Mar 5, 2008
International Religious Freedom Archive
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1. Cuba: International Rights Treaties Signed "With Reservations"
2. Russia: Police Harass Methodist Community
3. Malaysia: Teacher Sentenced to Jail for Apostasy
4. China: Dozens in Detention Following Raid on Bible Study
Features: The Washington Times reported that certain Christian groups in Jordan are facing growing opposition from the government. Some foreign members affiliated with their communities were deported. AFP carried the response of the Jordanian government and the views of other Christian groups in the country.
How views on religion have changed among Iraq's younger generations, from International Herald Tribune.
Update: The Washington Post reported on the first day of classes in Turkey following a decision to end the ban on Islamic headscarves at public universities.
1. Cuba: International Rights Treaties Signed "With Reservations"
CUBA - Cuba became a signatory to two important human rights documents, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESC), four days after Raul Castro permanently replaced his brother as the country's president, the Associated Press reported on February 28. Article 18 of the ICCPR guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and religion, while Article 2 of the ICESC asks state parties to the treaty to ensure equal rights for its citizens regardless of any differences, including religious belief. Despite signing both treaties, Cuba stated that it still harbored "reservations" about certain provisions, which it said it would clarify later, during the treaty ratification process.
2. Russia: Police Harass Methodist Community
SMOLENSK - State officials have begun to investigate the local Methodist community – at the request of an Orthodox bishop, reported Forum 18 on February 28. Members of the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Department for the Affairs of Minors, the Department of Education, Organized Crime police and local police have all conducted check-ups on the area's Methodist church, in order to "check the legality of its activity". The church was forced to remove missionary college plans from its website, and on January 30 the pastor was detained by the Regional Organized Crime Police and interrogated about his religious unorthodox beliefs.
3. Malaysia: Teacher Sentenced to Jail for Apostasy
TERENGGANU - Kamariah Ali, a former teacher, was sentenced to two years in jail by a Shari'a court in Terengganu, northeastern Malaysia, for "declaring herself an apostate," Reuters reported on March 3. Ali was arrested in 2005 along with others who belonged to a sect outlawed by the Malaysian government, and though she was given a chance to return to Islam during the trial, she refused. The presiding judge opined that Ali's actions were "not within the concept of freedom of religion".
4. China: Dozens in Detention Following Raid on Bible Study
HENAN PROVINCE - On February 18, police raided a private home in Shangqiu City (Henan Province), where a Bible training seminar was in session, China Aid reported on March 3. Eighty of those attending the class were taken into detention; though ten were subsequently released, seventy remain in custody at police detention centers or in prisons, facing charges of "making use of a cult to violate law enforcement".