"Erstmals wird mit diesem Buch eine alle Epochen umfassende Monographie über den Irak bis zur Gegenwart vorgelegt, und zwar aus Sicht des Christentums. Die religionswissenschaftliche Untersuchung rückt dabei auch die islamischen Strömungen sowie weitere religiöse Minderheiten und Ethnien, insbes
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ondere die Jesiden, in den Fokus. Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf dem 20. und 21. Jahrhundert. Mit Blick auf den politischen Kontext wird der Sturz Saddam Husseins analysiert, die Verfassungsentwürfe untersucht und den Wurzeln der Entstehung des Terrorregimes des „Islamischen Staates“ nachgegangen. Diese Darstellung der politischen und gesellschaftlichen Faktoren wird um das Wirken der christlichen Kirchen im Irak ergänzt. Dabei nimmt die Diplomatie des Heiligen Stuhls im Zweistromland breiten Raum ein. Die wissenschaftliche Untersuchung mit einem umfassenden Literaturverzeichnis und unbekannten Archivmaterialien verbindet die Sicht von Religion und Politik im Irak. Sie ist eine Hommage an die Christen, die – trotz des anhaltenden Exodus – im Land verblieben sind, und eine Erinnerung an die ungezählten vom Terror ermordeten Opfer von Christen und Jesiden. Die kenntnisreiche Analyse der Reise von Papst Franziskus in den Irak 2021 macht deutlich, dass die Christen eine Zukunft im Land einfordern, am Aufbau der Zivilgesellschaft mitwirken wollen und für eine friedliche Koexistenz werben, wie sie über Jahrhunderte praktiziert wurde. Ihr Handeln ist ein Zeugnis dafür, dass sie wesentlicher Motor einer Versöhnungsgeschichte sind, die in die Gesellschaft hineinwirkt. Die Realität ist trotzdem bitter: Das Christentum im Irak steht vor seinem Ende. Wenn es nicht zu einer politischen Wende im Land kommt und stattdessen radikalisierende Weltbilder weiter zunehmen, droht das Christentum zu erlöschen. So müssen die irakischen Christen für ihr kulturelles Erbe auch künftig um das Überleben kämpfen. Ihren blutigen und steinigen Weg bis heute zeichnet der Autor nach. „Iraks christliches Erbe“ ist das historische und religionswissenschaftliche Kaleidoskop eines reichen Vermächtnisses in der Wiege der Menschheit." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Freedom of religion or belief is also a human right that is constantly being misunderstood. It is not about any religion, church or institution claiming their rights. And I am not a Commissioner for Religion. It is about the freedom of every individual to manifest their religion or belief, either a
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lone or in community with others, or to change it, or to not have any a religion or belief. Raising awareness of this and providing input for debates both in the political sphere and in society is one of the aims of the Third Report on the Global Status of Freedom of Religion or Belief [...] The report explores new ground above all with its thematic focus on the freedom of religion or belief of Indigenous peoples. There are about 5,000 such groups of people worldwide, with an estimated total population of more than 470 million. With this focus our report ties in with a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, developing the topic further. In the process of drafting the report, I realised that we are doing pioneering work, because there was and still is the belief that Indigenous spirituality has nothing to do with freedom of religion or belief.
The report provides an opportunity to look in a different way at conflicts over land and infrastructure that involve Indigenous communities. And to develop an understanding that often such conflicts are not just about resources but in fact have to do with Indigenous peoples’ belief that all natural things have a spirit or soul. My personal learning curve on this topic is closely connected with Indigenous communities in Guatemala and my experiences with conflictual infrastructure projects. When I visited Guatemala many years ago, I had difficulty understanding why people staged fierce and violent protests against small-scale hydropower plants that were actually environmentally friendly. Today I know that the areas surrounding a small river were regarded as important spiritual places, with Indigenous communities believing that the forest had a soul, and that interfering with nature there without giving any thought to the spiritual implications was not acceptable." (Foreword, page 3)
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"Freedom of religion or belief is an essential human right. Not a superordinate right, but not a marginal right either. It is closely intertwined with other rights such as freedom of opinion or assembly, or the right to be protected against discrimination. And that is the objective of my efforts: to
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embed this right firmly at the centre of the human rights agenda. There is still a long way to go to achieve this [...]
This report is about advancing the debate and it also enters new territory. It builds on the work done by my predecessor, Markus Grübel, but there are also some aspects where the report has been developed further. This is also reflected in the number of focus countries, which has been increased from 30 to 41. The German Parliament, the Bundestag, had asked for the country section to be expanded, and we were happy to comply with that request. Enlarging the range of countries covered by the report provides an opportunity to do two things at once: offer a regular report on developments in individual regions, and expand the focus in the light of new challenges. Among the focus countries that have been added this year are Armenia, Belarus, Guatemala, the Central African Republic, Lebanon, the Maldives and Syria. For some of them, the decision to add them was taken in the light of recent developments. With these aims in mind, the report will continue to be submitted at regular intervals as intended by the Bundestag, building on a solid basis of data and information.
The report explores new ground above all with its thematic focus on the freedom of religion or belief of Indigenous peoples. There are about 5,000 such groups of people worldwide, with an estimated total population of more than 470 million. With this focus our report ties in with a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, developing the topic further. In the process of drafting the report, I realised that we are doing pioneering work, because there was and still is the belief that Indigenous spirituality has nothing to do with freedom of religion or belief. The report provides an opportunity to look in a different way at conflicts over land and infrastructure that involve Indigenous communities. And to develop an understanding that often such conflicts are not just about resources but in fact have to do with Indigenous peoples’ belief that all natural things have a spirit or soul. My personal learning curve on this topic is closely connected with Indigenous communities in Guatemala and my experiences with conflictual infrastructure projects. When I visited Guatemala many years ago, I had difficulty understanding why people staged fierce and violent protests against small-scale hydropower plants that were actually environmentally friendly. Today I know that the areas surrounding a small river were regarded as important spiritual places, with Indigenous communities believing that the forest had a soul, and that interfering with nature there without giving any thought to the spiritual implications was not acceptable." (Preface, page 2)
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"The report monitors the number and types of media material covering this topic and published by the monitored media platforms. It analyzes the content of the material, the way it tackles the topic, its degree of reliance on objective sources related to the story, as well as its way of addressing th
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e religious aspect. The report also analyzes the dates on which the biggest number of stories were published and the reasons justifying such record numbers, as it dives into the relationship between the religious aspect, which is the research topic, as well as the “political deadlock” plaguing Iraq. Differently put, it monitors the exploitation, effect, and coverage of the issue, as well as the role that media outlets play in this regard. To find content about the topic, the following keywords were looked up: “Mahmoud Al-Sarkhi,” “Sarkhi,” “Ali al-Masoudi,” “Masudi,” “Demolition of Shiite shrines,” “Shiite shrines,” “Demolition of Shiite religious shrines,” “Shiite sites” “Demolition of Shiite religious shrines and sites,” “Sarkhi,” “Masoudi’s call,” “Al-Hussein Army,” “Babylon,” “Masoudi’s arrest,” and “Sarkhi’s headquarters.” The research is limited to the period in which the calls were issued, namely from April 8 to 28, 2022, about a week following the issuance of prison sentences against the offenders in the case at hand." (Monitoring metholodogy, page 6)
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"[...] Faith communities in Malaysia seem to constantly find ways to reach out to each other and to Malaysians who may not necessarily share their backgrounds. This already contradicts the assumption that local religions are often intolerant towards each other. Rather, what is required is a platform
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for dialogue, representation, and to use a term that a ‘Diverse Voices’ panellist used, mediation. On the other hand, media practitioners and journalists have helped the fieldwork reflect on the material and political conditions in which local stories about religion are shaped. More importantly, going beyond the ‘helicopter view’, the project gradually learned what is actually going on from the ground. In fact, one of the journalists has described this constant anxiety over potential punishment, public backlash, and being dismissed as an “unspoken structure.” The lesson is, journalists themselves called for empowering, training, and organising. Most journalists mentioned the lack of sustainable resources. While there are existing journalist groups and unions, including the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Institute of Journalists (IOJ) in Malaysia, these are not focused on supporting the religious reporting process. Rather, they provide more general support for journalists." (Page 23)
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"This report provides the first detailed account of the raid on the Tengdro monastery and its consequences, including multiple detentions and a suicide, that has appeared in any media within or outside China. It also provides analysis of what the case shows about conditions in Tibet today and assess
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es possible reasons for the unprecedentedly harsh sentences given to three of the four monks for minor online activities and communications that are commonplace among Tibetans. Human Rights Watch has not been able to find another case in which Tibetans were convicted of major offenses and sentenced to such long terms without any information emerging to explain the severity of the punishment." (Page 2)
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"In 2018, Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, was acquitted of the blasphemy charges that had kept her on death row for nearly a decade. The lessons learned from her case, including the international advocacy critical to her acquittal, help to create a template for advocating on behalf of other religious
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minorities facing similar charges in Pakistan. In this report, International Christian Concern (ICC) reviews Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and the experience of religious minorities under these laws. ICC goes on to analyze the Asia Bibi case and draws out important lessons that should be applied to similar, ongoing cases. This report provides the profiles of 24 current cases in which Pakistani Christians sit charged with or convicted of committing blasphemy. These 24 cases need appropriate international advocacy to come to a successful conclusion. Towards this end, this report provides practical recommendations for the international community which ICC has drawn from the Asia Bibi case and from years of experience working with Christian victims of blasphemy in Pakistan." (Executive summary)
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"Our findings, combined with the individual statements we collected from our participants paint a bleak picture of the online experiences of religious minorities in Pakistan. It is pertinent to not only encourage reflection amongst society at large, but also to call on the state to take responsibili
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ty for the protection of minorities and their rights. As online spaces are becoming more contested, a progressive and inclusive approach for all citizens is the only way to ensure an environment where the rights of all are protected, regardless of caste or creed." (Conclusion)
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"Rights related to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and gender equality are often seen to be in contradiction with one another. Underlying this (mis) perception of a normative clash between the two is very often an understanding of FoRB as a right that protects religion – and often conservativ
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e, patriarchal religion. For some, this means that FoRB is seen as an inherent obstacle to achieving gender equality; for others, gender equality is seen as a threat to the protection of religious values and practices. This antagonistic construction of the two human rights norms has consequences. A lack of attention to, or an unwillingness to engage with, the intersections between FoRB and gender equality may result in unnecessary clashes, unsatisfactory handling of factual conflicts, and lost opportunities for synergies, learning, and cooperation among actors engaged in the promotion of respectively FoRB and gender equality [...] Against this background, the present report should be read first and foremost as a basic introduction to the relationship between FoRB and gender equality, providing a snapshot of the examples, experiences and ideas discussed in the workshops and hopefully encouraging further research and analysis." (Introduction, page 6-7)
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"This report analyzes the content of traditional media and social networks on religious freedom and violent extremism in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. At the same time, the study seeks to examine hate speech against certain religious groups and how pre-labeling affects those officially accu
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sed of extremism. For the most part, the policies and legal frameworks of the three Central Asian states focused on CVE (counteracting violent extremism) are structurally repressive and do not always protect religious freedom. State information resources are informative, poorly represented in the online environment and do not have a high level of citizen confidence due to their policies. The securitization and politicization of religion resulted in repressive state practices in respect to religious freedom, which is one of the driving factors in the radicalization of people. The need for alternative ways of expressing opinions and finding answers to religious questions has resulted in the emergence of alternative (parallel to the state information resources) media channels mainly on social media: YouTube, Facebook, Telegram, Odnoklassniki and online websites with a large number of young subscribers." (Abstract)
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"This report shines light on the following trends:
- Blasphemy and apostasy laws are often overbroad and can be used to limit a variety of religious expression. These laws violate international human rights law and should be repealed.
- Hate speech laws are also generally overbroad and can be used t
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o limit a variety of religious expression. These laws should be re-drafted to comply with international standards.
- Laws restricting the media and free press are often used to prohibit hate speech on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, and other factors, with the written intent to protect those individual identities; however, these laws are also often open to misuse for political purposes.
- Hate speech laws often lack independent oversight mechanisms and have inappropriate punishments.
- Hate speech laws often are not integrated into larger plans aimed at effectively reducing intolerance and hatred in society. Where speech is protected and therefore not able to be limited through legislation, states can use other strategies and tools to address problems of hate speech and discrimination against certain groups. Meaningful and inclusive partnership with civil society is key for governments to achieve these goals." (Executive summary)
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"In recent years, the Danish cartoons affair, the Charlie Hebdo murders and the terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris have resulted in increasingly strident anti-Islamic speeches by politicians. This raises questions about the limits to freedom of expression and whether this freedom can and should
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be restricted to protect the religious feelings of believers. This book uses the case law of the European Court of Human Rights to provide a comprehensive analysis of the questions: whether legal prohibitions of religious hate speech violate the right to freedom of expression; and, whether such laws should be used to prosecute politicians and others who contribute to current debates when they use anti-Islam rhetoric. A well-known politician who uses such rhetoric is Dutch politician Geert Wilders. He has been prosecuted twice for hate speech, and was acquitted in the first case and recently convicted in the second. These prosecutions are used to illustrate the issues involved in drawing the line between freedom of expression and religious hate speech. The author argues that freedom of expression of politicians and those contributing to the public debate should not be restricted except in two very limited circumstances: when they incite to hatred or violence and there is an imminent danger that violence will follow or where it stops people from holding or manifesting their religion. Based on this, the author concludes that the European Court of Human Rights should decide, if it is asked to do so, that Wilders conviction for hate speech violates his freedom of expression." (Publisher description)
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