Update: A proposal to ban the Ahmadi Muslim community from Indonesia continued to attract controversy this week: On Monday, a mob torched a mosque in Parakan Salak which belonged to the Ahmadi community (AFP). Human Rights Watch called on Indonesia to drop the proposed ban, in a release which outlined the mistreatment of Ahmadis in the country. The Economist covered the proposed ban as well, in a piece entitled "Religious Freedom is put at risk by political expediency".

REMERA - Rwanda's State Minister for Primary and Secondary Education has threatened to terminate the employment of sixty teachers, all Jehovah's Witnesses, who failed to participate in a unity and reconciliation initiative organized by the government The New Times reported on April 21. Though other participants were permitted to miss the meeting for non-religious "family or individual problems", the Ministry stated that if the teachers were determined to have skipped the meeting for reasons stemming from their religious beliefs, "tough measures" would be taken against them.

ALGERIA - Muslim scholars in Algeria have issued a fatwa against the country's ban on Islamic headscarves in passport photos, saying the prohibition violates Sharia law BBC News reported on April 23. The Society of Algerian Muslim Scholars elaborated that the headscarf cannot be banned, as it is a part of Muslim tradition. The same passport photo ban would apply to bearded men as well. Both members of the Society and the Prime Minister have received complaints from the public, which has asked for the ban to be repealed. It is not known whether the ban is a recent decision, or one that began when Algeria was a French colony.

ALGA - Various religious communities in Kazakhstan fear that the government has its eye on their property, Forum 18 reported on April 25. Most recently, authorities in the north-west city of Alga threatened to confiscate the Protestant New Life Church, saying that the church does not officially own the building. Should officials succeed in confiscating the property, the church will be left without a legal address, which could result in a loss of the church's registration as a religious entity. (Punishment for unregistered religious activity in the country has been quite severe in the past, in violation of international human rights standards: Forum 18 has compiled both a detailed report on Kazakhstan, as well as a series of articles on recent religious freedom violations).

BRADFORD - It has been implied that at least some British police fail to take religious-based threats seriously, as seen in the case of Nissar Hussein per an article in The Times released on April 28. Hussein, from Bradford, UK, was raised Muslim but converted to Christianity along with his wife in 1996. Seen as an apostate, he was frequently attacked, and most recently received a threat that his house would be burnt down if he did not return to Islam. When Hussein reported a recent threat to the police, they told him to "stop being a crusader" and recommended that he simply move to another area.

MINSK - Three people who helped organize a petition to change Belarus' 2002 Religion Law have been fined for their involvement, where each received a fine of two months' average wages Forum 18 reported on April 29. In the end, though the organizers managed to collect 50,000 signatures in support of their petition, Belarus refused to consider alterations to the law. The chairman of Belarus' parliamentary committee on Human Rights, Ethnic Relations and Media defended the fines, saying that the organizers had not followed the proper procedure in collecting signatures, and that the country's current Religion Law was in line with the constitution. Some of the provisions of the law can be found in Forum 18's 2003 Religious Freedom Survey of Belarus, while articles on the effects of the law can be found here.

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's highest Islamic authorities have rejected a proposed rule that would have required potential converts to Islam to inform their families prior to the conversion the Associated Press reported on April 29. The proposal was announced earlier this month, following several disputes over which religion had rights to the bodies of converts who had passed away. Though Islamic authorities must approve any law relating to Islam before it can be implemented, the government is expected to ask for Parliament's help in passing a law which would override their objections.

IRFN (April 21-29): In Rwanda State Ministry Threatens Jehovah's Witness Teachers with Dismissal