421.html?page=1. During this Skirmishes with government troops continue today, particu - period, American Christian churches relocated in the United States about 3,000 larly in the disputed Nuba border area, where those who fought orphans from among the tens of thousands of children whose families were killed in the war. For background, see “The Lost Boys of Sudan, 12 Years Later,” for the south found themselves on the wrong side of the bor - “60 Minutes,” CBS News, March 31, 2013, www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162- der when the war ended. The United Nations estimates that 57576821/. 200,000 refugees from the Nuba region have fled to neigh - 6 “International Religious Freedom Report for 2003,” op. cit. , pp. 21 and 22. 7 boring countries, including South Sudan and Ethiopia. 10 For background, see Article 23 of the “Transitional Constitution of the Re - public of South Sudan,” 2011, www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page= Disputes over control of the oil-rich Abyei region on the bor - type&type=LEGISLATION&publisher=&coi=&docid=4e269a3e2&skip=0. der between Sudan and South Sudan also threaten the peace. 8 “Global Religious Landscape,” Pew Research Center, Religion & Public Life Fighting in Abyei displaced more than 100,000 people in 2011, Project, Dec. 18, 2012, http://features.pewforum.org/grl/population-number.php. 9 and observers worry the conflict could tip the two countries into For background, see Karen Foerstel, “Crisis in Darfur,” CQ Global Researcher , Sept. 1, 2008, pp. 243-270. 11 full-scale war again. In late October, thousands of Abyei resi - 10 Tristan McConnell, “Africa’s Hidden War,” Global Post , June 24, 2013, www. dents voted in a non-binding resolution on whether to join globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/sudan/130620/sudan-war-nuba- Sudan or South Sudan. 12 mountains-khartoum-united-nations-yida-refugees. 11 South Sudan is scheduled to hold national general elections Maram Mazen, “Sudan’s Abyei Clashes Displace 113,000 People, UN Reports,” Bloomberg News, June 17, 2011, www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-17/sudan- in 2015, but international observers worry about the fledgling fighting-causes-almost-113-000-to-flee-abyei-border-region-un-says.html. government’s stability. The president said in September that the 12 “Returning to Abyei region to vote for secession,” BBC News Africa, Oct. 21, elections might not be held on schedule due to lack of a fi - 2013 , www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24611597. Also see James Butty, “Abyei 13 Residents Consider Unilateral Referendum, Says South Sudan Diplomat,” Voice of nalized constitution or funds to conduct a census. America News, Oct. 22, 2013, www.voanews.com/content/sudan-president- Isaacs acknowledges the problems, but says, “One thing they got visits-south-sudan-tuesday-october-22/1774274.html. right is freedom of religion. And I think that’s a good place to start.” 13 “South Sudan’s Kiir admits 2015 elections may be delayed,” Sudan Tri - bune , Sept. 23, 2013, www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article48150. — Michelle Johnson posed an austere form of Islamic law tinues to be a significant force in Bin Laden’s justification for waging — Sharia — publicly executing those Afghanistan today, where religious free - holy war — or — is rooted in convicted of murder or adultery and dom is largely nonexistent . 57 a modern interpretation of Salifyya, a amputating the hands of thieves. 55 The Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, medieval school of Islamic thought. 59 group also forced men to grow beards who launched the 9/11 attacks, went to Salafists believe Islam has been corrup t- and women to wear all-concealing Afghanistan in the 1980s to help the mu - ed and should be returned to the way burkas; it also banned television, music jahedeen fight the Soviets. He estab - it was practiced by the Prophet Muham - and cinema as well as education for lished al Qaeda in 1988, with a goal “to mad and his followers in the seventh girls over age 9. drive out the infidels, to establish Pales - century. In 2001, the Taliban drew worldwide tine and destroy Israel, to eject the ‘heretics’ “Salafists are truly fundamentalists. condemnation for the destruction of two who ruled in Saudi Arabia, to purify They claim they hold the sacred, ul - giant Buddha statues at Bamiyan, con - Islam itself with . . . fundamentalism,” timate truth as God had meant it. And sidered among the world’s great trea - according to bin Laden’s obituary in The that’s why it is so difficult for them to sures of religious art. 56 The group con - Economist on May 5, 2011. 58 create political alliances or come to

www.cqresearcher.com Nov. 1, 2013 947 RELIGIOUS REPRESSION

tablish Myanmar as an Islamic country U.S. Cites Worst Violators of Religious Freedom and forcefully implementing them.” 63 The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which Wakar Uddin, director general of advises the Department of State, listed 15 “countries of particular the Arakan Rohingya Union, a Ro - hingya advocacy organization based in concern” (CPC) this year, indicating they had used torture, prolonged University Park, Pa., dismisses such detention or other severe methods to suppress religious freedom. If the talk as religious intolerance, pointing State Department accepts the panel’s recommendations and officially out that Muslims comprise only 4 or designates a country as a CPC, the United States is required by law to 5 percent of the population in Myan - take action, such as imposing sanctions, embargos or foreign aid mar. “How are Muslims going to de - restrictions. The State Department this year granted waivers to two vour Buddhists? Do they have the of the worst violators, Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally, and Uzbekistan, power? Do they have armed forces?” which serves as a supply route for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Uddin says. Noting that the Burmese people are not traditionally hostile to Islam and Muslims, he says, “That is Countries of Countries Where his rhetoric that he thinks can be used Particular Concern Restrictions on to mobilize the Burmese population. Religious Freedom He’s not protecting his religion. He’s Burma* Egypt Are on the Rise going on the offensive.” China* Iraq Meanwhile, the role and interpreta - Eritrea* Nigeria Afghanistan Indonesia tion of Islamic law is at the center of Iran* Pakistan Azerbaijan Kazakhstan the struggle between Islamic funda - North Korea* Tajikistan Cuba Laos mentalists, including rebels fighting for Saudi Arabia Turkmenistan India Russia supremacy in Syria, and moderates in Sudan* Vietnam Muslim-majority countries pushing for Uzbekistan democratic reforms such as freedom of religion. S haria has been widely debat - * Designated as a country of particular concern by the State Department. ed in places such as Libya, Tunisia and Source: “Annual Report 2013,” U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Egypt as they rework their constitutions 2013, pp. 4-6, www.uscirf.gov/images/2013%20USCIRF%20Annual%20Report after pro-democracy movements toppled %20(2).pdf authoritarian regimes in 2010. 64 Sharia, or “path” in , is de - the mainstream of politics,” says Emory the movement’s political wing. Its cur - rived primarily from the and University’s An-Na’im. rent prime minister candidate, Narendra the Sunna — the sayings, practices Although Salafism is not inherently Modi, has been accused of supporting and teachings of the Prophet Muham - violent, a militant strain developed in Hindu nationals who launched anti- mad. 65 A 2013 Pew Research Center the 20th century — reflecting anger over Muslim riots in Gujarat state in 2002 that poll found that overwhelming majori - U.S. influence in the . 60 “The killed nearly 1,000 people . 61 ties of Muslims worldwide want Sharia rise of more rigid Salafist interpreta - In Myanmar, the extremist anti-Mus - primarily to govern family law for Mus - tions of Islam have clearly meant ris - lim rhetoric of Buddhist monk Ashin lims only in their countries and that ing sectarian discord within the Mus - Wirathu has been blamed for stoking there should be religious freedom for lim community,” says Hanna, of the the violence against the Rohingyas and people of other faiths. 66 Century Foundation. other Muslims. Wirathu has likened Emory University’s An-Na’im says Violent religious extremism has Burma’s Muslims to African carp: They Sharia as the law of the land is a “post- emerged as a phenomenon in every “breed rapidly, behave violently and colonial invention,” one without prece - major religious group. eat their own kind.” 62 dent in Islamic history. 67 “Sharia is for In India, Hindu fundamentalism began “Whether we live together peaceful - the community to live by, outside the to develop in the early 20th century, ly or not is not up to the Burmese peo - state institutions,” An-Na’im says. “As soon when Indian politician Vinayak Damodar ple. It depends on the Muslims,” he said. as it gets into state institutions, it corrupts Savarkar wrote Hindutva , the basis of “They are devouring the Burmese peo - the institutions of the state and is cor - Hindu fundamentalist philosophy. The ple, destroying Buddhism and Buddhist rupted by the institutions of the state.” Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, represents order, forcefully taking actions to es - Continued on p. 950

948 CQ Researcher At Issue: Should Western countries make religious freedom a foreign polyies cy priority?

NINA SHEA ELIZABETH SHAKMAN HURD DIRECTOR , H UDSON INSTITUTE ’S CENTER ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND CO -AUTHOR , SCIENCE , N ORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY PERSECUTED : T HE GLOBAL ASSAULT ON CHRISTIANS WRITTEN FOR CQ RESEARCHER , OCTOBER 2013 WRITTEN FOR CQ RESEARCHER , OCTOBER 2013 overnments should not include promotion of religious n the 1970s, the Jackson-Vanik amendment advanced the freedom among their foreign policy objectives for at Free Soviet Jewry movement by linking freedoms in the least three reasons. Communist world with trade privileges. In 1998, the Inter - g i First, a focus on religious freedom requires that gov - national Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) institutionalized religious ernments approach and define other peoples and countries in freedom advocacy within the State Department. Since then, the religious terms. Viewing the world through the prism of reli - United States has pressed, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, gious identity and difference distorts what is often a much for religious freedom along with other foreign policy priorities. broader and more complex set of circumstances on the It should continue. And it should do so with renewed ground. We lose sight of the bigger picture. We fail to see the vigor, since today we are seeing intense waves of religious ways in which social, political, economic and even neighbor - persecution abroad. hood ties bind people together, cutting across and confounding Religious freedom is at the heart of our national identity. sectarian divisions. This is occurring now in Syria. The Constitution enshrines its protection in the first clause of Second, attempts to secure religious freedom in law are by the First Amendment. When religious freedom is denied, state- definition exclusionary. Individuals and groups whose activities enforced orthyodoxies precleude the righsts to do not fit convnentional, usually Wo estern understandings of what and association, too. Simply put: When U.S. diplomats press “religion” is supposed to look like are not protected. To guaran - China to honor copyrights, but are silent about those imprisoned tee religious freedom, governments have to decide what counts for praying, core American values are betrayed. as religion, as opposed to tradition, culture or superstition. The worst persecuting governments correlate with places Religion requires protection, but superstition does not. The that pose national security threats. In addition, as recent attacks 2010 State Department’s “Religious Freedom Report on the on a Kenyan shopping mall, a Pakistani church, and scores of Central African Republic,” for instance, states that as many as Egyptian Coptic churches and Mali Sufi shrines graphically show, 60 percent of the imprisoned women in the country are charged religious intolerance by Islamist extremists signals a deepening with “witchcraft,” which the government considers a criminal and dangerous polarization in parts of the Middle East, Africa offense, yet it concludes that the government “generally re - and South Asia. spected religious freedom in practice,” and gives the country a Pressure can be economic sanctions, but need not be. Other good ranking. levers include a formal diplomatic statement, a denial of a visa, The “religious freedom” model has no room for this kind of banning exports of military equipment, or, conversely, bestowing discrimination. Women imprisoned for witchcraft cannot suffer economic and diplomatic incentives. A combination of “carrots from violations of religious freedom because, in Western eyes, and sticks” enabled the United States to help end Sudan’s they have no religion. north-south conflict in which religion played a major role. Third, state power and interests matter at the intersection of Even Tehran has been known to stay a death sentence for religion and state. Foreign policy is no exception. Religious apostasy or release a religious prisoner when American politi - groups that favor U.S. political, economic and strategic interests cians take to the bully pulpit. are engaged and promoted. Groups that the government dis - But our policymakers often miss the perilous circumstances favors are classified as “cults.” In this situation it is far too of the world’s religious minorities. For example, in 2010, easy for the religion of the majority, the religion of those in Afghanistan’s government razed that country’s last remaining power, or the particular version of a religion supported by the church. No American official acted to stop this, so on our United States or other powerful interests to carry more weight, watch Afghanistan joined ranks with hardline Saudi Arabia as politically, than others. a country that will not tolerate any churches. To prioritize “religion” as a category in law and policy is German Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who courageously dis - a complex and risky proposition. The goal should be to see sented against Nazi anti-Semitism, admonished: “Not to speak is individuals in civic terms and to insist on equality before the to speak. Not to act is to act.” Because the United States is a law. Governments should work on behalf of citizens and hu - major power, for it to not have a religious freedom policy is a mans — rather than Christians, Jews, Muslims or Hindus. policy no — a policy of indifference, even approval, of persecution. www.cqresearcher.com Nov. 1, 2013 949 RELIGIOUS REPRESSION

Continued from p. 948 Freedom’s Bashir wrote this year that Some religious groups have been For that reason, he says, a secular legal Obama and Secretary of State John pressing for congressional action on be - system is the best way to protect Sharia Kerry “should use their bully pulpit to half of Christians and other religious as a guide for religious practice. speak out with far more frequency on minorities facing persecution in the Mus - religious prisoners of conscience” and not lim world. In September, the U.S. House just on obvious cases involving the main overwhelmingly passed — 402-22 — a U.S. adversary in the region, Iran. 69 bill co-sponsored by Reps. Wolf and CURRENT The Obama administration has named Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., that would cre - so-called countries of particular concern ate a special State Department envoy (CPC) just once, in 2011, Bashir says; focusing exclusively on the plight of re - SITUATION under the law, the State Department is ligious minorities in South Central Asia supposed to make the designations an - and the Middle East. nually. There was a similar lapse of at - “Will a special envoy guarantee these U.S. Foreign Policy tention to the list under the George W. communities’ survival?” Wolf asked, as Bush administration, Bashir says. he introduced the bill on Sept. 18. “I merican religious freedom activists “The CPC tool is only as effective do not know. But I am certain that to A argue that sectarian conflicts in as the administration in power will use do nothing is not an option, lest on the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings it,” he says. this administration’s and this Congress’ and a rise in sectarian violence in In some cases, countries such as watch we witness a Middle East emp - Afghanistan and postwar Iraq show Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. ally, make tied of ancient faith communities.” 71 that religious freedom should be a the State Department’s list of top abusers It is unclear whether the Senate will higher priority in U.S. foreign policy. but receive waivers. In other cases, the take up the bill. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., “We seem blind to religion and reli - State Department uses existing sanc - has sponsored a similar measure, but gious freedom, even when we’re taking tions as penalties for CPCs. it remains in committee. 72 on geopolitical issues that stem in large The Obama administration has taken part from religious freedom issues, as in some steps to raise the profile of re - Egypt or in Syria today, for example,” the ligion in U.S foreign policy, creating a View Abroad Hudson Institute’s Shea says. “Syria today religion and foreign policy working is, at its core, a war between Sunnis and group and developing a strategy for n June, the European Union issued Shiites. It’s important to acknowledge engaging religious leaders and faith I its first-ever guidelines on freedom of that, because if there’s ever to be stabil - communities abroad. In July, Kerry an - religion or belief, which are aimed at ity in this region, we have to develop nounced the creation of the Office of helping EU officials and member coun - policies to protect minorities and advance Faith-Based Community Initiatives at tries’ embassies understand, monitor and the rights of all these groups. We’re very the State Department, headed by Shaun promote religious freedom abroad. The much lagging behind on that.” Casey, a Christian ethicist and former guidelines, which encompass theistic Critics of the U.S. government’s han - Obama campaign adviser. and atheistic beliefs, provide for the right dling of religious freedom issues com - “I’m not naïve,” Casey told The Wash - of EU member states to impose trade plain that all three presidential admin - ington Post. “I understand that this ter - or other sanctions against countries that istrations that have been in power since ritory is fraught. But having said that, violate freedom of religion or belief. 73 the Religious Freedom Act was passed I think we ignore the political impact The European Platform on Religious in 1998 have been “anemic” and “large - of religion at our peril.” 70 Intolerance and Discrimination, a network ly rhetorical” about enforcing the law. At Although religious freedom advocates of faith groups and civil society organi - a House Oversight Subcommittee on Na - welcomed the news, others, such as North - zations, called the guidelines “a major tional Security hearing in June, George - western’s Hurd, worry that emphasizing step forward” and declared freedom of town University’s Farr said, “While Con - relationships with religious groups could religion or belief “a litmus test for other gress appropriates millions of dollars alienate other groups. “When we focus human rights and fundamental free - annually for democracy and counterter - on religion and religious freedom and doms.” 74 Christian leaders in Europe also rorism programs, little of that money is religious engagement, I think we end up welcomed the guidelines and promised spent on promoting religious liberty.” 68 making religious difference more salient to monitor their implementation. 75 The Obama administration also in a way that is actually not helpful in Antiblasphemy laws have been hotly has come in for criticism. The U.S. resolving some of these conflicts on the debated in Europe. In July, Russia Commission on International Religious ground,” she says. criminalized acts “committed with the

950 CQ Researcher aim of religious offense to believers.” Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia are de - be?’ ” says Maghraoui. “This is not sim - The law imposes fines and a possible bating the role of religion in their con - ply a process of democratic transition. two-year prison term. 76 Muslims in stitutions. In its 2013 report on Turkey, It is much deeper, much more passionate. Europe have been pressing for the en - the U.S. Commission on International It might take a long time for the reli - forcement of blasphemy laws, but some Religious Freedom noted that many gious issue to be resolved in the Mus - European countries have begun scrap - believe Turkey’s revised national con - lim world, and it might be violent.” ping them. The Netherlands removed stitution will support greater human However, Maghraoui asks, “Why blasphemy from its penal code last rights, including religious freedom. 79 would the religious renewal in the year. 77 Ireland passed an antiblas - Hanna, of the Century Foundation, is Muslim world be less violent than the phemy law in 2009, but since then watching the debate over religion as Christian Reformation?” atheists and other groups have been Egypt’s 50-member constitutional com - working for a repeal. 78 mittee goes about amending the nation’s constitution, adopted last year. Several Notes provisions — particularly ones defining Sharia law and circumscribing freedom 1 Janine Di Giovanni, “Mountaintop town is OUTLOOK of belief in a way that may exclude some Diverse Haven from Syria’s Horrors,” The New religious minorities and nonbelievers — York Times , Nov. 21, 2012, www.nytimes.com/ are problematic, he says. 80 2012/11/22/world/middleeast/maloula-is-a-di “I think the forces of toleration will verse-haven-from-syrias-horrors.html ; Sammy Democracy and Reform lose, but it’s different because it’s being Ketz, “Syria Christian ‘made to convert at gun - talked about,” Hanna says. point,’ ” Agence France-Presse, Sept. 11, 2013, or Khan, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Abdeslam Maghraoui, an associate http://news.yahoo.com/syria-rebels-still-christ F Community USA spokesman, the professor of political science at Duke ian-town-maalula-084558304.html ; Anne Barnard U.N.’s periodic review process, which University, thinks the failure of the Morsi and Hwaida Saad, “Assault on Christian Town in Syria Adds to Fears Over Rebels,” The New requires each member nation to declare government in Egypt, which attempted every four years what they have done York Times , Sept. 10, 2013, www.nytimes.com/ to push through a constitution that crit - 2013/09/11/world/middleeast/assault-on-christ to improve their human rights record, ics said favored Islamists at the expense ian-town-complicates-crisis-in-syria.html?page promises to improve compliance with of religious minorities, offers a lesson wanted=all . international laws that classify freedom about the importance of religious free - 2 Brian J. Grim, et al. , “Arab Spring Adds to of religion as a basic right. dom as countries in the Middle East Global Restrictions on Religion,” Pew Forum “That’s prompting countries to ac - take steps toward reform. on Religion and Public Life, June 2013, p. 10, cede to treaties,” he says. “Can you really have democracy with - www.pewforum.org/files/2013/06/Restriction - Mirahmadi, of the World Organiza - out some degree of freedom of religion? sIV-web.pdf . 3 tion for Resource Development and Ed - My answer is ‘no,’ Maghraoui says. “Peo - For background, see Jina Moore, “Peace - ucation, sees democracy-building as an ple have different degrees of religiosity. building,” CQ Global Researcher , June 21, 2011, important part of improving the inter - pp. 291-314. Some of them are not religious at all. 4 national climate for religious freedom David Stout, “Four Things You Need to Know You have to come to that understanding About Boko Haram,” Time.com , Sept. 30, 2013, and foresees a greater role for the Unit - about religious difference, fundamentally, http://world.time.com/2013/09/30/four-things- ed States. “When I say democracy, I between Islam and non-Muslims, but also you-need-to-know-about-nigerias-boko-haram /. don’t mean the right to vote,” she says. within your own society. 5 Mian Ridge, “India’s Christians see rise in hos - “I mean building a democratic society, “My sense is that eventually Islamist tilities by Hindu extremists,” The Christian Sci - helping nondemocratic countries un - parties will get to this conclusion, that ence Monitor , Feb. 6, 2008, www.csmonitor. derstand what it means to build a civil it is impossible to ignore other faiths, com/World/Asia-South-Central/2008/0206/p07 society infrastructure, understanding what and that it is impossible to impose s01-wosc.html . 6 it means to run NGOs, to support caus - one Islamic faith on every single Mus - UN News Centre, “Failure to address dis - es, to do grassroots campaigning. lim. Just because you are voted in by crimination could undermine reforms in Myan - “I’ve always advocated for us to demon - mar,” June 19, 2013. a majority of 50 percent or 53 per - 7 strate America’s role as a superpower, to “Annual Report 2013,” U.S. Commission on cent does not mean you have the man - International Religious Freedom, 2013, p. 38, share the intellectual power that makes date to impose those views.” www.uscirf.gov/images/2013%20USCIRF%20 us great,” she says. “These kinds of things The Arab Spring unleashed “this big Annual%20Report%20(2).pdf . we could share with these struggling na - fundamental question about ‘what is the 8 “Rising Tide of Restriction on Religion,” Pew tions, so that they could respond.” role of religion in public life going to Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Pub -

www.cqresearcher.com Nov. 1, 2013 951 RELIGIOUS REPRESSION

lic Life, September 2012, p. 9, www.pewforum. www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/pakistan- Path (2010). org/files/2012/09/RisingTideofRestrictions-full - blasphemy-laws-death-sentence_n_3984508.html . 38 Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Oxford Illustrat - report.pdf . 26 For background, see Thomas J. Billitteri, ed History of the Crusades (1995), p. 1. For background see Leda Hartman, “Islamic “Drone Warfare,” CQ Researcher , Aug. 6, 2010, 39 Esposito, op. cit. , p. 59. Sectarianism,” CQ Global Researcher , Aug. 7, pp. 653-676, updated April 27, 2012. 40 Ibid. , p. 59. 2012, pp. 353-376. 27 John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, 41 Cullen Murphy, “The Top 10 Questions 9 Grim, et al. , op. cit. , p. 18. God is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith Everyone Has About the Inquisition,” The 10 For example, see Oona A. Hathaway, “Do is Changing the World (2009), p. 16. Huffington Post , Jan. 23, 2012, www.huffing Human Rights Treaties Make a Difference?” 28 Ibid. , p. 5. tonpost.com/cullen-murphy/10-questions-about- The Yale Law Journal , Vol. 111, No. 8, June 2002, 29 Conrad Hackett and Brian J. Grim, “The the-inquisition_b_1224406.html . pp. 1935-2042. Global Religious Landscape: A Report on the 42 Christian Tomuschat, introductory note to 11 Testimony of Thomas F. Farr before the Size and Distribution of the World’s Major International Covenant on Civil and Political House Subcommittee on National Security of Religious Groups as of 2010,” Pew Forum on Rights, Dec. 16, 1966, http://legal.un.org/avl/ the House Committee on Oversight and Gov - Religion and Public Life, December 2012, p. 9, ha/iccpr/iccpr.html . ernment Reform, “Examining the Government’s www.pewforum.org/files/2012/12/global Religion- 43 For background, see Derek H. Davis, “The Record on Implementing the International Re - full.pdf . Evolution of Religious Freedom as a Universal ligious Freedom Act,” June 13, 2013. 30 Tom Heneghan, “About 100 million Chris - Human Right: Examining the Role of the 1981 12 For a more detailed analysis of the method - tians persecuted around the world: report,” United Nations Declaration on the Elimination ology, see Appendix 1 of Grim, et al. , op. cit. Reuters, Jan. 8, 2013, www.reuters.com/article/ of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination 13 Ibid. , p. 10. 2013/01/08/us-religion-christianity-persecution- Based on Religion or Belief,” Brigham Young 14 Rising Tide of Restriction on Religion,” idUSBRE9070TB20130108 . University Law Review , June 2002, www.law2. op. cit. , p. 18. 31 Hackett and Grim, op. cit. , p. 18. byu.edu/lawreview/archives/2002/2/dav2.pdf . 15 Ibid. , p. 22. 32 “Wolf Calls On Religious Leaders in West to 44 “Russia: The 19th Century, the Russian Revo - 16 “Annual Report 2013,” op. cit. , p. 3. Speak Out On Behalf of Persecuted Church lution, and Soviet Rule,” Berkley Center for Re - 17 Ibid. , p. 270. Globally,” press release, Office of Rep. Frank Wolf, ligion, Peace and World Affairs, Georgetown 18 Ibid. , p. 277. Jan. 9, 2013, http://wolf.house.gov/press-releases/ University, undated, ttp://berkleycenter. george 19 See Hathaway, op. cit. wolf-calls-on-religious-leaders-in-west-to-speak- town.edu/essays/russia-the-19th-century- the-russ 20 Malise Ruthven, Fundamentalism: The Search out-on-behalf-of-persecuted-church-globally /. ian-revolution-and-soviet-rule . for Meaning (2004), p. 7. 33 “The Baha’i Question: Cultural Cleansing 45 Dianne Kirby, ed., Religion and the Cold 21 For background, see Brian Beary, “Reli - in Iran,” Baha’i International Community, Sep - War (2002), p. 1. gious Fundamentalism,” CQ Global Researcher , tember 2008, http://news.bahai.org/document 46 “Annual Report 2013,” op. cit. , pp. 10-11. Feb. 1, 2009, pp. 27-58. library/TheBahaiQuestion.pdf . 47 Ibid. , p. 301. 22 Maajid Nawaz, “A Global Culture to Fight 34 “Annual Report 2013,” op. cit. , p. 75. 48 Fenggang Yang, unpublished essay, courtesy Extremism,” TEDGlobal 2011 talk, July 2011. 35 “Rohingya: Stateless and Unwanted,” Al of the author. www.ted.com/speakers/maajid_nawaz.html . Jazeera, undated, www.aljazeera.com/indepth/ 49 “Chronology: What happened during the 23 “Sunni and Shia Muslims,” Pew Research spotlight/rohingya /; “All You Can Do Is Pray: war in Bosnia?” Reuters, July 21, 2008, www. Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, Jan. 27, Crimes Against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing reuters.com/article/2008/07/21/idUSL21644464 . 2011, www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future- of Rohingya Muslims in Burma’s Arakan State,” 50 For more background on the development of-the-global-muslim-population-sunni-and-shia /. Human Rights Watch, April 2013, www.hrw.org/ of the act, see Allen D. Hertzke and Daniel 24 “Annual Report 2013,” op. cit. , p. 125. sites/default/files/reports/burma0413webwcov Philpott, “Defending the Faiths,” The National 25 Richard S. Ehrlich, “Pakistan Blasphemy Laws er_0.pdf . Interest , Fall 2000, Vol. 6, pp. 74-81. Reform Will Give Death Sentence to False Ac - 36 Ibid. , p. 2. 51 John Moore, “The Evolution of Islamic Ter - cusers,” Religion News Service, Sept. 25, 2013, 37 See John L. Esposito, Islam: The Straight rorism: An Overview,” PBS Frontline, www.pbs. org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/ modern.html . About the Author 52 “Religion in the Iranian Constitution,” Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, Michelle Johnson is a writer and digital media editor based Georgetown University, http://berkleycenter. in Winston-Salem, N.C., with more than 20 years' experience georgetown.edu/essays/religion-in-the-iranian- covering higher education, local government and cultural is - constitution . sues for print, online and broadcast media. She holds a bach - 53 For background, see Thomas J. Billitteri, elor’s degree in English from Augustana College in Rock Is - “Afghanistan Dilemma,” CQ Researcher , Aug. 7, land, Ill., and a master’s degree in English language and literature 2009, pp. 669-692, updated May 25, 2011. from the University of Minnesota. She also earned a gradu - 54 John Moore, op. cit. ate certificate in communication and technology at the Uni - 55 “Who Are the Taliban?” BBC News Asia, versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. June 18, 2013 . 56 Barbara Crossette, “Taliban Explains Buddha

952 CQ Researcher Demolition,” The New York Times , March 19, 2001, www.nytimes.com/2001/03/19/world/tali ban-explains-buddha-demolition.html . FOR MORE INFORMATION 57 “Religious Freedom in Afghanistan,” The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs , Georgetown University, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World 3307 M St., Suite 200, Washington, DC 20007 ; 202-687-5119 ; http://berkleycenter. Affairs, http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/ georgetown.edu . Focuses on the interdisciplinary study of religion and public life. essays/religious-freedom-in-afghanistan . 58 “The Life and Death of Osama bin Laden,” Christian Freedom International , P.O. Box 535, Front Royal, VA 22630 ; 800-323- 2273 ; www.christianfreedom.org . Conducts relief work and advocacy for Christians The Washington Post , www.washingtonpost.com/ persecuted for their faith. wp-srv/special/world/timeline-life-of-osama- bin-laden /; “Osama bin Laden,” The Economist , Hudson Institute Center for Religious Freedom , Hudson Institute, Inc., 1015 May 5, 2011, www.economist.com . 15th St., N.W., 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20005 ; 202-974-2400 ; crf.hudson.org . 59 For background, see Peter Katel, “Global Jihad,” Defends against religious persecution of all groups throughout the world. CQ Researcher , Oct. 14, 2005, pp. 857-880. Institute for Global Engagement , P.O. Box 12205, Arlington, VA 22219-2205 ; 60 Robert Worth, “The Deep Intellectual Roots 703-527-3100 ; www.globalengage.org . A faith-based Christian think tank that focuses of Islamic Terror,” The New York Times , Oct. 13, on religion and global affairs. 2001, www.nytimes.com/2001/10/13/arts/the- International Coalition for Religious Freedom , 3600 New York Ave., N.E., deep-intellectual-roots-of-islamic-terror.html? Third Floor, Washington, DC 20002 ; 202-558-5462 ; www.religiousfreedom.com . pagewanted=1 . Works on issues related to religious freedom; receives the bulk of its funding 61 Jyoti Thottam, “Gujarat’s 2002 Riots: 10 from the Unification Church community. Years Later, Narendra Modi Remains in Spot - light,” Time.com , Feb. 27, 2012, http://world. International Institute for Religious Freedom , Branches in Bonn, Germany and time.com/2012/02/27/gujarats-2002-riots-ten- Capetown, South Africa ; www.iirf.eu . An international academic network that com - piles data on violations of religious freedom. years-later-narendra-modi-remains-in-spotlight /. 62 Global Post video interview with Ashin Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights , Ovre Slottsgate 11, NO-0157 Oslo ; Wirathu, Aug. 10, 2013, http://on.aol.com/ 47 23136670 ; www.oslocenter.no/en /. Works on issues of human rights, democracy video/a-burmese-journey--qanda-with-ashin- and inter-religious and intercultural dialogue. wirathu-517891784 . Quilliam Foundation , P.O. Box 60380, London, WC1A 9AZ, UK ; 44 (0) 207 182 63 Ibid. 7280 ; www.quilliamfoundation.org . A think tank established to counter extremism 64 “Toni Johnson, “Sharia and Militancy,” and promote democracy and religious freedom. Council on Foreign Relations, Nov. 30, 2010, Search for Common Ground , 1601 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20009 ; www.cfr.org/religion/sharia-militancy/p19155 . 202-265-4300 ; www.sfcg.org . A group focused on international conflict reso lution. For background, see Kenneth Jost, “Unrest in the Arab World,” CQ Researcher , Feb. 1, 2013, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom , 732 N. Capitol St., N.W., pp. 105-132; and Roland Flamini, “Turmoil in Suite A714, Washington, DC 20401 ; 202-523-3240 ; www.uscirf.gov . Independent the Arab World,” CQ Global Researcher , May 3, federal commission that monitors religious freedom abuses abroad. 2011, pp. 209-236. 65 See Toni Johnson and Lauren Vriens, 70 Elizabeth Tenety, “State Dept. Seeks to come EU move to tie aid to religious free - “Islam: Governing Under Sharia,” Council on broaden religious reach,” The Washington Post , dom,” The Catholic Herald , June 27, 2013, www. Foreign Relations, Jan. 9, 2013, www.cfr.org/ July 26, 2013. catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/06/27/church- religion/islam-governing-under-sharia/p8034 . 71 Press release, “House Passes Bipartisan Re - leaders-welcome-eu-move-to-tie-aid-to-religious- For background, see Sarah Glazer, “Sharia ligious Minorities Special Envoy Bill,” Office freedom/. Controversy,” CQ Global Researcher , Jan. 3, 2012, of Rep. Frank Wolf, Sept. 18, 2013, http://wolf. 76 “Tough Anti-blasphemy law takes effect in pp. 1-28. house.gov/press-releases/house-passes-biparti Russia,” Catholic World News , July 1, 2013, www. 66 James Bell, “The World’s Muslims: Politics, san-religious-minorities-special-envoy-bill /. catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?s Religion and Society,” The Pew Forum on Re - 72 GovTrack.us gives the bill a 1 percent chance toryid=18312. For background, see Alan Green - ligion and Public Life, April 30, 2013, p. 9, www. of passage, www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/ blatt, “Free Speech at Risk,” CQ Researcher , pewforum.org/files/2013/04/worlds-muslims- s653 . April 26, 2013, pp. 377-400. religion-politics-society-full-report.pdf . 73 “EU Guidelines on the promotion and pro - 77 “Dutch approve move to scrap blasphemy 67 For more, see Abdullahi An-Na’im, Islam tection of freedom of religion or belief,” law,” BBC News Europe, Nov. 28, 2012, www. and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future Council of the European Union, June 24, 2013 . bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20530428. of Sharia (2010). 74 “Adoption of the Guidelines on Freedom of 78 Michael Nugent, “Column: Why it’s time to 68 Testimony of Thomas F. Farr, op. cit. Religion or Belief: A Major Step Forward in get rid of Ireland’s ,” TheJournal. 69 Dwight Bashir, “Fear for religious freedom,” EU External Policy,” European Platform on Re - ie , July 28, 2013, www.thejournal.ie/readme/ Foreign Policy: The Middle East Channel , May 3, ligious Intolerance and Discrimination, June 24, blasphemy-laws-ireland-1003213-Jul2013/. 2013, http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/ 2013, www.eprid.eu/website/news. 79 “Annual Report 2013,” op. cit. , p. 271. 2013/05/03/fear_for_religious_freedom . 75 Jonathan Luxmoore, “Church leaders wel - 80 Ibid. , p. 50.

www.cqresearcher.com Nov. 1, 2013 953 Bibliography Selected Sources

Books Reports and Studies

Esposito , John L. , The Future of Islam , Oxford University “ ‘All You Can Do Is Pray’: Crimes Against Humanity and Press USA , 2010 . Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya in Burma’s Arakan State,” A Georgetown University professor of religion explores the Human Rights Watch , April 2013 , www.hrw.org/sites/de intersection of Islam and politics, including Islam and U.S. fault/files/reports/burma0413webwcover_0.pdf . foreign policy, Islamic fundamentalism and whether Islam is The human rights organization documents violent crimes compatible with democracy and human rights. against Muslims in June and October 2012 organized by Bud - dhist monks and Arakanese political officials. Kimball , Charles , When Religion Becomes Lethal: The Explosive Mix of Politics in Religion in Judaism, Chris - “Annual Report of the U.S. Commission on International tianity and Islam , Jossey-Bass , 2011 . Religious Freedom,” April 2013 , www.uscirf.gov/images/ The director of religious studies at the University of Okla - 2013%20USCIRF%20Annual%20Report%20(2).pdf . homa discusses the interplay between fundamentalist reli - The independent, bipartisan commission surveys religious gions and politics. freedom worldwide and makes policy recommendations on countries that violate it. Shea , Nina , and Paul Marshall , Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide , “Engaging Religious Communities Abroad: A New Imper - Oxford University Press USA , 2011 . ative for U.S. Foreign Policy,” The Chicago Council on Glob - Senior fellows at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious al Affairs , Feb. 23, 2010 , www.thechicagocouncil.org/User - Freedom document the cases of victims of blasphemy laws. Files/File/Task%20Force%20Reports/2010%20Religion% 20Task%20Force_Full%20Report.pdf . Articles The nonpartisan organization argues that U.S. policymakers should include religious freedom considerations in foreign Bashir , Dwight , “Fear for Religious Freedom,” Foreign policy and international development. Policy , May 3, 2013 , http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/ posts/2013/05/03/fear_for_religious_freedom . “ ‘How Long Are We Going to Live in This Injustice?’ Egypt’s The deputy director of policy and research at the U.S. Com - Christians Caught Between Sectarian Attacks and State mission on International Religious Freedom reviews the glob - Inaction,” Amnesty International , www.amnesty.org/en/ al status of religious freedom. library/asset/MDE12/058/2013/en/3dfdf662-073a-4980- 90bd-8027136a72af/mde120582013en.pdf . Hanna , Michael Wahid , “With Friends Like These: Coptic The human rights organization details recent church bomb - Activism in the Diaspora,” Middle East Research and In - ings and attacks against Coptic Christians in Egypt. formation Project , Summer 2013 , www.merip.org/mer/ mer267/friends-these . “The Baha’i Question: Cultural Cleansing in Iran,” Baha’i A senior fellow at the liberal Century Foundation critiques International Community , September 2008 , http://news. the role of Coptic Christians living outside Egypt in drawing bahai.org/documentlibrary/TheBahaiQuestion.pdf. attention to the violations of Egyptian Christians’ rights. The report details a surge of religious persecution directed at members of the Baha’i faith in Iran. Harris , Gardiner , “Justice and ‘a Ray of Hope’ after 2002 India Riots,” The New York Times , July 2, 2012 , www.ny Grim , Brian J. , “Arab Spring Adds to Global Restrictions times.com/2012/07/03/world/asia/gujarat-riot-trials-may- on Religion,” Pew Research Center , June 2013 , www.pew alter--cycle-of-violence.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 . forum.org/files/2013/06/RestrictionsIV-web.pdf . Riots by Hindu nationalists resulted in the deaths of near - The fourth in a series of reports analyzing government re - ly 1,000 Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat, and the legal strictions on religious beliefs and practices finds that restrictions system is slowly bringing the accused to justice. increased in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011.

Jenkins , Philip , “Syria’s Christians Face Eradication,” The Hurd , Elizabeth Shakman , and Winnifred Fallers Sullivan , American Conservative , Sept. 4, 2013 , www.theamerican guest editors, “The Politics of Religious Freedom,” The conservative.com/articles/syrias-christians-risk-eradication /. Immanent Frame: Secularism, religion and the public A Baylor University history professor describes the role that sphere , http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif /. Christians played in the development of modern Syrian cul - The online forum hosts an ongoing discussion about the ture and political life. context and history of religious freedom.

954 CQ Researcher The Next Step: Additional Articles from Current Periodicals

Persecution Hotspots reuters.com/article/2013/01/08/us-religion-christianity- persecution-idUSBRE9070TB20130108 . “Nigerian Islamists kill at least 159 in two attacks,” The nondenominational Christian group Open Doors says Reuters , Sept. 20, 2013 , www.reuters.com/article/2013/ in its annual report on Christian persecution around the 09/20/us-nigeria-violence-toll-idUSBRE98J0SP20130920 . world that conditions are worsening the fastest for Christians The militant Islamist group Boko Haram has killed thou - in Syria and Ethiopia. sands of Nigerians, including many in attacks of Christian churches, since it began its Islamist uprising in 2009. McGough , Michael , “If you think Christians here are persecuted, you need to grow up,” Los Angeles Times , Fisher , Jonah , “Anti-Muslim monk stokes Burmese reli - Aug. 15, 2013 , http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug/15/ gious tensions,” BBC News , Aug. 29, 2013 , www.bbc.co. news/la-ol-christian-persecution-20130815 . uk/news/world-asia-23846632 . American and British Christians may complain about being Over the past year Buddhist mobs in Myanmar (formerly ridiculed or encountering encroachments on religious free - Burma) have killed more than 200 Muslims. Many blame the dom, but according to the former archbishop of Canterbury, rising sectarian tensions on the nationalist monk Shin Wirathu their experiences pale in comparison to the hostility Christians and the organization he leads. encounter elsewhere around the world.

Johnson , Annysa , “U.S. report shows troubling trends in Holy Sites religious oppression around the world,” Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisc.), May 21, 2013 , www.jsonline.com/blogs/ “Syria rebels ‘attacked’ religious sites,” Al jazeera , Jan. 24, news/208321471.html . 2013 , www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/2013 The U.S. State Department’s report on religious freedom 12322462753542.html . around the world details troubling trends, with numerous Syrian opposition fighters have burned and looted the sites governments placing restrictions on religious groups. of religious minorities, while regime forces have shelled mosques, further igniting sectarian strife in the country. Markoe , Lauren , “Religious Oppression Rises Despite Arab Spring, Pew Study Shows,” The Huffington Post , June 21, “Timbuktu’s cultural heritage sites are under attack,” 2013 , www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/religious-oppres The Washington Post , July 5, 2012 , http://articles.washing sion- rises-arab-spring_n_3474747.html . tonpost.com/2012-07-05/opinions/35488213_1_timbuktu- In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, the Middle East has world-heritage-sites-mali . grown even more repressive — with religious groups facing A radical Islamist sect with ties to al Qaeda has destroyed mau - growing social hostilities and government restrictions. soleums of religious figures, sacred mosques and other cultural sites in the old city of Timbuktu in Mali, says an editorial. Sen , Ashish Kumar , “Pakistan tops worst list for religious freedom,” The Washington Times , April 30, 2013 , www.wash ingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/30/pakistan-tops-worst- CITING CQ RESEARCHER list-for-religious-freedom /. Sample formats for citing these reports in a bibliography Pakistan continues to engage in and tolerate violations of religious freedom, evidenced by growing sectarian violence include the ones listed below. Preferred styles and formats against Shiite Muslims as well as failures to protect Christians, vary, so please check with your instructor or professor. Ahmadis and Hindus. MLA STYLE Christianity Jost, Kenneth. “Remembering 9/11.” CQ Researcher 2 Sept. 2011: 701-732. Cohen , Ben , and Keith Roderick , “The Religious Silence on Christian Persecution,” The Wall Street Journal , July 29, APA S TYLE 2012 , http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527023 Jost, K. (2011, September 2). Remembering 9/11. CQ Re - 04388004577531031387938506.html . American public opinion hasn’t been stirred up over the searcher, 9 , 701-732. persecution of Christians because church leadership has CHICAGO STYLE failed to call attention to the problem, says an op-ed. Jost, Kenneth. “Remembering 9/11.” CQ Researcher , Sep - Henegen , Tom , “About 100 million Christians persecuted tember 2, 2011, 701-732. around the world: report,” Reuters , Jan. 8, 2013 , www.

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