2008 Religious Freedom Report - Aid To Church in Need

Rapporto ingl_2008.
qxp 16-10-2008 12:42 Pagina 1
Religious
Freedom
in the World
Report 2008
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International

Rapporto ingl_2008.qxp 16-10-2008 12:42 Pagina 2
Publisher
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International
Bischof-Kindermann-Str. 23, D-61462 Königstein
Editorial committee
Marc Fromager (France)
Francesco Meloni (Italy)
Javier Menendez-Ros (Spain)
Berthold Pelster (Germany)
John Pontifex (Great Britain)
Roberto Simona (Switzerland)
Editorial coordination
Benedikt Steinschulte, Attilio Tamburrini,
Marek Zurowski
Editorial secretariat
Ursula Müllerleile
Collaborators
Marta Allevato, Pierluigi Baccarini,
Daniela Bricca,
Centro de Libertad Religiosa (CELIR UC) de la
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Rodolfo Casadei, padre Bernardo Cervellera,
Camille Eid, Vincenzo Faccioli Pintozzi,
Annie Laurent, Caterina Maniaci, Andrea Morigi,
José Louis Orella, Giovanna Parravicini,
Franco Pisano, Oscar Sanguinetti, Chiara Verna
Translation into English

Frank Davidson, Pierre Rossi, Francesca Simmons
Proof reading/Revision
Frank Davidson, John Newton
Graphics and printing

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Reproduction of this text, in part or in whole, is
permitted on condition the source is cited.
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ISBN 978-0-9553339-7-2
PREFACE
Why do we need a Report on Religious Freedom?

At a time when concern over human rights has moved from fields once occupied by
specialists and international organisations to the broader ones of media and public
opinion, it seemed appropriate to produce a document that provided a wider public
with information that was hitherto limited to specialised publications or websites con-
sulted mostly by interested scholars.
The decision by the General Council of Aid to the Church in Need International (ACN
International) to publish the 2008 Report on Religious Freedom was a response to
such a need, increasingly expressed by international public opinion, to know the real
situation of human rights in general and religious freedom in particular, the latter seen
as an inalienable right of every human being.
All this has been done on the basis of the well-founded hope that with the availabili-
ty of more information, awareness and consciousness can be raised among govern-
ment authorities as well as political, social and religious leaders in countries where re-
ligious freedom in particular and human rights in general are not fully respected. It has
also been done with the understanding that it may improve the life of millions of hu-
man beings whose deepest and most personal right has been trampled, a right that
many have fought for and defended in the past and for which they are still willing to
sacrifice their well-being, living standards and sometimes life itself.
Religious freedom and human rights

The terms used in writing each country report are based on Article 18 of the Univer-
sal Declaration of Human Rights (Paris, 10 December 1948), the declaration upon
which the United Nations Organisation (UNO) is founded and thus shared, in princi-
ple at least, by all 191 member states. Article 18 says:
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right
includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in
community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief
in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
In the light of this declaration, religious freedom can legitimately include:
• the freedom to change religion (i.e. no one’s religion can be imposed);
• the freedom to express one’s religion both individually and collectively, some-
thing which bears upon the law insofar as the latter must grant religious groups
legal status and autonomy;
3
• the freedom to practise one’s religious beliefs both in private and in public;
• the possibility for individuals and institutions to organise their religious life, pass
on their creed and spread their values.
Diplomats, political leaders and media commentators have closely examined previous
reports on religious freedom, considering them indispensable instruments to know and
evaluate the state of religious freedom in all the countries of the world. National par-
liamentary committees, European MPs and conferences promoted by the OSCE have
also started paying attention.
Although written by an association like ACN, which serves the Church wherever it is
persecuted or threatened, the 2008 Report, like previous ones, has adopted a non-con-
fessional approach, vetting the situation in each and every country, highlighting every
restrictive legal-institutional practice or every socio-cultural or ideological case that
involves any kind of imposition, coercion, violation or persecution of people on the
basis of their religion, faith or belief.
The Report thus does not simply focus on the situation of Catholic or Christian com-
munities, but pays heed to the irrepressible yearning that every human being has for
the truth as well as his or her longing for religious freedom, remembering that “a
wrong is done when government imposes upon its people, by force or fear or other
means, the profession or repudiation of any religion, or when it hinders men from join-
ing or leaving a religious community” (cf. Dignitatis humanae, nos 6 & 2, foll.).
This requires straightforward thinking, speaking and action, which Pope Benedict
XVI has in fact reiterated recently and on various occasions. “Religious liberty,” he
said, “is indeed very far from being effectively guaranteed everywhere: in certain cas-
es it is denied for religious or ideological reasons; at other times, although it may be
recognizable on paper, it is hindered in effect by political power or, more cunningly,
by the cultural predomination of agnosticism and relativism” (Angelus of 4 Decem-
ber 2005 and address to the diplomatic corps on 9 January 2006).
ACN’s presence and role

The 2008 Report additionally seeks to inform a wider public about ACN’s goals and
the environments in which it operates. ACN is not primarily a charitable, humanitari-
an or welfare organisation; it is rather an association whose mission is to provide con-
crete assistance to local Churches wherever they are in need.
Fr Joaquín Alliende
President ACN Int.
4
Index
Preface
page 3
Guide for using this report
7
Country reports
11
Sources consulted
523
Index of countries
529
Annex:
I N D E X Worldwide Freedom of Religion
The Catholic point of view
533
ACN in the world
541

G U I D E
F O R U S I N G
T H I S R E P O R T
8

Aims and methodology
This report has been compiled with the support of a group of researchers, scholars and
journalists who have gathered and made available information derived in the main
from international sources, from accounts and reports by various different religious
groupings and from on-the-spot eyewitness accounts. The aim has been to provide a
broad yet detailed picture of religious freedom in the world, with the greatest possible
objectivity and, by allowing the different religions, faiths and religious groupings to
speak for themselves, avoid any value judgements as to the beliefs or convictions un-
derlying their religious practices and teachings.
The objective and the utility of this report consists, we believe, principally in making
available, within the context of an organised whole, such news, facts, situations and
personal testimonies as otherwise risk being passed over in silence or lost, amid the
bombardment of daily information, from public view and from the attention of the in-
ternational religious and political institutions, for lack of a more comprehensive un-
derstanding of the rights and duties pertaining to religious liberty and to human rights
more generally, which is the specific focus of this report.
Structure and format

The country entries record and describe the current situation and the most recent
events in regard to religious freedom in the countries concerned, set out according to
the following format:
– a summarised description of the legal and institutional framework in relation to

the right to religious freedom, indicating any improvement or deterioration in the
situation during the period under examination;
– the situation of the local Catholic Church and of the Catholic faithful;
– the situation of the other Christian confessions and/or denominations;
– the situation of the other monotheist religions (Judaism and Islam);
– the situation of other religions, beliefs, communities and religious groupings.
Legal and factual sources consulted

The information on the legal and institutional framework of the various different
countries, and on the legal and social situation regarding the right to religious free-
dom, has been drawn principally from the basic reference work in the series Bibliote-
ca Comares de ciencia juridica, edited by Professor Ana Maria Vega Gutierrez of the
9
University of Rioja in Spain and published in 2003 in Granada, Spain by Editorial Co-
mares. The figures have in some cases been further updated and checked using the
website Political Resources on the Net.
As far as the information sources generally are concerned, these are listed in the ap-
pendix after the relevant section. These are derived, as can be seen from the religious
sources cited, from a variety of different faiths and denominations; for the rest they
are reports furnished by international organisations and agencies that are concerned
with the issue of human rights and, more specifically, religious freedom. For other in-
formation, obtained locally, the sources are sometimes not cited, for reasons of their
personal safety.
Special thanks are due to the staff of the Projects Department of the International
Headquarters of ACN, whose priceless dedication in checking the information given
and, in many cases, direct knowledge of the problems involved have contributed
greatly to the successful realisation of this project.
Statistics
The statistics given are drawn from a variety of different sources, which have been
chosen on the basis of their credibility and trustworthiness. The most basic data, as to
the number of inhabitants, is for many countries the result of estimates and not based
on genuine census reports. Among all the available options, the data furnished by the
Istituto Geografico De Agostini in 2006 seemed to be among the most credible and
closest to the average of the data derived from a variety of other sources.
The religious makeup of the various different countries is the aspect that is the most
complex and difficult to verify of all, as students of this field know all too well. For
some countries scientifically credible studies do exist, but for others one sometimes
has to rely on figures from directly interested parties, which clearly do not provide us
with a verifiable picture.
Given the need to make a choice, we have decided, for the number of Catholics, to
adopt the data supplied by the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, in the edition of
2008, while for Christians generally and for the other religions and movements we
have based our figures on the projections of the year 2000 in the World Christian En-
cyclopedia, edited by David B. Barrett and printed by Oxford University Press – New
York, 2001. This work is generally regarded internationally and in the academic world
as the most profound study on the subject of the religions in the world. In a few cas-
es, indicated appropriately, more recent data were used which were felt to hold out the
promise of reliability. In what regards the statistics about refugees and internally dis-
placed people, we used the data given on the website of the UNHCR (United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees).
10
Country reports
C O U N T R Y
R E P O R T S
AFGHANISTAN
In spite of ongoing attempts to implement reforms, the situation

as far as religious freedom is concerned is still very difficult in
this country. On human rights issues the pro-Western govern-
AREA
ment of President Hamid Karzai (considered a moderate Mus-
652,090 kmq
lim) is paralysed between the expectations of the United States
and their allies and those of the extremist Islamic factions in its POPULATION
own Parliament. The Taliban offensive is not only a military 22,580,000
one – though 2007 was the bloodiest year since their fall from
REFUGEES
power in 2001 – but is also being conducted at a political and
ideological level. In July 2006 the Afghan Grand Council of 42
ulema – the Islamic scholars – asked the President to reinstate INTERNALLY
the religious police as was the custom under the Taliban DISPLACED
regime. Karzai did not refuse. On the contrary, he promised the 132,000
ulema to present this request in Parliament, giving rise to con-
cern among human rights activists. Under the Taliban, the reli-
gious police, officially known as the “Department for the pro-
RELIGIOUS
motion of virtue and the prevention of vice”, patrolled the
ADHERENTS
streets punishing women who went out without wearing a
burqa, men whose beards were not kept tidy or anyone listen-
ing to music. The objective was to impose an extremist inter-
AFGHANISTAN
pretation of Islamic Law on the population. This department
was dismantled after 2001. The Minster for Haj and Religious
Affairs, Nematullah Shahrani, denied that the department
Muslims 98.1%
would have police powers and insisted “The job of the depart- Others 1.9%
ment will be to tell people what is allowable and what is forbid-
den in Islam” (The Independent, 17th July 2006). Baptized Catholics
For the moment this proposal has not been approved. Howev- 300
er, in the province of Khost during the month of Ramadan in
2006 (September-October) a “commission for morals and
rules” was de facto established, arresting anyone selling alco-
hol or performing “ethically improper gestures”. This commis-
sion had not been authorised by the central government.
Between 2006 and 2007 there were serious episodes involving
violations of religious freedom, which also affected the major-
ity Muslim community. Events such as the imposition of the
death penalty on a man who had converted to Christianity, and
the protests against the Danish cartoons on Mohammed, had
widespread and violent repercussions all over the country.
13
Legislation on religious freedom

AFGHANISTAN
In a country that is totally Muslim, proselytism by other religions is culturally consid-

ered as opposition to Islam, but there are no laws against it. Foreigners found prose-
lytising are deported. The Constitution of 2004 guarantees “believers of other reli-
gions, the freedom to profess and practise their faith within the restrictions established
by the law”. Article 7 expresses the country’s commitment to respect the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. However, Islam is defined as the State religion and “no
law can contradict the principles of the sacred religion of Islam” (Article 3). The
Shari‘a, as the source of legislation, makes the country’s commitment to respecting
fundamental human freedoms rather unrealistic and leaves little space for religious
freedom. The president and the vice-president must be Muslims, although there is no
indication whether they should be Sunnis or Shiites.
Apostasy and blasphemy are not regulated by State laws and Article 130 of the Con-
stitution establishes that, in the absence of provisions on this subject, Hanafi Law
should be applied, an Orthodox Sunni school of law observed in Central and South-
ern Asia. Defamation of Islam (blasphemy) or its recanting (apostasy) are not covered
by Penal Law and are therefore crimes indictable in compliance with Islamic Law –
which in these cases prescribes the death penalty. Conversions are thus forbidden in
practice and those who abandon Islam to embrace other religions are obliged to prac-
tise their faith in secret.
In Afghanistan the power exercised by local mullahs and imams is still very strong,
especially in the interior of the country, far from the urban centres. According to ex-
perts on the Catholic AsiaNews agency, “the country is still in the hands of the mul-
lahs and the Shari‘a has the last word on everything”. They add that Afghanistan’s
evolution will take a very long time “because religion is too deep-rooted and the mul-
lahs’ decisions are indisputable”.
Christians
The most glaring example of the Constitution’s internal contradictions and the diffi-
culties experienced by Afghan Christians, was the one involving Abdul Rahman. This
41 year old man, separated from his wife, was arrested in February 2006, after his
family, with which he was battling for the custody of his children, reported him for
having converted to Christianity. Rahman, who had a Bible on him, was accused of
recanting Islam and being an apostate. During the trial in March in Kabul, he con-
fessed that he had converted 16 years previously after meeting a health worker from
a Christian NGO helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He had then emigrated to Ger-
many, where he had lived until 2002. After the fall of the Taliban he returned home
and asked for custody of his daughters. The public prosecutor, Abdul Wasi, offered the
accused the withdrawal of the accusations in exchange for recantation. But Rahman
14
refused. Wasi, who described the Christian’s behaviour as an attack on Islam, called
for him to be put to death by hanging. Heavy international pressure was put on the
president to intervene in Rahman’s favour. This case also moved Pope Benedict XVI
to write to Karzai at the end of March asking for his life to be spared. Rahman was re-
leased on the night of 27th March in total secrecy, after being declared “mentally un-
stable and unfit to stand trial”. Italy has granted this man political asylum and ever
since then he has lived under very close police protection. On 29th March, just as Rah-
man was about to arrive in Italy, the Afghan National Assembly protested against his
release stating that it was “against the nation’s laws”. Members of Parliament called
on the government “to forbid and prevent his escape” and on the Supreme Court,
which had ordered his release, to “justify its decisions”. According to some observers,
the position assumed by the members of parliament was simply a way of ingratiating
themselves with public opinion. In various cities in fact, protests of an extremist char-
acter were organised. In Mazar-e-Sharif in the North, a few hundred students and pro-
fessors marched, shouting “Death to Christians”. Faiez Mohammed, an imam in Kun-
duz, likewise in the North, said that “the Christian foreigners occupying Afghanistan
are attacking our religion”.
It is precisely this identification of Christians with the foreign troops that contributes
to a very hostile environment for the Afghan Christian community, which could in fact
be described as “catacomb-like”. The only Christians who practise their faith openly
AFGHANISTAN
are members of the international community, and the only church allowed is the
chapel inside the Italian Embassy in Kabul. After the Rahman case, a report by the UN
General Secretariat dated September 2006, recorded at least three other similar cases
brought against Afghan Christians. One had a tragic ending with a convert arrested for
murder and then killed in prison by a cellmate who had found out he was a Christian.
With no distinction between denominations, all Christians are accused of proselytism
due to the imprudent zeal of a number of Protestant groups. One example is the trag-
ic case of a group of South Korean Christians, kidnapped by the Taliban in the Kan-
dahar area in the summer of 2007. On 19th July, on the motorway linking this south-
ern Afghan city to Kabul, a group of Taliban guerrillas had stopped the bus in which
23 Koreans were travelling to the capital city. Most of the Koreans were members of
the Saemmul Community, a new Protestant church set up in 1998 in Bundang, in the
suburbs of Seoul, by Pastor Park Eun-jo. Since 2004 he has also been president of the
Korea Foundation for World Aid, set up by him to help developing countries, among
them Afghanistan – in spite of dissuasive action by the government in Seoul. The of-
ficial Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, did not mince his words: “The Taliban
know that these Korean aid workers have come to Afghanistan to convert good Mus-
lims”. On 23rd July the Korean Council for Religion and Peace (KCRP), a coalition of
seven religious groups that includes Protestants, Catholics and Buddhists, released a
15
statement saying that “the hostages are innocent people who do voluntary work in
AFGHANISTAN
kindergartens and hospitals with no political hostility”. But past experience had per-
suaded the Taliban to the contrary. In August 2006 a group of South Korean Protes-
tant missionaries had planned to hold a “peace march” in Kabul involving some 2,300
Christians; the Afghan government however had managed to stop them at the very last
minute. The city of Kandahar is the stronghold of Islamic extremism. “Its Taliban” –
wrote the Korea Times – “are obliged to learn the Koran by heart at the age of five and
educated to hate other religions, in particular Christianity. Ever since they lost politi-
cal power in 2001, following the intervention by the US Army, they have become in-
creasingly zealous and ferocious in their terrorist attacks on foreigners”. The kidnap-
pers wanted an exchange of prisoners, but the Afghan government immediately made
clear that it would not accept this. This crisis involving the Protestant group came to
a dramatic conclusion; two hostages, including the Presbyterian Pastor Bae Hyung-
kyu, who was leading the group of 23, had been killed in the days following the kid-
napping, while the others, including 16 women, were released in two separate groups,
on 13th August and 30th August.
To ensure the release of its citizens, the government in Seoul was obliged to negotiate
directly with the Talibans and promise to withdraw South Korean troops from the
country, as well as banning all missionary activities in Afghanistan. According to the
Bishop Lazzaro You of Daejon, who is president of the Korean branch of Caritas, this
gesture “has humiliated the nation”, while the priest who ministers to the internation-
al Catholic community in Kabul, Father Moretti, spoke to AsiaNews of a “dangerous
precedent that could be used to evict all non-Islamic people from the country”.
Muslims
Religious freedom is far from being a right, even for the Muslims themselves, the vast
majority of the population. Blasphemy is the charge laid against all those who “put a
foot out of line”, including journalists, women, and any activists who ask questions,
express doubts or protest at injustices. In November 2007, over a thousand university
students protested in Jalalabad, in the east of the country, calling for the death penal-
ty for Ghaws Zalmai, who had been arrested on a charge of blasphemy. The man was
guilty of having distributed thousands of copies of the Koran translated into Dari (Per-
sian), in a version not however approved by Islamic scholars. In February 2006 the
world protests against the publication of the cartoons portraying Mohammed and con-
sidered “blasphemous”, also reached Afghanistan, where in two days eight people
died in the resulting violence.
In March 2007, Kabul announced the creation of the first state Koranic schools
(madrassas) with new curricula for the students. The objective was to counter the Tal-
iban policy of using education as “a terrorist weapon”. The project involves setting up
16
at least one government madrassa in each of the country’s 34 provinces. The scheme
involving these new Koranic schools is intended to include some 50,000 students, and
the curriculum will include 40 percent of the timetable devoted to religious subjects,
40 percent to general culture and 20 percent to IT and foreign language teaching. It is
hoped that this will equip young people with greater technical capabilities and offer
them better employment opportunities than the students from the traditional Koranic
schools, who themselves usually end up as teachers of religion, mullahs or Taliban.
All activities in these madrassas will be supervised and monitored by the Ministry for
Education, which also intends to encourage enrolment by girls.
Other minority communities, such as the Hindus and Sikhs, likewise complain of dis-
crimination both in the social and the employment fields.
Positive signs
There have however also been some positive signs in recent years, indicating a greater
openness and allowing a degree of optimism. For years the small Catholic communi-
ty consisted of just a few de Foucauld nuns and 4 or 5 foreigners. Now however there
are Asians, Africans, Latin Americans and a few Europeans. Since April 2006, four of
Mother Teresa’s nuns have been in Kabul and have opened a home where they pro-
vide shelter for the most needy children found in the streets. Many people feared that
their presence might create problems with the Islamic extremists, but for the moment
AFGHANISTAN
they are simply appreciated by the population.
Another discreet and constant presence is that of the Little Sisters of Jesus, all of
whom are working in the medical sector and in the hospitals. They have been in
Afghanistan for 46 years and are the only Christian community that remained there
even under the Taliban. In May 2007 the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) opened a sec-
ond mission in Bamyan – in the extremely poor Hazarajat region – in addition the one
in Herat. The Jesuits here devote themselves to teaching English and biology at the
university.
Finally, Caritas International is also present, supported by the Italian, American, Irish,
Dutch and German Caritas organisations.
Sources
Korea Times
AsiaNews
AFP
The Independent
17
ALBANIA
Initially in the preamble, and then in detail in Articles 10 and

ALBANIA
24, the 1998 Albanian Constitution allows the right of religious

freedom and the equal treatment of all religions by the State. It
AREA
also acknowledges the religions juridical status. Cordial rela-
28,748 kmq
tions between the various religious faiths have helped to create
POPULATION a generally positive atmosphere in this country. There is no one
3,170,000 State religion; they are all equal in the eyes of the civil author-
ities and there is no religious instruction in schools. The major-
REFUGEES
ity of christian believers belong either to the Orthodox Auto-
77 cephalous Church of Albania or the Catholic Church. Religious
INTERNALLY groups do not need to register, and the predominant religions
DISPLACED (Orthodox, Catholics, Sunni Muslims and the Bektashi Muslim
--- community) enjoy many official privileges and particular pres-
tige due to their historical presence in the area. All religious
groups are permitted to open bank accounts, however, and to
own land and buildings.
RELIGIOUS
There are very few members of the Jewish community, about
ADHERENTS
600, and there are no synagogues or active prayer centres
In 2007, in the strongly Catholic region of Shkoder (Scutari), a
controversy over the erection of a statue in honour of Blessed
Teresa of Calcutta, who is of Albanian ethnic origin although
born in Macedonia, was successfully resolved. One of the lead-
ers of the local Muslim community initially criticised the fact
Muslims 38.8%
Affiliated Christians 35.4% that the statue was to be placed on public land, maintaining that
Non religious 25.6% Mother Teresa was a figure who belonged to the Catholic
Others 0.2%
Church’s patrimony of saints. However, the national leadership
Baptized Catholics of the Albanian Islamic Community had instead expressed their
513,000 approval of this initiative since she was an important personal-
ity for the entire country, regardless of religious belief. In the
end the Islamic community in Shkoder also withdrew its com-
plaints and fell into line with the opinions expressed by the
community at a national level.
On 12th January L’Osservatore Romano reported an incident in-
volving the demolition of a cross that had been publicly erect-
ed, this time on the hill above Bushat, in Northern Albania; this
act of vandalism, which took place on the Muslim festivity of
Eid al-Adha or “Abraham’s Sacrifice” (two months and ten
days after the end of Ramadan, during the period in which the
pilgrimage to Mecca takes place), was actually part of a dispute
18
that had for some time been ongoing between the Catholic community in this village
and the Muslim communities in nearby villages who did not want the crucifix at the
back of their valley.
On 30th September the same source reported the address by Pope Benedict XVI on 29th
September at Castel Gandolfo to the new Albanian Ambassador to the Holy See, Rrok
Logu. The Pope emphasised the seriousness with which the government in Tirana is
addressing the completion of legislation regulating its relations with the religious
communities in the country. He also expressed his appreciation for the efforts made
by the authorities in resolving the difficult issue of the return of, and compensation for,
those properties confiscated by the communist regime from the various religious
groups, and in particular from the Catholic Church, Orthodox Autocephalous Church
of Albania, the Sunni Muslims and the Bektashi Muslim community.
On 5th December 2007 L’Osservatore Romano reported on the signing, two days ear-
lier in his Tirana offices by Albanian Finance Minster Ridvan Bode, and Monsignor
Giovanni Bulaitis, the Apostolic Nuncio in Albania, of a supplement to the already ex-
isting agreement of 2002 between the Holy See and Albania on a number of financial
and economic issues. In particular the agreement established the rules for the fiscal
status of the institutions belonging to the Catholic Church.
ALBANIA
19
ALGERIA
According to the Constitution of 1976, amended in 1996 “Islam

ALGERIA
is the religion of the State.” (Art. 2). Furthermore, “the freedom

of conscience and the freedom of opinion are inviolable” (Art.
AREA
36). It should be noted that in Algeria the crime of apostasy
2,381,741 kmq
does not exist in law.
POPULATION In this country of over 30 million inhabitants, there are very
33,450,000 few Christians. The Catholic Church claims to have 4,000
members (the Algerian government says there are 10,000);
REFUGEES
whereas the Protestants are thought to number somewhere be-
94,137 tween 3,000 and 20,000. Most of these Christians are foreign-
INTERNALLY ers (Europeans, Lebanese, students from sub-Saharan Africa
DISPLACED and some Americans). Since the 1990s, however, there has
--- been evidence of a movement involving the conversion of Al-
gerian Muslims to Christianity, in particular in Kabylia. Most,
but not all, of these converts are being baptised into the neo-
Protestant communities of American origin (Baptists,
RELIGIOUS
Methodists, Pentecostals, Evangelicals).
ADHERENTS
In the last two years, the press, as well as a number of Algerian
and foreign imams, have produced an increasing number of ar-
ticles and expressions of alarm at what they call the “evangeli-
sation” of Algeria. Hence during a visit to Tizi-Ouzou, in
March 2006, the famous Egyptian Sheik Youssef El Karadoui
declared, “Kabylia is an Islamic land. It cannot disassociate it-
Muslims 96.7%
Affiliated Christians 0.3% self from Islam, just as Islam cannot disassociate itself from
Others 3% this land. Those who are trying – in vain – to evangelise this re-
gion have chosen the wrong society. Kabylia will not sell out its
Baptized Catholics
faith, which is Islam” (Liberté, Algiers, 31st March - 1st April
5,000
2006). Soon after this, Sheik Abderrahmane Chibane, President
of the Association of Algerian ulemas said: “Some neo-cru-
saders are trying in every way to Christianise Algerians. The
mosques, the schools, the media and the institutions of the state
must oppose this!”
During this same period, on 15th March 2006, Hamid I. Kabyle,
who had become a Christian and worked as a guide in the
Basilica of Saint Augustine in Annaba, was murdered by per-
sons unknown. After being kidnapped, he was beaten, his limbs
were broken, then his throat was cut and his body abandoned
outside the city. This year about thirty sub-Saharan students at-
tending a week-end course of Biblical studies in Tizi-Ouzou (in
20
Kabylia), were told they were to be expelled from Algeria. The intervention by the
Senegalese Ambassador enabled this decision to be revoked, however (Le Monde, 26th
February 2008). Nonetheless, it was in this context that the Algerian government
adopted various measures to restrict the freedom of the practice of the Christian faith.
On 28th February 2006, the President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, signed a
law (Ordnance 06-03) that “lays down the conditions and rules for the exercise of re-
ligious worship other than Muslim”. Permission for non-Muslim religious practice
now falls under the jurisdiction of a National Commission for Non-Muslim Religious
Services, a department of the Ministry for Religious Affairs (Art. 9 of the Ordnance).
The practice of these religions is subject to the following conditions: “Allocation of a
structure for the exercise of religious worship is subject to the prior approval of the
national commission for the exercise of religious worship” […] “All activity is forbid-
den in premises intended for the exercise of religious worship, which would be con-
trary to the nature and objectives for which (the premises) are intended” (Art. 5). “Col-
lective exercise of religious worship is organized by associations of a religious char-
acter of which the creation, approval and the functioning is subject to the dispositions
of the present ruling and of the legislation in force” (Art. 6). “Collective exercise of
religious worship takes place exclusively in structures intended for this purpose, open
to the public and identifiable from the exterior” (Art. 7).
This same law also establishes penal sanctions. Punishment of one to three years im-
prisonment and a fine of between 250,000 and 500,000 Algerian Dinars will be im-
posed on anyone “who, by verbal or written or distributed discourse in structures
where religious worship takes place or who utilizes any other audiovisual means, con-
taining an incitement to resist the fulfillment of the laws or the decision of the public
authority, or tending to incite a group of citizens to rebellion, this without prejudice of
more serious penalties, if the incitement is followed by effects”. The penalty is in-
creased to 3-5 years, and the fine doubled “if the guilty party is a leader of religious
worship” (Art. 10). “Without prejudice of more serious penalties”, punishment of 2-5
ALGERIA
years imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 - 1,000,000 Dinars is imposed on anyone
who “incites, constrains or utilises means of seduction tending to convert a Muslim to
another religion, or by using to this end establishments for teaching, for education, for
health, of a social or cultural nature, or training institutions, or any other establish-
ment, or any financial means”, or who “makes, stores, or distributes printed docu-
ments or audiovisual productions or by any other aid or means, which has as its goal
to shake the faith of a Muslim” (Art. 11). Finally, there is punishment of 1-3 years im-
prisonment and a fine of 100,000-300,000 Dinars for anyone who “conducts a reli-
gious worship service contrary to the dispositions under Articles 5 and 7” […], “or-
ganises a religious gathering contrary to the dispositions of Article 8 […], “preaches
in structures intended for the exercise of religious worship, without being designated,
21
approved, or authorised by the religious governing body of his faith, competent, duly
ALGERIA
authorised on national territory and by the relevant Algerian authorities” (Art. 13).
These provisions were confirmed by a law approved on 20th March 2006 by the Na-
tional Council, Parliament’s lower house. This law was the object of an applicative de-
cree published in the Official Gazette on 3rd June 2007 which spelled out the creation,
organisation and competences of the National Commission for the non-Muslim Reli-
gions.
These new rules are essentially aimed at Evangelical preachers, but “historical”
Protestantism (Lutheran or Reformed), present in Algeria for decades, also feels af-
fected – to the extent that the neo-Protestants try to infiltrate themselves to acquire the
credibility they lack. The Catholic Church is also affected, to the extent that articles in
the press concerning the conversion of Muslims by these neo-Protestants, are often ag-
gressive towards Christianity generally and do not differentiate between the denomi-
nations. Journalists in fact generally illustrate their articles with photographs of
Catholic buildings, such as the Basilica of Notre-Dame d’Afrique, or a photograph of
Monsignor Henri Teissier, Archbishop of Algiers, thereby leading to a distorted asso-
ciation that sows confusion in the minds of the population, in particular in Islamic
groups. Monsignor Teissier has responded to the resulting situation as follows: “This
decree is mainly aimed at the Evangelical movement that has been developing in Al-
geria for about twenty years. In spite of everything, we too are affected by these pro-
visions […]. We are sorry that the Algerian State has adopted provisions of this kind
in an area in which respect for conscience should be the priority” (Il est vivant, July-
August 2006).
In applying this new legislation, police supervision over places of Christian worship
has increased. In May 2007, the local authorities of 48 wilayas (departments) invited
all the Catholics present to leave Algeria, in accordance with a directive from the cap-
ital and on the pretext of the threats issued by the islamist terror group Al Qaeda in
the Maghreb. The leaders of the Catholic Church were obliged to appeal to the high-
est Algerian authorities so as to have this decision annulled (Le Monde, 26th February
2008). Shortly after this the Centre social du Corso in Algiers was closed; this was
where the White Father Jan Heuft worked and bore the name Rencontres et développe-
ment (Encounters and Development) (La Croix, 27th February 2008).
In June 2007, five young Christians were brought to trial in Tizi-Ouzou accused of
proselytism. One of them had fallen into a trap set for him by a plainclothes policeman,
who had asked for Christian publications and then arrested him after being given a
Bible (La Croix, 3rd September 2007). In November that same year, four Brazilian
Catholic voluntary workers of the Salama Community were ordered to leave the coun-
try within two weeks, without explanation and although their papers were in order. This
order was revoked later, thanks to the intervention of the Brazilian Ambassador (Le
22
Monde, 26th February 2008). The Algerian authorities also rejected half of the visas re-
quested by the Catholic Church for replacing personnel in religious communities or for
visits from the superiors of congregations (La Croix, 27th February 2008). In particular
this was the case for a number of members of the Mission de France, a congregation
whose commitment to the independence of Algeria, has been acknowledged by the Al-
gerians themselves (Le Monde, 26th February 2008).
ALGERIA
23
ANDORRA
The 1993 Constitution guarantees freedom of worship, albeit

ANDORRA
acknowledging a special relationship with the Roman Catholic

Church, in compliance with the traditions of Andorra, a prin-
AREA
cipality governed by the Head of the French State and by the
468 kmq
Bishop of the Spanish Catholic diocese of Urgel.
POPULATION All citizens are guaranteed their fundamental rights, with no
78,000 discrimination with regards to race, gender, place of origin, re-
ligion, opinions, or any other personal or social condition. Ar-
REFUGEES
ticle 11 specifically states “The freedom to profess one’s own
--- religion or beliefs”, which remains “subject only to the restric-
INTERNALLY tions established by the law and necessary for protecting public
DISPLACED security, order, health or ethics or the fundamental rights of oth-
--- ers”. The Catholic Church is guaranteed “the free and public
exercising of its activities and the maintaining of its relation-
ship involving special cooperation with the State” and “the
Catholic Church’s organisations with juridical status are ac-
RELIGIOUS
knowledged, in compliance with their own laws, has having
ADHERENTS
full juridical rights within the framework of Andorra’s general
juridical system”.
The government is responsible for paying those, who, appoint-
ed by the Catholic Church, provide optional religious instruc-
tion in state schools. The government has expressed its commit-
ment to ensuring that Muslim pupils should receive an Islamic
Affiliated Christians 93.4%
Non religious 5% education; however, the local Islamic community has not yet
Others 1.6% chosen the teacher to be entrusted with this task.
Ecumenical relations are cordial and the Anglican community
Baptized Catholics
celebrates its own religious functions in the Catholic Church of
77,000
La Massana twice a month.
No significant institutional changes or important episodes with
regard to the subject of freedom of worship were reported in
2006 and 2007.
24
ANGOLA
Article 8 of the 1992 Constitution reads as follows: “(1) The

Republic of Angola shall be a secular State, and there shall be
separation between the State and churches.
AREA
(2) Religions shall be respected and the State shall protect
1,246,700 kmq
churches and places and objects of worship, provided they
abide by the laws of the State.” POPULATION
In practice, the government is tolerant towards all religious or- 14,993,000
ganisations and with its policies has continued to contribute to
REFUGEES
the free expression of religious freedom.
During 2006 and 2007 no significant changes occurred in reli- 12,069
gious legislation, after the approval in March 2004 of a Law es- INTERNALLY
tablishing the requirements for registering religious groups, DISPLACED
which must have at least 100 thousand adult members resident 19,566
in the country and be present in at least two thirds of the
provinces.
The Ministries for Justice and for Culture currently acknowl-
RELIGIOUS
edge 85 religious groups that, regardless of the number of
ADHERENTS
members they have, have maintained their status over these
past two years.
Most of the population is Christian; the Catholic Church esti-
mates that 55 percent profess the Catholic religion.
The National Institute for Religious Affairs (INAR) under the
Ministry for Culture acknowledge the presence within the
country of the main Protestant communities, among them the Others 5.9%
Methodists, the Baptists, the United Church of Christ and the
Assemblies of God; they estimate however that their presence Baptized Catholics
is in decline (about 10 percent) within the national territory. 8,334,000
There are more than 800 religious organisations, many of them
of Congolese or Brazilian origin, based on Evangelical Christ-
ANGOLA
ian groups that are still awaiting registration by the INAR.
Nonetheless, the government has not impeded their activities.
The Muslim community is close to satisfying registration re-
quirements, having once again applied in 2006 after a first at-
tempt in 2004, and should soon acquire official juridical status.
This request has also been sponsored by the Ambassador of the
United States, who in a number of interviews given to newspa-
pers and the radio, specifically requested that Muslims should
be granted the right to freedom of worship in this country.
In February 2006 the government was criticised for having
25
closed down 3 mosques that the police authorities believed were causing problems to
ANGOLA
traffic flow. Local Muslim leaders worked successfully with the INAR, negotiating an
agreement that allowed all the mosques to reopen by December 2006.
There were no reports during 2006 and 2007 of abuse or discrimination with regard to
religious beliefs or practices. Although Angola’s attitude as far as Islam is concerned
is not a positive one, this particular situation is caused above all by cultural differences
with Muslim West African immigrants rather than religious intolerance.
In the interior of the country there are still members of the rural population who ad-
here to the traditional practices of indigenous religions.
During the period covered by this Report, the government banned 17 religious groups
in Cabinda from practising their religion, accusing them of practising harmful exor-
cism rituals on adults and children accused of “witchcraft”. Although the law does not
acknowledge the existence of witchcraft, the harmful actions committed during the
practice of this religion are considered illegal. The members of these religious groups
were not oppressed, but in 2006 two of the leaders of these groups were arrested for
ill-treating minors and sentenced to 8 years in prison.
In recent years, government agencies, ecclesial groups and civil society organisations
have continued important awareness raising campaigns against traditional religions
involving shamans, animal sacrifices and “witchcraft”. The various sensitising pro-
grammes have been addressed at discouraging the harmful practices of such religions
and not traditional religion as a whole.
In particular, the Church and organisations linked to it have based their campaigns on
discouraging animal sacrifices and the work of the shamans. In rural areas and in small
towns there have been reports of exorcisms involving physical harm, with the result-
ing injury and even death of a number of people accused of witchcraft.
In February 2006 the Fides Agency reported the death of Father José Afonso Moreira,
an eighty-year-old Portuguese missionary of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit
(Spiritans, formerly Holy Ghost Fathers), killed by seven shots in his own home. It is
thought that this murder was the work of bandits and that he was not killed for any po-
litical or religious reasons. In fact, as emphasised by the sources, Father Moreira was
loved by everyone since he had been working in Bailundo for over 40 years, even dur-
ing the tragic civil war of 1975-2002.
The dispute between the Catholic-Church-owned Radio Ecclesia and the government
has not yet been resolved, but the situation has however improved. This radio station
– which has been broadcasting since 1954 and is the most popular independent radio
station – has for years hosted programmes critical of the government’s policies. This
radio is only allowed to broadcast within the province of Luanda and for years has at-
tempted unsuccessfully to obtain permission to cover the entire national territory. A
number of its programmes are in fact currently broadcast via Vatican Radio, so that
26
they can also be heard beyond Luanda. In 2004, President Dos Santos had publicly de-
clared that Radio Ecclesia could operate at a national level. In 2005, in fact, Radio Ec-
clesia operators started to organise themselves for broadcasting from five other
provinces.
The Angolan law on the subject of the mass media, promulgated in May 2006, estab-
lishes that non-state radio stations must be present in each province so as to broadcast
from there, and consequently, at a national level. Due to restricted financial capabili-
ties, however, Radio Ecclesia, has been unable to expand much beyond the Luanda re-
gion.
There have been improvements as far as the right to information is concerned, thanks
to a Bill approved by the Angolan government and addressed at regulating means of
information in view of the approaching elections initially to be held in 2007 and then
postponed (due to a serious lack of infrastructures after the civil war and the slowness
in the registration process for voters) with a general election programmed for 2008
and a presidential election planned in 2009. The new law puts an end to censorship
and to the previous legislation forbidding journalists to personally defend themselves
in court in cases involving libel. This provision has also broken the state monopoly
over television. In spite of this, Human Rights Watch has criticised this law and asked
the government to bring its legislation in this area into conformity with international
standards. The general legislative election programmed for 5th/6th September 2008
will be the first election since 1992.
Civil war
A important step forward in the reconciliation of the entire Angolan territory was tak-
en in August 2006, when, after 27 years of civil war that disrupted the country until
2002, the climate of violence also ended in the Cabinda province, a region in which
the army had been accused of installing a real authoritarian regime with arbitrary ar-
rests, torture and violence. The government in fact signed a Peace Treaty with the
main rebel group in Cabinda, a northern region, rich in oil, which for years had
ANGOLA
claimed independence from the central power. A former Portuguese colony, annexed
officially to Angola in 1975, Cabinda consists of a narrow strip of land between Con-
go-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in which about 60 percent
of the country’s oil resources are concentrated.
In signing this Treaty, the guerrillas from the Front for the Liberation of Cabinda ob-
tained special status as an autonomous region, providing the local government with
powers usually exercised by the central government, among them the right to control
the production of crude oil that supports most of the entire country’s economy.
On 23rd March 2007, the Angolan government and the United Nations High Commis-
sion for Refugees (UNHCR) officially declared the end of their joint programme for
27
the return of refugees. Under this scheme, almost 410,000 refugees have returned
ANGOLA
home since 2002, the end of the thirty-year long civil war that resulted in over 300
thousand victims.
The programme for their return lasted over three years, involving not only repatriation
operations, but also aid to the refugees – both those returning home with the help of
humanitarian agencies and those who returned to Angola by their own means. This re-
turn resulted in a need to immediately create the basis for a sustainable reintegration;
hence, the areas involved were provided with new or restored medical centres, schools
and houses for teachers. International NGOs and organisations also set up micro-cred-
it projects so as to launch the country’s economy, projects that so far have helped over
10 thousand people. The Catholic Church has also confirmed that the government has
agreed to fund the building of schools and churches and to return property confiscat-
ed during the Angolan civil war.
Sources
Fides, 10th February 2006
La Repubblica, 2th August 2006
PeaceReporter, 16th November 2006
PeaceReporter, 29th December 2006
AGI/Reuters, 9th February 2006
Confinionline, 23rd March 2007
28
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
The right to exercise complete religious freedom is enshrined in

Article 11 of the Constitution of 1981, which also guarantees
the right to change one’s religion and the right to teach religion
AREA
freely. In practice no violation of such rights has been reported.
442 kmq
Religious groups are not required to register, but registration
gives them the right to tax exemptions for the purpose of build- POPULATION
ing or restoring places of worship. 64,000
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

On religious matters the government collaborates with the An-
REFUGEES
tigua Christian Council (ACC) which promotes mutual under-
standing and tolerance among the various Christian denomina- ---
tions. INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Spiritists 3.3%
Others 2.8%
Baptized Catholics
8,000
29
ARGENTINA
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Argentina, ap-

ARGENTINA
proved in 1853 and amended on several occasions up until

1994, states in Article 2 that “the federal government supports
AREA
the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman religion”, but guarantees re-
2,780,400 kmq
ligious freedom for all in Article 14.
POPULATION Encouraged by the political authorities, the various religious
38,970,000 denominations are seriously committed to ongoing interreli-
gious dialogue. During the period between 2006 and 2007 there
REFUGEES
was some tension in relations between the Catholic Church and
3,263 President Kirchner. In November 2005, the Argentine Episco-
INTERNALLY pal Conference, presided over by Cardinal Jorge Mario
DISPLACED Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, had released a docu-
--- ment entitled “A light for the reconstruction of the nation”. As
explained in an article in the magazine Mondo e Missione dat-
ed May 2006, in this document the bishops had expressed their
concern for “the scandalous increase in the inequality of the
RELIGIOUS
distribution of wealth” and warned against “the danger of vio-
ADHERENTS
lent protests by some of those excluded from the world of
work”. The President was offended by the document and re-
sponded by criticising the Church for its alleged silence during
the military dictatorship. On many occasions the press have
spoken of Cardinal Bergoglio’s “sincere sensitivity towards the
poor, his simplicity, the clarity of his words and his profound
Muslims 2% spirituality”. When the Cardinal publicly deplored the “blas-
Hebrews 1.3% phemy” shown towards the Virgin Mary, the Pope and Christ-
Others 3.8%
ian religious symbols during a state-sponsored exhibition by
Baptized Catholics the artist Leon Ferrari, the President reacted harshly, citing
35,972,000 artistic freedom as a pretext.
There has also been tension between the government and the
Catholic Church over legislation concerning human life and
family law. Divorce has been legalised in Argentina, as have
partnerships between homosexuals, although these are not
recognised as marriages. There have been debates on the legal-
isation of abortion too, and also over a proposed law which
seeks to introduce sex education in schools. In July 2006, as re-
ported by Vatican Radio on the 15th of that month, the Argen-
tinian bishops expressed harsh criticism of a draft law for the
legalisation of female and male sterilization. The legalisation of
sterilization, they explain, in a document published by the
30
Episcopal Conference, “is a violation of the human right to the integrity of the body”.
Another moment of friction between the Catholic Church and the government oc-
curred at the end of October 2006, when Bishop Emeritus Joaquim Pina Batllevell of
Puerto Ignazù decided to run as a candidate with an independent political coalition
party, opposing Governor Carlos Rovira of the province of Misiones, as an ‘institu-
tional statement’ rather than an act of “party politics”. The case was reported by the
ZENIT Agency on 5th November 2006. Governor Rovira had in fact wanted to change
the Constitution to allow indefinite re-election to this post. Bishop Pina had therefore
stood as a candidate because a fundamental principle of the Constitution was at stake.
Following the victory of his coalition, the bishop formally announced “I will not hold
any political office”. In fact, the Church has historically played a role in constitution-
al matters, as shown by the example of Fray Mamerto Esquiú, a priest and Argentin-
ian patriot who was instrumental in the framing of the Constitution in 1853 and whose
cause for beatification is currently advancing. This incident, together with the backing
given by the bishops to the protests by the teachers’ unions, was seen as a provoca-
tion, both by the president and by the government.
Finally, there was the case of a Protestant minister, the Reverend Paul David Ca-
ballero, who received threatening letters and a “deleted” photograph of himself, after
the Mayor closed down the new offices of the congregation he leads in the city of
Quilmes, a case reported by Compass Direct News on 23rd October 2007. According
to Doctor Ruben Proietti, the president of the Christian Alliance of Evangelical
Churches of the Republic of Argentina (ACIERA), this was an extremely rare event:
“Nowadays, in Argentina”, he told Compass Direct News, “there are very few prob-
lems involving discrimination and abuse directed against religious groups”.
ARGENTINA
However, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), which monitors
anti-Semitic incidents, reported that during 2006 there had been 586 such cases, 25 of
which had involved threats (threats of bombings and physical attacks) and 392 anti-
Semitic propaganda.
Sources
ACI
ZENIT
Compass Direct News
Mondo e Missione, May 2006 and June/July 2007
Vatican Radio
The Tablet, 15th July 2006
31
ARMENIA
The Constitution of 1995 in Article 23 states the right to free-

ARMENIA
dom of thought, conscience and religious belief.

About 95 percent of the population of Armenia belongs to the
AREA
Armenian Apostolic Church. Most Catholics (some 220,000 in
29,800 kmq
a country of just over 3 million) follow the Armenian rite and
POPULATION come under the jurisdiction of the Ordinariate for Armenian
3,220,000 Catholics based in Gyumri, which in turn depends on the
Lebanon-based patriarchal see of Armenian Catholic Church.
REFUGEES
The 50,000 or so Catholics who adhere to the Latin rite belong
4,566 to the Apostolic Administration of the Latins of the Caucasus
INTERNALLY set up in 1993 and based in Tbilisi (Georgia). A small commu-
DISPLACED nity of Evangelical Protestants also exists. There are Kurds and
8,400 Azeris who follow Islam but many have left as a result of Ar-
menia’s conflict with Azerbaijan. Likewise many Armenians
who lived in Azerbaijan have been forced to leave that country
and seek refuge in Armenia.
RELIGIOUS
The positive experience of ecumenical dialogue between the
ADHERENTS
majority Church and Catholics continues. On the invitation of
Karekin II, Catholicos of all Armenians, the third meeting of
the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dia-
logue between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox
Churches (created in Rome in 2003) was held in Ejmiatsin on
26th-30th January 2006. The proceedings were chaired by Car-
Affiliated Christians 84%
Non religious 13.3% dinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Pro-
Others 2.7% moting Christian Unity, and Metropolitan Anba Bishoy of the
Coptic Orthodox Church.
Baptized Catholics
On 30th November 2006, during his trip to Turkey, Benedict
150,000
XVI prayed at the Armenian Apostolic Church where he met
Patriarch Mesrob II Mutafyan. On that occasion, he said: “Our
meeting is more than a simple gesture of ecumenical courtesy
and friendship. It is a sign of our shared hope in God’s promis-
es and our desire to see fulfilled the prayer that Jesus offered for
his disciples on the eve of his suffering and death (Jn, 17:21).
[…] We must continue therefore to do everything possible to
heal the wounds of separation and to hasten the work of re-
building Christian unity.” Turkey is currently home to about
82,000 Armenians.
From 14th to 19th June 2007, on the invitation of His Holiness
Karekin II, the capital of Armenia Yerevan also hosted the
32
annual meeting of the Church and Society Commission (CSC) of the Conference of
European Churches (CEC – founded in 1959, bringing together 126 Orthodox, Protes-
tant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches from all the countries of Europe, plus 40
associated organisations). “Meeting in Armenia, where Church and people, religion
and culture are so closely linked, has given the Church and Society Commission an
extraordinary base,” said its Director Rüdiger Noll, who is also CEC associate secre-
tary general.
The Commission took advantage of the meeting in Armenia to contact the OSCE mis-
sion in Yerevan in order to discuss the issue of human rights in the country, including
the rights of conscientious objectors. In fact there are still problems with respect to
providing objectors with a civilian service as a substitute for compulsory military
service. On 23rd January 2007, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
approved a resolution calling on Armenian authorities to review its legislation so as to
include a service that was truly an alternative to the military as well as pass an
amnesty bill for conscientious objectors currently serving time in prison.
Jehovah’s Witnesses for instance continue to refuse the existing “alternative” service
on religious grounds because it requires them to wear a uniform and subjects them to
police supervision. Some 82 of them are currently in jail.
Similarly Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and some Pentecostal denominations as
well as the Molokany (a Protestant community that originated in Russia in the 17th
century with some 4,000 members in Armenia) also refuse to be subject to the exist-
ing law.
ARMENIA
33
AUSTRALIA
There are no problems with regards to religious freedom in this

AUSTRALIA
country – it is guaranteed by the Constitution and is respected

by the authorities. Religious groups can operate freely without
AREA
having to register. Religious teaching is available in public
7,741,220 kmq
schools upon parental request and is often provided by volun-
POPULATION teers.
20,700,000 Occasionally, there is friction or episodes of religious intoler-
ance involving individuals or small groups. For instance, in Oc-
REFUGEES
tober 2006 a Muslim cleric stated in Sydney that “immodestly”
22,164 dressed women invited sexual assault. The statement quickly
INTERNALLY drew condemnation from the wider community and from other
DISPLACED Muslims as well, with the cleric involved eventually making
--- public amends by explaining that he had been misunderstood.
Following the incident two Islamic schools in Perth received
threats by telephone. The police quickly identified a suspect,
who was found guilty in February 2007, and sentenced to pay
RELIGIOUS
a hefty fine.
ADHERENTS
In December 2006 the leader of a neo-Nazi group was released
after he pleaded guilty in several explosive attacks carried out
in 2004 against Asian-owned businesses and a synagogue in
Perth; in both cases, the premises were also covered in racist
graffiti.
In 2007 the Privileges Committee of the New South Wales Leg-
Non religious 16.2% islative Council made an inquiry into a statement made by the
Others 4.5% Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell. During a press
conference on 5th June 2007, about a proposed bill on embry-
Baptized Catholics
onic human cloning, the prelate said that “Catholic politicians
5,704,000
who vote for this legislation must realise that their voting has
consequences for their place in the life of the church”. Follow-
ing a passionate defence in which he defended his right to com-
ment on proposed draft laws, the Committee decided to dismiss
the case.
34
AUSTRIA
The Federal Constitution lays down, in Article 7, that “All fed-

eral nationals are equal before the law. Privileges based upon
birth, sex, estate, class, or religion are excluded”. Article 10 fur-
AREA
ther establishes that “the right of association and assembly” and
83,859 kmq
“religious affairs” are matters pertaining to federal legislation.
Although in certain important matters there is no single docu- POPULATION
ment that brings together all the legislation, many laws have the 8,290,000
status of constitutional laws.
REFUGEES
Apart from the Concordat with the Catholic Church, in force 30,773
since 1933, the status of the other religious confessions is gov- INTERNALLY
erned by the law of 1874 and the legislative amendment of DISPLACED
1998 on the “confessional communities”. ---
This law provides for three levels of recognition, each with dif-
ferent rights and duties:
• The status of a “recognised society” which presupposes
RELIGIOUS
at least 20 years of existence in the country and a total
ADHERENTS
number of members equivalent to 2 permill of the popu-
lation (around 16,000 members).
• The status of a “confessional community”, with at least
300 members. These are required to submit their statutes,
objectives and means of funding to the Ministry of Edu-
cation, which decides as to their suitability.
• The status of simple “associations”. These are governed Non religious 7.6%
by the Law of Associations. Muslims 2.2%
Others 0.4%
Generally speaking, minority religious groups are able to ob- Baptized Catholics
tain recognition as “associations” without much difficulty and 6,027,000
AUSTRIA
can thereby begin the process of moving towards the level of
“confessional communities” which confers both fiscal and or-
ganisational advantages, albeit still inferior to those granted to
the “recognised religious societies”, which additionally enjoy
rights in the fields of education and state funding.
35
AZERBAIJAN
In Azerbaijan the right to freedom of conscience is sufficiently

AZERBAIJAN
protected, even though some administrative restrictions can in-

deed give rise to repression from time to time, among them the
AREA
restrictions on religious literature, the process of designating
86,600 kmq
Muslim clergymen and the restrictions placed on the activities
POPULATION of unregistered religious communities.
8,480,000 For some years now the Azeri parliament has been working on
a new law to regulate freedom of conscience. Asked why the
REFUGEES
law is being changed, Agil Hajiev, a spokesman for the state
2,352 commission in charge of relations with religious organisations,
INTERNALLY said that the “same law has existed unchanged for more than
DISPLACED nine years. We hope the new version will be a better law to de-
686,586 fend freedom of conscience”.
Although the stated goal of modifying the law is to take into ac-
count new needs and fight a rising tide of religious extremism,
many in the country are sceptical as to whether it will actually
RELIGIOUS
do anything to improve the situation as far as religious freedom
ADHERENTS
is concerned.
For instance, the new law imposes tougher controls on mission-
ary activities. The reason is that “[m]issionary organisations of
unconventional religious movements have intensified their ac-
tivities in Azerbaijan and some of them have radical views.
These organisations are trying to entice Azeri citizens to join
Muslims 83.7%
Affiliated Christians 4.6% their ranks. In a number of cases the activities of these organi-
Non religious 11.3% sations are the result of flaws in the legislation, which is why a
Others 0.4%
new version of the law on freedom of religion is now needed,”
Baptized Catholics a local member of parliament said.
400
Catholics
Azerbaijan’s tiny Catholic community faces few difficulties.
With 130 local members, plus about 120 foreigners who are in
the country for work, it has good relations with its neighbours.
When Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, Vatican Secretary for Rela-
tions with States, visited Azerbaijan, the spiritual head of the Is-
lamic community of the Caucasus gave a dinner in his honour,
an event attended by some 200 guests from the world of poli-
tics, university, economics, culture and religion.
On 29th April 2007 the Catholic community consecrated its on-
ly church in the country, thanks to the support of the Congrega-
36
tion for the Evangelisation of Peoples as well as a number of private benefactors, in-
cluding the aforementioned Muslim spiritual leader, Baku’s Orthodox bishop and the
head of the local Jewish community.
Protestants
The ideological and religious vacuum left by Soviet rule has reawakened interest in
religion in many young people, a trend that has raised fears among government lead-
ers over the possibility that foreign groups might exert a growing influence in the
country.
Open Doors, an organisation that defends persecuted Christians around the world, has
reported that the Azerbaijani authorities are trying to stop Muslims from converting to
Christianity; whose numbers have increased from 40 at the time of independence in
1991 to about 18,000 today.
The reason behind this opposition lies in the fact that Christianity is closely associat-
ed with Azerbaijan’s arch-enemy, Armenia, a view which turns converts into traitors.
A Baptist pastor, Zaur Balaev, was imprisoned, allegedly for violence and for resist-
ing a public official (he is accused of beating up five policemen). He was given two
years in prison and his sentence upheld on appeal. The local Baptist community im-
mediately denied the charges, clearly false, given that the clergyman is not physically
strong, and suggested instead that he was really arrested for his religious activities.
Reverend Balaev, the head of the Baptist community in Aliabad in north-western
Azerbaijan, was taken into custody on 20th May 2007 when police raided an “illegal”
meeting of the religious group he leads.
AZERBAIJAN
Balaev’s trial ended in a verdict on 8th August 2007, confirming that religion was the
issue behind his arrest. The ruling starts out by claiming that Balaev was involved in
an illegal religious meeting at his home for the purpose of drawing young people to
attend his religious services. The ruling also cited complaints by the local imam,
Darchin Mamedov, concerning Balaev’s “illegal propaganda activity.”
For the past 13 years Aliabad’s Baptist community has tried to officially register with
the authorities but to no avail. Ilya Zenchenko, head of the Baptist Union of Azerbai-
jan, said that his Church’s last attempt to register was in July 2007 but for the
umpteenth time the public notary refused to certify its application for legal status, thus
preventing it from going any further.
Also in Aliabad, local officials continue to deny children a birth certificate when par-
ents give them Christian names. Without it children cannot receive medical care or go
to school.
The secret police stormed a Seventh Day Adventist church in Baku during a liturgical
celebration; they interrogated all those present and seized religious literature found
during the raid. Subsequently, the community’s pastor, Rev Rasim Bakhshiyev, was
37
threatened with prison if he ever brought together his group again. He and seven oth-
AZERBAIJAN
er members of the community were fined for trying to draw young people to their
religious services. Law enforcement officials had already raided the community the
previous summer but in that case there were no consequences.
On the same day in Gyanja, Seventh Day Adventist pastor, Rev Elshan Samedov, was
threatened with time in jail if he allowed school age children to attend his meetings.
“We don’t know if the raids in Baku and Gyanja on the same day are connected,” an
Adventist said. “However, it is significant that two days later, the opposition paper
Yeni Musavat and the television station ANS both had libellous material accusing us
of being connected with Armenians”.
Six foreign nationals involved in religious activities were expelled from the country at
the end of 2006 and in early 2007, after police carried out an overnight raid on 24th
December 2006 during a meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Baku. Two of those ex-
pelled were not even present at the meeting, but were deported anyway, on the basis
of an administrative rule that does not require any court order. What was their crime?
They were accused of violating a “ban on foreigners conducting religious agitation”
(Forum 18 News Service, 9th January 2007). Police also seized computers, religious
texts and money during the raid.
In the absence of a civilian service as an alternative to military service, conscientious
objection remains a crime in Azerbaijan. For the first time in the last few years, in
October 2007 a Jehovah’s Witness, Samir Huseynov, was sentenced to ten months in
jail (Forum 18 News Service, 22nd January 2008). All previous cases had ended in a
suspended sentence.
Muslims
Azerbaijan is facing a situation characterised by renewed interest in religion, particu-
larly in Islam even in its most extreme and foreign versions. This applies, above all,
to the younger generation of Azeris. There are many reasons for this development. In
an editorial published on 10th August 2007 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty noted
that the trend is first and foremost a result of the ideological vacuum left by the col-
lapse of the Soviet system. On top of that the country lacks a centralised Islamic edu-
cational tradition; it has no real political opposition operating in the country; and it
suffers from great inequality in the distribution of wealth and high levels of corruption
among government officials. Last but not least, most of the population is experienc-
ing serious economic difficulties.
Inevitably, this new religious fervour has raised fear among government leaders that
Islamic terrorism might expand. The government has therefore announced its inten-
tion of taking control over religious education, especially for the young, and is taking
steps against Wahhabi groups suspected of terrorist activities.
38
Faced with the new interest by the state in religious affairs, various international ob-
servers are wondering about the future of religious freedom in the country. For Eldar
Mamazov, a former adviser to President Heydar Aliyev, Islam, in its most politicised
form, is getting steadily stronger. “It is because of the authoritarian regime,” Mama-
zov said. “The government stifles democracy, it puts pressure on the opposition. There
is now a big gap in Azerbaijan and political Islam is trying to fill it”.
Ilqar Ibrahimoglu, a moderate imam and human rights activist, agrees up to a point.
For him the government’s growing interest in the threat of Islamic terrorism stems
from a desire to control all dissent.
Rasim Musabekov, a political scientist and an expert on Azerbaijan, is of the same
opinion, maintaining that perhaps the greatest threat comes from the fact that a clam-
pdown on suspected radicals might restrict everyone’s civil liberties, stifling those
“who express their religious feelings in different forms from others”
On 4th May 2007, BBC News reported that on the same day a Baku court had sen-
tenced journalist Rafiq Tagi and editor Samir Sadaqatoglu, both working for the small
bimonthly Sanat, to three and four years in prison respectively for inciting “national,
racial or religious hatred” because of an article they had published in November 2006
in which they compared Christian and Muslim values, claiming that Islam had hin-
dered people from progressing along freedom and development. Their claims had in
turn provoked a strong reaction in Iran and among Azerbaijan’s more radical Muslims.
Sources
Eurasia Insight
AZERBAIJAN
Forum 18 News Service
Interfax, 14th February 2007
L’Osservatore Romano
BosNewsLife
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
39
BAHAMAS
The 1973 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Bahamas guar-

BAHAMAS
antees complete religious freedom (Article 12), protecting both

individual rights and the rights of religious groups. It also bars
AREA
the state from interfering in their internal affairs.
13,878 kmq
The country’s Christian heritage is singled out and granted spe-
POPULATION cial recognition in social life and education, including post-sec-
333,000 ondary education.
At the same time non-Christian minorities are not subject to
REFUGEES
any kind of discrimination.
--- Only some practices originating from voodoo (obeah) brought
INTERNALLY by Haitian immigrants have been banned for reasons of public
DISPLACED order and because they involve forms of intimidation and the
--- unlawful practice of medicine.
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Non religious 5.3%
Spiritists 1.5%
Others 6.3%
Baptized Catholics
49,000
40
BAHRAIN
The Constitution establishes Islam as the State religion is and

the Shari‘a as the source for the law. Although a degree of free-
dom of worship for non-Muslims is allowed, proselytism is dis-
AREA
couraged, anti-Islamic books are forbidden, and conversion
678 kmq
from Islam to other religions is made extremely difficult due to
social discrimination –although not punishable by the Law. The POPULATION
State also exercises strict control over the worship of the 757,000
Islamic communities in the country – both Shiite and Sunni.
REFUGEES
Although there is a Shiite majority, political power is firmly in
the hands of a Sunni family. ---
INTERNALLY
Christians DISPLACED
On 25th November 2006 municipal elections were held, and ---
won with a large majority by the Islamic movements. Among
the candidates there was a Christian of Jordanian origin,
Ibrahim Zahi Suleiman. A Christian woman, Alice Sammaan, is
RELIGIOUS
already a member of the Consultative Council, the assembly
ADHERENTS
appointed by the King. In spite of this Suleiman was attacked
by a local newspaper precisely because he is a Christian. “I was
never discriminated against, however”, said the candidate,
whose electoral programme had emphasised the consolidation
of democracy as well as environmental issues.
Muslims 82.4%
Muslims Affiliated Christians 10.5%
In March 2006 an “International Conference for the Defence of Hindus 6.3%
Others 0.8%
the Prophet” brought together 300 Muslim clerics in Manama
in order to study possible ways of responding to the Danish car- Baptized Catholics
toons. Among the conclusions reached were respect for all reli- 41,000
BAHRAIN
gions, dialogue with the West to make Mohammed and Islam
better known, the creation of an international organisation to
guarantee respect for Mohammed, an analysis of non-violent
means, including boycotting, for protesting against the publica-
tion of “blasphemous cartoons”, and the rejection of all acts of
destruction of places of worship, embassies and other build-
ings.
In April 2007, the Shiite Islamic Enlightenment Society held its
annual congress which aimed at reducing tensions between the
different Islamic denominations. Shiite and Sunni scholars
were present, including some from abroad.
41
At the end of December 2007 there were incidents between Shiite protesters and the
BAHRAIN
police, in the course of which tear gas was used and rubber bullets were fired. A press
release from the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights stated that “39 people were arrest-
ed and another ten or so were wounded in these clashes”. The minister for the interi-
or, in a statement quoted by the BNA official agency, denied that the arrests were po-
litically motivated and stated that those arrested were suspected of having stolen
weapons and a police vehicle. The protest had been organised by Shiite activists seek-
ing compensation for the victims of human rights violations during the 80s and the
90s. In a statement, the main organisation within the Shiite opposition, the Associa-
tion of National Islamic Understanding, asked the minster of the interior “to put an
immediate end to these illegal and inhuman activities and release without delay all
those who had been arrested”.
Sources
AsiaNews
ANSA
AFP
Islamonline
42
BANGLADESH
Article 2 of the Constitution establishes Islam as the State reli-

gion, but guarantees religious freedom for other religions. It al-
so states that each religious community and denomination has
AREA
the right to instruct and maintain its institutions autonomously.
143,998 kmq
At least publicly, the government is committed to guaranteeing
religious freedom, but attacks on minority groups such as the POPULATION
Ahmadi continue to take place. The authorities and the police 140,526,000
often fail in their duty to ensure that the law is respected and ar-
REFUGEES
rive too late to help those who are victims of aggression on ac-
count of their religion. 27,573
There are no reports of changes as far as religious freedom in INTERNALLY
this country is concerned. In 2006 extremists continued to ap- DISPLACED
ply pressure on the central authority in a number of different ar- 500,000
eas of civil life – above all in the field of education. In 2007 the
indefinite postponement of the general elections, the declara-
tion of a state of emergency and the instatement of an interim
RELIGIOUS
government supported by the army, shook the national political
ADHERENTS
fabric. At the time this report was drafted, the political situation
was still extremely unstable. The increase in Islamic extremism
and the indifference of the international community remain the
greatest threats to full religious freedom in this country.
BANGLADESH
Extremism and terrorism
Muslims 85.8%
During the months preceding the general elections, that were Hindus 12.4%
due to be held in January 2007, in the attempt to gain consen- Affiliated Christians 0.7%
Others 1.1%
sus, the government showed itself even more inclined to give in
to pressure from Islamic extremism. In August 2006 the politi- Baptized Catholics
cal alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), 312,000
whose leader at the time was Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, de-
cided to officially recognise the Qawami madrassas (Koranic
schools). As a result, the official MA diploma (in Islamic stud-
ies/Arabic literature) now has the same value as the Dawra, the
qualification given by these same Qawami madrassas. Accord-
ing to the Prime Minister herself, the final step should be the
recognition of the Fazil diploma as equivalent to a university
degree, and the Kamil, given by the Alia madrassas, as the
equivalent of a Masters degree. For some time previously, rad-
ical Islamists had been demanding official recognition of the
ancient schools known as Qawami, which however, according
43
to intelligence agencies, are used to recruit and train new generations of extremists
BANGLADESH
and terrorists. The government decision followed protests by various Islamic parties,
such as the Islami Oikya Jote, a member of the coalition government at that time.
Hence the pressure applied by extremists on various sectors of public life, such as
education, continues. This trend has dangerous implications. According to local ana-
lysts, the Qawami are demanding legal status, but at the same time refusing any con-
trol over their administration and the curricula taught to students. The government has
effectively given these schools carte blanche, allowing them to teach whatever they
wish and as they wish, and then to turn out graduates, exactly like those from state and
private universities that are subject to government control.
These provisions go in the opposite direction of those advised by security experts
who, after the series of coordinated bomb explosions throughout Bangladesh on 17th
August 2005, called for more control over the activities and finances of the Qawami
madrassas. The most radical Koranic schools are financed by Saudi Arabia and by
conservative Islamic governments, wishing to return Bengali Islam to their own
version of Islamic orthodoxy. Analysts are unable to provide a timeline, but when
these tendencies do surface there may well be 20 million youngsters trained in extrem-
ism at the Koranic schools, appearing on the world stage. According to the Interna-
tional Crisis Group, there are now over 64,000 madrassas in Bangladesh; in 1986
there were only 4,100.
Furthermore, there has been a proliferation of Islamic organisations and political par-
ties since 1976, when the government abolished the constitutional ban on the forma-
tion and activities of organisations with religious characteristics. No one knows the
precise number of these organisations; the government and electoral commission are
unable to provide precise data. Government intelligence agencies have reported the
existence of at least 100 political parties and Islamic organisations that are currently
active. Between 1964 and 1971 there were about 11. Analysts warn that there is every
probability that the country is preparing to enter a phase in which it will be led by an
Islamic government.
The situation of the Christians

The Constitution guarantees the right to profess and freely propagate any religion, but
proselytism is strongly discouraged. Foreign missionaries are permitted to work, but
must often face serious delays of many months to obtain or renew their visas. Some
have reported that the security forces control their movements very closely.
In March 2007, Catholic Bishop Bejoy Nicephorus D’Cruze of Khulna – in the south-
west of the country – reported to ACN that the faithful in his diocese continue to look
for protection from Islamic extremists. “In Bangladesh the Christians are a small mi-
nority; we are afraid of extremism and we still need the State’s protection”, he
44
explained. Then he added that “in this country the Church does however play an im-
portant role, especially in the educational field”.
In tribal areas in particular, Christians continue to be the object of social discrimina-
tion and suffer pressure from extremist groups, which in some cases try to “bring them
back” to Islam by violence and threats, and also in order to gain possession of their
belongings. The most frequent charge against Christians is that of engaging in “forced
conversions”, in other words of persuading the poor to convert in return for econom-
ic rewards or promises of material benefits. Rumours such as these often trigger
orchestrated violence, carried out not only by Muslims but also Buddhists.
The violence against religious minorities often has the aim of depriving families and
entire villages of their properties. Minorities are particularly vulnerable, since they
have little influence at a political level and the police often fail to intervene to protect
their rights. Among the most glaring cases was that in the Chittagong Hills, where
indigenous Christian and Buddhist tribal peoples live. In recent decades Bengali set-
tlers have occupied this area, depriving the tribal inhabitants of their only source of
livelihood. In April 2006 an attack on the tribal peoples in Saupru Karbari and Noa-
para, two villages in the Maischari cluster (Khagrachari district), resulted in one per-
son killed, four girls raped, 45 people wounded, homes looted and a hostel for the
young destroyed. The attack was carried out by a group of supposed “Bengali thugs”,
who set out to rob the tribal peoples of everything they had, including the land, which
they had worked so hard to make cultivable. These criminals did not even spare a Bud-
dhist hostel for poor children, which was seriously damaged. A local journalist told
BANGLADESH
AsiaNews that the police had made no effort to intervene to protect the inhabitants.
During the days of violence the Buddhist monk Sumona Mahatero, the founder and
director of the hostel that was destroyed, rushed to try and save the women who were
raped, but he was grabbed by the throat, beaten and thrown onto the street by the Ben-
galis. Mahatero believes that he was the main target, in fact. His crime was that he had
tried to stand up against the injustices and had worked for the development of these
people. It is thanks to him that these outside thugs have so far been unable to take over
the land as they would like. Those arrested for these attacks were later released, one
by one. The government has not offered any form of compensation. The two villages
attacked, and those close by, were left living in fear for many months. The children
were unable to return to the hostel which may have to be permanently closed.
Accusations of proselytism continue to be the motive for outbreaks of violence against
Christians. In the villages of Durbachari and Laksmirdanga, in the Nilphamari district,
on 26th June 2007, a number of Muslims attacked a group of Christian converts They
gave them 24 hours to leave their homes or be beaten. These attacks followed the bap-
tism on 12th June of 42 men and women who had converted from Islam. The violence
that followed the threats left many people being wounded and one house destroyed.
45
The media and the local authorities justified these attacks, blaming them on the
BANGLADESH
“Christian practice” of “forced conversions”. Experts on the subject of religion in

Bangladesh have explained that these are conversions not imposed in any way or
obtained by deception, but the result of work that is very brave, but at times aggres-
sive, by a number of Protestant communities. The man who baptised these people was
Pastor Albert Adikari Hirok. Most of them came from poor and near-illiterate fami-
lies, but there were also members of the middle classes. Islamic fanatics persecute
them, especially the men, since they who support their families, and by driving them
away they can also inflict economic damage. This is something that has been happen-
ing for years, however recent waves of Taliban and anti-US fanaticism have con-
tributed to an increase in such pressure. Generally, the ordinary people are tolerant, but
the extremists have already killed two evangelists who were showing films about Je-
sus in public. At times some of the NGOs are confused with the Church, and at times
their money has been used to proselytise, especially in the case of some Baptist
groups, the Koreans and some evangelical groups. Catholic missionaries usually work
very carefully and even when people come to the parishes and ask for Bibles, prefer
to advise them to obtain them independently.
On 10th October 2006, two Islamic militants, Hafez Mahmud and Mohammad Salaud-
dinn, members of the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh group (JMB), were sentenced
to death for the murder in September 2004 of Abdul Gani Gomes, who had converted
to Christianity.
The government blamed the JMB group for the 500 coordinated explosions that took
place in various locations in the country on 17th August 2005, killing at least 30 peo-
ple. The JMB is seeking to transform Bangladesh from a secular democracy into an
Islamic regime, with the introduction of the Shari‘a. They have been blamed for many
of the attacks on the national judicial system.
On 30th March 2007, six Islamic militants were hanged after being sentenced to death
for the murder of two magistrates during the wave of terrorist attacks in the country
during 2005. Among those executed were the leaders of two well-known extremist
groups: Shaikh Abdur Rahman, leader of the JMB, and Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai,
leader of the outlawed group Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB). Both these
groups are held responsible for the bloody campaign to introduce Islamic law.
The Ahmadi
Political and social instability added to progressive Islamisation have continued to
drive the persecution of the Ahmadi minority. The extremists want the total annihil-
ation of this community, which they consider to be “heretical” because they do not ac-
knowledge Mohammed as the last Prophet. Frequently the extremists do not wait for
official initiatives but set out by themselves to marginalise this minority. There have
46
been many attacks on Ahmadi mosques, the attackers beating up the faithful, remov-
ing the original signs and putting up posters stating for example: “This is not a Mus-
lim place of worship; Muslims beware”. Ostensibly, it is not their intention to close
down places of worship, but rather to clearly point out that these are not Muslim
mosques, they claim. They are empty words, however. In practice, the extremists not
only maltreat the members of this religious minority group but also attack their
mosques and organise marches, denying that Ahmadism is part of Islam and calling
for it to be calling for a ban on its publications. In January 2004, after committing a
number of crimes, the Khatme Nabuwat (KN) – an organisation of extremist Sunni
groups whose goal is to preserve Islamic orthodoxy, and the main persecutor of the
Ahmadi – managed to obtain a ban on Ahmadi publications. This was a real and ef-
fective legitimisation of the discrimination against them. The Supreme Court suspend-
ed this provision in December of the same year, but the violence has not stopped. The
government is trying to put a brake on these extremist initiatives and is respecting the
verdict of the Supreme Court. In March 2007 the police helped a number of leaders of
the Ahmadiyya to remove a placard fixed to the front of their mosque in Khulna. The
words on it stated that the building was not a real mosque and that “the Ahmadi are
not Muslims”. This was one of the first initiatives of this kind undertaken by the forces
of law and order.
Sources
The Daily Star
BANGLADESH
AsiaNews
Compass Direct News
47
BARBADOS
Article 19 of the 1966 Constitution, as amended in 1974, 1981

BARBADOS
and 1984, guarantees, in some detail, complete religious free-

dom, including in the educational sector. Almost the entire pop-
AREA
ulation is Christian and most belong to the Anglican faith.
430 kmq
Registered religious groups enjoy fiscal benefits.
POPULATION Foreign missionaries must have a visa which is easy to obtain.
274,000 There are no reports of events conflicting in practice with all
that is guaranteed by the Constitution.
REFUGEES
The small Muslim minority (about 4,000 members), resulting
--- from immigration, has three mosques and an Islamic cultural
INTERNALLY centre.
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Baha’i 1.3%
Others 1.7%
Baptized Catholics
10,000
48
BELARUS
Under a 2002 law on religious freedom Russian Orthodoxy has

been made the country’s official religion. The law does, how-
ever, recognise the “spiritual, cultural and historical role of the
AREA
Catholic Church in the territory of Belarus” as well as the “in-
207,600 kmq
alienability of the Lutheran Church from the country’s history.”
The same law recognises “Orthodox Judaism” and Sunni Islam. POPULATION
All the same, the law has come in for serious criticism for the 10,268,000
restrictions and the limits it imposes on the constitutionally-
REFUGEES
guaranteed right of freedom of religion. Opponents of the law
are particularly upset by its ban on prayer meetings in private 649
homes and on its complex registration procedures which make INTERNALLY
it quite difficult for people to legally meet for religious servic- DISPLACED
es organized by other groups. The law also imposes restrictions ---
on religious communities with respect to their worship activi-
ties. Similarly the state has claimed for itself the right to protect
the Orthodox Church against sects deemed dangerous and wor-
RELIGIOUS
thy of serious punishment.
ADHERENTS
In March 2006 President Aleksandr Lukashenko was re-elected
with more than 82 percent of the vote. In power since 1994,
Lukashenko has concentrated all authority in his office through
a series of plebiscites and constitutional amendments that have
given him the means to keep tight control on all aspects of Be-
larus’ social life.
Claims of widespread irregularities during the election led to Non religious 28.9%
large-scale protests and demonstrations in Minsk (about 30,000 Others 0.8%
people crowded into Republic Square on 19th March to hear the

Baptized Catholics
sole opposition candidate, Alaksandar Milinkievich); these
were crushed by police on 25th March with hundreds of protest-
1,405,000 BELARUS
ers detained and a few opposition leaders arrested.
Even though Belarusian authorities tend to exercise tight con-
trol over religious activities, President Lukashenko has adopted
a pragmatic and populist approach in the matter. Generally
speaking, he is open to the larger religious communities insofar
as that openness can increase his popularity and unify the coun-
try. In light of this, a roundtable was held in Minsk on 19th Sep-
tember 2007 involving the country’s Deputy Prime Minister,
Aleksandr Kosinets and, for the first time, the leaders of all the
religions recognised in Belarus. On that occasion Mr Kosinets
assured them that the “president was interested in religious
49
matters;” adding that there would from now on be two such events per year. Moreover,
BELARUS
he stressed the advantages the current legislation offers religion, insisting that no one
should expect changes to the existing law. He noted that thanks to the law, the “recog-
nised” religious communities have expanded considerably, increasing from 2,009
communities in 1996 to 2,953 in 2007; in particular the Orthodox Church, which has
gained 460 new parishes. For their part Catholics and Baptists added more than 70
new parishes; Evangelicals another 180; Adventists 40 more; Jews 31; and Muslims 4
(Respublika, 21st September 2007).
Yet the same law has generated widespread dissatisfaction among religious groups. A
petition against it has already garnered more than 40,000 signatures with Orthodox,
Catholics and Protestants all equally involved in the collection process. The sponsors
of the initiative, which began on 22nd April 2007, hope to quickly reach 50,000 signa-
tures as required by the 1994 Constitution in order to get the Constitutional Court to
consider the matter.
October 2007 also saw mass commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of the be-
ginning of the Stalinist persecutions in Belarus. In Minsk a citizens’ committee pro-
claimed 29th October as the “Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Stalinist
Genocide”. Throughout the year the Christian Churches organised a variety of initia-
tives. Greek Catholics commemorated genocide victims during their annual pilgrim-
age to Polatsk on 15th July and celebrated a memorial service on 29th October in Ku-
rapaty Woods near Minsk, where an estimated 50,000 to 300,000 people were execut-
ed in 1937 and 1938. In Minsk the Latin Apostolic Administrator celebrated a memo-
rial Mass on 26th August. And on 21st October many Latin and Byzantine Catholics,
as well as groups of Orthodox, participated in a “Day of Repentance for the Crimes of
Communism” sponsored by some Protestant Churches. On 29th October a govern-
ment-authorised march involving about a thousand people honoured the memory of
those buried in the mass graves in Kurapaty Woods (Vatican Radio, 30th October
2007).
Catholics
In Belarus all four Catholic dioceses are registered with the authorities. The Catholic
Church has five bishops, more than 400 parishes, 381 priests (half of them foreign-
born) and more than 350 women religious. It membership is estimated to be around
1.2 million or 15 percent of the population.
On 21st September 2007 Mgr Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz was appointed head of the dio-
cese of Minsk-Mohilev, the same where he had started his Episcopal ministry in 1989
till 1991 (before being later appointed to the diocese of the Mother of God in
Moscow). The new archbishop replaced 93-year-old Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek, a
survivor of the Soviet gulag system.
50
The largely foreign-born (especially Polish) Catholic clergy still faces a lot of red tape
over entry visas. The ministry in charge of religious affairs enforces a quota system
that limits the number of foreign priests allowed into the country; by the same token,
any priest who moves to a another parish within Belarus must get a new visa. The net
result has been that a growing number of Catholic (but also Protestant) clergy have
been denied the right to enter the country.
The chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Belarus, Mgr Aleksandr
Kaszkiewicz, bishop of Grodno, wrote a letter dated 5th December 2006 (Vatican Ra-
dio, 14th December 2006) to protest against the authorities’ refusal to renew the visa
of some of Polish priests and women religious. In the same statement he also urged
the faithful to take part in a week of prayers to be held in the cathedral and to sign a
protest against the government decision.
During the aforementioned roundtable with religious leaders, Deputy Prime Minister
Kosinets however made it clear that the Belarus authorities do not want foreign mis-
sionaries. “We are in favour of clergy who have Belarusian nationality,” he said,
because “it is not possible to conduct religious activities without speaking Belarusian
or Russian, or understanding how people think, or knowing their customs and tradi-
tions. Indeed, in the Catholic Church most priests are foreign-born (190 out of 381).
In the country there are two Catholic seminaries, in Grodno and Pinsk, which current-
ly train about 165 people altogether. Therefore, we can expect that over the next sev-
en years it will be possible to have a Belarusian priest in each parish that now has a
foreign one.”
On 7th December 2007 the Forum 18 News Service reported that a Polish priest, Grze-
gorz Chudek, was told to quit Trinity Parish Church in Rechytsa, where he had car-
ried out his ministry, and leave the country (perhaps because a few months earlier in
an interview with a Polish paper he had criticised the situation in Belarus). This deci-
sion provoked a response with more than 700 parish’s members signing an appeal to
President Lukashenko on the priest’s behalf.
BELARUS
Orthodox
The Orthodox Church in Belarus is an Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate and en-
joys a privileged position in the country by virtue of the 2002 law. Altogether it has
1,265 parish churches and represents more than 70 percent of the population (of
10,360,000). Although some members of the Orthodox Church have signed the peti-
tion calling for the revision of the law because of its discriminatory nature, the offi-
cial Orthodox Church failed to join the initiative. Instead in a statement issued on 27th
April 2007, Metropolitan Filaret (Kirill Vakhromeev) urged the faithful to stay away
from the campaign against the law. The prelate also warned the main Orthodox pro-
revision activist, Fr Aleksandr Shramko (from Minsk’s Protection of the Holy Virgin
51
Parish), against acting in his capacity as a priest, but did not suspend him a divinis
BELARUS
(Forum 18 News Service, 16th May 2007).

Conversely, Minsk’s Diocesan Council was forced to issue a statement on behalf of
Metropolitan Filaret protesting over the publication by Soviet Belarus of an article
prepared by the Orthodox Church that was heavily edited and altered without the
knowledge and consent of its authors (Blagovest-info.ru, 1st February 2007).
In another odd incident Belarusian KGB agents raided a prayer and Biblical fellow-
ship meeting held in a flat in the city of Gomel that was attended by a group of 15
Orthodox believers loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate (Forum 18 News Service, 6th
June 2007). The group is part of a religious movement founded in Moscow by Fr
Georgij Kochetkov, a well-known spiritual father and open-minded theologian who
runs the St Filaret Orthodox Christian Institute, which operates under a license issued
in 2004 by the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department of Religious Education and Cate-
chisation.
Other religious groups

The Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church was registered with the authorities on
14th December 2006 (Forum 18 News Service, 17th December 2006).
Since 2003 the government has outlawed the activities of unregistered religious com-
munities, enforcing strict measures against those organisations that had their registra-
tion application turned down under the 2002 Religious Freedom Law. Under this law
any type of group prayer or recreational activity can be prosecuted.
Communities accused of breaking the law and engaging in illegal religious activities
are subject to fines. Pentecostal Christians, New Life Charismatic groups and the
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad all had to pay fines worth € 8,000 (US$ 12,000) in
2005 and 2006.
Such groups also face major obstacles in trying to use and maintain their places of
worship. For example the facility used by Minsk’s New Life Charismatic community
was seized at the end of 2006 with no end in sight to the legal wrangling over the right
to use (Forum 18 News Service, 27th September 2007). Pastor Antoni Bokun, a Pen-
tecostal clergyman from Minsk’s Saint John the Baptist community, was sentenced to
three days in prison (Forum 18 News Service, 5th June 2007) for celebrating an illegal
religious service. Just before that he was heavily fined (€ 215 or US$ 320) on related
charges. In response some 7,000 people from various Churches across Belarus took
part in a prayer meeting on 3rd June which had to be held in an open-air venue as no
single place of worship could contain them all. Pastor Bokun is the third person jailed
in post-Soviet Belarus for engaging in so-called ‘illegal’ religious activities. In March
2006 Baptist Pastor Georgi Vjazovskij and layman Sergei Shavcov also spent ten days
behind bars for organising religious events without a permit.
52
BELGIUM
Article 6.b. of the Constitution of 1831 recognises “the rights

and freedoms of ideological and philosophical minorities” and
Article 14 guarantees “freedom of worship, and its public exer-
AREA
cise” without restrictions (Article 15) on participation in reli-
30,528 kmq
gious practices or respecting religious days of rest. Article 16
forbids the State from intervening in the nomination or appoint- POPULATION
ment of the minsters of any religion, or preventing them from 10,540,000
corresponding with their superiors and publishing their docu-
REFUGEES
ments. As far as education is concerned, this must be “neutral
in character” which “basically implies respect for the philo- 17,575
sophical, ideological or religious views of parents and stu- INTERNALLY
dents”, while state schools must provide, “the choice, through- DISPLACED
out the period of compulsory education, between instruction in ---
one of the recognised religions and in non-denominational
ethics”. Such State recognition, which includes access to pub-
lic funding, covers the following churches: the Catholic
RELIGIOUS
Church, the Protestant Church (EPUB – United Protestant
ADHERENTS
Church of Belgium), the Jewish Community, the Anglican
Church, the Greek-Russian Orthodox Church, the Islamic
Community and a philosophical non-denominational commu-
nity represented by the Conseil central des communautés
philosophiques non confessionnelles de laiques (CCL – Central
Council of secular non-denominational philosophical commu-
nities). In 2007 the government expressed a favourable opinion Non religious 7.5%
with regard to recognition of the Buddhist community. Muslims 3.6%
Others 0.6%
In March 2007 eight Hindu communities founded the Belgian
Hindu Forum so as to obtain official recognition for Hinduism Baptized Catholics
in Belgium. 7,705,000
BELGIUM
In a memorandum dated 2nd March 2007 Paul Courard, the
Minister for Internal Affairs and Public Administration for the
Wallonia Region, stated that with the exception of a degree of
indulgence towards works of art, “all images, reproductions
and objects in the properties of municipalities, provinces and
public social and inter-communal activity centres, must refrain
from portraying religious symbols”, with the stated intention of
“not offending the persuasions of our fellow citizens, or of
those of members of staff working in these institutions”.
There is a significant increase in the activities of the Centre for
Equal Opportunities and Opposing Racism (CEOOR), the
53
department answering directly to the Prime Minister’s office, created in 1993 and bet-
BELGIUM
ter known as the Anti-Racism Centre, which received numerous reports of religious-
based discrimination. Equally, there seems to be a decrease in the influence exercised
by the Parliamentary commission of enquiry for investigating sects and their institu-
tional offshoots, set up in compliance with the law of 2nd June 1998, although the ha-
rassment of new religious movements continues and they are the object of detailed in-
vestigations which are injurious to human rights.
Judaism
Numerous acts of violence have been reported by the Jewish community against their
representatives, their places of worship and their symbols. The highest level of anti-
Semitic incidents, which seem mainly attributable to Muslim immigrants, was reached
during the Israel-Lebanese conflict in the summer of 2006. In this climate, on 24th Ju-
ly 2006 the national monument to the Jewish martyrs of Belgium, in the district of An-
derlecht in Brussels, was attacked when a number of vandals entered and removed the
ashes of victims of the Auschwitz concentration camp, destroying the urn that con-
tained them and destroying documents and commemorative ornaments.
Islam
A continuing object of tension within the Islamic community, estimated at about
400,000 immigrants from various Muslim countries, is the authority given to school
headmasters and the principals of educational institutions to forbid the use of the Is-
lamic veil in state schools. This same provision is applied by various public adminis-
trations.
Sources
Willy Fautré, A Historical Trial in Brussels, Human Rights Without Frontiers Interna-
tional, 11th February 2006
Willy Fautré, State Security and Surveillance of Minority Religions, Human Rights
Without Frontiers International, 15th February 2006
Willy Fautré, Report of the Work of the Parliamentary “Sect” Working Group, Human
Rights Without Frontiers International, 3rd April 2006
Decision by the State Council dated 23rd October 2007 on the Chantal Pommée case,
http://www.raadvst-consetat.be/arresten/175000/800/175886dep.pdf
Asma Hanif, Religion in Europe: Muslims in the EU capital – identity vs integration,
Religioscope, 8th January 2008, http://religion.info/english/articles/article_359.shtml
54
BELIZE
Article 11 of the 1981 Constitution sets out in detail the rights

to religious freedom, including public profession of one’s faith
both individually and in association with others, freedom to
AREA
provide religious instruction and own schools, and freedom to
22,965 kmq
change one’s religion.
These rights are also respected in practice and there are no re- POPULATION
ports of events conflicting with constitutional legislation. 293,000
The majority of the population is Christian and predominantly
REFUGEES
Catholic. There are small minorities of followers of other non-
Christian religions, but there are no reports of oppressive 358
events or behaviour addressed at them. INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Baha’i 2.9%
Hindus 2.3%
Others 4%
Baptized Catholics
222,000
BELIZE
55
BENIN
Religious freedom is established in the Constitution and the

BENIN
government generally respects this right when implementing its

policies, trying also to protect it from both private and govern-
AREA
mental abuse and contributing to the free practice of religion.
112,622 kmq
In particular, the generally friendly relationships between dif-
POPULATION ferent religious groups have contributed to ther real develop-
7,650,000 ment of religious freedom.
According to a survey carried out in 2002, 27 percent of the
REFUGEES
population follow the Catholic faith, 24 percent are Muslims
7,621 and 18 percent of the inhabitants practice the indigenous
INTERNALLY voodoo religion, which originated in this part of Africa. Other
DISPLACED religious groups are also present in this country, among them
--- the Celestial Christians, Methodists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pen-
tecostals, Seventh Day Adventists and Mormons.
Muslims are in particular present in the north and the south-east
of the country, while Christians have mainly settled in the
RELIGIOUS
South and in particular in the economic capital, Cotonou. Near-
ADHERENTS
ly all Muslims belong to the Sunni branch. The few Shiites
present have mainly emigrated from the Middle East.
Many Christians and Muslims also practise the rituals of the in-
digenous religions. It is not unusual in Benin to find within one
and the same family, members practising Christianity, Islam, and
traditional native religions, or even a combination of the various
Ethnoreligionists 51.5%
Affiliated Christians 28% beliefs. This religious syncretism within families and communi-
Muslims 20% ties has allowed the spread of an attitude of religious tolerance,
Others 0.5%
at all levels of society and in all regions of the country.
Baptized Catholics In November 2006 thousands of people gathered on a beach in
2,038,000 Benin to celebrate voodoo ritual sacrifices, once forbidden in
this country. The participants had also come from Brazil and
the United States where centuries ago slaves brought the prac-
tises of the cult with them. The place where they met was the
Oiudah beach, to the west of the commercial capital Cotonou.
Those wishing to establish a religious group are obliged to reg-
ister with the Ministry of the Interior. During the period cov-
ered by this report there were no reports of groups having en-
countered problems or having been refused authorisation.
In compliance with Article 2 of the Constitution, which estab-
lishes a secular Sate, state school are not authorised to provide
religious instruction. However, religious groups are authorised
56
to set up private schools. National holidays include the Christian celebrations of East-
er Monday, the Ascension, Pentecost, the Assumption, All Saints, Christmas, the Is-
lamic day of Ramadan, Tabaski, the birth of the Prophet Mohammed, and the celebra-
tion of the native religion. The State provides televised coverage of religious festivi-
ties and other special events, including the lives of important religious leaders.
In January 2007 the fortnightly Catholic magazine La Croix du Bénin celebrated 60
years of uninterrupted publication. This magazine, the oldest newspaper in francopho-
ne Africa, was founded in 1947 in what was then French Dahomey, by the missionary
Jean Louis Caer at the request of Bishop Louis Parisot. The objective was to provide a
means of communication to guide and help Christians, and the local elite, to explore
questions of faith in greater depth; however, as the current editor, Father André Que-
nun points out, La Croix du Bénin does not only address strictly religious issues, but al-
so issues of current economic, political and social relevance, though obviously still
within a Christian context. The paper has always remained faithful to this editorial line,
even during the difficult years of the Marxist-Leninist regime that governed the coun-
try between 1974 and 1990; as a result it is now one of the most authoritative newspa-
pers in the region. During the past 60 years, albeit with ups and downs, La Croix du
Bénin never ceased publication. Father Quenum reports that among the projects cur-
rently being considered there is also one involving the creation, together with other
Catholic media, of an African news network that covers the life of the local churches.
In September 2007, speaking to the bishops of Benin visiting Castel Gandolfo, Pope
Benedict XVI said that “In order to avoid the development of any kind of intolerance
and to prevent all forms of violence, it is necessary to pursue sincere dialogue, found-
ed on an ever greater mutual understanding”. In his speech Pope Benedict also re-
minded the bishops that the Islamic-Christian dialogue must take place “especially
through respectful human relations, through an agreement on the values of life and
through mutual cooperation in all that furthers the common good”, and on this subject
His Holiness observed that “Such dialogue also requires that competent people be
trained to help spread knowledge and understanding of the religious values that we
share and to respect differences.” All this is reality now in Benin, so much so that the
Pope expressed his satisfaction at the “atmosphere of mutual understanding that char-
BENIN
acterises relations between Christians and Muslims in Benin”.
Sources
ACN News
PeaceReporter, 11th January 2006
Vatican Radio, 24th January 2007
La Repubblica, 20th September 2007
57
BHUTAN
Although the law provides for religious freedom, the govern-

BHUTAN
ment effectively limits this right for religions other than the
State religion, Buddhism. In particular, non-Buddhist mission-
AREA
aries are not allowed into the country, they are virtually denied
47,000 kmq
the right to build their own places of worships and religious
POPULATION proselytising is outlawed – all this despite the fact that the draft
2,451,000 Constitution adopted in August 2005 declares that “Every
Bhutanese citizen shall have the right to freedom of thought,
REFUGEES
conscience and religion” as well as the right to public and
--- peacefull assembly.
INTERNALLY Informed by the rules of Mahayana Buddhism, all Bhutanese
DISPLACED nationals must respect the dress code of the predominantly
--- Buddhist Ngalop ethnic group, whether in public buildings,
monasteries, schools or during official ceremonies.
In the mountain kingdom Buddhist monks enjoy a privileged
status. They receive public funds, are the only ones eligible to
RELIGIOUS
rule on religious matters, and have reserved seats in parliament
ADHERENTS
as well as on the king’s Royal Advisory Council.
In 2005 a decision was made to rely on Buddhist principles as
the basis for the country’s family law, irrespective of the reli-
gion of those concerned. The main Buddhist feast days are
statutory holidays. One of the main Hindu feast days is also set
aside as public day.
Buddhists 74%
Hindus 20.5% In schools only Drukpa Kagyupa or Ningmapa Buddhism are
Ethnoreligionists 3.8% taught. In the state schools a daily Buddhist prayer is recited.
Others 1.2% The government also pays for the construction of Buddhist
temples and monasteries.
Baptized Catholics Hindus, who are strong in the south of the country, are allowed
1,000 to have their own temples and perform their own ceremonies
and rituals, but they have not been allowed to build new tem-
ples for years.
Buddhist cultural hegemony manifests itself at all levels of
public life. On 20th February 2006 the new satellite TV service
started broadcasting, ostensibly as a national TV network, with
news and other programmes beamed into every home. But, as
Kamala Chetri told AsiaNews, the ten hours in which the
Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) is on the air “are literally
packed with news about the royal family and Buddhist monas-
teries. The entire service smacks of Buddhist preaching. We
58
don’t get anything about Hindus, Muslims or other religions and cultures”. She adds
that, because TV coverage is largely Buddhist in content, “the gap between the Bud-
dhist majority and immigrant Hindus, Christians and Nepalese animists is bound to
grow. It doesn’t really foster co-existence” (AsiaNews, 23rd February 2006).
The expulsion from 1990 on of more than 100,000 Bhutanese of Nepali origin, most-
ly Hindus, is another example of this cultural hegemony. Either forcibly expelled or
driven out by persecution, they are now living in refugee camps in Nepal. Bhutan’s
government claims that they were almost all illegal immigrants and accuses them of
having conspired against Bhutan’s culture and Buddhist religion. But the refugees
maintain that they too are Bhutanese citizens, who have been denied this identity be-
cause of their Nepali origin.
After a century of royalist government the country held its first democratic elections
in 2008. In January voters elected the members of the Upper House and in the follow-
ing months they did the same for the Lower House. This was a fundamental step on
the road towards parliamentary democracy, a goal set by former King Jigme Singhye
Wangchuck, who abdicated in December 2006 in favour of his 27-year-old son Jigme
Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. After the election, the king will continue to be the head
of state but power will thereafter be vested in parliament.
Article 3 of the Constitution states that “Religious institutions and personalities shall
remain above politics” and that Buddhism “promotes among other principles” the
“values of peace, non-violence, compassion and tolerance.” At the same the constitu-
tional charter says that religious figures are above politics, their main concern should
be the spiritual sphere and they should not get involved in politics.
Catholics
Celebrating Mass or praying in public is banned in the country. Priests are denied en-
try visas. Celebrating Mass in private homes is possible but since priests are not al-
lowed into the country, that right is virtually impossible to exercise. There is only one
Christian church in the country and applications to build other places of worship are
BHUTAN
turned down.
Fr Alex Gurung, secretary of the Indian diocese of Darjeeling (which includes within
its territory the small nation of Bhutan), told AsiaNews that Jesuit missionaries were
the “architects of modern education in Bhutan”. But now Catholic priests have been
shunned; “We are no longer welcome, because the authorities fear we may court the
Buddhist people in order to convert them to Christianity. But their fears are unfound-
ed. The Church does not aspire to convert everyone; her only mission is to serve all,
regardless of religion.”
Bishop Stephen Lepcha of Darjeeling confirms that “Indian priests are denied entry
visas”. Officially the justification is the fear that Christians will evangelise the
59
Buddhist population, which is why Bishop Lepcha too was denied an entry visa. Still,
BHUTAN
Catholic groups and priests already in the country are actively involved in social, hu-
manitarian and educational work.
Other Christian communities

On 7th January 2006 two Pentecostal Christians, Benjamin Budhu Mani Dungana and
John Purna Bahadur, were arrested in the village of Nago, Paro district, accused of
proselytising. According to the charges laid against them, the two had invited villagers
to a debate about religion, claiming to be public officials, and during the debate had
spoken against the country’s spiritual leader. In fact, Christian groups claimed, all they
did was to show a videocassette about the life of Jesus in the home of a Buddhist fam-
ily. The following June they were sentenced to three years in prison but were eventu-
ally released, after paying a fine, on 28th July 2006, because of international pressure.
60
BOLIVIA
The Catholic Church greeted the new government of Evo Morales

with hope (ZENIT, 15th January 2006) and her view was reflected
in the pastoral message Construyamos una Bolivia para todos
AREA
(Let us build a Bolivia for everyone). The Bolivian Bishops’ Con-
1,098,581 kmq
ference and the representatives of the Anglican, Evangelical,
Methodist and Episcopalian Churches appealed for the new Con- POPULATION
stitution to respect religious liberty. Soon afterwards Benecio 9,630,000
Quispe, Minister of Public Instruction signed a document, togeth-
REFUGEES
er with the representatives of the Episcopal Conference, guaran-
teeing the teaching of religion in the schools and respect for reli- 632
gious liberty (Radio Giornale Vaticano, 18th July 2006). Howev- INTERNALLY
er, there was a confrontation in the educational field when the DISPLACED
Minister for Education and Culture, Félix Patzi, announced that ---
the teaching of religion as a school subject was to be replaced
with lessons in the history of religion, which would also include
indigenous Indian beliefs. He also accused the Church of having
RELIGIOUS
stood on the side of the ruling oligarchy for the past five centuries.
ADHERENTS
In response, the bishops called for dialogue, underlining the ne-
cessity of living in a state that was pluralist, democratic and ob-
served the rule of law, (Il Regno, 18/2006; Radio Giornale Vati-
cano, 26th July 2006). Despite this, there have been a succession
of minor clashes between the Church, as the guarantor of liberty,
and the authorities. The famous cross of San Francisco de Potosí
was partly destroyed by dynamite (La República, 14th November Baha’i 3.2%
2006). Cardinal Julio Terrazas appealed for peace and dialogue Others 2.7%
between the various opposing political groups (Radio Giornale

Baptized Catholics
Vaticano, 15th November 2006; ZENIT, 28th November 2006). Fi-
8,019,000
nally, after a number of bitter attacks in the name of secularism on
the part of the government, a new educational accord was reached
BOLIVIA
which guarantees the teaching of religion in the primary and sec-
ondary schools. The agreement was signed by Cardinal Julio Ter-
razas and President Evo Morales in Santa Cruz de la Sierra
(ZENIT, 6th December 2006). Nonetheless, the controversial ap-
proval of Morales’ proposed new Constitution in the Department
of Oruro, voted in an irregular manner by government supporters
only, has provoked a division of the country, since four other re-
gions, headed by Santa Cruz de la Sierra, are campaigning for
their own autonomy and for a decentralised government
(L’Osservatore Romano, 10th-11th December 2007).
61
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
In its preamble, and in Article 2 para. 3, the 1995 Constitution

of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina establishes the

right to religious freedom, which is generally respected. In
AREA
practice however, most frequently in mixed ethnic areas, there
51,197 kmq
are serious instances of discrimination against the members of
POPULATION certain groups. Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox Serbs all re-
3,860,000 port many cases of aggression and religious intolerance.
In the context of the traditional religious groupings, the num-
REFUGEES
ber of practising believers is relatively few, but there are how-
7,367 ever some areas in which religion is practised more intensely,
INTERNALLY for example in the Croatian Catholic communities in their par-
DISPLACED ticular ethnic enclaves in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Catholics
131,600 in Bosnia are a minority; they are in the difficult position,
fighting for surviving in an environment which is becoming
more and more regulated by the Islam, i.e. in the Muslim-
Croat Federation or where there are unwelcome, i.e. in the
RELIGIOUS
Serbian Republic.
ADHERENTS
Above all for many Muslims in Bosnia, religion is at the same
time a mark of their ethnic identity, even if their actual religious
practice is confined to the occasional visit to the mosque and to
a handful of important occasions (births, marriages and deaths).
Eight Muftis operate in the country, based in the larger cities
such as Sarajevo, Tuzla, Mostar and Banja Luka.
Muslims 60%
Affiliated Christians 35% During 2006, Parliament was unable to reach agreement on the
Non religious 5% draft law establishing public holidays (religious and national).
Local authorities usually acknowledge as public holidays those
Baptized Catholics
days considered as such by the members of the most numerous
468,000
religious group in the area.
The law on religious freedom governs permissions for religious
groups and establish the right to freedom of religion and con-
science in Bosnia.
A unified register has also been created for all religions at the
Ministry of Justice, while the Ministry for Human Rights and
Refugees is working on documenting all violations of religious
freedom.
According to current legislation, any group of at least three
hundred adult members can build a new church or organise a
religious community by presenting a written request to the
Ministry of Justice, which must decide on approval within
62
thirty days of receiving the request. Should a request be rejected, an appeal may be
submitted to the Council of Ministers.

Separatist pressure is often supported by religious elements; for example, in the month
of June 2007, the Serbian Orthodox Bishop of Trebinje Grigorije called for a referen-
dum seeking the independence from the Bosnian state of the Republika Srpska, the
Serb-ruled entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During 2006 the local authorities resolved upon various ways of assigning and pro-
moting financial support for the main religious communities, which usually tend to re-
ceive most of their funding in those areas in which their members are most numerous.
Parents have the right to enrol their children in private schools for religious reasons.
Many towns and cities have faith-based schools, whether Islamic, Catholic or Serbian
Orthodox.
But the European Schools of the Catholic Church have the aim to build reconciliation
and tolerance between the national groups and religions in Bosnia.
The four largest religious communities in the country have for some time been re-
questing the return of, or compensation for, the properties they owned that were con-
fiscated or nationalised by the communist regime. The State Commission for restitu-
tion is working on drafting a national and unitary law on this issue. For the moment,
in the absence of such a ruling, the decisions fall to the various local authorities.
On 19th April 2007, after six years work, the Holy See and the Bosnian government
signed a Concordat governing the legal status of the Catholic Church in Bosnia. The
treaty was signed by Archbishop Alessandro d’Errico, the apostolic nuncio in Saraje-
vo, representing the Holy See and for Bosnia and Herzegovina by Mr. Ivo Miro Jovíc,
the Croatian member of the country’s collegial Presidency. This event was reported by
L’Osservatore Romano on 28th April. The agreement acknowledges the respective in-
dependence of the two parties, but also their willingness to cooperate. In this way the
legal framework has been established for relations between the State and the Holy
See.
The judicial system continues to a great extent to be an obstacle to the defence of re-
ligious freedom for the minorities. For example, the police rarely arrest those respon-
sible for vandalism against religious buildings or for attacks on the ministers of the
various churches or communities. At a local level, the authorities sometimes impose
restrictions on religious rites and ceremonies. For example, in the Serb-dominated mu-
nicipality of Bratunac, the Serbian population has repeatedly denied local Muslims
permission to build a cemetery or a memorial on the land opposite and surrounding
the city mosque. Sadly, Bratunac is also notorious for the 1992 massacre of 600 peo-
ple, most of them Muslims and including also the local imam.
In the course of the year 2007 the number of attacks on religious symbols, buildings
and religious ministers has also increased. The Catholic Church, the Serbian Orthodox
63
Church, the Protestant and the Muslim communities are all equally the object of ag-
gression and vandalism.

The leaders of the main Religions continue to meet within the Interreligious Council
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, within which they work together to lay the foundations
for resolving both the substantial and the occasional conflicts.
The Catholic and Orthodox churches in particular meet regularly to discuss common
issues and ideas, which it is hoped will lead them to an ever-increasing closeness. Dur-
ing the week of ecumenical dialogue in April 2007, the leader of the Catholic Church
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, presided at a religious service in
the Orthodox cathedral of Sarajevo, while Metropolitan Nikolai, the leader of the Ser-
bian Orthodox Church of Bosnia and Herzegovina, held a service in the Catholic
cathedral of this same city. And similarly Catholic Bishop, Ratko Peric of Mostar met
with the Mufti of Mostar, Seid Effendi Smajkic.
64
BOTSWANA
Article 11 of the Constitution of 1996 guarantees full religious

freedom. The Constitution only restricts freedom on grounds of
national defence, public security, public order, public morality
AREA
or public health. Any suspension of this right by the govern-
581,730 kmq
ment must, however, be shown to be “reasonably justifiable in
a democratic society”. Religious education is provided within POPULATION
schools. However, the Constitution forbids compulsory reli- 1,881,000
gious instruction, compulsory attendance at religious cere-
REFUGEES
monies, as well as any obligation to swear any oath that is in
conflict with one’s personal convictions. 2,465
There is no State religion. All organisations, including religious INTERNALLY
groups, must register with the Ministry of Labour and Internal DISPLACED
Affairs. ---
Between July 2006 and May 2007, 69 new groups registered
successfully.
There are no problems with regard to coexistence between the
RELIGIOUS
various denominations.
ADHERENTS
Sources
University of Botswana, www.thuto.org/ubh/bw/society/
www.afrobarometer.org/resultsbycountry.html

BOTSWANA
Others 14.9%
Baptized Catholics
85,000
65
BRAZIL
Article 5 of the Brazilian Constitution sanctions and safeguards

BRAZIL
religious freedom. Moreover, the penal code, approved in

December 1998, criminalised certain offences against religious
AREA
feelings and respect for the dead. There is no State religion and
8,514,215 kmq
there is, likewise, no obligation to register, instead all the reli-
POPULATION gious groupings are free to organise their own activities. Rela-
186,770,000 tions between the Catholic Church and the State have been gov-
erned since 1945 by a Concordat.
REFUGEES
In practice, there have been no reports of violations of the right
20,783 to religious freedom on the part of the authorities.
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED The problem of abortion
--- Starting with the note issued on 23rd February 2005 by the
standing committee of the Brazilian Bishops’ Conference
(CNBB), the Catholic Church has fought an intensive cam-
paign against the government’s proposed bill for the liberalisa-
RELIGIOUS
tion of abortion. Since the visit by Pope Benedict XVI in May
ADHERENTS
2007, this Bill has currently been removed from the agenda of
the Brazilian Congress.
Indeed, the problem of massive and aggressive “secularist”
mobilisation by a handful of political groupings and likewise by
governments and institutions, was also denounced by the special
council for America of the general secretariat of the Synod of
Ethnoreligionists 4.9% Bishops, in October 2007 (as reported by the ACI Prensa Agency
Others 3.7% on 16th October 2007). These attacks seem to be directed espe-
cially against the Catholic Church, not only in Brazil but through-
Baptized Catholics
out Latin America. Those attending the meeting of the council
157,816,000
pointed to “the production and trafficking of drugs, the violence
and political corruption, the promotion of a series of laws – on
abortion and euthanasia – contrary to all ethical norms”. The
bishops went on to point out the spread of a political ideology “of
a neo-Marxist tendency” that was creating “imbalances in inter-
national relations and among the domestic institutions within
these countries, while aiming to sideline the Catholic Church and
no longer treat it as a partner in the social dialogue”.
The spread of violence

A widespread climate of violence, springing from a variety of
motives, has created difficult conditions for priests and pastoral
66
workers, a fact exemplified by the murder of Father Bruno Baldacci, an Italian priest
who worked in the diocese of Sao Salvador da Bahia. He was murdered in his own
home, in Victoria da Conquista, in the state of Bahia, as reported by the ZENIT news
agency on 31st March 2006.
For their part, the bishops of the Catholic Church in Brazil have likewise expressed
their concern at the increased violence in various regions of the country, in a message
entitled “Justice and peace will embrace” (Fides, 3rd July 2006). “We deplore that in
this sad situation the human rights of so many people have not been not respected”,
state the bishops in this document, specifically referring to recent outbreaks of vio-
lence and aggression in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and in the states of Espirito Santo,
Pará Bahia, and Maranhao. According to the bishops, the situation had deteriorated
above all because of “a lack of adequate policies and the absence of an appropriate use
of power”. The continuous slanders and death threats made “against Church person-
nel, bishops, priests and religious, and against the leaders of popular movements
working in the Altamira and Santaerm regions and elsewhere”, were creating “a cli-
mate of tension and fear in this peaceful and hard- working country”. Faced with this
situation, the Brazilian bishops issued an appeal to the authorities to implement the
necessary measures and guarantee the defence of the rights of all the people.
Sources
Fides
ACI Prensa
ZENIT
Popoli e missioni
www.cnbb.org.br
BRAZIL
67
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
Under the Constitution of 1959 Salafi Islam is the State reli-

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
gion. Religious freedom is recognised but the law restricts the

practice of religions other than Salafi Islam. Proselytism is not
AREA
allowed for non-Muslim religions and importing any religious
5,765 kmq
material is prohibited. Articles and images of other faiths are
POPULATION censored in the press. Non-Salafi religious groups must register
361,000 and provide the names of all their members. Participation in un-
registered groups is punishable with time in prison. Whether re-
REFUGEES
ligious in nature or not, every public meeting involving five or
--- more people must be authorised. The use of private homes for
INTERNALLY religious meetings is banned. Christian schools are allowed but
DISPLACED not the teaching of Christianity. Conversely, courses in the Is-
--- lamic religion are compulsory for all students.
Muslims and non-Muslims are not allowed to marry and any
non-Muslim man who wants to marry a Muslim woman must
convert.
RELIGIOUS
Muslims who want to change religion must obtain a public au-
ADHERENTS
thorisation but social pressures are such that it is virtually im-
possible to do.
In general the government prevents non-Muslim clerics from
entering the country and does not allow the construction or re-
pair of non-Muslim religious building. However, in 2006 and
2007 it did allow the renovation of St. Andrew’s Anglican
Muslims 64.4%
Ethnoreligionists 11.2% Church and it often allows repairs in Christian churches and
Buddhists 9.1% schools for “security reasons”.
Others 7.6%
Baptized Catholics
22,000
68
BULGARIA
The Constitution dated 1991 decrees the right to freedom of re-

ligion, in particular in Article 6. Although the Constitution does
not establish a State religion, Article 13 describes the Orthodox
AREA
Church as the country’s “traditional religion”.
110,912 kmq
The government allocates specific financial aid for this reli-
gion, and also extends such assistance to a few other religious POPULATION
groups historically present in the country, such as Muslims, 7,680,000
Catholics and Jews.
REFUGEES
The Law forbids public religious practice for members of non-
registered groups. A disputed law dating back to 2002 trans- 4,836
ferred responsibility for registration to the Municipal Court of INTERNALLY
Sofia, which manages and updates of the register for religious DISPLACED
denominations, as well as for political parties. However, the in- ---
stitution formally responsible for registration remains the
Board of the Council of Ministers for Religious Denomina-
tions, whose role remains ambiguous.
RELIGIOUS
There are no restrictions to the freedom of activity for regis-
ADHERENTS
tered groups; there are two freely operating Orthodox seminar-
ies, one Jewish school, three Islamic schools and one Islamic
university, a Muslim cultural centre, one seminary for the vari-
ous Protestant Christian denominations and a university theo-
logical faculty. The Bible, the Koran and other religious texts in
Bulgarian are either imported or published directly in the coun-
try with no restrictions, and religious newspapers are also pub- Muslims 11.9%
lished regularly. Non religious 7%
Others 0.1%
About the restitution of property confiscated during the com-
munist period: Orthodox, Catholics, Muslims, Jews and a num-
ber of Protestant denominations have deplored the fact that
Baptized Catholics
73,000
BULGARIA
much of their property has not yet been returned to them. The
Catholic Church, for example, has calculated that only 60 per-
cent of its possessions have been returned.
On 30th March 2007, Vatican Radio reported on a meeting held
at the end of the month in Sofia between the leaders of all the
religions present in Bulgaria. This initiative was promoted by
the Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and supported
(among others) by the Catholic Church represented by Byzan-
tine-rite Bishop Christo Proykov of Sofia, who is president of
the Bulgarian Episcopal Conference, and by the apostolic nun-
cio, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza. At the end of the meeting a
69
common statement was released, signed by all the participants, condemning the ex-
BULGARIA
ploitation of religion in the interests of violence and hatred. Bulgarian Orthodox Met-
ropolitan Dometian of Vidin stated that this was the first of a series of meetings, and
the head of state Georgj Parvanov also expressed his appreciation for this initiative.
The Bulgarian Grand Mufti’s office has reported numerous cases of the profanation of
mosques; for example, on 3rd May 2007 some pigs’ heads were hung outside two
mosques in Silistra. His office has expressed concern at the fact that those responsible
for such actions are rarely punished by the courts.
The extremist political party Ataka has launched a campaign aimed at silencing the
loudspeakers used for calling the faithful to prayers at the mosque in Sofia, claiming
that the high volume of these announcements is disturbing residents in the city’s cen-
tral area. At the request of the Mayor of Sofia, the Grand Mufti has promised that the
volume will be lowered, but only if it is proven that these are in excess of the noise
levels permitted by the law.
On 19th September 2007, Vatican Radio reported on the words of the apostolic nuncio
in Bulgaria, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, at the end of a conference on the Catholic
Church’s role in the Balkans – the “Crossroads of Europe” – held at the Diplomatic
Institute at the Foreign Ministry in Sofia. The nuncio observed that “in recent years
relations between Bulgaria and the Church, and the Holy See in particular, have made
significant progress – especially after the Pope’s visit in May 2002”. Ambassador Mi-
lan Milanov emphasised that “in Sofia we have the Catholic cathedral, the synagogue
and the mosque all close together, as a symbol of this positive spirit that Bulgaria
wishes to have with regard to religion”.
70
BURKINA FASO
The Constitution acknowledges religious freedom and the gov-

ernment protects the citizens’ right to profess their religion and
contributes to its free practice. The country is a secular state
AREA
and hence no particular religion is favoured or enjoys particu-
274,200 kmq
lar subsidies. In its most recent census (1996) the government
estimated that about 60 percent of the population follows the Is- POPULATION
lamic faith and that most of the members of this group belong 14,126,000
to the Sunni branch. About 24 percent of the inhabitants follow
REFUGEES
traditional indigenous religions, while 17 percent belong to the
Roman Catholic Church. Statistics on religion are to be consid- 535
ered extremely approximate however, since the practice of the INTERNALLY
indigenous religions is widespread at various levels, both DISPLACED
among Christians and Muslims. ---
Most Muslims live in the northern, eastern and western parts of
the country as well as along the country’s borders, while Chris-
tians live mainly in the interior.
RELIGIOUS
All organisations, whether religious or not, must register with
ADHERENTS
the Ministry for Territorial Administration so as to obtain ju-
ridical status. According to Article 45 of the Constitution, non-
BURKINA FASO
registration involves payment of a fine. However, during the
period covered by this report, the government had never denied
anyone registration.
Although there are no reports of abuse or discrimination as far
Muslims 48.6%
as religion and its practice are concerned, at times however Ethnoreligionists 34.1%
members of certain communities, especially rural ones, force Affiliated Christians 16.7%
Others 0.6%
old women, whom they accuse of witchcraft, to leave the vil-
lages. The Catholic Church has funded a special centre, the Baptized Catholics
Centre Delwende, which gives refuge to these women, as well 1,734,000
as to vagrants. The ministry for social action and solidarity, to-
gether with various other non-governmental and religious or-
ganisations, has maintained other similar places of refuge,
among other places in the capital Ouagadougou.
A number of Muslims continue to view the law against female
genital mutilation, approved by the government in 1996, as an
act of discrimination against their religion, and therefore this pro-
cedure against women cannot be considered as totally abolished.
Sources
ACN News; Fides; MISNA
71
BURUNDI
The 2005 Constitution confirms the right to religious freedom,

BURUNDI
as already established in the previous Constitution. Religious

groups must register with the Ministry of the Interior and have
AREA
head offices in this country. Groups that have not registered
27,834 kmq
have their offices and places of worship closed down and are
POPULATION forbidden from all activities. Should they violate these provi-
7,546,000 sions, those held legally responsible can be sentenced to be-
tween six months and five years in prison. The new Constitu-
REFUGEES
tion has for the first time acknowledged as national holidays
24,483 not only a number of Christian festivals, but also Islamic ones
INTERNALLY such as Eid al-Fitr (celebrating the end of Ramadan) and Eid
DISPLACED al-Adha (for the end of the Haji).
100,000 Hopes for peace were not fully satisfied when the Constitution
assigned the available seats in parliament on the basis of ethnic
criteria – satisfying requests from the Tutsis for a greater pub-
lic role (the Tutsis, representing 14 percent of the population,
RELIGIOUS
getting 40 percent of the seats, while the Hutus, at 85 percent
ADHERENTS
of the population, get about 60 percent) – and when, in Septem-
ber 2006, the last rebel group, the National Liberation Forces
(FNL), had signed a provisional peace agreement with the gov-
ernment. But hostilities recommenced in July 2007 and the
FNL continued to kill people and loot villages and small towns,
as in the province of Burbanza in the northeast of the country,
Ethnoreligionists 6.7% obliging thousands of people to abandon their homes to escape
Others 1.6% the constant incursions. The country is experiencing difficulties
in moving beyond the civil war that started in 1993 between the
Baptized Catholics
two main ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis, and resulted
5,078,000
in over 300,000 deaths. Democratic elections were held, but
abuse by the army and the police continue – torture and appar-
ent extrajudicial executions have occurred, as well as incidents
of corruption and the arrest of political opponents.
Catholics
On the evening of 4th February 2006, the 59-year-old Jesuit Fa-
ther Elie Koma was killed in the capital city of Bujumbura. He
was in a car driving past a bar on the main road, where a group
of armed men had shot an officer in the Burundi National De-
fence Forces, Major Ruguraguza, and his wife. It is thought that
Father Koma was killed so as to eliminate a potential witness to
72
the crime. The murderers initially stopped his car by shooting at the tyres, then they
killed him with five shots in his back (Fides). The priest was responsible for the new
church built in Kamenge, one of the poorest districts in the capital and was greatly re-
spected for his apostolate as the director of spiritual retreats.
The circumstances surounding the murder on 29th December 2003 of the Apostolic
Nuncio, the Irish Archbishop Michael Aidan Courtney, have not yet been clarified. He
was shot in an ambush in Minago. The priest was a great promoter of peace in the civ-
il war that devastated this country and the current peace agreement is considered to be
in large part the result of his efforts.
On the evening of 31st December 2007, a 31 year-old French aid worker, Agnes Dury,
was killed. She was a psychologist working for Action Contre la Faim. In the Ruyigi
region, a man fired a machine gun at the car in which the young woman was travel-
ling with a colleague (who was seriously wounded) and two local assistants. As a re-
sult, the agency decided to suspend operations in this country.
Sources
Fides
MISNA
BURUNDI
73
CAMBODIA
Article 43 of the Constitution of 1993 guarantees religious free-

CAMBODIA
dom and forbids all forms of discrimination on the basis of re-

ligious belief. At the same time though, it recognises Buddhism
AREA
as the State religion.
181,035 kmq
Every religious group must register, including Buddhist groups,
POPULATION in order to be able to conduct their activities or construct their
14,287,000 places of worship, but failure to register is not penalised. Mis-
sionary groups can freely operate, although a directive issued on
REFUGEES
26th June 2007 bans “door-to-door” proselytism, the distribution
179 of Christian literature outside churches and other practices con-
INTERNALLY sidered to be intrusive, like the use of loudspeakers. The same
DISPLACED regulation also bans the “making use of money or material in-
--- centives” to bring about conversions, a rule that does not apply
to Buddhists. According to Agence France Presse the regulation
is directed first and foremost at Evangelical Christians who are
often accused of offering food, clothes and free English lessons
RELIGIOUS
in order to persuade people to convert. Moreover, special per-
ADHERENTS
mission is also required for the construction of churches.
State authorisation is also required for places of worship and re-
ligious schools, and new places of worship must be built at least
two kilometres away from the nearest existing one, however
this stipulation is not required for the administrative offices of
these religious groups.
Buddhists 84.7%
Traditional chinese The repression and forced repatriation of the Montagnards has
religions 4.7% continued. Most members of this ethnic minority are Christian,
Muslims 2.3% having emigrated here from Vietnam’s highlands to avoid per-
Affiliated Christians 1.1% secution by the Vietnamese authorities, who have accused them
Others 2.8%
of “secession” and “public disorder”; seized their lands; and
Baptized Catholics singled them out because of their religion. In the end though,
24,000 their fate has been much the same on both sides of the border.
The Cambodian authorities have often returned them to Viet-
nam where they risk police reprisals. Human Rights Watch has
denounced the use of violence, the beatings with truncheons
and use of electric shocks to “persuade” them to go home.
Forced repatriation has been carried out in spite of an agree-
ment with the United Nations which would allow them to ap-
ply for settlement in a third country, or at least assure a repatri-
ation process that is “orderly and safe” and “in accordance with
national and international law.”
74
Catholics
The Child Jesus Catholic Church was officially opened in Boeung Tum Pun, Phnom
Penh, on 6th January 2008, the feast of Epiphany. It is the first church to be built and
consecrated since the Khmer Rouge era, when millions of people were exterminated
or deported.
Other Christians
On 28th April 2006 about 300 Buddhists from the village of Boeng Krum Leu, some
30 kilometres from Phnom Penh, tore down a Protestant church under construction.
Local sources said that it was being built at “only” 700 metres from a pagoda, some-
thing that was seen as a provocation. The 20 to 30 Christians in the village did not file
any lawsuit or demand compensation. Eventually the parties reached a compromise.
Buddhists
In the lead-up to the 2007 municipal elections and the 2008 parliamentary elections,
the state reaffirmed the right of Buddhist monks to vote, contrary to the wishes of
many Buddhist religious leaders who believe that monks should not vote, since they
believe that going to polling stations could lead some into temptation. Buddhist monks
number around 58,000 out of a population of some 14 million people and enjoy great
influence.
By contrast, the Cambodian authorities have persecuted the ethnic Khmer Krom Bud-
dhist monks who fled to Cambodia from southern Vietnam to escape persecution in
that country. Their practice has been to repatriate these monks, even though they suf-
fer abuse and are put into prison back home. In one instance, on 17th December 2007,
police attacked and beat up 47 Khmer Krom Buddhist monks in order to stop them
from submitting a petition to the Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh protesting
against the arrest of Buddhist monks in Vietnam. Human Rights Watch reported that
the protest was peaceful, despite claims by the authorities that protesters were “fake
CAMBODIA
monks who instigated the violence.” In June 2007 monk Tim Sakhorn was sent back
to Vietnam where he was imprisoned, charged with undermining national unity by
handing out pamphlets about the Khmer Krom group and protecting other monks who
had fled the country. In the same month the Ministry of Cults and Religion issued a
directive banning Khmer Krom monks from taking part in any public demonstration.
On 27th February 2007 a monk who had led protests in front of the Vietnamese Em-
bassy in the Cambodian capital was found dead – his throat had been cut.
75
CAMEROON
Freedom of religion and the the secular character of the state

CAMEROON
are guaranteed in the Preamble to the 1976 Constitution, as

amended in 1996.
AREA
The country is generally characterised by a high degree of reli-
475,442 kmq
gious tolerance. Islamic centres and Christian churches coexist
POPULATION in the national territory and it is only in the northern provinces
17,173,000 that there have been reports of tensions between ethnic groups;
tensions which involve both religious and tribal issues.
REFUGEES Religious groups must register with the Ministry for Territorial
60,137 Authority (MINATD). Operating without authorisation is consid-
INTERNALLY ered illegal; however, there are no specific penalties or sanctions.
DISPLACED For bureaucratic reasons, registration can take a number of years.
--- In spite of the liberalisation of radio and television broadcast-
ing, implemented in line with a decree of 2000, freedom of the
media remains rather fragile, due to the government’s slowness
in providing authorisation. Consequently, many radio stations
RELIGIOUS operate without a licence. One of these is Radio Veritas, which
ADHERENTS still has only a temporary permit.
Witchcraft is a criminal offence as established by the Penal Code.
On 28th February 2006, Christians and Muslims cooperated in
opposing violence. Christian, Muslim and civil organisations
joined together for a vast national campaign aimed at alerting
the population to the need to oppose violence. This campaign
Affiliated Christians 54.2% was supported by the Catholic Episcopal Conference’s national
Muslims 21.2% Justice and Peace commission, by the Council of Protestant
Others 0.9% Churches in Cameroon (CEPCA), the Ecumenical Service for
Peace (SEP), the Cameroon High Islamic Council (CSIC) and
Baptized Catholics
also by a secular NGO. This initiative was part of the activities
4,699,000
included in the “Easter Week”, organised every year by the
Christian churches of Cameroon during Lent. The theme chosen
for 2006 was in fact “the traditional authorities as the driving
force in the struggle against violence and for building up peace
in Cameroon”. The week began with a forum, from 24th-26th
February in Ebolowa, in southern Cameroon. Three hundred vil-
lage chiefs participated, and spoke of the role of the traditional
leaders in promoting a culture of non-violence. Another subject
of intensive discussion was that of violence against women.
Sources
APIC/Le Messager, 28th February 2006; Vatican Radio
76
CANADA
A brief summary
In practice religious freedom is respected and the various dif-
ferent faiths, of whatever kind, are free to teach their beliefs
AREA
and to exercise them in practice.
9,970,610 kmq
This freedom is not challenged, except by a few minority
groups of a more secularist nature who would like to see the re- POPULATION
ligions relegated to the strictly private sphere, in other words to 39,980,000
be allowed no say on the great social issues such as marriage,
REFUGEES
poverty or abortion.
175,741
Québec asking questions… questions of Canada! INTERNALLY
In 2007 the government of the province of Québec established DISPLACED
a “Consultation Commission on Accommodation Practices Re- ---
lated to Cultural Differences”. Between September and Decem-
ber this commission held forums in all the major cities of the
province and heard the views of numerous different groups and
RELIGIOUS
individuals, including that of the Assembly of Québec Catholic
ADHERENTS
Bishops. This assembly called for religion not to be confined to
the private sphere. “This is a right that is recognized in the Uni-
versal Declaration of Human Rights. To refuse this in the name
of a strict or radical secularism would be to take a step back-
wards in a society that respects the rule of law”, the assembly’s
statement emphasises. The bishops were reacting to a number
of different statements from groups and individuals, demanding Non religious 9.2%
that the Churches and the religions should have no say in the Others 11.3%
public sphere on the major social issues. The commission is due

Baptized Catholics
to report on 31th March 2008.
14,238,000
Also in Québec, but being closely watched by many Catholic
parents throughout Canada, is the obligatory introduction (from
CANADA
primary school age onwards) of a new Ethics and Religious
Culture Program as from September 2008. Many Catholic par-
ents are protesting at the lack of liberty and they fear that this
course will relativise the religious instruction given in the
parishes or at home. Parents are therefore demanding the right
of choice for every school to offer religious instruction corre-
sponding to the religious majority of the school concerned.
They are supported in their efforts by the Archbishop of
Québec and Primate of Canada, Cardinal Marc Ouellet. The
Archbishop of Montréal, Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte is also
77
due to give his comments in March, after having examined the contents of the course.
CANADA
Catholic private schools will be obliged to introduce courses in ethics. However, the
law covering this new course will not prevent them from establishing faith-based ac-
tivities outside normal school hours.
Prayers in the town hall?

Another issue that has attracted notice is that of prayer in the town halls before meet-
ings. Some towns have decided to abolish this time of prayer, replacing it with a time
of personal silence. Others have retained it however. Some individuals are currently
taking action against the municipal councils before the Québec Commission of Hu-
man Rights, on the grounds of discrimination.
78
CAPE VERDE
The Constitution establishes religious freedom, and the govern-

ment generally respects this right trying at all levels to protect
it and not tolerating any forms of abuse.
AREA
The Penal Code, in force since 2004, lays down that that viola-
4,033 kmq
tions of religious freedom are crimes punishable with sentences
ranging from 3 months to 3 years imprisonment. POPULATION
There is no State religion; on the contrary, the Constitution es- 489,000
tablishes a clear separation between State and Church, and for-
REFUGEES
bids the State from imposing any religious beliefs. However,
since the Catholic religion is professed by 85 percent of the ---
population (on the basis of a rather approximate census carried INTERNALLY
out by local churches), the Catholic Church enjoys a privileged DISPLACED
status in the county’s life. For example, the government pro- ---
vides the Catholic Church with free TV time for religious func-
tions.
All associations, both religious and secular, must register with
RELIGIOUS
the Ministry for Justice so as to obtain juridical status. Regis-
ADHERENTS
tration is compulsory under the Constitution and the laws reg-
ulating associations. There are no particular incentives for reg-
istration and there are no sanctions for non-compliance. The
only disadvantage being that non-registered groups cannot re-
quest government or private loans and benefits, which regis-
tered associations enjoy.
CAPE VERDE
Muslims 2.8%
Source Others 2.1%
MISNA
Baptized Catholics
453,000
79
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The 1994 Constitution does not explicitly mention religious

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
freedom; however, Article 8 guarantees freedom of worship

and forbids all forms of religious extremism and intolerance.
AREA
Witchcraft and the practice of magic are defined crimes under
622,984 kmq
the Penal Code, however there have been numerous cases of
POPULATION abuse in this country against people accused of witchcraft.
4,013,000 As Bishop Pietro Marzinkowski of Alindao diocese has testi-
fied, the “battle against witchcraft” is one of the greatest prob-
REFUGEES
lems for the Church in the Central African Republic. In the
7,535 bishop’s words, there is in the minds of so many local people
INTERNALLY “no natural explanation for death, disease or natural disasters”.
DISPLACED According to Bishop Marzinkowski, many people are looking
197,000 for a scapegoat who, they believe, has caused these misfortunes
through witchcraft. Anyone can be accused of witchcraft, even
on the slightest of pretexts or simply out of personal malice. He
also emphasised the fact that such incidents occur even among
RELIGIOUS
Christians, since in many of these people the Christian faith is
ADHERENTS
not yet sufficiently deeply-rooted, which means that it is very
easy for them to fall back into “their traditional way of think-
ing”.
In April 2005, the presidential elections marking the end of the
transitional period were seen as the beginning of an era of re-
newal for this country. However, by 2006, the Central African
Muslims 15.6% Republic seemed to be on the brink of war again, because of the
Ethnoreligionists 15.4% armed clashes in the north of the country and the desperate eco-
Others 1.2%
nomic situation. In the space of only two weeks at the end of
Baptized Catholics February 2006, about five thousand people were thought to
889,000 have fled the north-west of the country in order to take refuge
in Southern Chad, because of the clashes between the army and
unidentified armed groups.
Sources
Afrobarometer Surveys
PeaceReporter
80
CHAD
The Constitution of 1996 (Article 1) declares Chad to be a sec-

ular state and affirms the separation of state and religion whilst
guaranteeing religious freedom (Article 27). Through the Inte-
AREA
rior Ministry and the Department of Religious Affairs and Tra-
1,284,000 kmq
dition, the government manages the practical aspects of reli-
gion and intervenes in case of disagreements. POPULATION
All religious groups must officially register with the Depart- 9,643,000
ment of Religious Affairs. The World Association of Muslim
REFUGEES
Youth was banned in 2007 because it considers violence a pre-
cept of Islam, in clear violation of the country’s Constitution 294,017
which prohibits associations and propaganda that threaten civil INTERNALLY
coexistence (Article 5). DISPLACED
Religious education is banned in state schools but allowed in 185,335
private institutions.
Relations between the various religious groups are peaceful and
the main religious leaders meet on a regular basis. Only in a
RELIGIOUS
few cases have there been tensions between the various differ-
ADHERENTS
ent Muslim groups or between Christians and Muslims.
Local conflicts
Chad’s main problems, including those affecting the free prac-
tice of religion, are due to the situation of civil conflict in the
country.
Muslims 59.1%
Idriss Deby, who came to power in a coup in 1990, was re- Affiliated Christians 22.8%
elected president of Chad on 3rd May 2006 in the first round of Ethnoreligionists 17%
Others 1.1%
the presidential elections. Deby was able to run for a third time
after a controversial amendment to the Constitution was adopt- Baptized Catholics
ed in 2005. The election was preceded by clashes between the 934,000
rebels of the Front uni pour le changement (United Front for
Change, or FUC) and government forces, even inside the capi-
tal N’Djamena. In March of the same year an assassination at-
tempt against Deby was foiled, involving a plan to shoot down
the presidential plane as it was returning from Equatorial
CHAD
Guinea.
A month before the poll, the Bishops’ Conference of Chad ap-
pealed to the government and rebels to engage in a dialogue in
the “general interest” of the country. The bishops called for a
“ceasefire” and asked the government to postpone the election.
In their appeal the prelates voiced their concern over the
81
deteriorating political situation, pointing to the extensions of the presidential mandate

CHAD
through constitutional amendments, the changes to the Petroleum Law, the willingness
to hold presidential elections despite protests by the political opposition and civil so-
ciety, the overall lack of dialogue and the numerous desertions from the army, which
had turned political movements into armed groups.
In November 2006 the president declared a state of emergency in the capital and in the
country’s eastern regions – a special measure taken after violent clashes had broken
out between different ethnic groups, leading to hundreds of deaths. On that occasion
the government accused Arab militias from Sudan of provoking clashes between Cha-
dian citizens of Arab origin and members of other ethnic groups by means of their
raids across the eastern Chad-Darfur border.
In February 2007 a report by the AGI News Agency quoted the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees as calling for an international force to be sent to eastern
Chad to stop the violence against Sudanese refugees.
In March 2007 the first negotiations in Libya between the rebels and the Deby gov-
ernment prompted the delegations of the armed anti-government movements to spell
out their demands – these included the amendment of the Constitution, a national uni-
ty government and the appointment of a prime minister acceptable to all parties, or
nominated by the opposition, to work with the president in governing the country.
However, it was not until August 2007 that a final deal was reached that provides for
fresh elections in 2009 and the creation in the interim of a 31-member electoral com-
mission (15 appointed by the opposition, 15 by the majority and a chairman jointly se-
lected).
Sources
PeaceReporter, 14th August 2007
AGI, 15th March 2006
AGI, 16th February 2007
PeaceReporter, 27th February 2006
Reuters, 13th November 2006
swissinfo, 1st April 2007
82
CHILE
Religious freedom
In Chile there is constitutional recognition for religious free-
dom as the fundamental right of every individual. According to
AREA
the most recent population census of 2002, out of a total of
756,626 kmq
15,116,435 inhabitants some 11,226,309 were aged 15 or over.
Of these, 10,294,319 described themselves as believers, while POPULATION
931,990 indicated that they had no religion, i.e. were atheists or 16,430,000
agnostics (8.3 percent). The majority of the inhabitants of Chile
REFUGEES
are Catholics (69.96 percent), followed by Evangelicals (a total
16.14 percent of the population, without distinction between es- 1,376
tablished Protestant churches and the various new evangelical INTERNALLY
denominations), Jehovah’s Witnesses (1.06 percent), Mormons DISPLACED
(0.92 percent), Jews (0.13 percent), Orthodox (0.06 percent), ---
Muslims (0.03 percent) and around 4.39 percent of respondents
who described themselves as belonging to another faith or
creed.
RELIGIOUS
Since 2006, in preparation for the bicentenary of national inde-
ADHERENTS
pendence, an annual National Bicentenary Survey (Encuesta
Nacional Bicentenario), which includes aspects relating to reli-
gion, has been organised by the Pontifical Catholic University
of Chile in association with a respected polling agency. Thanks
to this, it has been possible to establish, for example, that
among those who declare themselves to be atheist or agnostics
there are some who believe in God; that some Catholics believe Non religious 9.5%
in witchcraft and that among Evangelicals there are some who Others 1.3%
believe in the Virgin Mary.

Baptized Catholics
The associative dimension of religious freedom is expressed
12,166,000
both in the recognition of the constitutional status of the
Catholic Church as a juridical person under the civil law, as al-
so in the freedom of other organisations to establish themselves
either according to the civil law or under the 1999 law on reli-
gious organisations. As of the present time, some 1,400 bodies
CHILE
have opted for the latter, which recognizes their legal status un-
der civil law, and by virtue of which they can benefit, among
other things, from: various fiscal exemptions; protection of
their ministers of religion; and facilities for providing religious
assistance in prisons, hospitals and the armed forces. Religious
education is provided in all state or state-subsidised education-
al establishments, for those pupils who request it.
83
The Catholic Church plays an important role in the public domain and this is reflect-
CHILE
ed in various ways: in the civil recognition of her religious festivals; in the celebration
of an ecumenical Te Deum to commemorate National Independence; the participation
of members of the episcopate on government advisory committees; an Armed Forces
Bishop, established under an accord between the Chilean government and the Holy
See; diplomatic relations with the Holy See, dating back almost 200 years, under
which the Apostolic Nuncio is recognized as the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps; the
former presidential palace and seat of government (the Palacio de La Moneda) has its
own Catholic chapel and permanent chaplain; and the many public religious festivals
of ancient date, such as the procession of the Señor de Mayo, which has been held un-
interruptedly in the capital since 1647.
The overall situation. Christians and other communities

The National Congress has approved a range of legal texts which recognize and safe-
guard religious liberty. For example it has amended the labour laws to facilitate op-
portunities for rest days for those working in the commercial sector at Christmas time
and other festivals; with the prior agreement of the Church authorities it has replaced
the civil holiday on the feast of Corpus Christi with another on the feast of Our Lady
of Carmel, who is the Patroness of the Republic; it has authorised the erection of mon-
uments in various parts of the country in honour of the memory of two deceased
Catholic bishops (one of whom is currently a candidate for possible canonisation); and
it has granted Chilean nationality to a Lutheran bishop.
The government has a nominated a female pastor as chaplain to Evangelicals working
in the government offices and their families. Moreover, it has declared a National
Bible Day (Día Nacional de la Biblia) in response to requests by Protestant and Evan-
gelical organisations and it has authorised collections on behalf of various religious
organisations or their evangelistic initiatives as a means of contributing to their finan-
cial support.
A new legislative proposal has been announced that would amend the existing law on
the juridical status of religious organisations; it is hoped that this would strengthen a
weakness in the present law by preventing the establishment of sects which attack re-
ligious freedom or seek the enrichment of their leaders.
Insidious persecution and discrimination against Catholics

With regard to the right to life, the government has sought to facilitate general access
by the population to pharmaceutical products which it regards as contraceptives but
which, according to its opponents – notably the Chilean episcopate – have been shown
on the basis of scientific evidence to be potentially abortifacient. The latest measure
has consisted in incorporating these in a general government “reproductive-health”
84
measure, which allows these tablets even to be given to minors without the knowledge
or consent of their parents. This top-level government decree has been challenged by
a group of parliamentarians and is now awaiting judgment as to its constitutionality
by the Constitutional Court.
Various members of the governing coalition have submitted bills to Parliament for the
legalisation of certain forms of abortion and of homosexual unions. The former have
not been accepted for discussion and the latter have not so far reached debate in the
National Congress. A group of parliamentary deputies from a number of different po-
litical parties has established a Parliamentary Front for Life (Frente Parlamentario
por la Vida), which opposes all legislative initiatives that constitute an attack on life.
Currently under discussion in Parliament is a proposed law which would “establish
measures against discrimination” and which seeks to incorporate under a definition of
‘arbitrary discrimination’ all distinctions based on sexual orientation or gender and to
invoke legal penalties for this.
Another cause for concern has been the publication of articles in the press revealing
the exchanges made during a fake confession, while another incident involved pho-
tomontages depicting the faces of senior Church figures. During the year 2007 con-
siderable controversy was caused by the showing of the satirical cartoon “Popetown”
(PapaVilla) by one particular cable TV channel. The national television council (Con-
sejo Nacional de TV) decided by a majority vote that this did not constitute an affront
to the Catholic faith. This same TV council however admonished another television
channel for having impugned the honour of an evangelical pastor in the making of an
investigative programme.
Although only isolated instances, some of the sentences passed by national courts
have involved imposing acts of worship (e.g. attendance at Sunday Mass) as a punish-
ment on those found guilty of illegal activities. This is a matter of concern, since it
presupposes that the civil courts have jurisdiction over individual consciences, there-
by damaging the essence of traditional freedom of worship.
Faced with a situation involving a religious education teacher who was a lesbian, the
courts acknowledged the right of religious authorities to decide as to the moral suit-
ability of teachers of religion (as required by the relevant state laws) of whatever con-
fession, in conformity with the requirements of the denomination concerned.
CHILE
85
CHINA
The Party and the various religions

CHINA
2008 is the year of the Beijing Olympic Games. From 8th-24th

August 2008 millions of people from all over the world will
AREA
visit China, watch the Olympics and be able to observe daily
9,560,175 kmq
life in the country. With the whole world watching, China is
POPULATION trying to appear as efficient, modern, welcoming and open as
1,330,297,000 possible. Advertising in China portrays the Olympic Games as
the summit of China’s modernisation, and the country as “equal
REFUGEES
to all the others”. That is why its leadership is careful not to
301,078 cause tensions, criticism, or conflict, not least in regard to reli-
INTERNALLY gion.
DISPLACED
--- Religious freedom at the Olympic Games
These Olympic Games are seen by many of the world’s reli-
gious communities (Protestants, Tibetan Buddhists Falun
Gong, etc.), as an opportunity for testing the level of religious
RELIGIOUS
freedom enjoyed in China. Hence many people have, for some
ADHERENTS
time, been preparing to use the period of the Olympics to evan-
gelise the population, to distribute books and teaching material
about their faith and meet Chinese members of their communi-
ties.
Chinese reaction to this pressure has been immediate and the
state at once issued directives for welcoming foreign athletes
Non religious 50.3%
Traditional chinese and tourists. Statements by the managing group for Beijing’s
religions 28.5% Olympic Committee have emphasised that it is forbidden to
Buddhists 8.4%
Affiliated Christians 7.1% “import religious propaganda material”. In response to criti-
Others 5.7% cism from the international community, which saw this as a to-
tal ban, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry replied that
Baptized Catholics
CHINA: “foreigners are permitted to bring in religious objects or mate-
8,000,000*
rial, including printed, audio and video material for their per-
*estimated sonal use”. He added: “The right to religious freedom is pro-
tected by the Chinese Constitution and by the law.” (Xinhua
HONG KONG: News Agency, 8th November 2007)
349,000 This means that during the Olympics nothing will change as far
MACAO: as the usual rules on religious activities are concerned. The ap-
28,000 plication of these rules means that it will be forbidden to bring
TAIWAN: in texts of the Falun Gong, which China defines as an outlawed
304,000
“evil cult”; also banned is the distribution of Bibles or religious
books, and any activity in support of Tibet and the Dalai Lama,
86
or meetings with Christians of the underground communities may be subject to pros-

ecution. In short, all free and unsupervised links between the Chinese communities
and foreigners are banned. Any such relations have to be regulated – and registered –
by their respective Patriotic Associations.
The official Beijing Olympic Games website (www.beijing2008.cn) only contains in-
structions not to bring in “dangerous materials” – blood, infected animals and materi-
als “detrimental to Chinese policies”. But a note then specifies: “It is recommended
that you do not bring in more than one Bible to China on any given visit.” (see
http://en.beijing2008.cn/22/69/article212026922.shtml).
The Politburo and the growth of religions

It does however remain a fact, that the Party is devoting more and more attention to
the religions, to their development and influence within society. On 18th December
2007, in a plenary session of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),
the subject of religion was formally discussed for the first time in the history of the
People’s Republic, and without the usual Marxist-Leninist clichés about the “opium
of the people”.
A short announcement by the Xinhua Agency (19th December 2007) reported that Hu
Jintao, the secretary general of the Party and President of the Republic, had personal-
ly intervened with a keynote address, emphasising the positive role played by religion
in creating a “harmonious society” (one of his favourite slogans for portraying a coun-
try in which there is universal wellbeing, where the gap between rich and poor is less-
ened and where all strive for a development respectful of the environment).
Confidential sources at AsiaNews observe that the decision to discuss the religions and
their contribution was dictated above all by two elements:
a) The fear that China might experience the same events as Myanmar, a country
that entertains good relations with China, where the summer protests of 2007 –
for democracy, against the high cost of living and against the military junta –
were started precisely by Buddhist monks (Buddhism is the most widespread
religion in China) and led to clashes between the army and the people. One
should bear in mind that in China at least 300 demonstrations or clashes with
CHINA
the police occur every day, over the cost of living, the expropriation of people’s
land and homes, problems linked to pollution, etc.
b) The great rebirth of religion that is happening within Chinese society and even
within the Party.
The impression is that this plenary session of the Politburo was held in order to pre-
pare to tackle any possible alliances between the religious communities and the disaf-
fected with Chinese society, and to find a way to tame these religious forces. Such a
87
strategy has been rendered still more urgent by the discovery that the Party is no
CHINA
longer capable of directly controlling the religious lives of the Chinese people.
According to the Protestant Forum 18 News Service (quoted by AsiaNews, 15th De-
cember 2006) it is precisely the Party’s determination to control all religious activities
– through the registration of personnel and places of worship by the State Administra-
tion of Religious Affairs (SARA) and through their supervision by the Patriotic Asso-
ciations – that is pushing many believers to swell the numbers of the non-registered or
underground communities.
At a deeper level, the religions are developing in an unexpected manner. Research by
two Professors, Tong Shijun and Liu Zhongyu, from Shanghai’s Normal University,
has shown that there are at least 300 million believers in China, more than triple the
number estimated a few years ago by the government (see People’s Daily and
AsiaNews, 7th February 2007). Their findings emphasise that the religion that has
grown the most is Christianity, with 12 percent of believers, or 40 million people
claiming to be followers of Christ. In 2005 Beijing had estimated that there were 16
million Christians, while at the end of the Nineties – again according to government
data – there were a little over 10 million.
According to Liu, the rural areas are the most affected by this phenomenon, although
“poverty is not the motivation inspiring the new believers, since most of them come
from the coastal regions, which are wealthy and developed”. The average age of be-
lievers is also lower: about 2/3 of those interviewed were aged between 16 and 35,
while only 9.6 percent were 55 years old or older. The reasons for this religious
reawakening are also interesting. Some 24.1 percent of those interviewed answered
that religion “shows the true path of life”, while 28 percent, believed that it “helps cure
diseases, avoid misfortunes and lead to a better life”.
These data confirm the many testimonies of Christian bishops, who speak of a “great
thirst for God” among the Chinese people, stifled by decades of Marxist materialism
and centuries of Confucian materialism.
The point is that this new religious revival has also affected the Party. According to
data published by Epoch Times (12th November 2005), at least 20 out of the 60 million
Party members believe in some form of religion.
Secret statistics drawn-up by the Party’s Disciplinary Committee, and sent to the West,
show that the number of Party members involved in religious activities in the cities is
around 12 million, at least 5 million of them on a regular basis. In rural areas there are
8 million party members, of whom at least 4 million participate in religious activities
regularly. In some cases all levels of the Party are involved; indeed, in no small num-
ber of cases even the entire local leadership. In order to avoid problems with the na-
tional leadership, some middle and higher-ranking Party members have even convert-
ed a room in their homes into an underground house church.
88
Among these “religions” there are also various “unscientific beliefs”. A study by the
China National School of Administration, conducted at the end of 2006, showed that
28 percent of the Communist Party’s “atheist” officials believed in physiognomy (the
art of determining a person’s character according to the forms and features of the
face); 18 percent resorted to the ancient philosophy of Zhou Gong for interpreting
dreams, 13.7 percent relied on astrology, 6 percent used the Taoist I Ching to read the
future, and that only a minority, albeit a sizeable one of 47 percent, stated that they did
not believe in such “superstitions”.
This is a further sign of the mistrust the Chinese have towards the Party and its ideol-
ogy. Wang Changjiang, a professor at the Party’s central school, says that these “super-
stitious” practices are emerging because the communist “revolutionary theories” have
proved inadequate in explaining everyday reality (see AsiaNews, 24th May 2007).
Over four years ago, in an attempt to counter this religious surge within its own ranks,
the CCP launched a campaign for spreading atheism via radio, television, internet, and
university seminars. In 2006 it also funded a 20-million-Euro campaign to revitalise
Marxism. Some Party members however remain convinced that the religions can con-
tribute to social harmony, stability and development. Hence their growth should not
be checked, they say, and party members should be allowed to participate in religious
activities.
One can envisage that the Chinese leadership is divided as to how to deal with the re-
ligions. On the one hand it exploits them; on the other, it controls them so that they do
not become a direct challenge to its power. Those who seek to escape this control –
the faithful of the underground communities – are arrested, their communities dis-
persed and their churches destroyed. The charge against them is never “religious ac-
tivity”, but “disturbing social order”.
Discriminatory support for some religions

Aware of its loss of credibility, the Party is using some religions in order to maintain
its power, and discriminating against others. Those that are helped, financed and sup-
ported are Confucianism (a moral doctrine rather than a religion), Buddhism, and Tao-
ism.
CHINA
Since 2002 the government has allocated at least 10 billion dollars to reviving the
teachings of Confucius through the so-called “Confucius Institutes” in China and
throughout the world. The desire is to show a face well-known to world culture, in re-
sponse to the crisis of moral and spiritual values within the country. The Party’s inter-
est is also attracted by the fact that Confucius’ philosophy – so disdained by Mao Ze-
dong – preaches above all filial piety, obedience to authoritiy, self-sacrifice for the
clan; all important qualities in today’s individualistic China as it tries to escape from
the Party’s control (see AsiaNews, 7th July 2006).
89
In mid April 2007, the government allocated 1 million dollars for a conference held in
CHINA
two different locations, Xian and Hong Kong, to sponsor the study of the Tao Te
Ching, the basic text of Taoism. The conference was attended by Liu Yandong, from
the Party Central Committee; Xu Jialu, vice-president of the People’s National Assem-
bly and Ye Xiaowen, director of the State Administration of Religious Affairs.
According to observers, this sponsorship arose from various motives, including filling
the religious void left by the crisis of communism, countering the spread of Catholics
and Protestants; promoting a “specifically national” and non “foreign” religion;
spreading a creed that makes non-action within society its ideal, and promoting Chi-
na’s image abroad (see South China Morning Post, 30th April 2007)
From 13th-16th April 2006, the government sponsored the Conference of the World
Buddhist Forum. Interviewed by Xinhua, Ye Xiaowen stated: “Buddhism can make a
‘distinctive contribution’ [to a harmonious society] because its pursuit of harmony is
closer to the Chinese outlook […] As a responsible country, China has a distinctive
thinking and forward-looking policy in promoting world harmony. Religious power is
one of the social forces China can draw support from” (see AsiaNews, 11th April
2006).
The arrest of religious activists fighting for human rights

China’s great fear is that of an alliance between religious activism and social and po-
litical activism, as happened in Myanmar, and as has happened on many occasions in
the history of the Chinese Empire. To deter this possibility, Beijing misses no oppor-
tunity – funerals of personalities, Party congresses, People’s National Assembly – to
assert its control over hundreds of dissidents, among them also Christians (of which
denomination, we do not know).
Among them we should remember the lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who in December 2006
was sentenced to 3 years in prison, on charges of “subversive activities against the
State”. The court that sentenced him said it had obtained a full “confession”. As evi-
dence of his “subversive” activities, the judges quoted the nine articles signed by this
lawyer and published on various websites; in particular the three open letters to Pres-
ident Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, in which he had requested greater re-
ligious freedom and less corruption. Once a model lawyer for the Communist Party,
Gao has over the years become a human rights activist, defending Christians, the
Uighur, members of the Falun Gong, peasant farmers and other victims of injustice
(see AsiaNews, 5th January 2007).
Another important personality is Hua Huiqi, the leader of a Christian house church
and a human rights activist who is fighting the expropriation of homes in Beijing, and
90
helping many people from the provinces to present petitions to the government. The
last time he was released from prison was in July 2007, after receiving a 6 months de-
tention for “obstructing justice”. Placed under close surveillance, on 8th October 2007
he was beaten up so badly that he was unconscious when taken to hospital (AsiaNews,
12th October 2007).
The Catholic Church

The key note of 2007 was set by a Pastoral Letter from Pope Benedict XVI addressed
to all the faithful of the Catholic Church in China, written on 27th May and made pub-
lic on 30th June. In it the Pontiff analyses the history and the current situation of the
Chinese Church, reaffirming that there is only one Church, because underground
Catholics (not recognised by the government) and official Catholics (recognised by
the government) are in union with the Holy See. Simultaneously he very respectfully
calls on the country’s political authorities to guarantee the Church real religious free-
dom, allowing her the space to bear witness within Chinese society and permitting the
Holy See to have the final say on episcopal appointments, as has also been requested
by UN and European documents [letter, note (43)].This need had become even more
urgent after 2006, when the Patriotic Association (PA) and the Ministry for Religious
Affairs had insisted on ordaining 3 bishops without permission from the Holy See and
threatening to ordain others. The letter describes the influence of the PA in the life of
the Church as “irreconcilable with Catholic doctrine” [letter, No.7 and note (36)],
since its real objective is the creation of a church independent from the Pope.
The Pope’s letter came a few months after a meeting in the Vatican on the Church in
China (19th-20th January), which brought together members of the Roman Curia with
bishops and cardinals from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.
The ambivalence shown by the government on religious issues (see above…), was ev-
ident in this case too. AsiaNews sources (9th October 2007) revealed that a number of
highly regarded figures within the Chinese foreign ministry judged this letter to be “a
good document, well translated, the work of experts, capable of providing an oppor-
tunity for dialogue”. But the Department for Religious Affairs (DRA), the PA and the
United Front took a different view.
CHINA
According to Western diplomats the secretary general of the PA, Antonio Liu Bainian,
judges the letter to be a “bad document”, “badly translated into Chinese”, and “dan-
gerous from a political point of view”. Hence he blocked all spreading of this letter,
had it removed from Chinese Catholic websites and blocked Vatican websites and
those of other on-line agencies publishing it.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the PA (August 1957), the United
Front, the DRA and the PA organised conferences and seminars in various different re-
gions of the country, inviting priests, nuns and bishops. The subject was the moderni-
91
sation of the Church (financing, reorganising, seminaries), but also the Papal Letter.
CHINA
At these events Liu Bainian violently attacked the papal document, describing it as a
new attempt at “imperialism” and at the “colonisation” of the Church in China, simi-
lar to what had happened in the past with the colonial powers. In the mind of Liu Bain-
ian, this demand by the Pope for religious freedom and independence in appointing
bishops was associated with the experience of the “concessions” to foreign powers –
the territorial areas removed from the control of the central government and conquered
by force by the Western powers in the 19th Century (ibid).
In the district of Qingxiu, near Nanning (Guangxi, southwest China), the police im-
pounded and destroyed copies of a parish news bulletin that contained passages from
this papal document. The Nanning branch of the DRA launched a campaign against
Vatican “penetration” into the life of the Church and imposed political brainwashing
sessions on the Catholic priests to make them “acknowledge” their error in having
published and distributed the Pope’s Letter to Chinese Catholics (ibid).
Obstruction of episcopal ordinations; arrests and violence against the

underground Church
This ambivalent and ambiguous approach was also evident in relation to a number of
episcopal ordinations during 2007. On 8th September in Beijing, on 30th November in
Yichang (Hubei) and on 4th December in Canton (Guangdong) bishops were ordained
for these important dioceses. On 8th September in Guizhou and on 21st December in
Ningxia, 2 coadjutor bishops were likewise ordained. All these bishops – as publicly
announced by the Vatican – were ordained with the approval of the Holy See. Their
ordinations were delayed by months, however – the one in Canton for over a year –
by obstacles posed by the PA, which attempted to include among the ordaining bish-
ops some who were not in communion with the Holy See.
On one hand the central government seems to endorse a degree of influence by the
Bishop of Rome in the selection of candidates for the episcopate; on the other, it seems
unable to neutralise the presence of the PA, which continues to obstruct ordinations.
And yet the PA is a government agency.
In spite of timid conciliatory signs between China and the Vatican, the prevailing line
appears to be one of total control over the Catholic Church, as witnessed by the con-
stant arrests of priests and bishops of the unofficial Church, but even including kid-
nappings of official bishops.
On 14th November, Father Wang Zhong, from the diocese of Xiwanzi (Hebei) was sen-
tenced to 3 years in prison for having organised a celebration for the consecration of
a church in Guyuan. A report of the trial sent to AsiaNews (22th November 2007) em-
phasises that the construction of this church had been quite legal and that permits had
92
been obtained from the Department for Religious Affairs. But the priest is an under-
ground priest, not registered with the PA. Father Wang was arrested on 24th July 2007.
After being arrested, he was imprisoned in total isolation and not allowed to receive
visitors. He was not permitted to appoint a lawyer for the trial, nor was it possible for
him to prepare his defence.
The diocese of Xiwanzi is a diocese of the underground Church, with 15,000 faithful
and situated about 260 km north of Beijing, almost on the border with Inner Mongo-
lia. For some months now police in this area, urged on by the PA, have settled on a
campaign against the priests and bishops of the unofficial Church. Coadjutor Bishop
Yao Liang, has vanished, in fact, after being arrested by police on 30th July 2006.
There are also 20 lay Catholics and 2 priests in prison.
On 25th November Father Zeng Zhongliang, rector of the seminary in the diocese of
Yujiang (Jiangxi, Central China), was arrested together with one of his seminarians,
Wang Bin, while they were visiting the southern province of Guangdong. The two
men are currently being held in a prison in Yujiang. They were arrested just a few days
after a meeting with all the priests in their diocese, organised by Father Zeng himself
in the town of Fuzhou. At the meeting, the priest had acted as the representative of the
bishop of the diocese – Monsignor Tommaso Zeng Jingmu, 85 years old and his un-
cle – who had for some time been under house arrest in the episcopal residency (see
AsiaNews, 27th November 2007).
The orphanage run by nuns of the underground Church in the village of Wuqiu, in
Jinzhou (Hebei) – which takes in hundreds of abandoned and often handicapped chil-
dren – has for years been harried by the local government. It forbids donations and has
warned the nuns and priests that they must not have any contacts with the outside
world, and has even warned local people and friends not to visit the orphanage. A
video camera has been set up outside the entrance, and the sisters have been interro-
gated at length by the police. In recent months, a number of volunteers who had gone
to help and bring gifts, were stopped by and fined the police. The nuns belong to the
diocese of Zhengding, whose bishop, Monsignor Giulio Jia Zhiguo, continues to be
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arrested on a regular basis since he refuses to join the PA. According to analysts, pres-
sure on this orphanage is a form of indirect pressure on him and the contacts he has
with other countries (see South China Morning Post, 17th December 2007).
Bishops have died in detention and under torture

The most tragic case was the death of Monsignor John Han Dingxian, underground
Bishop of Yongnian. After being held in isolation for two years, the bishop, who had
spent at least 35 years of his life in prison, died in hospital last 9th September. His
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relatives were summoned only a few hours before he died. Just a few hours after his
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death, at 11 p.m., early the next morning his body was cremated and buried in a pub-
lic cemetery, without his relatives, his faithful and his priests being permitted to see
him, say goodbye to him or bless him. According to a number of Catholics in this dio-
cese, the police wished to “hide the evidence”, perhaps of torture.
In the past, similar cases have occurred of bishops who died in prison, for example
Bishop Giovanni Gao Kexian in 2005, Bishop Giuseppe Fan Xueyan in April 1992
and Bishop Liu Defen, underground bishop of Anguo (Hebei), also in 1992.
China has often been condemned by the international community for the practice of
torture among police circles. Manfred Nowak, chief investigator for the UN Agency
on torture, confirmed this in one of his reports in 2006, which speaks of “the wide-
spread use of torture throughout China”, and demands the “immediate release of all
those imprisoned for having exercised the right to freedom of religion or speech”.
In China there are laws forbidding torture but they are often ignored. In 2004 the Min-
istry for Public Security passed a law making policemen responsible for the death of
those in custody.
The fact remains that even those released from prison shows signs that their health has
suffered. Bishops and priests have often returned from prison or isolation suffering
from sickness or consumption, caused by the violence inflicted in prison; Bishop
Joseph Fan Zhongliang from Shanghai, 87 years old, is sick and still lives under su-
pervision; Bishop James Lin Xili, 86 years old, from Wenzhou (Zhejiang), is physi-
cally deeply scarred and after spending 3 years in prison, has been kept in isolation
since 2002. Two priests from Wenzhou, Father Shao Zhumin and Father Jiang Sunian,
both released during the summer of 2007, now have to undergo medical treatment for
heart, respiratory and hearing problems, all due to violence inflicted on them in prison.
Detentions and disappearances

A number of underground and official bishops are still detained in isolation; some
have not been heard of for years:
1) Bishop James Su Zhimin (diocese of Baoding, Hebei), 74 years old, was arrest-
ed and then vanished in 1996. In November 2003 he was seen in the hospital at
Baoding, closely watched by police, where he was treated for heart and eye prob-
lems. A few days later he vanished again.
2) Bishop Cosma Shi Enxiang (diocese of Yixian, Hebei), 85 years old, was arrest-
ed on 13th April 2001. Bishop Shi was ordained in 1982. He had been in prison for
30 years. He had been arrested on the last occasion in December 1990 and then re-
leased in 1993. After that he lived in forced isolation until his most recent arrest.
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3) Bishop Martin Wu Qinjing, official Bishop of Zhouzhi (Shaanxi), 39 years old;

he has been held by the police and the PA since 17th March 2007. It is likely that
he is being kept in forced isolation in Lintong or Xian, where he is obliged to at-
tend “study sessions”. All contact with his faithful and his priests is forbidden.
Bishop Wu Qinjing was ordained in 2005 by the now deceased Archbishop Antho-
ny Li Duan of Xian. Although recognised by the Holy See, the PA has not accept-
ed him. According to this controlling organisation, which wants to create a church
that is independent from Rome, Monsignor Wu’s ordination was illegal, since it
took place under the control of “foreign powers”.
Among more recent arrests was that of Father Joseph Lu Genjun, administrator of the
diocese of Baoding (Hebei), aged 47. He spent 3 years in a work camp. Arrested in
August 2004, then released, he was arrested again on 18th February 2006 and is still
held at an unknown location, without any trial and on no specific charges. He was ar-
rested together with Father Paul Huo Junlong, aged 52 and likewise an administrator
of the diocese of Baoding. Currently, there are at least 11 priests under arrest (see
AsiaNews, 18th October 2007).
Properties confiscated and never returned

There is not only ideological persecution. There is also financial persecution. Amid
the uncontrolled development that has characterised this country in recent decades,
one means of obtaining wealth is through property speculation. This is why many of
the properties owned by the Catholic Church are confiscated, sold and illicitly used by
the Department for Religious Affairs and the Patriotic Association. The Holy Spirit
Study Centre in Hong Kong, has calculated that local officials, protected by their po-
sition within the Communist Party, are pocketing the proceeds of such property deal-
ings to a value of some 130 billion yuan (about € 13 billion). Of all this the Church
receives only a few crumbs, although it needs a great deal more to use for its mission.
Already during the 1980s the Central Government had passed laws for the return to
their legitimate owners of properties previously confiscated (particularly during the
Cultural Revolution), but no local officials observe these directives.
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Such confiscation for sale to developers seems to be the underlying reason for the ban
on pilgrimages to the shrine of Our Lady of Carmel in Tianjiajing (Henan) and the re-
sulting confiscation of the sanctuary area. The traditional annual pilgrimage, which
began in 1905 and was stopped only during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), reg-
ularly attracts between 40 and 50 thousand people every year. But in May 2007 the
provincial government for Henan forbade all pilgrimages, while the government of the
city of Anyang (the diocese in which the sanctuary is situated) revoked the permits it
had granted to the sanctuary and for the pilgrimages, defining these as “illegal
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religious activities”. At the same time the authorities banned the Church from using
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the shrine area and requisitioned the entire compound. They also threatened to blow
up the entire area, including the Stations of the Cross and the Lourdes grotto, built at
the beginning of the 20th century.
The sanctuary had previously been extensively damaged by the Japanese during
World War II and again during the Cultural Revolution by the Red Guards.
(see AsiaNews, 12th November 2007).
Protestants
The central government fears that during the Beijing Olympic Games there could be
clashes or demonstrations with religious overtones that might escape police control.
Among the groups most suspect as potential troublemakers are the Protestant Chris-
tians – and for two different reasons, one external and one internal. The external rea-
son is that for the past two years thousands of Protestants in Brazil and the United
States have been preparing to thoroughly evangelise the country, taking advantage of
the greater ease with which China will provide entry visas during the Olympics. The
spokeswoman for the (state sponsored) China Christian Council, Pastor Cao Shengjie,
has warned all foreign missionaries to “respect the rules of the country”, according to
which it is forbidden to engage in any evangelising work without a permit. Foreign-
ers are forbidden from organising any kind of religious activity (AsiaNews, 30th May
2007). This in fact contravenes one of the basic tenets of religious freedom, namely
the freedom to meet with others of the same faith but of different nationality.
The internal reason is that among Christians, the Protestants are the most complex and
least controllable group. According to official statistics, there are 16 million Chinese
Protestants. All these denominations are merged into the Three-Self Patriotic Move-
ment, or TSPM, which ensures their obedience to the Party – just as the Patriotic As-
sociation does for Catholics. But thanks to a widespread evangelisation, financed by
powerful groups based in the USA, Korea and Australia, the Protestant population has
increased to over 50 million (some optimistic estimates claim even 80 million). This
imbalance between recognised and non-recognised (underground) Christians, has re-
sulted in a tough response from the government, which demands either the absorption
of the underground communities into the TSPM or their elimination. In this the gov-
ernment is contravening a UN directive which defines as discriminatory the distinc-
tion between “legal” (because recognised by the State) and “illegal” (because not
recognised) religious activities.
The campaign to destroy the underground Protestant communities

A secret document drafted by the Chinese Communist Party in Hubei, was translated
and published in full last 13th November by the China Aid Association, an organisation
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based in the United States that deals with religious persecution in China (see: Secret
Document Reveals Chinese Government’s Campaign against Unregistered Churches in
www.chinaaid.org).
The document is dated 24th July 2007 and originates from the Duodao district in the
municipality of Jingmen (Hubei). The editor has deleted the document’s serial num-
ber to prevent identification of its source, for the document was in fact printed in num-
bered copies. It also states that the contents must be kept secret and “must not be re-
vealed to anyone” outside.
The text speaks only of the “normalisation” campaign conducted locally in Jingmen
from 15th June to 30th November. It does however reveal that this campaign was based
on documents drafted by the central and provincial governments, following a meeting
of the government’s National Christian Working Seminar (known as “Conference
601”) convened on 1st June 2007, with the participation of “leading comrades in the
central government”, the United Front and the Religious Affairs bureau. This means
that the campaign was being followed at a national level.
The campaign’s objective was to “fight against infiltration activities by hostile over-
seas forces under the guise of Christianity and safeguard the stability in our society
and in the religious arena.” Cooperation between the “religious affairs departments”
and “public security agencies” should result in “good work in assuming control over
non-authorised locations and the meetings of missionaries”.
In practice this means absorbing all the underground communities into the Three-Self
Patriotic Movement, the only expression of Protestant Christianity allowed and con-
trolled by the government.
This document acknowledges the existence of “illegal meeting places involving many
people” and proposes a “normalisation of Christian activities” through a “standardis-
ation of the registration system” for “Christian places”, “Christian activities”, and
“pastors”. This method is intended to ensure the “education of the majority”, to “iso-
late and eliminate small minorities”, and provide a “patient and detailed ideological
education”.
To achieve this result, the document advises starting with a widespread “investiga-
tion” of “meeting places, participants, locations and their styles”; verifying “whether
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there is infiltration of foreign powers or underground missionary work, involving feu-
dal superstition or heresies”. This investigation should include “the contents of ser-
mons, the personal lives of missionaries and their personal profiles, their sources of
income, financial situation, working methods, the most important members and the or-
dinary people participating”.
“Normalisation” is to be achieved by “registering meeting places, replacing private lo-
cations with churches, unifying various different locations by persuading people to
close them down and abolishing them”.
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“For those who refuse to modify their behaviour or to stop their activities”, the public
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security agencies are asked to “work with departments in charge of religious affairs
and resolutely stop their activities”.
As far as religious policies are concerned, the document does not introduce any nov-
elties; it follows the line of the regulations on religious activities, promulgated in 1994
by Premier Li Peng, the “butcher of Tiananmen”, updated and reviewed in 2005. Once
again it emphasises the distinction between “normal” and “illegal” religious activities,
whereby “normality” is assured by submission to state control. This goes against the
UN Charter of Human Rights. In 1994, UN envoy Abdelfattah Amor, drafted a report
on religious intolerance in China. It condemns the distinction made by the Chinese
government between “normal religious activities” and “abnormal or illegal activities”.
According to Abdelfattah Amor, this distinction discriminates against the lives of be-
lievers and must be eliminated from legislation and practice.
What is happening in various parts of China is the result of this campaign. According
to the China Aid Association, in the course of 2007, the government arrested 1958
people, pastors and believers of the non-official Protestant churches. According to this
organisation, in 2007, with the Olympic Games approaching, the persecution of
Protestants has increased, with a total of 60 incidents reported – an increase of 30.4
percent compared to 2006.
Violence
According to the China Aid Association (25th December), on Christmas eve 2007, the
police in Hubei arrested a group of orphans and Christian aid workers. The officers
locked the children in a hotel, and “persuaded” the owner of the land on which the or-
phanage stood to evict the tenants. The Protestant pastor taking care of the orphans,
Ming Xuan Zhang, is no longer able to find land or rental properties because the po-
lice have warned the population not to help him.
Pastor Zhang plays an extremely important role in the non-official Chinese house
churches. Known affectionately as “Bike”, this Protestant leader has been arrested 12
times. In November 2006, US President George W. Bush asked to meet him during his
official visit to China. Permission was not granted because Zhang had “disappeared”:
the Hubei police had in fact arrested him and kept him hidden for the duration of the
President’s visit.
On 5th December 2007, a group of policemen and members of the religious affairs de-
partment of the province raided a house church in Kunming (Yunnan) arresting all
those present. After inspecting the building, the police officers burned hundreds of re-
ligious books (including a number of Bibles), as well as the ID papers of 3 Christians.
The police then forced the owner of the land on which the house church stood to evict
his tenants.
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According to Chinese penal law, the police are obliged to provide official documents
every time something is confiscated; these are needed during the trial, so as to estab-
lish the size and value of individual pieces of evidence. However, officers in Kunming
did not follow this procedure.
On 23rd January 2008 a female member of the church went to the district Police Of-
fices to request compensation for the books that had been burned. The police beat her
so badly that she was taken to hospital unconscious.
A communist official in Baoding (Hebei), who had become a Christian, lost her job
and her position within the Party because on 1st January 2008, she had hosted and par-
ticipated in a session on Biblical studies inside the communist school she herself man-
aged. The meeting had been attended by 50 Christians – among them lawyers, profes-
sors, authors, journalists and artists – who were all taken away and interrogated. Geng
Sude, a 55 year old Protestant, confirmed that in February 2008 the Party Committee
had removed her from her job as deputy head of the local communist school and dis-
missed her. She told Reuters that “I do not understand the Party’s decision; I said noth-
ing against the government or against China and I have not broken the law”.
On 7th February 2007, local police from Shanghuang Township, Suyang City, Jiangsu
Province, entered the home of Tan Jianwei, a 36 year old Protestant Christian, who
had hosted a non-official prayer meeting. They were accompanied by officials from
Suyang Religious Bureau and the National Security Protection Squad under Suyang
Police Bureau.
Armed, the group entered the apartment with no warrant; the policemen demanded to
see ID papers of all those present and took everyone’s photograph. A number of Chris-
tians refused to show their papers and were beaten. After confiscating a number of
Bibles – without issuing a receipt as required by Chinese law – the policemen took
three people away for questioning. At the police station the three were obliged to sign
a document in which they promised not to hold any religious services in Tan’s house.
Should this promise be broken, the police threatened, there would be “very serious
consequences”.
Arrests and concentration camps

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The China Aid Association reports that on 7th December 2007 the Shandong Police ar-
rested 270 non-official Protestants leaders for having taken part in “an illegal religious
meeting” in the Hedeng district, near the city of Linyi. At the moment, about 150
Christians are still detained in a state prison. The pastors had met to study the Bible
together, when 50 police officers – coming from 12 different towns in the province –
entered the room where the meeting was being held. They blindfolded and handcuffed
them in groups of two and then drove them to the local prison, where they were inter-
rogated. The police arrived in armoured cars and allowed no one to leave the area. The
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120 Christians released had to pay a 300 yuan fine (about € 30) as an “interrogation
tax”.
After disappearing for over two months, 9 Protestants leaders “reappeared” in Octo-
ber 2007 in Chinese labour camps. Among them was 42-year-old Mrs. Li Mei, who
had been tied to a hospital bed and forced to undergo an emergency hysterectomy,
made necessary by the torture she had suffered in prison. The Christians had been ar-
rested on 15th July during a service held in a private home. They were sentenced on
6th August. According to the judges of the administrative court of Enshizhou, in Hebei,
the Christians were guilty of “crimes against the State, organised during the meetings
of an evil cult”. No one informed their relatives of their arrest or punishment. Sen-
tenced to “re-education through labour”, these Protestants were taken a number of lao-
gai (forced labour camps) in the province. The document detailing the charges states
that: “The evidence of their guilt consists in the fact that they had sung Christian
hymns in rural villages, had screened a film about Jesus in a home for the elderly and
had prayed with their diabolical cult, asking the recovery of an elderly sick man”.
In June 2007, the Shandong authorities sentenced two evangelical house church lead-
ers to one year of “re-education through labour”. Zhang Geming and Sun Qingwen
were accused of “using a diabolical cult to obstruct the law”. Their sentence was to be
served in a camp in Jining. Both missionaries were from Henan. The police arrested
them on 15th June together with four other leaders, who were released on 1st July after
paying a fine of 10,000 yuan (about € 1,000) each.
Two Christians from Shanxi will also soon be sentenced to hard labour. Their names
are Zhou Jieming and Niu Wenbin, imprisoned on 10th June 2007 on suspicion of “us-
ing a diabolical cult to obstruct the law”. The men were arrested while distributing
Bibles in the countryside of Jiaocheng together with 12 other local Christian leaders.
Of those arrested, four were released that same day, while six others were kept in
prison for 6 days without any charges being brought against them.
The death penalty

In mid November 2006 the leaders of the Protestant Three Grades of Servants Church,
were sentenced to death and executed with no evidence against them. The 3 Christians
– Xu Shuangfu (60 years old), Li Maoxing (55) and Wang Jun (36) – were killed in a
prison in Heilongjiang; the authorities only informed their relatives after the execution
so that they could collect the ashes. The lawyers of these three men were not sum-
moned either, although they had presented a second appeal after losing the first one
on 18th October 2006.
In July 2006, the Shuangyashan People’s Intermediate Court, in the eastern province
of Heilongjiang, sentenced the three men to death for murder; during the course of the
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trial the police also charged 14 other people. Of these, Zhang Min (35 years old), Zhu
Lixin (37) and Ben Zhonghai were also sentenced to death, but the executions were
suspended. The judge then sentenced the other 11 to between 3 and 15 years in prison.
According to the prosecution, Xu Shuangfu – the leader of this Protestant group,
which has over 500,000 members all over the country – had, together with other mem-
bers of his group, killed 20 members of another rival group called Eastern Lightning
and had stolen 32 million yuan (about € 3.2 million).
The members of Eastern Lightning call themselves Christians, but many Protestant
communities regard them as a “sect, made up of criminals”. The group’s founder, Mrs.
Zheng, claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, and many of her followers are
involved in dubious activities.
According to Xu’s defence lawyers, the evidence presented by the government did not
in any way prove their client’s guilt and the “confessions” were obtained through tor-
ture, a practice that the Chinese government itself has described as “widespread” in its
prisons. (China Aid Association).
Expulsions
Between April and June 2007, China expelled over 100 alleged missionaries from the
United States, South Korea, Singapore, Canada, Australia and Israel. The code name
of the operation was “Typhoon No. 5” and its aim was to “pre-empt the missionary ac-
tivities of foreign Christians ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games in August 2008”.
The expulsions took place above all in Beijing and in the Xinjiang, Tibet and Shan-
dong Regions. Sixty people were deported from Xinjiang alone, some aged only be-
tween 15 and 18. In May at least 15 Christian couples, mainly Americans, were de-
ported from Beijing. On 31st May one Israeli and one American were arrested in Linyi
(Shandong) for having taken part in a prayer session with 70 leaders of house church-
es. In Beijing on 1st July three American Christians were arrested and forced to leave
the country without even being allowed to contact their embassy. According to some
activists, these deportations are part of the “clean-up before the Beijing Olympic
Games” (China Aid Association)
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The Orthodox Church
In China, the Russian Orthodox community suffers discrimination because it is not ac-
knowledged as one of the 5 official religions (Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestant
Christianity, Catholic Christianity). On several occasions throughout 2007, the Patri-
arch of Moscow has criticised the Beijing government for not granting the Chinese
Orthodox Church full freedom and acknowledgement (AsiaNews, 12th April 2007).
The Greek-Orthodox metropolitan in Hong Kong, Nikitas Lulias, has also criticised
the Chinese authorities for the same reasons (AsiaNews, 10th July 2007).
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According to data provided by the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for Relations

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with foreign Churches, there are about 13,000 Orthodox believers in China, of whom
400 live in the capital.
The Russian Orthodox Church has been present in China for about 300 years. The first
communities consisted of Russian emigrants and were mainly situated in the north of
the country. Still today most of the Orthodox faithful are of Russian descent. These
communities are situated in four parts of the country: in Heilongjiang Province, in
Harbin, where there is also a parish dedicated to the Protective Mantle of Our Lady;
in Inner Mongolia (in Labdarin); in Xinjiang (in Kulj and Urumqi). In 1957 they were
granted full autonomy by the Russian Orthodox Church. The Cultural Revolution
however totally eliminated the presence of bishops and priests. Even today the faith-
ful have no priests and on Sundays they meet occasionally to pray. However, there are
13 Chinese Orthodox students studying at the Sretenskaya Academy of Theology in
Moscow and at the Saint Petersburg Academy.
The last Chinese Orthodox priest, Alexander Du Lifu, died in Beijing in 2003 aged 80.
According to information from the Moscow Patriarchate, since he had no church, Father
Du “gave private spiritual direction”. At times he was allowed to celebrate the Liturgy
in the Russian Embassy in Beijing. For his funeral the Moscow Patriarchate obtained
permission to use the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (the Nantang).
The Jewish community

The Jewish community in China is discriminated against because it is not recognised
as one of the official religions. Many buildings belonging to the Jewish faithful were
confiscated in the days of Mao Ze Dong. The Israeli Chief Rabbi asked the Chinese
government to allow worshippers to return to the Shanghai Ohel Rachel synagogue,
but he received no reply (see South China Morning Post, 13th June 2006).
The Ohel Rachel synagogue, completed in 1920, can host up to 700 believers; during
the early Thirties Shanghai hosted about one thousand Sephardic Jews and over 5,000
Ashkenazi Jews, who were joined by about 30,000 exiles fleeing the deportations of
the Nazi period.
After 1949, the City’s Office for Education expropriated the synagogue, transforming
it into a conference centre, and during the Cultural Revolution it was used for indus-
trial production. After Mao’s purges it was restored and intended to house a museum
of the Jewish presence during the war. It is currently closed to the public, but the com-
munity is permitted to visit it on holidays.
In 2003 the government gave permission for the restoration and modernisation of Hongk-
ou, the ancient Jewish quarter in Shanghai, but forbade the building of synagogues. There
are several thousand Jews in China. They are tolerated as long as they worship with dis-
cretion and without involving the Chinese (see AsiaNews, 30th December 2003).
102
Islam
In 2007, the Chinese government’s tolerance towards the 21 million Muslims was
simply a “marketing ploy”; since 2007 was the year of the Pig (according to Chinese
astrology), the Politburo’s Permanent Committee issued an order to “avoid all images
of pigs” in advertising and in TV programmes, “to protect harmony between different
religions and ethnic groups”. In order to fully understand the reason for this directive,
one must bear in mind that only a few months earlier the international Islamic world
had been roused by the scandal of the cartoons about Mohammed and the speech of
Pope Benedict XVI in Regensburg.
The decision to forbid images of pigs was also an economic-political move, an attempt to
portray China’s great respect for the Islamic world, both at home and abroad. China buys
large amounts of oil from Muslim countries in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa
and therefore hoped that this provision would be appreciated by the Islamic world.
Uighur Muslims
Internally, China continues to implement repressive and colonising policies towards
the Uighur Muslims, who are of Turkish origin (there are about 8 million concentrat-
ed in the Xinjiang region). These policies are aimed at controlling autonomy move-
ments and infiltration by fundamentalists from Pakistan and Afghanistan. According
to one daily newspaper in Xinjiang, in 2005 China arrested 18,227 Uighurs on the
charge of “threatening national security”. Hundreds were also sentenced to death. In
January 2007 the police attacked a training camp and killed 18 Uighur Muslims, say-
ing that they were terrorists, but without providing any proof.
A long report by Forum 18 News Service (September 2006) speaks of widespread tight
controls aimed mainly at imams and young people. Every Friday morning, the holy
day for Muslims, the imams have to go to the local religious affairs office to explain
the text of the sermons they are about to give, and to receive “general indications”.
Each religious group must be registered with the national religious committee and the
appointment of all leaders must be approved by the authorities. These leaders attend
periodic meetings at which state officials tell them the religious policies to be fol-
lowed. The faithful are usually forbidden from holding public positions of authority
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and from teaching in schools.
Children are not permitted to receive religious instruction. Those under the age of 18
are not allowed to attend places of worship, because the young must “complete their
education and develop a personality so as to make an informed choice when deciding
whether to be a believer or an atheist”. During Ramadan, the month of fasting, the
school authorities still force Muslim students and teachers to eat their lunch.
There are reports of places of worship, or buildings used for this purpose by the Is-
lamic communities, being expropriated or destroyed.
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Around three years ago, during the rebuilding of an area around the Idha mosque –
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the principal mosque in Kashgar – the authorities demolished numerous small restau-
rants and teahouses used by Muslims after prayers. In Urumqi, the old mosque was
demolished and rebuilt as part of a shopping centre, sandwiched between a shop sell-
ing fried chicken and a Carrefour supermarket. Worshippers now say that “sometimes
we can’t even hear the prayers, because of the music and songs in the nearby shops”.
Islamic movements such as Sufism and Wahabism are forbidden, for fear that they
may assume political characteristics, and the writings of authors who follow these
creeds are also banned.
According to Forum 18 News Service, the religious persecution in the Xinjiang region
is applied above all for economic reasons and is aimed ultimately at destroying iden-
tity of the Uighur people in order to exploit the wealth of this region, which is rich in
oil and natural gas. This is why Beijing has for years encouraged the migration to this
region of millions of Han Chinese, who now make up at least 50 percent of the 20 mil-
lion or so inhabitants. They have taken control of local commerce and positions of
power, while the Uighurs (42 percent) are mainly farmers.
Rebiya Kadeer and her children

The fate of the Uighurs and the persecution against them is typified by the story of the
Kadeer family. Rebiya Kadeer, aged 59, fled to the United States in 2005. A member
of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, she had been arrested in
1999 and accused of having provided information about the situation in the Xinjiang,
which China described as “material containing state secrets”, outside the country.
While abroad, Kadeer had also denounced the situation of the labour camps and the
use of torture in Chinese prisons. For this China accused her of connivance with
“known terrorist groups” (see AsiaNews, 13th September 2006).
On 17th April 2007, one of her sons, Ablikim Abdiriyim, was sentenced to 9 years in
prison by the court in Urumqi. According to the prosecution, Ablikim had published
secessionist articles on the internet, instigating people to act against the government
and “distorting” the situation concerning human rights and ethnic policies in China.
He was also deprived of his political rights for three years; in China political rights in-
clude freedom of speech and permission to take part in demonstrations and protests.
Amnesty International reported that Ablikim has fallen ill as a result of the beatings he
suffered in prison and has been denied any medical care. According to Mrs. Kadeer,
her son “has not even been allowed to appoint a lawyer or to defend himself, and his
trial was held behind closed doors”.
In September, another of her sons, Alim Abdiriyim, was sentenced to a 7 year prison
term for tax evasion. A third son was arrested for tax evasion but only sentenced to
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pay a fine, and one of her daughters has been under house arrest for months (see
AsiaNews, 18th April 2007).
Hui Muslims
The Hui – Chinese who have converted to Islam – number about 15 million, mainly
in the Ningxia region of Central China, in Shaanxi , Qinghai and Beijing. The govern-
ment has always been very tactful in dealing with them, even to the extent of sponsor-
ing Muslim pilgrimages to Mecca. In recent years however a number of Hui revolts
have been reported, caused by the social and economic imbalances that characterise
contemporary China and which seem to favour the Chinese Han ethnic group.
Among the Hui there is also an increase in Islamic extremism, due to the influence of
the pilgrimages and to the encounter of the Hui Chinese version with the more extrem-
ist Pakistani and Saudi Koranic teachers.
Since 2006, in an attempt to control this influence, China has put pressure on Saudi
Arabia to grant visas for the pilgrimage only to those Chinese citizens who apply to
the Saudi Consulate in Beijing and only to those in possession of a permit from the Is-
lamic Patriotic Association. This new rule also applies both to the Uighurs and to the
Hui and has reduced by many thousands the number of those taking part in the Haj.
The Chinese government remains worried that even among the usually “quiet” Hui,
there is a growing extremism that risks creating social tension. In many Hui areas,
once famous for their liberal Islam (where there are also mosques run by female
preachers), one increasingly sees mass participation in prayers, veiled women, and a
constantly increasing number of young people wishing to study Arabic and the Koran
(see South China Morning Post, 4th October 2006).
Tibetan Buddhism
Ever since the invasion of Tibet in 1950, Beijing has tried to subjugate the population
there and its political and spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959.
Under pressure from the international community, China has also held talks with
emissaries from the Dalai Lama regarding his possible return to Tibet, but the conclu-
sion has always been that the Tibetan Buddhist leader “wished to divide the home-
CHINA
land” in preparation for the independence of the Himalayan region. In realty the Dalai
Lama many years ago abandoned any idea of independence and continues to propose
a form of semi-autonomy for Tibet, similar to that enjoyed by Hong Kong (one coun-
try; two systems).
Beijing is also concerned that the Tibetan community abroad may have plans to enter
China in force to publicise the Tibetan cause, using the opportunity provided by the
Olympic Games. At least 30 exiled Tibetan athletes have asked the International
105
Olympic Committee for permission to take part in the Olympics showing the Tibetan
CHINA
flag; but this request has been rejected.

Although the Dalai Lama increasingly restricts his status to spiritual matters, Beijing
always emphasises his political importance, criticising anyone abroad who supports
him (United States, Germany, Australia, Canada, etc.).
When the possibility of a visit by the Dalai Lama to the Vatican was aired last 13th De-
cember, Beijing threatened “serious consequences” for the Holy See (see AsiaNews,
2th November 2007)
Inside the country, China condemns anyone having links to him. Possession of photo-
graphs or taped speeches by the Dalai Lama is considered a crime against national se-
curity.
Controlled reincarnations
Simultaneously, Beijing – in principle an atheist government – is seeking to control
Tibetan ceremonies and rituals so that the Buddhist traditions can be made subject to
the Party.
In preparation for the successor to the Dalai Lama, Beijing has laid down that as from
1st September 2007, all reincarnations of the lama, including that of the Dalai Lama,
must be approved by the government.
In 1995 Beijing had already intervened in a heavy-handed manner in the Buddhist rit-
uals and traditions, in order to assert its policies. That year, the Dalai Lama had ac-
knowledged a 6 year old boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the 11th reincarnation of the
Panchen Lama. But China, in order to oppose the Dalai Lama’s influence, had kid-
napped the child and his family and – using a method that Beijing claims to be more
efficacious and more realistic – chose a different child, Gyaincain Norbu. To this day,
Norbu remains a central figurehead of the Chinese government’s policies on Tibet,
while Nyima has now been kept in isolation for 12 years.
Sometime between November and December 2007, according to official reports, two
elderly monks – Gyaltsen Tsepa Lobsang and Yangpa Locho, both 71 years old – were
said to have “hanged themselves” in the monastery of Tashilhunpo, the official head-
quarters of the Panchen Lama and previously the scene of one of the most violent an-
ti-Chinese demonstrations ever seen in Tibet. According to a number of local lamas,
the government and the abbots of the monastery had always humiliated and ostracised
the two monks, whom they saw as “guilty” of having educated the instigators of this
revolt (which took place in the early 1990s) and above all the individuals responsible
for the recognition of the 11th Panchen Lama (later kidnapped by the communist au-
thorities). They were both strenuous supporters of the Dalai Lama, whose successor
they would have been bound to acknowledge.
106
Young people subjected to torture and forced labour

Every year, in order to escape this cultural and religious genocide, somewhere be-
tween 3,000 and 4,000 Tibetans attempt to flee the country and escape to India, pass-
ing through Nepal and paying smugglers to help them illegally cross the border. It is
in fact impossible to obtain an official permit from the Chinese authorities. In India,
the Tibetans are free to maintain their own culture and above all they can meet their
spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who lives in Dharamsala together with the Tibetan
government in exile. At least half of those who venture to undertake this dangerous
journey are children; their parents want them to attend schools that will keep alive
their Tibetan identity, something that is impossible in China.
15-year-old Jamyang Samten fled from Tibet, crossed Nepal and on 29th January 2007
reached the refugee centre for Tibetans in Dharamsala. There he related his story. On
30th September 2006, 75 young Tibetans wishing to travel to India, after a long jour-
ney on foot, had attempted to cross the border with Nepal at the Nangpa Pass, at an
altitude of 5,800 metres. The Chinese police had opened fire on them, killing Kelsang
Namtso, a 17-year-old nun, and a young man of 23. (This incident was also brought
to public attention by Western tourists, who had managed to film the shooting.) Later,
41 of these young people had managed to escape to Nepal and then to India, while 32
others were captured by the police. Jamyang was one of these. After the shooting, his
group – all under the age of 20 – managed to hide in the snow for three days, until they
ran out of food. When they emerged, the police caught them, loaded them onto a truck
and took them to an army barracks. For three days those aged 15 and over were inter-
rogated and often beaten. They were all taken to the prison in Shigatse, Tibet’s second
largest city, and again interrogated and beaten, while chained to a wall. For 48 days
they were made to dig ditches and build fences. Jamyang was then released and re-
turned home. But his desire to see the Dalai Lama was so great that he once again
risked the journey to India. Paying Nepalese guides, he managed to cross the border
into Nepal, and from there travel on to India (see AsiaNews, 31st January 2007).
Arrests
In mid October 2007, the Chinese police violently put down a demonstration by Ti-
CHINA
betan Buddhist monks, who were celebrating the fact that the US Congress had award-
ed the Dalai Lama its Gold Medal.
The police arrested a great many monks in Tibet’s capital city Lhasa, while clashes
with the security forces occurred near the monasteries of Drepung and Nechung,
which were sealed off in order to keep the thousands of monks in the city inside and
far away from the public. The police began this repressive action when they noticed
that the monks were painting the walls of the buildings white, a ritual expressing “joy
and purification”. News of these arrests did not travel fast, because the authorities had
107
ordered all Tibet’s internet lines to be disconnected on 17th October, the day on which
CHINA
the medal was awarded. According to Beijing, the United States “made a serious mis-
take” in honouring the Buddhist leader, whom they described as a “dangerous fo-
menter of independence” (AsiaNews, 23rd October 2007).
On 1st August, during celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the People’s Liberation
Army, in Lithang, in the Sichuan region, Ronggay A’drak, a 52 year old Tibetan no-
mad from Youru in the province of Kardze, managed to reach the stage and shout slo-
gans in favour of Tibet’s independence and the return of the Dalai Lama. He was im-
mediately overpowered and arrested by police, but over 200 Tibetans staged a sit-
down in front of the prison. According to the Chinese Xinhua news agency, all ended
well and the crowds dispersed. But according to Radio Free Asia, the 200 Tibetans
were also arrested.
Around the middle of 2006, according to information from the Tibetan Centre for Hu-
man Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), the People’s Intermediate Court in Lhasa sen-
tenced Tibetan monk Sonam Gyalpo to 12 years imprisonment for “endangering state
security”. His family appealed against the sentence.
Forty-four year old Sonam had been arrested at the end of August 2005 during the cel-
ebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the creation of the “Tibetan Autonomous
Region” (TAR). The secret police claimed to have found 4 videos in Sonam’s house
containing teachings by the Dalai Lama, political documents and paintings of the Bud-
dhist spiritual leader, who has been in exile since 1959. After the search, the officers
tricked him into meeting them at a side exit of the Potala Palace in Lhasa (the Dalai
Lama’s former winter residence) and then drove him away in an unmarked car. Noth-
ing was heard of him for months.
Previously a monk at the Drepung monastery, Sonam was one of the 21 monks who
in 1987 had staged a public demonstration in Lhasa, for which he was charged with
being a “counter-revolutionary” and sentenced to 3 years in the prison at Drapchi. He
was arrested again in 1993 and imprisoned for a year.
He is now in a prison in Qushui, west of Lhasa. The TCHRD has protested that Son-
am has not broken any law and has appealed to the United Nations working group
against arbitrary detention, hoping that this body will intervene over this illegal incar-
ceration.
Economic persecution
One of the reasons why China pays no attention to Tibet’s demands for independence
is the wealth of natural resources in the mountains of this region. Hence, in addition
to religious persecution there is persecution dictated by economic reasons, which has
resulted in a real cultural genocide of the Tibetan people.
108
At the end of May 2007 hundreds of Tibetans organised a revolt to protest against the
exploitation of the holy Yala Mountain. During this protest, held outside the premises
of a mining company, many Tibetans who live in Bamei – in Sichuan province – vent-
ed their defiance of the government and destroyed numerous cars.
Yala Mountain is situated in the Tagong prairie and is one of the nine mountains con-
sidered holy by Tibetans. According to the inhabitants of Bamei, this mountain is now
being exploited for the extraction of lead and zinc.
The government immediately attempted to quell this revolt and the Bamei authorities
later announced that it had been crushed. According to one Tibetan, a number of peo-
ple were killed, but this news has not been confirmed. However, eight citizens from
Bamei, who presented a petition to the government of Sichuan, have since vanished
without trace.
The luxuriant grassland amid which this mountain is set extends to the west of
Sichuan. For Tibetans this is the Kham region, one of Tibet’s traditional cultural
provinces that spans the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region (AsiaNews, 12th
June 2007).
In the name of Tibet’s industrial development, the Chinese authorities are forcing the
leaders of the nomadic tribes here to move to the cities so as to “clean up” the land
and use it for industrial development; in this way these peoples are being uprooted
from their ancestral lands and reduced to poverty. According to Human Rights Watch,
the tribal leaders are being forced to slaughter their entire flocks of yaks, sheep and
goats and then move to urban areas; in exchange, the Beijing authorities pay them a
minimal compensation for the destruction of the local economy. Hundreds of thou-
sands of people are affected by these policies. According to one deportee, “the Chi-
nese are destroying our communities, they do not allow us to live in our own land and
they are annihilating our lifestyle”. According to Beijing, this operation – which also
affects the bordering provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai – is part of an attempt
to develop the west of the country which is poor and backward.
The Qinghai-Lhasa railway, opened on 1st July 2006, causing protests from Tibetans,
who regard it a means for consolidating Chinese control. Beijing has always answered
that it only wishes to bring prosperity and development to this region. Now Beijing
CHINA
seems to be very actively increasing transport towards Tibet and is building new roads
to connect with the railroad, as shown by satellite images on Google. The railway is
also being extended from Lhasa to the western Shigatse and beyond. According to ex-
perts, there are oil and gas fields in the far west of this region and the Yulong copper
fields are the second largest in the country. Activists however complain that in the
meantime the situation in Tibet has not improved at all, and funds for education and
health are lower than in the rest of China.
109
Matt Whitticase of the Free Tibet Campaign observes that “China never even intend-
CHINA
ed that the railway would be of any use to the Tibetans”. This particular NGO esti-
mates that Tibet contains about 40 percent of China’s mineral resources, including oil,
coal, uranium, gold and copper. Their exploitation brings no advantages to the people
of Tibet, however, but rather to the Han Chinese who have been encouraged by Bei-
jing to migrate here and who for some time now have been the dominant class in the
region.
HONG KONG
The issue of religious freedom and its social, educational and political consequences
is greatly debated in the Territory, thanks to a strenuous defender of this right, in the
person of Cardinal Joseph Zen, the Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong.
Within this former colony he is defending freedom of speech and education, and
democracy, rousing the cultural and political world from the temptation to remain
supine in the face of China and allow this country to destroy the formula for coexis-
tence between Hong Kong and the Chinese system, as summarised by the formula of
Deng Xiaoping: “One nation, two systems”.
With regard to China he has become the spokesman for the striving for full religious
freedom for the Church and for the religions in the motherland. Ever since his nomi-
nation as a cardinal, on 22nd February 2006, and again on receiving his cardinal’s hat
(24th March 2006) he defined his cardinal’s purple as “red” – not “for my own blood,
but for the blood and the tears of the countless nameless heroes of the official and un-
derground Church who have suffered for remaining faithful to the Church”. In this
way he linked his own mission to that of the Chinese Church. In his regard also, the
policy of Beijing is ambivalent. According to Antonio Liu Bainian, secretary general
of the Patriotic Association, Monsignor Zen’s cardinalate is “a hostile act towards Chi-
na”, whereas according to Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, it is a positive factor. In an
interview with the South China Morning Post he said: “Hong Kong is a Chinese
province and it inhabitants are our compatriots. China is happy with the achievements
of these compatriots” (see AsiaNews, 9th March 2006)
On 30th July 2006, on the Asian Youth Day organised in Hong Kong, the cardinal con-
demned the fact that 4 Chinese provinces had refused mission for young Catholics to
attend this event, which brought together 1,000 young people from all over the conti-
nent (AsiaNews, 31st July 2006).
Speaking out on the 10th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China on 1st
July 1997, against those who chose, a priori to exalt Hong Kong’s return to the
110
motherland, he showed, figures in hand, that there are now many more poor people in
the territory than before this event. He called on the Chinese government to do more
to guarantee the support of the population – now oppressed by an alliance between
China and the wealthy capitalists in Hong Kong – and exhorted his fellow Catholics
to take care of the poor (AsiaNews, 19th June 2007).
Another battle being fought by Cardinal Zen is for freedom of education. In 2004 the
education department passed a law establishing the creation of an internal School
Management Committee (SMC) with a legal status that is distinct from that of the ed-
ucational institutions, or Sponsoring Bodies, (SBs). The government claims that this
allows for greater transparency and better democracy, whereas to those running the
schools it is only a manoeuvre for interfering with internal management and for re-
moving any real freedom in educational organisation.
The law requires all this to be implemented by 2012. In the meantime however, eco-
nomic aid and other benefits are being offered to those who adapt immediately. The
diocese of Hong Kong has decided to appeal to the courts, alleging that this law is
“discriminatory and racist”. At the present time the diocese and the Catholic congre-
gations present in the Territory run 221 schools, both primary and secondary
(AsiaNews, 11th December 2006).
In all these battles Cardinal Zen is openly supported by the other Anglican and Ortho-
dox Christian communities. The other religious communities (Buddhists, Taoists and
Confucians) prefer instead to keep a low profile. One sign of this “competition” be-
tween traditional (and pro-Beijing) Chinese religions and Christians, is apparent in the
proposal of the Chinese Ministry for Religious Affairs to make Hong Kong accept the
festival in honour of Confucius on 28th September and to make room for it in the cal-
endar by abolishing one of the Christian public holidays at Easter (see AsiaNews, 23rd
April 2007).
TAIWAN
CHINA
All the religious communities in Taiwan enjoy full religious freedom.
The Vatican’s diplomatic relations with Taiwan are often cited and criticised by the
People’s Republic of China as one of the obstacles to improved diplomatic relations
between Beijing and the Holy See. The other “obstacle” is the alleged “interference in
China’s affairs under the pretext of religion”. In other words, it is about who should
nominate bishops.
Leading figures in the Church and in politics know well that the second is the real ob-
stacle.
111
In 2007 the Russian Orthodox Church also opened up relations with Taiwan, in the
CHINA
hope of arousing Beijing’s interest and securing the acknowledgment of Orthodoxy as

one of the official religions.
On 4th April 2007 a meeting was held in Moscow between Archpriest Nikolai Bal-
ashov, Secretary of the Russian-Orthodox Patriarchate’s foreign religious affairs de-
partment, and Angela Siu, Taiwan’s representative in Moscow.
This meeting was described as “constructive” on the www.orthodoxytoday.org web-
site. The two delegations discussed the best way of developing relations between the
public and social organisations in Taiwan and the pastoral care of the Orthodox faith-
ful living on the island. They also discussed a possible visit to Taipei by a delegation
of the Russian-Orthodox Church, but no details for such a meeting were fixed.
112
COLOMBIA
In article 19, the Constitution of Colombia guarantees complete

religious freedom for all denominations. But the situation in
Colombia has been marked by the constant violence of the
AREA
guerrilla movements, FARC and ELN, and various drug traf-
1,138,914 kmq
ficking groups; and as a consequence of this, freedom of wor-
ship is seriously impaired. The Catholic Church has endeav- POPULATION
oured to act as a bridge, by facilitating dialogue between the au- 46,770,000
thorities and the guerrilla movements, in the hope of securing
REFUGEES
an end to the fighting (Radio Giornale Vaticano, 28th January
2006). In February four Colombian bishops negotiated with the 168
ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional) on the island of Cuba INTERNALLY
in the hope of establishing a peace process and putting an end DISPLACED
to four decades of violence in Colombia (ZENIT, 13th February 1,976,970
2006). In December, Archbishop Luís Augusto Castro Quiroga
of Tunja, the president of the Colombian Bishops’ Conference,
issued a communique outlining the willingness of the Catholic
RELIGIOUS
Church to support any type of process that might lead to peace
ADHERENTS
and reconciliation in the country (ACI Prensa, 8th November
2006; Fides, 18th December 2006). However, the climate of vi-
olence has put priests in a difficult situation. In May the FARC
finally handed over the remains of Father Javier Francisco
Montoya, who had been kidnapped in December 2004 and was
later murdered by the guerrillas. This Colombian priest had ex-
ercised his ministry among the Afro-Colombian people of the Others 3.3%
Chocó region. This was by no means an exceptional incident,
and the Church in Colombia is still trying to find out what hap- Baptized Catholics
pened to Father César Darío Peña, the parish priest of Raudal
de Valdivia, who was also kidnapped by the FARC in 2004
41,019,000
COLOMBIA
(ZENIT, 3rd May 2006). Meanwhile, on 4th July 2006 the mur-
dered body of the Franciscan Brother Luis Alfonso Moreno was
discovered in Santa Marta. Then on 22nd August, Father Alejan-
dro Montoya, the parish priest of Bonam, was murdered as
well, while in February 2007 the Italian missionary, Father
Mario Bianco died after being severely beaten by thieves – a
beating which this 90-year-old priest was unable to survive
(www.domund.org/secciones/documentosmisioneros/documen-
tosmisioneros.htm, 17th December 2007).
However, such violence has not been directed solely against
Catholic priests. In July 2007 two Pentecostalist pastors, Hum-
113
berto Mendez and Joel Cruz García were murdered by the FARC in their church (ICN
COLOMBIA
News, 12th July 2007). Nonetheless, the Catholic Church in Colombia did in some cas-
es manage, through her mediation, to obtain the release of the hostages taken by the
guerrillas, as was the case with the German, Lothar Hintze (ACI Prensa, 6th April
2006).
Sources
Noticias Globales
ACI Prensa
www.domund.org
ICN News
ZENIT
114
COMOROS
The Constitution acknowledges religious freedom, but the gov-

ernment continues to restrict this right. In particular, the law
punishes any proselytising activities by non-Islamic groups
AREA
with imprisonment and a fine, although there do not appear to
2,235 kmq
be restrictions for celebrating the liturgy in private. There is one
Protestant church and two Catholic churches, but these can on- POPULATION
ly be attended by foreigners. Furthermore, there is widespread 835,000
social discrimination against Christians practically at all levels.
REFUGEES
The accusation of “evangelising Muslims” often results in so-
cial discrimination that can at times lead to threats, as well as ---
the expulsion of individual Christians or entire families from INTERNALLY
schools and villages. Citizens who have converted are treated DISPLACED
far worse that foreign Christians and can be imprisoned if they ---
practise their faith in public. Foreigners are simply deported.
Religious groups do not require state authorisation, but any
public practice of their faith by non-Islamic groups can be con-
RELIGIOUS
sidered proselytism.
ADHERENTS
The Koran is taught and explained in state schools from the age
of four, but it is not a compulsory subject for children of other
faiths. The distribution of religious literature, clothes or sym-
bols of non-Islamic faiths is forbidden. In 2006 the internation-
al Protestant Church in Moroni received permission to hand out
parcels of toys for children, but was then ordered to stop be-
Muslims 98%
cause a child’s Bible and a number of necklaces with crucifix- Affiliated Christians 1.2%
es were found. On 1st April one of the people involved in the Others 0.8%
organisation was arrested and kept in prison for one night,

Baptized Catholics
while a number of homes were searched. The Minister of the
Interior and for Education threatened to deport this person from
6,000 COMOROS
the country, and the local authorities who had permitted the dis-
tribution of the gifts were fined. Also in 2006 the organisation
Who will follow me? set up by the Church in Moroni, was not
permitted to distribute T-shirts with the association’s name
printed on them in the local language.
Christians
In May 2006 a woman and four men were arrested and accused
of seeking to “convert Muslims” because they had organised a
Christian debate in a private home in the village of Ndruani.
They were reported by the villagers themselves. They were
115
sentenced to three months in prison, with only the woman obtaining a suspended sen-
COMOROS
tence. They were all released on 6th July 2006, following an amnesty decreed by Pres-
ident Ahmed Abdallah Sambi for the Anniversary of Independence.
116
CONGO, BRAZZAVILLE
Religious freedom is acknowledged and respected. All institu-

tions are required to register and request state approval, includ-
ing religious groups.
AREA
State schools keep education separate from religion, but private
342,000 kmq
schools are permitted. The Church runs 34 kindergartens with
2,452 pupils; 93 primary schools with 22,636 students; 37 mid- POPULATION
dle and higher schools with 4,010 students; 2 hospitals, 16 4,392,000
health centres, one leprosy treatment centre and 7 centres for
REFUGEES
the chronically ill and for invalids.
In December 2006, Brice Mackosso, Permanent Secretary of 38,472
CONGO, BRAZZAVILLE
the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission and Christian INTERNALLY
Mounzeo, President of Rencontre pour la Paix et les Droits de DISPLACED
l’Homme were arrested and accused of deceit and abuse of 7,800
good faith. The two men were coordinating the international
campaign entitled “Publish What You Pay”, started in 2002 to
encourage oil companies to publish the amounts paid to states
RELIGIOUS
in exchange for oil and gas exploitation rights. The Congo
ADHERENTS
Catholic Episcopal Conference spoke out against these arrests,
inviting the authorities to “respect judicial procedures guaran-
teeing a fair and impartial hearing; to guarantee in all circum-
stances physical and psychological integrity for Brice Mackos-
so and Christian Mounzeo; to prevent all forms of retaliation
against them, both individually and in association with other
defenders of human rights”. These two human rights activists Ethnoreligionists 4.8%
had already been arrested on 7th April 2006 in Pointe Noire (the Muslims 1.3%
Others 2.7%
“capital” of the local oil industry) and accused of having made
illegal use of the funds of an association. On 28th April they Baptized Catholics
were released provisionally, but on 13th November the police 2,464,000
arrested them again. The judge however acknowledged the ille-
gality of this arrest and the two activists were once again re-
leased, only to be rearrested. They were eventually given a one-
year suspended sentence.
117
CONGO, DEM. REP. OF THE
The Constitution, approved by a referendum in December

2005 and in force since February 2006, acknowledges reli-

gious freedom, and the authorities respect this. Violent at-
AREA
tacks on religious groups and individual believers appear to
2,344,858 kmq
be the consequence of active guerrilla warfare, above all in
POPULATION the east of the country, with frequent violence inflicted on the
60,679,000 population both by guerrillas and by regular soldiers. Arch-
bishop Francois-Xavier Maroy of Bukavu has reported that
REFUGEES
two villages in Southern Kivu were attacked on the night of
177,390 26th-27th May 2007. Eighteen people were killed, dozens in-
INTERNALLY jured and at least18 others were kidnapped. This happened
DISPLACED while the army was present in the area, but it did not inter-
1,364,578 vene.
Bishops and priests in the country have repeatedly drawn atten-
tion to both the gravity of the situation and the need to reach a
genuinely peaceful settlement. They are faced with a situation
RELIGIOUS
that involves “abominable acts of violence against the civilian
ADHERENTS
population”. Reports from civilians and refugees describe seri-
ous crimes, such as murder, torched homes, kidnappings,
seizure of possessions, robbery, rape, etc. “There have even
been reports of cases of cannibalism” (see Bishops’ statement
of November 2005). Sadly, neither the peace signed in 2003 nor
the 2006 presidential elections has stopped the guerrilla war-
Ethnoreligionists 2.4% fare. On the contrary, in March 2008 the superiors of the reli-
Muslims 1.1% gious congregations in the province of Katanga even reported
Others 1.1%
that “sexual violence has become a terrible weapon for destroy-
Baptized Catholics ing and decimating an entire people.” It is estimated that since
32,105,000 1996 over three million people have been killed, mostly civil-
ians. Between the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006, the
army destroyed entire areas in the provinces of Katanga, Ituri
and Kivu, killing, kidnapping and torturing hundreds of civil-
ians suspected of being in contact with the rebels. In Ituri, sol-
diers killed over 60 civilians and burned down homes, schools,
churches and health centres. On 23rd January 2006 they fired
shots in a church on the village of Nyata, killing at least seven
people.
In September 2007 the human rights group called Voix des
sans voix (Voice of the Voiceless), reported the arrest of ten
people, among them the priest, Father Roger Masirika, vicar
118
in the parish of Chimpunda in the archdiocese of Bukavu, accused of anti-state ac-

tivities. This was in fact – according to the source – a settling of scores within the
army.

Religious organisations must register with the government and present a statute. How-
ever, non-registered groups also operate freely.
Religious instruction is permitted in state schools and religious groups are allowed
their own schools.
In October 2007 the Minister of Information “forbade broadcasting” by 22 television
and 16 private radio stations, among them Radio Elykia, the country’s most important
Catholic radio, reasons given for this included stations not holding licences, paying
taxes or because of other formal irregularities. The Congolese Federation of Radio
Stations for the Community observed that the Ministry was asking 5,000 dollars for
registration and another 2,500 dollars for a licence; amounts that many radio stations
operating in remote areas and serving the local populations, cannot afford. Many of
the stations closed down are owned by groups linked to Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba,
one of the current president’s opponents. On 22nd May 2006 plainclothes police offi-
cers from the special branch attacked the TV studios of Christian television station Ra-
dio Tele Message de Vie, destroying all the equipment. The station had just broadcast
a sermon by Minister Fernando Kutino, criticising a number of politicians.
In March 2008, in the Bas-Congo province, there were violent clashes between the po-
lice and followers of the Bundu dia Kongo movement (the “Kingdom of Congo” in
the Kikongo language), a religious sect that is very influential in this area and hostile
to any symbols used by the state authorities. Each party accused the other of having
started the violence, in which 22 of the group’s followers were killed. This group,
which has secessionist objectives and is also represented in parliament, is suspected
of being responsible for a great deal of violence. In January 2007 other clashes be-
tween this group and the police resulted in over 100 people being killed.
Catholics
In August 2006, nine people attacked the parish church in Kizu, near Tshela, Bas-Con-
go province, and killed a Catholic priest, while a second priest managed to escape to
the nearby forest. According to the Angola Press Agency, the attackers might have
been members of the anti-Christian sect Muene.
At the beginning of March 2007, Father Richard Bimeriki, parish priest in Jomba
(Rutshuru) was attacked inside his parish by a group of soldiers, probably followers
of the rebel general Laurent Nkunda. After asking for food and water, they shot him a
number of times. He was taken to Kigali (Ruanda) for surgery and died there on 7th
April. He was in charge of the only hospital in the area, the Bugusa Centre in Jomba,
119
which serves over 40,000 people but was looted during clashes between the Con-
golese army and Nkunda’s rebels.

During the night of 27th-28th October 2007, in Himbi (Northern Kivu), unknown indi-
viduals attempted to shoot the Bishop of Goma, Monsignor Faustin Ngabu, who was
unhurt, while the gunmen instead shot one of his relatives.
Witchcraft
Brutal practices against children and the elderly accused of witchcraft continue. The
presumed “witches and magicians” are often locked in small locations for days with-
out food and harshly treated in an attempt at exorcism. Sometimes they are even
killed. In Zongo for example, in the province of Equateur, in September 2006, a father
threw his five-month-old son into a river, killing him, because he suspected the child
of being responsible for witchcraft. Around the same time and for the same reason, a
group of people in the provincial capital of Mbandaka threw a fifteen-year-old boy in-
to the river and killed him. The government prosecutes such crimes and in both cases
those responsible were arrested.
120
COSTA RICA
The current Constitution in force in Costa Rica dates back to

1949, but has often been amended, the last time being as recent-
ly as 1996.
AREA
Article 75 states that the “Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Reli-
51,100 kmq
gion” is the State religion, but also specifies that the state does
not forbid the free profession of other faiths. POPULATION
Appeals concerning the Catholic Church’s status have periodi- 4,350,000
cally been presented to the Constitutional Court, but for the
REFUGEES
moment they have all been rejected.
The Law protects the religious rights of all citizens, and should 17,190
they be violated there is adequate jurisdiction for ensuring they INTERNALLY
are protected. DISPLACED
There are no reports concerning the violation of these rights. ---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS
COSTA RICA
Others 3.4%
Baptized Catholics
3,713,000
121
CROATIA
The Constitution of 1990, in particular in Articles 40 and 41,

CROATIA
decrees the right to religious freedom. There is no State reli-

gion, but the Catholic Church has close relations with the state,
AREA
unlike those of any other other religious confession. This is
56,538 kmq
partly based on a Concordat between the government and the
POPULATION Holy See, which governs the recognition of Catholic marriages,
4,518,000 the teaching of the Catechism in state schools, and the military
chaplaincies.
REFUGEES
However, in addition to the Catholic Church, the Serbian Or-
1,642 thodox Church, the Muslim community and other minor Chris-
INTERNALLY tian denominations also receive financial state aid.
DISPLACED The 2002 Law on the legal status of the religious communities
2,900 governs their positions and their rights, including tax benefits
and the issue of religious instruction in schools.
The issue of the restitution of property owned by religious com-
munities which was confiscated under the communist Yugoslav
RELIGIOUS
regime (1945-1990) remains unresolved today, although the
ADHERENTS
1998 Concordat with the Catholic Church decreed that proper-
ty must be returned or, when that is not possible, compensation
be paid.
On this same issue there are by contrast no specific agreements
between the government and non-Catholic groups.
Anti-Semitic episodes have generally been rare and the govern-
Non religious 2.4% ment has worked hard at eradicating such attitudes – which
Muslims 2.3% were strong in the past – among the population, this has been
Others 0.1%
helped by regular participation in the annual Remembrance
Baptized Catholics Day for the Shoah.
3,910,000 In March 2007, Bishop Antun Skvorcevic of Pozega was the
first Catholic bishop to visit the Jewish Memorial Museum,
which is located in the Jasenovac concentration camp; he was
accompanied by a delegation of ninety priests and deacons.
While there he also announced a plan for an ecumenical prayer
initiative in the camp, together with representatives of the var-
ious religious communities in the country.
In February 2007, the Islamic community of Zagreb hosted the
Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Mustafa Ceric, who issued a statement
on behalf of European Muslims, which attracted positive cov-
erage from the Croatian media. The speech called on Muslims
to accept European democratic standards and principles and at
122
the same time appealed to the countries of the European Union to follow a correspon-
ding path of acceptance of the Muslim religion.
In March 2007 a city plan was approved for Rijeka that also includes the building of
a mosque, and in Osijek too – in the east of the country, near the border with Serbia –
there is a plan for the construction of a mosque, but it has been blocked by adminis-
trative procedures for redrafting the map of public land.
On 8th December, 2007 ACN News reported the comments of Archbishop Ivan Pren-
da of Zadar, given during a visit to the international headquarters of ACN, who re-
called the importance of moral principles in politics. He also emphasised how, eleven
years after the end of the war in the Balkans, relations between the State and the
Catholic Church were good and how the government was seriously working at estab-
lishing real democracy in this country, thanks also to a close collaboration with the
Church in the fields of culture, education and society.
In February 2007, immediately after it had been returned to the Serbian Orthodox
Church, the tower of the Saint Archangel Monastery in Kistanje was repeatedly dam-
aged, while the monastery received a threatening letter attacking ethnic Serbians.
The enclosure wall around the Serbian Orthodox cemetery in Biljane Donje was also
knocked down. Already earlier, in January 2007, vandals had broken into the church
of the Holy Trinity, stealing the relics from the altar and damaging a valuable prayer
book.
CROATIA
123
CUBA
Cuba is the only communist country on the American continent

CUBA
and preserves the character typical of totalitarian regimes re-

stricting various rights and liberties, including religious activi-
AREA
ty. Indeed, the Constitution of 1976 proclaims the atheism of
110,861 kmq
the Cuban state. Nonetheless, the visit by the late Pope John
POPULATION Paul II 10 years ago (21st-25th January 1998) raised hopes of
11,320,000 greater openess in matters of religion, and a degree of thawing
in realtions between Church and state.
REFUGEES
In this new context one might note the visit by Cardinal Rena-
615 to Raffaele Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Jus-
INTERNALLY tice and Peace, to various countries of the Caribbean (including
DISPLACED Cuba) in order to present the Compendium of the Social Teach-
--- ing of the Catholic Church. Following the direction marked out
by Benedict XVI in his first encyclical Deus Caritas est, it
points out that the Church must not seek to take the place of the
State, but should still ceaslessly strive for justice. The visit was
RELIGIOUS
an amicable one and the Cuban President, Fidel Castro, ex-
ADHERENTS
pressed words of friendship towards Pope Benedict XVI and
even suggested inviting him to visit the island. Nonetheless, the
continuing restrictions on religious liberty contribute to the
small numbers of young people among the Catholic faithful:
even among those who practise their faith, the levels of adher-
ence to moral issues, such as opposition to abortion and divorce
Non religious 36.9% or the issue of marrying in church, are not followed by half of
Ethnoreligionists 17.9% the population. In order to tackle this problem, the Catholic
Others 0.7%
Bishops’ Conference has drawn up a global pastoral plan which
Baptized Catholics aims to identify new areas in society where the Gospel can be
6,754,000 brought to families, young people, couples, elderly people,
abandoned children, country people and single-parent mothers.
However, there are only 339 priests to carry out this work – 155
diocesan priests, 126 religious, plus 646 religious sisters and 61
permanent deacons to help them – a small army for such a big
campaign. But the limits of any kind of religious activity are
clearly set. The evangelical pastor, Carlos Lamelas, was impris-
oned for 40 days, charged with having assisted an illegal emi-
gration. During Holy Week 2006 some bishops was permitted
to relay the 12-minute Holy Week message via radio – the first
time in 46 years of communist government that such a thing has
happened. For his part, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the Archbishop
124
of Havana stated that he would pray that God might enlighten the government of Raul
Castro during his temporary rule while his brother Fidel was ill, and expressed a will-
ingness to do everything possible for the peace and mutual harmony of the Cuban peo-
ple. These efforts to promote good relations have meant that it was possible to cele-
brate, on 69 separate occasions, public processions and Masses at the shrine of Our
Lady of Charity of Cobre, who appeared to three fishermen in the 17th Century. Per-
mission to celebrate this was first given in 1997, a short time before the visit to the is-
land by Pope John Paul II.
Meanwhile, there have been attempts to amend the legal framework of the govern-
ment by taking advantage of the openings it offers. It is possible to propose a new law
to the National Assembly, provided this is backed by a sufficient number of signatures.
The Reverend Ibrahin Pina has sponsored a proposed Law on Religion and is cam-
paigning to gain votes and support for this law on religious worship and the religious
associations, which would help to eliminate restrictions on religious liberty.
On the Catholic side, the struggle is for education. The magazine Vitral, published by
the diocese of Pinar del Río, is striving with its meagre resources to persuade people
of the need to educate the educators and so to guarantee a pluralist education, that is
not identified with a particular ideology. Additionally, at the international level, the
31st ordinary assembly of CELAM was held for the first time in Cuba: Cuban vice
presidents, Carlos Lage and Esteban Lazo, were in attendance. Advantage was taken
of the occasion to enable the support groups who represent the family members of po-
litical prisoners to request the mediation of the bishops in the release of their relatives.
One of these dissidents, Oswaldo Payá, spoke of the need for an amnesty for political
prisoners and for a new electoral law. Nonetheless, for those who are openly dissident,
events similar to that which occurred to Juan Carlos González Leiva, the executive
secretary of the Consejo de Relatores de Derechos Humanos in Cuba and President of
the Fundación Cubana de Derechos Humanos (Cuban human rights foundation), are
by no means uncommon. He was arrested in the Sala Penal of the Amalia Simoni
provincial hospital in Camagüey and physically maltreated by the state security po-
lice. González Leiva had organised a campaign of prayer and fasting by political pris-
oners in an attempt to end government violence. In response to this initiative the po-
lice began an attack on the parish of Palma Soriano, where a group of the faithful had
met to pray the Holy Rosary for political prisoners. The authorities accused them of
CUBA
engaging in “counterrevolutionary activity”.

However, the increased international interest is prompting some changes among the
authorities. For example, after 200 police and communist militants had attacked 20 or
so dissidents outside the entrance to the presbytery of Santa Teresita, the parish priest
and the archbishop of Santiago later received an apology. Meanwhile, the velvet-
gloved treatment of international visitors still prompts declarations such as that by the
125
president of the Presbyterian Church of the United States, Rick Ufford Chase, who
CUBA
spoke during a service in the first ever Presbyterian church in Havana and denied that
there was any “lack of religious liberty” on the island .
Sources
ACN News, 12th April 2006
ANSA, 6th August 2006
ACI Prensa
Compass Direct News, 2nd March 2006
La Jornada (México), 21st February 2006
La Nueva Cuba, 8th December 2006
Radio Giornale Vaticano
Vatican Radio, 6th September 2007
ZENIT
“LA IGLESIA CATOLICA EN CUBA”. Editato por la oficina de prensa Verdad y Es-
peranza de la Comision Central Preparatoria para la visita del Papa (1998).
126
CYPRUS
Already in its preamble, the Constitution of the internationally

recognised Republic of Cyprus indicates a marked division of
the population into two distinct national, linguistic and reli-
AREA
gious communities, the Greek and the Turkish, and all citizens
9,251 kmq
must belong to one or the other. Consequently, those professing
the Greek Orthodox faith naturally belong to the Greek com- POPULATION
munity, just as the Muslims belong to the Turkish one. Since 791,000
tertium non datur, even those who do not belong to either group
REFUGEES
are however obliged to publicly choose one of them.
On condition that there are no obstacles to security, health and 1,194
public order or to the very rights guaranteed by the Constitu- INTERNALLY
tion, Article 18 guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and DISPLACED
religion, to profess and manifest their faith in every social situ- 210,000
ation.
The right to change religion or belief is specifically protected,
but forced conversions are forbidden, as are all impediments to
RELIGIOUS
conversion. All religions are free and equal in the eyes of the
ADHERENTS
law – provided that their rituals and doctrines are not secret –
and enjoy full administrative autonomy.
These provisions however are only valid in the southern part of

the island, which is Greek and Christian, internationally ac-
knowledged and part of the European Union since 1st May
2004. The northern part of Cyprus, militarily occupied by Non religious 4.7%
Turkey in 1974, has been governed since 1983 as a self-pro- Others 1.2%
claimed independent Turkish Republic, acknowledged howev-

Baptized Catholics
er only by Turkey. In this part of the island Turkish occupation
17,000
has caused deaths, destruction and the forced displacement of
populations. About 20,000 Greek Cypriots, Orthodox Christian
CYPRUS
believers living in the north, were obliged to flee to the south-
ern part of the island. And vice versa, the Muslim Turkish
Cypriots living in the south, moved to the north. There is cur-
rently a wall, known as the “Green Line”, guarded by UN
troops, dividing the two parts of the island as cutting through
the capital city Nicosia. In April 2004 the UN held a referen-
dum on a plan for the confederation of these two states, but this
was rejected by the Greek Cypriots in the south.
In the meantime, the islamisation of the northern part of the is-
land has resulted in the destruction of all that was Christian.
127
Many churches, not only Eastern Orthodox but also Maronite and Armenian, have
CYPRUS
been transformed by the occupying forces into army warehouses, stables, nightclubs
and even mosques. There still seems to be no solution for rectifying the damage in-
flicted on the artistic, cultural and religious heritage, in spite of the appeal addressed
to the European institutions by the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Nova Justiniana
and All Cyprus, His Beatitude Chrysostomos II, seeking permission to restore – with
funds provided by the local church – the five hundred Christian churches in Turkish-
occuppied territory and at risk of collapse. Meanwhile, the Turks themselves claim
that they have restored five Orthodox places of worship.
There are signs of hope however in certain important gestures of openness by eminent
Islamic figures, such as the Great Imam of Egypt, Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi, who on
27th July 2007 offered Chrysostomos II his support for protecting Christian churches
and promised to extend this appeal to the whole Muslim world.
In the meantime, the Cypriot government has stated that it has spent about € 130,000
in 2006 on the preservation of 17 mosques and Islamic places of worship in its terri-
tory, and has set aside about € 350,000 in 2007 for the same purpose.
The Orthodox Church

On 13th August 2007 the Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus, His Beati-
tude Chrysostomos II protested that the celebration of Mass in the Monastery of Saint
Barnabas in Famagosta, in territory occupied by the Turkish Army, had been forcibly
prevented. According to his note, “when the Archimandrite Monsignor Gabriele ar-
rived at the monastery, which has been turned by the Turks into a museum and to
which Christians can only gain admittance by paying an entrance fee, a group of self-
proclaimed ‘Turkish Cypriot police’, actually irregular militiamen, intervened and or-
dered the ceremony to be stopped”. “When Monsignor Gabriele protested, the militi-
amen removed the faithful using force and while the priest persisted in finished the
Mass they drowned out his voice with insults and curses against the Christian faith.
All those present had their names taken by the so-called policemen”, the communiqué
continues.
Ankara’s decision not to allow the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysos-
tomos II to visit the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I from
17th-21st August has contributed to embitter the conflict between the Greek Orthodox
and the Turkish Cypriot Muslim communities. Chrysostomos finally specified that
“there are no divergences between the Greek Orthodox and their Turkish Cypriot
Muslim brothers” and that the real problem consists in “interference from Ankara,
blocking all attempts addressed at integrating the two communities with reciprocal re-
spect”. Hope for a better atmosphere in interreligious dialogue has resulted from a
meeting on 21st February 2007, the first in 33 years, between Chrysostomos II and the
128
Minister for Religious Affairs in the self-proclaimed Turkish Cypriot republic, Ahmet
Yonluer.
In the self-proclaimed Turkish Cypriot republic, which describes itself as “secular”
following the Turkish model, the Constitution formally guarantees religious freedom,
but the authorities only grant Christian priests limited permission to celebrate Mass
and obstruct the faithful in their visits to churches and monasteries.
Sources
The restoration of Churches can reconcile Cyprus, ZENIT, 19th June 2007
The Great Imam of Egypt defends the Christian Churches threatened by the Turkish
army in Cyprus, ZENIT, 27th July 2007
Cyprus: anti Christian violence by Turkish militiamen, ZENIT, 16th August 2007
CYPRUS
129
CZECH REPUBLIC
The right to religious freedom is enshrined in the Constitution

CZECH REPUBLIC
of 1992, which in Article 3 also includes the Charter of Funda-

mental Rights and Freedoms approved also in 1992 by the Fed-
AREA
eral Assembly.
78,866 kmq
All religious groups must register with the Ministry of Culture,
POPULATION in order to obtain state subsidies among other things.
10,291,000 In April 2007, the Czech Muslim community presented a series
of requests to the Ministry of Culture for permission to teach
REFUGEES
the Islamic religion in state schools, to establish their own pri-
2,037 vate schools, celebrate Islamic marriages and to appoint people
INTERNALLY for religious activity in military barracks and in prisons.
DISPLACED During the month of February 2007, the Czech Supreme Court
--- overturned a previous ruling by the High Court in Prague in
September 2006, which had ordered that the Prague Castle and
the Saint Vitus’ Cathedral, expropriated by the communist
regime, should be returned to the Catholic Church. On 9th
RELIGIOUS
March 2007, the Vatican Radio focused on the central issue: as
ADHERENTS
the Archbishop of Prague, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk had empha-
sised, the arguments used to support this decision were not le-
gal but rather political and therefore this would not prevent the
Church responding, it was even prepared to appeal to the Euro-
pean Court of Human Rights in Strasburg. In a broadcast of 4th
April 2007, the Radio Giornale Vaticano announced a provi-
Non religious 36.9% sional agreement regarding the controversy over the Cathe-
Others 0.1% dral’s ownership; the President of the Republic’s Office had in
fact decided that “the Cathedral’s administration would hence-
Baptized Catholics
forth be assured by the Metropolitan Chapter, together with the
3,289,000
Administration of the Prague Castle”.
On 31st January 2007, this same source broadcast the Czech
bishops’ response to the accusations of collaboration with the
communist regime, accusations levelled at a number of Czech
priests. In a note the bishops stated that “the Church was above
all the victim and has been persecuted”. Furthermore, the doc-
ument emphasises, the Church was one of the first to address
this issue, even to the extent of obliging even a number of im-
portant figures to resign.
On 4th November 2007 L’Osservatore Romano reported that
progress had been made in the dialogue between the State and
the Catholic Church with regard to Church properties confiscat-
130
ed by the communist regime. The Czech Episcopal Conference is negotiating compen-

sation equivalent to three billion Euros to be paid in instalments for about seventy
years.
On 15th November 2007, the Radio Giornale Vaticano reported that the Czech Consti-
tutional Court had refused a proposal to amend Act 495/2005, which imposes restric-
tions on churches and religious communities when founding charitable institutions or
schools on their properties; all these institutions are therefore still required by law to
follow long and complex legal procedures. According to the bishops, this is a serious
injustice and therefore they are ready even to appeal to the European Court of Human
Rights.
CZECH REPUBLIC
131
DENMARK
The 1953 Danish Constitution states that “The Evangelical

DENMARK
Lutheran Church shall be the Established Church of Den-

mark, and as such shall be supported by the State” and adds
AREA
that the King must be a member of this Church. However, Ar-
43,094 kmq
ticle 68 states that “No one shall be liable to make personal
POPULATION contributions to any denomination other than the one to
5,363,000 which he adheres”. Furthermore, Article 67 guarantees citi-
zens the right “to form congregations for the worship of God
REFUGEES
in a manner according with their convictions, provided that
26,788 nothing contrary to good morals or public order shall be
INTERNALLY taught or done”.
DISPLACED Moreover, Article 70 establishes that “No person shall by rea-
--- son of his creed or descent be deprived of access to the full
enjoyment of civic and political rights, nor shall he escape
compliance with any common civic duty for such reasons”,
while Article 71 states that “Personal liberty shall be invio-
RELIGIOUS
lable. No Danish subject shall […] be deprived of his liberty
ADHERENTS
because of his political or religious convictions or because of
his descent.”
The Catholic Church, the Jewish community, the Islamic com-
munity, the Methodist Church, the Baptist community and the
Russian Orthodox Church are recognised, along with another
hundred or so denominations, by the Religious Affairs Min-
Non religious 6.9% istry, which accords them various rights, such as celebrating
Others 1.5% marriages with civil validity and providing their ministers with
resident permits.
Baptized Catholics
According to a Draft Bill currently being studied by Parlia-
37,000
ment, foreign missionaries will in future be asked to sit a Dan-
ish language test; this will be added to the provisions of the so-
called “Law on Imams” of 2004, which restricts the entry visas
granted for religious reasons, in proportion to the actual num-
ber of the faithful.
Islam
A number of other provisions have likewise been introduced for
safeguarding social peace, a peace severely tested by the publi-
cation of the twelve satirical cartoons on Mohammed in a num-
ber of Danish daily newspapers in 2005. In treading the thin
line that separates respect for the religious sentiments of Mus-
132
lims from freedom of opinion and expression and of the press, Denmark has faced a
severe boycott by the Islamic world, which has continued with varying degrees of in-
tensity since 2006.
However, the sentenced passed on 26th October 2006 by the courts in Århus, acquit-
ting Carsten Juste, the chief editor, and Flemming Rose, the editor of the cultural
pages of the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten of the charge of slander, prompted harsh re-
actions from representatives of Danish Muslim organisations and from the Islamic
world. In their summing up, the judges state that “naturally one cannot exclude the
fact that the cartoons might offend the honour of some Muslims, but there is no basis
for believing that these cartoons were intended as an offensive means, or that the ob-
jective was to propound an opinion likely to bring discredit upon Muslims in the eyes
of the citizens”. Even the most controversial cartoons, in which Mohammed is por-
trayed as a suicide bomber, holding a bomb and wearing a turban, or as the advocate
of the oppression of women, could not therefore, in the view of the court, be consid-
ered as an insult or a mockery.
The tension and misunderstanding that opposed the majority of the Danes to the Is-
lamic fundamentalist minority, also caused a severe split within the immigrant com-
munity, in particular among those of Muslim culture. Among the moderates, an im-
portant contribution to reconciliation was made by the Danish MP Naser Khader,
who is of Syrian and Palestinian origin. He had decidedly distanced himself from
the protests during the demonstrations of 2006, attracting criticism from the most
radical organisations, and even some death threats, for having attempted to promote
dialogue and put an end to the crisis. The violence, which reached its peak with the
attacks on Danish embassies in many Islamic countries, was followed later in Den-
mark by the desecration of 25 Muslim tombs in the cemetery of Esbjerg in Febru-
ary 2006.
Also to be seen as in line with the need to promote peaceful coexistence are the new
DENMARK
acceptance criteria for refugees from the UN refugee camps. In accordance with in-
ternational agreements, Denmark continues to welcome 500 people every year. How-
ever, in 2006 and 2007 the authorities decided to choose the provenance of those to
be considered for political and humanitarian asylum. Whereas in 2001 and 2002, 84
percent of refugees came from Islamic countries, now 89 percent are “infidels” from
the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bhutan and Burma. The remaining 11 percent
still come from Iraq, Sudan and other countries with a Muslim majority. The reason
was explained by the deputy director of the Danish foreign services, Eva Singer: “In
recent years we have been taking refuges from Burma and from Congo. We have
done this because the UNHCR (UN High Commission for Refugees) believes that
there is a need for us to do so. But also because the communes here have had good
133
experiences with the Burmese and the Congolese. Both these nationalities integrate
DENMARK
well in Denmark”.
Sources
Naser Khader, Declaration by the newly founded “Moderate Moslem”-Network,
4th February 2006
http://www.khader.dk/flx/in_english/declaration_by_the_newly_founded_
moderate_moslem_network
Pernille Ammitzbøll and Lorenzo Vidino, After the Danish Cartoon Controversy,
Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2007, http://www.meforum.org/article/1437
134
DJIBOUTI
Islam is the State religion, but the Constitution acknowledges

the freedom to profess any faith. Although it is not forbidden,
proselytism by non-Islamic faiths is discouraged. All religious
AREA
organisations must register every two years and state in a de-
23,200 kmq
tailed manner the objectives of all their activities. Religious
groups are not restricted in any way from providing health care POPULATION
and education. Religion is not taught in state schools. 760,000
For everything concerning family and inheritance law, the Is-
REFUGEES
lamic courts have been replaced with Family Courts that apply
the Family Code, a mixture of civil and Islamic provisions. 6,651
Family Court judges only have jurisdiction over Muslims. Oth- INTERNALLY
ers are tried in civil courts. Furthermore, Muslim women are DISPLACED
not allowed to marry non-Muslims. ---
Catholics
On 28th October 2007, Father Sandro De Petris, the Vicar Gen-
RELIGIOUS
eral of the Djibouti diocese (the whole diocese has three priests
ADHERENTS
for 7,000 believers), was arrested, initially on no specific
charge but later accused of paedophilia. The Bishop, Giorgio
Bertin immediately declared that he was “completely certain of
Father Sandro’s innocence” and wondered if perhaps he may
have “upset someone” (Fides). This was also, he added, be-
cause “the accusation comes from Port Ouvert, an organisation
Muslims 94.1%
that in 1995 did the same with the French Judge, Borrel” (in Affiliated Christians 4.5%
fact the judge had discovered evidence of corruption, money Others 1.4%
laundering, and arms trafficking. His body was found in Dji-

Baptized Catholics
bouti and his death labelled as suicide. The French have re-
7,000 DJIBOUTI
opened this case, however, and are treating it as murder). The
Bishop has spoken of revenge and a “conspiracy”. “Those be-
longing to Port Ouvert were evicted from the Caritas building
when Father Sandro was the director” (Corriere della Sera) and
this resulted in a “court case that lasted ten years and was only
recently settled”. The priest only appeared in court for the first
time on 29th December.
Other sources speak of a press campaign orchestrated by the
daily newspaper La Nation (the only newspaper allowed by the
government) against “paedophile France” and the Church,
which is accused of organising a “paedophile network” (see
Avvenire, 10th January 2008).
135
At the end of February 2008 the priest was placed under house arrest for health rea-
DJIBOUTI
sons while awaiting a trial that was due to start in the next few weeks. During this time
the charges have changed on a number of occasions, from paedophilia to distributing
child pornography, to the corruption of minors, etc.
136
DOMINICA
The small Republic of Dominica (“Commonwealth of Domini-

ca”), in the archipelagos of the Lesser Antilles, guarantees full
religious freedom, specifying this in detail in Article 9 of the
AREA
1978 Constitution.
751 kmq
The population is almost entirely Christian and the majority
follows the Catholic faith. POPULATION
All religious organisations must register so as to obtain tax ben- 74,000
efits and authorisations for places of worship and schools.
REFUGEES
State schools curricula include Christian religious instruction,
but non-Christians are not obliged to attend. ---
There have been no reports concerning violations of religious INTERNALLY
freedom. DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Spiritists 2.7%
Others 2.5%
Baptized Catholics
42,000 DOMINICA
137
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Constitution of the Dominican Republic, that dates from

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
2002, establishes freedom of worship, and generally the gov-

ernment respects this right. No acts involving religious discrim-
AREA
ination have been reported for 2006 and 2007.
48,511 kmq
Most people in this country belong to the Catholic Church. Tra-
POPULATION ditional Protestants, Evangelical Christians (in particular the
9,420,000 Assemblies of God, the Church of God, the Baptists and the
Pentecostals), Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses
REFUGEES
and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day
--- Saints (Mormons) have organised themselves in small but ac-
INTERNALLY tive groups. As far as other religious minorities are concerned,
DISPLACED there are approximately three hundred Jews within the territory
--- of the republic, but of these only a few practise their religion.
Most of them live in Santo Domingo, where the largest syna-
gogue is found. As far as the presence of Muslims is concerned,
government sources have identified groups with approximately
RELIGIOUS
between 5,000 and 10,000 members, mainly students. There are
ADHERENTS
also small groups of Hindus and Buddhists. It is worth observ-
ing that many among the Catholics also practice a sort of reli-
gion that mingles Catholicism, so-called santeria (a syncretic
mixture of Afro-Caribbean pagan beliefs and Christianity), bru-
jeria (a Hispanic form of folk magic) and voodoo rituals. It is
extremely difficult to quantify the number of followers, since
Others 4.8% these rituals are practised in secret.
In February 2007, as reported by Vatican Radio, the Catholic
Baptized Catholics Bishops’ Conference of this Caribbean country drafted a docu-
8,305,000 ment which it sent to the Committee for Constitutional Reform,
emphasising the need to clearly include the concept of the
Christian roots in the new Constitution. “It is necessary to
clearly define, without alibis or misunderstanding, the Domini-
can identity”, the bishops wrote, emphasising that “in this iden-
tity of ours, the religious element must be included, the Christ-
ian faith that has inspired national sovereignty and that has
moreover historically shaped the outlook of the Dominican
people”. The bishops’ letter further called for a precise and
clear definition of “freedom of religion for all Christian and
other denominations” along with the guarantee of “the right to
worship”.
138
ECUADOR
In Chapter II of the 1998 Constitution of the Republic of

Ecuador, which looks at civil rights, Article 23.11 guarantees
freedom of conscience and religion, expressed both privately
AREA
and in public, individually or as an association.
283,561 kmq
There is no religious instruction in state schools, however, the
subject is taught in private schools. POPULATION
The country is mainly a Catholic one, but small minorities be- 13,410,000
longing to other Christian denominations or other religions are
REFUGEES
free to exercise their activities.
There are no reports of violations of the freedom guaranteed by 264,907
the Constitution. INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Others 2.4%
Baptized Catholics
12,233,000
ECUADOR
139
EGYPT
Egypt is the Middle Eastern country with the largest number of

EGYPT
Christians. They mainly belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church

while others belong to ultra-minority communities such as the
AREA
Coptic Catholics, Armenians, Greek-Orthodox, Chaldeans,
1,001,449 kmq
Maronites and Latins. According to the Coptic Orthodox
POPULATION Church’s registry of baptisms, there are 12 million followers of
75,510,000 this faith, or 17 percent of a total population of 73 million in-
habitants. The government, however, minimises these figures,
REFUGEES
assessing the percentage of Copts at just 2-3 percent. 10 percent
97,556 is generally considered as correct.
INTERNALLY In principle, Egyptian Christians enjoy the same rights as
DISPLACED their Muslim compatriots. Implicit discrimination is however
--- established on the basis of the 1971 Constitution, amended in
1980 and currently in force. The Constitution in fact states
that “Islam is the Religion of the State. Arabic is its official lan-
guage, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Ju-
RELIGIOUS
risprudence (Shari‘a)” (Article 2). The same text however
ADHERENTS
guarantees the equality of all citizens in the eyes of the law:
“All citizens are equal before the law. They have equal public
rights and duties without discrimination due to sex, ethnic ori-
gin, language, religion or creed” (Article 40). Further, “The
State shall guarantee the freedom of belief and the freedom of
practising religious rights” (Article 46).
Muslims 84.4%
Affiliated Christians 15.1% In reality, things are rather different, and this is already visible
Others 0.5% at the institutional level. For example, during the last legislative
elections held in 2005, only one Copt was elected out of 444
Baptized Catholics
members of Parliament. The President of the Republic, Hosni
197,000
Mubarak, to whom the law gives the right to appoint ten mem-
bers of parliament, chose five Copts, among them one Catholic
(for the first time!); however the degree to which they are real-
ly representative is obviously scarcely very credible. Christians
are normally permitted to stand for legislative elections, al-
though there is no quota reserved for them in parliament. How-
ever they often abstain from voting (levels of participation are
said to be around 12 percent among the Coptic population),
since everything possible appears to be done to dissuade them
from participating in the country’s political life. “We feel like
foreigners in our own country”, they often say.
It should be added that it is compulsory for a person’s religion
140
to be stated on their ID from the age of 16, which results in discrimination in many
different fields. Hence Christians are excluded from various appointments or profes-
sions, for example as ministers with full powers, sensitive appointments within the
army, rectors of faculties, lawyers or doctors in certain specialisations. They actually
represent only 1.5 percent of civil servants. Even in the villages of the south, where
90 percent of Christians live, the mayor cannot be a Copt.
There is also discrimination in the educational sector. In the best government schools,
for example, a Christian cannot be first in his course or in his class. Furthermore, no
Copt is permitted to teach Arabic, even if it is his mother tongue, except in the lower
grades where reading is taught without using the Koran.
In 2007, in a report entitled Equality at work: Tackling the challenge, the UN’s Inter-
national Labour Office deplored these discriminations: “One of the most resilient
forms of discrimination is that targeting Copts in Egypt, who are denied equal access
to education and equal opportunities in recruitment and promotion.”
Mention must also be made of an account by Reporters sans frontières (RSF), dated
14th August 2007, in which the authorities of the governorship of Qena have been ac-
cused of persecuting Hala Helmy Botros, a Copt woman who writes under the pseu-
donym Hala El-Masry, and has reported the persecution against her community on a
number of Internet websites. According to RSF, she was forbidden from leaving the
region (L’Eglise dans le Monde, No. 136, 4° tr. 2007). Also, Abdel Karim Nabil Soli-
man, a Muslim studying at the El Azhar University in Cairo, was expelled from this
university and put in prison for having written on the Internet that the university “de-
fends radical ideas and tries to repress freedom of thought” (AsiaNews, 15th March
2007). It should be noted that Christians are not allowed to attend this university, in
spite of the fact that El Azhar is a partner of the Holy See within the context of a com-
mittee for interreligious dialogue.
As far as legal rights are concerned, Christians do not have their own courts of law.
The leaders of all the Christian communities have drafted common rules on this issue
that are used as guidelines by the civil courts, where judges may be Muslims. These
rules cannot contravene the provisions of the Shari‘a, however. For example, Christ-
ian women, just like Muslim women, cannot inherit on an equal basis with their broth-
EGYPT
ers because the Koran does not accord them equality in this area (4, 11).
Furthermore, the Copts are subjected to humiliating situations in the religious sphere.
Hence, although children attending state schools are not obliged to learn the Koran,
they nonetheless have to read long passages from it during Arab language courses,
since the Holy Book of Islam is considered as the basis of this language and in these
schools there are no classes teaching the Bible or providing Christian religious instruc-
tion. The school libraries do not contain any Christian books at all. Finally, the histo-
ry books do not mention the first six centuries of the modern era, moving directly from
141
the era of the Pharaohs to the Islamic conquest, which is presented as“liberation” from
EGYPT
the Roman occupation. It should moreover be noted that there are also many books in
circulation that are insulting to Christians, even at the Cairo Book Fair.
Christians are also obliged to face obstacles in practising their religion. Permits for
building churches are extremely difficult to obtain, a problem that does not affect
mosques. It is not uncommon, when Muslims learn that a request to build a church has
been made, for them to quickly build a mosque close to the site involved, which ef-
fectively makes it impossible for a church to be built. It can happen that Muslims al-
so resort to violence to prevent Christians from having appropriate places of worship.
For example, in mid-May 2007, in the village of Bamha, 25 km south of Cairo, a
group of Muslims, informed by their imam that the “infidels” were enlarging their
church, a project for which they had obtained an official permit; they looted and set
fire to homes and shops owned by Copts (Figaro Magazine, 2nd June 2007; France
Catholique, 25th January 2008).
From time to time Christians are also the targets of physical violence. The following
is a list of incidents reported in 2006 and 2007:
On 18th January 2006, in the village of El Odayssat, near Luxor, Muslims set fire to a
house that Coptic Orthodox followers had been using since 1970 as a church, though
without an official permit. One person, Kamaal Shaker, was killed and fourteen oth-
ers injured. It should be noted that the 8,000 Copts in this village do not have any
church of their own (Se Comprendre, No. 06/09, October 2006).
During the night of 8th June 2007, in Zawyet Abdel-Qader, a city to the west of
Alexandria, a number of Muslims attacked two Coptic Orthodox churches, looted
shops owned by Christians and injured seven Christians. On 12th June there was an-
other attack, this time against the Church of Our Lady, in Dekheila, also to the west
of Alexandria.
Very often, the slightest incident involving Christians is exploited by Muslims for de-
nominational reasons. Thus, in June 2007, in the village of Saft Meydoum, in the gov-
ernorship of Beni Souwef, the parents of a young Muslim girl, who had been knocked
down by a Copt on a bicycle, attacked the home of the Christian family, throwing
stones at it (France Catholique, 25th January 2008).
The most serious attacks on Christians took place in Alexandria on 14th April 2006.
Two Muslims, armed with knives, attacked three churches just as the faithful had gath-
ered to celebrate Maundy Thursday (according to the Coptic Orthodox calendar).
They attacked the Church of Saint George, the Church of All Saints and the Church of
the Blessed Virgin. Another attacker, 25-year-old Mahmoud Salaheddine Abdel-Razq,
was arrested as he prepared to attack the faithful in a fourth church in another district
of the city. These attacks caused the death of one Christian, Noshi Atta Girgis, and
many others were wounded (ZENIT, 14th April 2006; La Croix, 21st April 2006; Le
142
Figaro, 17th April and 2nd May 2006; Le Monde, 19th April 2006; Le Figaro Magazine,
20th May 2006; Oasis, No. 4, September 2006).
“While the discrimination that makes the Christians in Egypt into second class cit-
izens is continuous, the violent persecution tends to surface sporadically and in an
erratic manner. It has however increased significantly over the last five years, in
parallel with the islamisation of the police”, observes Marie-Gabrielle Leblanc.
This same author also reports an intensification in the wave of kidnappings of very
young Christian girls (14 years old), in order to force them to convert to Islam,
marry them to a Muslim against their will and send them to the other end of the
country, so their families will never find them again. Some have managed to flee
and to tell what had happened to them. The police often tell the desperate parents
that they know perfectly well where their daughters are but that they will never find
them again, because they have voluntarily converted to Islam (Se Comprendre, No.
06/09, October 2006).
The day after the attacks in Alexandria, during the funeral of the victim, a number of
young Christians took to the streets and looted some shops to vent their rage. The
Muslims reacted, and further clashes resulted, causing the death of one Muslim.
These events reveal a change of mood within the Coptic community. What exasper-
ates the Copts most is not the attacks against them, but the lack of any reaction by the
authorities, and their habit of belittling the threats against them. In fact, as often hap-
pens, the Ministry for Internal Affairs has stated that the man who attacked the church-
es was “mentally unstable”. According to the Moroccan weekly Tel Quel (22nd April
2006), one of the people at the funeral of Noshi Girgis’ said: “We have always been
peaceful, but if the state does not defend us, we will do it ourselves!” And Le Figaro
of 17th April 2006 published the comments of a young Copt about the events in
Alexandria: “We have remained silent for too long and are no longer prepared to ig-
nore matters”.
Generally speaking, the Christians want the government to acknowledge the existence
of a “Coptic issue” and open a public debate on this subject. Hence there is one taboo
that has been eliminated. Until now in fact, the Copts have suffered their fate with a
kind of resignation. Father Jean-Jacques Pérennès, secretary general of the Dominican
EGYPT
Institute of Oriental Studies in Cairo, explains this recent development as follows: “In
reality, the recurrence of these incidents, together with real discrimination against the
Copt minority in the political life of the country, helps to create a climate of unease,
indeed of psychosis. Hence the mass protests in Alexandria after the recent incidents.”
The same author also reports that a number of intellectual Muslims have dared to ad-
dress the problem in the press, including even some of the Arab-language media. He
quoted Mohamed Salmawy, editor in chief of Al-Ahram Hebdo (a French language
magazine), who had had the courage to confront the government and religious lead-
143
ers, including the rector of El Azhar University, over their responsibilities (Egypt at
EGYPT
the Crossroads, Oasis, No. 4, September 2006). And Masri Feki, a French Muslim of
Egyptian origin writes: “The Copts are attacked because they are not Muslims” (Se
Comprendre, No. 06/09, October 2006).
Two recent decisions, however, have contributed in mitigating the Copts’ bitterness.
In December 2005, a Presidential Decree transferred to the local governors the author-
ity to approve requests for church building or repair permits, thereby responding to
one of the Copts’ longstanding demands. Currently, local governors are allowed thir-
ty days for answering such requests and must justify any eventual refusal. On 1st Jan-
uary 2006, President Mubarak appointed a Copt as the governor of the province of Qe-
na. He is General Magdi Ayoub Iskandar. No similar decision had been taken in the
past thirty years.
Another painful issue that deserves mention is that of conversion. Every year several
thousand Copts seemingly become Muslims in order to escape their inferior status, or
else to marry a Muslim woman, since the Koran forbids Muslim women from marry-
ing Jews or Christians (2, 221). A few Christians, it seems, even succumb to the in-
ducement of a financial reward in return for their “conversion”. In such cases can one
really speak of genuine freedom of conscience? Furthermore, conversion from Islam
to Christianity is impossible, in contradiction to the guarantees provided by the Con-
stitution. Conversions and baptisms do take place but have to be kept secret, and this
change in religion cannot be registered on a person’s identity documents. In January
2007, a Korean court granted political asylum to an Egyptian Muslim who had con-
verted to Christianity in 2005 and had been obliged to flee his country to avoid the
death threats he received from an Islamic group.
Another man, Ahmed Hussein El Akkad, the former imam of a mosque in Cairo and
an Islamic militant as well, converted to Christianity and was imprisoned in 2005 for
no specific reason. In spite of the decision of a Cairo court, ordering his release, he
was moved to a high security prison in the desert of the Wadi Natroun. He was final-
ly released on 27th May 2007.
Mohamed Hegazy’s case is a similar one. Converted at the age of 16, he waited until
2007 when he was 25 years old to ask for this change of religion to be registered of-
ficially, thereby taking an unprecedented initiative that was widely reported by the
press at the time. The rector of El Azhar University, however, issued a fatwa (a reli-
gious decree) accusing him of apostasy and sentencing to death both the man and his
wife, Zeinab, who had also become a Christian, taking the name Katrina. Constantly
threatened, the young couple have lived in hiding ever since. The father of the bride
told the Egyptian press: “I want the judges to make her divorce and I want her sent
back to me, even dead”. In August 2007, two members of the Middle East Christian
Organisation (MECA), Adel Fawzi and Peter Ezzat, were imprisoned on a charge of
144
“attacking Islam” and “denominational sedition”. They are suspected of having ac-
tively contributed to Hegazy’s conversion. The Kadima Coptic Centre for Human
Rights, which had supported Hegazay’s action had submitted a formal complaint on
his behalf in the civil courts, after the officials at the civil registry had refused to write
the word “Christian” on his new ID card. The centre later withdrew this complaint,
however, in response to pressure from the Coptic Orthodox Church. The leaders of
this church in fact feared that it might be accused of proselytism, but they also want-
ed to give priority to cases involving cradle Christians who were returning to Chris-
tianity after becoming Muslims and then regretting it, and also to cases involving the
children of Muslim fathers, who are automatically registered as Muslims even when
they are in fact Christians. Faced with the refusal by the administration to record their
change of religion on their ID cards, a number of them submitted an appeal to the
Cairo administrative court. Whereas in 2006 the presiding judge of this court had ac-
cepted the pleas presented by 30 people, the magistrate who succeeded him ruled in
the opposite direction on the 45 cases presented to him. In a judgement given on 24th
April 2007, he ruled them inadmissible, raising the spectre of apostasy, punishable by
death. This was such a blow that the Copts declared 24th April “a day of national
mourning”.
Their lawyers appealed to the administrative Supreme Court, against which there is no
further appeal, which admitted the legitimacy of their requests. On 9th February 2008,
this court authorised twelve Copts who had converted to Islam and then returned to
Christianity, to be acknowledged as ‘people who had rejoined their religion of origin’:
“this is a historical sentence. A victory for freedom of religion in Egypt, in compliance
with Article 46 of the Constitution. A principle has now been established; this should
be enshrined in law”, said Dr. Ramsès El Najjar, one of the lawyers representing the
plaintiffs. This judgement should now set a precedent for the 457 appeals still pend-
ing in various administrative courts in the country.
However, according to the court, their ID cards should nevertheless still indicate that
these people “have temporarily adopted Islam”, which, according to the spokesman
for the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch, risks encouraging some Muslims to treat them as
apostates, with all the consequences such an accusation would entail. Mounir Abdel
EGYPT
Nour, secretary general of the Néo-Wafd, a secular and liberal political party, shares
these fears: “It is a step forward, but it does not satisfy our aspirations. In Egypt, all
the NGOs working for human rights, including the National Council for Human
Rights, which is a government agency, have requested that a person’s religion should
no longer be stated in their official papers” (La Croix, 11th February 2008).
In this context, we should however also record the unprecedented position assumed by
one Muslim dignitary. In fact it was the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, in an in-
terview given to the Washington Post in July 2007 and also reported by the Egyptian
145
press, who stated that an apostate, although guilty of a serious mistake, must answer
EGYPT
to God and not to human beings.

Finally, it should be noted that a judgement by the Egyptian Supreme Court in Decem-
ber 2006, denied Egyptian Baha’is the right to identify themselves as such on official
documents, thereby depriving them of any civil status and consequently also of the
right to enrol their children in schools, open a bank account, access the national health
service, etc. (La Croix, 21st December 2006).
146
EL SALVADOR
Article 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador,

passed in 1983 and then amended in 1991 and in 1996, guaran-
tees total freedom for all religions. Article 26 acknowledges the
AREA
juridical status of the Catholic Church and establishes that, in
21,041 kmq
compliance with the law, other churches may also obtain this
status. POPULATION
Ad hoc legislation provides legal status for all religious denom- 7,002,000
inations requesting such status. Non-profit organisations and
REFUGEES
NGOs are treated in the same manner.
In April 2007, Parliament amended the Penal Code, introducing 39
the crime of the “offence to the religion of others and the de- INTERNALLY
struction or damaging of objects of worship”. This law was in- DISPLACED
troduced after a resounding event in 2006, when an individual ---
calling himself the Anti-Christ, accompanied by a number of
followers, insulted the Catholic Church and destroyed holy im-
ages outside the cathedral in the capital city.
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS
EL SALVADOR
Others 2.4%
Baptized Catholics
5,593,000
147
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
The Constitution of 1991 guarantees religious freedom (Art.13,

EQUATORIAL GUINEA
f) and the government generally respects this provision. A de-

cree of 1992 establishes that all religious groups must register
AREA
by presenting a request to the Minster for Justice and Worship.
28,051 kmq
This at times takes years, although the delays seem to be caused
POPULATION above all by bureaucratic problems. Non-registered groups are
535,000 subject to fines, but these however are rarely imposed. The
Catholic Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of
REFUGEES
Equatorial Guinea are exempt from this obligation and for his-
7,860 torical and social reasons also enjoy other privileges.
INTERNALLY However, President Theodore Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, in
DISPLACED power since 1979, does not permit any opposition, and reli-
--- gious leaders are warned that they should not interfere in gov-
ernment business and told specifically that faith is only a spiri-
tual matter. Public officials even check on sermons at religious
functions so as to verify that they do not criticise the govern-
RELIGIOUS
ment, and occasionally they also attend religious services to su-
ADHERENTS
pervise events. The objective, however, is not to exert control
over religious activities, but to monitor any possible political
activities. All activities, even religious or humanitarian, that
take place outside places of worship, must be specifically au-
thorised, but this does not usually obstruct activities and group
meetings or proselytising activities.
Muslims 4.1% There are no reports of persecution. The Archbishop of Canter-
Ethnoreligionists 2.1% bury has protested against the detention of the Protestant Min-
Others 5.4%
ister Bienvenido Samba Momesori, who has been in prison
Baptized Catholics since 26th October 2003. Analysts however believe that this is
499,000 due to political reasons that are not remotely linked to religion.
Amnesty International reports that no reason has been given for
his detention; it is said that he took part in peaceful protest ini-
tiatives against the government.
148
ERITREA
For some years now the government has systematically perse-

cuted every single expression of faith, to the extent that since
2004 the American State Department has added Eritrea to the
AREA
list of “countries of particular concern” with regard to religious
117,600 kmq
freedom, a wording reserved only for those states that oppose
this right with the greatest violence. POPULATION
In a 2002 decree, the government has officially recognised on- 4,595,000
ly Islam, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church,
REFUGEES
and the Evangelical Church affiliated to the World Lutheran
Federation. About 90 percent of the population belong to these 5,042
denominations, while all other groups must register. The gov- INTERNALLY
ernment requires these four groups to declare all their financial DISPLACED
resources and possessions. All activities are forbidden to unreg- 32,000
istered groups. Requests for registration must include a record
of all properties, a list of members and personal information
about the leaders. All facilities and structures not linked to the
RELIGIOUS
four main religious denominations have been suppressed. Fur-
ADHERENTS
thermore, according to Human Rights Watch and other sources,
from the time this decree came into force until the end of 2007,
no requests for registration were approved.
Moreover, thanks to such registration requests, the government
knows everything about each group, even the properties owned
and the names of the leaders and the faithful.
Since 2002 a systematic persecution has begun against all non- Muslims 44.7%
authorised religious activities, even on private property, and es- Others 4.8%
pecially against Christian minorities and fundamentalist Mus-

Baptized Catholics
lim groups. There are however some regions in which the au-
141,000
thorities are more tolerant and allow unauthorised groups to
ERITREA
meet in private homes, while in other parts of the country this
is strictly forbidden.
Various sources indicate that there are no fewer than 2,000 peo-
ple in prison for religious reasons (according to Compass Di-
rect News, 95 percent of them are Christians, mostly from non-
recognised Evangelical groups). Since May 2002 these Evan-
gelicals have been arrested because of their beliefs, and held for
months and years with no formal charges or trials (in spite of
the fact that the law forbids imprisonment for more than 30
days without charge), often in army prisons with extremely
harsh living conditions and no medical assistance. According to
149
Amnesty International and other sources, forced recantation is frequent, as is physical

ERITREA
and psychological torture. A large number of prisoners are kept in underground cells
or in steel containers that overheat under the sun and are freezing in winter. It is “nor-
mal” for the police to break into homes and arrest entire families because they have
met to pray or privately celebrate a religious marriage.
The repression has increased since the State’s President, Isaias Afewerki, declared on,
5th March 2004, that the government would no longer tolerate religious movements
that tend towards “distancing [the citizens] from the unity of the Eritrean people and
distorting the real meaning of religion”.
The state of emergency, now in force for years, makes possible particularly restrictive
provisions. Furthermore, since 2005 there has been an increase in police intervention
as well as arrests and government interference against the four officially recognised
religions.
Religious groups are not permitted to publish magazines, not even of a purely reli-
gious content, and must have authorisation to print and distribute any documents.
Catholics
On 16th August 2007 the authorities ordered the Catholic Church to make over to the
Ministry for Social Welfare and Labour, all her social services, such as schools, clin-
ics, orphanages and educational centres for women. The excuse was based on a law
dated 1995 stating that private social activities must have specific government autho-
risation, a provision that the government uses to justify a systematic interference in
everything the Church does. This request was firmly opposed by the clergy and the hi-
erarchy. The following day, 17th August, four bishops sent a letter of protest.
The Church will not accept interference by the government on matters of faith and in-
ternal organisation. Compass Direct News, for example, notes that since the end of
2003 the bishops have refused to provide the Department for Religious Affairs with
complete reports on their ecclesial and pastoral activities, insisting that these are in-
ternal matters on which they report only to the Holy See. They also opposed a request
in 2005 for priests and seminarians under the age of forty to perform military service
and pointed out that bearing arms “is not compatible with a priest’s activity”. In this
country military service is compulsory and lasts 18 months, but the authorities can
then keep anyone they wish in service for an unlimited period.
The three other recognised religions – Orthodox, Lutheran Evangelical and Muslims
– have, for their part, agreed to the request that their clergy should perform military
service.
On 16th November 2007, 11 missionaries of various nationalities were deported, both
priests and nuns, whose residency permits had not been renewed. The Habeshia
Agency noted that missionaries “have always contributed to progress and develop-
150
ment in our country, and hence by expelling them, the regime has committed an ex-
tremely uncivilised act, damaging the population. […] By doing this the regime wish-
es to intimidate the Catholic hierarchy”.
Members of the Orthodox Church

Government interference in the Orthodox Church is extremely serious. About 40 per-
cent of Eritreans consider themselves Coptic Orthodox by birth. In August 2005,
openly violating the Church’s internal laws, the government deposed the Orthodox Pa-
triarch Abune Antonios, after he had protested against the arrest of three priests, de-
tained without charge. The government then appointed a lawyer, Yeftehe Dimetros, as
acting administrator – although the law of the Eritrean Orthodox Church requires this
post to be held by a bishop, appointed by the Patriarch. On 5th December 2006 the
government ordered all Orthodox priests to pay all income from donations and collec-
tions into a State bank account, to be used to pay their salaries. The government also
indicated the maximum number of priests permitted for each parish, ordering that all
priests in excess of this number should report to the barracks in Wi’a and enlist in the
army. These requests provoked widespread protests and on 17th January 2007, fifteen
priests who had protested were warned by Dimetros’ office to “keep their mouths
shut”.
Nonetheless, Patriarch Antonios was officially removed from office only in January
2006, by a secret synod, on a charge of heresy. (The Canon Law of the Coptic Ortho-
dox Church forbids the election of a new patriarch for as long as the previous one is
still alive and has not been deposed by the Church’s Council for heresy, immoral be-
haviour or serious physical or mental illness.) That same month the deposed Patriarch
sent the synod an open letter in which he rejected all the accusations and excommu-
nicated a number of members (of the synod) as well as public and government offi-
cials.
Under house arrest throughout 2006 and 2007, Antonios was – it seems – even forbid-
ERITREA
den from receiving communion. On 20th January 2007 his patriarchal clothes and in-
signia were removed by force, as reported by a group of monks on the asmarino.com
website. He was later taken to an unknown location and nothing further is known
about him for certain. Official sources deny that this elderly priest, who is over eighty
years old, has been arrested and state that he has voluntarily retired to a convent. In
April 2007 the synod gathered to appoint a new patriarch. According to an official
statement, on 19th April they “unanimously appointed” Bishop Dioskoros Mendefera,
described by the group Christian Solidarity Worldwide on their www.csw.org.uk web-
site as a “renegade bishop” appointed “16 months after the illegal deposition of the le-
gitimate patriarch”, “an interference of unprecedented seriousness and a totally unac-
ceptable one by the Eritrean government in the affairs of the Church”. On 23rd April
151
the Opposition website, www.asmarino.com, published a statement, signed by the

ERITREA
“priests, monks, deacons and faithful of the Eritrean Orthodox Church” according to
which “when the bishops asked to vote, they were told that there was no room for fur-
ther discussions”. “The Eritrean people must be informed that the rights and the faith
of two million followers of the Orthodox faith in this country, have been once again
openly violated. The government has completed its plundering of the Church, which
started some time ago”.
Antonios is still acknowledged as the legitimate leader of the Eritrean Church by Pa-
triarch Shenoudah III, the leader of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church.
In 2004 the government banned the Medhane Alem congregation, a renewal move-
ment within the Coptic Church, and has been persecuing it ever since. On 5th January
2007 eight of its members were arrested in Keren. Human Rights Without Frontiers
reports that they were interrogated at length and asked to provide the names of others
members of the group. The government accuses this movement of “heresy” and of
wanting to “destroy” the Eritrean Orthodox Church. Three priests, arrested in April
2006, have been in prison for about two years. On the orders of the government, in
March 2006 the Coptic Orthodox Church excommunicated 65 of the group’s leaders
for having refused to admit that the movement was heretical. In May 2006 three of its
leaders were imprisoned.
Other Christian denominations

The most serious situation however is that faced by the non-recognised Christian
groups.
Open Doors and Compass Direct News have reported that at least four Christians have
died over the last two years because of torture inflicted in prison in order to make them
recant. On 5th September 2007, 33-year-old Nigsti Haile died at the Wi’a Military
Training Centre. A member of the Rema Pentecostal Church, she had been arrested 18
months earlier together with nine other women in a church in Keren.
On 17th October 2006, 23-year-old Immanuel Andegergesh and 30-year-old Kibrom
Firemichel died because of torture and dehydration inflicted at the Adi-Quala army
camp. They had been arrested two days earlier together with ten others for having at-
tended a religious service in the Rema Pentecostal Church held in a home in Asmara.
On 15th February 2007 the Evangelical Christian Magos Solom Semere died in the
Adi-Nefase army headquarters near Assab. He had been in prison since 2001 for be-
ing a member of a non-recognised Protestant Church. According to Open Doors his
death “was the consequence of physical torture and chronic pneumonia, for which he
had been denied appropriate medical care”.
The Kaile Hiwot (Word of Life) Evangelical Christians have reported to Compass Di-
rect News that the authorities pursue the annihilation of religious groups with a sys-
152
tematic three-stage strategy. They start with the systematic arrest of the faithful, espe-
cially the ministers and leaders, simply because they meet to pray. These people are
held in custody for an indefinite period of time with no charges brought against them.
In stage two, the police start to frequently enter churches and other buildings belong-
ing to the group, already deprived of its leaders, taking away the keys and stopping all
activities, without any distinction between religious events and social work. Finally,
they confiscate all the “outlawed” church’s property.
In order to despoil the church, as reported by Human Rights Without Frontiers, they
also request large amounts of money for bail, so as to impoverish the faithful and their
communities. In May 2006, bail was fixed at 150,000 Nakfa (about 10,000 dollars) for
Solomon Mengesteab of the Full Gospel Church and for a Mr. Yosief of the Rema
Church, who had been arrested along with another 76 Christians on Christmas Day
2005. However, the average yearly per capita income in Eritrea, a very poor country,
is less than 300 dollars. Pastor Fanuel Mihreteab of the Full Gospel Church was ar-
rested in January 2005 in Dekemhare. He was also released on bail, to pay for which
he was obliged to sell a number of properties.
The Kaile Hiwot group has suffered arrests and confiscations for years.
In September 2006 in Adi-Tezlezan, a little to the north of Asmara, pastors Simon
Tsegay and Gebremichel Yohannes, both from the Kaile Hiwot movement, were also
arrested. They were released on bail in January 2007 and obliged to sell many of their
possessions.
On 27th May 2007, twenty Kaile Hiwot believers were arrested, together with their
children, in Dekemhare, 24 miles south of Asmara. On the following 1st June, Pastor,
Michael Abraha, was also arrested, apparently because he was seen officiating at a
wedding in a video confiscated by the authorities. He was released after more than a
month. In September 2007, Pastor Mussie Ezaz was arrested in Asmara and on Octo-
ber 1st Pastor Oqbamichael Tekle-Haimanot was also arrested, having already spent 10
months in solitary confinement in 2005 for having attended a Christian wedding.
ERITREA
(It should be noted that these are only a few of the more significant among the many
violent episodes and arrests affecting non-recognised Christian groups.)
In October 2007, Helen Berhane, an Eritrean Christian singer, imprisoned and tortured
for two years before managing to escape, was granted political asylum in Denmark.
As reported by the BBC News, the singer, who was a member of the Rema Church, an
unauthorised Evangelical group, had been arrested on 13th May 2004, after recording
and selling a cassette of Christian songs. For two years she was imprisoned without
trial in a metal container in the Mai Serwa prison camp near Asmara, and often beat-
en to make her recant. Thanks to a widespread international campaign, she was re-
leased at the end of October 2006. Immediately after this she managed to flee to Su-
dan, where she was given asylum. Some months later she was welcomed by Denmark.
153
Due to the serious injuries inflicted on her legs and feet in prison, she is now obliged
ERITREA
to use a wheelchair.
On 23rd February 2006, Pastor Daniel Heilemichel of the Charismatic Word of Power
Church was taken from his home and arrested.
Pastor Iyob Berhe, arrested at the beginning of 2006, was admitted to hospital in
Mendefera in October 2006 owing to the grave state of his health, resulting from the
harsh treatment in prison. On 23rd January 2007 in Asmara the police arrested Pastor
Habtom Tesfamichel, the leader of the local congregation of the Full Gospel Church.
At the beginning of January 2007, in the harbour city of Assab, 25 Christians were ar-
rested and taken to the army camp in Wi’a, where they were subjected to extreme pres-
sure in an attempt to make them recant.
The police often intervene during religious weddings. On 18th February 2007 in As-
mara, seven members of the Orthodox Church and three followers of the Full Gospel
Church were arrested simply for having visited the home of a newlywed couple to
wish them well.
On 29th April 2007 in Asmara, Pastor Zecharias Abraham and eighty faithful of the
Mehrete Yesus Evangelical Presbyterian Church, present in the country since the
1940s, were arrested during Sunday service, in spite of the fact that it had been autho-
rised by the Department for Religious Affairs. They were released after about a month.
On 19th August 2007 in Kahawata, a suburb of Asmara, ten member of the Full Gospel
Church were arrested simply because they had gathered in a private house to pray. On
12th August 2007 in Asmara, Evangelical Pastor Leul Gebreab was likewise arrested.
Amnesty International reports that “they have all been arrested only for having peace-
fully practised their own religious beliefs” and for this reason considers them “prison-
ers of conscience”.
On 4th January 2007, once again in the Sawa army base, soldiers themselves were
searched and 250 Bibles used for personal devotion were confiscated. The books were
all burnt and 35 conscript soldiers were put in prison.
On 6th January 2008 in Massawa, police broke into a home and arrested 35 Evangeli-
cal Christians belonging to the Faith in Christ Church who had gathered to pray. They
were released on 16th February after being held in solitary confinement for the whole
time.
Anglicans
Since October 2005 the Department for Religious Affairs has refused to give the An-
glican Church in Asmara permission to replace the Reverend Nelson Fernandez, Vic-
ar of the only Anglican congregation in the country (the Church of St. George in As-
mara), who was expelled by the government. To replace him, the government has ap-
pointed the Reverend Asfaha Mehari, president of the Evangelical Church of Eritrea.
154
It is feared that the government wishes to place the church under control of the Cop-
tic Orthodox Church and close the Anglican primary school.
Muslims
The government’s interference in the internal religious affairs of Muslims, who make
up almost half the population, is no less serious. For more than ten years the govern-
ment has arbitrarily appointed Sheikh Al-Amin Osman Al-Amin as the highest Islam-
ic authority in the country.
Protests from believers have not subsided, not least because of the systematic confis-
cation of religious properties. The government responds to criticisms and protests with
dozens of arrests, often justified by supposed links to subversive Islamic groups.
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Many are arrested and treated in a particularly harsh manner, above all because of
their refusal to do military service, which is compulsory in this country for both men
and women. A presidential decree is in force according to which, by refusing to serve
in the army and vote in elections, these people “have renounced their nationality”. The
consequences include imprisonment for long periods of time without trial (at the end
of 2007 at least 25 Jehovah’s Witnesses were being held without trial, at least three of
them for over 12 years – although the maximum sentence applicable for refusing mil-
itary service is two years), a ban on holding public office, deprival of their passports
and identity cards. Their commercial licences are taken away and even their marriages
are not recognised by the state.
ERITREA
155
ESTONIA
Approved on 28th June 1992 by popular vote, the Constitution

ESTONIA
of the Republic of Estonia guarantees that “Everyone shall have

AREA freedom of conscience, religion and thought” (Article 40), that
45,100 kmq “There shall be no state church”, and that “Everyone shall have
the freedom, either alone or in community with others and in
POPULATION public or private to practice his or her religion”.
1,370,000 Activities by religious groups are regulated by the “Churches
and Congregations Act”.
REFUGEES
In addition to a group’s charter, the application for registration,
18
which is possible for groups of at least 12 adults, must include
INTERNALLY a list of the members of the group’s management board to be
DISPLACED submitted to the city court.
--- In private schools religious courses may be taught. In public
schools ecumenical courses may be attended.
No significant episode of religious discrimination or intoler-
RELIGIOUS
ance has been reported.
ADHERENTS

Non religious 36%
Others 0.5%
Baptized Catholics
6,000
156
ETHIOPIA
The Constitution of 1995 recognises the secularity of the state

(Art. 11) and religious freedom (Art. 27).
Religious organisations are obliged to register with the Min-
AREA
istry of Justice every three years, each submitting a copy of its
1,104,300 kmq
statutes and the curriculum vitae of the organisation’s leader.
Private schools run by religious groups are permitted but they POPULATION
are forbidden to provide religious instruction inside school 75,070,000
hours.
REFUGEES
Until only a few years ago Muslims were a minority compared
to the Orthodox Christians, but are now almost equal in num- 85,183
ber and in some areas a clear majority, especially in the East INTERNALLY
and the Southeast. In recent years conflict between these two DISPLACED
communities has increased, and even more so between Mus- 200,000
lims and Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians (groups that
are rapidly growing) and serious incidents and clashes have be-
come more frequent and violent, with many dead. For example,
RELIGIOUS
on 15th October 2006, in Beshesha hundreds of Muslims at-
ADHERENTS
tacked an Orthodox Church where celebrations were being held
for the Meskel festivity (“cross” in Amharic). The attackers set
fire to the church and forced the hundreds of faithful present to
recant and become Muslims, although the great majority of
them later returned to Christianity. Earlier, in September, there
had also been violent clashes in the city of Dembi. These vio-
lent clashes resulted in at least four Muslims and six Christians Muslims 30.4%
being killed, numerous homes on both sides burned to the Ethnoreligionists 11.7%
Others 0.2%
ground as well as four churches, and over two thousand people
fleeing the area. An amateur video cameraman filmed the
scene, including victims being killed with machetes. In Febru-
Baptized Catholics
586,000
ETHIOPIA
ary 2007, the High Federal Court in Jima sentenced to death the
six people guilty of this attack and another 100 people to terms
ranging from one year to life imprisonment.
Again in October 2006 there had been serious clashes between
Muslims and Protestants in Begi and in Gidami, in the Oromiya
region, with nine people killed and over one hundred wounded;
21 churches, 1 mosque and dozens of homes burned down; and
more than 400 people fled the area.
In October 2006 the Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church
stated “the bloodshed and the religious temples that have been
destroyed are the result of a campaign of hatred undertaken by
157
a few individuals since the month of September”. Their statement continues: “The
ETHIOPIA
Holy Synod appeals to the government to act swiftly to put an end to these destructive
and illegal activities that are fomenting hatred and violence between Muslims and
Christians” (Reuters). Since the end of 2006 the state has increased police presence in
areas at greater risk and transferred local officials accused of not having intervened to
prevent or stop these clashes. This has resulted in less violence. For the rest, there is
a lower level of violence or none at all in other areas, especially those where Muslims
are not a majority.
Meanwhile, in December 2006, the highest national Orthodox, Islamic, Evangelical
and Catholic authorities agreed on a joint commitment to work together for peace and
reconciliation.
However, tensions remain high. In the first months of 2007 Archbishop Abba Athana-
sium complained that in the mosques “the loudspeakers keep on repeating that ‘the
soldiers of Allah are brave’ and incite Muslims to act”.
There are also conflicts and clashes between the Sufi Islamic majority and the
Salaphite-Wahabis. Many Orthodox communities complain that Christians of other
denominations do not respect their holy days and customs.
On 27th January 2007 the first stone was laid for the future Catholic University of
Ethiopia in Addis Abeba, in the presence of President Girma Woldegiorghis, various
ministers and the mayor. A note from the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat observes that
the agreement between the Church and the government regarding the creation of this
university “is an acknowledgment by the government of the significant contribution
the Church has made to the country’s educational system. The hundreds of Catholic
schools all over this country are a precious resource for the Church and for the coun-
try itself. The new university will rely on this network of Catholic schools”.
Political parties based on a particular religious faith are also forbidden and it is a crime
to incite interreligious conflict via the media.
The state assigns to religious groups the free use of public land to build schools,
churches, hospitals and cemeteries, although authorisation must first be obtained from
the local authorities and the state can close these institutions at any time. There are
many complaints are made about these issues. The Protestants say they are discrimi-
nated against in the distribution of land for churches and cemeteries and observe that
in Addis Ababa at least 20 Orthodox Churches were built between September 2003
and July 2005, while none were built for other groups. The Muslims protest that in the
cities of Axum and Lalibela the government has for years denied them land for build-
ing a mosque. In 2006 in Addis Ababa there were clashes between Muslims and the
police, who had been sent to demolish a mosque built with no authorisation. To re-
solve this problem the municipal administration assigned the local Islamic Council an-
other piece of land for a new mosque.
158
Christians
It is impossible to report all the violent episodes; hence we will list only a few of the
more significant ones.
In Addis Ababa, on 20th January 2006, a procession in honour of the Orthodox festiv-
ity of Tikmark (“baptism” in Amharic) turned into an anti-government protest. The po-
lice opened fire on the procession, which numbered tens of thousands of people; at
least two people were killed and 36 wounded, 22 of them civilians and most with gun-
shot wounds. 42 people were arrested.
On 24th May 2006, in Eastern Jijiga, an area with a Muslim majority and bordering on
Somalia, more than 100 Islamic students marched for hours protesting against Chris-
tians, shouting “Allah is great” and throwing stones at the homes of Christians and at
passers-by. Reporting on this rather unusual news item, the Italian daily newspaper Il
Giornale said that the protest had allegedly been sparked by a Christian restaurant
owner found using pages of the Koran to wrap up food and clean his hands. Again in
Jijiga, on 15th April 2006, unknown persons threw a bomb at worshippers of the
Emanuel United Church of Ethiopia, wounding a number of them.
On 5th January 2007 an Evangelical Christian, Ajja Delge was killed by persons un-
known in the city of Kofele, an area where there is a Muslim majority.
On 26th March 2007 another Evangelical Christian, Teddese Tefeara Akuko was beat-
en to death by Wahabi Muslims for preaching the Gospel in the streets of Jima, in the
south of the country. An enraged crowd dragged him into a mosque and beat him “sav-
agely”. Sources told the ICN News Agency that this “a warning to Christians in this re-
gion” who are very active in evangelising activities.
According to experts, this inflamed animosity was partly linked to the situation in So-
malia, after the Ethiopian Army had invaded the country to support the international-
ly recognised government and the local Islamic militia had declared a “holy war” on
Ethiopia, calling on Muslims all over the world to rise up.
On 2nd March 2008 eight Muslims, armed with knives and machetes, entered the Kale
ETHIOPIA
Hiwot and Birmane Wongel Baptist churches in the village of Nensebo Chebi, and
started to attack the faithful attending Sunday worship. Twenty-three people were
wounded and one man, Tulu Mosisa from the Kale Hiwot Church, was killed by a ma-
chete blow that almost beheaded him (see Compass Direct News).
The persecution.net website reports systematic attacks by the Islamic majority in the
Jima regime against Christians, indicating this as a possible reaction to the successful
evangelisation activity by Christians which has resulted in hundreds of Muslims con-
verting. In Buko, near the city of Jijiga, on the night of 14th October 2007 Muslims set
fire to the home of a Christian, and also to other homes on the nights that followed,
leaving 13 families homeless. The threats and violence continued for days, until 25
Christians fled the city. Initially the authorities did not intervene. Then, pressed by
159
their superiors, they put the 13 people responsible in prison for just one night and then
ETHIOPIA
released them without reporting them to the courts. Shortly after, the extremists re-
turned to threaten the Christians and burn their homes and crops.
There have been reports of systematic violence and abuse of power in the Bambesi
and Tongo regions, where there is an Islamic majority, near the border with Sudan. On
5th July 2006 the Christian Shek Hamed Adem, a convert from Islam, was beaten and
hung from a cross by unknown persons and the crops of dozens of Christians were de-
stroyed. Often, converted Muslims are sent away by their relatives and sleep rough,
seeking shelter wherever they can, even in churches (see persecution.net). In Begge,
on 8th January 2007, Muslims burned down the homes of three Christians, Tareku
Meres, Jemal Tasesa and Tamene Gemechu. The Christians complain that frequently
the police do not intervene, nor do they carry out serious investigations to identify and
punish those responsible.
On 2nd April 2007 in Bambasse, Islamic extremists attacked and looted the home of
Evangelical Christian Tolosa Megera also killing six head of cattle. On 7th April they
destroyed the home of the leader of the Full Gospel Church, Lemmu Abdissa, and de-
stroyed his crops.
At the end of April 2007 in Jijiga, where over 90 percent of the residents are Muslims,
a bomb exploded near a tent where Christians had gathered, killing two people and in-
juring many others. On 5th August, again in Jijiga, a bomb exploded next to the Full
Gospel Church during a religious service attended by hundreds of believers. Luckily
no one was seriously hurt.
A few days later, on 15th August, an explosion destroyed the Mserete Keristos Church,
in the Yayu district, as well as three nearby homes owned by Christians.
In Seka Yoyo, on 16th October 2007, a group of Muslims attacked dozens of Christian
homes destroying more than ten of them.
160
FIJI ISLANDS
Article 35 of the Constitution of 1997 recognises freedom of re-

ligion. Religious groups are not required to register. Many mis-
sionary groups are present in the country, involved in social,
AREA
welfare and education activities. There are many Christian
18,274 kmq
schools but they are not publicly funded.
In January 2006 the Assembly of Christian Churches in Fiji POPULATION
(ACCF) called on the government to adopt new rules to curb 999,000
the arrival of new Christian groups, complaining that in a coun-
REFUGEES
try of just under a million people there were more than 1,200
new groups outside of the ACCF. ---
Mgr Petero Mataca, archbishop of Suva and highest Catholic INTERNALLY
dignitary in the country, is among the 40 members of the Na- DISPLACED
tional Council for Building a Better Fiji (NCBBF), a body that ---
was set up to draft a new Constitution after years of civil strive
(four coups in 20 years; the latest, bloodless, by the military in
2006) ahead of elections scheduled for 2009. His task is to en-
RELIGIOUS
sure that the new Charter will respect the dignity and inalien-
ADHERENTS
able rights of the person.
In 2006 and 2007 several churches and temples of all religions
were burglarised and suffered to sacrilegious damages. At least
40 such incidents were reported from March 2006 till March
2007, mostly against Hindu temples but also against churches
FIJI ISLANDS
(12) and mosques (9).
Whilst sacrilegists struck temples of every religion with the po- Hindus 33.3%
lice convinced that they are just common thieves, Hindu lead- Muslims 6.9%
Others 3%
ers have occasionally used these incidents to protest against
what they call Christians’ “religious intolerance”, pointing out Baptized Catholics
that Hindu temples are the ones most often hit. 95,000
161
FINLAND
The Constitution safeguards the equality of all citizens before

FINLAND
the Law, and excludes all forms of discrimination based on gen-

der, age, origin, language, religion, persuasions, opinions, state
AREA
of health, handicap or any other reason linked to the person. In
338,145 kmq
particular, it guarantees freedom of religion and conscience for
POPULATION everyone, including the right to profess and practise a religion,
5,277,000 to express one’s personal convictions and to belong or not be-
long to a religious community. Hence, no one can be obliged to
REFUGEES
participate, against his own conscience, in the practice of a re-
6,204 ligion.
INTERNALLY The Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Orthodox Church are
DISPLACED recognised as state churches and those registered as their mem-
--- bers must pay an annual tax to these institutions. The 55 non-
traditional religious groups that are officially recognised are al-
lowed the right to freely profess and spread their faith. The
recognition procedure, under the ministry of education, is open
RELIGIOUS
to religious communities with at least twenty members which
ADHERENTS
seek to publicly practise their religion and whose activities are
in conformity with the statutes of the body concerned.
There are no reports of significant institutional changes or no-
table events concerning the subject of religious freedom during
the years 2006 and 2007.
Non religious 6.8%
Others 0.4%
Baptized Catholics
9,000
162
FRANCE
The “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” of

26th August 1789 (reaffirmed in the Preamble to the present
Constitution of the 5th Republic, 4th October 1958) states in Ar-
AREA
ticle 10 that “No one should be disturbed on account of his
551,500 kmq
opinions, even religious, provided their manifestation does not
upset the public order established by law”. Nonetheless, over POPULATION
time, numerous provisions, thought to conform with the consti- 61,330,000
tutional principle guaranteeing the secular nature of institu-
REFUGEES
tions, have created difficulties in relations with the religious
communities in the country. 151,789
Currently there is an ongoing debate about the need to adapt the INTERNALLY
law of 9th December 1905 (amended on 2nd January 1907) on DISPLACED
the separation of Church and State, which abrogated the 1801 ---
Concordat between France and the Holy See and at the same
time cut off State funding to religious bodies. According to the
Vatican’s Cardinal Angelo Sodano, this provision was “a
RELIGIOUS
painful and traumatic event for the Church in France”. Later, as
ADHERENTS
we are reminded by historian Emile Poulat, there was an at-
tempt to improve these relations, although the main obstacle
was the provision granting private associations the task of or-
ganising public worship. Since Catholics did not cooperate in
the formation of these associations, lengthy negotiations were
needed to reach a solution that neither changed the law nor its
condemnation by the Church. This came in 1924, with a com- Non religious 19.6%
promise involving the creation of diocesan associations of wor- Muslims 7.1%
Others 2.6%
ship, which were established in all dioceses between 1924 and
1927 and are still in force today. Not all the issues arising from Baptized Catholics
the law of 1905 have been resolved, however, starting with the 46,427,000
confiscation of Church properties, which included a number of
FRANCE
bishop’s houses, seminaries and priest’s houses.
Later on, the Law – in particular as stated by the Constitution-
al Council – rejected the negative idea of a form of secularism
that might turn this into state laicism. The most accepted
boundaries with the framework of the neutrality of the institu-
tions therefore appear to have become those of non-denomina-
tionalism and non discrimination.
With the Law of 12th June 2001 addressing the prevention and
suppression of sectarian movements which “threaten human
rights and fundamental freedoms”, the attention of the legisla-
163
tors moved from the “right of religious bodies” to their internal organisation. Howev-
FRANCE
er, an investigation by the United Nations in 2006 noted that initially “government
policies may have contributed to an overall climate of suspicion and intolerance to-
wards those communities included on a list drawn up following the parliamentary re-
port No 2468 of 1995, and have adversely affected the right to freedom of religion or
belief of some of the members of these communities or groups”. However, it acknowl-
edged that later “the French authorities have adopted a more balanced approach to this
phenomenon, correcting their policy, partly through the transformation of the inter-
ministerial mission against the sects (Mission interministérielle de lutte contre les
sectes, MILS) into the inter-ministerial mission for monitoring and combating sectar-
ian deviations (Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives
sectaires, MIVILUDES)”.
In 2006 however, this organisation too became the object of criticism for having sent
a questionnaire to the French embassies, aiming to verify the influence of religious
movements and their practices on the moral and physical health of minors. Among the
22 questions the mission sought answers to, many people perceived a hostile and
threatening attitude not only as far as religious liberty was concerned, but also towards
freedom of education, health care and civil rights in general.
Furthermore, up to the last months of 2007, there was no lack of condemnation of the
arbitrary criticisms expressed against lay Catholic organisations such as the associa-
tion Tradition, Family and Property (TFP), which in fact sued the President of the
MIVILUDES, Jean-Michel Roulet, accusing him of slander for having stated that the
funds collected by the TFP could have been used for “everything and the opposite of
everything”. In the Department’s most recent report, the TFP is described as “at risk
of being a cult, given its vague objectives and opaque organisation”. Most of the ac-
cusations made against the authorities seem to have been made by Jehovah’s Witness-
es. Although acknowledged as an a religious association since the year 2000, the many
civil and penal court cases initiated by them seem to indicate that this group suffers
from a certain degree of disapproval being expressed against it by communist MPs
and the president of the national family defence union, UNADFI, (Union Nationale
des Associations de Défense des Familles et de l’Individu).
Important and authoritative signs of an easing in the excesses of secularism were

given during the official visit to the Holy See by the President of the Republic Nico-
las Sarkozy on 20th December 2007. In his speech at the Basilica of Saint John Lat-
eran, where he was awarded the title, traditionally reserved to the French Head of
State, of Honorary Protocanonical of the Papal Basilica of Saint John, the President
admitted that the “secular republic had underestimated the importance of spiritual
aspirations”. Sarkozy recalled how France had been suspicious towards religion,
164
even after re-establishing diplomatic relations with the Holy See. The French Presi-
dent went on to say that even to this day “the Republic still holds the congregations
under tutelage, refuses to acknowledge the religious dimension of the Churches’ char-
itable work or means of communication, does not recognise the diplomas awarded by
Catholic institutes of higher learning, as laid down by the Bologna Convention, and
gives no recognition to her degrees in theology”. However, “secularism does not have
the power to separate France from her Christian roots”, which, as the French Head of
State then emphasised, were not just an empty legacy from the past, but a driving force
for the future of the country. “The time has come – emphasised Sarkozy – for all reli-
gions, in particular the Catholic religion, which is our majority religion, as well as all
the Nation’s vital forces, to look together with the same spirit to what is at stake in the
future and not only to the wounds of the past”. The President then reaffirmed that sec-
ularism means “freedom to believe or not to believe, freedom to practice a religion and
freedom to change it, freedom not to be offended in one’s own conscience by ostenta-
tious practices, freedom for parents to give their children an education that conforms
to their convictions, freedom not to be discriminated against by the administration be-
cause of one’s beliefs”. The French Masonic lodges publicly expressed strong reser-
vations with regard to his words. However, Sarkozy also recalled “the virulent criti-
cism” he had been subjected to when, as Minister of the Interior in 2003 he had cre-
ated the French Council for the Muslim Religion.
Following that decision however, various previously unregistered Islamic places of
worship came to light. Regional and national representation within the Council is
linked to the number of places of worship, which in the most recent census came to
2,147 over the entire national territory. This recognition also resulted in a greater num-
ber of building permits being granted, these later multiplied due to a subsequent na-
tional decree issued in April 2006 concerning places of worship, which facilitated the
application of emphyteusis (a process through which the administration grants land for
long periods of time in exchange for a small rent, with the obligation of this land be-
ing managed). At times, as has happened in Montreuil, Marseille and Créteil, building
FRANCE
projects are opposed by certain political forces, on the basis of the 1905 law, since
they regard them as illegal favours bestowed by local administrations.
Isolated episodes of tension involving Muslim believers were reported on various oc-
casions, in particular during the revolts in the suburbs, which started at the end of 2005
and were blamed by some on the 2004 law banning female students at state schools
from wearing the Islamic veil. There have been numerous reports in the press of dis-
crimination and violence suffered by those abandoning Islam. One striking instance of
intolerance involved the teacher Robert Redeker, who in his article of 19th September
2006 in the daily Le Figaro, had commented on the intimidatory actions of Islamic ex-
tremists in the context of the protests against Pope Benedict XVI following his address
165
at Regensburg University. After the publication of his article, Redeker too was the vic-
FRANCE
tim of personal threats, including some published on Islamic websites, which resulted
in the authorities placing him under police protection in a secret location. Following
the tension caused by this case, during Ramadan 2006, there were violent acts against
two French mosques, in Quimper and Carcassonne.
Sources
The Holy See-France: Sarkozy, the secular Republic underestimated the religious
factor, Adnkronos, 20th December 2007
Xavier Delsol, Alain Garay et Emmanuel Tawil, Droit des Cultes. Personnes, activ-
ités, biens et structures, Juris-Service, Lione 2005
Marie-France Etchegoin, Francs-maçons en colère, Le nouvel Observateur, No. 2258,
14th-20th February 2008, p. 27
Marie-France Etchegoin et Claude Askolovitch, Le croisé de l’Elysée, Le nouvel Ob-
servateur, No. 2258, 14th-20th February 2008, pp. 12-20
Willy Fautré, France further on the way to anti-religious McCarthysm?, Human
Rights Without Frontiers, 22nd October 2006
Human Rights Without Frontiers, Justice agrees with movements suspected of sectar-
ian deviations, 25th October 2007
Jean-François Mayer, France: la République et les religions – autour du droit des
cultes, Religioscope.info, 18th May 2007
MIVILUDES, Questionnaire sent to French Embassies, http://assemblee-
nationale.fr/12/pdf/rap-eng/r3507-annexes.pdf
Emile Poulat, Les Diocésaines, République française, Eglise catholique: Loi de 1905
et associations cultuelles, le dossier d’un litige et de sa solution (1903-2003), with an
introduction by His Eminence Cardinal Angelo Sodano and by Dominique de Villepin,
La Documentation française, Paris 2007
Nicolas Sarkozy, La Francia è interessata a una riflessione morale ispirata dalle re-
ligioni, L’Osservatore Romano, 22nd December 2007
United Nations’ Economic and Social Council, Commission on Human Rights, Sixty-
second session, Civil and Political Rights, Including the Question of Religious Intol-
erance, Addendum 2, Mission to France (18th-29th September 2005), Report submit-
ted by Asma Jahangir, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, 8th March
2006
166
GABON
The Constitution of 1991, amended in 1994 and 1995, provides

for full religious freedom (Art. 1). Religious groups are re-
quired to register with the Ministry of the Interior, but omission
AREA
to do so does not obstruct their activities, although it does stop
267,668 kmq
them from enjoying various tax benefits.
There are no restrictions imposed on the activities of foreign POPULATION
missionaries. There are private denominational schools run by 1,499,000
Catholics, Protestants and Muslims and while they are not fi-
REFUGEES
nanced by the state, they do come under the jurisdiction of the
Ministry for Education. Catholics and Protestants also manage 8,826
radio stations. State television provides free airtime to the INTERNALLY
Catholic Church, and in the past this resulted in protests be- DISPLACED
cause the same does not apply also to smaller religious groups. ---
In 1970 a decree was passed banishing the Jehovah’s Witness-
es because their internal organisation does not provide adequate
protection for individuals in disagreement with the group. It
RELIGIOUS
does not however seem that this prohibition is applied, and to
ADHERENTS
all intents and purposes they are permitted to practise their re-
ligion and proselytise.
The government officially opposes the custom of inflicting rit-
ual physical injuries, which is still practised by the traditional
religions. In January 2007, the bodies of two children aged 3
and 4 were discovered in a car abandoned in a deserted loca-
tion. The following April in Libreville, an enraged crowd Muslims 4.6%
lynched two men accused of having sodomised, tortured and Ethnoreligionists 3.1%
Others 1.7%
killed three-year-old Richepin Eyogo Edzang, it is thought in
the course of a ritual sacrifice. On 15th December 2006, the mu- Baptized Catholics
tilated body of Mathieu Moundounga was found with injuries 750,000
that indicated a ritual killing. The government strongly con-
demns such practices, but the results of these investigations, as
well as others concerning ritual murders during previous years,
GABON
have not been made public. Although there is no official data,
Jean-Elvis Ebang Ondo, whose son was found in 2005 mutilat-
ed and left on a beach with the body of a friend of his, and who
now devotes his time to abolishing this practice, has spoken of
“several dozen victims” every year (see his statement to the
AFP Agency on 28th February 2007).
167
GAMBIA
Religious freedom is acknowledged by the Constitution of

GAMBIA
1996 (Art. 25) and is in practice respected by the state. For the
Islamic community Shari‘a law is applied (Art. 7, f) in all mat-
AREA
ters relating to marriage, divorce and inheritance.
11,295 kmq
There are no reports of abuse against the Christian minority; on
POPULATION the contrary, marriages between Muslims and Christians are
1,550,000 frequent and considered socially acceptable. Religious groups
are not required to register.
REFUGEES
Religious instruction, both Christian and Muslim, is permitted
14,895 in state and private schools, with no interference from the
INTERNALLY state. In recent years however, there have been episodes of
DISPLACED ethnic-religious intolerance towards Christians. For example,
--- in April 2007 in Brikama a group of Muslims attacked and beat
up a Catholic priest, complaining that their evening prayers had
been disturbed by the “noise” coming from the nearby church
(the sound of bells ringing and evening functions). Some re-
RELIGIOUS
ports indicated that the attack had been instigated by the imam
ADHERENTS
from the nearby mosque.
Relations between the two religions are generally friendly,
however. In January 2007 Bishop Robert P. Ellison of Banjul,
visited Imam Ratif, the most senior imam in the country, on the
Islamic festivity of Eid ul-Adha (Vatican Radio).
Muslims 86.9%
Others 1.4%
Baptized Catholics
41,000
168
GEORGIA
The problems that religious organisations face in the country

must be seen against a backdrop of political and economic in-
stability. In November 2007 during the campaign for the presi-
AREA
dential election, there were anti-government demonstrations of
69,700 kmq
up to 50,000 people. President Saakashvili (re-elected on 5th
January 2008) imposed a 15-day state of emergency following POPULATION
a violent crackdown on protesters. About 500 people were hurt 4,400,000
during the intervention by security forces. Demonstrators de-
REFUGEES
manded a new electoral law and fresh elections, as well as
Saakashvili’s resignation. In a TV address the president ac- 1,047
cused the Kremlin of fomenting the protests. INTERNALLY
The Latin Rite Catholic Church (about 2 percent of the popula- DISPLACED
tion) comes under the jurisdiction of the Tbilisi-based Apos- 247,000
tolic Administration of the Latins of the Caucasus. For legal
purposes, the Catholic Church and other religious organisations
have been treated since 2005 as secular non-profit organisa-
RELIGIOUS
tions and allowed to register. But for Catholics, Muslims and
ADHERENTS
members of the Armenian Apostolic Church this situation is far
from being satisfactory – all three want the right to register as
public religious organisations.
The Georgian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (which repre-
sents about 75 percent of the population of about 4.5 million)
enjoys some privileges that are enshrined in the concordat
signed with the state in 2002. The latter gives the Orthodox Muslims 19.3%
Church power over all religious matters; for instance, the Patri- Non religious 18%
Others 0.5%
archate has authority over imported religious literature as well
as the construction of places of worship of all confessions. Baptized Catholics
Members of the Armenian Apostolic Church make up about 5 90,000
GEORGIA
percent of the population.
The ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox Church is not easy
because the latter has often accused Catholics of proselytism
and expansionism. Still in January-February 2006 Cardinal
Kasper made an ecumenical visit to Orthodox Patriarch Ilia II
for the first time in 15 years, an event that has breathed new life
into Catholic-Orthodox dialogue (ZENIT, 30th January 2006).
An important event for Georgia’s Latin Church was the first
Synod of the Catholics of Latin Rite in the Caucasus, which
opened in Tbilisi on 4th September 2006. It brought together all
clergy and other representatives of the country’s parish commu-
169
nities from the Apostolic Administration of the Latins of the Caucasus, as well as rep-
GEORGIA
resentatives of the Assyrian-Chaldean community (altogether 84 people). The Synod,

which was held over two sessions (4th-8th September and 5th-9th November 2006), fo-
cused on issues like communion in the Church, forming the faithful and the role of the
laity, all this in accordance with the guidelines laid down by Bishop Giuseppe Pasot-
to in his pastoral letter.
170
GERMANY
Article 4 of the German Constitution states that freedom of

worship, of conscience, of religious denomination and ideolo-
gy are inviolable, as well as guaranteeing the free exercise of
AREA
religious practice. Article 7 (3) further establishes religious in-
357,022 kmq
struction, while Article 33 ensures the equality of citizens re-
gardless of their religious beliefs. Other provisions in the Ap- POPULATION
pendix repeat the articles of the Weimar Constitution of 11th 82,370,000
August 1919 concerning relations between State and Church,
REFUGEES
protecting the free exercise of religious beliefs without coer-
cion. These articles also establish that there is no State religion. 578,879
As far as funding is concerned, religious associations with pub- INTERNALLY
lic status which are guaranteed property and other rights are en- DISPLACED
titled to levy taxes on the basis of the civil taxrolls and also re- ---
ceive state subsidies.
Relations with the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church-
es (Lutheran and Reformed) are regulated by agreements stip-
RELIGIOUS
ulated both at a federal level and by the individual Länder (fed-
ADHERENTS
eral states). As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the
Concordat of 1933 still applies. The recognition of religious
groups is regulated by general federal laws. Among others, the
Jewish Community, the Methodist Church, the Seventh Day
Adventists, the Baptists, the Salvation Army, the Mennonites
and Christian Science have obtained official recognition. Only
more recently, on 9th March 2007, did the Islamic communities Non religious 19.4%
reach an agreement for creating a single body to discuss feder- Muslims 4.4%
Others 0.4%
al recognition, the Council for Islamic Coordination.
The Länder are responsible for granting the status of “associa-
tions of public status” that provides the various denominations
Baptized Catholics
25,711,000
GERMANY
with particular advantages, such as the right to receive compul-
sory contributions from their members. This qualification was
granted to the Jehovah’s Witnesses by the state of Berlin in a
decision promulgated on 10th February 2006.
According to the Constitution each religious community is per-
mitted to organise courses in state schools, but only if it has a
single educational programme. However, although the three
largest Islamic organisations on Germany have still not reached
an agreement due to ideological and doctrinal divergences, the
Baden-Württemberg state administration has started to teach
the Islamic religion, with the objective of encouraging the inte-
171
gration of the children of immigrants from countries with a Muslim majority. In addi-
GERMANY
tion to Baden-Württemberg, Islam is also taught in the states of Hamburg, Lower Sax-
ony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein.
Muslims
The German juridical-institutional system is being seriously tested by the challenge of
the Islamic community’s extremist minority. This is evident in legal cases such as the
ruling made on 21st March 2007 by a judge in a Frankfurt court, in a case involving
domestic violence. The injured party, a twenty-six year old Moroccan-born German
citizen, terrorised by the beatings and threats inflicted by her husband, was denied ac-
cess to the fast-track process for obtaining a divorce. According to the magistrate,
Christa Datz-Winter, there was no particular urgency and the woman should have ex-
pected her husband, who had grown up in a country influenced by Islamic traditions,
to exercise “the right to use corporal punishment”. To support her thesis the judge
even quoted a verse from the Koran.
After this event the judge was removed from the case, yet this did little to calm the de-
bate over the tolerance of different cultures and the fear of a gradual but inexorable in-
troduction of Islamic Law, the Shari‘a, through the administrative process. Among the
most glaring cases that gave rise to such a suspicion, was the decision by the Federal
Minister for Social Affairs who in 2004 had informed the health insurance agencies
that polygamous marriages should be recognized if contracted legally in the state from
which the married individuals originated.
The cancelling of a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera Idomeneo from
the programme of the Opera Theatre in Berlin in September 2006, following a number
of threats to the organisers, caused widespread public anxiety. Although Mozart’s work
does not have a particularly religious content, one of the scenes in the version directed
by Hans Neuenfels depicted the cut-off heads of Mohammed, Jesus Christ, Buddha and
Poseidon. This might have offended the sensitivity of members of the public.
In another respect there is also concern over the gap that exists between the Islamic
communities and the rest of society. In schools some of the female Muslim students do
not participate in all activities, in particular physical education and school excursions,
to avoid common activities with male pupils. In family life, in the workplace and in re-
gard to relationship, the lower level of integration experienced by Muslim women cor-
responds to a lower level of awareness of their rights, including religious ones. This
condition is confirmed by the increasing phenomenon of so-called “crimes of honour”,
with 45 murders officially recorded during the last decade. On 30th June 2007, faced
with claims by a number of Muslim women claiming the right to wear the Islamic veil,
eight states passed laws that forbid teachers from wearing the veil in the workplace, in
accordance with a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court dated 2003.
172
In the meantime, those who have abandoned Islam reported that they have received
serious threats. In March 2007, the founder of the National Council for former Mus-
lims, Mina Ahadi, of Iranian origin, was placed under police protection in Cologne af-
ter receiving letters containing a death sentence.
New religious movements

The long-running controversy between the German authorities and Scientology taking
place both at an administrative level and in the courts, could end the controversial
group being banned. In a meeting of the Ministers of the Interior of the 16 Länder with
their Federal colleague, Wolfgang Schaeuble, in December 2007, unanimous agree-
ment was reached on the drafting of a report by the internal security services about the
activities of the American religious movement. Ehrhart Koerting, Minister for the city-
state of Berlin, explained that he and his colleagues had agreed that “Scientology is an
unconstitutional organisation”. In the autumn of 2008, when the security services have
handed over their report on Scientology’s activities, the ministers will decide whether
or not to ban the organisation. Udo Nagel, Minister of the Interior for the city-state of
Hamburg, has described Scientology as a psycho-ideology addressed at the “complete
submission of individuals”. In reply the spokeswoman for the organisation, Sabine
Weber, asserted that Scientology has been acknowledged as a religious community by
the European Court of Human Rights, while Spain has recently granted it a status anal-
ogous to that of other religious communities. On 4th June 2007, the government with-
drew its ban on Sun Myung Moon’s (founder of the Unification Church) entry to the
country, following a ruling one month earlier by the court in Koblenz.
Sources
Federal Administrative Court Grants Long-Awaited Recognition to Jehovah’s Wit-
nesses, JW Office of Public Relations, 17th February 2006
Mark Landler, At German Conference on Muslim Relations, One Vote Is Unanimous:
GERMANY
Mozart Must Go On, New York Times, 28th August 2006
Steven Winn, As Germans Cancel Mozart Opera, Arts World Shudders, San Francis-
co Chronicle, 30th September 2006
German State to Teach Islam in Public Schools, Associated Press, 5th September 2006.
International Crisis Group, Islam and Identity in Germany, 14th March 2007
Muslim Atheists Get Threats in Germany, IANS, 22nd March 2007
Matthias Bartsch, Andrea Brandt, Simone Kaiser, Gunther Lasch, Cordula Meyer,
Caroline Schmidt, Paving the Way for a Muslim Parallel Society, Spiegel Online, 29th
March 2007, http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,474629,00.htm
Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, Germania: offensiva contro Scientology, è incosti-
tuzionale, 7th December 2007
173
GHANA
The opening words of the Preamble to the 1992 Constitution

GHANA
are “In the name of Almighty God”. Chapter V details, in a

whole series of articles, the safeguarding of fundamental hu-
AREA
man rights, including religious freedom.
238,533 kmq
Religious groups are obliged to register and are then officially
POPULATION recognised by the state. There are no reports of registration hav-
22,898,000 ing been denied to any group.
Foreign missionaries operate freely in the country. There are
REFUGEES
both Christian and Islamic schools. Religious instruction is
34,958 compulsory in state schools. Primary school students receive
INTERNALLY general religious instruction, while students in secondary
DISPLACED schools can choose between Islam, Christianity and the tradi-
--- tional African religions. All students are given the freedom to
pray according to their own faith and many schools are organ-
ised in such a way as to respect the Muslim students’ need to
fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The Catholic Church
RELIGIOUS
runs about 30 percent of schools and hospitals and a few years
ADHERENTS
ago also opened a university.
In many areas there is still a great fear of witchcraft. This results
in communities expelling women – even blood relatives – on the
mere suspicion of being witches, often for no other reason than
some misfortune, a death or illness or on the strength of strange
dreams thought to be some kind of revelation, or even because
Ethnoreligionists 24.4% of some unexpected good fortune or success. The expelled
Muslims 19.7% women are often obliged to go and live in so-called “witch
Others 0.5%
camps”, real villages in the north of the country, inhabited by al-
Baptized Catholics leged witches. It is estimated that there are about three thousand
2,808,000 such women. Should they return to their villages they would risk
being beaten or lynched. The government protects these ‘witch-
es’ and punishes acts of violence against them, while working to
change this situation. In an interview with Reuters dated 2nd Jan-
uary 2007, Richard Ouavson, a member of Ghana’s Human
Rights and Administrative Justice Commission, said that “peo-
ple are becoming more aware of these problems” and “are tend-
ing to no longer attack those leaving the camps and returning to
normal society”. Abraham Akrong, a professor at the Institute of
African Studies at Ghana University, explains however that
“many successful and brilliant women have been accused of
witchcraft so as to explain their achievements”.
174
People with mental problems are thought to be possessed and are in turn confined to
camps. They are often left for days with no food or water so as to drive away the evil
spirits. Or else they are tied to the bed or locked in rooms without windows. Many are
children with problems such as epilepsy, who have been brought to these camps by
their own parents.
GHANA
175
GREECE
Article 3 of the Constitution declares that the Greek Orthodox

GREECE
Church is the country’s principal religion, but Article 13 guar-

antees the right to religious freedom for citizens of different
AREA
faiths. However, non-Orthodox groups often encounter admin-
131,957 kmq
istrative or legal obstacles to the practice of their religion.
POPULATION Improvements were reported in the course of 2007 with regard
11,140,000 to religious freedom for non Christian-Orthodox groups. In
fact, in the month of June the government passed an amend-
REFUGEES
ment to an existing law, abolishing the necessity for local Greek
2,228 Orthodox bishops to grant permission before other religious
INTERNALLY faiths can build places of worship.
DISPLACED No progress was made, however, in regard to the long contro-
--- versy between the government and the Jewish community in
Thessalonica for the restitution of the cemetery appropriated in
1944 in order to build the Aristotle State University.
The Italian Catholic magazine Il Regno (No. 6/2006) reported
RELIGIOUS
on the Greek Orthodox Synod held in November to promote a
ADHERENTS
more modern image of the Orthodox Church. World wide more
Greek Orthodox priests marry than those of any other denomi-
nation, and this often results in a series of at times thorny and
important consequences, ranging from residency problems to
the need to continuously verify vocations.
Moves for renewal have not only occurred in this sector, how-
Muslims 3.3% ever. On 6th February, during a conference held at Athens Uni-
Others 2% versity, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Christodoulos acknowl-
edged for the very first time the possibility of a change in rela-
Baptized Catholics
tions between State and Church, possibly in the form of a “soft”
130,000
separation. However, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis ex-
cluded all forms of separation. Nonetheless, relations between
State and Church are not always idyllic; on 6th September the
agency DPA reported that the Greek Orthodox Church had con-
demned the government’s decision to ban priests from visiting
schools to hear students’ confessions. However, the federation
of secondary school teachers has described the decision of the
Ministry for Education as “positive” and “compatible with a
new multicultural era”.
On 14th July 2006 the New Anatolian agency reported that
Greece had again been condemned by the European Court of
Human Rights for having violated the right to religious free-
176
dom of a Muslim leader in Iskece, in Western Thrace. Mufti Mehmet Emin Agga, a
member of the Turkish minority in Greece, had been elected as mufti by local Mus-
lims, but had been sentenced to imprisonment and repeatedly fined by the Greek
courts for refusing to stand down and accept a rival mufti, appointed by the state.
On 30th October Vatican Radio reported on the words of Pope Benedict XVI to the
Catholic bishops of Greece during an ad limina visit, exhorting them to a renewed
commitment towards the pastoral care of immigrants and towards a constructive dia-
logue with the Orthodox Church. The Pope also affirmed that “the Catholic Church
seeks no privileges but only asks to see her identity and mission recognised”.
Members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses have reported about thirty incidents of which
they were the victims in the course of 2007, including detention by the police and ac-
cusations of proselytism. For example, on 20th February, unknown vandals threw three
Molotov cocktails at the Kingdom Hall in Athens. However his incident did not cause
significant damage.
GREECE
177
GRENADA
Article 9 of the 1973 Constitution, in force since 7th February

GRENADA
1974 and amended in 1989, guarantees respect for freedom of

AREA conscience and worship.
344 kmq The authorities do not in any way interfere with the religious
lives of citizens.
POPULATION It is not compulsory for religious groups to register, however,
100,000 groups that do so enjoy tax exemptions on their properties and
activities.
REFUGEES
There are no reports of violations of the rights guaranteed by
---
the Constitution and protected by the Law.
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Others 3%
Baptized Catholics
55,000
178
GUATEMALA
No significant changes in legislation have been reported in

Guatemala between 2006 and 2007. As far as the acknowledge-
ment and protection of religious freedom is concerned, it is de-
AREA
creed by the Constitution and generally respected by the gov-
108,889 kmq
ernment in power. There are no official numbers, with regards
to membership of religious groups, since there was no official POPULATION
census of religious affiliation. In 2006, the Episcopal Confer- 13,020,000
ence of Guatemala, calculated that about 68 percent of the pop-
REFUGEES
ulation describe themselves as Catholic. In an article published
in its 24th May 2007 edition, the Italian weekly magazine 379
Panorama, reported the view of Monsignor Alvaro Leonel Ra- INTERNALLY
mazzini Imeri, President of the Episcopal Conference of DISPLACED
Guatemala, according to whom the Evangelicals only started to ---
arrive in this country after the terrible earthquake in 1976,
which caused over 23 thousand victims. Numerous US-based
Protestant groups sent aid, and following these events many
RELIGIOUS
Guatemalans embraced the Protestant faith. Since then there
ADHERENTS
has been a constant growth, significantly influenced – again ac-
cording to Monsignor Ramazzini – by US policies, which have
supported the spread of Protestant organisations, even elaborat-
ing a plan, known as “Plan Santa Fé II”, with an anti-commu-
nist agenda. Needless to say, his thesis was decisively rejected
by Protestant leaders in Guatemala.
GUATEMALA
In any case, there is no doubt that while the traditional Church- Others 2.3%
es continue to lose believers, the sects and the new religious
movements seem to have discovered the right preaching strate- Baptized Catholics
gies for attracting new believers. One of the most popular 10,578,000
movements in Guatemala is that of the Mormons, the Church of
Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, with over 200,000 fol-
lowers and increasing constantly every year, especially among
the poor. In Latin America as a whole, the Mormons number
4.5 million (out of a total of 12 million Mormons in the world)
and they are finding new believers, both among the upper mid-
dle-class and the less rich, in the poor areas inhabited above all
by indigenous people. The appearance and establishment of
these new religious bodies has encouraged the traditional
Churches, after years of conflict, to begin a new season of co-
operation. Symbolic of this new stage, involving dialogue, is
the Foro ecumenico por la paz y la reconciliacion (Ecumenical
179
Forum for peace and reconciliation), or FEPAZ. Created in the year 2000, FEPAZ is
GUATEMALA
a practical opportunity for direct meeting and cooperation between the various church-
es. Its members include the Catholic Church’s Commission for Ecumenism (CEG),
the Conference of Evangelical Churches (CIEDEG), the Conference of Priests from
Guatemala (Confregua), the Lutheran Church and the Presbyterian Church.
Relations with Mayan spiritual leaders are held by Protestant groups, which better tol-
erates traditional indigenous religious practices, compared to Catholic Communities.
On 8th December 2006 a Salesian co-operator called Johnny Morales was murdered in
an ambush as he left his workplace. The car he was travelling in was riddled with bul-
lets – which were shot at the vehicle from various different angles – resulting in in-
stant death. Morales worked for the Father Sergio Checchi Salesian Centre together
with his wife who like him was a Salesian co-operator in the same centre. Johnny
worked in the Tax Administration Department (SAT) and only two days earlier had
been appointed to work at the border at Tecun Umam (Mexico), where there is a great
deal of drug trafficking and smuggling. It appears that the ultimate cause of his death
was his integrity, since he had refused to participate in illegal activities.
Sources
ACI Prensa
Fides
Panorama
180
GUINEA - BISSAU
Article 4 of the 1984 Constitution (amended in 1991) forbids

the use of religious terms or denominations in the designation
of political parties. Article 6 proclaims the separation between
AREA
the state and religious institutions and also recognises the right
36,125 kmq
to religious freedom.
Religious groups must register but there are no reports of any POPULATION
requests being turned down. 1,397,000
Relations between the various religions are generally friendly
REFUGEES
and there have been no particular episodes involving intoler-
ance or discrimination. 25,226
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
GUINEA - BISSAU
ADHERENTS
Muslims 39.9%
Others 1.7%
Baptized Catholics
132,000
181
GUINEA - CONAKRY
The Constitution of 1990 acknowledges religious freedom, and

GUINEA - CONAKRY
Article 14 guarantees the total autonomy and self-government

of religious institutions and communities.
AREA
In March 2007 a special General Secretariat for Religious Affairs
245,857 kmq
was created, with representatives from both religions, to ensure
POPULATION that both Muslims, who represent the majority in this country,
8,898,000 and Christians participate in decisions of national importance.
Religious groups must register with the Ministry of the Interior,
REFUGEES
but are also permitted to operate without registration, although
--- they thereby lose various fiscal advantages. Unregistered groups
INTERNALLY can be banned and foreigners belonging to them expelled from
DISPLACED the country, but this does not usually happen. The small Baha’i
--- community is active although it is not recognised.
Missionaries too must declare their activities and seek registra-
tion, but groups affiliated to the social activities of a church
may operate without restrictions.
RELIGIOUS
The state-controlled media report on event of interest to both
ADHERENTS
religions and every week, state television allocates 75 minutes
airtime reserved respectively for Muslim and Christian pro-
grammes. Religious groups and political parties are not permit-
ted to have their own radio or television stations. This prohibi-
tion appears to be a formal one only, however, since commer-
cial radio stations are permitted to broadcast programmes with
Muslims 67.3%
Ethnoreligionists 28.5% religious and political content.
Affiliated Christians 4% Private schools and faith schools are authorised and supervised by
Others 0.2%
the Ministry of Education, which must guarantee that national
Baptized Catholics standards are respected. But there are also many private schools,
240,000 mainly religious ones, with no authorisation and working without
any direct state control, partly because the official state schools
are unable to satisfy the demand for education, especially in the
urban centres. There are numerous Christian schools, both
Catholic and Protestant. The madrassas (Islamic schools), which
are often run by radical Islamic groups and financed with foreign
funds, are generally not part of the state school system but offer a
curriculum that is adequate for primary education.
In some areas with an Islamic majority there is strong social
pressure against proselytism by other religions and against any
kind of conversion of Muslims from Islam. Real incidents of
religious intolerance are however, rare.
182
GUYANA
Article 145 of the 1980 Constitution of the Cooperative Repub-

lic of Guyana, as amended in 1996, explicitly guarantees free-
dom of conscience, including religious freedom, whether pro-
AREA
fessed privately or publicly, individually or in association.
214,969 kmq
The Constitution also guarantees the freedom to provide reli-
gious instruction and to train religious personnel with no inter- POPULATION
ference from the public authorities. 753,000
The population’s varied ethnic and religious origins are ac-
REFUGEES
knowledge in the country’s national holidays: The Christian
holidays are Good Friday, Easter and Christmas; the Hindu hol- ---
idays are Phagwah and Diwali; the Islamic holidays are the INTERNALLY
Birth of Mohammed and Eid Al-Adha. DISPLACED
There are no reports of violations of any kind of the citizens’ ---
right to religious freedom.
In spite of the ethnic non-homogeneity and consequent religious
fragmentation, the various communities coexist peacefully.
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Hindus 32.5%
Muslims 8.1%
Others 8.4%
Baptized Catholics
61,000
GUYANA
183
HAITI
The Haitian Constitution guarantees freedom of worship on

HAITI
condition that religious practices do not disturb public order or

go against the Law. The government generally respects this
AREA
right. The monitoring of religious affairs is the responsibility of
27,750 kmq
the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Religion.
POPULATION In Haiti there is still a significant number of people who prac-
8,639,000 tise voodoo rituals, also among those who describe themselves
as Catholics.
REFUGEES
On 21st July 2006, a Franciscan monk, Father Cesare Humber-
1 to Flores, and a young postulant, were kidnapped for ransom in
INTERNALLY Haiti, near Port Au Prince where their convent is situated. The
DISPLACED monks were released two days later. As reported by Vatican Ra-
--- dio, in spite of requests, no ransom was paid for their release;
rather it was obtained thanks to intense negotiations. The group
of kidnappers were persuaded, it seems, by pressure applied by
the government and also by various religious groups active in
RELIGIOUS
Port au Prince. The scourge of kidnapping in this Caribbean
ADHERENTS
country has been unresolved for a long time, and is certainly
not seen as an encouraging sign for newly-elected President
René Préval, who came to power in May 2006 promising to re-
duce poverty and bring security to the country. Haiti has a spe-
cial police unit for freeing those who are kidnapped and for
avoiding further events of this kind. However, in spite of the
Spiritists 2.5% presence of over 2000 UN soldiers, the government has still not
Others 1.7% managed to re-establish security in the country. The Haitian
bishops have repeatedly spoken out, warning about the public
Baptized Catholics
order situation in the country. In their pastoral letter for Advent,
6,949,000
in December 2006, the President was not spared any criticism.
According to data provided by a local human rights organisa-
tion, in the course of 2006 there were 150 kidnappings and over
700 murders in this country. Meanwhile the economic situation
on the island continues to get worse, producing a general cli-
mate of widespread insecurity.
Sources
Vatican Radio
Political Resources on the Net
184
HONDURAS
Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Article 77 of the Consti-

tution and also supported by the good relations that exist be-
tween the various religious groups present in the country. There
AREA
is no State religion. The government generally consults the
112,088 kmq
Catholic Church and occasionally appoints Catholic represen-
tatives to key positions in more or less official commissions, POPULATION
created to fight some of Honduras’ endemic scourges, such as 7,232,000
the initiatives launched against widespread corruption. A num-
REFUGEES
ber of Evangelical Churches are also represented on the Nation-
al anti-Corruption Council. 22
The Catholic Church continues to apply pressure in order to re- INTERNALLY
gain possession of property of historical interest confiscated by DISPLACED
the Honduran authorities in 1825, and have presented formal ---
requests to the government. With regards to the aforementioned
friendly relations between the country’s various religious de-
nominations, the Bishop’s Conference of Honduras has ap-
RELIGIOUS
pointed Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, arch-
ADHERENTS
bishop of Tegucigalpa, as the official representative for ecu-
menical relations and the archbishop has set up an office for in-
terreligious dialogue in his archdiocese. There have been re-
ports of increased episodes of intolerance towards people of
Arab origin, occasionally linked to negative attitudes in the
press towards Islam. Frequently there have been generic accu-
sations associating Arab citizens with terrorist attacks. Others 3%
Development in Latin America, education and the battle against
HONDURAS
corruption were the main subjects in the audience Pope Bene- Baptized Catholics
dict XVI gave on 24th November 2006 to the President of Hon- 5,938,000
duras, José Manuel Zelaya Rosales.
Zelaya Rosales was elected President in January 2006, in a
country where 70 percent of the population still live below the
poverty threshold.
Sources
Fides
Vatican Radio
185
HUNGARY
The right to religious freedom is guaranteed by Article 60 of the

HUNGARY
Constitution of 1949, amended at various times up to 1997.

There is no State religion, but the four “historical” religions
AREA
present in this country (Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed Church
93,032 kmq
and Jewish) as well as other religious denominations (such as
POPULATION the Greek (Byzantine-rite) Catholics and Orthodox) have en-
10,070,000 tered particular agreements with the Hungarian State.
Registration is not compulsory for religious communities and
REFUGEES
churches, but the number of groups registered at the end of
8,131 2006 were 166; to register it is necessary to have at least one
INTERNALLY hundred members; at that point a court verifies that the regis-
DISPLACED tration request and the activities of the group concerned com-
--- ply with the legal and constitutional standards.
Religious instruction is not provided in schools but it is possi-
ble in both the primary and secondary schools to enrol in extra-
curricula courses in religious education. Registered groups re-
RELIGIOUS
ceive state funding.
ADHERENTS
On 13th February 2006, Parliament passed Law No. 47 of 2006
which reopened the issue of compensation for the close rela-
tives of those who died during the Shoah.
Jews and Christians regularly cooperate in organising joint
events under the aegis of the Christian-Jewish Society.
In February 2007, the Municipal Court in Budapest decreed
Non religious 11.6% that the archives of the State security service must now make
Others 1.1% public certain documents that had until now been kept secret
about six religious leaders of various denominations – docu-
Baptized Catholics
ments which had been requested by a number of journalists
5,977,000
seeking to throw light on the accusations against these persons
of collaboration with the communist secret police.
In its issue 18/2006, the Italian Catholic magazine Il Regno
published an interview on this subject with Cardinal Péter
Erdö, Archbishop of Budapest and president of the umbrella or-
ganisation which represents the 34 European Episcopal Confer-
ences. The cardinal clarified that since 2005 there has been a
foundation for historical research, sponsored by the Hungarian
Episcopal Conference, which aims to shed light on the history
of the Catholic Church in this country from the 1940s up to the
end of the 20th century. This commission is dedicated to the Pi-
arist Father, Odön Lénard, who was imprisoned by the commu-
186
nist regime for 18 years. The foundation’s main objective is to “reconstruct the histo-
ry of martyrdom and of persecution in general, within the particular context of our
country”. The cardinal also stated that he had never personally investigated the polit-
ical past of his priests, but that twenty of them had spontaneously confessed to him
that they had in the past collaborated with the communist regime.
HUNGARY
187
ICELAND
Article 62 of the Constitution establishes the Lutheran Evangel-

ICELAND
ical Church as the State Church and as such it is supported and

protected by the establishment. On this subject, the Law estab-
AREA
lishes that the State’s Church should receive an annual tax from
103,000 kmq
every citizen over the age of sixteen.
POPULATION Article 63 guarantees everyone the right to “found communities
307,000 for divine worship in compliance with their individual beliefs,
on condition that they do not preach or practice anything that is
REFUGEES
prejudicial to good morals and public order”. There are 25 reli-
49 gious associations benefitting from the state subsidy system, af-
INTERNALLY ter completing registration procedures with the Ministry of Jus-
DISPLACED tice and Ecclesiastic Affairs.
--- Citizens belonging to registered religious denominations can
pay tax to their own preferred denomination, or, if they do not
belong to any religious group, they can pay the money to the
University of Iceland.
RELIGIOUS
Civil and national rights cannot be lost due to one’s religion, as
ADHERENTS
specified in Article 64, although one cannot refuse to undertake
any civic duty for religious reasons.
No significant institutional changes have been reported, nor
have there been significant episodes concerning the subject of
freedom of worship during the years 2006 and 2007.
Others 2.8%
Baptized Catholics
7,000
188
INDIA
With the adoption of the 1950 Constitution the Indian Union

became a federal state. Currently it is constituted by 28 states
that exercise considerable political and administrative autono-
AREA
my, plus seven territories administered directly by the central
3,287,263 kmq
government.
POPULATION
Anti-Conversion Laws 1,117,730,000
Although Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees the right to
REFUGEES
profess the religion of one’s choice as well as the right to
change religion, so-called “anti-conversion” laws are in force 161,537
in many states, imposing on average three to five years in jail INTERNALLY
as well as hefty fines on anyone engaged in “activities related DISPLACED
to conversion.” Many legal experts view such laws as constitu- 600,000
tionally dubious since no state can adopt laws that violate the
Indian Constitution, but to add insult to injury, laws of this kind
apply only to those who convert Hindus to other religions and
RELIGIOUS
not those who, by whatever means, convert others to Hinduism.
ADHERENTS
Similar laws are in place in states like Orissa, Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. In
the last of these, the law has been overruled by a government
decree, but this is being deliberately ignored by local authori-
ties. In 2006 and 2007 more anti-conversion laws were adopt-
ed and indeed, more generally, a number of local governments
Hindus 74.5%
and other public institutions became more open and systematic Muslims 12.1%
in their support for Hindu nationalists opposed to religious free- Affiliated Christians 6.2%
dom. Others 3.8%
In Madhya Pradesh, a state governed by the Hindu-dominated
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the existing anti-conversion law Baptized Catholics
was tightened on 25 July 2006. In its amended form the law re- 18,408,000
quires every would-be convert to sign an affidavit before a dis-
trict judge indicating his or her intention to convert, and this at
least a month before the conversion ceremony; otherwise, fines
INDIA
of up to a thousand rupees and imprisonment can be imposed.

After this initial phase, the law requires police to “verify the
credentials of the priest or organisation” before the conversion
proper “and that this is not done by force or with allurement”.
At the same time, any priest or pastor who fails to inform the
authorities of his intention to preside over conversion cere-
monies could be fined 5,000 rupees and face up to a year in
189
prison. The name and address of the would-be convert as well as the date of the con-
INDIA
version ceremony must be provided by the priest or minister concerned.

On 3rd August 2006 the BJP-run state of Chattisgarh approved a law that makes it
compulsory for anyone who wants to change religion to ask a district magistrate for
permission a month ahead of time, a step which the authorities can also refuse. Fail-
ure to abide by the law can result in fines between 50,000 and 100,000 rupees, plus
detention of up to three years. The same penalty applies to anyone involved in “forced
conversions”, but no punishment is meted out to any convert who wants to return to
Hinduism, which is ipso facto defined as the ancestral or original religion of the Indi-
an people. In this way, the ‘re-conversion’ ceremonies to Hinduism organised by Hin-
du activists are legitimised. As such they are part and parcel of a programme called
Ghar Vapasi or “Return Home” that targets Christian Dalits and often relies on intim-
idation and threats to achieve its ends. In this particular case, however, the Chhattis-
garh governor in September 2007 has postponed the implementation of the law.
On 29th December 2006 Himachal Pradesh approved a law that punished anyone who
converted people “through fraudulent means”. Anyone desiring to change his or her
religion must give 30-day notice to the district authorities. Failure to do so might re-
sult in a month in jail and/or a 1,000 rupees fine. But the most worrying aspect of this
decision lies in the fact that it was taken in a state governed by the supposedly secu-
lar-oriented Congress Party (CP), which hitherto had always criticised anti-conversion
legislation.
Rajasthan also approved its own anti-conversion law on 26th March 2006. This law
imposes two to five years in prison and a hefty fine for “those who carry out conver-
sion activities by means of allurement or fraud”. But the state governor at the time,
Pratibha Patil (who became Indian President a year later) refused to sign the bill into
law because it “seems to affect people’s fundamental right to freedom of religion guar-
anteed by the Constitution to every Indian citizen”. On 20th June 2006 she eventually
sent the draft bill to the former President to vet its constitutionality.
These laws are widely enforced and in some areas people are arrested simply on the
allegation of trying to convert Hindus. Just as people have also been arrested on noth-
ing more than the accusation of having offended the religious sentiments of others.
A Christmas of Martyrdom in Orissa

Religious freedom took a real beating in the year 2007. It appears that “India’s iden-
tity as a secular state was seriously compromised” as the country quickly drifted along
the path of Hindu sectarianism. What this may lead to remain anyone’s guess.
The urgency of the situation is sadly best exemplified by the events of Christmas 2007
when Christians were literally hunted down in some districts of the eastern state of
Orissa. After it was all over, the amount of death and destruction was worthy of a civ-
190
il war. Not only were dozens of people hurt, but nine lay dead, and five murdered on
27th December when a group of Hindu extremists attacked Christian homes in the vil-
lage of Barakhama, Kandhamal district; two more were gunned down by security
forces when Christians took to the streets to protest the violence against them, and two
others had been killed in earlier clashes. Altogether 70 churches and Christian institu-
tions were attacked, destroyed or set on fire; some 600 Christian homes were damaged
or destroyed; and 5,000 people were affected one way or another. In many streets
smouldering ashes and rubbles were all that was left. And throughout this anti-Chris-
tian wave, there was not a single action by the security force or any other authority.
The spark that set off the conflagration was ignited in the village of Bamunigam, near
the police station in Daringibadi Bloch, Kandhamal district. AsiaNews described the
incidents, as reported by eyewitness accounts, citing a report by Mgr Raphael
Cheenath, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswr. On 24th December “[a]t 8 am a group
of fundamentalists forcibly removed the Christmas decorations set up, with the per-
mission of the authorities, by the Ambedkar Baniko Sangho group. When […] mem-
bers protested, the Hindus responded that the Christmas celebrations had to be
stopped, and within a few minutes more than 200 extremists began to attack the Chris-
tians with clubs, swords, and rifles. Although the Christians fled, their attackers
opened fire and seriously wounded two of them. They then sacked and devastated
dozens of shops and homes belonging to Christians, beating the people they found
there. That same evening, during midnight Mass, explosives were thrown at the arch-
bishop’s residence in Bhubaneswar”.
“On Christmas Day, December 25, the attackers returned in force and destroyed the
churches in the zone of Bamunigam. They then besieged and burned the homes and
property of the Christians, shouting at them to go away.”
The day before “at 2 p.m. on December 24, between 400 and 500 persons attacked and
devastated the Catholic parish church in Balliguda. That same evening, they set fire to
the church, the nearby convent, the parish offices, the clinic, and two student hostels.
They then invaded the city and burned the Baptist church, and attacked a Pentecostal
church. The following day, December 25, they returned, threatening all the priests and
Christians and warning them not to tell the police”.
“That same day, a crowd destroyed a convent in Phulbani, plus the new school bus
INDIA
there. At midday they destroyed the parish church and the priest’s residence in Pobin-
gia. Fortunately, the priests and sisters who had gathered to celebrate Christmas had
been warned in time to get away.”
“According to witnesses, the police never intervened, even though they were present.
In Bamunigam, at least 20 policemen silently watched the attacks. The authorities had
even asked the priests of the parish of Phulbani not to hold any celebrations, to avoid
191
further problems. More than half of the 24 parishes in Kandhamal were unable to cel-
INDIA
ebrate Mass at Christmas, out of fear of violence.”

“In the entire region, over the course of three days, the attackers destroyed 5 parish
churches, 48 village churches, 6 convents, 6 hostels, as well as the minor seminary in
Balliguda and the Sarshnanda clinic in Pobingia. In a true hunt of Christians, hundreds
of homes were destroyed or burned. In the parish of Barakhama, 400 homes were gut-
ted and 5 people were killed, and there was damage to shops and vehicles. The Ca-
puchin formation house was devastated. Undisturbed, the attackers knocked down
doors and broke through windows, heaped the furniture in the middle of the rooms,
and set the pile on fire.”
“But the violence continued during the following days, and again in the early days of
2008, with threats, aggression, and devastation.”
Hundreds of Christians fled into the forest, without shelter, food or water. Over a
month later many were still there, uncertain as to whether they could go back or not.
For the victims there is no doubt that the attacks were carefully prepared, with hun-
dreds of extremists (more than 200 in Bamunigam and 400 to 500 in Balliguda) get-
ting together in just half an hour, well organised, carrying rifles and swords, coming
from other villages so that they would not be recognised, carrying out the violence for
days and hours.
The Missionaries of Charity (MC) of Mother Teresa of Calcutta were among the vic-
tims of the attacks, and they too had to flee into the forest. Sister M Suma, MC region-
al superior, said that “[n]o one could ever have imagined the unbridled reign of terror
unleashed against the Christian community in this part of Orissa at the end of Decem-
ber”.
“We have three houses in Kandhamal,” she explained, “and all of our sisters had to
flee together with the other Christians seeking to save themselves from the fury of the
Hindu extremists. They escaped with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and hid
in the forests without anything to eat or any way of sheltering from the winter cold.”
Meanwhile in Sasanada, extremists damaged another MC house, located near a little
church where residents usually go for Sunday Mass. The chapel was completely de-
stroyed and desecrated”.
“It was heartbreaking to see Mother Mary’s statue all smashed and burned and the MC
house looted,” Sister Suma said. Similarly, the “convents in Balliguda and Phulbanii
were set on fire by an extremist mob who, carrying swords and other weapons, entered
the convent shouting ‘Kill the Christians’. Sadly, nearly every convent we visited had
the same tragic tale to tell”.
“It was 10 pm on 25 December,” brother Oscar Tete, a 25-year MC veteran, said,
“when a group of 80 Hindu extremists came into our compound, our Shanti Nivas,
armed with swords, axes, sticks and iron rods. To avoid violence we moved the 33
192
patients, all Hindus, to the top floor of our hospital; 22 of them are very old and suf-
fering from malnutrition, tuberculosis and diabetes.”
“At one point outside, the extremists ran after me and three fellow brothers as well as
six local villagers, throwing stones but thanks to the Blessed Mother Teresa’s interces-
sion none of us got hurt.”
“The extremists then turned on the chapel and tore it down, literally; they razed it to
ground; not one stone left unturned. Religious articles and symbols of our faith were
desecrated. They broke the statue of the Virgin Mary and set it on fire. They broke the
altar and everything else, including copies of the Bible, set everything ablaze.”
The sanatorium was also devastated, the kitchen as well. In the following days the
missionaries and their patients received food and help from the area’s residents whilst
the authorities were nowhere to be seen. For several days priests hid in the forest by
night and helped the sick by day. Only on 9th January 2008 did the police show up,
two weeks later.
Throughout the region the authorities’ intervention was too little, too late, eliciting
criticism both at home and abroad. On 29th December 2007 Human Rights Watch
(HRW) reported that for years Hindu extremist groups like the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal (BD) have been engaged in a violent campaign
against Christians. The human rights group went on to say that the state government
had failed to address the problem and was unprepared to face the wave of violence
once it broke out, thus leaving the population defenceless for days on end. For HRW
unless there is a decisive intervention to guarantee everyone the right to profess their
religion, and identify and punish those who fuel religious hate thanks to a sense of im-
punity, “India’s secular identity will be seriously jeopardized”.
For his part Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference
of India, said soon after the incidents that “India is a great country, a secular demo-
cratic republic;” for this reason he urged “the authorities to do justice to our Chris-
tians”.
The attackers are believed to be linked to the VHP, itself considered the hard-line re-
ligious wing of the BJP, the Hindu nationalist party.
Beyond the well-organised, well-funded and politically-supported violence perpetrat-
ed by Hindu extremist groups, the real problem is the use of nationalism by some po-
INDIA
litical parties like the BJP, which held power at the federal level until 2004 and and is
now in opposition, but still in charge of many state governments. For these political
groups Christian missionaries are “emissaries of a corrupt West”; guilty of converting
Dalits by fraud, money or violence, exploiting social activities for this purpose. For
them any religious conversion is “an offence” that must be punished like any crime;
for them the struggle against Christianity is a battle in the “the name of the unity, in-
tegrity and security of India”.
193
Other persecutory actions by public authorities

INDIA
In addition to adopting anti-conversion laws, the authorities in states run by the Hin-
du nationalist parties, tend to clamp down on the public expression of other religions,
especially Christians.
Their first target tends to be Christian-held property. In Chhattisgarh the government
has seized property held by the Catholic Church on the pretext that it must be returned
to its rightful tribal owners. In Jashpur diocese alone there are hundreds of cases pend-
ing against tribal Christians for giving land to the Church.
On 2nd February 2006 the government tore down the compound wall of St Francis
Church, in Patalgaon Parish (Jashpur), damaging a Catholic retreat centre in the
process because it said both were illegally built on tribal land. Seven priests, three sis-
ters and other Catholics were arrested for the allegedly illegal occupation.
Fr Babu Joseph, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, told
AsiaNews that “[i]t is quite ironic that the government considers churches and Chris-
tian education institutions that are fully owned and administrated by the Tribals as
non-tribal in status. The question that naturally comes to anyone’s mind is: whose are
they?”
Both Christian and non Christian Tribals have come to the defence of the Church. On
22nd January 2007 more than 80,000 of them took to the streets to protest against a de-
cision by a local court ordering the Sisters of the Holy Cross to give back to Tribals
12 acres of land on which they had built their monastery and a school. The judge ruled
that a law prevented non-Tribals from buying land from rural communities. However,
the land on which Catholic missionaries built mission institutions “was not stolen
from us,” said one demonstrator, “but was regularly sold to the Church by our ances-
tors, which now uses it to help. We are happy for the schools and hospitals,” which
now stand on the contested land, because they “educate us and provide us with med-
ical care” when we need it.
In March 2007 residents in Jamjunwani village protested against an attempt to seize a
piece of land on which a chapel has stood for the past 30 years, built on land donated
to the Church by the father of a Tribal priest.
Another major factor of discrimination is state funding for Dalits. Governments in In-
dia have adopted affirmative action plans to help Dalits overcome centuries of inferi-
or social status. But several times the National Commission for Scheduled
Castes/Tribes has refused to grant Christian and Muslim Dalits subsidies and aid, ar-
guing that only Hindu Dalits have a right to such entitlements.
In some states like Jharkhand the authorities have tried to withhold such entitlements
(often indispensable for survival) from Dalit converts by reclassifying them as mem-
bers of the Christian minority rather than as Dalit. In Chhattisgarh Christian Dalits
have even been denied essential services like health care and education.
194
In Andhra Pradesh (AP) the government has tried to set up a virtual apartheid system,
banning non-Hindus from Hindu holy places. Since 23rd July 2007 a state law has
banned other religions from engaging in propaganda close to Hindu sacred places, i.e.
places like the Tirumala Divya Kshetram, the whole Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams,
and the temples in the city of Tirupati as well as 19 other cities in the state with large
temples. As a result of this the law virtually prevents non-Hindus from living, moving
and undertaking any activity in such places.
AP extremists want to go one step further and prevent Christians from carrying out
any social activity. On 25th June 2006 for example four MC Sisters were assaulted dur-
ing a visit to a hospital in the Hindu holy city of Tirupati. The nuns were in the Ruia
Public Hospital to visit patients in the terminal phase of AIDS when some 50 mem-
bers of the Hindu Dharma Parirakshana Samithi (Group for the defence of the Hin-
du religion) stormed the hospital, stopped the nuns accusing them of trying to convert
the dying. The attackers came with journalists and cameramen, and held the sisters till
8 pm, when police arrived to arrest the nuns for “proselytising”. They were eventual-
ly released after the Metropolitan Bishop of Hyderabad, Mgr Marampudi Joji, inter-
vened.
In March 2006 the state of Gujarat took over the leper house in Ahmadabad, sacking
the six Catholic nuns who ran the place and evicting them from the Ave Maria Con-
vent which was their home for the past 60 years. Many of the sick they tended to said
they would follow the nuns wherever they may go. “They have done everything for
us,” Babban Sitapur told UCA News. “Not even our close relatives take care of us as
they do.”
Attacks against the school system

Catholic educational institutions are often established to help the poorest groups in so-
ciety, groups like Tribal communities or Dalits, i.e. groups who otherwise could not
get a proper education. Even so, some states want to shut them down or place them
under direct state control.
In Kerala for instance a 2006 law grants the state the right to determine whether a
community constitutes a minority or not, and on this basis decide how many schools
it can run and by what proportion minority students can attend it. And although Chris-
INDIA
tians represent only 19 percent of the population of this state, they are not considered
a minority and have thus lost the right to run their own schools, which thus must be
placed under state control, this despite the fact that Christian schools have been oper-
ating in the state for at least 150 years.
Fr Paul Thelakat, spokesman for the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church, told
AsiaNews that the “rift between the left-leaning Marxist government in Kerala and the
Church began […] with the self-financed professional colleges which the Church
195
started. It was a paradigm shift in education in Kerala where professional and quality
INDIA
education is the need of the hour and thousands of students were and are still going
outside of the state to get an education. The Marxist party and its youth wing are en-
trenched in the old system which is withering away, especially because of the politi-
cization of schools and colleges. Quality education has become costly and can no
longer be free. The government says it is acting in the name of the poor but it is short-
sighed, looking for votes, refusing to comply with the verdict of the Supreme Court
on self-financed professional colleges”.
In 2006 the state of West Bengal amended the School Service Commission Act which
now requires minority schools and Christian institutions to accept teaching staff and
school programmes selected by the government if they want to get public funds.
Christian schools are also excluded from a government programme, the Sarva Shik-
sha Abhiyan, which provides funds and assistance to children aged 6 to 14 years.
By contrast, in state schools an attempt is underway to hinduise education. In Madhya
Pradesh for example the government has proposed that state schools engage in “sun
worshipping”, organising mass Surya Namaskara or ‘Salute to the Sun’ ceremonies as
was done on 25th January 2007, an observance inspired by one of the first yoga teach-
ings.
And yet Catholic schools are appreciated and praised by everybody. In 2007 the Indi-
an Minister for Development and Human Resources Development Muhammad A. Fat-
mi said that it was necessary to “recognise the precious contribution that Catholic
schools offer the country”. This is even more important if we consider that according
to UNICEF more than 60 million children in India do not attend school for even a sin-
gle day in their lives.
But despite this fact, Christian schools have also become targets for violent actions by
Hindu extremists. According to official figures released by the Catholic Church more
than 100 episodes of violence against Christian institutions or staff were recorded in
2007, down from 215 in 2006 and more than 200 in 2005 (Fides). The violent inci-
dents are often “announced” as was the case in July 2007 when more than 250 Hin-
dus from the Sangh Parivar devastated a school run by the Franciscan Sisters of Our
Lady of Grace in the village of Vikas Nagar near the city of Dehra Dun (Uttarakhand).
The school had received threats from BJP representatives for some time and had in-
formed the police about them. The police, however, did nothing.
Violence
Sajan K. George, chairman of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), said
that his organisation has “collected documentary evidence of more than 500 reported
cases of anti-Christian violence” that took place “all over the country” between Janu-
ary 2006 and November 2007, largely as a result “of the sinister religious hatred by
196
Hinduvta forces, under the umbrella organisation of the Sangh Parivar, [by groups]
like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party.”
In a letter sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in December 2007 the GCIC list-
ed the various violent incidents against individuals and places of worships. In it the
Christian rights group said that the purpose of such acts was “to create an atmosphere
of fear and terror,” adding that “[t]his type of threat to internal freedom is worse than
terrorist attacks.” Some “Hindutva elements even had the temerity to protest against
the police for attempting to find the culprits.” And generally, attackers operate because
“there has been a climate of impunity for any acts of violence that are committed
against non Hindus.” Often the police have refused to “file charges or pursue matters;”
instead, in some cases, it “actually included the names of the attackers in the list of
victims.”
Even BJP leaders and party members have been involved in attacks of this kind.
It is impossible to account for all the cases in which Catholics and other Christians
have been victims of physical violence or material loss. But here are a few significant
examples.
Catholics
Fr Eusebio Ferrao, 61, parish priest at St Francis Church in Macasana (Goa), was
killed in the night of 17th March 2006. The Fides News Agency reported that parish-
ioners found him in his bed, smothered to death with a pillow. This priest used to write
for a local paper commenting on sectarian violence in the area. On 21st March Amit
Shukla and Manish Dubey, both from Allahbad (Uttar Pradesh), were arrested after
confessing to the crime during interrogation.
At the end of 2006 a Catholic leader in Jammu-Kashmir, Bashir Tantry, was gunned
down by an unknown assailant. For the police the murder was likely motivated by re-
ligion since Mr Tantry was a former Muslim who had converted to Catholicism.
On 29th January 2006 more than 100 Bajrang Dal activists shouted slogans and threw
stones at Mgr Thoas Dabre, bishop of Vasai, and three priests who were visiting the
village of Ghosali (Maharastra) where they were due to inaugurate a new shelter for
orphans and street children. The attackers accused the priests of planning to convert
the children.
INDIA
On 25th July 2006 unknown attackers seized two Salesian missionaries, Fr Soby
Thomas (vice dean at the local Salesian High School) and Father Vinod, in Hebbago-
di (Bangalore), and then beat them with sticks.
On 10th September 2006 in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) a group of Hindu nationalist mil-
itants stormed a school run by the Sisters of Loreto, breaking down the entrance gate,
looting and devastating the premises, including the chapel.
197
On 18th November 2006 the theological school run by the Carmelite Sisters in Carme-
INDIA
laram, on the outskirts of Bangalore, was invaded. As if that were not enough, the at-
tackers then desecrated the school’s small Marian grotto, destroying the statue of Our
Lady.
On 30th November 2006 about 50 extremists attacked the High School for Girls in the
Avila Convent in Misore (Karnataka), going on a rampage, assaulting the staff, accus-
ing the school managers of performing conversions. The police opened an investiga-
tion against the school director.
Between 17th and 18th December 2006 Hindu fundamentalists attacked the priests in
charge of the St Thomas Church, in a Bangalore suburb, and of a nearby school. They
then attacked the car that was carrying the Archbishop of Bangalore, Mgr Bernard
Moras. Fr Anthony Samy, who was with the archbishop, said that “police were there
but were only mute spectators. They were there in sufficient numbers to intervene. At
least, they could have warned us not to proceed to the school gate”.
On 14th May 2007 near Ranchi (Jharkhand), Fr George Minj was beaten by unidenti-
fied assailants who might even have intended to kill him. Sister Teresa Kindo, who
was with him at the time, was also hurt.
In the early hours of 17th July Fr V. Michael, a Catholic priest at the Chuhari Mission
in Bettiah, was assaulted at his home.
On 20th August 2007 extremists from the Bajrang Dal and the Hindu Jagrutika Sami-
ti in Chitradurga district (Karnataka) handed out flyers written in the local dialect
Kanada, ordering Christians to “immediately abandon Indian territory, or return to the
mother religion which is Hinduism”. If they do not “they will be killed by all good In-
dians, who by doing so will show their virility and their love of the country”. The fly-
er listed the crimes “Christians commit” like “[t]reating everyone with love, educat-
ing orphans in order to convert them, offering health care to those who cannot afford
it, ignoring the caste system, accepting marriage by consent, and agreeing to commer-
cial exchanges between people who should not even associate with each other”.
On 22nd September 2007 the High Court in Orissa sentenced Dara Singh for the mur-
der of Fr Arul Doss, a priest in the Anandpur Church, who was killed on 1st Septem-
ber 1999. The Court recognised the particular “brutality” of the act, since Dara Singh
and ten accomplices shot arrows at the clergyman before burning his church. Singh,
whose real name is Rabindra Kumal Pal, had already been sentenced to death on 22nd
September 2003 for the murders of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sev-
en- and nine-year-old sons who burnt to death as they slept in a car in Keonjhar dis-
trict (Orissa) on 23th January 1999.
On 26th October in Raseli (Madhya Pradesh), five Claretian nuns were beaten with
sticks by some activists from the Dharma Raksha Samiti (Religion Protection Coun-
198
cil), an extremist group that supports sati (suttee), the ritual suicide of widowed Hin-
du women.
In November the Convent of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Rajgir and that of
the Sisters of the Holy Heart near Muzaffarpur, both in Bihar, were attacked and
sacked. The robbers stole money and told the nuns to go away.
On 5th December 2007 about 150 Hindu extremists attacked the Church of the Divine
Mercy in Pitampura, north of New Delhi, which is still under construction but has all
the required permits. They razed to the ground all of the walls already built and de-
stroyed the construction equipment (Fides).
Other Christian confessions

Violence against other Christian denominations is no less intense than that against
Catholics. Here are some of the more significant episodes.
S. Stanley, 58, owner of a building used as a house church, was stabbed to death on
10th February 2007 in Kalliyoor, not far from Thiruvanandapuram, the capital of Ker-
ala. A group of young men under the influence of alcohol had shouted anti-Christian
slogans in front of the house; when the owner went out to confront them he was as-
saulted and stabbed to death in front of his wife, who was also roughed up.
On 8th June 2006 Pastor Prem Kumar, from the Church of South India, was found
dead, his head smashed in, his body mutilated.
In late November 2006 Bashir Ahmad Tantray, a Muslim convert to Christianity, was
killed by two Muslim fundamentalists in broad daylight in Mamoosa, Baramulla dis-
trict (Jammu). Fearing further violence, his village chose not to give him a Christian
funeral but arranged for burial according to Islamic rites.
Goda Israel, 29, a Protestant pastor with the Emmanuel Mission International, was
found dead on 20th February 2007 in Krishna district (Andhra Pradesh). He had been
threatened by Hindu fundamentalists because of his evangelisation activity.
Manzoor Ahmad Chat, 33, an Evangelical Christian who had not yet been baptised in-
to the Salem Voice Church, was abducted and killed by Muslim fundamentalists on
14th April 2007. After decapitating him they left his head inside a box in front of a
mosque. Suspicions fell on Hizbul militants, self-styled “freedom warriors”, i.e. Mus-
lim extremists who are active in Pakistan and India.
INDIA
Hemanta Das, 29, a Hindu convert to Baptist Christianity, was beaten to death on 28th
June 2007 in Chand Mari, near Guwahati (Assam).
Ajay Topno, 38, an Evangelical Christian who worked for Trans World Radio, was
killed on 19th September 2007 near the village of Sahoda, Ranchi district (Jharkhand).
Hindu extremists in the area had earlier threatened to attack Christians, “guilty” in
their eyes of carrying out conversions.
199
Vipin Mandloli, 27, an Evangelical convert from Hinduism, died on 14th October 2007
INDIA
from gunshot wounds near the village of Aamkut (Madhya Pradesh

MC Elias, 47, a Christian policeman and member of the Salem Voice Ministries, was
killed on 26th October on the campus of the University of Changanassery, Kottayam
district (Kerala). According to Kerala’s Home Affairs Minister, “BJP activists” were
behind this murder.
On the night of 20th November 2007 Hindu fundamentalists attacked the Pentecostal
church in the village of Mandwa, Jagdalpur district (Chhattisgarh). Those inside were
tied up and subjected to a drawn out beating; among them Pastor Sudroo who died
from the injuries he suffered. The attackers eventually set the church on fire. Even
though some of the culprits are known, the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum has de-
nounced the police for not investigating the incident.
Sajan George told AsiaNews that in December 2007 “Sangh Parivar radicals tried to
kill Pastor Bikay Charan Sethi in Bamunigam. He sustained 50 percent burns [over his
entire body] after they threw a petrol bomb at him.”
On the night of 28th May 2006 in the village of Nadia (Madhya Pradesh) a group of
Hindutva-inspired fanatics attacked and abducted two Christian women and three
men. The women were raped and the men were seriously injured from gunshots. When
they went to the police station to file a complaint about what happened to them In-
spector Thakur arrested them.
The women “were raped as punishment for changing religion and converting to Chris-
tianity”, said Indira Iyengar, a member of the Madhya Pradesh State Minorities Com-
mission. The authorities, “whether civil, police or the courts failed to listen to the
women and give them justice”, she added. One of the two women said that the “po-
lice told us that our charges were false. They refused to listen. Now, we have nowhere
to go”.
On 24th January in Ramchandrapur (Uttar Pradesh) more than 200 Hindus roughed up
Pastor Ram Prakash and other Christians. When the clergyman went to the police to
file a complaint he too was arrested under the local anti-conversion law. Beaten up in
jail he was released on bail, only to be re-arrested later, accused of causing social ten-
sions. Three leaders from the Church of the Nazarene were arrested on similar charges
on 26th January in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh).
On 25th January 2006 in Jhabua (Madhya Pradesh), a group of seven police officers
beat up two Protestant clergymen in a house. When they arrested them, they ordered
them to cease “Christian activities.” It is not known whether any action was taken
against the policemen.
On 1st May 2006 in Seikmaijing (Manipur) Hindus demolished a church and assault-
ed some Christians, warning them to go away; they were protesting the fact that a lo-
cal personality had become a Christian.
200
On 30th June 2006 a group of Hindu fanatics set fire to a Pentecostal church in Shiv-
ani, in the southern district of Harda (Madhya Pradesh), destroying the Bibles that
were inside and threatening to kill the pastor.
On 8th October 2006 a mob of fanatical Hindus sacked and destroyed a shelter for wid-
owed women and a school for poor children in the village of Danupura in the heart of
Varanasi district (Uttar Pradesh); both institutions were run by a Christian couple from
the United States who were accused of proselytising and forced conversions.
For some years now extremists have been celebrating Christmas their own way, in an
escalating wave of anti-Christian violence. In 2006 Arun Pannalal, general secretary
of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, said that “that on Christmas Eve some 50 vehi-
cles carrying Hindu nationalists drove through the streets of Raipur, the capital of this
central Indian state [of Chhattisgarh], warning people that they would close down any
form of Christmas celebration”. Not satisfied with their action, “they beat up a teacher
whom they accused of handing out Bibles in school. Despite the fact that the accusa-
tions were false, the woman was arrested by the police on charges of forced conver-
sion”.
For the same reasons members of a fringe Hindu group, the Dharma Sena, attacked
Pastor Philip Jagdella, a Christian clergyman who was giving some sweets to children
on 17th December. He, too, is now in prison.
In Punjab local police arrested a clergyman with the Good Shepherd Community
Churches, warning him of serious consequences “if he celebrated Christmas speaking
about Christ”.
Two other Protestant leaders received the same treatment. They were arrested on 23rd
December and released the next day after they were warned “not to preach the Gospel
anymore”.
In Raipur (Chhattisgarh) on 2nd February 2007 a group of Hindu nationalists attacked
a meeting of Christian pastors, accusing them of carrying out mass conversions to
Christianity. Some 30 participants out of 120 were hurt; others were robbed.
On 22nd February 2007 extremists demolished a church under construction in
Bhubaneswar (Orissa). On 28th February a group of Hindus attacked the Believers’
Church Bible College in Jharsuguda (Orissa), beating up students and staff, going on
a rampage inside the building.
INDIA
On 7th March 2007 Protestant Pastor Reginald Howell was beaten with steel bars as
he prayed with disabled people in Hanumangarh (Rajasthan). In hospital doctors re-
fused to treat him fearing the fanatics’ retaliation. Police refused to accept the com-
plaint Rev Howell filed and forced him instead to leave the state and return to his
home town in neighbouring Punjab.
On 4th April 2007 in Orissa Sangh Parivar and RSS activists demolished a Lutheran
Evangelical church and damaged the pastor’s property.
201
On 7th June 2007 in Hessarghatta (Karnataka), a mob made up of young nationalist

INDIA
Hindus beat up Protestant Pastor Laxmi Narayan Gowda, paraded him naked in the
streets of nearby Bangalore with a sign hung around his neck that said: “I am the one
who was converting people.” They then tried to set him on fire. Prior to his conver-
sion Pastor Gowda was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Compass Di-
rect News).
On the night of 14th October 2007, ten extremists attacked the New India Bible Church
in Wayanad (Kerala), seriously wounding Protestant Pastor T. C. Joseph and his wife
Ammini.
What happened to the Emmanuel Mission in early 2006 typifies the sort of systemat-
ic planning that goes into attacks Christians have had to endure. “The conspiracy
against the Emmanuel Mission began in 2002 when the BJP came to power in Ra-
jasthan,” wrote John Dayal, chairman of the All India Catholic Union. “Christian or-
phanages and hospitals were shut down, their bank accounts frozen, and people work-
ing there were sent away. The worst consequences were faced by the inmates of these
institutions.”
The situation got out of hand when “action was taken against the archbishop and his
son, Rev Samuel Thomas, who was later arrested in Uttar Pradesh. Every day one
could read attacks in the press against them, attacks forming part of a daily denigra-
tion campaign orchestrated by Hindu nationalists, who are left free to offer rewards
for the head of the Protestant leader. All this started with a book called Haqeekat, said
to have been published by the mission headed by Thomas, which allegedly included
passages injuring the religious sentiments of devout Hindus.”
“Archbishop M A Thomas has been active in Kota for more than 30 years. His is an
independent mission with a clear-cut charism: caring for orphans and running schools
and hospitals for them. Although he is not part of the Catholic Church and not affili-
ated with any of the Protestant Churches and works independently of them, he is pop-
ular with the people and his record of service has led to the government awarding him
the Padma Shree three years ago. But despite this, he continues to invite hostile atten-
tion.”
“As soon as the BJP came to power in 2002, clandestine enquiries were launched
against all his institutions. He was subjected to criminal inquiries and financial audits
by the department dealing with the registration of societies and charitable organiza-
tions. In all these years, he has never been found guilty of any wrongdoing. Now sud-
denly, without notice, his organizations have been shut and their bank accounts stand
frozen. This has led to a shortage of resources for the orphanages. We were told that
for three days, food in the orphanages had to be cooked on a wood fire because they
ran out of cooking gas. In the hospital, patients could not be treated because police on
guard threatened that if any one was treated, the staff would be arrested and the hos-
202
pital closed down. Inmates included children suffering from tuberculosis, including
one in a coma.”
“The Thomas family itself is terrorized. Non-bailable warrants were issued against the
father, son and their senior staff; some were arrested because of this controversial
book that offends Hindus. […] Samuel Thomas was arrested in Noida under shady cir-
cumstances, and it was only police action that saved him from being lynched.”
Because of such charges about forced conversions and the “defamation against Hin-
duism”, the government of Rajasthan in February 2006 withdrew all permits from
Emmanuel Ministries International (EMI). A month later it froze all of EMI’s assets,
a measure eventually overturned by a court. EMI President Samuel Thomas was held
in prison from 17th March till 2nd May 2006 for offending Hindu religious sentiments.
Muslims
India’s Muslim minority has also been the target of Hindu extremism. And in some ar-
eas this has the potential of getting out of hand and turn into full-blown sectarian
feuds.
In Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh) Muslims and Hindus clashed in April 2006 over a dispute
during a festivity. After it was over two people lay dead and eight were wounded.
On 1st May, the authorities in Vadodara (Gujarat) tore down a 300-year-old mosque
despite requests by local Muslims to have the building preserved as a national monu-
ment. In an attempt to disperse the crowd that protested the action the police killed
two Muslims. The clashes that followed this incident saw Muslims engaged in virtu-
al urban warfare; cars and stores were set on fire, and after days of violence six peo-
ple were dead and 42 more injured.
In July 2006 in Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) Muslims protested against the building of a
police station near a Muslim cemetery. Here, too, the police response led to the death
of two Muslims. Muslims in turn killed two policemen, setting buses and public build-
ings on fire; 18 people were injured, including 13 police agents.
In that same month several bombs exploded on Mumbai trains, killing some 200 peo-
ple and wounding another 700. From all the evidence these terrorist actions were
meant to provoke Hindu-Muslim clashes.
On 8th September 2006 a series of bombs exploded in an area near a mosque and a
INDIA
cemetery in Malegaon (Maharashtra), a predominantly Muslim city, as thousands of

faithful gathered to celebrate Shab-e-barat, an observance during which Muslims pray
for the dead. The carnage left 38 people dead and more than 100 wounded.
In May 2007 a bomb exploded at a crowded Friday prayer in a mosque in Charmi-
nararea (Hyderabad), killing 12 people and injuring another 40.
In Indian-held Kashmir Muslim rebel groups are active, trigger happy when it comes
to targeting the civilian population. In April 2006 at least 35 Hindus, all civilians, were
203
killed in two attacks. The first left 13 people dead in Udhampur district; the second
INDIA
killed 22 in the mountain district of Doda.

These were the most violent attacks since 2003 when India and Pakistan agreed to a
cease-fire in the area. Security experts believe that the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT or Army
of the Pure), a pro-Pakistan Islamist group, is behind anti-Hindu attacks (Hindus are
a minority in Kashmir). In the last ten years, LeT insurgents are said to have carried
out at least 17 massacres, resulting in the death of 270 Hindus.
In the meantime the investigation into the Godhra train massacre continues. Here in
2002, the Sabarmati, an express train, was stopped and set on fire killing 59 people.
This sparked further violence in which, according to official figures, 790 Muslims and
294 Hindus were killed, with more than 2,500 people injured. Unofficial sources say
that the number of Muslims killed runs in the thousands.
In October 2007 15 Hindus were sentenced to life in prison for burning 11 Muslims
alive (including two women and a child) during sectarian clashes in 1992-1993. At the
time Hindu extremists provoked very serious incidents that resulted in thousands of
dead, mostly Muslim. Still the instigators of that violence have not yet been brought
to justice.
The commission of inquiry set up to investigate the clashes was headed by Justice
B.N. Srikrishna, then a judge of the Mumbai High Court. It found that the Shiv Sena
(an armed militant Hindu group) and its leader Bal Thackery were responsible for
what was tantamount to an anti-Muslim pogrom. It also found that the BJP-led city
administration had conspired with the culprits and that the police had stood idly by as
the massacre unfolded. In the end though, the findings of the commission were sim-
ply disregarded by the official investigation.
204
INDONESIA
Legislation
The Constitution guarantees religious freedom, but in recent
years this right has, in effect, been increasingly threatened by
AREA
an intense islamisation campaign driven by extremist move-
1,904,569 kmq
ments and formations; and the government often finds it diffi-
cult to intervene against their initiatives. The authorities toler- POPULATION
ate the discrimination and abuse inflicted by these groups of ex- 222,030,000
tremists and fanatics on minorities and do not prosecute those
REFUGEES
responsible. Aceh remains the only province authorised to ap-
ply the Shari‘a, but between 2006 and 2007 there was an in- 315
crease in local laws inspired by Islamic precepts – there are INTERNALLY
now at least 46 such laws (10th March 2008) according to the DISPLACED
Indonesian Women’s Coalition, and in some areas provisions 250,000
have also been extended to non-Muslims. Jakarta has promised
to monitor this phenomenon, only to subsequently allow local
administrations complete freedom.
RELIGIOUS
The demolition of house churches continues, as do episodes of
ADHERENTS
religious intolerance. Most people enjoy religious freedom, but
the government only recognises six religions: Islam, Catholi-
cism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism and – since January
2006 – Confucianism. Even though officially recognised, the
six religions are obliged to respect precise laws or ministerial
provisions, including: the “Revised Joint Ministerial Decree on
Muslims 54.7%
the Construction of Houses of Worship” (2006), concerning the New religions 21.8%
building of places of worship; “Overseas Aid to Religious In- Affiliated Christians 13.1%
INDONESIA
Hindus 3.4%
stitutions in Indonesia” (1978), concerning donations from Others 7%
abroad, and the “Guidelines for the Propagation of Religion”
(1978), which forbids proselytism in most situations. Other re- Baptized Catholics
ligious groups are only allowed to register as organisations, 6,627,000
with the Ministry for Culture and Tourism, and with only lim-
ited permission to engage in religious activities. Organisations
that are not registered do not have the right to establish a place
of worship and also suffer other restrictions. The law obliges all
citizens to state on their IDs which of the six official religions
they belong to. Article 156 A of the Indonesian Penal Code es-
tablishes a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison for those of-
fending any religion. Insults based on ethnic origin, race,
colour or social class are also prosecutable.
Since 2005 there has been a crescendo of extremist attacks
205
against the so-called illegal house churches.The ministerial decree of 1969 (SKB No
INDONESIA
1/1969) established that any religious community wishing to build a place of worship
had to receive permission from the head of the local authority and also from the resi-
dents in the area in question. Legal authorisation was not easily obtained and requests
by Christians were almost always left unanswered, often obliging the faithful to prac-
tise their faith in semi-illegality. The new text, the result of a debate between religious
leaders of the various communities, government authorities and national security
forces, maintains the basis of the previous one, but defines more specific requirements
for obtaining permits. A legal permit must now be granted by the representative of the
local government, who must first consult with representatives of the various commu-
nities – assembled together in the Communication Forum for Religious Harmony
(FKUB) – and also with the local department of the Ministry for Religious Affairs.
The FKUB must be composed of representatives of all the religions. It will evaluate
the requests for permission and then present its “recommendations” to the local gov-
ernment. In order to obtain a new place of worship, a community must have at least
100 members. Some Protestant representatives wanted the number of faithful to be set
at 60. The project must be approved by at least 70 local residents in the area of the
proposed building and they must all be of a different religion from the community pre-
senting the request. The Communion of Churches of Indonesia has instead proposed
that the minimum number of faithful should be 60 and the number of local residents
approving the request 40. According to a statement from Home Affairs Ministry, the
procedure for obtaining a permit should not take more than six months and permits
should be granted within 7 to 30 days. In the most recent debates on the new text of
this decree, voices have emerged calling for the entire decree to be scrapped and re-
placed with a law on religious freedom.
The spread of local legislation inspired by the Shari‘a

Since 2004, following the coming into force of regional autonomy, dozens of regen-
cies and municipalities have adopted laws influenced by the Shari‘a; some of these
laws criminalise behaviour forbidden by Islamic Law such as adultery, prostitution,
gambling, alcoholism and also restrict the freedom of women. Minority groups, Mus-
lim intellectuals and parliamentarians from various political parties have for some
time been asking Jakarta to abolish these laws, warning that there is a “sneaking” Is-
lamisation of Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world.
The anti-prostitution law, passed in the Tangerang region in 2005, resulted in strong
protests after a woman was accused of prostitution simply because she was walking
home alone on the streets after dark. In regions such as South Sulawesi and Aceh, lo-
cal laws require all public officials to understand written Arabic.
After a long silence on this question, in mid November 2006 the Indonesian Ministry
206
for Justice and Human Rights announced that it would revise the laws of the local gov-
ernments, accused of discriminating against minorities, contrary to the principles of
the Constitution. Minister Hamid Awaluddin announced that he would coordinate his
work with the home affairs ministry, which had often in the past promised to check on
the constitutionality of regional laws. Only six months earlier he had referred this
question back to the individual local governors. Widodo Adisucipto, Minster for Po-
litical Legal and Security Affairs, had already emphasised that more than 85 percent
of local laws were full of contradictions and that many were also discouraging foreign
investment. According to Hamid’s report, the Justice Ministry will establish a human
rights standard that will have to be respected by regional legislation. The revision of
these controversial laws would be carried out by officials of the local human rights of-
fice. But the final word on the revocation of these “incriminated” provisions, will lie
with the Minister of Home Affairs, who for the moment has not taken any initiative in
this direction.
In 2007 the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS, founded on Islamic principles) proposed
a law for applying the Shari‘a to all those living in the province of Aceh, without dis-
tinguishing between religions.
This proposal is part of the work undertaken towards the draft of a new Law for the
administration of Aceh. This was established after the signing of the Helsinki Peace
Agreement in August 2005 between Jakarta and the separatists of the Free Aceh
Movement for Freedom (GAM). The Christian Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) imme-
diately clarified that “Islamic courts have no authority to judge cases involving non-
Muslim citizens”. Objections presented by the PDS received full support also from na-
tionalist political parties such as the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDIP)
and the Democratic Party (PD) led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The
INDONESIA
GOLKAR, Vice-President Jusuf Kalla’s party, presented a “compromise” solution
stating that Islamic Law must be also applied to the non-Muslim residents in Aceh,
who have committed crimes against or are involved in cases that also concern Mus-
lim residents. According to a number of politicians, the law for the administration of
Aceh threatens the principle of national unity, contained in the Pancasila, the five
guiding principles for the country.
In a letter addressed to the inhabitants of Jakarta before the elections for the governor,
held on 8th August 2007, the Commission for the Apostolate of Lay People (KAJ) in
the capital’s Catholic archdiocese warned that the PKS, “although not openly reveal-
ing its intentions, is implementing policies aimed at introducing the Shari‘a in this
country”. The KAJ warned that attention should be paid to “radical right wing Mus-
lim groups and political parties that call for Islamic Law to be applied at a national
level”; this is a “political violation” of the fundamental principles of the Constitution
itself which is based on pluralism. The letter continues, explaining that closing down
207
house churches and attacks by the Islamic Defender Front (FPI) against a number of
INDONESIA
night clubs in Jakarta, should be seen as “preliminary steps” towards the creation of
an Islamic state. As the president of the KAJ, Krissantono, emphasised, “The PKS
claims to reject all forms of extremism, but there are various reasons for believing that
its objective is to radically change modern Indonesia’s secular status in favour of a re-
ligious state with laws dictated by Islamic morals”.
The increasingly numerous local laws inspired by the Shari‘a (perda syariat) threat-
en the religious freedom of non-Muslims, who are obliged to adapt to Islamic cus-
toms. In September 2007, AsiaNews reported the case of a Catholic family in Padang,
in the province of Northern Sumatra, whose two daughters had been “invited” by their
teachers to wear the jilbab (the Indonesian word for the Islamic veil). “This is the first
time this has happened” – said their father – “and my daughters are frightened; they
clearly understand that the problem is not at all an aesthetic one and perceive the hos-
tility addressed at their religion”. This is not an isolated episode in this province that
is almost totally Muslim. Since 2002, more than 19 districts here have approved the
perda syariat, rules that should only be applied to Muslim citizens. One Catholic girl
studying at the state school SMU Negeri II – in the district of Pesisir Selatan – report-
ed that since 2005 this institute had also made the veil compulsory and that she had
had no choice but to comply. Boniface Bakti Siregar, a Catholic working in the Min-
istry for Religious Affairs in Padang, reported that the perda syariat have had a pow-
erful psychological impact, especially on non-Muslim students in districts that are far
from the city: “They have no other choice and must attend state schools since the
Christian ones are too far away”.
A provincial ruling, which comes into force in 2008 in Western Sumatra, prescribes a
test in reading and writing the Koran for both primary and high school students, as
well as for couples wishing to marry, with no distinctions made for those of other re-
ligions. According to statements made by Guspardi Gaus – president of the special
committee that drafted this law – all cities and regencies in Western Sumatra will ap-
ply this provision within a two year period. “The regency of the Mentawai Islands” –
reported the daily newspaper Jakarta Post, quoting the politician – “will not be in-
cluded, due to the powerful majority of non-Muslims who live there, but should the
people want it, there will be no problem”. Out of 19 cities and regencies in Western
Sumatra, seven have already adopted rules inspired by Islamic law. Some require stu-
dents to say Muslim prayers at school. The idea of a decree concerning Koranic edu-
cation came from the 4th local Legislative Commission for Education, which includes
the members of various political parties, such as the National Mandate Party, United
Development Party, Prosperous Justice Party, Golkar Party, Crescent Star Party and
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. The Commission – according to Guspardi –
208
was simply responding to pressure and requests from the provincial community and
the governor.
There is, however, a strong movement among intellectuals and Muslim religious lead-
ers in the country, committed to containing the growth of Islamic fanaticism and ex-
tremism. Kia Haj Hasyim Muzadi, President of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest
Muslim organisation in the country, has described applying the Shari‘a as a “violation
of constitutional principles and of the Pancasila”. He then promised that the NU would
remain “loyal to the values of the founding fathers and the Constitution”. In the sum-
mer of 2007 the debate on Islamic law and the creation of a caliphate increased, after
statements made by the extremist leader, Abu Bakar Bashir. At a conference sponsored
by the Sunni radical group Hisbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), he said that “it is a great
mistake not to apply Islamic law”. “The Indonesian government”, he continued,
“seems to understand little about Islam”. According to Bashir – considered by many
to be the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiya (JI) terrorist group- “until Shari‘a is
introduced, Indonesia will be manipulated by foreign countries”. Bashir’s statements
provoked the disapproval and condemnation of Vice President Jusuf Kalla and a num-
ber of ministers, among them the Minister of Home Affairs, Mardiyanto and the Min-
ister for Industries, Suryadharma Ali. Professor Syaffi Maarif, former President of the
Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim organisation in the country, believes that
the Muslim community should concentrate on exporting “Islamic values and not
laws”. Tolerance, friendship and solidarity are some of the values referred to by the
professor, a noted campaigner for peace and interreligious dialogue. According to this
scholar, the level of tolerance expressed by Indonesian Muslims with regard to other
religions is still low and he attacked the “fanaticism of some of his compatriots, all
busy studying how they should dress, make friends or meet in public according to Is-
INDONESIA
lamic laws”.
The threat of Islamic terrorism

Terrorism is one of the greatest threats to religious freedom. On 1st February 2007 the
Indonesian police arrested the two most wanted men in the central Sulawesi province,
the leaders of a group of Islamic militants responsible for attacks on the Christian
community. These arrests were made public by the police themselves, after they had
arrested Basri, the most wanted man in the area, and his right-hand man Ardin, alias
Rojak, during a raid. The security forces regard these two as the leaders of a gang
guilty of at least 14 cases of violence in Central Sulawesi, including the murder of a
female pastor, Susianti Tinulele, in Palu. The two men were also charged with the
murder of two students in Poso – 17 year old Ivone Natalie and her contemporary Siti
Nuraini, who were shot in the face from a very close distance in November 2005.
A police spokesman in Poso, Muhammad Tahir, said that the group led by the two
209
terrorists was linked to the JI, the terrorist network operating in South East Asia, also
INDONESIA
responsible for the 2002 bomb attack in Bali. “Their mission is to turn the whole of
Poso Islamic”, added the spokesman, explaining that there are as many Christians as
there are Muslims in this region at the moment.
Between 1999 and 2001 Poso and Palu were the stage for a violent interreligious con-
flict which resulted in the deaths of eight thousand people and left half a million
refugees.
In recent years Indonesia has seen a series of bloody attacks for which the local Al
Qaeda branch, the JI, has claimed responsibility and were mainly directed at “west-
ern” targets such as churches and embassies. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
has for some time been harshly criticised for never having spoken out clearly against
these violent attacks, that are sweeping away Indonesia’s tradition of religious tolera-
tion and moderation. Hence, in October 2006 the President called on all Muslims liv-
ing in the country “to respect the law and not use intimidation or violence”. The Unit-
ed States and various other western countries continue to support the national govern-
ment, seen as a stronghold on the frontiers of extremism.
The JI has its bases, among other places, in Indonesia and in particular on the island
of Sulawesi. Here the preachers and the militants recruit young terrorists, taught by in-
structors trained in Afghanistan and in the southern Philippines. This phenomenon is
increasing and has deep roots, as an expert on interreligious relations in Indonesia ex-
plained. According to Father Ignatius Ismartono, coordinator of the Indonesian Epis-
copal Conference’s Crisis and Reconciliation Service, one of the main reasons is the
“frustration experienced by the new generations”. For example, “Increased unemploy-
ment is easily used by extremists to enlist young people with no jobs or prospects.
Since the law has failed in putting an end to corruption”, adds this Jesuit priest, “the
extremists call for their religion to become the real law of the country”. To fight
against this misuse of religion as an instrument of violence, Muslim, Catholic, Protes-
tant, Hindu and Buddhist leaders, as well as intellectuals, have launched a “campaign
for national morality”. “It is an attempt”, says Father Ismartono, “to send out a mes-
sage and bear witness that the escalation of violence, and attacks, is not supported by
the religions, which instead sincerely desire to work together for peace”.
But the point of no return has not yet been reached. “Fortunately”, Father Ignatius
concludes, “there is also a growing number of the faithful within the various religious
communities who are ready to work side by side for dialogue and against fanaticism.
Conflicts that use the banner of religion are based on a clash of fundamentalisms. Now
more than ever, it is imperative for religious leaders to understand the roots of these
conflicts, in the hope that they will not become more or less conscious instruments of
this violence”.
210
Christians
The murder of the Protestant Pastor, Reverend Irianto Kongkoli in Palu, Central Su-
lawesi, on 16th October 2006, may well have had terrorist origins. Investigators be-
lieve that responsibility lies with a terrorist group already suspected of beheading
three young Christians in Poso in 2005 and also linked to the JI network. The police
in Central Sulawesi believe that the motive for these murders could have been to in-
cite religious feeling in this province – already an area where sensitivities are running
high – in order to stir up tensions between the Muslim and Christian communities. The
40-year-old pastor, leader of the Synod of the Central Sulawesi Christian Churches
(GKST), was shot in the nape of the neck outside a shop in Palu. This town has also
witnessed an escalation of tensions following the execution by firing squad on Sep-
tember 22, 2006 of three Catholics sentenced to death after the bloody interreligious
conflict in 2000 in Poso, in this same province.
The Moluccas and Sulawesi

The conflict between Christians and Muslims in the Moluccas and in Sulawesi
province ended when two peace agreements were signed in 2001 and 2002. Violence
has decreased, but occasionally there are still murders and disturbances that go large-
ly unpunished. Analysts observe that by simplistically blaming interreligious hatred,
it has been possible to avoid addressing other problems, such as the corruption of lo-
cal authorities, the lack of intervention by the police at the scene of such incidents and
the involvement of the army, and the problem of weapons circulating, in the area. In
some of the more serious incidents of religion-based violence the magistrates and the
local authorities have behaved in an ambiguous manner and shown little determina-
tion to charge the criminals or guarantee justice. On 3rd April 2007 the court in South
INDONESIA
Jakarta sentenced Wiwin Kalahe, alias Rahman, to 19 years in prison. His accom-
plices, Yudi Heriyanto, alias Udit, and Agus Nur Muhammad, alias Agus Jenggot,
were sentenced to 10 and 14 years repectively. The three Islamic terrorists were in-
volved in the beheading of three female Christian students in Poso in 2005. Indone-
sian public opinion saw this as a “lenient” sentence, given the gravity of the crime
committed. The judges accepted that the trio’s terrorist attacks had provoked anxiety
and fear throughout Poso. The three girls were walking home on 29th October 2005,
when they were attacked and beheaded with machetes in the Gebang Rejo area in
Poso. Two of their heads were found near a police station and the third was left in front
of a church. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned this triple murder,
which Pope Benedict XVI described as a “barbaric murder”.
On 22nd September 2006, the Indonesian authorities carried out the death sentence im-
posed on three Catholics – Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu and Domingo da Silva – al-
legedly responsible for the death of 121 Muslims in a school in Poso during the
211
‘interreligious’ conflicts in 2000. The executions were carried out in Palu, in spite of
INDONESIA
a chorus of international protests denouncing the irregularity of the trial. The authori-
ties did not even allow the “Poso trio” to receive the Last Sacraments, it was revealed
by their spiritual guide in the prison, Father Jimmy Tumbelaka, the parish priest of
Saint Teresa in Poso. The government even denied them the right to a funeral in the
cathedral in Palu. The three men were the only people sentenced to death for crimes
related to the interreligious conflict of those years. The guilty verdict against them was
considered by many to be influenced by Islamic fundamentalistsextremists and was
the result of a summary trial which did not take into account the numerous witnesses
and the extensive evidence in their favour. Even the Vatican intervened to try and save
the lives of the three men. In August, the Pope appealed for clemency to the Indone-
sian President. A statement from the Vatican Press Office, released the day after the
execution, expressed “intense regret” for the death of the three men and recalled the
occasions on which the “Secretariat of State had repeatedly intervened with the In-
donesian authorities to request, in the name of the Holy Father, a gesture of clemency
for the three men sentenced to death”. “In addition to the telegram made public on 12th
August”, says the statement, “Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano sent two let-
ters to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, one dated 5th December 2005 and the
other dated 7th March 2006. Other steps were taken through the Indonesian Embassy
to the Holy See on 13th December 2005, on 14th February and on 20th September
2006”.
The execution sparked violence and tension in Flores and Timor West (mainly
Catholic) and in Central Sulawesi. In Flores three thousand people attacked and
burned down at least three government offices, while in Kefamananu and Atambua, in
West Timor, another five thousand people destroyed homes, public buildings and ve-
hicles. The day after the execution, two Muslims were beaten to death while travelling
through Tarpa, a village with a Christian majority. For this double murder, 17 Chris-
tians are undergoing trial, charged with terrorism.
Other incidents were reported after September 2006, involving both Christians and
Muslims. One attack also involved the head of the police in Central Sulawesi, attacked
by an enraged crowd which destroyed the helicopter he was travelling on. The inves-
tigators are still investigating statements made by Tibo, who before his execution had
named the16 people who he believed had actually orchestrated the violence in this
province. There is little hope of clarifying matters entirely.
Sporadic clashes continued until October, after the holy month of Ramadan in 2006.
At the end of October violent clashes between Muslim inhabitants and the police re-
sulted in one death and four injured; the Protestant Ekklesia Church was also set on
fire. All this started on 21st October when the police carried out house searches in the
village of Gebang Rejo, in Poso Kota. The officers went from house to house, asking
212
the Muslim inhabitants if they had “anything to declare”. This operation was aimed at
discovering and confiscating illegal materials and objects, such as weapons, false IDs,
and unregistered vehicles. The officers then started to look for a man who had fled
during the searches. The razia, as they are known locally, continued the following day,
but this time the inhabitants reacted violently, attacking the local police station. The
situation degenerated when someone called other people to join them and weapons
were fired against the policemen. Events at this time raised suspicions that these clash-
es had been instigated by groups or individuals intent on reducing the area to chaos.
For in actual fact the people had gathered to attack the police after receiving text mes-
sages falsely claiming that the police were attacking an Islamic school.
In April 2007 the South Jakarta district court imposed sentences of between 14 and 18
years imprisonment on four other terrorists implicated in making bombs and in a se-
ries of attacks on the Christian community, including a bomb attack in the Tentena
market on 28th May 2005. Twenty two people were killed on that occasion, while an-
other 43 were seriously wounded. “During the trial –the accused acknowledged their
mistake”, said one of the defence lawyers, “and explained that they had acted to
avenge the Muslims who had died during the long interreligious conflict in that re-
gion”.
Proselytism and the house churches

This is an accusation often levelled at Christians. In April 2007 a tense situation de-
veloped in Bandung, in the West Java province, between the Anti Apostasy Division
(DAP) and the Pasundan Christian Church (GKP), which they accused of paying lo-
cal Muslims to convert to Christianity. The two parties met on 4th April to discuss the
problem. On this occasion, Suryana, a member of the DAP from the local council of
INDONESIA
Indonesian ulemas, claimed that the GKP was responsible for proselytising among the
inhabitants of Cisewu, and Pangauban, in the Bandung regency. “They carry out these
illegal activities”, he explained, “paying at least 500 dollars for every Muslim who
converts to Christianity”. Since 2005 there has been a crescendo of fundamentalist vi-
olence and pressure applied on Christian communities in West Java, and directed es-
pecially against the so-called illegal house churches, which have been threatened and
forced to close down because they are unable to obtain building permits for places of
worship.
In 2006, in response to this issue, the central government published the long-awaited
revision of the 1969 Ministerial Decree SKB No 1/1969, which regulates the construc-
tion of places of worship. But the lengthy procedures and problems in obtaining build-
ing permits still oblige many religious communities to practice their faith illegally.
The violence against the so-called house churches has not ceased. On 20th July 2007
over one thousand Muslims protested against the existence of the Carmelite prayer
213
centre on Cikanyere Hill in Kota Bunga, Cianjur regency (West Java), about 100 kilo-
INDONESIA
metres from Jakarta. A group called the Islamic People of Cianjur, wearing white
clothes, left from the Siti Hajar mosque, about one kilometre away, protesting against
a planned conference on the Holy Trinity organised by the Carmelite centre. They
were joined by Muslims from nearby towns such as the local capital Bandung.
The protestors loudly opposed the use of the Centre for celebrating Mass and other
liturgical ceremonies and even against its existence. Using shields, sticks and dogs, the
police supervised the entrance and prevented them from entering. This Centre, also
known as the Lembah Karmel in Cikanyere, was founded about twenty years ago and
has become a favourite place of worship for Catholics in the provinces of Jakarta and
Western Java. Every week seminaries and conferences are organised here as well as
periods of spiritual retreat.
On 9th December 2007 the authorities prevented the parish priest of Christ’s Peace
Church in South Duri, West Jakarta, from celebrating Mass. This Catholic parish had
been the object of a powerful protest by a group of Muslims contesting its legality.
Following great pressure from the extremists and so as to avoid “social tensions”, on
24th November the sub-district of Tambura ordered all activities at this church to
cease. The parish priest, Father Matthew Widyalestari MSC, signed a document ac-
cepting these requests. He had, however, expressed the wish to at least celebrate Sun-
day Mass for his four thousand or so parishioners, who would otherwise be unable to
practise their faith. But on 7th December, after a meeting between the Catholic leaders
in this area and officials from the West Jakarta district and the Tambura sub-district,
the political authorities insisted that he should not celebrate the Eucharist. The reason
– really an excuse – is always the same one: “public order”, in other words the fear of
interreligious conflict, as Father Widyalestari explained to AsiaNews. “The faithful
keep on asking us to meet their spiritual needs”, he said; “they feel like wanted crim-
inals, like illegal immigrants, obliged to find another location where they can practise
their religion”. However it is “technically difficult to find a suitable place”, explained
another priest, Father Lestari, MSC. “Some parishioners attend Mass in the provincial
headquarters of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – he said – but the loca-
tion is not large enough to accommodate thousands of people”.
On 18th November 2007 an enraged crowd of Muslims broke into and vandalised a
house church in the sub-district of Dayeuh Kolot, Bandung. This event took place as
the faithful were gathering at the home of female Pastor Obertina, to attend the Sun-
day service. The aggressors say that justice was done because, “this private home had
no legal permit allowing it to be used as a place of worship”. The police did not arrive
on the scene until very late in the proceedings. Seeing the police officers, the crowd
dispersed. The Pastor reported that religious functions had been held in her home since
the Eighties and that no one had ever protested about this.
214
On 2nd September 2007 a group of over 300 Islamic extremists attacked a house
church in the regency of Tangerang, 25 kilometres from Jakarta. The attackers serious-
ly wounded the Pastor and six of the faithful and also destroyed all the community’s
possessions. This attack took place while the faithful, about 60 people, had gathered
for Sunday worship.
On 14th June 2007, about 150 Islamic extremists marched to Bandung demanding the
closure of a number of private homes that were being used as churches. The protes-
tors belonged to the Mosque Movement Front (FPM) and the Anti-Apostasy Front.
The leader of the FPM, Suryana Nur Fatwa, present on the streets, threatened that if
the administration and the Religious Community Communication Forum did not close
down the house churches, then his own group would deal with the matter. According
to Fatwa, 26 private homes had been transformed into Christian churches in the re-
gency of Bandung. Of these he said, “17 have spontaneously suspended their activi-
ties, but nine still continue to be active”.
On 24th September 2006, about 50 people attacked and tried to destroy a church in the
Indonesian province of West Java. The crowd of extremists set off at about 9 a.m. from
a nearby mosque and marched to the Yayasan Penginjilan Roti Kehidupan Church –
in the village of Arjasari, 20 kilometres south of Bandung – because they claimed it
was being used by Christians for “illegal” prayer meetings. When those responsible
refused to close the church, the group began to destroy the roof and only stopped when
the police intervened.
On 1st July 2006 a bomb exploded in the Ekklesia Protestant Pentecostal church. The
powerful explosion occurred late in the evening and no one was killed or injured.
Christmas 2006, was also a period of very high alert. On December 16th, the Catholic
news desk at Radio Pelita Kasih received a phone call saying that a bomb had been
INDONESIA
placed in the office. The police and bomb-disposal experts inspected the entire build-
ing in Dewi Sartika – in the eastern sector of Jakarta – but the threat was a hoax. This
radio station broadcasts Christian hymns and teachings.
Muslims: the “heretical” sects

Repression of the so-called deviant sects of Islam continues. The leader of a Muslin
sect, judged as “heretical” by the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI, the largest Is-
lamic Forum), may be brought to trial charged with blasphemy. On November 1st
2007, Ahmad Moshaddeq, leader of Al Qiyadah Al Islamiyah, handed himself over to
the Indonesian police, who had been searching for him after the fatwa issued against
him by the MUI for having allegedly besmirched the image of Islam. This case has led
to a heated public debate in Indonesia, and some even spoke of “mini-theocracies” in
the West Java and West Sumatra provinces, where initiatives taken by police forces
appear to be at the behest of religious leaders, rather than the political or judicial
215
authorities. According to the police, Al Qiyadah has about 41,000 followers through-
INDONESIA
out the country. This sect is considered as “deviant” from Islam because it does not
consider as compulsory the pilgrimage to Mecca, fasting, and praying 5 times each
day. Furthermore, Moshaddeq describes himself as the new prophet, after Mo-
hammed. The fatwa issued by the MUI was likewise followed by condemnation from
the two other largest Muslim organisations in the country, the Nahdatul Ulama (NU)
and the Muhammadiyah. For his part, the local police chief, Sutanto, warned that the
presence of followers of this heretical sect would not be tolerated in the capital. At-
tacks by fanatics on the headquarters of Al Qiyadah in Bogor (West Java) and Padang
(West Sumatra), and police intervention involving the arrest of about ten leaders of the
sect on the pretext of “protecting them from attacks”, resulted in comments about the
creation of “mini-theocracies” in these areas. It does in fact seem that in Padang and
Bogor – as reported by one Indonesian blog – Islamic religious leaders have more in-
fluence than the civil authorities and are pursuing a campaign for eliminating all de-
viations from orthodox Islam. These same provinces are also often the stage for anti-
Christian activities.
After the fatwa issued by the Council of Ulemas, and the attacks by extremists, the In-
donesian authorities decided to ban the activities of this Muslim group that does not
believe that Mohammed was the last prophet. The case involving Al Qiyadah is not an
isolated one and seems part of a real campaign against “heresies” within Islam. On 8th
November 2007 the MUI’s offices in Pekanbaru in Sumatra also declared as heretical
the Islamic school of Al Haq, guilty of having claimed that the teachings of the NU
and the Muhammadiyah did not reflect “pure” Islam. This ongoing trend risks trigger-
ing strong social tensions. The fatwas issued by the MUI against one group or anoth-
er are often followed by attacks by fanatics against the premises of the group thus ac-
cused.
The government is worried about the growth of these sects and the social tensions trig-
gered by such fanaticism. According to Vice-President Kalla, the members of these Is-
lamic sects are increasing above all among university students, but “this problem can-
not be addressed with violence”.
On 20th September 2007, in less than ten minutes, a group of more than 500 Muslims
destroyed a “domestic mosque” longing to the Lembaga Dakwah Islam Indonesia, an
Islamic missionary group considered as having radical characteristics. The attack took
place in the village of Tanggul Weran, in the Jember regency, in East Java province.
According to the police chief in Jember, “the domestic mosque did not have a govern-
ment permit. This is why it has been destroyed”.
216
Positive signs
There are, however, also some positive signs. On 8th June 2007, after almost two years
in prison, Rebecca Loanita, Etty Pangesti and Ratna Mala Bangun, three Christian
teachers accused of proselytism, were released thanks to a reduction of their sen-
tences. The news was reported by Compass Direct News. Rebecca and her two col-
leagues taught Sunday School in their community in Indramayu, in West Java. On 1st
September 2005 they were found guilty of having violated the Law for the Protection
of Children dated 2002, by trying to convert Muslim children to Christianity. They
were sentenced to three years in prison. During the trial, which lasted four months, Is-
lamic extremists tried in every possible way to intimidate and influence the judges.
This ruling was described as “unjust” by many human rights organisations, since the
school’s activities were aimed at Christians and any Muslim children present were
there by permission of their guardians.
Thanks to a powerful international campaign in their favour, the sentence imposed on
these three women was reduced for “good behaviour”, but they will continue to be su-
pervised until February 2008. For security reasons, their release was earlier than ex-
pected; Islamic extremists had in fact announced that they would gather in front of the
prison to protest against the decision of the authorities.
The parents of the three Christian girls beheaded in 2005 in Poso, Central Sulawesi,
forgave their daughters’ murderers. On 20th November 2006, the Indonesian police or-
ganised a meeting between the families of the victims and the three terrorists now un-
dergoing trial. Hasanuddin, the organiser of the triple murder, repeated that he had re-
pented and expressed his profound pain together with his accomplices, Irwanto and
Haris. In tears, the mother of one of the girls said she was prepared to forgive them.
INDONESIA
The Islamic militants and the Christian families then embraced and shook hands as a
sign of peace.
The police department’s spokesperson explained that “the meeting in Poso had no po-
litical objective other than that of promoting harmony” and that the police had only
facilitated this event. The police chief described the encounter “a historical moment”,
in which victims and murderers were able to “exchange their most profound feelings
and try and experience forgiveness”. Hasanuddin, Irwanto and Haris admitted their re-
sponsibilities in the murders and now risk the death sentence. The accused explained
that with this aggression on the three young girls they wished to avenge the many
Muslims who had died during the interreligious clashes in Poso from 1999-2001.
On 30th July 2006, the Jakarta Post reported, thousands of Christians and Muslims
from various villages gathered in Waai to place the first stone of a Catholic Church
that is to be built on the ruins of a previous one, destroyed during the 2001 interreli-
217
gious conflicts in Ambon. The new place of worship will be called the John Paul II
INDONESIA
chapel. Eye-witnesses reported an “atmosphere of reconciliation”. Thirteen young

people from Tulehu performed a traditional dance to welcome the guests. The GPM
band from Waai sang religious hymns to accompany the dancing by the girls. The
event was also attended by the members for the Committee for the Rebuilding of the
Church, many of whom are Muslims.
218
IRAN
From a political and religious point of view, Shia Islam and the
Iranian state are one and the same.
As Article 4 of Iran’s Constitution states: “All civil, penal fi-
AREA
nancial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political,
1,648,195 kmq
and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic crite-
ria. This principle applies absolutely and generally to all arti- POPULATION
cles of the Constitution as well as to all other laws and regula- 70,600,000
tions, and the fuqaha’ of the Guardian Council are judges in
REFUGEES
this matter.”
Only three religious minorities – Christians, Jews and Zoroas- 963,546
trians – are officially recognised (Article 13); all other minori- INTERNALLY
ties (Sunni, Baha’is, Ahmadi, etc.) are “de facto” discriminated DISPLACED
against, sometimes violently. Buddhists and Hindus are like- ---
wise not recognised and live in a legal limbo, but are not sub-
jected to violence.
Recognised minorities are dhimmi, that is “protected”, second
RELIGIOUS
class citizens, open to abuses and denied many of the rights that
ADHERENTS
pertain to true religious freedom, but often required to show
their support for government policies.
In the attempt to show themselves as defenders of the purest
and most profound form of Islam, Iran’s political and religious
elite ends up by persecuting Shiites as well, especially young
people who, under the influence of globalised models, would
Muslims 95.6%
like to imitate young people in other countries in the way they Zoroastrians 2.8%
dress, listen to music and make use of the information media. Baha’i 0.7%
Campaigns by “modesty patrols” to enforce morally and islam- Others 0.4%
ically correct clothing effectively enforce rules that deny reli-
gious freedom to people since everyone (Muslim and non-Mus- Baptized Catholics
lim) is required to submit to a single (Islamo-national) dress 17,000
code imposed by the country’s rulers to control and repress the
population. The group most directly targeted is the women,
who have to wear chador and hijab, wear their hair tied togeth-
er and covered, and use no makeup. But men too can be repri-
IRAN
manded and fined if they wear a tie, shorts or a T-shirt. The

rigid system of separation between men and women in schools,
public places and hospitals is similarly justified in the name of
the Islamic ideal and the authorities have gone to great lengths
to enforce it by building women’s and men’s only schools, hos-
pitals, bars, etc.
219
Domestic censorship has been stepped up. President Ahmadinejad has infiltrated “rev-
IRAN
olutionary” ideas and personnel into the state services, from traffic police to fire de-
partments. In addition to unleashing “modesty patrols”, which control people even in
the car, he has also started a campaign against immorality, (which in practice means
the use of the Internet, or satellite TV) and by cracking down on all dissidents, i.e.
trade unionists, intellectuals, journalists, etc. Overall, few dissidents may actually be
in prison, but most, like Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, continue to live in a
strictly curtailed freedom.
According to many analysts, such suffocating control masks a profound crisis of cred-
ibility for the political and religious leadership, mired as it is in corruption and the eco-
nomic collapse of the country. Powerless, the people have responded by paying less
and less attention to what their leaders say, engaging instead in passive resistance.
Baha’is
The Baha’is are the country’s most violently persecuted minority; they are also the
largest, with about 300,000 members. This faith was founded around 1863 by a Per-
sian nobleman, who came to be known as the Bahá’u’lláh, who proclaimed himself
to be a new prophet, following in the footsteps of Moses, Jesus and Mohammed, but
in doing so he challenged the Muslim belief that Mohammed was the last of the
prophets. Though permitted under the reign of the Shah, the Baha’i faith was deemed
heretical and banned by the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Since then more than 200
Baha’is have been executed or murdered; hundreds more have ended up in prison;
tens of thousands have lost their jobs, pensions and businesses. All Baha’i institu-
tions have been banned and Baha’i holy places have been seized by the government
or destroyed. Many Baha’is have been convicted for teaching their religion to their
children. And young Baha’is are not allowed to enrol at university unless they de-
clared themselves to be Muslims.
In early 2008 news reached the West, saying that three Baha’is had been sentenced in
Shiraz to four years imprisonment for undermining public security by engaging in
propaganda against the political system and proselytising for their faith on the “pre-
text of helping the poor”. According to the Justice Department spokesman Ali Reza
Jamshidi, another 51 were given a one-year suspended prison sentence, but with the
requirement that they attend courses by state propaganda officials (see AsiaNews, 31st
January 2008).
Arab, Kurdish and Baluchi minorities

As followers of Sunni Islam these minorities enjoy no cultural recognition and com-
plain of discrimination. Hatred against them is also ethnic in nature. Most of them live
along the borders with countries currently at war (Iraq and Afghanistan), where drug
220
trafficking fuels violence and poverty. Such distant regions have high levels of unem-
ployment and illiteracy as well as other major social problems but get very little fund-
ing from the state.
In the east, near Afghanistan and Pakistan, lies the province of Sistan-o-Balochestan.
Here a Sunni extremist group named Jundallah has been carrying out terrorist actions
on a regular basis, even threatening Sunni religious leaders for being too accommo-
dating towards the Iranian state. On 14 May 2006 Iranian police chief Askandar Moe-
meni blamed the group for the murder of 12 people near the Kerman-Bam highway.
According to the deputy governor of Sistan-o-Balochestan province, six “rebels”, part
of a larger group a group of 15 to 20 militants dressed in police uniform, were killed
by security forces. The Baluchi population stands at 1.4 million, most of them Sunnis
of the Hanafi School.
The “Arab” province of Khuzestan is located in the country’s south-west, on the bor-
der with Iraq. Violence, repression and oppression of the Sunni minority by the Shi’ite
state are commonplace here as well. In May 2006, a “Wahhabite sheikh” was arrest-
ed and accused of instigating, if not organising, rallies and bomb attacks. The region,
which is home to two million Arabs, has 80 percent of Iran’s oil and gas reserves. For
this reason control and repression by the Revolutionary Guards (elite corps, answer-
able above all to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei) is particularly intense in
this part of the country. Indeed the authorities have built a new military base in Abu
al-Fadl instead of fulfilling demands by the Arab minority for better public services
and an end to the socioeconomic discrimination.
The Iranian Kurds (5-8 million, or 7 percent of the population) live in the west, near
Iraq. They too are Sunnis. Kurds were blamed for two explosions on 8th May which
injured six people at the Governor’s House and the Chamber of Commerce in the city
of Kermanshah (250 km from Baghdad). Whenever ethnic Kurds protest crackdowns
follow. At times the authorities go so far as to use the military to suppress dissent, in-
cluding using artillery against villages located near the border, where the Kurdistan
Workers Party or PKK (considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United
States and others) is accused of having its operational bases. But there is also a rival
Kurdish party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) which occasionally launches
attacks against Iranian targets from Iraq.
Iran has accused, variously, the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel of back-
IRAN
ing these rebel groups but has failed to acknowledge the fact that the deeply rooted
causes of such violence are the frustration generated by discrimination and Iran’s fail-
ure to respect their human rights and uphold the rule of law, including the right to
freely profess their own Sunni religion.
In February 2008 Rooz, a website associated with expatriate Iranian dissidents, report-
ed that Ayub Ganji, a young Iranian Sunni cleric had been found after disappearing
221
three weeks earlier. When found he was suffering from hallucinations, unable to
IRAN
recognise his wife and son, and bore signs of torture and injections on his body, and
could only say “Don’t hit me”, “electricity”, and “No! No! No!”
This 30-year-old cleric had been abducted in front of the Ghaba mosque, which he ran,
in the city of Sanandaj (Iranian Kurdistan), and driven away in an unidentified car. In
his Friday sermons he had criticised among other things the rejection by the Guardian
Council of the great majority of moderate candidates for the 14 March Majlis (parlia-
ment) elections. Some 909 reformist candidates had announced their candidature but
only 138 had been allowed and they gained 49 seats (hence with almost no chance of
changing the political order).
When Ganji was found he was in shock and had lost weight, Rooz reported. After be-
ing carried inside his mosque, it was realised that his condition required medical at-
tention and he was taken to hospital.
“Mr. Ganji has not said anything since his return, and he is incapable of recognising
his close relatives”, a civil rights activist said. Signs on his body indicated that who-
ever had held him had “subjected him to severe torture”, he added. Moreover, there
were also “two injection spots on his feet”. While it was not clear who his captors
were or what exactly they subjected this cleric to, “He appears to be completely brain-
washed. His general condition is not good and there are plans to transfer him to Tehran
for a full medical examination”, the spokesman said (see AsiaNews, 12th February
2008).
Catholics
The Catholic Church, both Eastern (Armenian and Chaldean) and Latin, enjoys at
least some freedom of worship. This means they have churches where their members
can gather and where religious worship can take place, but they cannot express their
faith in public or outside their community. Any missionary action whatsoever is
banned as proselytism, as is all public expression of their faith. Since the “Islamic”
cultural and social model is imposed on everyone, Christians tend to refrain from pub-
lic expression of their lifestyle, which is more open in terms of male-female relations,
eating, drinking and listening to music.
Even though President Ahmadinejad boasts that the Christian minority “enjoys equal
rights”, Christian communities are in fact reduced to the status of ethnically ghettoised
minorities. And yet Iran too has signed the UN International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, which states that “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion. [And that] This right shall include freedom to have
or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in
community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in
worship, observance, practice and teaching” (Cf Art. 18.1). What is more, Christians
222
are marginalised by persistent undercounting. For the government, officially, there are
79,000 Christians in the country. However, Armenians alone are thought to number at
least 200,000 and other Christian denominations must total from 20,000 to 50,000
members.
The Latin Church is made up mostly of immigrants living in the capital; they include
diplomats, students, businessmen and sometimes tourists. Her close links with the for-
eign embassies, including the Apostolic Nunciature, provide a legal basis for her ex-
istence and enable her to keep open her places of worship and have space in the ceme-
teries.
Converts from Islam face the greatest problem, since they are de facto “illegal”. These
are either Muslims who have converted to Christianity, former Christians who have
“repented” and returned to their original faith after formally converting to Islam (in
order to marry a Muslim, for example), or else the children of mixed Muslim-Christ-
ian families. Very often, especially those who are new converts from Islam, they have
to hide their new faith, even from their own family, or else emigrate if they want to be
open about it.
The police are always present at Christian religious services. Officially, they are there
to “protect” Christian places of worship, but in practice they prevent all those who are
not “legally Christian” from attending.
Under customary law apostasy is punished with the death penalty, often carried out by
the relatives of the convert.
Protestants
Protestant communities, inasmuch as they are supported by one or other of the foreign
embassies, are respected as Christians, but their status remains precarious, especially
for those organised in “local house churches.” Less protected against arbitrary rule and
frequently less prudent than the Churches of the apostolic tradition, these “under-
ground communities” have in fact become targets of the regime.
On 10th December 2006, in the run-up to Christmas, Iran’s secret police launched raids
against Christian communities in Karaj, Tehran, Rasht and Bandar-i-Anzali. The op-
eration “netted” 15 arrests of local house church members of the self-styled Free
Evangelical movement. The police gave various reasons for the arrests, including ac-
tivities of evangelisation and acts against national security. Police seized computers,
IRAN
CDs, videos, Bibles and evangelical literature. In the following days various members
of the same movement were called in by the police and interrogated for one or two
days, then released. The authorities also warned the 600 members of the community
not to report the news about the arrests to the outside world.
Two of those arrested, Barman Irani and Seyed Abdolreza Ali Haghnejad, were freed
on 14th December. The others were released on bail between the middle and the end
223
of December. Fellow members of this Christian group targeted by the secret police
IRAN
were able to come up with € 30,000 (US$ 45-50,000) in bail money to get two Tehran
prisoners out, Hamid-Reza Tolou’ee and Shirin Sadegh, the latter is the sister of the
man still in prison. As for the rest, the police accepted their “work permits” in lieu of
bail. One of the group’s leaders, Behrouz Sadegh-Khandjani, remained for some time
in prison in police custody on the pretext that he had not paid for damages he had
caused in an accident with an uninsured rental car. It seems the police were able to per-
suade the owner of the car rental company to pursue him for compensation (see
AsiaNews/Compass Direct News, 5th January 2007).
On 26th September 2006, an Iranian Christian woman and her husband, a convert from
Islam, were arrested by the secret police in Mashad (north-eastern Iran). Thanks to the
international coverage their case received they were freed later, on 5th October. Ac-
cording to Middle East Concern (MEC), the two were released on bail even though no
specific charges had been brought against them. A MEC press official said the “au-
thorities linked the arrest to the Christian activities of the couple.” The wife, 28-year-
old Fereshteh Dibaj, is the daughter of an Evangelical pastor, a convert from Islam
who was murdered in 1994. Her 35-year-old husband, Amir, converted to Christiani-
ty at the age of 20. According to Pray for Iran (www.prayforiran.com), “at 7 am on
26th September 2006, several members of the Iranian secret police entered their apart-
ment, taking away computers, Christian books and other things”.
Before his arrest Amir was able to call relatives, asking them to come and pick up their
six-year-old daughter, Christine. When Amir’s mother arrived at the house, the couple
had already been taken away and two police officers were still searching the premis-
es. They told Amir’s mother that the couple would be taken to a police station, which
turned out to be false because they were actually brought to a secret centre of the Rev-
olutionary Guards.
Fereshteh and Amir run a house church in Mashad, one of the holy cities of Iranian Is-
lam, the destination of many pilgrimages. Fereshteh’s father, Mehdi Dibaj, had been
arrested on apostasy charges and sentenced to death when she was six years old. He
was eventually released as a result of international pressure, but was abducted and
murdered a few months later.
Fereshteh’s brother, Issa Dibaj, who lives and works in the United Kingdom, has
called on people to spread the news about the couple’s arrest to make sure that the rest
of the world “knows about this and cares”. Issa, who has come to terms with his fa-
ther’s death and forgiven his executioners, remains hopeful about Christianity in his
country. “The average Iranian is fascinated by this message of love. They look at their
own religion and see nothing but fighting and hatred. Then they see Christians who
love each other, who are so joyful; they see the difference immediately and they want
to know how to become like that. The government doesn’t like this.”
224
Converts and apostasy

So far no law has been adopted in the matter, but according to the Institute on Reli-
gion and Public Policy (IRPP), a bill that would impose the death penalty on apostates
has been tabled in Iran’s Majlis or parliament (see IRPP, 5th February 2008). Hither-
to, many Muslims who have converted from Islam have risked the death penalty but
international pressure has so far stopped Islamic courts from imposing it, commuting
it instead to long prison sentences. According to the IRPP, the new proposal is appar-
ently backed by the Iranian government but has to be vetted by parliament.
Article 225 of the draft law refers to two types of “apostasy,” i.e. “innate” and
“parental,” both of which would be punishable by the death penalty. The former refers
to situations in which someone is raised in an environment where at least one parent
is Muslim and where he or she is Muslim on reaching adulthood and then leaves the
faith. The latter refers to situations in which someone living in a non Muslin environ-
ment converts to Islam as an adult but then decides to abandon the Islamic faith. In the
latter case apostates can repent to avoid execution. “After the final sentencing, for
three days, he/she would be guided to the right path and encouraged to recant his/her
belief,” the article stipulates. “If he/she refused, the death penalty would be carried
out.”
Although some sections of the draft law appear to indicate that both men and women
can be executed for apostasy, Section 225.10 states that convicted female “apostates”
will be imprisoned for life. The proposed law also stipulates that “hardship” will be
exercised on a female “apostate”, who will be immediately released if she recants.
“The condition of hardship will be determined according to religious laws,” the draft
states.
Jews
There are approximately 25,000 Jews in Iran. They represent the largest Jewish com-
munity in the Middle East outside of Israel. Generally speaking, they are not mistreat-
ed and many Iranian Jews are proud of their Iranian and Jewish roots. Like Christians,
they cannot easily find a public service job, but the regime’s anti-Israel rhetoric has
not usually spilled over into grassroots anti-Semitism.
In December 2006 the Foreign Ministry organised a ‘negationist’ conference on the
Holocaust with international holocaust deniers invited as expert speakers. The event
IRAN
was mounted after President Ahmadinejad claimed in several speeches that the Holo-
caust was a “myth” invented by the West to justify the creation of the State of Israel.
According to some Iranian Jewish leaders, although the conference and speeches were
despicable, they had no “effect on our daily life” (Christian Science Monitor, 27th
April 2007).
225
Islam and moralisation

IRAN
Pressured by the international community on the nuclear issue and human rights,
Iran’s ruling class has used moralisation along Islamic lines as a way to control the
population, frightening people to the point that few now dare protest or organise anti-
government demonstrations.
For at least two years a campaign of intimidation has been underway – including pub-
lic hangings, arrests of students, the imposition of the death penalty on women and
juveniles, and the shutdown of cybercafés and other Internet outlets that fail to respect
Islamic values.
On 2nd January 2008 a young woman was executed in Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison
for defending herself against her husband’s violent behaviour. Rahele, the woman con-
cerned, killed her abusive husband two years earlier to escape from a life of constant
abuse. The mother of a 3-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl, Rahele asked her mother-
in-law to forgive her and so save her from execution. In fact, rooted in the Lex Talio-
nis, Iranian law grants the victim’s family the power to decide the fate of those who,
intentionally or unintentionally, committed the killing.
A crackdown has been underway against Iran’s universities and cybercafés. Between
14th and 15th December the police searched 435 cybercafés with 170 receiving a warn-
ing and “23 people arrested,” including 11 women. The main reasons invoked were
“playing immoral video games, obscene images and the presence of women with im-
properly worn hijabs”. Indeed, the campaign to shutdown cybercafés is running par-
allel to a new crackdown against women on the pretext of “improper dress.”
In the last six months thousands of women have been arrested or “warned” by the po-
lice because of their clothing, makeup or visible hair. Last April Police Chief Ismail
Ahmadi-Moqaddam reported that in 2006 a million women had been arrested for the
way in which they were wearing the hijab (Islamic veil) and that 10,000 men and
women had been tried for violating “Islamic” rules.
Last summer fashion shows were even organised, with chador and veils, in order to
persuade women to conform to the Islamic model (AsiaNews, 16th July 2007). Traders
who sell ‘unislamic’ clothing can also be prosecuted and their businesses closed.
The authorities also decided that in order to enforce their moral code on the media, all
TV productions that do not have prayer scenes will not be allowed to air (AsiaNews,
12th May 2007).
Religion’s formal role is always preponderant on TV Programmes stop for daily
prayers; passages from the Koran are frequently read and speakers proclaim the name
of God before making any announcements. Children’s shows are required to teach the
importance of prayer.
For the schools, a plan to make the study of the Koran compulsory for the last four
years of school is under consideration. By the same token, the Pasdaran Corps (the
226
Revolutionary Guards) and other “revolutionary” agencies are being urged to open up
private schools, especially for pre-school children and in technical fields, and to give
them a decidedly religious character (AsiaNews, 27th October 2006).
Any view that diverges from the official line is violently persecuted. Hard-line Shia
schools have access to the corridors of power and are free to do as they please, whilst
those run by reform-oriented or moderate Shia leaders are stifled. One such leader,
Hojjatoleslam Hassan Yousefi Eshkevari, was sentenced to several years in prison for
stating that wearing the Islamic veil all the time was not compulsory. He was freed a
few months ago but defrocked, banned from teaching and not allowed to wear the re-
ligious habit.
In October 2006 Ayatollah Mohammed Kazemeini Boroujerdi was arrested because
he supported a return to an Islam in which religion and politics were separate (BBC,
8th October 2006). In order to arrest him police had to use tear gas to disperse hun-
dreds of his followers who had formed a protective ring around his Tehran residence.
IRAN
227
IRAQ
On 15th October 2005 Iraq approved its new Constitution,

IRAQ
which proclaims Islam as the “official religion” and also estab-

AREA lishes that “No law that contradicts the established provisions
438,317 kmq of Islam may be established” (Art. 2.1a). The text also states
that the State defends democracy and basic freedoms as well as
POPULATION the full religious rights of all believers (Articles 2.1b and c and
28,810,000 2.2), and guarantees administrative, political, cultural and edu-
cational rights for all the different Iraqi ethnic groups, includ-
REFUGEES
ing the Turkmen, Chaldeans and Assyrians, who are mentioned
42,354
specifically (Art. 121).
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED The situation of the Christians
2,778,305 Christians, however, played no role whatsoever in drafting this
new Constitution, and in vain asked for the suppression, or at
least amendment, of Article 2.1a (30 Giorni, No. 10-2005).
RELIGIOUS
Their very weak representation in the Parliament elected on
ADHERENTS 15th December 2005 (just 3 seats out of 275) does not allow
them to influence the outcome of the voting on legal matters.
Furthermore, an individual’s religion continues to be indicated
on identity cards, which makes Christians easy to identify.
Among the advantages arising from the fall of Saddam Hus-
sein’s regime (2003), it can be said that all the educational cen-
Muslims 96%
tres that were previously nationalised have now been returned
Affiliated Christians 3.2% to the Churches that originally set them up and that it is now
Others 0.8%
possible to provide religious instruction in these schools (on
Baptized Catholics
this point see Auxiliary Bishop Jacques Isaac of the Chaldeans
in Baghdad, in France-Catholique, Issue No. 3026, 26th May
304,000
2006). The Churches also have their own courts for all matters
relating to their juridical status.
Finally, for the first time in the history of Iraq, Christians have
been able to organise dozens of denominational political par-
ties. However, according to Monsignor Georges Casmoussa,
the Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, they have no real in-
fluence at an institutional and juridical level. Furthermore,
many Christians in the province of Mosul have been deprived
of the voting rights (see “Les Irakiens chrétiens: rumeurs, réal-
ités, enjeux”, a round table organised by the Oeuvre d’Orient in
Paris on 23rd November 2007).
228
None of this however is enough to guarantee that Christians can remain safely in Iraq.
According to Archbishop Jean-Benjamin Sleiman of the Latin-rite community in
Baghdad, “A clear perspective obliges one to see that everything points towards the
dissolution of Christianity in Iraq. In the current institutional framework, which makes
the Shari‘a the only source of legislation, there is no room left for Christians. They
must choose between retreating into themselves and being lost among many others”
(L’Homme nouveau, No. 1382, 11th November 2006). During an address he gave to
the French Senate in Paris on 12th July 2007, Archbishop Sleiman said, among other
things, that “They [Christians] often feel they are the victims of a conspiracy or of a
plan for political reorganisation”. The Patriarch of the Chaldeans, Cardinal Emmanuel
III Delly, for his part said: “We suffer because we bear the name of Christian” (30
Giorni, No. 6/7-2007). And in fact, the ineffectual authority of the State, bunkered
down inside the fortified Green Zone in the centre of Baghdad, places Christians in an
extremely precarious situation. They are the victims of all kinds of violence inflicted
on them by mafia-like gangs, taking advantage of their vulnerability, and by Islamic
movements wishing to reduce Christians to the status of dhimmis (“protected subjects”
in submission to the Muslim power) or oblige them to leave the country. Islamic ag-
gression has increased since the proclamation, in October 2006, in Baghdad and in the
majority Sunni regions, of an “Islamic State of Iraq” by an Iraqi branch of Al Quaeda
known as the “Alliance of the Embalmed”, in reaction to Parliament’s approval of a
law creating a Federal State (Le Monde, 17th October 2006).
In Dora, a Sunni majority district in southern Baghdad where Christians were once nu-
merous, they are now “being subjected to a real religious purge”, said Chaldean Arch-
bishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk (ZENIT, 24th June 2007). Three quarters of the Christians
have abandoned the district (Joseph Yacoub, “Les chrétiens engloutis dans la nuit
irakienne”, Oasis, No.6, October 2007, p.93).
The Patriarchs of the Chaldean and Assyrian Churches have launched a joint appeal:
“Christians are the victims of blackmail, kidnappings, and being forced to move out
in many parts of Iraq, in particular in regions controlled by the so-called “Islamic State
of Iraq” […], while the government remains silent and is taking no radical measures
to stop these events” (Reconquête, Paris, No. 238, May 2007).
Anti-Christian violence
IRAQ
So, Iraqi Christians are suffering acts of violence and intolerance every single day. The
following is a list of events reported in 2006 and 2007.
On 29th January 2006, two churches were attacked in Kirkuk. A thirteen-year-old boy,
a member of the choir, Fadi Raad Elias, was killed together with three other Christian
believers. According to Archbishop Sako, it is hard to discover precisely who the
perpetrators of these crimes are: “extremists, fundamentalists, islamists, common
229
criminals released by Saddam Hussein before the American invasion. Certain move-
IRAQ
ments want to ‘purify society’ of all non-Muslim elements, and impose Islamic Law
on society, even though many Iraqis do distinguish between Western and Oriental
Christians” (L’Eglise dans le Monde, No. 131, 3 tr. 2006).
On 12th April 2006, the Anglican priest Andrew White reported the kidnapping and
murder of four members of the Alpha Evangelisation programme who were working
with him.
In May 2006, a Christian who had taken refuge in Erbil (Kurdistan) told of what had
happened to one of his coreligionists: “Rimon, one of my Christian neighbours, had a
record shop; he was kidnapped and assassinated. The terrorists sent his family a video
of his torture. They beheaded him slowly and then immersed his head in boiling wa-
ter, holding it up by the hair” (Le Figaro, 15th May 2006).
On 15th July 2006, Father Raad Kashan was kidnapped while travelling by taxi in
Baghdad. Kidnapped for forty-eight hours, he was beaten and burned with cigarettes
on his back and his hands. Then they released him, saying: “We know where you live
[…] If you do not pay us 200,000 dollars within two days, we will come looking for
you” (Le Monde 2, 28th October 2006).
On 5th August 12006, Father Saad Syrop Hanna, a professor at the major Chaldean
seminary in Baghdad, was kidnapped while driving his car. Released three weeks lat-
er, he was hospitalised. In mid-September, Father Bassel Yeldo, secretary to Patriarch
Delly, was kidnapped for twenty-four hours (Le Monde 2, 28th October 2006).
On 8th October 2006, Father Amer Iskander, parish priest of the Syriac-Orthodox
church of Saint Ephrem, in Mosul, was kidnapped. His kidnappers asked for a ransom
of 350,000 dollars and apologies from his Church for statements made by Benedict
XVI in Regensburg, statements from which the Syriac-Orthodox Church had already
dissociated itself. He was found beheaded on 11th October (L’Eglise dans le Monde,
No. 133, 1 tr. 2007).
On 9th October 2006, shortly after the Regensburg lecture, a Syriac-Orthodox priest,
Father Boulos Iskandar, was kidnapped in Mosul by a group calling itself “The Lions
of Islam”, which in addition to a ransom of € 280,000, demanded that thirty procla-
mations, apologising for the “Pope’s offensive words against Islam” be placed on the
walls of all the churches in the city. Four days later, his beheaded body was found, to
the east of Mosul. That same day, another priest, Father Joseph Petros, was murdered
in Baghdad (Le Monde 2, 28th October 2006; Saint-Pierre d’Antioche Bulletin, France,
No. 36, November 2007).
On 19th November 2006, Father Douglas Youssef Bazi, parish priest of the Chaldean
church of Saint Elijah in Baghdad, was kidnapped and then released 9 days later. On
4th December another priest, Father Samy Raiys, rector of the Chaldean major
230
seminary, was kidnapped for six days in Baghdad and then released (La Croix, 7th De-
cember 2006 and 12th December 2006).
On 26th November 2006 Mundher Aldayr, a Protestant pastor in Mosul, was assassi-
nated in the centre of the city (Joseph Yacoub, Oasis, No. 6, October 2007, p. 92).
On 26th March 2007, two Chaldean sisters, Fawzeiyah and Margaret Naoum, were
stabbed to death in their house in Kirkuk (ZENIT, 29th March 2007).
On 23rd April 2007, a bomb exploded in the Christian village of Tale-Esqof, not far
from Mosul, killing twenty Assyrian-Chaldean Christians (Joseph Yacoub, Oasis, No.
6, October 2007, p. 92).
In May 2007, Vatican Radio reported the kidnapping of seven Christians travelling on
a minibus. They were stopped at a check-point manned by rebels wearing the uniform
of the security forces. Their bodies were found on the road to Bakouba, next to the
burnt-out remains of their vehicle. Around the same time, the bodies of 24 Christians
were discovered in Baghdad; they had obviously been tortured before being murdered
(ZENIT, 21st May 2007).
That same month, a car bomb exploded near a school in a Christian village in the
north; ten people died, among them two children, and another 140 were injured, in-
cluding two Dominican nuns from a nearby convent that was also seriously damaged
(Reconquête, No. 238, May 2007).
On 21st May, Father Nawzat Hanna, a Chaldean priest, was kidnapped and then re-
leased after two days in Baghdad (ZENIT, 22nd May 2007).
On 3rd June 2007, a Chaldean priest, Father Raghid Aziz Ganni, and three subdeacons
who were with him, Basman Yousef Daoud, Wahid Hanna Isho and Gassan Issam
Bidawid, were shot after Sunday Mass in Mosul (La Croix, 5th June 2007; L’Eglise
dans le Monde, No. 135, 3 tr. 2007). Father Ganni, who taught at the Chaldean major
seminary, (which had been moved to this region; see below), was also responsible for
two parishes – Saint Paul’s and the Holy Spirit parish. In the months preceding his as-
sassination, he had received three threatening letters ordering him never to enter a
church, celebrate Mass or organise and speak at meetings (Famiglia Cristiana, 16th-
22nd June 2007).
For his part, Archbishop Louis Sako has stated that: “The current government seems
unable to guarantee security or to apply the law; there are no Christian militias to de-
fend the Christians; hence a Christian is a vulnerable person par excellence […]. In
IRAQ
Dora (Baghdad), the Christians are being subjected to a real religious purge” (ZENIT,
24th June 2007).
At the beginning of June 2007, a Chaldean priest, Father Hani Abdel Ahad, and four
young Christians accompanying him, were kidnapped in Baghdad. They were all re-
leased a few days later (ZENIT, 18th June 2007).
231
During this same month, six students were kidnapped while returning by bus from
IRAQ
Mosul University. Syrian Catholic Archbishop Casmoussa of Mosul commented on

this incident: “The bus was part of the project sponsored by the Church for transport-
ing around a thousand of the Christian students living in the villages surrounding Mo-
sul. As a result of this incident, the busses will no longer be running next year, and so
1,500 Christian students – more than half of them girls – now run the risk of not be-
ing able to continue their education” (Round Table organised in Paris by the Oeuvre
d’Orient, 23rd November 2007).
On 6th July 2007, a Chaldean priest, Father Georges Ata, his son and two other mem-
bers of their family, were kidnapped in the Sleiman Bek region, 200 km north-east of
Baghdad. Their kidnappers asked for a “significant amount of money in exchange for
their freedom” (ZENIT, 6th July 2007). They were released on 11th July.
On 13th October 2007, two Syriac-Catholic priests, Father Mazer Ishoa Mattoka,
parish priest of the Church of Saint Thomas in Mosul, and his vicar, Father Pios Af-
fas, were kidnapped in the district of Faisaliya, in the north of the city, while they were
walking to the church of Our Lady of Fatima for a funeral (ZENIT, 17th October and
23rd October 2007). The kidnappers demanded a ransom (La Croix, 16thOctober
2007).
Also in 2007, Iraqi journalist Sahar El Haieri was assassinated in Baghdad following
the publication of an article in which he had written about Christians, which conclud-
ed as follows: “If a strong government does not guarantee their safety, one must fear
that Christians will disappear completely from this part of the world” (from the Bul-
letin Saint-Pierre d’Antioche, No. 36, November 2007).
To this list should be added the hundreds of other unknown Christians who have suf-
fered the same fate. “Hundreds of Christian families are being ruined, together with
their children. CDs containing images of executions have been posted in their letter-
boxes to terrorise them and persuade them to abandon their places of worship, convert
[to Islam,] or to leave Iraq immediately, or else suffer the same fate as those on the
videos” (Bulletin Saint-Pierre d’Antioche, No. 36, November 2007).
Violence is also directed against Christians who will not comply with Islamic laws.
A female Christian doctor, a refugee in Dohouk (Kurdistan), told of all the things she
had been subjected to during her specialist studies in the capital. “The last few weeks
in Baghdad, I was forced to wear a chador to go out. The extremists had shaved the
heads of two female students and beaten them for not wearing the veil, then they post-
ed their photographs all over the campus, with the warning: “Do not show your hair,
or we will shave you and kill you” (Le Monde 2, 28th October 2006).
A female Christian lawyer from Mosul, Ilham Sabah, explained that she wears the veil
because she fears she will otherwise be killed; the militias insult Christian women,
232
they burn them or kill them if they refuse to dress like Muslim women (Bulletin Saint-
Pierre d’Antioche, No. 36, November 2007).
Anonymous letters have been sent to Christians, who are considered dhimmis. Arch-
bishop Georges Casmoussa spoke of this in a paper for the Council of Bishops in
Niniveh on 12th October 2006: “Will Christians therefore never enjoy the honour of
normality? ‘You are traitors (kafir)’. ‘You are the Americans’ hirelings’. ‘You must
pay the djizya (a special tax imposed by the Koran cf. 9, 29) like everyone else’. These
are a few of the humiliating expressions that fill the intimidating and threatening
anonymous letters received by Christians, so as to oblige them to pay exorbitant ran-
soms in American dollars imposed by the moudjahidin (Muslim fighters)” (see also
ZENIT, 21st May 2007). A number of these letters, with a Magnum .22 bullet enclosed,
order the recipients to get out within three days (La Croix, 12th July 2007).
In Dora, Christians have been forced to leave their homes, taking nothing with them
and they even have to pay a sort of ‘exit tax’ as well. They are given just one choice:
they can remain in the district only if they agree to give a daughter or a sister in mar-
riage to a Muslim (L’Eglise dans le Monde, No. 135, 3 tr. 2007). According to Cardi-
nal Delly, “especially in Baghdad and in Mosul, but also in Kirkuk and Basra, these
violent groups sometimes knock on the door of Christian homes and force the family
to pay an instant sum, like a ‘fine’, sometimes even compelling the entire family to
publicly declare that they have converted to Islam and forcing the father to instantly
give one of his daughters as a ‘bride’ to one of the young men in the gang. Finally,
they order them to immediately abandon their home, just as it is, and leave the coun-
try, ‘because this is not your homeland’. Recently, hundreds of families have been
forced to emigrate and dozens have been obliged to ‘convert’ to Islam. And if this
were not enough, there are the kidnappings; to my knowledge, many of those who re-
fused to convert have been killed” (30 Giorni, No. 6/7, 2007).
The aggressors also attack places of worship. In June 2007, a convent of the Chaldean
nuns of the Sacred Heart, in the Dora district in Baghdad, an Islamic stronghold, was
attacked by a group of terrorists, taking advantage of the absence of the two nuns liv-
ing there. When they returned, the sisters found the convent looted and transformed
into a base for military operations (Reconquête, Paris, No. 238, May 2007).
That same day, two churches were attacked in the same part of Baghdad, the church
of Saint John the Baptist and that of Saint James, which it seems has been transformed
IRAQ
into a mosque (ZENIT,8th June 2007).

During the same year, the crosses in all the churches of Dora were removed by is-
lamists. They were later returned to their legitimate owners, but the clergy did not dare
restore them to their places (L’Eglise dans le Monde, No. 135, 3 tr. 2007).
Faced with constant threats, the seven churches in Dora were closed (Joseph Yacoub,
Oasis, No. 6, October 2007). Furthermore, following the kidnapping in September
233
2006 of the rector and the pro-rector of Babel College, Fathers Samy Raiys and Salem
IRAQ
Basel Yaldo, the Chaldean Church decided to move both this Pontifical College and
the major seminary of Saint Peter, both of which were situated in the same district of
Dora. In January 2007 these two institutions resumed their activities in Ankawa, near
Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan (L’Eglise dans le Monde, No. 135, 3 tr. 2007). The buildings
in Dora were then requisitioned by the American troops (Joseph Yacoub, Oasis, No.
6, October 2007). In Baghdad the Dominicans were also obliged to close their educa-
tional centre for lay people, which they had opened next to the Latin Cathedral of
Saint Joseph.
Kurdistan, a province that enjoys great autonomy and where Christians are actually
represented in the state institutions (with one minister and five members of the nation-
al Kurdish parliament, which has 111 elected members), has welcomed many Christ-
ian families. In all, there are about 100,000 people here who have fled Baghdad and
Mosul. Some have been returning to their home province, which they were forced to
flee during the repression of the Kurds by Saddam Hussein’s regime. But they have
been unable to regain possession of the farms they once owned and as a result they
have had many difficulties in finding work. Furthermore, these Christians do not
speak the Kurdish language, and they do not feel their future in Kurdistan is secure,
as one of them explained: “Christians have no future in Iraq; even the children will tell
you this. Today the Kurdish leaders build homes for us, in order to portray themselves
in a good light. But the extremism will come, just as in Basra. It cannot be stopped.
You cannot change Islam; one day they call you ‘my brother’, the next day they kill
you” (Le Monde 2, 28th October 2006).
Finally, in the southern city of Basra, where there is a Shiite majority, the pressure on
Christians is so strong that Chaldean Archbishop Djibraïl Kassab, has had to leave the
city.
It must also be said that local Christians feel threatened by the arrival of American
neo-Protestant missionaries, who started to settle in Iraq during the international em-
bargo (1991-2003) under the cover of humanitarian aid organisations. Ever since the
2003 invasion, these missionaries have been spreading across the country, renting
buildings everywhere, which they turn into churches (see La Croix, 19th May 2006).
Speaking of these preachers, Archbishop Sleiman said: “They may have but one
theme, namely religious liberty. However, in my view they do not respect the Church-
es that have been here for a very long time. Furthermore, by wishing to convert Mus-
lims, they arouse a great deal of suspicion. Their proselytism does not respect the Iraqi
mentality. Iraqi Christians have cultural roots and a historical outlook similar to Mus-
lims. One cannot come here with an imperialistic attitude and simply implant Chris-
tianity. This attitude only greatly increases the feelings of suspicion with regard to
Christians.” (ZENIT, 2nd April 2007).
234
To escape the chaos they are immersed in, many Christians flee Iraq to neighbouring
countries, where they wait in hope for visas for the West. At the end of 2007, there
were between 25,000 and 30,000 in Jordan, 100,000 in Syria, 4,000 in Turkey, sever-
al thousand in the Lebanon (see Round Table organised by the Oeuvre d’Orient, 23rd
November 2007). In Iraq, out of a population of 28 million inhabitants, there are no
more than 200,000-300,000 Christians, whereas there were still 800,000 in 2003
(L’Eglise dans le Monde, No. 135, 3 tr. 2007).
Muslims
The civil war between Shia and Sunni Muslim militias has created a situation of grave
insecurity which also affects the religious life of the two communities. The identifica-
tion of religious movements with political movements, which is typical of the Islam-
ic world, makes it extremely difficult to distinguish the real motives behind the nu-
merous and bloody bomb attacks and other outrages against mosques and on the oc-
casion of religious ceremonies, funerals and weddings. Both communities are mourn-
ing the loss of thousands who were victims of a homicidal hatred, which the most rea-
sonable elements in the Iraqi Islamic world are struggling to contain, with extreme dif-
ficulty.
Mandaeans
In addition to Christians, other non-Muslim minorities are likewise victims of perse-
cution and receive no protection from the authorities. Among them are the Mandaeans,
followers of a dualist religion that appeared in the early centuries of the modern era,
inspired by Saint John the Baptist. In March 2007, the BBC reported numerous cases
of rape and aggression, among them the fate of a 9-year-old child, kidnapped by ex-
tremists and forced to jump into a fire because he was a Mandaean. According to
Kanzfra Sattar, one of the five Mandaean “bishops”, this community is experiencing
outright “genocide”: “Some do not consider us to be People of the Book [Jews and
Christians]. They see us as unbelievers. The result is that they believe they have the
right to kill us”. Over 80 percent of this community of 50,000 members are believed
to have fled from the country, travelling to Syria and Jordan (La Croix, 7th March
2007).
IRAQ
Yazidis
A similar fate is reserved to the Yazidis, most of whom live in the area around Mosul,
and in Kurdistan. Followers of a syncretist religion that mingles Zoroastrianism,
Manichaeism, Nestorianism and Judaism, they were recognised by the 2005 Constitu-
tion, which authorises their religion. The Yazidis also have three seats in the national
parliament and two in the Autonomous Kurdish Parliament. However, in the eyes of
235
the Muslims they are pagans and hence have no rights. Since the American invasion
IRAQ
in 2003, at least a thousand shabak civilians (a branch of the Yazidis), have been killed
by Sunnis in the Mosul region and 4,000 have had to flee their homes.
On 23rd April 2007, a group of armed men stopped a bus taking Yazidis to their vil-
lage in Beshika, 10 km from Mosul, and murdered 23 of them. On 15th August 2007,
there were four simultaneous car-bomb attacks, targeting the Yazidis and causing the
death of 200 of them (La Croix, 16th August 2007).
Source
Mons. Jean-Benjamin Sleiman, Dans le piège irakien, Presses de la Renaissance,
2006
236
IRELAND
Right from its Preamble, the Constitution of 1937 explicitly

refers to the “Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority
and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and
AREA
States must be referred”, specifying that the Irish people
84,405 kmq
“humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord,
Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers through centuries of tri- POPULATION
al”, adopts its fundamental Charter “with due observance of 6,715,000
Prudence, Justice and Charity”.
REFUGEES
Article 44, entitled “Religion”, acknowledges that “the homage
of public practice is owed to God Almighty” whose Name will 9,333
be revered, respecting and honouring religion”. This is fol- INTERNALLY
lowed by guarantees for freedom of conscience and the free- DISPLACED
dom to profess and practice one’s religion, guaranteed for each ---
citizen, on condition that public order and morals are respect-
ed. All religious denominations have the right to manage their
own business and property, to buy and maintain educational
RELIGIOUS
and charitable institutes. The text makes no mention of a State
ADHERENTS
Religion, and the promoting of one religion rather than another
is forbidden, as is religion-based discrimination in schools.
This however does not imply a disavowal of religion’s role in

public life, a role explicitly defended by Prime Minister Bertie
Ahern on 26th February 2007 in his speech for the inauguration
of the so-called “Organised dialogue with Churches, religious Others 2.8%
communities and non-denominational institutions”, in which he
supported “The legitimate role played by Churches and reli- Baptized Catholics
gious communities in public life”, promoting the dialogue with 5,112,000
Churches and religious groups, a dialogue that he considered
IRELAND
important “for the understanding of the beliefs and values that
have formed our institutions, costums and values and provide
the general key for the sense of identity experience by most of
our people”. “If as a country we should turn our backs on the
lively and vibrant life of religious faith, this would be a mis-
take”, added the Prime Minister, who believes that “the moral
attitudes inculcated in a culture of faith are at the centre of the
persuasions of many people who do not consider themselves
particularly close to a specific credo or denomination”. Speak-
ing against aggressive secularism that ignores the importance
of the religious dimension and wishes to confine religion to the
237
private sphere, Ahern said that he believed that “should modern Ireland be removed
IRELAND
from its background of religious beliefs, our culture and our society would become
separated from their profoundest roots and from one of the most vital nourishing
sources for their growth and their direction in the future”.
Islam
Although relations between the institutions and the immigrant communities are based
on respect and equal rights, the growing number of requests presented by Islamic or-
ganisations has led to problems in the interpretation of the law. Those wishing to ob-
tain citizenship must swear that they will not marry more than one woman, to avoid
the spreading of polygamy, forbidden by Irish Penal Law but permitted by Koranic
Law.
238
ISRAEL AND PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
The inhabitants of the Holy Land are divided between two ter-

ritories; on one side Israel and on the other the territories that in
principle come under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Author-
AREA
ity (the West Bank and the Gaza Strip), created in 1994 under
20,770 kmq
the Oslo Agreements, which were signed the previous year.
Since June 2007, however, Gaza has been controlled by POPULATION
Hamas’ (the Islamic Resistance Movement), which took pos- 7,050,000
session of this territory after a war against Al Fatah, the politi-
REFUGEES
cal party of which the President of the Palestinian Authority,
Mahmoud Abbas, is a member. 1,156
Christians in the Holy Land are divided into three ‘families’ INTERNALLY
and thirteen denominations. The ‘Orthodox’ group (in the sense DISPLACED
of its separation from Rome) is the most numerous, and in- Israel: 420,000;
cludes, Greek-Orthodox (Arab population, Greek hierarchy), Palestinian
Armenians, Syriacs, Copts, Ethiopians and Russians. The Territories: 115,000
Catholic group includes the Latins, the Greek-Melkites (these
RELIGIOUS
are Arabs of the Byzantine rite), Syriacs, Armenians and Ma-
ADHERENTS
ronites. Finally, the Protestants in this region include both An-
glicans and Lutherans under a common Bishopric. There are al-
so Christians of Jewish origin who have come on the scene
more recently.
The situation as far as religious freedom is concerned differs in
Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Jews 77.1%
Muslims 12%
ISRAEL Non religious 4.8%
Others 0.3%
Since the State of Israel still does not have a Constitution, it is
best to refer to the 1948 Declaration of Independence for all Baptized Catholics
matters concerning religious freedom. According to this text, 128,000
“every religious community is free by right and in fact to prac-
tise its own religion, celebrate its own festive days and admin-
ister its own affairs. Each community has its own religious
courts, recognised by the law, which are competent to address
religious matters and issues involving their own status”.
Hence Judaism is not the State religion in Israel. Public institu-
tions are secular and work according to Western democratic
standards. Non-Jewish citizens in principle have the same
rights and civil obligations as Jews. Effectively, they may vote,
belong to political parties and be elected to parliament (the
239
Knesset currently has eleven Arab, Christian and Muslim members). Their role how-
ever, is not of great importance in political life and they have no military service ob-
ligations.
In this country, initially created by Jews, everything that is linked to the Jewish iden-
tity de facto enjoys pre-eminence. This means that Arab citizens are not considered in
the same manner as Jews and this results in a certain amount of discrimination against
Muslims and Christians due to the fact that they are Arabs. In particular, this discrim-
ination affects education, especially university, employment, building permits, and
subsidies for local communities. (Certain professions are moreover forbidden and
those in military careers cannot become high ranking officers, with the exception of
the Druzes). To this, one must also add the confiscation of land belonging to Arab Is-
raelis for building Jewish settlements. Furthermore, according to an emergency
amendment to the laws on citizenship, passed by the Knesset in 2002, Palestinians
married to Israelis (Arabs) do not have the right to reside in Israel and cannot obtain
Israeli citizenship, because they are citizens of an “enemy country”. The Supreme
Court justified the rejection of petitions presented to it, using the following words:
“The benefits and security that the law on citizenship brings the inhabitants of Israel
outweigh the damage caused to the handful of Israeli citizens married to Palestinians”.
According to the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, this provision is effectively aimed
at preserving a Jewish majority in the country. This newspaper claims that it is above
all a discrimination against the country’s Arab community (Le Monde, 16th May 2006).
Among Israeli Arabs, Christians are more at ease in this society, open to western
modernity, which helps them escape the political and legal domination of Islam. How-
ever, they are increasingly feeling marginalised and made conscious of the constant
reference to their ‘Arab’ identity. According to Monsignor Marcuzzo, Auxiliary Bish-
op of Nazareth, “Christians are very worried about the general atmosphere in Israel,
where differences are not accepted and legal protection of minorities is not guaran-
teed” (La Croix, 29th March 2006). This situation is seen as all the more unfair, since
Christians do not in any way represent a danger to the security of the State of Israel or
to their Jewish compatriots.
As far as worship is concerned, Christians are also victims of discrimination and ha-
rassment. Sundays are not holidays in Israel, and a Christian student may have to sit
an exam on Easter Day. Jewish extremists sometimes also attack Christians. At the be-
ginning of March 2006, three Israelis, a man and woman and their daughter, using a
pushchair in which they had hidden small gas canisters, threw firecrackers inside the
Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth during a religious function (La Croix, 6th
March 2006).
There is also the fact that visas for priests and nuns coming from the Arab world are
not always approved and the authorities are free to exercise their own discretion on
240
this subject. The editorial staff committee for the news agency Un écho d’Israël com-

plained about this in a letter sent in April 2006 to Shimon Peres, then the president ad
interim of the Knesset. “We Christians who have lived in Israel for many years are in-
creasingly worried about the future of our presence in this country. For some years
now, the precariousness of our situation has constantly increased. It is increasingly
hard to obtain a renewal of our residence permits, and a number of us are now explic-
itly threatened with having to leave the country. Unpleasant incidents have multiplied
in recent years. Some of us were recently treated in a manner that did not even respect
our human dignity […]. We know this country well enough to understand the reasons
that cause public officials to seek to guarantee the Jewish character of this State. But
we believe that the means used to resolve this problem – the expulsion of priests and
other Christians – are totally inappropriate” (ZENIT, 25th April 2006).
One should also note the obstacles placed on the movements of Christians and Mus-
lims who are under the authority of the Palestinian Authority and who wish to travel to
Israel and Jerusalem, in particular to pray in the Holy Places. Monsignor Fouad Twal,
now Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, deplored this situation: “The creation of a separat-
ing Wall by the Israeli government, in particular inside and around East Jerusalem, has
heavily restricted access to mosques, churches and other holy places, and it is a seri-
ous obstacle to the work of the religious communities who are providing education,
health services and other social and humanitarian aid to the Palestinians […]. The sep-
aration Wall has created problems for Christians in the Bethlehem area who wish to
visit the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and has made things far more
complicated for Palestinian Christians living on the Israeli side of the Wall to visit
Christian sites in Bethany and Bethlehem, still further fragmenting and dividing this
small minority community […]. The Wall and police cordons have also made it im-
possible for the clergy to move between the churches and monasteries in Jerusalem
and the West Bank, and similarly for the religious congregations from their houses to
their places of worship. […] For many young people, Jerusalem is almost a myth, a
city they have never seen, that belongs to the Biblical world” (“Palestine, radiogra-
phie d’un dé-développement”, Oasis, No. 5, March 2007).
This situation was also deplored by Father Jamal Khader, a professor at the Catholic
university in Bethlehem and at the Latin seminary in Beit Jala: “Like all Christians in
the West Bank and in Gaza, I cannot attend, as I would wish to, meetings organised
by the Patriarchate, or spiritual retreats, training courses or celebrations. […] It is al-
so impossible to visit the Holy Places without a permit. […] For the recent Easter fes-
tivities, I had asked for 65 permits, but only received six, and furthermore for only one
day, and not even for the correct date” (La Croix, 23th-24th-25th December 2006). On
29th September 2006 the thirteen patriarchs and leaders of the Churches present in the
Holy Land published a Joint Statement on Jerusalem, on this same issue, in which in
241
particular they wrote: “The future of the city must be determined by common agree-
ment, through collaboration and consultation, and must not be imposed through pow-
er and by force”.
The feeling of injustice experienced by Christians is made even worse by the uncer-
tainty that weighs on the future of their institutions and hence on their own existence
in the Holy Land. In 1997, by way of extending the validity of the 1993 Fundamental
Agreement, which establishes the reciprocal recognition between the Holy See and Is-
rael, another agreement was signed, granting the Catholic Church juridical status in Is-
rael. But the Knesset has never ratified this text and never voted the appropriate laws,
thereby depriving Israeli Christians of the practical resources for ensuring that their
rights are respected.
Moreover, the negotiations envisaged under the 1997 agreement, which involved Is-
rael acknowledging all the economic and fiscal rights that had been enjoyed by the
Catholic institutions under the British mandate (1920-1948) and which guaranteed the
Church’s fiscal immunity, have for the moment not led to any results. On this issue the
Vatican complains regularly about the lack of political will in Israel, which was re-
sponsible for breaking off the meetings of the bilateral committee appointed to solve
this issue. “Everyone can see how much faith can be placed in Israel’s promises”, said
the former Nuncio to this country, Archbishop Pietro Sambi (La Croix, 28th Novem-
ber 2007). The meeting of the commission, held in Jerusalem in mid-December 2007,
had no concrete results. In Rome, Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, Secretary for the
Congregation of Oriental Churches, said after this failure, “The Catholic Church could
take advantage of the tourist manna brought to this country by Catholic pilgrims” (La
Croix, 18th December 2007).
The Greek-Orthodox Church (heir to the patriarchal seat at the time of the undivided
Church, the most ancient in the Holy Land and also the largest numerically), has suf-
fered various interferences in its internal affairs by Israel. In accordance with a tradi-
tion dating back to the Ottoman Empire, the election of every new patriarch to the
Greek-Orthodox Chair in Jerusalem must be confirmed by the political authorities in
the Holy Land, in this specific case by the Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian authori-
ties. Now, Theophilus III, elected Patriarch in August 2005 by the Holy Synod of the
Greek-Orthodox Church, was only officially acknowledged in December 2007, fol-
lowing various outside interventions, in particular from the Ecumenical Council of
Churches.
Ever since October 2005, the new Patriarch had drawn the attention of the Israeli
Supreme Court to this case. In his request, Theophilus III accused the Israeli govern-
ment of haggling, in other words of making his acknowledgement dependent on con-
tinuing certain controversial property transactions that had led to the dismissal of his
predecessor, Ireneus I (L’Eglise dans le Monde, No. 130, 2 tr. 2006). This Patriarch
242
had on various occasions signed commitments to sell property belonging to the Patri-

archate situated in Jerusalem to Jewish property promoters wishing to build in that
area. He had also agreed to sell two hotels and a number of shops near the Jaffa Gate
to a group of religious Jews belonging to the Ateret Ha Cohanim movement, which
buys property owned by Christians and Muslims in East Jerusalem. “I am not prepared
to serve the specific interests of private businessmen, close to power, in order to ob-
tain acknowledgement.” said Theophilus III (Petites annonces chrétiennes, 15th Octo-
ber 2007).
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
Since the Palestinian State still does not exist, the organisation and functioning of the
Palestinian Authority is not based on a Constitution but on a ‘Fundamental Law’
passed in 2002. This Law states that Islam is the official religion and that the princi-
ples of the Shari‘a, Islamic Law, are the main sources of legislation. Christians, how-
ever, have their own jurisdictions for all that relates to their own individual rights. Fur-
thermore, this same fundamental law acknowledges the sanctity of other “celestial re-
ligions”, exhorts respect for them and guarantees the freedom to practise them accord-
ingly, to the extent that this practice does not violate public order or public morals. In
practice, this freedom of worship is generally well respected within society. So as to
allow Christians to take part in political life, they were reserved a number of seats in
the legislative Council at the time of the first elections, held in 1996. This provision
was confirmed for the 2006 elections. The quota is divided as follows: one seat for
Gaza, two for Bethlehem, two for Jerusalem and one for Ramallah. However, the vic-
tory of the islamist movement Hamas’ in these latest elections (they gained 76 seats
out of 132) has plunged Christians into a state of anxiety about their future.
In recent years, the daily lives of Christians have deteriorated because of increased
pressure and intimidation by Muslims. According to Afaf Abou Habil, a primary
school teacher in Nablus (West Bank), “Since the first Intifada (1987), prejudice
against Christians has increased. We are accused of not participating sufficiently in the
battle and of cooperating with the Americans and Israelis. They say we are foreigners.
Those spreading these ideas are ignorant; the problem is that there are more and more
of them” (La Croix, 18th May 2006). In fact, the Palestinian Christians, from the great-
est to the least, make great show of their Arab identity and solidarity with their Mus-
lim compatriots.
This pressure is applied in a variety of ways. Merchants are increasingly pressured not
to sell alcoholic drinks, for example, and sometimes their shops are set on fire for this
reason. These merchants are also forced to pay a religious tax to Muslims. It should
further be noted that dozens of plots of land belonging to Christian citizens have been
243
confiscated. To give one typical example, in Bethlehem a Muslim took possession of

an undeveloped plot of land belonging to a religious community, and turned it into a

parking lot. He has now gained squatter’s rights having used false ownership docu-
ments (Famiglia cristiana, 4th-10th February 2006).
Sometimes the pressure is also more violent. For example, on 4th September 2006, a
group of young Muslims set about looting the Christian town of Taybeh (West Bank).
These youngsters, who had accused a Christian merchant of having had a relationship
with a Muslim woman from a nearby village, set fire to numerous houses in revenge.
During the night of 17th August 2007, in Beit Sahour, Molotov cocktails were thrown
by a group of unidentified people at the house of Samir Qumsieh, a member of the
Greek-Orthodox Church, and the founder (in 1996) and director of the only private
Christian TV station in Palestine, El Mahed (The Nativity), which has its headquarters
in Bethlehem. Qumsieh told the AsiaNews that since then he is constantly receiving
death threats against himself and his family (L’Eglise dans le Monde, No. 134, 2 tr.
2007). The situation of the Christians in Gaza (200 Latins, 3,000 Greek-Orthodox and
about twenty Baptists) is even more difficult and precarious. For example, in Septem-
ber 2006, the Orthodox church in Gaza was attacked by men in balaclavas, following
Pope Benedict’s speech in Regensburg. Later, the small Christian community suffered
the consequences of the victory by Hamas’ in the elections. On the night of June 15th
– 16th 2007, masked and armed men of the Ezzedine El Qassam Brigade, the military
wing of Hamas’, attacked and looted the Latin Catholic Church in Gaza and the school
run by the Rosary Sisters. According to Father Moussalam, parish priest in the church
of the Holy Family, the attackers desecrated both places: “They broke a number of
crucifixes, burned prayer books, broke a statue of Jesus and destroyed a number of re-
ligious icons. They also set fire to the nuns’ home but, thanks be to God, the sisters
were not at home at the time. They stole computers, destroyed the photocopying ma-
chine and turned the place upside down” (Le Figaro, 22nd June 2007; La Croix, 26th
June 2007). According to the headmistress of the Rosary School, Hanadi Missak,
“Sometimes the nuns are insulted or spat at when they are in the streets” (La Croix,
26th June 2007). Finally, at the beginning of October 2007, Rami Ayyad, the owner of
the only Christian bookshop in Gaza, was kidnapped and then shot. His body also
showed traces of knife wounds and torture. The victim, of Orthodox origin, had two
years earlier joined the Evangelical Baptist Church and worked for the Society of the
Holy Bible, an international Baptist association. His bookshop had been set on fire six
months earlier by a small group called “The virtuous swords of Islam”, which had de-
nounced his “Christian proselytism”. Former Prime Minister, Ismaïl Haniyeh, leader
of Hamas’ in Gaza, reported “an act of sabotage against Palestinian unity and the
strong relations between Christians and Muslims, who are members of the same na-
tion” (Le Figaro, 8th October 2007; La Croix, 9th October 2007).
244
ITALY
No major legal or institutional changes or noteworthy events

have taken place during the period covered by this report, ex-
cept in relation to immigration and its short- and long-term im-
AREA
pact on the ecumenical, multi-religious and socio-cultural
301,318 kmq
fields.
POPULATION
Legal, legislative and institutional aspects 58,880,000
From a legal and legislative point of view religious freedom in
REFUGEES
Italy falls first and foremost within the purview of the Lateran
Pacts of 1929 agreed by the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See 38,068
and ratified by Law No. 810 of 27th May 1929. In the Pacts “Italy INTERNALLY
recognizes and reaffirms the principle […] according to which DISPLACED
the Catholic Apostolic Roman religion is the only State religion”. ---
The Pacts were incorporated into the Constitution of the Italian
Republic of 1947, in Articles 7, 8 and 19, which stipulate that
“the State and the Catholic Church are, each within their own
RELIGIOUS
reign, independent and sovereign (Art. 7). Religious denomina-
ADHERENTS
tions are equally free before the law. Denominations other than
Catholicism have the right to organize themselves according to
their own by-laws, provided they do not conflict with the Ital-
ian legal system. Their relationship with the state is regulated
by law, based on agreements with their representatives (Art. 8).
Everyone is entitled to freely profess religious beliefs in any
form, individually or with others, to promote them, and to cel- Non religious 16.6%
ebrate rites in public or in private, provided they are not offen- Others 1.3%
sive to public morality” (Art. 19).

Baptized Catholics
These legislative references did not change until the original
56,454,000
Pact was amended by Law N. 121 of 25th March 1985 on the
“Ratification and Implementation of the Pact with an Addition-
al Protocol” which was signed in Rome on 18th February 1984.
In the aforementioned law, the additional protocol reads: “With
reference to Article 1, the principle, normally stated in the Lat-
ITALY
eran Pacts, that the Catholic religion is the sole religion of the
Italian state is no longer in force.”
In 2000, in Decision N. 508, 20th November 2000, Italy’s Con-
stitutional Court abolished the offence of “Contempt of State
Religion”.
In 2002 a draft bill on “Rules on Religious Freedom and the
Abrogation of Legislation on Accepted Cults” was presented.
245
Approved by cabinet on 1st March 2002, the basic proposal is still under review and
ITALY
discussion by various stakeholders (politicians, scholars, representatives of the

Catholic hurch, legal, sociological and cultural experts and representatives of a num-
ber of religious associations).
Italy’s recent debate over the “Islamic Question”

As a result of immigration, Muslims have become the second largest religious com-
munity in Italy. Muslims are visible in the media as well as through 735 places of wor-
ship and associations (as of May 2007), more than double the 351 in 2000 (Source:
Report No. 59 to Parliament by SISDE, the Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurez-
za Democratica or Intelligence and Democratic Security Service, 1st semester 2006).
The place and role of Muslim women in the family and society is one of the critical is-
sues facing Muslim communities in Italy, with respect to the country’s institutions, so-
cial and religious environment and public opinion. Such a topic is inherently complex,
but it is all too often reduced to a number of tragic news items or extreme situations.
Although the latter must be confronted with great resolve, they cannot be used to make
sweeping generalisations about a very complicated and ever changing reality.
The tragic fate of Hina Salee, a 20-year-old Pakistani woman, who had her throat cut
by relatives in August 2006 because she dared to have an Italian boyfriend (from the
town of Brescia) and live a Western lifestyle, is a case in point. It resulted in a cross-
party group of MPs presenting a draft bill in September 2006 to set up a parliamen-
tary committee of inquiry into the status of immigrant women in Italy.
The few data that are currently available seem to indicate that a large proportion of
immigrant Muslim women (perhaps in other religious groups as well) are in a highly
subordinate position. Most of them have arrived in Italy to join husbands, fathers or
brothers as part of family reunification programmes.
At Rome’s Great Mosque the Islamic Cultural Centre of Italy and the Italian Ministry
of Social Solidarity have jointly sponsored an experimental course to teach Italian to
Muslim women in order to ease their interaction with their new environment and cre-
ate a smoother process of integration and socio-cultural and multi-religious exchange.
The same point of view is reflected in the Declaration on “Women and Society” made
by the 16-member Youth Council on Religious and Cultural Pluralism (eight young
men and eight young women from different religious backgrounds) which was re-
leased on 18th September 2006 before being published in the government’s Gazzetta
Ufficiale (Official Journal) by the relevant ministers (Interior, Youth and Equal Oppor-
tunities).
The thrust of the declaration focused on enabling women to make their own choices
in fundamental domains like partnership and employment as well as lesser ones like
how to dress; the latter might not be a crucial issue but it is one that is highly charged
246
symbolically (see Antonietta Calabrò, “Il velo, una tutela per le donne” – The Veil,
Protection for Women, in Corriere della Sera, 19 July 2007).
Still exaggerations must be avoided, knowing full well that a balance must be found
between rights and duties, individual liberties and public order. An example of this is
the case of Monia Mzoughi, a 37-year-old Tunisian national living in the town of Cre-
mona, who was charged for wearing a burqa at her husband’s trial, Mourad Trabelsi,
who was accused of international terrorism. She was charged under Article 5 of Law
No. 152 on Public Order of 22nd May 1975 which bans coverings which impete the
recognition of an individual. In this case it became evident no one could claim the
right to opt out of a rule common to all arguing that the burqa was a religious symbol,
especially when the doctrinal basis for the latter is not shared by all co-religionists,
and when the object in question is seen among other things as a symbol of oppression
and humiliation by many Muslim women. This, in turn, has raised concerns that a sin-
gle case might undermine the obligation for all to respect the law. In such a situation
what is “Islamically correct” could become the “basis for cognitive, cultural and reli-
gious relativism” (see Magdi Allam, “Prigionieri della cultura del burqa” – Prision-
ers of the Burqa, in Corriere della Sera, 15th July 2007; also Corriere della Sera, 1st
February 2007).
Proposed legislation on religious freedom and the Catholic Church

As in the past recent Italian governments have tried (albeit unsuccessfully) to adapt
the country’s institutional and regulatory framework to one where principle of reli-
gious freedom becomes a necessary condition for peaceful co-existence, for the cor-
rect separation of church and state and for genuine protection and defence of human
rights (see draft bill “Norme sulla libertà religiosa e abrogazione della legislazione
sui culti ammessi” – Rules on Religious Freedom and the Abrogation of Legislation
on Accepted Cults).
As Italy’s largest religious confession, the Catholic Church has agreed with the thrust
of the proposed legislation on regulating inter-faith relations, but it has also raised
some questions about the proposed law’s procedures, not shying away from express-
ing concerns over the “unjustified acceptance of doctrines or practices that raise so-
cial fears and which are contrary to the inalienable principles of our legal tradition,”
ITALY
which is how Mgr Giuseppe Betori, secretary general of the Italian Bishops’ Confer-
ence (Conferenza Episcopale Italiana – CEI), articulated the Church’s position before
the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies on 16 July.
Insofar as “the full respect of religious freedom is an inherent requirement for human
dignity and a corner stone of human rights”, said Monsignor Betori, the inclusion of
the principle of separation of church and state as the basis for regulating matters relat-
ing to religious freedom is something “peculiar and contrived”, especially because the
247
prevailing constitutional practice (Decision No. 309 of 1989) views religious freedom,
ITALY
along with other fundamental rights, as the basis on which the principle of separation
of church and state itself is defined.
The Catholic Church has also taken issue with the draft bill’s intent to place it on the
same level with other confessions that have signed agreements with the Italian state,
in particular in relation to the legal obligations associated with marriage, access to
broadcast media and laws regulating the construction of places of worship. For the
Church the proposal, which is still being vetted, is inadequate with respect to new re-
ligious groups and movements as well as issues relating to interculturalism and ethnic
pluralism.
At a previous hearing (9th January 2007), the CEI secretary went into greater detail to
explain the legal obligations of marriage not only in terms of its “legality” but also in
terms of its “appropriateness” so as not to de facto recognise polygamy even if it is
accepted by the legal systems of the countries of origin of many immigrants.
Sources
Dignitatis humanae – On the Right of the Person and of Communities to Social and
Civil Freedom in Matters Religious, Declaration by the Second Vatican Council, 7th
December 1965
CEI (Italian Bishops’ Conference), General Secretariat, 9th January and 16th July
2007
Immigrazione - Dossier statistico 2007 (Immigration - Statistical Survey), XVII Rap-
porto (Report No. 17 Caritas/Migrantes, Rome: 2007
La Repubblica, 11th August 2006
Corriere della Sera, 1st February 2007 and 15th July 2007
Avvenire, 15th September 2006 and 11th July 2007
Cristiani e musulmani – esperienze di dialogo e di fraternità (Christians and Muslims
– Experiences in Dialogue and Brotherhood), Bologna: EDB - 2007
Rapporto sui diritti globali 2007 (2007 Report on Global Rights), by Associazione So-
cietàINformazione, Rome: EDIESSE, 2007
La città abbandonata – dove sono e come cambiano le periferie italiane (Leaving the
City – Italy’s Changing Suburbs at a Crossroad), by M. Magatti, Bologna: Il Mulino,
2007
Basta! – musulmani contro l’estremismo islamico (Enough is Enough! Muslims
against Islamic extremism), Milan: Mondadori, 2007
Libertà religiosa e minoranze (Religious Freedom and Minorities), by G. Long (edi-
tor), Claudiana 2007, pp. 180
La libertà religiosa (On Religious Freedom), M. Tedeschi (editor), Rubbettino 2002,
pp. 1,064
248
IVORY COAST
The Ivoirian population is more or less equally divided between

Christians, Muslims (particularly found in the north of the
country) and followers of traditional indigenous religions, the
AREA
latter being still victims of discrimination by members of the
322,463 kmq
other religious groups who consider them to be of low “social
status.” POPULATION
Religious associations and groups must register with the Interi- 19,660,000
or Ministry.
REFUGEES
Religious teaching is allowed in schools, including state
schools, on the condition that it does not take place during reg- 24,647
ular school hours. INTERNALLY
Since September 2002 the country has been divided by a deep DISPLACED
crisis. The northern area came under the control of the rebels of 709,000
the Forces Nouvelles (New Forces) who are fighting against the
southern region under the control of the legal government. How-
ever, in the years 2006 and 2007 there has been a slow and
RELIGIOUS
steady improvement in the situation, leading to greater stability.
ADHERENTS
In 2006, after many discussions and attempts at conciliation
and appeals against social disorder (including those by Ivoirian
Catholic bishops), the leader of the Forces Nouvelles, Guil-
laume Soro met with President Laurent Gbagbo for the first
IVORY COAST
time, during a cabinet meeting.
Soro had not been in the capital, Abidjan, since October 2004,
the eve of major clashes between government and rebel forces. Affiliated Christians 31.8%
In the days that followed the meeting, the president held a se- Muslims 30.1%
Others 0.5%
ries of consultations involving women’s organisations, reli-
gious groups and representatives of the industrial and profes- Baptized Catholics
sional sectors. A news report of 11th December 2006 by Jeune 3,147,000
Afrique highlighted the work undertaken by the Catholic clergy
in organising a series of consultations with civil and party lead-
ers, aimed at avoiding tensions that could jeopardise the peace
processes in the country.
On 29th March 2007 Guillaume Soro, leader of the Forces Nou-
velles in northern Ivory Coast, was appointed as prime minister
in accordance with the political agreement signed on 4th March
in Burkina Faso, establishing a new transitional government to
take the country through to new presidential elections in 2008.
A report by Fides on the same day noted that President Gbagbo
had reassured the bishops that he would take immediate steps
249
to guarantee the safety of Catholic Church properties as well as those of other reli-
IVORY COAST
gions in the country. As Fr Blaise Amia, secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of Ivory
Coast, pointed out, in just four months there were ten attacks on parishes, homes of
missionaries and other facilities belonging to the Catholic Church – all motivated by
economic factors. In one of these attacks Fr Pascal Koné Naougnon was shot to death
in his presbytery by thieves trying to rob him.
Even though the government has always tried to safeguard freedom of religion as set
out in the Constitution, violence has continued in the country, partly along religious
lines, but mainly due to political and ethnic problems: many political groups represent
specific ethnic groups, which have particular religious loyalties.
Soro’s election as prime minister in 2007 eased the Muslim community’s feelings of
discrimination. However, it cannot be said that the various religious groups are peace-
fully integrated. For instance, Muslims continue to complain that they are treated dif-
ferently when it comes to applying for identity papers or when they are subject to ID
checks.
Sources
Fides, 17th March 2006 and 29th March 2007
jeuneafrique.com, 11th December 2006
MISNA, 29th March 2007 and 8th November 2006
ZENIT, 8th November 2006
250
JAMAICA
Guarantees of religious freedom are set out in Article 21 of the

1962 Constitution, as amended in 1994. This article describes
clearly and in detail the right to freedom of conscience and
AREA
worship, both for individuals and associations. The Constitu-
10,991 kmq
tion also guarantees the right to religious instruction and train-
ing for religious personnel. POPULATION
Registration is not compulsory for religious groups, however, 2,670,000
after verification by state authorities, registration provides tax
REFUGEES
exemptions for a group’s property and activities.
Foreign missionaries are free to enter this country. ---
Practical conditions for exercising religious freedom comply INTERNALLY
with all established by the Constitution and there are no reports DISPLACED
of violations of this right by the authorities or individuals. ---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Spiritists 10.1%
Others 5.9%
Baptized Catholics
116,000 JAMAICA
251
JAPAN
Article 20 of Japan’s Constitution states that freedom of reli-

JAPAN
gion is guaranteed, and in actual fact this is the case.

Religious groups are not required to register or seek legal
AREA
recognition, but almost all do so in order to take advantage of
377,829 kmq
certain legal privileges granted by the state, like tax exemption
POPULATION status. Overall some 182,000 groups are registered as religious
127,945,000 organisations.
The trials against the leader and some of the members of the
REFUGEES
Aum Shinrikyo (supreme truth) sect ended with death sen-
1,794 tences. The group, now called Aleph, holds beliefs that blend
INTERNALLY elements of Buddhism and Hinduism with apocalyptic views
DISPLACED and doomsday expectations that include nuclear wars and
--- world devastation.
The group’s leaders were found guilty in connection with a se-
ries of attacks carried out between 1995 and 1996, including
the Sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway on 20th March 1995
RELIGIOUS
which left 12 people dead and more than 5,500 injured, many
ADHERENTS
with permanent physical injuries.
After an eight-year trial, the group’s founder Shoko Asahara,
whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, was sentenced to death
in February 2004 for a number of crimes, including the killing
of 27 people. During the proceedings the presiding judge called
him the “most depraved criminal in Japan’s history”.
Buddhists 55.2%
New religions 25.9% Despite attempts by Asahara’s lawyers to argue that he was
Non religious 13.1% mentally unfit to stand trial because he could not communicate
Others 2.2% with others and was thus unable to participate in the trial itself
or launch a proper appeal, the court ruled in 2006 that the sen-
Baptized Catholics tence was final. The High Court in Tokyo rejected the lawyers’
537,000 complaints, ruling instead that all the terms for an appeal had
been exhausted, this after a February 2006 expert report con-
cluded that the cult leader was of sound mind. Twelve other
members of the group were also sentenced to death but so far
no one has been executed.
For the government, Aleph followers are not members of a re-
ligion but terrorists. For this reason it has closely monitored the
group since 2000, periodically inspecting its offices. The group,
which at one point had more than 15,000 followers in Japan and
Russia, is now estimated to have 1,500 members in Japan and
300 in Russia.
252
JORDAN
Islam is the State religion (Article 2 of the Constitution), but

discrimination for religious reasons is forbidden (Article 6) and
the Constitution safeguards “the exercise of all forms of wor-
AREA
ship and rituals, on condition that they are in compliance with
84,394 kmq
the country’s customs and with the exception of those cases in
which this is incompatible with public order and decorum” (Ar- POPULATION
ticle 14). The Constitution however establishes that no one may 5,600,000
“ascend the throne except […] a Muslim born of a legitimate
REFUGEES
wife and to a Muslim father and mother”. Government control
over the Islamic institutions is managed by the Minister for Re- 500,281
ligious Affairs who appoints the imams and subsidises activi- INTERNALLY
ties promoted by the mosques. DISPLACED
Articles 103 to 106 of the Constitution further regulate issues ---
concerning the personal status of Muslims, who are under the
exclusive jurisdiction of the Islamic courts, which apply the
Shari‘a according to the Hanafi School of Sunni Islam.
RELIGIOUS
Under Section VI of Draft Law No. 33 dated 2002 (amendment
ADHERENTS
to the Penal Code) are listed a series of crimes “against religion
and the family“, among them offences against the prophets, vi-
olating the Ramadan fast, the destruction or violation of places
of worship, the disturbance of religious meetings, the profana-
tion of cemeteries and offending the religious sentiments of
others.
Muslims 93.5%
In June 2006, in its Official State Gazette, the government pub- Affiliated Christians 4.1%
lished the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which in Others 2.4%
Article 18 acknowledges the right of “each person to freedom

Baptized Catholics
of thought, conscience and religion” and to “manifest, whether
79,000
individually or with others, in public or in private, their own re-
ligion or credo, whether in education, in religious practice, in
JORDAN
worship or the observance of its rites”. Its publication means
that the Declaration has now become a source of legislation
alongside the national law.
Religious organisations have the right to establish themselves
and to fund schools for educating their own faithful, on condi-
tion they comply with the provisions established by the law and
submit to government control over their educational pro-
grammes and objectives.
The law regulating political parties does not permit places of
worship to be used for political activities, and this seems to be
253
a means for preventing radical elements from carrying out political propaganda in the
JORDAN
mosques. Religious instruction is compulsory for Muslim students attending state

schools.
Christians
In 1996, the government permitted Christianity to be taught in state schools and
Christmas was proclaimed a national holiday. Of the 110 seats in Parliament, 9 are re-
served for Christians.
The government bans conversion from Islam as well as proselytism among Muslims.
Muslims who have converted to other religions complain that they suffer social dis-
crimination by the authorities because the government does not legally acknowledge
such conversions, and considers those who have converted as still being Muslims and
subject to the Shari‘a, according to which they are apostates and may have their prop-
erty confiscated and a number of their rights denied.
On 20th January 2006, an Islamic court accepted a complaint against Mahmoud Ab-
del-Rahman Eleker, a convert from Islam to Christianity, laid against him by his broth-
er-in-law. On 14th April 2006, the brother-in-law withdrew his accusation after the
converted man’s wife had renounced her inheritance from her parents in the presence
of a solicitor.
On 29th April 2007, after interrogating him, the authorities expelled Pastor Mazhar Iz-
zat Bishay, a member of the Free Evangelical Church of Aqaba, who is Egyptian by
nationality. In November 2006, four Egyptian Copts resident in Aqaba were also de-
ported after being interrogated about their membership of this same church.
Muslims
In January 2006, Jihad al-Momani, the former chief editor of the weekly magazine
Shihan, and Hussein al-Khalidi, of the weekly al-Mihar, were arrested for having pub-
lished the controversial cartoons portraying Mohammed. In February the two journal-
ists were sentenced for “public denigration of the prophets” by a lower court. Follow-
ing this, in May, they were sentenced to a minimum of two months in prison, but then
immediately released on bail.
The Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, sponsored by the government, has contin-
ued to work in favour of dialogue between religions, in particular between Islam and
Christianity. In January 2007, the Institute organised an international conference on a
shared approach to reform in the various religious traditions. In February of the same
254
year a seminar was held on the role played by the religions within the context of so-
cial and political modernisation.
Others
The members of the small Druze community (20,000 believers in all) continue to be
without official recognition, but are free to perform their religious functions. The Ba-
ha’i community suffers from official and social discrimination.
Sources
Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies
JORDAN
255
KAZAKHSTAN
The attitude of Kazakhstan’s authorities to the right of freedom

KAZAKHSTAN
of religion remains ambiguous. On the one hand, they strongly

defend it on paper, but on the other, they often breach it in prac-
AREA
tice.
2,724,900 kmq
On several occasions, especially at the international level,
POPULATION Kazakh government leaders have made solemn promises in or-
15,872,000 der to project an image of domestic tolerance and respect for re-
ligious freedom. Kazakhstan’s ambition to chair the Organisa-
REFUGEES
tion for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) as it is
4,285 expected to do in 2010 is a driving factor behind these promis-
INTERNALLY es (Voice of Freedom, 3rd January 2008).
DISPLACED In 2006, Kazakhstan hosted the 2nd Congress of Leaders of
--- World and Traditional Religions which seeks to promote inter-
faith harmony and dialogue. In his speech to the participants
Kazakh President Nazarbaev even proposed the creation of an
international centre for the study of world cultures and religions
RELIGIOUS
to be based in Astana itself, a centre intended to promote dia-
ADHERENTS
logue among the different religions and the world’s political
leaders (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 13 September
2006). In an interview with the BBC (11th December 2006), he
reiterated the importance of religious harmony for his country’s
stability.
Other top government officials followed suit. Yeraly
Muslims 42.7%
Non religious 40.2% Tugzhanov, head of the Justice Ministry’s Religious Affairs
Affiliated Christians 16.7% Committee, said at an OSCE-sponsored conference in
Others 0.4%
Bucharest (Romania) on 7th June 2007 that his country was “an
Baptized Catholics oasis of stability and religious harmony” without religious dis-
184,000 crimination (AsiaNews, 9th June 2007). Similarly, Amanbek
Mukhashev, deputy head of the government’s Religious Affairs
Committee, said at another OSCE conference held in Warsaw
on 28th September that “[t]oday we can declare with complete
assurance that in Kazakhstan all the necessary conditions have
been created for the full freedom of thought, conscience, reli-
gion and belief” (Forum 18 News Service, 28th September
2007).
Despite such encouraging statements of intent by government
officials, the situation for many a religious group is far from
rosy.
256
While balanced in its original formulation, the 1992 law on freedom of conscience
was made tougher by later changes, in particular by the amendments of 2005 on “na-
tional security” and the “fight against terrorism.” These make it illegal for unregis-
tered groups to engage in religious activities and further curb missionary activities.
Members of unregistered minority religious communities – unregistered either by
choice or because of tough application procedures – are thus open to various forms of
persecution, mostly involving heavy economic sanctions.
In addition, some government initiatives ostensibly for “information gathering” pur-
poses have turned into virtual slander campaigns against non traditional religious
groups. Case in point: on 10th October 2006 President Nazarbayev approved the “State
Programme of Patriotic Education of Citizens of Kazakhstan for 2006-2008” whose
goal is to strengthen state supervision of religious activities, reduce the number of vi-
olations of the law on freedom of conscience, and prevent religious organisations from
using their contacts with poor people to ensnare them into converting. The programme
reaffirms the state’s support for traditional religious groups and highlights the dangers
posed not only by extremist groups like Hizb-ut-Takhrir but also by groups like the Je-
hovah’s Witnesses and the Hare Krishna because of the “psychological influence of
activist members of these associations and organisations on the consciousness of
young people” (Forum 18 News Service, 3rd April 2007).
These same groups are called dangerous in a pamphlet prepared by the Justice Min-
istry in 2006, titled “Ways to Escape Religions Sects” . The document itself was re-
KAZAKHSTAN
leased to provide “legal support” to Kazakh citizens, and its readers are warned that
many young people have joined religious sects like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists
and Ahmadiyah Muslims. Conversion to other religions is labelled “treason” to one’s
“nation and faith” because religion is seen as “our spiritual life, present and future”.
What’s more the brochure gives a series of steps people can take at various levels to
fight against the influence of religious sects. It urges the Justice Ministry, the Muslim
Spiritual Council, the mass media, government agencies, local officials, higher educa-
tional institutions, schools and parents to get involved in developing specific initia-
tives as set out in the brochure to protect the spiritual integrity of young people and
counter the risk of abandoning one’s own faith (ferghana.ru, 9th June 2007).
It must however be noted that there have been some positive changes in the last two
years. For the first time in the history of the country, two religious festivities have
been included in the Kazakh calendar, namely Christmas, according to the Orthodox
calendar, and Kurbanaid, the Muslim feast of sacrifice (AsiaNews, 28th January 2006).
Kazakhstan had hitherto never recognised religious holidays but had only celebrated
politically-relevant days in pure Soviet fashion and in strict compliance with secular
principles.
257
A new law on freedom of conscience?

KAZAKHSTAN
A new law on freedom of conscience was supposed to come into effect in 2007, but
parliamentary elections have delayed its adoption.
Forum 18 News Service reported (21th February 2007) that it was able to view one of
the draft proposals under consideration. This bill envisages that all religious activities
by unregistered groups should be banned. Religious organisations would be separated
into “associations”, if they have at least 50 adult members, or “groups” if they have
fewer members. The latter would be allowed to perform religious ceremonies and rites
as well as provide a religious education to their members, but not to publish or import
religious literature, hold outdoor prayer services, ask for or accept donations or any
other form of help, or engage in charitable activities. The draft law also strengthens
the Religious Affairs Committee, since its consent would be required for foreign na-
tionals to head religious communities in Kazakhstan or for places of worship of any
kind to be built.
Meanwhile other limits on religious freedom may come into effect as part of a new
anti-terrorism law prepared by the National Security Committee (KNB), Kazakhstan’s
secret police. Although these “changes are not going to affect believers” according to
Askar Amerkhanov, deputy chief of staff of KNB’s Anti-terrorist Centre (Forum 18
News Service, 24th October 2006), the draft law is designed to tackle so-called destruc-
tive sects and organisations, whose activity is already banned in a variety of countries
because they “exert a destructive influence on people’s personalities”, as Amerkhanov
himself had previously said in an interview with the Kazakhstan Today news agency
(15th September 2006). Among the “destructive groups” Amerkhanov was referring to
are the Korean Grace Protestant Church and the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The Catholic community

On 17th December 2006 Mgr Janusz Kaleta took office as the first Catholic bishop of
Atyrau, a city some 2,000 kilometres west of the capital Astana (AsiaNews, 27th De-
cember 2006).
On 7th July 1999 Pope John Paul II divided the Apostolic Administration of Kaza-
khstan into four jurisdictions with Atyrau as the smallest one.
“Catholics in Kazakhstan are a tiny minority. In my administration, there are only
about 26,000 Catholics, among a population of 2.2 millions. But we have already 5
fully functioning parishes, and another one is to open soon. Thanks to the Lord, we
have many committed young people in our parishes,” Bishop Kaleta said during a vis-
it to the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN News, 7th May
2007).
For economic reasons “there are thousands of foreigners working here. We take care
of them too,” he said. But “the first challenge is to deepen the faith of our people. But
258
then comes the construction of new churches. We were looked upon as a sect, as long
as the Mass was celebrated in private homes.”
In an interview with Union of Catholic Asian News (19th March 2007), the Auxiliary
Bishop of Karaganda, Mgr Athanasius Schneider, also talked about the situation of
Kazakhstan’s Catholic community, saying that it does not have any particular problem
and that it maintains good relations with other groups. However, he hastened to add
that “we don’t do any missionary work like in Africa”. Instead “most of our newcom-
ers are people of Catholic origin or other Christians, who were not practising their
faith. Many were born in mixed-religion families. Our main work is to re-evangelize
them, as their parents or grandparents were Christians.” There are “very few” local
Catholics, he explained, “or they are of mixed parentage. […] We don’t evangelize
among ethnic Kazakhs, who identify themselves with Islam, and we respect their feel-
ings. Moreover we know that the Muslim clergy here are very sensitive about any mis-
sionary work among locals.”
Protestants and other religious groups

Despite the atmosphere of tolerance and stability the country’s top authorities want to
create, some religious groups still suffer persecution.
Protestant groups that belong to the Council of Baptist Churches, which includes more
than 100 congregations across the country, face the greatest difficulties, since they re-
fuse on principle to apply for registration. Even when a group wants to and is allowed
KAZAKHSTAN
to register, more often than not it is almost giving the state a blank cheque, handing
them a virtual right to interfere in the internal affairs of each community. Officials can
request very personal information like members’ ethnic origin, their level of religious
education, or their family and work situation. In some regions the authorities ask for
even more delicate information, like “links and contacts” with other congregations,
the names of the “most influential and authoritative figures in the congregation,” and
the names of “the most popular political parties and social organisations in the con-
gregation” (Assist News Service, 11th June 2006).
In the last two years many Baptist clergymen have been fined under articles 374 and
375 of the Administrative Code, which are intended to punish religious activities by
unregistered groups. In some cases fines were pretty stiff, over € 600, this in a coun-
try where the average monthly salary hardly exceeds € 200. At times the Baptists have
refused to pay the fines, rejecting them out of hand as unjust, only to have the author-
ities seize their property or get employers to withhold part of the offender’s wages to
cover the cost of the fines.
In the north-western city of Aktobe, Baptist preacher Andrei Grigoryev was fined five
times for engaging in illegal religious activities and for repeatedly refusing to obey a
court order ordering him to desist. Overall fines topped € 700 and so on 27th Febru-
259
ary 2007 court officers seized some of his property, including his car and washing ma-
KAZAKHSTAN
chine (AsiaNews, 14th March 2007). Sometimes the persistent refusal to pay fines has
been punished with one or more days in prison. This was the case of Andrei Penner,
head of a congregation in Karaganda. He refused to pay a fine of about € 300 in the
fall of 2006 and ended up jailed for a day in March 2007. The fine was automatically
deducted from his salary (Forum 18 News Service, 11th May 2007). Another Baptist
clergyman, Rev Pyotr Panafidin, who refused to pay a fine of € 611, was held for
three days in prison. The court authorised the authorities to seize his home to pay for
the outstanding fine (Assist News Service, 1st March 2006). Similarly, Rev Fauzi
Gubaidullin, head of a Baptist group in Shymkent, was sentenced to three days in jail
because his 40-member strong community had met despite a ban imposed three
months earlier by the authorities (AsiaNews, 14th March 2007). Yet his arrest did not
stop the group from conducting its activities; instead they continued to conduct reli-
gious functions as before. In response the authorities seized their meeting place and
sealed it off, leaving the owner, E. Sabirova, and her son homeless (AsiaNews, 26th Ju-
ly 2007).
In the case of other religious groups the situation is getting worse because of tougher
policies adopted by local authorities. In the Atyrau region for example, many religious
groups have failed to register despite repeated attempts in the past five years to get
them to do so.
This is the case for the Jehovah’s Witnesses who had their latest application turned
down because it failed to show the phone numbers of some members of the commu-
nity (Forum 18 News Service, 12th December 2007). The Grace Presbyterian Church
experienced something similar as well.
Without proper registration papers, Jehovah’s Witnesses have had their hall raided by
police with heavy fines imposed on all six members of the group, € 670 for commu-
nity leader Aleksandr Rozinov, and € 335 for the five other members (Forum 18 News
Service, 23rd July 2007).
260
KENYA
Under Article 78 of the Constitution of 1963 (as amended in

1997), freedom of religion is protected.
Article 66 establishes special courts (Kadhi’s Courts) for Mus-
AREA
lims in matters of family and inheritance law. Such courts have
580,367 kmq
jurisdiction only in the interpretation of Islamic law and only
where all parties involved are Muslims. POPULATION
Witchcraft is a criminal offence but is generally only prosecut- 36,430,000
ed if it involves other crimes like murder.
REFUGEES
Christians 265,729
In November 2006, the government expelled two US Christian INTERNALLY
missionaries for distributing material deemed highly offensive DISPLACED
to Muslims, including a comic book depicting the prophet Mo- 200,000
hammed in hell. Around the same time, a number of Christian
leaders warned against a new Christian fundamentalist political
party which had set out to preach to the country against the il-
RELIGIOUS
legal actions and widespread corruption of its ruling class.
ADHERENTS
Called “Agano”, the new party was founded by a Presbyterian
minister, David Githii, with the backing of three Christian-in-
spired parties. The initiative has divided Kenya’s Churches,
with Pentecostal and Evangelical groups coming out in favour,
whilst the Catholic, Anglican and Methodist Churches are
clearly opposed, arguing that the new party might well aggra-
vate the country’s already tense political situation. Ethnoreligionists 11.5%
In April 2007 local authorities temporarily suspended a contro- Muslims 7.3%
Others 1.9%
versial land distribution programme in the Mount Elgon district
following violent clashes that caused the death of a protestant Baptized Catholics
clergyman, Rev. Benson Juma Macherewa, and wounded the 9,063,000
brother of a member of parliament. According to Red Cross sta-
tistics almost 150 people have been killed on and around Mount
Elgon since December 2006 as a result of the violence that has
KENYA
involved local communities, in particular the Sabaot Land De-
fence Force, which is opposed to the land redistribution.
Muslims
Muslim leaders continue to complain of discrimination, since
the 1998 bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi and the 2002
attack in Mombasa, with tighter controls on them in the granti-
ng of identity papers.
261
For similar reasons Kenyan Muslims denounced the government in November 2006,
KENYA
demanding explanations as to why it was conducting a census of imams and regular

mosque-goers in some parts of the country. At a press conference in Mombasa, the
vice president of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, Alhaji Abdillahi Kiptanui
said that the initiative by provincial administrations was unjust and demanded that vil-
lage headmen not be questioned about the number and identity of the imams in the
mosques.
In January 2007 Kenya’s Muslim organisations called on police leaders to release all
the Muslims (mostly Somalis) who had been arrested a few days earlier on suspicion
of links to international terrorism but against whom no specific charges had been
brought. Having received no reply, leaders of the Muslim Rights Forum filed a peti-
tion with the courts. Among those arrested were several women, including the wife of
Fazul Mohamed, the alleged mastermind of the 1998 attacks in Dar es Salaam and
Nairobi (this according to the Forum co-chairman).
The previous year, in February 2006 to be exact, police used tear gas and fired shots
in order to disperse a demonstration by Muslim in downtown Nairobi. The demonstra-
tion had been organised in protest against the cartoons published in Denmark, which
they regarded as offensive to Islam. A few thousand participants and demonstrators
burnt Danish and US flags and stepped on them in front of Kenya’s foreign ministry
building.
Traditional beliefs and sects

June 2007 was a tragic month for clashes between the police and outlawed organiza-
tions. According to local police at least 112 people died that month in clashes between
law and order forces and these groups, including the sect of Mungiki: According to of-
ficial figures, police killed 73 people suspected of being members of Mungiki, while
28 civilians were killed, in error or vengeance, by these sect members, who beheaded
their victims. Apart from that, some 11 police officers were among those killed.
More clashes took place in early July 2007. On 2nd July police killed 21 members of
this sect. So far the police have arrested 3,379 Mungikis, and have reassured the pop-
ulation that they intend to bring order to the areas controlled by the sect very soon.
However, some human rights organisations have criticised the police for excessive use
of force.
The Mungiki sect is inspired by ancestral African rituals and sees itself as the heir to
the Mau-Mau movement of the 1950s, which fought for Kenya’s independence
against British colonial rule. They are mostly young people from the poorest slums on
the city’s outskirts. Formed in the 1980s, the Mungiki sect was outlawed by the au-
thorities because of its involvement in extortion rackets and violence. Back in 2003
the Catholic Church raised the alarm about the dangers posed by the sect.
262
In February 2007 some 20 students from a secondary school in eastern Kenya were
sent home for not being circumcised. They were allowed back to school only after
they could prove that they had been circumcised and that the circumcision had healed.
The decision was taken because school authorities feared that uncircumcised pupils
would be victims of bullying by their fellow students. Circumcision is not compulso-
ry in order to attend state schools, but is a widespread practice among most of the
country’s ethnic groups.
Sources
AMECEA (Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa)
Il Corriere della Sera, 13th May 2006
ICN Independent Catholic News, 12th March 2007
L’Unità, 26th January 2007
MISNA, 4th November 2006 and 11th April 2007
Fides, 26th September 2007 and 3rd July 2007
Vatican Radio, 8th November 2006 and 7th November 2007
swissinfo, 10th February 2006 and 13th February 2007
ZENIT, 2nd March 2006
KENYA
263
KIRIBATI
The 1979 Constitution established total religious freedom

KIRIBATI
(Art.11) which is in actual fact respected.

Foreign missionaries are present and operate freely. Religious
AREA
groups do not need to register.
726 kmq
During the period addressed by this report, there were isolated
POPULATION incidents involving religious groups considered as foreign
102,000 which tried to establish communities in various villages and the
more distant islands. They were opposed by local religious
REFUGEES
leaders, many of whom warned them against proselytising ac-
--- tivities. There are no reports of violent incidents also because
INTERNALLY the new groups often chose not to operate in areas where they
DISPLACED were not welcome.
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Baha’i 5.2%
Others 0.4%
Baptized Catholics
57,000
264
KOREA, DEM. PEOPLE’S REP. OF
In the last two years there have been no significant changes in

terms of religious freedom in North Korea, despite greater

openness by Pyongyang’s communist regime towards the
AREA
Catholic Church and Protestant missionaries who, because of
120,538 kmq
their humanitarian work, have been able to enter the country
more easily. Religious practice remains indeed strictly banned. POPULATION
In North Korea only the personality cult of Kim Jong-Il and his 23,912,000
father Kim Il-Sung is permitted. The communist regime has al-
REFUGEES
ways tried to hinder the practice of religion, especially by Bud-
dhists and Christians. The faithful are required to join party- ---
controlled organisations. Unregistered believers and anyone in- INTERNALLY
volved in missionary activities are frequently subject to brutal DISPLACED
and violent persecution. Since the communist regime was es- ---
tablished in 1953 about 300,000 Christians have disappeared
and of the priests and nuns that did live in North Korea at the
time nothing is now known – they are assumed to have been
RELIGIOUS
persecuted to death. At present, some 80,000 people are
ADHERENTS
thought to be languishing in labour camps, subject to starvation
diets, torture and even death; seemingly down from 100,000
last year. No one can say whether these figures (provided by
NGOs operating in the country which want to maintain their
anonymity) are accurate or not, or if so, give reasons for the
drop. Former North Korean officials and ex-prisoners have said
Non religious 71.2%
that Christians in re-education camps or prisons are treated New religions 12.9%
worse than other detainees. Ethnoreligionists 12.3%
According to a secret document sent to all military barracks Others 1.5%
around the country in September 2007, religion “is spreading
like a cancer inside North Korea’s armed forces, whose mission Baptized Catholics
is to defend Socialism”. For this reason it “must be eradicated Not disposable
without delay since it comes from our enemies around the
world”. The document was made public by a member of the
“Committee for the Democratisation of North Korea”, a group
of political exiles and refugees that had it translated and re-
leased.
“We should not look, listen, read the documents, broadcastings
and video or audio materials made by the enemy. The enemy is
using radio and TV to launch false [religious and anti-socialist]
propaganda through well-made, strategic news and intrigue,”
the booklet warned. “They are placing spies within internation-
265
al delegations entering our borders to spread their religions and superstitious beliefs”.
This material “is like poison that corrupts socialism and paralyses class conscious-
ness” even among our soldiers, and “now more than ever” soldiers must extirpate it
and stand on guard to prevent its return.
In North Korea the state has defined 51 social categories. Anyone practising a religion
that is not under government control is self-evidently at the bottom of the social lad-
der with fewer opportunities for education, employment and food assistance and con-
stantly subject to brutal violence.
The authorities have claimed that the country enjoys religious freedom which is pro-
tected under the Constitution. According to official government figures there are
10,000 Buddhists, 10,000 Protestants and 4,000 Catholics, but these estimates refer
only to members of officially sanctioned associations. In Pyongyang there are three
churches, two Protestant and one Catholic. These two Protestant churches being used
to spread the regime’s propaganda and the pastors within them liken the “dear leader”
Kim Jong-Il to a demi-god. In the one and only Catholic church there is no North Ko-
rean priest, but group prayers are held once a week and, in exceptional cases, religious
functions are performed by ethnic Korean priests, but of foreign nationality.
Hunger and religious persecution are pushing a great many North Koreans to flee the
country. If captured they are often sentenced to death or forced labour. An agreement
between China and North Korea has made a bad situation even worse since Chinese
leaders have in practice agreed to treat North Korean refugees as “illegal immigrants”
and will repatriate any caught on Chinese territory, by force if necessary.
A 28-year-old North Korean refugee identified only by the pseudonym Park Sun-ja to
protect her identity gave evidence to an international conference about human rights
violations in North Korea. She was quoted by LifeSiteNews as saying that infanticide
and forced abortion are common practices in North Korean detention camps “and car-
ried out more brutally if the mother is a religious believer, whatever her religion”.
What she has to say is shocking. “I heard the cries of both mother and child through
the curtain (at a hospital). And through the partially open curtain, I witnessed the nurse
covering the infant’s face with a wet towel on a table, suffocating it. The baby stopped
crying about ten minutes later,” Park said. “All the prisoners there believed that all in-
fants were killed immediately upon delivery and wrapped up in a piece of cloth before
being burnt at a nearby hill,” she said, adding that the usual method used to induce
early delivery of the child was by injection.
“I cannot even imagine how she [the aforementioned woman] may have felt,” Park
said. “I heard that these kinds of acts were done before, but once I saw them with my
own eyes, I didn’t feel like I was living in a civilised society.”
266
Park was caught in China in 2000 and was sent for two months to the Shinuiju Provin-
cial Detention Camp, where she saw the infanticide take place. She managed to escape

successfully to South Korea in 2002.
Catholic Church
On several occasions Benedict XVI has mentioned our “North Korean brothers” and
invited the world to pray for them. “I am […] aware of the practical gestures of rec-
onciliation undertaken for the well-being of those in North Korea,” the Pope said dur-
ing the ad Limina Apostolorum visit by the Korean bishops in December 2007. “I en-
courage these initiatives and invoke Almighty God’s providential care upon all North
Koreans,” he added.
He was referring to the many charitable initiatives undertaken by the Church in South
Korea on behalf of the population of the North. But something has changed since last
year: the attitude of the North Korean regime. Whereas avowedly Christian workers
were once treated as Western spies, they are now welcomed. As part of this “new at-
titude” the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Pyongyang has welcomed the building of the
Korean People’s National Reconciliation Centre in Paju, Gyeonggi-do province, near
the border with North Korea. This project was decided by the archdiocese of Seoul to
“promote relations with the North Korean Church” and “favour a friendly approach”
to the North’s inhabitants. The communist regime called it a “positive” idea.
The centre will include a two-storey building, one serving as a seminary, the other for
liturgical use with an expiatory church, a small shrine and an auditorium. The semi-
nary, which will be able to house about a hundred people, includes a study area and a
religious museum.
The National Reconciliation Committee, chaired by Bishop Kim Un-hwi, is in charge
of the project and has recently selected the architect to design the structure. The first
drawings are already available for public viewing. The project will cover an area of
2,200 pyong (a little under a hectare) and will be built to reflect North Korea’s old-
style sacred architecture as it existed before division. North Korean Church architec-
ture is known as an ‘inculturated architectural style’ because it relies on traditional
Korean concepts of architecture.
Additionally, thanks to the commitment of Catholics from the South, North Korea’s
Rason International Catholic Hospital was extended. According to AsiaNews, the
medical facility is located in Hamgyeongbuk-do province in the east of the country.
The hospital which opened its doors in 2005 has been built with the assistance of the
Catholic International Cooperation Medical Service thanks to the cooperation be-
tween the Congregation of St. Ottilien of the Benedictine Order and the Catholic
Church of Korea. The three-story building covers an area of 25,000 m2 and is
267
equipped with diagnostic and therapeutic equipment. It has 100 beds and employs 80
doctors, nurses and medical staff.

“Catholic hospitals give hope for peace and co-operation. I hope that this hospital in
particular may pave the way towards further co-operation,” said Notker Wolf, O.S.B,
Abbot of the Congregation of St. Ottilien, on the day of its inauguration.
“That a hospital can open in North Korea with the help and assistance of the Church
is a happy occasion,” said Mgr Paul Ri Moun-hi, Archbishop of Daegu (South Korea),
head of the Catholic foundation funding the project. “The effort of the Catholic
Church in favour of reconciliation and unity of the two Koreas is an important mis-
sion not only for the Korean population but also for peace and humanity as a whole.”
However, despite the Church’s efforts, no one should think for a minute that the com-
munist regime is making its work any easier. The situation for the Catholic Church in
North Korea remains appalling. Since the end of the civil war in 1953, the three local
ecclesiastical jurisdictions and the whole Catholic community have been brutally
wiped out by the Stalinist regime. Not a single local priest was left alive and all for-
eign clergymen were expelled. In the early years of persecution by Kim Il-sung, North
Korea’s first dictator, an estimated 300,000 Catholics vanished. Yet the Pope has kept
alive the clergy assigning sedi vacanti et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis (i.e. vacant sees, un-
der the administration of external bishops appointed by Rome) to South Korean ordi-
naries. At present, in addition to Cardinal Cheong of Seoul, who administers the dio-
cese of Pyongyang, Mgr John Chang Yik, Bishop of Ch’unch’on in the South, is the
administrator for Hamhung, and Fr Simon Peter Ri Hyeong-u, Abbot of the Benedic-
tine Monastery of Waegwan, is the administrator for Tokwon in North Korea.
In order to underline the persecution by the North Korean regime, the Annuario Pon-
tificio, the Vatican’s Pontifical Yearbook, still lists Mgr Francis Hong Yong-ho as bish-
op of Pyongyang. Although he has not been seen since 10th March 1962, he has nev-
er been officially declared dead (If he were alive, he would be 101 years old). As of
today there are no Church institutions, nor resident priests in North Korea. Following
the inauguration of the first Orthodox church last August in the North Korean capital,
Catholics are the only community without a minister for their faith. Officially, the
number of Catholics stands at 800, far fewer than the 3,000 recently acknowledged by
the government. The so-called North Korean Catholic Association, an organisation
created and run by the regime, still claims to represent local Catholics, but the Holy
See has always discouraged visits by its leaders to Rome because of continuing seri-
ous doubts about their legal and canonical status. There are strong indications that they
are actually Communist Party officials and not Catholics at all.
268
The only Catholic church has no priest but does host a weekly group prayer. But such
places of worship are nothing but “show pieces” for the few tourists who manage to

visit the country.
Other Christian denominations

In December 2005, four North Korean Orthodox Christians have been studying for
three months in the Russian city of Vladivostok to update their ministry. The group in-
cluded a priest, two deacons and a student of sacred music. They were staying at Svy-
ato-Nikolsky Cathedral for their studies, which included theoretical explanations and
practical examples of Slavic Orthodox liturgy. The group was led by Peter Kim
Chkher, chairman of the North Korean Orthodox Commission, and includeed the two
deacons Theodore and Ioann and Kim En Chang, a graduate from the Gnesiny Music
School.
The Orthodox Commission was set up by the North Korean government in 2002. Fr
Dionisy Pozdnyayev, an Orthodox priest from the Moscow Patriarchate, who has been
ministering to foreigners living in the North Korean capital on the invitation of the
North Korean government, calls the Commission “a sign of official recognition for
Orthodoxy.”
The four members invited Archbishop Veniamin of Vladivostok and Primorye to the
consecration of Pyongyang’s new Trinity Church which took place in 2006.
The ground for the new church was blessed on 24th June 2003 by Orthodox Archbish-
op Kliment Kapalin. North Korean representatives said at the time that it was “impor-
tant” for Orthodox believers in Pyongyang to have the opportunity to practise their
faith and expressed “hope” that building the church would strengthen ties between
Russia and North Korea. For the Russian Ambassador to North Korea, Andrei Karlov,
the church marked “the return of Orthodoxy to Korea after a long break”.
In the early 1900s some 10,000 Koreans converted to Orthodoxy in cities like Seoul
(South Korea), Wonsan (North Korea) and many villages as a result of the work of
Russian missionaries. But Japanese colonial rule and the Stalinist regime brought
evangelisation to an end. Eventually, missionary activity did start again in South Ko-
rea which now has four Orthodox churches.
The delegation that came to Vladivostok is not the first of its kind to arrive in Russia
from North Korea. Four North Koreans have been studying from 2003-2005 at the
Moscow Patriarchate’s Theological Seminary, whilst two Russian students from the
Moscow Theological Academy have been studying Korean language and culture at
Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung University.
Fr Dionisy said that the four Korean students in Vladivostok are concentrating on the
study of Russian (including Church Slavonic, which is used in the liturgy) and the cat-
echism so that they can prepare others for baptism.
269
Patriarch Aleksij II of Moscow and All Russia has approved the choice of Vladivos-
KOREA, DEM. PEOPLE S REP. OF
tok as the place to train the Korean clergy.

Thanks to this “bridge,” a delegation of Russian Orthodox Christians, including
clergymen and members of the Church hierarchy, was able to celebrate Pentecost with
the small Korean Orthodox community. According to a statement issued by Orthodox
diocese of Vladivostok, the “visit to the capital of North Korea coincides with the cel-
ebration of Pentecost. On this day, the first Orthodox temple, which was opened in Py-
ongyang in August 2006 and consecrated in honour of the life-giving Trinity, cele-
brates its dedicatory feast.”
Many experts view this unexpected openness as a sign of Pyongyang’s “desperate
need” for the support of the international community. As a result of disastrous agricul-
tural and economic policies, the country is on the verge of collapse. The population is
living on only a third of what the United Nations considers a human being’s minimum
daily calorific intake. But despite these problems, Kim Jong-il has maintained an atti-
tude of seeming indifference to the situation and continues to tout the “victory of the
Socialist system” in the country. Thus Russia’s help like that of China has become the
dictator’s only way to save face whilst at the same time allowing North Koreans to
survive.
270
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
The Constitution of 1948 of the Republic of Korea (amended

several times until 1988) guarantees freedom of conscience
(Article 19) and freedom of religion (Article 20) for all citizens.
AREA
It recognises no State religion and officially upholds the princi-
99,268 kmq
ple of the separation of Church and State.
The law does not require religious organisations to register; POPULATION
from an organisational point of view they are completely au- 48,500,000
tonomous.
REFUGEES
Religion cannot be taught in public schools but there is total
freedom in private schools. 118
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
The only religious statutory holidays are Christmas and the INTERNALLY
Buddha’s birthday. DISPLACED
In the country Christians (Catholics and Protestants) outnum- ---
ber Buddhists. Small groups belonging to other religions are al-
so present.
There are no problems insofar as religious freedom is con-
RELIGIOUS
cerned, either involving the authorities or between private citi-
ADHERENTS
zens.

Buddhists 15.3%
New religions 15.2%
Confucians 11.1%
Others 2%
Baptized Catholics
4,682,000
271
KUWAIT
The Constitution proclaims Islam as the State religion and the

KUWAIT
Shari‘a as the “main source of the legislation” (Article 2). The

1962 Constitution also decrees the absence of discrimination.
AREA
Article 29 affirms that “all men are equal before the law in hu-
17,818 kmq
man dignity and public rights and duties, without distinction as
POPULATION to race, origin, language or religion”, while Article 35 states:
2,532,000 “Freedom of conscience is absolute. The State protects the
holding of religious ceremonies according to current customs,
REFUGEES
provided that these do not disrupt public order or oppose moral-
38,159 ity”. In recent years however, there have been assertions and
INTERNALLY denials regarding the level of real tolerance, since the govern-
DISPLACED ment does indeed pose restrictions on the exercise of these
--- rights, in particular for the followers of the non-monotheistic
religions. The penal code establishes the death penalty for apos-
tasy in Articles 96 and 167-172, a fact that has given rise to nu-
merous controversies in the Arab press, since some citizens had
RELIGIOUS
declared themselves to be Christians.
ADHERENTS
Seven Christian Churches are recognized, albeit in an entirely
informal manner, of which three – the Catholic Church, the An-
glican Church and the National Evangelical Church of Kuwait
– enjoy a privileged status compared to the other four, which
are however permitted to operate in this country. As far as oth-
er cases are concerned, there is a degree of tolerance even with
Muslims 83%
Affiliated Christians 12.7% regard to minor denominations. All of them, however, are for-
Hindus 2.8% bidden from any missionary activity among Muslims, just as
Others 1.5%
the schools are not permitted to provide instruction in religions
Baptized Catholics other than Islam. The training of priests is likewise forbidden
300,000 within the country, as is the distribution of religious material,
with the exception of one company that imports books and is
permitted to sell religious literature.
On 6th March 2006, Parliament passed a new law on the press,
rescinding legislation in force since 1961. From the mid-1970s,
the government had refused all licenses for new newspapers,
the approval of this new law on the press marks a decisive step
forward in the liberalisation process. In particular, the law for-
bids the detention of journalists on trial before the court has
passed a final sentence, unlike current legislation that still al-
lows preventive imprisonment. Furthermore, this law prohibits
the revocation of such licences unless this has previously been
272
specifically ordered by a court, while the judicial authorities are permitted to order the
suspension of publication for a maximum of two weeks during their investigations.
As for sanctions to be applied to those writing against Allah, the prophets, and the de-
scendents and wives of Mohammed, the law specifies imprisonment, plus a fine of be-
tween 17,000 and 70,000 US dollars. However, the possibility has still been retained,
under the current penal code, of applying still more severe sentences against anyone
inciting others to subvert the current form of government.
Christians
In December 2006 a member of parliament criticised a state orphanage for having ac-
cepted Christmas presents and for having hung Christmas cards on the walls during a
visit by an American military delegation. A number of Kuwaiti citizens described the
parliamentarian’s attitude as intolerant.
The Kuwaiti daily newspaper al-Watan published a long interview with Maronite
Bishop Béchara Rai, of Biblos (Lebanon), on the occasion of his visit to the country
to participate in an interreligious forum on the figure of Christ, organised by the
Movement for Islamic Harmony. The bishop praised Kuwait’s religious tolerance and
expressed appreciation for Kuwait’s attitude to the churches. Asked what he thought
of the extremists, Bishop Rai answered, “they are against religion because they are po-
litical movements that distort religion” and added that he had read about the protests
in Kuwait against the celebration of the Christian Christmas, but was satisfied by the
manner in which the authorities had reacted to this intolerance.
On 13th December 2007, when receiving the new Ambassador of Kuwait, the Pope ad-
dressed the situation of the Catholics in this country. “I cannot fail to mention in this
regard – said Benedict XVI to Ambassador Suhail Khalil Shuhaiber – the many
Catholics living and working in Kuwait, who can freely worship in their own church-
es. Your nation’s Constitution rightly upholds their religious freedom. This fundamen-
tal right, grounded in the inviolable dignity of the person, is fittingly considered the
cornerstone of the whole edifice of human rights”.
KUWAIT
Muslims
In recent years there has been an improvement in the situation of the Shiite minority.
The government has authorised the building of new mosques. The construction of new
places of worship had in fact been the main request presented by the Shiites who had
complained that there were only 30 Shiite mosques in the emirate, compared with
1,300 Sunni ones.
However, at the end of 2006 and during 2007, there was renewed tension between the
two communities, which some observers saw as a reflection of the denominational
273
violence in nearby Iraq. In order to improve the situation, there were many interven-
KUWAIT
tions by the ruling family, emphasising the equality between the two communities.
During the 2006 Ramadan, a Shiite minister sparked controversy by bringing in to
Parliament a prayer book containing statements considered offensive by the Sunnis. A
number of conservatives requested the creation of a committee to establish behaviour-
al rules based on a specific interpretation of Islam.
In mid May 2007, the Minister for Education, a woman, Nouriya Al-Subeeh, declined
to wear a veil in parliament. This gesture sparked criticism among her ministerial col-
leagues, who believed that the Islamic Law must be respected. However, the intellec-
tuals in the country sided with her, representing her as an example of all those women
who are the victims of male power.
Sources
al-Watan
AsiaNews
L’Osservatore Romano
Siena University’s Observatory of Constitutional Law
274
KYRGYZSTAN
Ever since Soviet hegemony came to an end, Kyrgyzstan has

been considered an oasis of tolerance among the Central Asian
republics.
AREA
In the course of the last two years however, great political in-
199,900 kmq
stability and the widespread presence of fundamentalist Islam-
ic groups have resulted in the authorities acknowledging the POPULATION
need to increase control over religious organisations, both so as 5,190,000
to prevent the growth of Islamic extremism and to stop the acts
REFUGEES
of violence by the Muslim population against religious groups
engaged in public missionary activities and proselytism. 723
The country’s political situation had been characterised by INTERNALLY
great instability since 2005, the year in which public protests DISPLACED
resulted in the removal of President Askav Akayev, who was re- ---
placed by Kurmanbek Bakiev. Since then conflict between the
new President and many previously elected members of parlia-
ment, as well as ever-present discontent in the population, have
RELIGIOUS
resulted in an extremely volatile climate, with constant paraly-
ADHERENTS
sis of government activities and frequent mass protests.
Parliamentary elections held in December – which resulted in
100 percent of seats being granted to the President’s political
party and his allies, because of an electoral law approved two
months previously – did not calm down the situation at all, but
KYRGYZSTAN
instead led to fears, even at international level, that this might
Muslims 6.8%
result in a slide into authoritarianism. “There is a risk, ex- Non religious 27.9%
pressed by analysts and by the opposition, of an authoritarian Affiliated Christians 10.4%
Others 0.9%
regime within this region, which until now represented an ex-
ception of liberalism” (L’Osservatore Romano, 17th-18th De- Baptized Catholics
cember 2007). 1,000
Stricter laws
In recent times there has often been conflict and violent reac-
tion on the part of the local Muslim population against prose-
lytising activities by groups considered “non-traditional” – es-
pecially against Protestants, and mostly in the south of the
country. This has resulted in a need to review current legislation
on freedom of worship, especially as far as the definition of
some of the restrictions on missionary activities and the imple-
mentation of greater control over religious groups are con-
cerned. On 12th July 2007 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
275
reported that the State Religious Affairs agency was analysing five draft laws on this
KYRGYZSTAN
subject.
As reported by the Forum 18 News Service on 12th July 2006, Shamsybek Zakirov, ad-
visor to the director of the State Religious Affairs agency, confirmed the intention to
amend the Bill on freedom of worship as quickly as possible saying: “I hope that the
new Draft Bill will be as close as possible to international standards. For us, howev-
er, it is important to take into account not only the international laws but also the re-
ality of our own country.” On another occasion reported by the RIA Novosti Agency
on 16th March 2007, Zakirov added: “We are not Europeans. Western missionary ac-
tivities can rock the boat here.”
As reported on 12th July by the Interfax Agency, Secretary of State Adakhan Madu-
marov has also confirmed the need for restricting religious freedom in Kyrgyzstan:
“Freedom of worship must have clearly defined limits, that cannot be overstepped,
whatever the religion one belongs to. There is a need – continued Madumarov – for
the introduction of a coherent approach, so that each person knows his rights and his
duties”. A decree dated May 2006 acknowledges Islam and the Russian Orthodox
Church as “traditional religious groups”. In the meantime, a new Constitution, effec-
tive since 30th December 2006, defines the Nation as a united, social democratic and
sovereign state, based on the law; the word “secular” has been eliminated from the
definition.
Catholics
A small minority in this country, Catholics live and work without great difficulty and
have good relations both with the Muslim and the Orthodox populations.
With two decrees, dated 18th March 2007, the Pope elevated this country to an Apos-
tolic Administration and appointed as its first bishop the Jesuit Nikolaus Messmer, for-
mer parish priest of the only Catholic church in Kyrgyzstan, the church of Saint
Michael the Archangel. Initially built in 1969 as a one-story building by the German
minority that was forcibly relocated to Central Asia after Stalin had ordered them to
be deported from the Volga region together with the Poles, the Lithuanians and the
Koreans, the church was enlarged in 1981 with the addition of a second floor, since
the number of the faithful had increased. This new Apostolic Administration includes
three parishes and serves 30 communities spread all over the country, each with about
30 faithful. The priests – six Jesuits and two diocesans – visit the communities in turns
while the nuns – Franciscans – are very active in their social work and mainly provide
medical and legal aid.
276
Protestants
The most critical situation is the one experienced by Protestant groups. In the course
of the last two years, the state’s commitment to guaranteeing adequate freedom of
worship has clashed with the new rise of Islamic extremism. Growing hostility to-
wards Protestant groups, preaching to citizens of Kyrgyz ethnic origin and Islamic re-
ligion, has led to an escalation of violence, ending in the most extreme case with the
murder in December 2005 of Saktinbai Usmanov, a Kyrgyz who had converted to
Christianity (as reported by Forum 18 News Service on 17th February 2006).
Many Protestants attribute the changed climate to the rise to power of the new Kyrgyz
leader. Shamsybek Zakirov has however denied these claims, stating that “the prob-
lems with religious minorities were already present before Akayev was deposed. They
have now reached a critical point and we must intervene with stricter provisions […]
especially due to the recent and rapidly strengthening positions of Islamic extremists
in the south of the country”. Zakirov has said that he is working “between two fires”:
“At almost every meeting, the people from the south of the country ask us to put a stop
to Christian propaganda. […] I myself have often been described as ‘an enemy of Is-
lam’ for having allowed a Protestant church to register. […] The problem with protes-
tants is that the actively work to spread their faith. We have no such problems, for ex-
ample, with members of the Orthodox faith and the people have a positive attitude to-
wards them. If we ask the Protestants to stop preaching to the Muslims it is mainly be-
cause we are worried about their safety.”
It is in the South, in cities such as Tashkumur, Karakul and Tereksu and in other areas
KYRGYZSTAN
not far from Jalalabad, that there are more frequent cases of clashes between Muslims
and Protestants. On 28th July 2006, in the southern village of Karakulja, in the Osh re-
gion, over eighty Muslims attacked a home and beat up the protestant pastor Zulum-
bek Sarygulov, threatening to kill him and his relatives. Muratbek Zhumabayev, the
imam of the local mosque, as reported by AsiaNews on 2nd October 2006, stated that:
“The faithful are extremely annoyed by the fact that Sarygulov has opened a church
in our village. Here we are all Kyrgyzs and we have no need for Christian churches”.
Janybek Zhakipov, the pastor for the Church of Jesus Christ in Jalalabad, the one most
attended by the Protestant community in Kyrgyzstan with more than ten thousand
faithful of whom 40 percent are of Kyrgyz ethnic origin, told the same source that he
too had been subjected to pressure to put an end to the community’s activities, after
an official from the Committee for Religious Affairs had shown him a petition signed
by over 500 local Muslims, asking for his church to be closed.
277
Islam
KYRGYZSTAN
The State has an ambivalent attitude towards Islam. On one hand the Islamic tradition
is considered a fundamental element in the creation of a stronger sense of identity
among the Kyrgyz people, while on the other hand there is a constant preoccupation
with trying to restrict demonstrations of excessive religiosity and keeping a tight rein
on the emergence of extremist groups.
The increasing influence of the Islamic religion on political life is attributed by many
to the ascent to power of Kurmanbek Bakiev, who comes from the city of Jalalabad in
the south of the country, in an area from which there is greater pressure for a more
openly religious society.
An analysis published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting on 18th Septem-
ber 2007 shows how this approach has prompted conflicting reactions from interna-
tional observers. Some consider it a danger to the secular nature of the state and fear
that might lead to a progressive Islamisation over time, while others have praised it,
seeing in it an appropriate remedy for the absence of values and sense of identity af-
fecting the Kyrgyz people. Tursunbay Bakir-Uulu, the ombudsman for human rights
and a devout Muslim, emphasised that the reinstatement of religious values in public
life could lead to great benefits for a healthier and more ethical society. “We welcome
people’s interest in spirituality, in God and in religious history. If society is lacking in
moral values it becomes governed by corruption, crime and the mafia”, he said.
According to Kadyr Malikov, an analyst with the Institute for Analysys and Strategic
Forecasting, as reported by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting on 8th Decem-
ber 2006, institutions must necessarily be reformed so as to allow the Kyrgyz author-
ities greater influence over the country’s religious environment. “Since the years of in-
dependence, Islam and the religious situation have in a way been neglected […] but a
religious rebirth is quickly spreading through all levels of society, and the young are
above all becoming ‘islamised’. The State’s role is not to interfere in religious affairs
[…] but to facilitate Islam’s growth in a positive manner and create the framework
within which this can take place”.
It was perhaps within this framework that the Kyrgyz government, as reported by Hu-
man Rights Without Frontiers on 16th August 2006, intended to introduce religious in-
struction into secondary schools. According to the Minister for Education, Dosbol Nur
Uulu, this is a measure enacted against the recent reappearance of religious extrem-
ism, and is addressed at discouraging the young from attending “religious organisa-
tions of dubious origin”.
As a report published on 26th March 2007 on the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
website stated, the Kyrgyz parliament voted against a Draft Bill which would have de-
criminalised polygamy, a proposal also supported by the Ministry of Justice itself. In
278
March 2007, the same source reported that the Kyrgyz authorities had decided to al-
low Muslim women to use passport photographs in which they wore the (Islamic)
headscarf to cover their heads, thereby revoking the pre-existing ban on this custom.
However, requests presented by parents protesting against the directors of some
schools who did not want to allow girls wearing the hijab, the traditional Islamic veil,
to attend lessons, were rejected. As reported by the Institute for War and Peace Re-
porting on 4th October 2007, these parents judged this provision as being a violation
of the constitutional principle of freedom of worship; educational and state authorities
however defended this choice, considering that in state schools it should be a priority
to ensure that existing educational rules be respected as far as school uniforms were
concerned, while allowing privately run religious schools to accept pupils expressing
their religious beliefs also through their clothes.
Control over the financing of NGOs

As reported by AsiaNews on 26th January 2006, the government has also started to
check up on non-governmental organisations, and in particular on the funding they re-
ceive from abroad. For some time now the government has feared that these groups
might threaten state security; hence controls have increased, especially with regards to
those engaged in political and religious activities. Edil Bailasov, leader of the pro
democracy and civil society group, stated that “In these last few days the media has
often debated the role played by NGOs and accused these of being at the service of
the United States or western donors”. Many people believe that NGOs played a fun-
KYRGYZSTAN
damental role in the “revolutions” in Georgia and Ukraine in recent years and there is
a fear that they wish to incite public protests so as to bring a pro-Western leader to
power.
279
LAO PEOPLE’S DEM. REP.
Article 30 of the Constitution of 1991 provides for religious

freedom. However, in practice the government has restricted

this right on the basis of a constitutional principle which bans
AREA
any activity that might cause divisions among citizens. In line
236,800 kmq
with such restrictions, the Prime Ministerial Decree (n. 92) on
POPULATION religious practice was issued in 2002 requiring government ap-
6,173,000 proval (via the Lao Front for National Construction, an organi-
sation of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party or LPRP) for al-
REFUGEES
most all religious activities (including among other things,
--- proselytism, printing religious material, buying or building
INTERNALLY places of worship, contacts with foreign religious groups).
DISPLACED Government control is facilitated by the broad powers invested
--- in the police and in judges who can arrest and hold defendants
in prison without trial for given periods of time.
Since 1991 the country has been governed by a “centralised
democracy” led by the LPRP (heir to the Communist Pathet
RELIGIOUS
Lao movement, which once persecuted religion). Despite some
ADHERENTS
economic opening, Lao society and religious life remain under
tight government control. Christian groups are particularly tar-
geted because they are seen as offshoots of Western imperialist
nations and not as part of the state system. Things are not nec-
essarily better for other religions though; for instance, in 2007
two Buddhist monks were arrested in Bolikhamsai province for
Buddhists 48.8%
Ethnoreligionists 41.7% being ordained without government authorisation.
Non religious 5.4% Proselytism by foreign missionaries is banned, but many carry
Others 2% out social activities within private groups. Distributing reli-
gious material can lead to arrest and expulsion. In early 2006
Baptized Catholics two South Korean Christians were arrested and expelled for
15,000 “proselytism”.
Catholics
The ordination of Sophone Vilavongsy, a Lao and an Oblate
missionary of Mary Immaculate, took place on 16th June 2006,
the first priest to be ordained in Laos for 30 years. The ceremo-
ny had been set for 8th December 2005 but at the last moment
the government denied the necessary permit without explana-
tion. Eventually the ceremony went ahead, but under certain
limitations such as few participants. Celebrations for the event
were also scaled down.
280
On 9th December 2006, Peter Wilaiphorn Phonasa and Luke Sukpaphorn Duangchan-
sai were also ordained as priests. On 29th December 2007 Benedict Bennakhone Inthi-
rath, an Oblate and the first parishioner in Pakxan to become priest, was consecrated
in Pakxan, in front of a crowd of over 3,000 people (UCA News).
Again in 2006, the authorities allowed the construction of two new rural churches in

Ventiane province.
Conversely, the harsh persecution of ethnic Hmong Catholics has continued. The gov-
ernment does not even recognise them as Lao citizens. Many have fled to Thailand,
but Human Rights Watch has complained several times that the Thai authorities have,
in cooperation with their Lao counterparts and in violation of international agreements
on the rights of asylum seekers, sent Hmong refugees back to Laos where they have
faced mistreatment, torture and prison. A similar fate awaits the more than 6,000
Hmong in the Phetchabun camp (Khao Koh in Thailand) whose repatriation is expect-
ed this year without any supervision by international agencies.
Protestants
On 22nd December 2005 a Protestant pastor, Aroun Voraphon, was killed in Pakading
near Paksane (Bolikhamsai province) after celebrating a pre-Christmas religious serv-
ice. The reasons for his murder is still unclear. The police inquiry focused on money
but the Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR) expressed doubts about the official
explanation and noted that “His face was swollen and bore the marks of having been
beaten,” and his body “had been stabbed several times with a knife in the region of the
heart, and his throat had been cut” (AsiaNews). This clergyman had been arrested in
1996 and detained for more than a year because of his religious activities.
In some areas the local authorities have put a great deal of pressure on Protestant
groups to force them to repudiate their faith, threatening them with arrest or expulsion
from their villages. Arrests have been made in the provinces of Luang Namtha,
Oudomsai, Salavan, Savannakhet, Vientiane and Bokeo, with some believers spend-
ing months on end behind bars. In some areas the faithful have even been prevented
from gathering for religious ceremonies and have been forced instead to take part in
“re-education” sessions. In December 2006 in Luang Namtha five Protestants were ar-
rested for building a church without a permit. They were released on 20 January 2007
after signing a statement repudiating their faith.
Many Protestants belong to minority ethnic groups like the Mon-Khmer and the
Hmong – groups which have never been absorbed by the central power so that ethnic
rivalry is added to religious persecution.
On 1st April 2006 the village chief of Tabeng (Salavan) ordered a man called Lapao to
repudiate his faith; when the latter refused he was arrested. Two Christian families
were also expelled (Christian Aid Mission).
281
On 11th August 2006 two Christian leaders, A-Kouam and A-Vieng, were arrested in
Savannakhet, to prevent them from “spreading the Christian religion in the area, espe-
cially among the ethnic minorities” (Lao Movement for Human Rights, LMHR)
In many villages like Nakun in Bolikhamsai province and Xunya in Luang Namtha,
religious services are not allowed in private homes. Yet at the same time, believers are
refused permission to build their own church. An exception was made in 2006, how-
ever, when four churches were permitted to reopen in Bolikhamsai, and another in Vi-
entiane province.
In Xunya, in March 2007, permission was refused for a Christian funeral. Two months
later, in May, Christian marriages and funerals were permitted, but without the pres-
ence of other faithful. In Nakun and other villages, those who refused to sign a state-
ment of repudiation were threatened or even forced to leave.
The persecution against the Christian Hmong people is harsh and systematic. Com-
pass Direct News reported the killing of 13 of them at the end of July 2007. After run-
ning away, many of them were beaten at the end of a veritable manhunt by Lao sol-
diers and an additional 200 soldiers brought in specially from Vietnam. About 200
Hmong from the village of Sai Jerem were imprisoned.
On 21th February 2008, 58 people from 15 families were arrested in Bokeo district.
The next day a Christian Hmong leader was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for
organising unauthorised meetings.
In Nam Heng village (Oudomsai province) in early 2006, lands belonging to Protes-
tant families were seized and given to other residents. Two ethnic Brou Protestants
were released, again in early 2006, after being kept almost a year in prison in order to
get them to repudiate their religion.
Two ethnic Khmus were detained in November 2006 for taking part in a Protestant
celebration near Vientiane; they were held for three weeks and forced to pay a fine of
US$ 3,000. In November 2006, 13 other Khmu Protestants were arrested in Khon
Khen village. Three of them, seen as leaders, were still in prison almost a year later,
yet without being notified of any specific charge against them.
On 26th November 2006, the Rev Van Thong, head of the Lao Evangelical Church,
and 11 other pastors were arrested for having organised a meeting with some Western
Christians. They were eventually released about a year later, between October and De-
cember 2007 (Voice of the Martyrs).
On 18th March 2008, Lao police arrested eight ethnic Khmu Protestant pastors as they
were travelling to Thailand for a meeting.
282
LATVIA
The Constitution of 1992 was significantly amended in 1998

with the addition of Chapter VIII on fundamental human rights.
Article 99 recognises that everyone has the right to freedom of
AREA
thought, conscience and religion. It also states that the Church
64,600 kmq
shall be separate from the State.
In practical terms, the principles embodied in this article are POPULATION
implemented by the appropriate legislation. The notion of “tra- 2,298,000
ditional religions” is incorporated into law, thus enabling
REFUGEES
groups so defined to enjoy certain administrative and tax ad-
vantages. Other groups that apply for registration (which is not 29
compulsory) can benefit from other tax advantages, including, INTERNALLY
in some circumstances, access to public funds. DISPLACED
All issues relating to State-Church relations are regulated ---
through the Ecclesiastical Council, which includes representa-
tives from traditional religions: namely Catholics, Orthodox,
Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, Adventists, Old Believers and
RELIGIOUS
Jews.
ADHERENTS
No cases of violation of the principles of religious freedom
have been reported.

Non religious 32%
Others 1.1%
Baptized Catholics
435,000 LATVIA
283
LEBANON
There is no State religion. Article 9 of the Constitution estab-

LEBANON
lishes the State’s respect for all religions and guarantees their
legislative and judiciary autonomy on subjects such as marriage
AREA
and the family as well as succession. Such religious discrimina-
10,400 kmq
tion as there is in the country is a result of the denominational
POPULATION political system, which assigns the highest public appointments
3,817,000 to the various communities according to well-defined criteria:
the presidency of the republic to a Maronite Catholic, the pres-
REFUGEES
idency of the Council of Ministers to a Sunni Muslim, the par-
50,337 liamentary Speaker to a Shiite. Religious communities are fur-
INTERNALLY thermore represented in parliament according to fixed quotas.
DISPLACED In spite of its discriminating characteristics, this denomination-
90,000 al system guarantees the participation of all the country’s ele-
ments in the government, consolidating an unusual parliamen-
tary tradition in a region dominated by various kinds of dicta-
torships. However, the “National Council for the Abolition of
RELIGIOUS
Political Sectarianism” established by the Taif Agreements
ADHERENTS
(1989) which aims to evaluate the competence rather than the
religion of candidates, has not yet been set up. Lebanon how-
ever remains a leader in the Middle East in regard to respect for
religious freedom, with the various religious groups able to or-
ganise their own schools, associations and religious courts. The
only legal marriages are religious, although the state recognis-
Muslims 42.4% es civil marriages entered into abroad.
Non religious 4.5% In addition to the 18 religious communities that have official
Others 0.1%
recognition, the Baha’i, Buddhist and Hindu communities have
Baptized Catholics the freedom to practice their faith with no interference from the
1,836,000 government.
General political overview 2006-2007

During the period covered by this report, Lebanon has experi-
enced a period of real and serious tension In July 2006 the kid-
napping of two Israeli soldiers and the assassination of another
eight by Hezbollah guerrillas triggered a terrible war between
Israel and the Lebanese Shiite movement that lasted for thirty
days. The conflict caused the death of about 1,200 Lebanese,
mainly civilians. During this conflict many places of worship
(Shiite mosques and Christian churches) suffered severe dam-
age. The war was followed by an institutional crisis that
284
blocked the activities of the government led by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and has
continued to affect political life in this country up to the drafting of this report. On 11th
November 2006, in fact, all five Shiite minsters resigned from the government in op-
position to the parliamentary majority decision to grant the international court the au-
thority to investigate the murder of Rafic Hariri. These resignations succeeded in un-
dermining the “constitutional legitimacy” of a government in which one of the coun-
try’s main communities, the Shiites, was thereby not represented. In December 2006
these resignations were followed by a sit-in organised by the opposition in the centre
of Beirut, which paralysed (and is still paralysing) the capital’s economic life. At the
end of 2007 the country was still without a president of the republic (a Maronite
Catholic), following the expiry of Emile Lahoud’s extended term of office on 24th No-
vember. Though in agreement upon the “consensual” candidature of General Michel
Suleiman, Commander in Chief of the army, both the majority and the opposition re-
main entrenched in their own positions with regard to the relative weight of their roles
in the future government of national unity.
Christians
On 5th February 2006 a furious crowd of over 20,000 people set fire to the building
housing the Danish Consulate in Beirut, in protest against the cartoons on Mo-
hammed. The Lebanese police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, leaving almost 30
people wounded. The protesters also attacked other buildings and shops in the
Achrafiyeh district, the Christian majority area, and threw stones at a church.
Lebanon’s Grand Mufti, Mohammad Rashid Qabani, asked everyone to remain calm.
“We do not wish”, he said, “for the expression of our condemnation to be used by
some people to give a distorted image of Islam”.
Throughout the period in question, the Maronite bishops, headed by Cardinal Nasral-
lah Sfeir have expressed their views on the situation in the country. In the commu-
niqué issued at the end of their monthly assembly in March 2006, the bishops noted
LEBANON
that one section of the population was supporting President Lahoud “at all costs” and
defending the legitimacy of his three-year extension of office, decided during the Syr-
ian occupation, while another section was calling for him to be removed from office.
This, they said, “has paralysed political life in this country, caused enormous damage
at all levels and ruined institutional life”. Always supportive of dialogue between the
people of Lebanon, the bishops wrote that “the president is the only one who can judge
whether his remaining in power or resigning would be right for the country or would
damage reconciliation. He must bear in mind that he is responsible before God and
history”.
In June 2006, in closing the Maronite synod, Cardinal Sfeir warned against “aggres-
sive visions” that “can never be elements for building a country faithful to its histori-
285
cal vocation”. In their lengthy concluding statement, the bishops expressed their par-
LEBANON
ticipation in the suffering of their people, asking all parties to continue to search for a
path that was fair and worthy of the noble history of the Lebanese people, once again
emphasising the need to respect and defend its historical, spiritual and Christian iden-
tity and appealing against the violence of recent years. In this context, Sfeir welcomed
the Vice-President of the Higher Shiite Council, Sheik Abdel-Amir Qabalan, who
spoke of the need for the commitment of Christian and Muslim leaders in order to “re-
new the country and put an end to the tensions”.
During the war, Israel also bombed Christian areas, such as Jounieh and Byblos, in or-
der to destroy bridges linking them to the rest of the country. Among the many media
centres affected was Radio Mbs, a Catholic station broadcasting 14 hours of prayers
each day, as well as Mass in Arabic; this was partially destroyed by Israeli bombs on
the evening of 23rd July. The radio’s founder, Marie-Sylvie Buisson, a member of the
Community of Emmanuel, explained that the radio station had “covered Lebanon,
Syria, South Turkey, Eastern Iraq, Northern Palestine and Jordan”.
At the beginning of August 2006, a group of Maronites damaged the headquarters of
the Christ Bible Baptist Church in Ajaltoun, in the Kesruwan district, and remonstrat-
ed with Pastor Raymond Abou Mikhail. The group was protesting against the fact that
the premises were being used as a place of worship and not as its administrative head-
quarters. In an article published in the Lebanese press, the local patriarchal vicar,
Monsignor Guy Paul Noujaim, challenged the right of this particular group to operate
within an exclusively Maronite area. “There are no Baptist believers in Ajaltoun”,
wrote Noujaim, “and the rules of the Council of Middle Eastern Churches (of which
the Baptist Church is not a part) forbids proselytism within the Christian communi-
ties”. The president of the Supreme Council of Evangelical Churches in Syria and the
Lebanon challenged the request to close down this location. “We have the right, said
Salim Sahyouni, to pray in a church, to pray in an apartment and to pray outdoors”.
In a meeting in October 2006 with representatives from the political and religious
world, Cardinal Sfeir deplored “the danger threatening the Christian presence in the
Lebanon, due to the divisions within the Christian community”. “People do not lis-
ten”, he added “to the appeals of the religious leaders and they take no notice of an
Apostolic Exhortation made in 1997, which can be summarised as an appeal to rebuild
the Christian social fabric”. The patriarch discussed the issue of freedom with his
guests, describing it as a very precious legacy of the thought of John Paul II, and se-
verely criticised certain schools of thought that were, he said, destroying freedom un-
der the shadow of “fanaticism, fundamentalism and violence”. For his part, Maronite
Archbishop Béchara Rai of Jbeil expressed his concern and his “profound sadness”
over the statements of Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, “who contin-
286
ues to assert their right to carry arms, while Christians continue to suffer the tragic
consequences of the conflict between Israel and the Party of God”.
Also in October, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt emphasised the “historical relationship”
with Christians and recalled the “historical reconciliation of the Mountain” in 2001,
between Druze and Christians, which allowed the return of the Christians to the vil-
lages they were evicted from during the civil war. On that occasion – added Jumblatt
– they rang the bells of all the churches. “Now, God willing, the bells of the churches
of Kfar Matta, Obeih and Brih will ring out once again”. But the years of absence have
created a number of problems in relation to the restitution of property to those who
were evicted, problems which in some cases make such a theoretically possible return
impossible in practice.
At the end of January 2007 the UCIP website (International Catholic Union for the
Press) in the Lebanon was hacked into, and all its contents were deleted and replaced
with material in Arabic. This was the second Christian website to be attacked in
Lebanon in the space of two weeks. On 13th January the website of the Council of
Middle Eastern Churches was deleted and entirely replaced with extremist Islamic
propaganda material. The Arab press attributed this attack to unidentified “non-Chris-
tian extremist movements”, while the director of the UCIP offices in Beirut, Father
Tony Khadra, was rather more explicit, speaking of “an attack on the shared values of
coexistence between Christianity and Islam”. The website was the local Catholic
Church’s ‘window’ and in addition to explaining official Church teaching, also pro-
vided in-depth analysis of social and cultural events in Lebanon and reported on ini-
tiatives for Islamic-Christian dialogue. Father Khadra believes that this last aspect was
the underlying reason for the attack on the two websites. He lamented the massive
damage done and the loss of practically irreplaceable archive material collected at the
cost of great sacrifice during the years of war in Lebanon.
On 6th July 2007, in an interview with daily newspaper as-Safir, Maronite Bishop
Béchara Rai of Jbeil (Byblos) spoke about the “Islamisation schemes” for the country.
LEBANON
He deplored the fact that the Christians were the ones who paid the price for an agree-
ment between the Shiites and the Sunnis, just as they paid the price for the conflict be-
tween them. Bishop Rai criticised the government for having decided, by Ministerial
Decree No. 377 of 9th June 2007, to cancel the feast day on Good Friday, without even
discussing the matter with the religious authorities. He also accused the government
of behaving as though Lebanon was “a theocratic Islamic State”, in choosing to sign
the “Charter of children’s rights in Islam”, as stated in Decree 636 and published in
the official Gazette on 31st May 2007. “With this decree, said Rai, the government is
ignoring the presence of the Christians and infringing Article 9 of the Constitution, the
coexistence pact and the particular and specific character of Lebanon, transforming it
into an Islamic state and society”. Bishop Rai called on the government to withdraw
287
this decree – which has been presented to Parliament as a draft bill – and so to safe-
LEBANON
guard Lebanon’s role as a place of encounter and dialogue between different cultures
and religions.
Muslims
The political crisis between the opposition and the ruling majority has at times as-
sumed the character of a latent conflict between Shiites and Sunnis. Speaking in Feb-
ruary 2007 at the remembrance service for a young Shiite killed in clashes between
Hezbollah and the (Sunni) Future Bloc, headed by MP Saad Hariri, Sheik Abdel-Amir
Qabalan, who is vice-president of the Higher Shiite Council, addressed the political
leaders and told them to listen to the voice of their consciences forbidding murder and
violence. Qabalan illustrated the figure of the ideal religious leader who must be “im-
partial, tolerant, generous, peaceful and able to forgive”. He called on politicians to do
their work in a manner that would spare the country a new wave of violence, “that
might mean the end of a country’s history”. He expressed his desire dialogue to re-
sume among the Lebanese people themselves, as the only way of building a better fu-
ture for all the citizens of Lebanon.
Refugees
A tragedy within the tragedy is the situation of the Iraqi refugees (between 40,000 and
50,000 of them) who have come to Lebanon and to whom the Lebanese authorities re-
fuse to grant even temporary legal status. The Iraqi refugees, many of them Christians,
are therefore left with only two choices: prison or returning to Iraq. This injustice is
exposed by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report of December 2007 entitled: “Rot-
ting here or dying there”. “Iraqi refugees in Lebanon live in constant fear of being sent
to prison”, explains Bill Frelick, HRW director for emigration policies. “Those who
are arrested can only avoid being imprisoned indefinitely if they agree to return to
their homeland”. But for many of them returning home means certain death.
Various reports have been published on the conditions faced by Iraqi Christians in the
Italian weekly magazine Tempi. “Prior to 2003 the Chaldean Christians who had tak-
en refuge in the Lebanon numbered just a few dozen families. Today Chaldean Bish-
op Michel Kassarji of Beirut has to care for 800 families (4,000 -5,000 people) almost
all living as illegal immigrants. Lebanon hosts Palestinian refugee camps dating from
the 1948 conflict, but has never signed the 1951 International Convention on Refugees
and hence does not accept foreign refugees on its territory, other than those to whom
the UN has granted a temporary permit while waiting to resettle them in another coun-
try. Only a few hundred Chaldean Iraqis enjoy this status, while all the others risk ar-
rest and deportation. “The vicissitudes of Chaldean Iraqis in the Lebanon are paradox-
ical”, explained Kassarji. “They travel to Lebanon because they know there is a strong
288
Christian minority here and that the head of state is a Christian. They soon discover
how things really stand. Crossing the border illegally costs between 200 and 300 US
dollars per person, but once they have entered they constantly risk arrest for having
entered the country illegally. If caught, they spend between 3 and 5 months in prison
waiting for a trial (though I have met Iraqis who have spent a whole year in jail), then
after sentencing they are deported. The director of national security contacts the Iraqi
Embassy and organises their repatriation. I often receive phone calls, from Lebanon
and from Iraq, from relatives of people who have been arrested, asking me to inter-
cede. I always go to the prisons, even if they are far from Beirut and near the border
where they crossed. I have also sent an open letter to the head of State pleading the
case for these people trying to reach safety, but so far without result”.
On 18th December 2007 the judicial authorities charged 31 people linked to Al Qaeda
with planning an attack on a church and other Christian locations in the city of Zahle,
in the Beqaa Valley, and with possessing arms. The public prosecutor has called for
the death penalty for 14 of them. Eighteen of the accused, (Lebanese, Syrian and Sau-
di nationals), had been arrested in previous months, while in the north of Lebanon
there had been clashes between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-islam. The other 13
are still free, including their leader Salahuddin Mohammad Saleh, alias Abu Ahmad.
Sources
al-Bawaba
as-Safir
AsiaNews
Avvenire
Compass Direct News
Tempi
Vatican Radio
LEBANON
289
LESOTHO
The right to religious freedom is fully acknowledged by the

LESOTHO
1993 Constitution. Article 13 devotes considerable space to

freedom of conscience and religion, setting out in detail consti-
AREA
tutional guarantees for their exercise.
30,355 kmq
Religious groups are permitted to operate without registering,
POPULATION but if they do not do so they lose a range of benefits, especial-
2,291,000 ly fiscal ones.
The Catholic Church runs about 600 schools, both primary and
REFUGEES
secondary, equivalent to a little under 40 percent of the total
--- number, thus making it the foremost educational institution in
INTERNALLY the country, with more schools than the state.
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Others 1.3%
Baptized Catholics
1,116,000
290
LIBERIA
Liberia is a secular state and Article 14 of the 1985 Constitution

guarantees freedom of religion. All religious groups are obliged
to register and sign a statement outlining the objectives of their
AREA
organisation. The government allows religious instruction in
111,369 kmq
schools. Religious instruction, particularly Christian, is avail-
able in state schools, but courses are not compulsory. POPULATION
During the period covered by this report, Liberia has witnessed 3,636,000
two successive administrations, namely the National Transi-
REFUGEES
tional Government of Liberia (NTGL), in office from October
2003 to December 2006, and the democratically elected gov- 10,466
ernment under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was inau- INTERNALLY
gurated into office on 16th January 2006 – the first woman in DISPLACED
Africa to be elected President. A number of prominent interna- ---
tional personalities were present at the President’s swearing-in
ceremony in Monrovia.
In 2006 former dictator Charles Taylor, in exile in Nigeria since
RELIGIOUS
2003, was arrested and handed over to the International War
ADHERENTS
Crimes Tribunal, and accused of massacres, mutilations and re-
duction to slavery of tens of thousands of civilians. These
crimes were perpetrated by the militias of the United Revolu-
tionary Front during a civil war that lasted 14 years and caused
the deaths of about 250,000 people.
In July 2006, for security reasons, and as an anti-terrorism pro-
vision, the police asked Muslim women not to wear a veil in Affiliated Christians 39.3%
public, without however forbidding it. This resulted in objec- Muslims 16%
Others 1.8%
tions from Muslim religious leaders, who considered this re-
quest discriminatory. The government punishes severely all rit- Baptized Catholics
ual killings, which are still widespread, above all in rural areas. 307,000
LIBERIA
Sources
Radiocapital
VITA
291
LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA
Libya does not have a Constitution and therefore there is no ex-

plicit legal provision protecting religious freedom. The govern-

ment however is tolerant towards religions, with the exception
AREA
of ultra-extremist Islamic groups which are repressed or pow-
1,759,540 kmq
erfully opposed.
POPULATION 97 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim. Islam is the
5,870,000 equivalent of a State religion and therefore totally integrated in
the country’s social fabric. In spite of this the government con-
REFUGEES
trols and strictly regulates the Islamic religion so that it does
4,098 not in any way interfere with the political dimension of the
INTERNALLY country. The government opposes Islamic extremism with all
DISPLACED possible means.
--- Two bishops (one in Tripoli and one in Bengasi) estimate that
the Catholics in this country number 50,000 – all of them are
foreigners. The Catholic clergy minister primarily in the larger
cities, particularly providing help in hospitals and orphanages
RELIGIOUS
as well as helping the elderly and the disabled.
ADHERENTS
One clergyman in Tripoli and a bishop, who is resident in
Cairo, lead the small Anglican community.
There are no places of worship for the faithful of the Hindu,
Buddhist and Baha’i religions, although the followers of these
religions can practise their faith in private homes and display
their religious symbols in the markets and in their windows.
Muslims 96.1%
Affiliated Christians 3.1% In February 2006, Libya was the scene of many riots, directed
Others 0.8% in particular against Italian targets, after the Italian govern-
ment’s former Minister for Reforms, Roberto Calderoli, had ap-
Baptized Catholics
peared on television wearing a T-shirt portraying the satirical
104,000
cartoon on Mohammed, at the centre of many protests coming
from the Muslim world. The protests in the Libyan city of Ben-
gasi resulted in the church and convent of the Franciscan Friars
Minor being set on fire. Bishop Magro, Vicar Apostolic of Ben-
gasi, and four monks from this community were obliged to take
refuge in Tripoli. Also in Bengasi, protesters attacked the Ital-
ian Consulate, even causing the death of 11 people during the
riots on 17th-18th February.
Although generally tolerant of other religious groups, after
these events the government, in the person of Colonel
Ghaddafi, expressed intolerance towards other religions. On
10th April 2006 the satellite TV channel Al Jazeera broadcast a
292
speech by the Libyan leader, given on the anniversary of Mohammed’s birth.

Ghaddafi dwelt at length on issues surrounding the blasphemous cartoons, inviting the
West to change “its mistaken persuasions”. In his speech, the Colonel also sent Europe
a message, stating “we do not need swords or bombs to spread Islam” because “we al-

ready have 50 million Muslims there” who “within ten years or so will transform Eu-
rope into a Muslim continent”.
On 29th December 2006, however, on the eve of Eid, the Muslim festival of sacrifice,
and the New Year, Ghaddafi organised a meeting in which over 500 people took part.
According to Bishop Martinelli, Vicar Apostolic of Tripoli, those invited to the meet-
ing included “the Christian community of the various denominations and nationalities,
together with their priests, led by the Catholic bishop, plus Libyan Muslim members
of the People’s General Congress, and various different religious and cultural figures
of the country”.
During the meeting Colonel Ghaddafi emphasised that the message of the two faiths,
Islam and Christianity, must commit the two communities to a real dialogue, which
must help today’s society rediscover the sense of God, respect for human rights and a
solution to the problems of poverty and peace. According to Bishop Martinelli
“Ghaddafi had wanted to offer the two communities from Tripoli – Muslim and Chris-
tian – a friendly and convivial experience […], emphasising the richness of the mes-
sage provided by these two faiths, which required reciprocal respect.”
On March 9th 2007, the small Christian community of Tripolis celebrated the reopen-
ing of the church of Saint Mary of the Angels, built by the Franciscans in the 17th Cen-
tury and now owned by the local Anglican community. For the local Christian com-
munity, the reopening of the church for worship, represented an important sign of
openness on the part of Colonel Ghadaffi’s regime.
Sources
Ag radicale, 11th April 2006
ZENIT, 26th February 2006
AGI/AFP, 21st August 2007
Fides, 15th January 2007
Vatican Radio, 22nd March 2007
swissinfo, 7th March 2007
AGI, 11th March 2007
293
LIECHTENSTEIN
In compliance with the Principality’s Constitution, the Catholic

LIECHTENSTEIN
Church is the national church and as such benefits from the

State’s full protection. Other religious communities are also fi-
AREA
nancially subsidised by the government, however. In the course
160 kmq
of 2007, the authorities of the Principality approved a separa-
POPULATION tion between the civil and ecclesiastical institutions and a con-
34,000 stitutional amendment has been drafted to this effect.
There were no significant incidents in relation to the issue of re-
REFUGEES
ligious freedom.
283
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Non religious 3.9%
Others 3.1%
Baptized Catholics
27,000
294
LITHUANIA
The Constitution of 1992 of the Republic of Lithuania guaran-

tees full religious freedom (Article 26) in a very detailed man-
ner, going so far as to guarantee parents and guardians the con-
AREA
stitutional right to take care of the religious education of their
65,200 kmq
children and wards as they see fit.
Article 43 recognises the “churches and religious organisations POPULATION
that are traditional in Lithuania,” which “have the rights of a le- 3,535,000
gal person.” They can receive public funding for their activities
REFUGEES
and are free to teach and set up their own schools. The same ar-
ticle defines, that “there shall not be a State religion”. 688
Churches and religious groups present in Lithuania for at least INTERNALLY
300 years are defined as “traditional Lithuanian religions” for DISPLACED
the purpose of implementing constitutional principles. ---
Religious practice is also protected in law from all forms of dis-
crimination, incitement to religious hatred, and interference in
religious ceremonies. All forms of discrimination on the basis
RELIGIOUS
of religious beliefs are penalised.
ADHERENTS
In 2006 the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Coordination
of Investigations into Religious Groups (more commonly
known as the “Anti-Sects Committee”) concluded its activities
saying that there was no need for special legislation even with
regards to magical circles and groups of healers since existing
laws were adequate for the task.
Non religious 12%
Others 0.4%
Baptized Catholics
2,757,000 LITHUANIA
295
LUXEMBOURG
The Constitution of 1868 guarantees both freedom of religion

LUXEMBOURG
and of public worship, under Article 19, and therefore also the
right to express one’s religious opinions, except where offences
AREA
are committed in the exercise of such freedom. At the same
2,586 kmq
time, no one may be forced to take part in any way whatsoever
POPULATION in the acts and ceremonies of a religion or to observe its days
460,000 of rest.
Religious marriage has no legal status and must by law be cel-
REFUGEES
ebrated after the civil ceremony.
2,737 The Napoleonic Concordat of 1801 with the Holy See is still in
INTERNALLY force, albeit supplemented and changed by constitutional pro-
DISPLACED visions and other later amendments. In addition to the Catholic
--- Church, three other religions are recognised by the State: the
Jewish religion, the Protestant churches and the Russian Ortho-
dox Church, their ministers being supported by the State.
Article 22, which regulates relations between the State and the
RELIGIOUS
Church, establishes that “the State’s intervention in the appoint-
ADHERENTS
ment and installation of heads of religions, the mode of ap-
pointing and dismissing other ministers of religion, the right of
any of them to correspond with their superiors and to publish
their acts and decisions, as well as the Church’s relations with
the State shall be made the subject of conventions to be submit-
ted to the Chamber of Deputies for the provisions governing its
Non religious 4.5% intervention”.
Others 1.6% In state schools there is an option to choose between Catholic
religious instruction or lessons in ethics.
Baptized Catholics
There have been no reports of significant institutional changes
393,000
or incidents relating to the subject of religious freedom during
2006 and 2007.
296
MACEDONIA
Articles 16 and 19 of the Constitution of 1991guarantee the

right to religious freedom, a right which is generally respected.
Relations between the various religious denominations are
AREA
friendly, in spite of the existence of a long-running dispute be-
25,713 kmq
tween the Serbian and Macedonian Orthodox Churches, which
has intensified in recent years, since the Serbian Church re- POPULATION
fused to acknowledge the full independence of the self-pro- 2,350,000
claimed Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Macedonia which
REFUGEES
has its seat in Ohrid, and the tensions between the Orthodox
majority and the Roman Catholic and Greek-Catholic minority. 1,235
The Governement continues to impose restrictions to the Ser- INTERNALLY
bian Orthodox Church – which are also enshrined in the law on DISPLACED
religious communities and groups. Already, back in 2004 this 790
church was denied the registration that is required for all reli-
gious communities. Zoran Vraniskovski, who in that same year
became Archbishop Jovan of the Serbian Orthodox community
RELIGIOUS
in Macedonia and Metropolitan of Skopje, was sentenced to
ADHERENTS
prison in 2005 for inciting religious and racial hatred, a sen-
tence later suspended, in March 2006. Archbishop Jovan is re-
garded by many human rights organisations as a prisoner for re-
ligious reasons.
A number of Jewish communities, as well as other religious
groups, have continued legal proceedings to obtain restitution
of their properties, confiscated by the Yugoslav communist
MACEDONIA
Muslims 28.3%
government Non religious 8%
On 20th May 2007, unidentified individuals set fire to the

Baptized Catholics
mosque in Obednik. This was an isolated incident and caused
19,000
little damage.
297
MADAGASCAR
The Constitution guarantees religious freedom. Following the

MADAGASCAR
re-election of President Ravalomanana at the end of 2006, on

4th April 2007 a constitutional referendum was approved
AREA
which, among other amendments, eliminated the explicit sepa-
587,041 kmq
ration between State and Church.
POPULATION This, as President Ravalomanana commented, did not however
18,917,000 indicate an intention to lessen the juridical protection of reli-
gious freedom in this country, but rather to sanction Christian
REFUGEES
principles in the daily life of the State.
--- Although there is no reliable official data, about half the popu-
INTERNALLY lation is Christian. The Catholic Church is the most numerous,
DISPLACED followed by the Reformed Protestant Church of Jesus Christ
--- (FJKM) and then the Lutheran and Anglican churches. A signif-
icant portion of the population professes the indigenous tradi-
tional religions. President Ravalomanana is also the Vice-Pres-
ident of the FJKM, one of the four main Christian faiths, which
RELIGIOUS
has prompted allegations that the interests of State and Church
ADHERENTS
are not always entirely separated.
Numerous groups of foreign missionaries work freely in the
country. Various faith-based organisations, some with interna-
tional links, are involved in health and social services, develop-
ment projects, schools and higher education.
The law requires religious associations to register with the Min-
Ethnoreligionists 48% istry of the Interior in order to obtain the necessary legal status
Muslims 2% to receive direct bequests and other gifts. In order to register,
Others 0.5%
religious associations must have at least 100 members and an
Baptized Catholics elected administrative board of no more than nine members
5,576,000 who must all be Malagasy citizens.
In May 2007 the Minister of the Interior decided to deport Fa-
ther Sylvain Urfer, a French priest, who had been in Madagas-
car for 33 years. The Malagasy administration in fact cancelled
the priest’s residence permit and forbade him to re-enter Mala-
gasy territory. No official reason was given by the government
when the missionary was deported, in spite of appeals over the
next few days by the Catholic Episcopal Conference, the Or-
ganisation of official Malagasy Churches (FFKM) which repre-
sents Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans and Lutherans) and by
the Observatory of Public Life (SEFAFI) of which this priest
was a member. The Catholic bishops of Madagascar asked
298
President Ravalomanana for an explanation as to the reasons for his deportation. They
also reacted to Ravalomanana’s statement, made on 18th May, when the President, re-
turning from a week long visit to the People’s Republic of China, had said that mis-
sionaries and men of the Church, just like ambassadors, should not interfere with the
country’s internal policies, especially political ones, or they would be “sent home”.
The SEFAFI publicly asked the government for explanations, emphasising that Father
Urfer had not been allowed legal representation after learning of his deportation, and
also reminded people that, according to the law on immigration, deportation can be
implemented by the Ministry for the Interior “if the presence of the foreigner in the
country is a threat to public order or security”.
Sources
MISNA, 27th April 2007
Madagascar Tribune, 14th May 2007
MISNA, 29th May 2007
MADAGASCAR
299
MALAWI
The Constitution guarantees religious freedom and the govern-

MALAWI
ment generally respects this right, protecting it from all forms

of public and private abuse.
AREA
In 2007, a ruling by the Supreme Court confirmed that religious
118,484 kmq
freedom is a right that cannot be limited or restricted. During
POPULATION 2006 and 2007 there were no reports of religious discrimina-
12,760,000 tion, however, there were some tensions between Christians
and Muslims. Circa 80 percent of the population is Christian,
REFUGEES
and the Roman Catholic Church has the most adherents, fol-
2,929 lowed by the Presbyterians (Church of Central Africa Presby-
INTERNALLY terian, CCAP). There are also small minority groups of Angli-
DISPLACED cans, Baptists, Evangelicals and Seventh Day Adventists. There
--- are no particular requirements for having a religion officially
recognised, however, religious groups must register with the
government, presenting detailed documentation on the organi-
sation’s structure and mission so that it may be examined by the
RELIGIOUS
Ministry of Justice.
ADHERENTS
During the period addressed by this report, there were no indi-
cations of the government refusing to register any particular re-
ligious group. The government usually respects the holy days
both of Christians and Muslims.
The country’s President, Bingu wa Mutharika, is a Catholic,
while the Vice-president professes the Islamic faith. Many
Muslims 14.8% members of the government are Muslims.
Ethnoreligionists 7.8% On this subject, many state schools offer the opportunity to fol-
Others 0.6%
low a Christian-based course in “Bible Knowledge”, or a
Baptized Catholics course in “Religious and Moral Education” that includes Mus-
3,620,000 lim, Hindu, Baha’i and Christian material. Both courses are op-
tional.
In 2006 there was conflict between the government and Rasta-
farian leaders after all hairstyles involving long hair were
banned in state schools.
Rastafarians, who consider Rasta dreadlocks a fundamental ex-
pression of their religiosity, had described this as discriminato-
ry and had threatened to take legal action. The government had
answered stating that the prohibition concerned long hair in
general and could not be considered as prejudicial to religious
rights. In 2007 there was no repetition of this conflict.
300
In the years addressed by this report, there were no indications concerning social dis-
crimination based on religious practices or beliefs. There was occasional tension be-
tween Christians and Muslims, increased however mainly by political issues, such as
an attempt by the President (who is a Christian) to remove from office the Vice-pres-
ident who is a Muslim.
One violent episode took place in June 2006, when an unknown attacker detonated a
bomb in a church in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, injuring 24 people. There is still
no information on the attacker or the reasons for this attack.
Sources
farmstreet.org.uk, 23rd June 2006
MALAWI
301
MALAYSIA
The legal system and the danger of the Shari‘a law for
MALAYSIA
non-Muslims too
In the last two years there have been more and more cases that
AREA
have highlighted the contradictions inherent in a dual justice
329,758 kmq
system in which Shari‘a Laws have increasingly applied even
POPULATION in cases involving non-Muslims. In Malaysia two sets of laws
26,640,000 co-exist side by side – the secular (constitutional) law and Is-
lamic law (Shari‘a), which is theoretically applied to Muslims
REFUGEES
in matters of marriage, inheritance and property – but the two
32,658 have often come into conflict and this has tended to erode reli-
INTERNALLY gious freedom. If political leaders do not clearly define the
DISPLACED boundaries between the two, there is a real fear that – in many
--- spheres – Shari‘a will gradually take over as the basis of legis-
lation, at the expense of the federal Constitution. Established
when the country was still under British rule, the Constitution
is quite confusing. It does guarantee full religious freedom, and
RELIGIOUS
emphasises that “No person shall be required to receive instruc-
ADHERENTS
tion in or take part in any ceremony or act of worship of a reli-
gion other than his own” (Art 12, s. 3), and that “[f]or the pur-
poses of Clause (3) the religion of a person under the age of
eighteen years shall be decided by his parent or guardian” (Art
12, s. 4). Article 11 provides that every person has the right to
profess and practise his religion. Article 3 declares Islam to be
Muslims 47.7%
Traditional chinese the State religion. An Ethnic Malay is defined as “a person who
religions 24.1% professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay
Hindus 7.3% language, and conforms to Malay custom.” Unless a Shari‘a
Buddhists 6.7% court accepts someone’s conversion, abjuring one’s faith means
Others 5.9%
losing one’s civil rights. In practice this means that Muslims are
Baptized Catholics not allowed to convert to another religion, since apostasy is
837,000 viewed as one of the worst sins, punishable by death.
The Sedition Act, introduced during British colonial rule, is
currently being used to curb anti-government dissent, incite-
ment to racial hatred, and any questioning the rights of the ma-
jority Sunni Muslim community. Mahathir Marina, wife of for-
mer Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad, has criticised the at-
mosphere of fear that surrounds the debate about Islam’s place
in Malaysia, where “it has become difficult for anyone, except
for clerically-trained Muslims, to talk about Islam”.
302
For several decades now the country has been experiencing a progressive process of
islamisation under the leadership of the United Malays National Organisation or UM-
NO, the leading party in the governing coalition government, which has tended to sup-
port Islam in order to favour ethnic Malays. In several states local legislatures have
adopted laws to check or restrict conversions and punish anyone who “persuades, in-
fluences or incites a Muslim to leave Islam for another religion” with fines that can
reach up to 10,000 ringgit (US$ 2,653) or sentences of up to a year in jail.
The government has introduced restrictions on the application of those articles in the
Constitution that favour religious freedom, especially for non-Muslims. It finances
Muslim religious associations to a tune that far exceeds what it gives to non-Muslims.
Through its regulatory powers it can impose long delays or issue only few permits to
non-Muslims for building their churches or temples. Unauthorised places of worship
are demolished.
The authorities are also opposed to the presence of internal sects within Islam, claim-
ing that “their extremist visions may jeopardise national security.” The Internal Secu-
rity Act (ISA) has given them the power to arrest the members of any of these small
groups, should they deem them dangerous. Mosques are under state government rather
than federal government control. And state religious authorities are in charge of ap-
pointing imams to local mosques and imposing what the latter can say in their ser-
mons.
Proselytising by non-Muslims among Muslims is banned, but allowed by Muslims
among non-Muslims.
The Shari‘a’s encroachment has began to worry all religious groups, and above all the
members of the majority Muslim community, who are denied the right to convert; but
also, of course, those of the minority communities such as the Christians and Hindus.
Conversions from Islam: the Lina Joy case

In Malaysia “it would be extremely difficult to exercise freedom of conscience in the
MALAYSIA
present environment,” said Lina Joy on 30th May 2007 after the Federal Court reject-
ed her plea to have her conversion to Christianity recognised. “I am disappointed that
the Federal Court is not able to vindicate a simple but important fundamental right that
exists in all persons; namely, the right to believe in the religion of one’s choice and,
equally important, the right to marry a person of one’s choice” (AsiaNews). Born Azli-
na Jailani in 1964, she began attending a church in 1990. In 1998 she decided to be
baptised and take the name of Lina Joy. In 2000 she applied to have her religious af-
filiation in her Identity Card (compulsory under Malaysian law) changed, turning first
to the National Registration Department and then to the Court of Appeal. Only with
such a change could she marry her fiancé, a Christian of Indian origin. Both bodies
turned down her application and so in 2005 she went to the Federal Court. Lina’s prob-
303
lem is that as an ethnic Malay she is ipso facto classified as Muslim and therefore
MALAYSIA
“cannot change religion.” In fact Malaysian law lays down that everything relating to
matters of faith involving ethnic Malays – including conversions – falls within the
purview of the Shari‘a (Syariah in Malay) courts, not the civil courts. The conflict be-
tween Shari‘a and civil law is evident in Lina Joy’s case. The Constitution guarantees
freedom of religion but Shari‘a law bans conversion to any other religion whilst pun-
ishing apostates with forced ‘rehabilitation’, prison and hefty fines. It is very likely
that Lina Joy will have to emigrate in order to live a normal life.
Chief Federal Court Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim immediately and
strongly backed the position of the Federal Court. “To say that she is not under the ju-
risdiction of the Syariah Court – because she no longer professes Islam – is not appro-
priate,” he told The Star daily, adding that the way one leaves a religion is set by the
religion itself. At the same time, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who is
concerned with the country’s international image, admitted that problems between
non-Muslim Malaysians and Islamic courts are an issue the government “must deal
with”.
For quite some time now the Christian community has been calling on the authorities
to reiterate the supremacy of the Constitution over Islamic law. Mgr Paul Tan Chee
Ing, SJ, head of the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), a leading organisation
in the struggle to stop Shari‘a’s encroachment and prevent it from being enforced on
non-Muslims, cannot hide his frustration. “To deny anyone the basic human right to
choose his or her religion, usurping God’s power and violating a fundamental right
concerned is something inhuman and uncivilised”, he told AsiaNews. Teresa Kok Suh
Sim, a Catholic of Chinese origin and Member of Parliament for the Democratic Ac-
tion Party (DAP), has urged the government “to take immediate measures to amend
the federal Constitution so that it is clear that the jurisdiction of civil courts comes be-
fore that of the Syariah court.” In official statements the Malaysian Consultative
Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS) and the
Council of Churches in Malaysia (CCM) took similar positions.
Lina Joy and her family have been subjected to grave threats during the trial. The
parish community of Our Lady of Fatima in Brickfields, where Lina Joy was baptised,
was told that it too was facing charges. According to the bimonthly Harakah (16th-31st
August 2006), a man by the name of Taib Hisham accused the church because the
woman’s baptism violated the Constitution which states that “State law and in respect
of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Lubuan, federal law may control or re-
strict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the
religion of Islam.” Taib’s action was backed by some leaders of the youth wing of the
Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) and some Islamic NGOs. One of Lina Joy’s attor-
304
neys, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, a member of the Malaysian Bar Council, was also subject-
ed to an intimidatory campaign that included circulating flyers calling for his death.
Under Islamic law if a person’s conversion from Islam is not recognised, then he or
she must undergo “re-education”. This is what happened to Revathi Massosai, also
known as the ‘Hindu Lina Joy’. Born after her parents converted to Islam, she said she
was raised by her grandmother as a Hindu. In March 2004 she married a man called
Suresh in a Hindu marriage ceremony, but soon after the Malacca State Islamic De-
partment told her to apply to the state’s Islamic Syariah Court for recognition of her
new religion. She did as she was told but was then sentenced in January 2006 under
Shari‘a law to 100 days in a rehabilitation centre in Ulu Yam, later extended by an ex-
tra 80 because she was not showing any sign of repentance. Now her daughter is liv-
ing with the Muslim grandmother who was given custody whilst her husband is still
waiting to be re-united with his wife.
Burial
Shari‘a has also been used to meddle in how people bury their dead. A Christian who
died in late November 2006 was almost buried in an Islamic ceremony despite his
family’s objections. Rayappan Anthony, who passed away at the age of 71, had con-
verted to Islam in 1990 in order to elope with a Muslim woman in a second marriage,
at the same time changing his name to Muhamad Rayappan Abdullah. His relatives
maintained however that he had returned to Christianity in 1999, when he was bap-
tised again. He did inform the National Registry Office and other agencies of the
change, so that by 2003 he was classified as a Christian under the name Anthony, but
he had failed to inform the Religious Affairs Department. When he passed away in
hospital on 29th November 2006 from diabetes, a neighbour who knew about his ear-
lier conversion to Islam informed the Religious Affairs Department. An Islamic tribu-
nal eventually ruled that the remains of the Christian man had to be handed over to the
Islamic Affairs Council in Selangor. The family opposed the move and, after the issue
MALAYSIA
became a national case, successfully recovered his remains, thanks to the intervention
of the Malaysian government.
Islamic law and the family: the Subshini case

Polygamy is legal in Malaysia and a man can have up to four wives. But often men
divorce their first wife only after marrying a second. Under Islamic law a woman has
custody of her children under 12, but if she abjures Islam or fails to practise the Islam-
ic religion she loses custody and the children are given to her husband’s mother, i.e.
the children’s paternal grandmother, because children are considered Muslims at birth
since their mother was Muslim when they were born. If a married woman converts to
Islam, even her children become Muslim, this following a decision by the Federal
305
Department in Kuala Lumpur. But if an ex-Muslim woman with children wants to

MALAYSIA
marry a non-Muslim she runs the risk of being accused of Zina, or illegal sexual rela-
tions, and could end up in prison.
In March 2007 Malaysian media reported the case of a woman of Indian origin who
sought to prevent her husband from gaining custody of their children after he convert-
ed to Islam and petitioned an Islamic court for divorce. According to Shari‘a law, chil-
dren are given to the “better party” in cases of separation, namely the Muslim party,
i.e. the father in this case. The children are thus bound to be raised as Muslim.
Muhammad Shafi Saravanan Abdullah converted to Islam in May 2006, later filing for
divorce from his wife, R. Subshini, before an Islamic tribunal. The woman turned to
the Court of Appeal to have her case heard by a civil court, but was turned down. Still
on 30th March 2007 she was granted the right to appeal to the Federal Court,
Malaysia’s highest tribunal. If she loses here she would be the first non-Muslim to
have to go before an Islamic Court. Ms Subshini, 28, wants alimony from her husband
and custody of their two children, aged three and one. “Both want to dissolve their
marriage,” said Court of Appeal Judge Suryadi Halim Omar, “but the appellant’s ob-
jection, merely on the grounds that the Shari‘a Court was set up only for Muslims,
makes no sense.” For Judge Omar, Muhammad Shafi has every right to have his mar-
riage annulled by an Islamic tribunal rather than a civil court.
In early 2006 Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah had pledged to resolve the issue of
clashing legal systems but so far there has been little progress. The government is ex-
amining draft legislation that would amend the marriage and divorce laws to protect
the rights of the children children of non-Muslim spouses, but the authorities have so
far shown no inclination to change the law regarding those who wish to leave Islam.
Steps to “protect” Islam

The aforementioned cases have generated a heated public debate. Groups of Muslim
professionals and students have organised themselves into groups devoted to the “de-
fence of Islam”. This has forced the government to act in order to lower tensions, fear-
ful that they might cause social unrest and actions by Islamic extremists. In July 2007
a number of Muslim lawyers joined forces to form an association to defend Islam from
what they call a series of attacks “against the religion.” The group calls itself the
Peguam Pembela Islam (PPI) and wants to correct “wrong ideas” about the prophet’s
religion. The group’s pro tem chairman is a former Bar Council president, Zainur Za-
kari, who said the group’s aim was to correct “misconceptions” about Islam and de-
fend, as a matter of priority, ethnic Malays and their “Islamicity”. Taking their cue
from the PPI, 50 groups of Muslim clerics, students and professionals soon after
formed their own association to protect Islam “from the attacks of the civil courts”.
Through a tight-knit network of ulema and religious scholars, the Pembela Islam (or
306
Defenders of Islam) has launched a national campaign against the use of civil courts
as a “way out of Islam”. Evidently Islamic conservatives seem afraid that if judges al-
low people to “abandon” Islam this might open the floodgates to many requests by
Muslims to change religion. For many extremists legal battles like Lina Joy’s are an
insult to Islam and its principles.
Such groups are not alone; the authorities have also decided to take some initiatives
for the “protection and development of the Islamic religion.” In June 2006 The Straits
Times reported that the northern state of Kelantan had offered a prize to anyone who
married and converted to Islam any members of the Orang Asli, an indigenous semi-
nomadic group. The offer included cash payments of about US$ 2,700, a monthly sub-
sidy of US$ 270, free housing and a car for any Muslim who was able to wed a mem-
ber of this largely animist community.
At the moment Kelantan is the only Malaysian state that is governed by the Pan-
Malaysia Islamic Party, an extremist Islamist party that is in the opposition at the na-
tional level. In Kelantan too, state authorities have come up with other measures to
discourage conversions of Muslims. In July 2007 it adopted the harshest anti-conver-
sion law in the country. According to this law, anyone who converts a Muslim is pun-
ishable of up to five years in prison, flogging and a fine of almost US$ 3,000. Hither-
to the law had imposed two years in jail and a fine equivalent to about US$ 1,400.
In the last two years the issues of religious freedom and minority rights have been at
the centre of the political debate, inflaming public opinion. In July 2006 Prime Min-
ister Abdullah called for an end to discussions about the relations between the coun-
try’s religions, because they caused “tensions in a society where different faiths co-ex-
ist” like Malaysia’s. He openly attacked an inter-faith forum called Article 11 and
called on its organisers to stop all their activities. According to the UMNO’s Supreme
Council, the prime minister was concerned about the issues that might be discussed in
the forum. The name Article 11 refers to the article in Malaysia’s Constitution which
defines religious freedom. The group brings together 13 NGOs involved in the de-
MALAYSIA
fence of the Constitution against the encroachment of the Shari‘a.
Minority concerns
In an appeal to Malaysia’s lawmakers in April 2007, Mgr Paul Tan Chee Ing, SJ, chair-
man of the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), said that every means should be
used to uphold “the Constitution and the rights of non-Muslims,” insisting that “mat-
ters involving civil liberties and the family should come under the jurisdiction of civ-
il courts rather than Islamic tribunals.” For the CFM “it is troubling to note […] that
what is clearly stated in the Federal Constitution, namely that Shari‘a courts shall
have jurisdiction only over persons professing the religion of Islam, is now being ex-
tended, by a court decision, to include non-Muslims”. The CFM was not alone in its
307
protest. The Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism,

MALAYSIA
Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) expressed its support for the appeal. On that first
week of April 2007 the CFM organised a national prayer campaign in favour of mi-
nority rights. “The non-Muslim communities are not prepared to accept the ‘trickery’
of the civil courts, in forcing people to go before Shari‘a courts”, the prelate said.
Minority religions also organised various prayer campaigns in favour of religious free-
dom. During Holy Week 2007 Catholics decided to light candles in their churches to
“symbolise that the religious freedom, which came to this world with the crucifixion
and Resurrection of Christ, will once more shine out in our country.” This initiative,
which was part of a broader campaign promoted by the MCCBCHST, received the
support of all non-Muslim groups.
In a document signed by its chairman Monsignor Tan, the CFM urged the government
to review the legislation affecting religious freedom and reaffirm the civil courts’ ju-
risdiction so that all Malaysians may be guaranteed the right to choose their religion.
The situation of the Christians

The government tends to discourage but not ban the distribution of printed or audio-
visual material with a Christian content. But late last year and early this year,
Malaysia’s Catholic weekly Herald was caught up in a storm. The Minister of Islam-
ic Affairs, Abdullah Mohd Zin decreed that the word Allah could not be used in rela-
tion to the Christian God. He added that the word Allah could be used only by Mus-
lims, because its use by non-Muslims “may arouse sensitivity and create confusion
among Muslims in the country,” The Star daily quoted him as saying. And yet the min-
ister’s statement came just after the Herald had its permit renewed to publish ‘with-
out restrictions’ in English, Malay and Chinese. The editor of the Herald, Fr Lawrence
Andrew, told AsiaNews that the absence of restrictions implicitly meant that they
could use the word Allah. It should be pointed out, as many experts note, that the word
Allah was in use among Christians for many centuries before the rise of Islam and that
Allah is the common term employed to refer to God in Malay. According to scholars
and academics, Christian Arabs have used the word Allah for centuries across the
Middle East and that it was Islam that borrowed the term from Christianity. It has been
used by Christians in Malaysia ever since the 19th century.
Earlier, in 2002, an injunction had been issued against the Herald, but the Prime Min-
ister at the time, Mahatir Mohammed had intervened in favour of the paper. For Fr An-
drew the fear that the use of the word by Christians might “create confusion among
Muslims in the country” is baseless, since “the publication is only for internal use and
we don’t have any Muslim subscribers”.
The Catholic Church has asked the Supreme Court to give a ruling on the matter. The
Evangelical Church of Borneo (Sidang Injil Borneo) has also appealed to the Court,
308
since it too received an injunction ordering it to stop importing Christian books that
contained the word Allah.
The case has risked increasing tensions between ethnic and religious groups. A Sikh
leader told Singapore’s New Straits Times that his community also uses the world Al-
lah to refer to God. Political analyst Farish Noor published an article on his website
arguing that the issue is just an “empty problem” that might however undermine the
moderate Islamic vision of current Prime Minister Abdullah.
Hindus
Hindus suffer from grave restrictions in both religious and social domains. Ethnic
Malays dominate political life in the country, while the Chinese are very influential in
the economy, whereas the Indians, mostly Hindus, perform the most menial tasks. In
2006 and 2007 Indo-Malaysians began voicing their concerns, demonstrating for
equal rights and respect for religious freedom. On 25th May 2006 they organised a
protest against the demolition of their temples ordered by the government. About
50,000 according to The Sun newspaper, gathered in front of Kuala Lumpur City Hall
and threatened legal action against the government and local councils for “destroying
private property”.
According to the activists who organised the rally, hundreds of temples have been de-
stroyed in the last 15 years as a result of Malaysia’s creeping “islamisation.” Com-
plaints like these are rare however, in this country which for a long time has boasted
of its “inter-racial harmony” and its “attention to the minorities”. P. Uthayakumar, the
lawyer who has been actively representing Hindus, has reported that in the period be-
tween February and May 2006, seven Hindu temples were destroyed in various parts
of the country.
MALAYSIA
309
MALDIVES
Article 7 of the country’s 1998 Constitution defines Islam as

MALDIVES
the State religion. The Constitution also restricts all political,

judicial and administrative positions to Muslims.
AREA
The government enforces Shari‘a law and has banned every
298 kmq
public expression of other religions. Similarly, conversions
POPULATION from Islam are outlawed. Civil law is subordinate to Koranic
317,000 law and the teaching of Islam is compulsory in school.
Christians are estimated at just over 0.1 percent of the popula-
REFUGEES
tion and have to practise their faith in hiding to avoid detention,
--- forced “re-conversion” or loss of citizenship. Foreign tourists
INTERNALLY are permitted to practise their faith in private, as long as no lo-
DISPLACED cals are present. Importing Bibles or any Christian literature is
--- banned, except single copies for personal use.
According to Open Doors, an elderly Christian man was arrest-
ed in August 2006 and sent to a drug rehabilitation centre. And
in March 2006 the Maldives Ministry of Fisheries urged locals
RELIGIOUS
to tear down a market built with funds from the British charity
ADHERENTS
Maldives Aid, a “Christian missionary” group. In order to avoid
its demolition, the group donated the structure to the population
on 3rd May 2006.
In September 2007 a bomb exploded in Sultan Male Park, a
major tourist landmark, injuring 12 foreign tourists. It was
blamed on Islamic extremists who want tourists out of the
Muslims 99.2%
Buddhists 0.7% country, guilty in their eyes of bringing habits “contrary” to Is-
Affiliated Christians 0.1% lam. But the local population wants to preserve the lucrative
tourist industry.
Baptized Catholics
President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom issued a decree banning
---
foreign imams from entering the country; similarly, he has pro-
hibited women from covering themselves form head to toe and
has decided that foreign madrassas (Islamic schools) and sem-
inaries cannot be recognised as educational institutions.
In early October 2007 police raided an island about 100 kilo-
metres south of Male, considered a stronghold of Islamic ex-
tremism. Clashes were reported, with police arresting some 50
people.
Sources
www.persecution.org
310
MALI
The Constitution guarantees freedom of worship, defining this

country as secular and allowing all religious practices that do
not undermine peace and social stability. During the period ad-
AREA
dressed by this report, there were no indications of abuse or dis-
1,240,192 kmq
crimination based on religious beliefs.
In spite of the country being a secular one, the government, be- POPULATION
fore reaching potentially controversial decisions of national im- 14,153,000
portance, usually consults a “committee of wise men” which
REFUGEES
includes the Catholic Archbishop, the Protestant one and the
leader of the Muslims. 9,203
The government requires all associations to be registered, INTERNALLY
therefore also religious ones. Registration however does not in- DISPLACED
volve any juridical advantage or other benefits. The Ministry ---
for Territorial Affairs has the power to stop publications that of-
fend other religions; however there have been no reports of
censorship with regard to magazines or publications of a reli-
RELIGIOUS
gious character. The government allows the various groups to
ADHERENTS
undertake proselytising activities. Missionary groups operate
freely within the country.
On this subject, a Vatican Radio news bulletin in April 2007, re-
ported that shortly before the presidential elections, won on 3rd
May by former President Amadou Toumani Toure, every bish-
op had sent a letter to his diocese in which he first of all ac-
Muslims 81.9%
knowledged that Mali is an example of democracy in Saharan Ethnoreligionists 16%
Africa, and that there have been many and varied experiences Affiliated Christians 2%
Others 0.1%
bearing witness to the country’s political maturity, also empha-
sising the real efforts undertaken since the 1990s in creating a Baptized Catholics
new state. However, the bishops also emphasised that the poli- 241,000
cies of the state had not always been without fault, hence their
invitation to implement better policies which have regard for
the population. At the same time the bishops reminded the laity
that the politicians must not be left without help, but supported
in their work by the people.
MALI
The form of Islam practised in the country is tolerant towards

the religious minorities, and the generally friendly relations be-
tween the various groups have thus contributed to religious
freedom. Followers of different faiths can coexist within one
and the same family and also attend the religious ceremonies of
other groups without any problems.
311
On 31st May 2007, ACN reported the initiative and practical cooperation between
MALI
Rencontre et Foi, a centre run by Father Joseph Stamer of the White Fathers, and the
Institute for Christian and Islamic Education (IFIC), a department of the PISAI (Pon-
tifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies) in Rome, now moved to Africa. The
objective is to train qualified personnel to be in turn used as educators in a vast range
of different sectors – as priests, teachers of religion, lay people and members of the
national or diocesan commission for Islamic-Christian dialogue.
On 18th May 2007, Benedict XVI held an audience for the bishops of Mali at the pa-
pal residence in Castel Gandolfo. From the very beginning of his speech, the Pope did
not deny “the difficult human and spiritual situations” which make the Church’s nor-
mal pastoral work a challenge demanding courage. Among other comments, Benedict
XVI addressed relations with Muslims, who in Mali represent 90 percent of the inhab-
itants. The Pope expressed his satisfaction for the “cordial relations” entertained by
Catholics with the Islamic world. And he repeated that for friendship to be real, “it is
legitimate that the proper identity of each community be visibly expressed in mutual
respect”, so as to encourage real “peaceful coexistence”.
Sources
ACN News
Vatican Radio
312
MALTA
Article 2.1 of the Constitution establishes that the Roman

Catholic Apostolic Religion is the official religion of the Re-
public of Malta. The authorities of the Catholic Church, states
AREA
Article 2.2, consequently have “the duty and the right to teach
316 kmq
which principles are right and which are wrong”, and Article
2.3 states that the teaching of the Roman Catholic Apostolic POPULATION
Faith must be available in all state schools as part of the com- 432,000
pulsory curriculum, although it is possible to opt out.
REFUGEES
Article 32 guarantees all citizens basic individual rights and
freedoms, whatever their race, origin, political opinion, colour 3,000
or gender may be, on condition that the public interest is re- INTERNALLY
spected. These rights specifically include the right to “life, free- DISPLACED
dom, security, enjoyment of property and protection of the law, ---
freedom of conscience, free speech and freedom of assembly as
well as peaceful association and respect for private and family
life”.
RELIGIOUS
There are no reports of significant institutional changes or oth-
ADHERENTS
er noteworthy events in relation to religious freedom during
2006 and 2007.

Others 1.7%
Baptized Catholics
406,000
MALTA
313
MARSHALL ISLANDS
Article 2 (Bill of Rights) of the 1979 Constitution recognises

MARSHALL ISLANDS
full religious freedom.

It is not compulsory for religious groups to register and foreign
AREA
missionaries present in the country are allowed to operate
181 kmq
freely.
POPULATION There are private schools run by the Catholic Church, the Unit-
56,000 ed Church of Christ, the Assemblies of God, the Seventh Day
Adventists, the Baptist Church and also by other groups. There
REFUGEES
is no religious instruction in state schools.
--- Christmas, Good Friday and Gospel Day are national holidays.
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Others 3.4%
Baptized Catholics
5,000
314
MAURITANIA
In November 2006 the first general elections were held in the

Islamic Republic of Mauritania since President Taya was re-
moved from power by a military coup on 3rd August 2005. The
AREA
great novelties in these first free elections in Mauritania were
102,532 kmq
the 20 percent quota reserved to female candidates and the free
access to independent candidates, among them moderate Mus- POPULATION
lim elements. On 24th June a national referendum had already 3,139,000
approved the text of the new Constitution, which partially
REFUGEES
amends a number of articles in the 1991 version, including the
oath sworn by the president. 30,471
Although a decree of 1981 forbids slavery, there are many INTERNALLY
people in this country who have been released from slavery DISPLACED
and continue effectively to suffer discrimination in the eyes ---
of the law, in the workplace and in their social lives, due to
the fact that they were previously slaves. This has also been
said by Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, leader of the campaign
RELIGIOUS
against slavery and a candidate in the 2006 elections (he
ADHERENTS
came fourth among the 19 candidates), who tried unsuccess-
fully to ensure that this issue was added to the Constitution-
al Charter.
The law governing family matters is the Shari‘a.
The Islamic religion is taught in both private and state schools.
MAURITANIA
In July 2003 a new law basically restricted freedom of expres-
Muslims 99.1%
sion, transforming all mosques into state organisations con- Ethnoreligionists 0.5%
trolled by the Ministry responsible for Islamic worship. Affiliated Christians 0.3%
Others 0.1%
The Bible can neither be printed nor sold; however, possession
of one is not officially punished by the law. Baptized Catholics
To this day, no religious group other than Islam has been offi- 5,000
cially recognised.
The ZENIT Agency published a note, detailing the explanation
given below by a Catholic bishop in Mauritania on the differ-
ence between an Islamic and an islamist republic and citing this
country as an example of the former. Bishop Martin Happe of
Nouakchott, explained that since Mauritania is an Islamic and
not an islamist republic, Catholic bishops are welcome in the
country and there are no restrictions imposed on the social
work of the Church in education and healthcare. He also added
that “in a country like Mauritania, where Islam is practically the
only thing shared by the various ethnic groups, Catholics and
315
Muslims must accept and respect their respective diversities”. In 2006 the diocese of
MAURITANIA
Nouakchott celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Sources
Il Giornale
Mondo e Missione
Reuters
ZENIT
316
MAURITIUS
The 1968 Constitution, amended in 1996, guarantees full reli-

gious freedom (Article 11).
Religious groups present in the country before independence
AREA
(e.g. Catholics, Presbyterians, Seventh Day Adventists, Hindus
2,040 kmq
and Muslims) were recognised by parliamentary decree and re-
ceive public funding. New groups must apply for registration. POPULATION
Missionary groups must obtain permission, both for the group 1,250,000
and for each individual. Last year 11 permits were refused out
REFUGEES
of the 226 requests presented by missionaries. Sometimes for-
eign missionaries are forbidden from staying for more than five ---
years, a period that would allow them to obtain citizenship. The INTERNALLY
religious groups affected are permitted to allow new missionar- DISPLACED
ies to travel to the country to replace them. ---
There is a strong correlation between ethnic origin and religion
(most Indians are Hindus or Muslims, the Chinese are Bud-
dhists or Catholics, Creoles and those of European descent are
RELIGIOUS
generally Catholics), a factor that can contribute to conflicts be-
ADHERENTS
tween the various communities, especially between the Hindu
majority and the Christian and Islamic minorities.
In March 2007 the Supreme Court banned the Hidayat-ul-Islam
mosque, situated in the residential area in the city of Quatre-
Bornes, from using loudspeakers for the muezzin’s daily call to
prayers, because this violated rules for noise prevention. There
Hindus 44%
were widespread protests from the Islamic community with Affiliated Christians 32.6%
MAURITIUS
street protests. This event led to a public debate on tolerance Muslims 16.9%
Others 6.5%
and religious liberty. The problem was resolved when the au-
thorities and the Islamic community agreed to a limit on sound Baptized Catholics
level for the loudspeakers. 312,000
317
MEXICO
Mexico changed its president in July 2007, with the election of

MEXICO
the centre-right PAN candidate. The extremely narrow victory

by Jesús Calderón, who had stood against the populist left-
AREA
winger, Manuel López Obrador, sparked off powerful political
1,958,201 kmq
confrontations. During the electoral battle, the Mexican episco-
POPULATION pate had emphasised the need to recognize religious liberty for
104,870,000 all denominations and to provide the necessary means for the
teaching of religion in the state schools (Fides, 28th April
REFUGEES
2006). The bishops firmly underlined the need to promote rec-
1,616 onciliation, respect one’s political adversaries and prevent out-
INTERNALLY breaks of violence (L’Osservatore Romano, 11th-12th Septem-
DISPLACED ber 2006). However, the political climate had become very
5,500 heated and there was even an assault on Cardinal Norberto
Rivera, the Archbishop of Mexico City, by militants of the left-
wing opposition PRD party, while he was celebrating Mass in
the cathedral (ZENIT, 6th November 2006; Radio Giornale Vat-
RELIGIOUS
icano, 6th November 2006). It was an event repeated a year lat-
ADHERENTS
er, when militants burst into the cathedral during Mass, attack-
ing the faithful, and the priests and the President of the Cathe-
dral Chapter, D. Rubén Ávila Enríquez, as they shouted insults
against Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Rivera (Vatican Ra-
dio, 20th November 2007; Fides, 26th November 2007; ACI
Prensa, 19th November 2007).
Non religious 3.1% At the same time the secularist tradition in Mexico contin-
Others 0.6% ues to produce clashes between the civil and ecclesial
spheres – as for example the announcement by the Mexican
Baptized Catholics
Senate that it would debar from their priestly functions any
96,370,000
member of the clergy accused of the abuse of minors –
thereby contravening the law regarding religious associa-
tions and public worship (ZENIT, 26th February 2007; Vati-
can Radio, 27th February 2007). On the other side there have
been a few initiatives by private citizens, claiming the right
of equality in religious liberty, and protesting at the restric-
tion in the rights of priests, solely on the grounds of their
ministerial role. (ACI Prensa, 25th July 2007).
With regard to the defence of life: on 24th April the legisla-
tive assembly of the federal district of Mexico City approved
the amendment of Article 144 of the Penal Code, thereby per-
mitting abortion up to the 12th week of gestation. Prior to the
318
approval of this law, the Church, in the person of the Archbishop of Mexico, Car-
dinal Norberto Rivera, had published a document stating that, in accordance with
the teaching of Church, any person who legislates against human life, and all who
promote and work to provide abortion, would thereby incur the penalty of excom-
munication (Noticias Globales, 26th April 2007).
MEXICO
319
MICRONESIA, FED. S.
Article IV (Declaration of Rights) of the Constitution of 1978

MICRONESIA, FED. S.
guarantees total religious freedom.

The government funds private schools run by religious groups.
AREA
Public schools offer no religious education. Missionaries of
702 kmq
various faiths can operate freely.
POPULATION Religious groups have their own schools, radio stations and a
110,000 cable TV network.
REFUGEES
2
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Others 3.4%
Baptized Catholics
60,000
320
MOLDOVA, REPUBLIC OF
Article 31 of the Moldovan Constitution permits full freedom of

religion. There is no established State religion, although the
Moldovan Orthodox Church enjoys greater privileges than other
AREA
religions and denominations. Registration is compulsory for re-
33,831 kmq
ligious groups, and legislation puts restrictions on non-registered
groups, such as the prohibition to buy land or other property, or POPULATION
the withholding of permits needed to build churches or seminar-
3,590,000
ies, rules that are at times circumvented by presenting requests
REFUGEES
in the names of individual members of the community.
Relations between religious groups are usually cordial, al- 151
though for years there has been a dispute between the two main INTERNALLY
Orthodox communities in the country. On 13th April 2006, a DISPLACED
priest of the Orthodox Church of Bessarabia (an autonomous ---
metropolis within the Romanian Orthodox Church) and a num-
ber of his parishioners in Foresti – a town in the north-east of
the country near the border with Ukraine – were attacked by lo-
RELIGIOUS
cal police and by members of the Moldovan Orthodox Church
ADHERENTS
(under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church that
was introduced by the Soviet occupiers after 1945) who were
trying to enter the church and disrupt their religious activities
(U. S. State Department: Report on International Religious
Freedom, 14th September 2006).
In January 2007, the government started a fund-raising cam-
paign for historical churches and monasteries, administered by Non religious 24.6%
the Moldovan Orthodox Church. By September about ten mil- Muslims 5.5%
Others 1.1%
lion lei had been collected, the equivalent of about US$
750,000. Baptized Catholics
Throughout 2006 the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day 20,000
Saints continued to report problems in registering. However,
they did obtain registration in December that year. The govern-
ment has repeatedly refused to register Islamic organisations
such as the Spiritual Organisation of Muslims in Moldova, set
up in 1992 in Kyiv, and the Muslim Central Spiritual Board of
Moldova. On 28th June 2007, however, the Supreme Court of
Justice ordered the authorisation for the first of these organisa-
tions to be verified, which reported that it had received contin-
uous threats from the police and new problems were encoun-
tered with the Ministry of Justice in the course of the year. On
19th May 2007, for example, the police filmed Islamic believ-
321
ers during Friday prayers, in an attempt to prove that there were legal violations in
their activities. The court however rejected these accusations as unfounded.

On 11th May 2007, the Moldovan Parliament passed a law addressing many problems
linked to religious issues. According to reports in the local press, on 18th June Presi-
dent Vladimir Voronin returned the law to the assembly to be reviewed, criticising the
fact that the new law did not consider the Orthodox Church as the country’s “tradi-
tional” religion, and that it simplified registration for non-traditional religious groups.
By the end of September no final decision had been reached.
The Transnistria region, situated between the eastern bank of the River Dniester and
the Ukrainian border, has declared itself a breakaway republic and the area not con-
trolled by the government. The authorities continue to deny registration to a number
of minority groups, even threatening their members. In mid September 2007 (report-
ed Forum 18 News Service) a restrictive bill for regulating groups in this region was
presented to Parliament. Should it be approved, it would prevent all religious commu-
nities not affiliated to existing and registered groups from obtaining legal status for ten
years. This would also mean that they would not be permitted to publish books or
newspapers, open religious educational centres, or invite foreign religious personnel.
On 4th April 2007, the European Council exhorted the Moldovan government to adopt
legislation clearly setting out the rights of religious groups.
Between 8th and 11th February, after a policeman had interrupted one of their study
sessions, members of the Evangelical community were arrested and interrogated in
Vadu Lui Voda – a seaside village on the right bank of the River Dniester, near Chisin-
au – challenging their right to hold religious services and the fact that they had invit-
ed a foreign speaker.
On 19th March 2007, five tombstones in the Jewish cemetery in Chisinau were over-
turned; similar incidents have taken place in previous years. In this same location, on
15th January that same year, the headquarters of the daily paper Timpul (The Times)
were attacked by about twenty people thought to be members of the Moldovan Ortho-
dox Church, who threw eggs at the windows of the offices in protest against articles
published by the newspaper, which had criticised a “caste” of local politicians.
322
MONACO
Article 9 of the Constitution of the principality establishes that

the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman religion is the religion of
the state. Article 17 guarantees that the Monegasques – citizens
AREA
of Monaco – are equal in the eyes of the law and there are no
1 kmq
individual privileges among them.
Article 23 guarantees “religious freedom, its public exercise, as POPULATION
well as the freedom to express one’s own opinions on all sub- 32,000
jects”, with the exception of “the repression of crimes commit-
REFUGEES
ted during the exercise this freedom” and also guarantees that
“no one may be constrained to participate in the activities and ---
ceremonies of a religion or to observe its days of rest”. INTERNALLY
There have been no reports of significant institutional changes DISPLACED
or notable incidents relating to religious freedom during 2006 ---
and 2007.
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Non religious 4.4%
Others 2.4%
Baptized Catholics
29,000 MONACO
323
MONGOLIA
Under Articles 9, comma 2, and 16, comma 15, of the Consti-

MONGOLIA
tution of 1992 freedom of religion is recognised, separating or-

ganised religion from political activities.
AREA
Religious education is not allowed in State schools, but the
1,566,500 kmq
government does allow foreign missionaries into the country.
POPULATION Each religious group must register and only those that are reg-
2,580,000 istered can engage in apostolate activities (but offering eco-
nomic incentives or other forms of pressure are banned). The
REFUGEES
government can limit the number of places of worship and
5 priests, and does in fact do so, relying on its regulatory author-
INTERNALLY ity to control these places.
DISPLACED Since registration requires a letter of approval by local city
--- councils or other local authorities, local governments in prac-
tice exercise a discretionary power over places of worship be-
cause approval by the Justice and the Internal Affairs Ministries
is usually a formality. Applicants who want to register must
RELIGIOUS
provide the names of those who are in charge of such places as
ADHERENTS
well as the names of the faithful.
A Filipino prelate from the Congregation of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary (CICM) arrived with two confreres in 1992 to
open the Mongolian Catholic mission.
Today, 64 missioners from 18 countries belonging to nine reli-
gious congregations and a Korean diocese, together with six lay
Non religious 39.7%
Ethnoreligionists 31.2% missioners from three countries, serve the local Church. Mean-
Buddhists 22.5% while the number of Catholics in the country has reached 415
Muslims 4.8%
Affiliated Christians 1.3% with 70 more Mongolians baptised in 2007. The year 2007 al-
Others 0.5% so marked the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplo-
matic relations between the Holy See and Mongolia.
Baptized Catholics
As of September 2007 there were 391 registered places of wor-
300
ship, of these 217 were Buddhist, 143 Christian and 24 Muslim.
Still, some Christian groups have complained that sometimes it
can take years for local officials to approve their application; at
times the latter think that there are too many churches or are will-
ing to authorise a church as long as a Buddhist temple is also
built. In March 2006 three unregistered churches in Tov province
and one in Selenge province were ordered to stop their activities.
324
MOROCCO
According to the Moroccan Constitution, “Islam is the State re-

ligion, guaranteeing freedom of religious practice for every-
one” (Art. 6). Faced with the ambiguity of this wording, which
AREA
is vague with regard to the freedom to choose one’s own reli-
446,550 kmq
gion, everything becomes a question of interpretation. This in-
terpretation is the competence of the King, as the “Commander POPULATION
of the faithful”, as is the responsibility of safeguarding respect 31,524,000
for Islam. In 1962, King Hassan II had provided his interpreta-
REFUGEES
tion of this Article, stating that the Jewish and the Christian re-
ligions could be practised in total freedom, since these are reli- 786
gions recognised by Islam. This, however, he specified, does INTERNALLY
not mean that Muslims are free to change religion or move over DISPLACED
to any other form of worship. But the Penal Code does not es- ---
tablish any punishment for voluntarily and freely chosen apos-
tasy, which is not therefore considered a crime.
The same Penal Code does however punish proselytising, but
RELIGIOUS
does not punish that of the islamic proselytism. Article 220 es-
ADHERENTS
tablishes a sentence of between six months and three years in
prison as well as a fine of between 100 and 500 dirham for any-
one attempting to make the faith of a Muslim waver, attempt-
ing to convert him to another religion, or use persuasive means
to exploit his weakness or his needs – or the utilisation for this
end of educational or health institutions, hostels or orphanages.
Muslims 98.3%
In addition to Muslims, only autochthonous (Moroccan-born) Affiliated Christians 0.6%
Jews are considered as having full Moroccan citizenship, due to Others 1.1%
their centuries-old presence in this kingdom. Currently, they

Baptized Catholics
number no more than 4,000 – whereas on the eve of independ-
ence in 1956 there were about 200,000 of them. As such, the
23,000 MOROCCO
government provides them with financial aid for their schools
as well as tax and customs exemptions. Moreover, a number of
Jews hold important appointments. One in fact, André Azoulay,
was appointed Royal Advisor by Hassan II, an appointment re-
newed by the current sovereign, Mohamed VI. Equally, the for-
mer Minister for Tourism, Serge Berdugo, who plays an impor-
tant role within his community, has been appointed the King’s
ambassador-at-large. Finally, Jews have their own courts, com-
petent as far as civil law is concerned.
As far as Christians are concerned, it is estimated that there are
currently about 50,000 in the country out of 30 million inhabi-
325
tants. Most of them are Catholics and foreigners of some 70 different nationalities, but
MOROCCO
there are also some neo-Protestants, especially Evangelicals, among Moroccan Chris-
tian converts.
The Catholic Church enjoys official recognition based on a Letter Patent II sent by
King Hassan to Pope John Paul II on 30th December 1983. Hence the Catholic Church
can publicly and freely carry out its pastoral activities and legally own property for its
work in the educational sector. A new school was opened in Casablanca in 2007. The
government also grants the Catholic Church a number of fiscal and customs exemp-
tions.
The ringing of church bells has however de facto been forbidden since 1960. Further-
more, selling Bibles in Arabic is not permitted, though French, English and Spanish
translations are allowed. Finally, Catholic and Protestant places of worship are close-
ly guarded by police following terrorist attacks in Casablanca in 2003.
The Catholic Church rigorously abstains from anything that might be considered
evangelising activities. In fact, according to Monsignor Vincent Landel, Archbishop
of Rabat, “The idea that one might violate the laws of Morocco is not even to be en-
tertained” (Aujourd’hui le Maroc, No. 978, 1st September 2005). Hence the following
order was given to the Trappist monks residing in Midelt, in the Atlas Mountains:
“Avoid all unnecessary provocation or excessive visibility in these troubled times”.
(Tel Quel, 14th–20th January 2006).
The attitude of some neo-Protestant groups of American origin is a different one. They
claim to have converted a few hundred Moroccans, now said to be over a thousand.
Some have become ministers. For example, the organisation called Arab World Min-
istries, present in Morocco, has the goal of announcing the Good News of a Saviour
to the Muslims of the Arab world, in obedience to the command of Our Lord and Sav-
iour Jesus Christ to preach the Good News to all mankind (Maroc Hebdo, No. 723,
8th–14th December 2006). While the law does not establish punishment for those who
have converted to another religion, such converts do suffer strong social ostracism.
Baptised Muslims find themselves obliged to practise their faith in private homes and
secret locations and not in the churches or temples.
On 28th November 2006, the trial court in Agadir sentenced an Evangelical Coptic
tourist, Sadek Noshi Yassa, an Egyptian of German nationality, to six months in prison
and a fine of 500 dirham. He was arrested in that city while trying to distribute Chris-
tian books to young people, after managing to engage them in a discussion on the sub-
ject of religion. Books and CD-ROMs urging people to convert to Christianity were
confiscated from his house (Maroc Hebdo, No. 723, 8th–14th December 2006).
There are also about 400 native Baha’is living in Morocco. They do not however en-
joy legal status because the government considers their beliefs heretical. After having
326
been persecuted at length during the 20th century for proselytism, they are now per-
mitted freedom of worship although, on the basis of a decision taken by King Hassan
II in 1983, this religion may not be practised publicly. In exchange for a peace agree-
ment with the Kingdom, the Baha’is are committed to refraining from proselytism.
There is also a small expatriate Hindu community present in Morocco. They are per-
mitted to cremate their dead and organise religious ceremonies.
Finally, according to a dahir (legal decree) dated 4th March 1960, a female Muslim
Moroccan citizen may not marry a non-Muslim unless he converts to Islam. This pro-
vision is based on a verse of the Koran that establishes this prohibition (cf. Koran 2,
221). In order to be able to marry her, the future husband must submit documentation,
in Arabic, testifying to his conversion. Moreover, a Christian or Jewish woman who
marries a Muslim loses all right to inherit from her husband and to custody of their
children, should she separate from him or be widowed.
MOROCCO
327
MOZAMBIQUE
Article 9 of the 1990 Constitution defines Mozambique as a

MOZAMBIQUE
“secular state”, and Article 78 guarantees religious freedom to-

gether with the right for religious denominations to pursue their
AREA
own objectives and to own what is necessary for the pursuance
801,590 kmq
of these objectives.
POPULATION In 2007 the government approved certain important measures,
20,774,000 including, for example, the restitution to religious organisations
of the places of worship confiscated by the Marxist regime in
REFUGEES
1977.
2,767 Religious instruction is strictly forbidden in the state schools,
INTERNALLY but allowed by law in private schools.
DISPLACED Relations between the various religious groups are reasonably
--- peaceful, although the Muslim leaders claim that they are not
sufficiently represented within government institutions.
In December 2006, the bishops of Mozambique expressed their
alarm at the increasing climate of violence, which has spread
RELIGIOUS
from the cities to the interior of the country, with banditry,
ADHERENTS
armed robberies and revenge killings. In their analysis of the
country’s social and economic problems, the bishops empha-
sised the high levels of unemployment that are pushing young
people into delinquency, leading them to live by stealing or fall
victim to drug addiction. According to the bishops, corruption
among public officials is also contributing to a weakening of
Affiliated Christians 38.4% social cohesion and undermining peace within the nation. In
Muslims 10.5% November, Brazilian Jesuit Father Waldyr dos Santos and Por-
Others 0.7%
tuguese voluntary aid worker Ilda Neto Gomes were murdered
Baptized Catholics in the Jesuit residence in Angonia, Tete province, by an armed
4,466,000 gang that had entered the house to burgle it.
Although the bishops have expressed their satisfaction as to the
good relations between State and Church, especially as far as
the educational sector is concerned, they have also emphasised
their right to express an opinion on such issues as legislation on
the family, abortion and divorce.
In October 2006 the government of Mozambique entrusted the
Salesian congregation with the management, programming, di-
rection and development of all activities for the professional
formation of teachers in the country. It did so with the formal
inauguration, on 17th October 2006, of the Don Bosco Higher
Institute of Formation for Professional Teaching and Manage-
328
ment, a state institution run by the Salesians. The Salesian International News Agency
confirmed that this centre is the only one of its kind and that lessons would begin in
June 2007. Under this scheme, about 80 Spanish school teachers were able to travel
to this African country as short-term voluntary workers.
MOZAMBIQUE
329
MYANMAR
The situation for human rights and religious freedom is getting

MYANMAR
worse in Myanmar. Last year was the year of the so-called

“Saffron Revolution”, when in August and September Buddhist
AREA
monks led a peaceful movement against the abuses and repres-
676,578 kmq
sive policies of the military regime that has run the country
POPULATION with an iron fist since 1962. Following the monks’ lead thou-
52,650,000 sands of people took to the streets. But by the end of Septem-
ber the military junta could no longer tolerate street protests
REFUGEES
and unleashed its forces against the protesters, especially tar-
--- geting Buddhist monks and monasteries. Official figures put
INTERNALLY the death toll at ten – 31 at least according to United Nations
DISPLACED sources – but the real number will probably never be known.
503,000 NGOs have talked about hundreds of dead and thousands of ar-
rests across the country.
Still, one consequence of the violence was to remove the veil
the military used to claim that they respected and protected
RELIGIOUS
Buddhist communities, thus showing it to be just a propaganda
ADHERENTS
exercise by the generals. In fact, in a country where monks are
immensely respected and have great sway over the population,
the military regime has traditionally used them whenever it felt
the need to do so. Thus state media outlets have often been keen
to publish photos which show the military making large dona-
tions to the most famous pagodas or standing side by side with
Buddhists 72.7%
Ethnoreligionists 12.6% some of the most important religious leaders. And yet whenev-
Affiliated Christians 8.3% er the monks did not toe the official line, the junta has never
Muslims 2.4%
Others 4% hesitated to persecute them.
Baptized Catholics Laws

646,000 The current military government, known as the State Peace and
Development Council, has led the country without a Constitu-
tion since 1988. Under its rule there has been no law to guaran-
tee religious freedom, but members of religious groups that
have registered with the authorities can formally practice their
faith. The junta has effectively imposed great restrictions and
has closely controlled the activities of every community to en-
sure that human rights and democracy remain forbidden topics.
For instance, minorities face great obstacles if they want to
build, repair or buy places for worship. Some local authorities
have gone so far as to destroy existing facilities. Although
330
officially there is no State religion, Theravada Buddhism is promoted, especially

among the ethnic minorities. Indeed, being Buddhist is a prerequisite for public serv-
ice employment or promotion through the military ranks.
In the mid-1960s, under General Ne Win’s rule, the military expelled almost all for-
eign missionaries and nationalised every school and hospital they ran. By the same to-
ken men and women religious cannot vote.
All organisations, including those based on religion, must register in order to be able
to buy and sell property or open a bank account. Leaders of religious groups registered
with the Interior Ministry and approved by the Religious Affairs Ministry can move
more freely than those that have no official recognition. Identity cards, which both
Burmese nationals and foreign residents must carry at all times, indicate the bearer’s
religious affiliation. Myanmar passports also show religious affiliation.
Situation of the Christians

Events in September 2007 raised great concern among religious minorities. The
Catholic Church, which backed the monk-led movement, told members of the clergy
not to take to the streets. “We told our priests and nuns not to take to the streets but to
pray instead because we are a minority and to carry on with our work – we must be
cautious,” Mgr Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of the former capital of Yangon, told
AsiaNews. “Of course our faithful were free to join the protests, but in our hearts we
were close to the Buddhist monks as well. In late September and in October in Yan-
gon there were raids every day against monasteries at 2 or 4 am. Anyone who tried to
get close to the monks to offer them some water or food was arrested.”
Benedict XVI was also deeply affected by the September violence against civilians
and monks. In the last Angelus address he made that month he made an appeal: “I am
following with great trepidation the dramatic events of the last few days in Myanmar
and wish to stress my spiritual closeness to that dear people at a time when it is going
through such a painful trial. As I reassure you of my intense and concerned prayer I
MYANMAR
urge the whole Church to do the same, truly hopeful that a peaceful solution [to the
crisis] can be found for the good of the country.” Mgr Dominique Mamberti, the Vat-
ican Secretary for Relations with States, reiterated that same appeal in his 1st October
address to the 62nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Myanmar Christians are particularly persecuted because they belong to certain ethnic
minorities like the Karen, who have been fighting the central government for recogni-
tion and the right to self-determination. Hence the military regime has tried to limit
evangelisation as well as the importation and distribution of Christian books. Since the
1960s all religious and non-religious publications have been subject to controls and
censorship. Although limited consignments of religious literature in minority
331
languages have been occasionally allowed without prior approval by the censorship
MYANMAR
board, it is still illegal to import Bibles written in local languages.

“Whilst we can pray, celebrate Mass and recite the Rosary, there is no true religious
freedom,” said some Yangon Catholics. Indeed priests cannot talk about or pray for
peace, justice or the respect of human rights, and the community lives in terror and
fear, aware that anyone might be arrested or tortured. “We are all subject to the law,”
lamented the same anonymous Catholic source, “but the junta is above it and uses
every method to silence the population.”
The hold the military has over the country has obstructed the local Church from exer-
cising its apostolate, creating difficulties regarding its relationship with the universal
Church. The difficulties in setting up new parishes mean that in some areas a single
priest is in charge of vast areas. In some places the parish priest can only meet his
parishioners three times a year, so only on those occasions can he offer them the Eu-
charist.
According to the annual Report on Religious Freedom published by America’s De-
partment of State, Christians in Chin State have bitterly complained that since 1997
the government has prevented them from building a single church. In cities like Yan-
gon and Mandalay the authorities have allowed Christian communities to build new
centres, but only if they agreed not to hold services within or avoided putting religious
symbols on view. Despite the restrictions under which it lives, the Burmese Church is
growing. There are a lot of vocations and conversions among the animistic minorities,
and many priests and nuns go abroad in missions among non-Christians.
Situation of the Buddhists

In 2007 a virtual persecution campaign was unleashed against Buddhist religious be-
cause of the peaceful anti-government marches they started in August, first as protest
against gas price hikes and later in favour of reforms, peace and democracy. In re-
sponse Buddhist leaders from the All Burmese Monks Alliance called on every monk
to boycott offerings made by military people, a type of protest so significant that it is
tantamount to excommunication. When the junta’s reaction to protests and marches
came, it was utterly violent. On 26th September soldiers fired on crowds in Yangon.
Eyewitness accounts cited for weeks by news agencies and dissident websites outside
the country (Democratic Voice of Burma, Mizzima News and The Irrawaddy) told sto-
ries of ransacked monasteries, burning at night. Altogether at least 6,000 people were
arrested.
For thousands of years, Buddhist holy sites have always been respected. The generals’
outrage was thus unprecedented: convents and pagodas were assaulted, ancient Bud-
dhas were decapitated to extract precious gems, monks were killed or arrested. In an
attempt to put down the protest movement, the authorities in early October summoned
332
the abbots from the country’s major monasteries and ordered them to move their com-
munities from the cities into the countryside, effectively shutting them down. For
monks, who depend on alms for a living, this was a lifetime sentence to an existence
of even greater than usual privation in the country’s remotest and most deprived areas.
The government above all fears the activity of the novices, because of the leading role
they played in the demonstrations. This explains why they also ordered the closure of
all seminaries and the return of all their students to their village of origin.
Among the cities Yangon, centre of the protest movement, and Mandalay were the
hardest-hit. Overnight on 26th September, the Ngwekyaryan Monastery in the old cap-
ital was ransacked and vandalised. Money and jewels that had been donated to the in-
stitution disappeared and about a hundred monks were arrested.
The BBC reported that many monks were shipped off to prisons in the northern part
of the country. Some pro-government sources said that in a week of repression some
4,000 monks had been rounded up in Yangon alone.
Official sources claimed that only ten people died in the incidents, but human rights
activists put the real number closer to 200 with another 1,000 or more who simply dis-
appeared. Monasteries as well as protesters’ and opposition leader’s homes in Man-
dalay were raided throughout the month of October as well.
On 8th October, AsiaNews reported that “persecutory” measures were imposed on
monasteries. Parallel to that the government waged a smear campaign against the
monks who, according to state media outlets like The New Light of Myanmar, did not
“follow Buddha’s teachings,” but instead violated “his laws and thus deserve to be
punished” – as common criminals, not as political prisoners, however, they hastened
to stress. In an evident attempt to discredit the monks and portray them as “hotheads”
manipulated by Western powers, with the United States as the leading culprit, official
media repeatedly ran stories about the alleged discovery of pornographic material and
condoms in monasteries.
At the end of October the authorities shut down the Maggin Monastery in the town of
MYANMAR
Thingangyun, near Yangon. Two monks, six novices and two lay people who lived in
the compound were thrown out. Mizzima News reported they were moved to the Ka-
ba Aye Pagoda. The monastery was believed to be close to the National League for
Democracy (NLD), the opposition party led by Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi, who has been under house arrest for many years.
Maggin Monastery was well-known for treating HIV/AIDS patients from Yangon.
With the place now closed, patients have been moved to Wai Ba Gi Hospital in the
town of North Okklapa, not far from the old capital. By the time its doors were locked
soldiers had already raided it four times since September. Its abbot U Indaka, a former
political prisoner, is still held at an unknown location, but he is not alone; other Mag-
gin monks are behind bars because of the September protests. In October the Dalai
333
Lama expressed his solidarity for Burmese monks, calling on the junta to refrain from
MYANMAR
using violence. Analysts believe that the anti-monk violence has caused a rift in the
army, this in a country with very deep religious roots.
Situation of the Muslims

Muslims face the same restrictions as Christians do as far as publishing religious lit-
erature and building places of worship are concerned. They continue to suffer perse-
cution at the hands of the military, in particular the Rohingya minority in Rakhine
State. In early 2007 Muslims living in this state fixed a mosque damaged by bad
weather only to see their repair work torn down by the authorities once the latter found
out.
334
NAMIBIA
The secular nature of the State is confirmed in the introduction

to the 1990 Constitution, and Article 21/c guarantees freedom
to freely practice and express one’s religion.
AREA
Article 20/4 also establishes the right to run private schools on
824,292 kmq
condition that students are accepted whatever their race, colour
or beliefs. POPULATION
Religious organisations do not have to register and are free to 2,336,000
operate if in compliance with current legislations.
REFUGEES
Sources 6,525
Afrobarometer Surveys INTERNALLY
Political Resources on the Net DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Ethnoreligionists 6%
Others 1.7%
Baptized Catholics
405,000 NAMIBIA
335
NAURU
Article 11 of the Constitution of 1968 of this small democracy

NAURU
recognises full religious freedom; however, this right can be

limited to the extent that a “law makes provision which is rea-
AREA
sonably required […] in the interests of defence, public safety,
21 kmq
public order, public morality or public health”.
POPULATION The government has used this possibility to control and limit
10,000 the activities of some foreign religious groups like the Mor-
mons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, sometimes prompted by the lo-
REFUGEES
cal Catholic and Protestant Churches.
--- Between 2000 and 2007 no Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon mis-
INTERNALLY sionary was allowed into the country. The government discour-
DISPLACED aged the proselytising activities of these groups for the stated
--- purpose of preventing possible dissentions within families. At
the end of 2007 these restrictions were lifted.
Religious groups must in any event register to operate. The
Catholic Church and two long-standing Protestant denomina-
RELIGIOUS
tions, the Nauru Congregational Church and the Kiribati
ADHERENTS
Protestant Church, are officially recognised.

Non religious 20.5%
Traditional chinese
religions 10.5%
Baha’i 9.4%
Others 5.1%
Baptized Catholics
3,000
336
NEPAL
The provisional Constitution promulgated on 15th January 2007

guarantees freedom of religion but explicitly prohibits all apos-
tolate activities, on pain of fines, prison terms and, for foreign- AREA
ers, expulsion. Personal conversion is possible. The previous 147,181 kmq
Constitution of 1990 defined the country as a “Hindu king-
dom”, albeit without making Hinduism the State religion. With POPULATION
some restrictions, all religious groups enjoyed widespread tol- 23,890,000
erance.
REFUGEES
The last two years have seen momentous changes in the coun-
130,681
try, with democracy restored, an armistice between the govern-
ment and Maoist rebels, who eventually joined the provisional INTERNALLY
government, the proclamation of a secular and democratic state DISPLACED
and the progressive loss of all the powers of the king. 50,000
On 24th April, after 19 days of consecutive street protests by
hundreds of thousands of people involving violent clashes with
the army and leaving at least 18 dead, King Gyanendra, by now RELIGIOUS
isolated and antagonised by just about everyone, restored the ADHERENTS
parliament which he had dissolved on 1st February 2005, hand-
ing over power to a coalition of the seven parties formerly in
parliament at the time of its dissolution.
On 18th May 2006 parliament declared Nepal to be a secular
state, stripping the king of all executive power, including that
of commander-in-chief of the armed forces. In June 2007 the Hindus 75.5%
parliament also decided to abolish the 238-year-old monarchy. Ethnoreligionists 9.4%
Buddhists 8.2%
For Hindus the king of Nepal is the reincarnation of the god Muslims 3.9%
Vishnu. Affiliated Christians 2.4%
Others 0.6%
The decision was welcomed by the country’s religious minori-
ties, especially the Christian and Muslim communities, above Baptized Catholics
all because it meant the right to assembly and to freely practise
7,000
one’s faith, something hitherto not formally recognised under
the Hindu monarchy, although accepted in practice. By con-
NEPAL
trast, it sparked strong protests among Hindu groups, not only

in Nepal but also in neighbouring India, who even called for the
issue to be put to a referendum. There have been continuing
street protests since then, for example on 25th May 2006, when
tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in the streets of
Birgunj brandishing tridents and yellow flags, shouting slogans
against democratic parties. Or again, on 19th September in
Kathmandu, when thousands of them demanded the restoration
337
of the Hindu monarchy. In August 2006 Hindus and Maoists clashed in the city of
NEPAL
Bhairahawa.
On 26th May 2006 Maoist rebels and the government signed an armistice and on 21
November 2006 a peace accord, bringing an end to the civil war that had raged since
1996, causing great economic losses and more than 13,000 deaths. However, the
Maoist rebels later failed to live up to their promise to dissolve their army and decom-
mission their weapons. Consequently they remain an armed threat, still intimidating
people with violence. And as the United Nations pointed out in a critical note in Feb-
ruary 2007, the Maoists have yet to discharge thousands of forcibly-conscripted child
soldiers.
On 1st April 2007 the seven-party coalition and the Maoists formed a provisional gov-
ernment and parliament that will stay in power till the election of a Constituent As-
sembly which will draft the new Constitution. However, the Maoists have forced a de-
lay in the election, first scheduled for June 2007, then for November and now set for
10th April 2008.
At the end of 2007 the government approved four new religious and ethnic holidays
to honour the country’s minorities, namely Christmas, the Nepalese festival of Losar
(the Tibetan New Year celebrated by the Janaajati and other ethnic groups), Chhad
(which is celebrated by Nepal’s Madhesi people) and an Islamic holiday.
Christian-run educational institutions have existed in the country for quite some time,
including fully-recognised schools and a university, albeit on the condition that non
Hindu religious teachings not be taught. Now the new secular state has also recog-
nised Muslim and Buddhist schools. The state has even decided to make a contribu-
tion of 9,000 Nepali rupees per school, and will additionally pay for teacher salaries.
It will require, though, that non-religious textbooks also be used, in English and
Nepalese, from a list approved by the country’s Education Board.
Catholics
Mgr Anthony Sharma, appointed Nepal’s first Catholic bishop in May 2007, told
AsiaNews that for years Catholics “were not allowed to go out of the [Kathmandu]
valley,” by direct order of the king, who allowed men and women religious to teach
but banned all kind of missionary and evangelising activity. But now the royal decrees
are no longer law, so Catholics are free to carry out any activity. “Now the situation is
different and the king cannot do anything to stop our activities. The people see us and
join us,” the prelate said.

On 25th April 2007 a Hindu fundamentalist group called the Nepal Defence Army
(NDA), whose goal is to restore the Hindu monarchy, threw a bomb against the
338
“Grace Children Home”, an orphanage in Birganj run by a Pentecostal community.

The NDA has accused the school administrators of converting children and getting
funds from pro-Maoist organisations. One of the 80 war-orphaned children living in
the facility was wounded. Praban, one of NDA’S local co-ordinators, told AsiaNews
that “the Christian owners of the home are obviously converting Hindu and Buddhist
children from the hills and mountains to Christianity. […] The bomb was a warning
against their nefarious project.” Orphanage administrators have dismissed all the
charges, saying that their work “is to help and educate poor children who have lost
their families.”
Christians have also complained about the Maoists for frequently extorting money
from churches, threatening retaliatory action against the faithful and their property. In
October 2006 the Maoists shut down the Kashi Gaun Church in the village of Kashi
(Gorkha), taking advantage of a dispute that pitted the church against local residents.
After the intervention by the Nepali Inter-faith Council, the residents were persuaded
that there could not be any restrictions on religious freedom and in February 2007 the
Maoists agreed to the re-opening of the church.
Muslims
Following the murder in early September 2007, in Kapilvastu district, of Mohit Khan,
a Muslim leader and politician as well as former head of an anti-Maoist group, an an-
gry crowd of Muslims began street fighting, burning cars and more than 200 Hindu-
owned homes. A Hindu car driver was butchered in the street. The mob also set fire to
more than 20 public buildings and slaughtered a policeman, Hasan Puri. Many busi-
nesses were also looted. In retaliation, Hindus attacked Muslim homes, destroyed two
mosques and set fire to many homes. Only after several days did police regain control
of the situation. In the final toll more than 150 people were wounded and five head-
less bodies, believed to be Hindus, were found in local fields. Anyone able to flee to
neighbouring districts did so because they did not feel safe even in their own homes.
Hindu discrimination
Upper caste Hindus continue to discriminate against members of lower castes as well
NEPAL
as foreigners, despite a constitutional ban on such treatment. In many Hindu temples
clerics have prevented Dalits from entering, going so far as to physically assault them
in order to keep them out. The police have usually been reluctant to arrest those re-
sponsible for such acts of violence.
In April 2007 in Parbat district Dalits were denied the right to take high school admis-
sion exams. On 4th March 2007 more than 100 Dalit families had to flee their village
in Rautahat district as a result of clashes with upper-caste Hindus. They were only able
to return home a few days later, and only after police intervention.
339
NETHERLANDS
The very first article of the Constitution establishes that “all

NETHERLANDS
persons in the Netherlands shall be treated equally in equal cir-

cumstances” and that “discrimination on the grounds of reli-
AREA
gion, belief, political opinion, race or sex or on any other
41,526 kmq
grounds whatsoever shall not be permitted.” Article 6 guaran-
POPULATION tees that “everyone shall have the right to freely profess his re-
16,340,000 ligion or belief, either individually or in community with oth-
ers, without prejudice to his responsibility under the law”,
REFUGEES
though Parliament can establish “rules concerning the exercise
86,587 of this right other than in buildings and enclosed places […] for
INTERNALLY the protection of health, in the interest of traffic and to combat
DISPLACED or prevent disorders.”
---
Christians
The cultural pressure caused by relativism results in problems
of legal discrimination of Christians. For example, a Christian
RELIGIOUS
person who applies for a medical function and declares not to
ADHERENTS
be available to assist on abortion or euthanasia will not be ad-
mitted. Neither is a person working in civil service able to re-
fuse to register a gay-couple in a civil wedding.
Muslims
There are more and more groups of former Muslims who are
Non religious 14.2% calling on the authorities to protect those who have changed re-
Others 5.4% ligion from the violence of the fanatics. They are in fact ac-
cused of being apostates, among other things because they do
Baptized Catholics
not follow the rules of Koranic Law and indeed criticise them.
4,883,000
One particularly significant case was that involving Ayaan Hir-
si Ali. A former liberal Member of Parliament, of Somali ori-
gin, she was also the script writer for the film “Submission”
about the repression of women in Islamic culture. After receiv-
ing death threats and being given police protection after the di-
rector of the film “Submission”, Theo Van Gogh, was assassi-
nated by an Islamic extremist in November 2004, Ali left Hol-
land in 2006 to settle in the United States. The government in
The Hague had guaranteed to take care of the ex-member of
parliament’s security during her first year in the United States,
e.g. until October 2007.
340
In March 2006 the Dutch equal opportunities commission judged as “indirectly dis-
criminatory, on religious grounds” the refusal by the regional educational centre in
Utrecht to allow Fatima Amghar to follow its teaching programmes. Initially, the
woman had been excluded from these courses because her religious beliefs, as a Mus-
lim woman, forbade her from shaking hands with men over the age of 12.
Judaism
Between July and August 2006, coinciding with the Israeli-Lebanese war, the Centre
for Information and Documentation on Israel enumerated various instances of vio-
lence against Jewish targets.
Sources
Mark Mardell, Dutch MPs to decide on burqa ban, 16th January 2006
Muslim Woman Wins Case Vs. Dutch school, Associated Press, 28th March 2006
Sam Wilson, Dutch Imams “Leaving in Droves”, BBC News, 19th January 2007
Toby Sterling, Group for Ex-Muslims Expands Across Europe, Associated Press,
11th September 2007
NETHERLANDS
341
NEW ZEALAND
All rights relating to religious freedom are recognised in Part 2

NEW ZEALAND
of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act of 1990, which was

amended in 1993. There is no State religion and religious
AREA
groups are not required to register with the authorities, but do-
270,534 kmq
ing so allows them to take advantage of tax benefits. Political
POPULATION parties based on religion are allowed.
4,140,000 Many schools are run by the Catholic Church and other Chris-
tian groups and receive public funds. The law prohibits reli-
REFUGEES
gious education during school hours, but it is standard practice
2,740 to allow religious meetings and prayer upon request.
INTERNALLY In 2006 the Education Minister proposed a bill that would ban
DISPLACED all religious activities in schools, arguing that non-believers
--- might feel compelled to participate in them in order not to feel
excluded. However, the proposal met with strong opposition
from political leaders and bishops, who said that any prohibi-
tion was unfeasible and unnecessary. In the end the draft law
RELIGIOUS
was withdrawn.
ADHERENTS
Traditional religious beliefs and magical practises are still
widespread.
Catholics
The Church complained after a TV station broadcast in Febru-
ary 2006 a cartoon from the South Park series that it deemed of-
Non religious 13.6% fensive because it showed a statue of the Virgin spraying blood,
Others 2.9% explaining that it was not a miracle but menstrual blood. It filed
a complaint, calling the episode “tasteless, crass and ugly”, but
Baptized Catholics
its request was rejected, first by the country’s Broadcasting
499,000
Standards Authority, and then in August 2007 by the High
Court, which based its decision on the principle of freedom of
expression.
Muslims
In July 2005 the mosque and Islamic cultural centres in the city
of Auckland were hit by acts of vandalism and offensive graf-
fiti. Some people interpreted these atypical acts as a reaction to
an attack by Islamic fundamentalists in London that same
month, which were also condemned by New Zealand’s Muslim
342
community as a “despicable act […] senseless, shameful and totally against the teach-
ings of Islam,” a “barbaric act against humanity”.
Mgr Patrick Dunn, Bishop of Auckland, immediately expressed his total “solidarity”,
assuring “the Islamic community of Auckland that we are with you in thought and
prayer”.
NEW ZEALAND
343
NICARAGUA
This country in Central America has been one of the few to re-
NICARAGUA
gain a few areas of liberty. On 26th October 2006, the National

Assembly approved the abolition of Article 165 of the Penal
AREA
Code, which had decriminalised therapeutic abortion. This leg-
130,000 kmq
islative measure was supported by a group of 200,000
POPULATION Nicaraguans, headed by the episcopal conference and the rep-
5,530,000 resentatives of the Evangelical Churches (Noticias Globales,
27th October 2006). However, those opposed to life tried to put
REFUGEES
pressure on people through disruptive acts, such as the violent
184 intrusion into the Cathedral of Managua (ACI Prensa, 1st Octo-
INTERNALLY ber 2007). The measure was a delicate one, since the country
DISPLACED was under pressure from the European Union and the United
--- Nations to give in to their own anti-life policies. The following
month, Daniel Ortega the former leader of the Sandinista Front
and former president of the country in 1979, was once again
elected – this time democratically – as Head of State. Howev-
RELIGIOUS
er, he has regularised his situation, by marrying the woman
ADHERENTS
with whom he had been living, and voted for the abolition of
the abortion law (Mondo e Missione, November 2006). With
this change of image and behaviour, he appears to have left be-
hind his past attempts to create a communist-style state in the
country.
Others 3.7% Sources
ACI Prensa
Baptized Catholics Mondo e Missione
4,928,000 Noticias Globales
344
NIGER
Religious freedom is recognised by the 1996 Constitution

which, in Article 4, establishes the separation between religion
and the state, while Article 23 guarantees freedom of religion
AREA
and worship.
1,267,000 kmq
The law forbids political movements that are affiliated to a par-
ticular religious creed, and religious instruction is not allowed POPULATION
in state schools. 13,039,000
On 9th January2006 the small Catholic community celebrated
REFUGEES
its 75th anniversary of bearing witness to its faith in a country
that is almost entirely Muslim. The first Catholic communities 319
were established by Christians arriving from neighbouring INTERNALLY
countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Togo. Over DISPLACED
time, a number of immigrants have settled in Niger and brought ---
up families that are still, at least to some extent, seen as foreign-
ers and adherents of a religion that is extraneous to the local
culture. They do however have good relations with the local au-
RELIGIOUS
thorities, partly this is attributable to the way in which the
ADHERENTS
Catholic Church has upheld human dignity. In the last two
years in particular, Catholic nutrition centres have played a ma-
jor role in distributing food to people suffering from the famine
that has for some time now been afflicting the country.
In 2006 and 2007 the government tried various ways of pro-
moting dialogue between the various religions, including set-
Muslims 90.7%
ting up a Ministry of Religious Affairs. Ethnoreligionists 8.7%
In 2006 two rallies organised by Muslim activists were stopped Affiliated Christians 0.6%
and dispersed by the police, using force. One of the two rallies
Baptized Catholics
was a protest against women’s rights as approved by the Ma-
19,000
puto Protocol, which they considered to be in contradiction to
the Islamic religion. In Niger there is also a problem linked to
arranged marriages between families, which sees children of 10
years age already married and which, in a break with the past,
NIGER
has been condemned by a number of traditional leaders, who
have asked the authorities to intervene in this matter.
In October 2006 PeaceReporter claimed that 150,000 Ma-
hamid Muslims had been expelled from the country in Eastern
Niger. According to Idy Baraou, the BBC’s correspondent in the
capital, the Mahamids, who are part of Niger’s military and
commercial élite, are often socially discriminated against.
345
NIGERIA
Government policies, new laws

NIGERIA
Nigeria’s Constitution recognises freedom of religion, includ-

ing the right to express and spread one’s religious belief and the
AREA
right to convert to another religion. Chapter 1, Section 10 of the
923,768 kmq
Constitution says that the “Government of the Federation or of
POPULATION a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion.” Howev-
138,330,000 er, Nigeria is a member of the Organisation of the Islamic Con-
ference (OIC) and, since 2000, 12 of its 36 states (Bauchi, Bor-
REFUGEES
no, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger,
8,460 Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara, all in the North) have begun enforc-
INTERNALLY ing Shari‘a or Islamic Law not only in civil matters like fami-
DISPLACED ly law as practised until then, but also in criminal matters. Zam-
1,210,000 fara State has also set up a Religious Affairs Ministry and an
Imam Council.
In principle Shari‘a law does not apply to non-Muslims in civ-
il and criminal matters, nor should it in apostasy cases. Yet the
RELIGIOUS
lives of many non-Muslims in Nigeria have, in various ways,
ADHERENTS
been impacted upon wherever Shari‘a is enforced. In Kano
State for instance alcohol cannot be consumed in public and the
distribution of alcoholic beverages is banned; in other states al-
cohol can only be consumed inside federal buildings like mili-
tary barracks or police stations. In Zamfara State public trans-
port, schools and health facilities are strictly segregated by sex.
Muslims 43.9% Shari‘a states extensively fund mosque building and pilgrim-
Ethnoreligionists 9.8% ages to Mecca. They do the same for Christian churches and
Others 0.4%
pilgrimages to Jerusalem but only to a significantly lesser ex-
Baptized Catholics tent. Many Christian churches in northern Nigeria and some
20,957,000 Muslim groups in the south complain that the local authorities
use building regulations in order to deny them permission to
build new places of worship.
In some Shari‘a states those accused of an offence can choose
whether to be tried under Shari‘a-inspired laws or under secu-
lar law. This choice, however, isn’t given in all States, and in at
least five states appeals are pending against Shari‘a sentences
which impose the amputation of limbs or death by stoning.
346
School situation
Nigeria’s Constitution does not make religious education mandatory in state-run
schools, but in many Shari‘a states Muslim students are required to attend religious
classes.
Students from other religious backgrounds have the right to request education in their
own religion. But few in the northern states can teach “Christian Religious Knowl-
edge”. Similarly, few teachers can teach “Islamic Religious Knowledge” in the south.
Rev. Fr. Albert Ebosele of Sokoto dioceses said that Christian students in High Schools
in Sokoto State are compelled to dress in the Islamic dress code (hijab) for school.
Inter-faith Dialogue
Inter-faith dialogue is being actively practised, thanks to initiatives by non-govern-
mental organisations like Kano’s Inter-Ethnic Forum and Kaduna’s Inter-Faith Medi-
ation Center and Muslim/Christian Dialogue Forum.
In both Kano and Kaduna sectarian violence has been high. In 2004 some 700 people
died and many church buildings were destroyed in clashes between indigenous Mus-
lims and Christian immigrants.
In June 2007 incoming President Umaru Yar’Adua said that he would set up an Advi-
sory Inter-Faith Council including Christians and Muslims to prevent inter-communal
violence.
In April the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), an organisation that represents
all Christian Churches, and the National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs
(NSCIA) had released a joint statement calling on their respective communities to
practice mutual tolerance in the upcoming electoral campaign.
In June 2007 the newly-elected president set up a National Haj Commission. He also
said that he would create a similar commission for Christian pilgrimages. The deputy
chairman of the presidential committee for Christian pilgrimage confirmed that point
on 1st October 2007.
NIGERIA
Intolerance and Discrimination
The most widespread acts of religious intolerance and discrimination have been against
the Christian communities in the more Islamised states of northern Nigeria (almost in-
variably coinciding with the 12 Shari‘a states). They include false charges of blasphe-
my made against Christian students and teachers, which force them to withdraw from
the schools where they study or teach; the withholding of permits to Christians for
building churches and cemeteries; the demolition of allegedly “illegal” Christian places
of worship; the abduction and forced conversion of teenagers, especially girls, who are
then given in marriage to Muslim men; discrimination against Christians in the public
sector and in the provision of state services; intimidation and death threats against Mus-
347
lim converts to Christianity; the trial of Christians in Shari‘a courts, even though they
NIGERIA
have the right not be judged by such tribunals; the imposition on Christian female stu-
dents of the Islamic dress code in state schools; the manipulation of the admissions cri-
teria for state schools and universities, so as to favour only Muslims.
Rev. Fr. Albert Ebosele of Sokoto diocese which encompasses Sokoto, Katsina, Keb-
bi and Zamfara States averred that indigenous Christians in these States marginalized
in appointments to political offices. Christians are often not promoted in their places
of work and their juniors are made their bosses.
Converts under Threat

Rev Nuhu Mamman, an ECWA pastor in Kebbi State, reports that as a result of threats
against converts in the northern part of the state, his community has had to move many
of them to other parts of Nigeria. Both the Reverend Mamman and Adamu Sunday
Peni, deputy secretary of CAN’s Kebbi chapter, have denounced the forced conver-
sion of Christians to Islam in several places in Kebbi.
In Borno State Christian converts from the mostly Islamic Kanuri and Shuwa ethnic
groups have been persecuted and their lives have been threatened.
Fr. Timothy Barga of Maiduguri diocese said that Christians are not allowed to hold
public rallies or prayer conventions and they cannot freely acquire land for Church
buildings. Fr. T. Barga added that it is nearly impossible to find a single indigenous
Kanuri Christian as he/she will be killed for being a Christian.
Discrimination in the workplace and in school

Rev. Fr. David Helon stated that the indigenous Christian people of Bauchi State are
highly marginalized in terms of employment, admission into schools, political ap-
pointments and Christian dominated villages are often neglected in the provision of
basic amenities like pipe borne water, electricity, surfaced roads and clinics.
Rev. Fr. Moses Maaji in the diocese of Maidiguri, said that anybody bearing a name of
Christian origin will not be given employment with Yobe State government. As such,
Christians who are indigenous to Yobe State either change their names or use the Hausa
version (i.e. Moses is Musa in Hausa) before they can gain employment. So they use
Musa instead of Moses, Ishaku instead of Isaac, Mariyamu instead of Mary, in a bid to
conceal their Christian identity, so that they can secure employment. Even after this,
they will have to continue to hide their religious identity so that they are not sacked.
Rev. Fr. Habila Musa of Kano diocese reported that in Kano State, the people of the
State who are Christians have to change their English Christians names to Hausa equiv-
alents in order to be recognized as indigenous. He said in Kano State, the common
notion is that no one who is Christian can be indigenous to Kano. If you are a Christ-
348
ian, you automatically lose your rights and privileges as an indigenous person of the
state.
James Kagbu, a professor at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria (Kaduna State) and
secretary of the university’s Joint Chapel Council, has condemned university policies
that favour Muslim students and exclude Christian applicants. In just a few years such
policies have turned an institution where Christians were three times the number of
Muslims into a Muslim-dominated place where Christians represent only 7,000 stu-
dents out of a total of 25,000.
Rev Ali Buba Lamido, Anglican bishop of Wusasa in Kaduna State, has complained
that predominantly Christian residential areas have been neglected by local govern-
ment authorities who have failed to build roads, clinics and waterworks.
Rev Adamu Sunday Peni, CAN deputy secretary in Kebbi State, condemned the ex-
clusion of Christians from state government appointments. In the entire state public
service there is only one non Muslim top official. Pastor Sati Riba of the Redemption
Power Ministry also complained that only one of the state’s 12 permanent secretaries
is Christian.
Rev. Fr. Moses Maaji, a priest of Maiduguri diocese who works in Potiskum, Yobe
State (Yobe state is part of Maiduguri diocese) said that in 2006, the Commissioner
for Education told them at a meeting with school proprietors that any School belong-
ing to a Church will not be approved by the Yobe State Government. Fr. Maaji said
that anything that presents Christianity is highly hated by Yobe State Muslims and au-
thorities.
Shari‘a applied to Christians

In Kano State Rev Murtala Marti Dangora, District Church Council secretary for the
Evangelical Church of West Africa, complained that Hisbah police have forced Chris-
tian women to submit to the Islamic dress code and stopped them from travelling by
motorbike taxis.
Suleiman Wurno, an attorney in the city of Bauchi, has reported that many Christians
NIGERIA
in the city have been tried by State Islamic courts, an allegation also made by Rev
Joseph Hayap, CAN secretary in Kaduna, and Elder Saidu Dogo, general secretary of
the latter’s northern Nigeria chapter.
On 4th August 2006 the Borno Shari‘a High Court took away custody of three girls
from their divorced father, because he had had converted to Christianity, and granted
it to the relatives of the girls’ mother, who had abducted them in November 2004.
Abductions for the purpose of conversion

In 2006 and 2007 dozens of cases were reported of the abduction of Christian children
and adolescents in the states of Bauchi and Sokoto, for the purpose of conversion and
349
forced marriage. In Sokoto State a boy was able to flee and make his way home after
NIGERIA
six months of captivity.
Churches demolished and building permits denied by the authorities

In January 2006 demolition orders were served on the leaders of 14 churches in the
city of Gusau, Zamfara State, signed by State Governor Alhaji Ahmed Sani. “We can-
not get land, because there is a deliberate government policy to deny Christians land
to build churches,” said Rev John Garba Danbinta, Gusau’s Anglican bishop. The
ECWA too has been denied the right to build its own churches in five cities in the state,
but “Gov. Sani, in the six years since introducing Shari‘a in the state, has used public
funds to build 70 mosques, but not even a single church has been constructed by this
government” said Rev Barnabas Sabo of the ECWA.
Fr. Albert Ebosele of Sokoto diocese said that Christians cannot buy land for building
Churches in Sokoto. Sometimes, the certificates of occupancy of Christian Churches
are revoked and the land seized by the government like the case of the Catholic
Church in Kankia. Conversion from Islam to Christianity is not allowed as such con-
verts will be killed.
Rev Canon Bala Williams, an Anglican priest, speaking the day after the election of
Umaru Yar’Adua as Nigeria’s president, pointed out that when he had been governor
in Katsina state, the new president had introduced Shari‘a law and therby “impinged
on Christian liberty”. Indeed, “we have not been allowed to worship freely, as church-
es have been denied places of worship,” Williams said. He added that in “the GRA
(Government Reservation Area), for example, it is not possible to get land for places
of worship by Christians.” In Charanchi and Bakori Anglicans were denied the right
to use two church buildings built three years ago.
The ECWA has also had one of its churches demolished in Dutsima and the state gov-
ernment threatened to relocate all the churches in the city of Katsina to its outskirts.
More generally, Christians in Katsina State complain that ethnic Hausa converts have
suffered from persecution, that Christians suffer from discrimination in public sector
employment and that Christian female students are forced to adhere to the Islamic
dress code.
In Sokoto State Christian Churches have complained that they are not allowed to buy
land to build their places of worship and that they are denied building permits when
they have bought land. The (Pentecostal) Redeemed Christian Church of God (RC-
CG), the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA), the Pentecostal Fellowship of
Nigeria (PFN) and the Catholic Church have complained that they have had churches
and shrines demolished.
350
In November 2007 the Kano State government ordered the demolition of four church-
es in the city of Kano, two belonging to the Pentecostal Church and two to the ECWA,
in order to build a highway and a hospital.
Acts of Violence
Between 18th and 24th February 2006 Nigeria was rocked by interreligious violence
that left at least 157 people dead. The initial cause was a protest by Muslims against
cartoons satirising Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper. On 18th February a
mob of Muslim extremists gathered in front of the palace of the Sheikh of Borno, in
Maiduguri, to protest against the Muhammad cartoons before going a rampage against
Christians across the city, murdering 57 and destroying 55 churches. On 20th and 21st
February 28 people, including 25 Christians, were slaughtered in Bauchi; two local
churches were also set ablaze. In Katsina the local Catholic Bishop’s residence was
torched. On 23rd February in Kontagorta (Niger State), ten Christians were murdered
and nine churches set ablaze. On 24th February young Christians in Enugu and partic-
ularly in Onitsha retaliated by killing 80 Muslims. On 15th March the Catholic bish-
ops released a pastoral letter on the events in which they criticised the federal govern-
ment. “The destruction of life and property in the name of religion dishonour Nige-
ria,” they wrote. “In some cases in which churches, mosques, shops and homes were
set ablaze and innocent people were attacked and brutally killed by mindless murder-
ers, police officers who are supposed to uphold the law did not go to their rescue.” No
one in Nigeria “should feel at risk because of religion, language or tribe. We declare
that the failure by security agencies to ensure life and property is a failure of the gov-
ernment. When the government fails to fulfil its responsibilities in such issues, people
are provoked into seeking justice on their own.”
Fr. Timothy Barga said Rev. Fr. Michael Gajere, a Catholic priest of Maiduguri dio-
cese was killed and burnt in his Church compound in Maiduguri in the wake of a cri-
sis resulting from Muslim protests against the Muhammad Danish cartoons in Febru-
ary 2006. His house and his Church were completely razed down. The Catholic bish-
NIGERIA
op’s house located on Railway Road was also burnt including all his belongings.
On 20th February 2006 Florence Chukwu, a high school teacher in Bauchi (Bauchi
State) was injured and was almost lynched by Muslim students who accused her of
desecrating a copy of the Koran because she had taken away a copy of the book from
a female student who was reading it during English class. The charges led to a riot in
the city and ended with the killing of 20 Christians and the torching of two churches.
On 12th June 2006 the homes of four Christian teachers on the campus of the Govern-
ment College in Keffi (Nasarawa State) were set ablaze after a teacher of History and
English was accused of insulting the prophet Muhammad when he punished a Mus-
351
lim student. The teacher, who fled to Abuja, was eventually arrested and later charged,
NIGERIA
after being released.
On 19th and 20th September 2006 a group of Muslim extremists injured six Christians,
destroyed ten churches as well as the residence of the Anglican bishop, 10 homes and
40 shops owned by Christians in the city of Dutse (Jigawa State) following riots
sparked by allegations that a Christian seamstress had blasphemed against Muham-
mad during an argument with clients. About a thousand Christians sought refuge in
military barracks and police stations. The woman was arrested.
On 21st March 2007 Evangelical teacher, Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin, was
murdered by a group of Muslim students in a high school in Gandu (Gombe State) af-
ter she was falsely accused of desecrating a copy of the Koran. Two days later an
ECWA church was set ablaze in the same town. Sixteen people were arrested for Cris-
tianah Oluwasesin’s murder but were later released.
On 28th September 2007 organised aggression by Muslem extremists and students
caused the death of 19 Christians (including three Catholics), injuring another 61. In
their rampage they also destroyed ten churches (one Catholic), 36 homes and 147
shops owned by Christians in the city of Tudun Wada, Kano State. The violence be-
gan at a public high school at which the handful of Christian students (14 out of a stu-
dent body of 1,500) were accused of drawing a picture of Muhammad on a mosque
wall. The priest of St Mary’s, the Catholic Parish church destroyed in the riot, was
among the injured.
On 11th and 12th December 2007 Muslim extremists set ablaze three Pentecostal church-
es and ten Christian homes in Bauchi (Bauchi State). Two mosques were burnt in retali-
ation. The clashes, in which six or ten were killed (accounts vary) had started when two
foundation blocks of a high school mosque under construction were pulled out.
Rev. Fr. David Helon, the Coordinator of Interreligious Dialogue for Bauchi Diocese,
said that on 2nd February 2008 four Protestant Churches were burnt and the interior fur-
nishings (alter cloths, pews and sacred images) in a Catholic Church were removed and
burnt. This happened in Yala town of Bauchi State. He also stated that in Bauchi state
Christians are often not compensated for their Churches burnt during religious riots.
Sources
ACN International
Compass Direct News
HRWF International
ICN News
IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks)
352
NORWAY
Religious freedom is guaranteed by Article 2 of the Constitu-

tion, which also establishes that the Evangelical-Lutheran
Church is the State religion and obliges those professing it to
AREA
“bring up their children in the same”. The King himself is
323,877 kmq
obliged to belong to this religion, protect it and preserve it.
Due to the recent separation between State and Church in Swe- POPULATION
den, implemented in 2003, there is currently an ongoing debate 4,650,000
– with Parliament expected to thrash out its implications by
REFUGEES
2008 – aimed at promoting a clearer distinction between reli-
gious and civil institutions. Remaining within the state institu- 34,522
tions also results, for the Lutheran Church, in a limitation of its INTERNALLY
autonomy, exposing it for example to decisions by the equality DISPLACED
and anti-discrimination Ombudsman, who is currently being ---
asked to decide on the legitimacy of the actions of the Luther-
an bishop of Oslo, who has refused to admit as ministers those
who openly declare their homosexuality.
RELIGIOUS
All other registered religious communities receive state subsi-
ADHERENTS
dies in proportion to the number of their members and there are
no restrictions on residence permits for foreign missionaries.
The Christian majority does however have to face a number of
challenges, in particular those posed by the humanist associa-
tion and the Islamic community, who are challenging the con-
tents of the compulsory religious and ethical instruction for stu-
dents between the ages of 6 and 16. An age-old national contro- Others 5.7%
versy on this subject has now reached the European Court of
Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Council, Baptized Catholics
resulting in a number of changes in the ministerial educational 54,000
programme but without however resolving this conflict.
NORWAY
Islam
In August 2007, in an attempt to promote reciprocal under-
standing, and also greater tolerance within the various confes-
sions, the Church of Norway’s Council for Ecumenical and In-
ternational Relations and the Islamic Council of Norway,
signed a statement supporting the right to convert from one re-
ligion to another. The text also states that “We reject violence
and wish to work against it, as well as fighting discrimination
and harassment of those who wish to convert or have convert-
ed from one religion to another”.
353
Statements apart, the customs of the Muslim community and Norwegian customs – as
NORWAY
regards family law, self-determination for women, educational freedom – remain di-
vided by a real abyss. The author Hege Storhaug, who in addition to her literary ac-
tivities also works on a daily basis for the humanitarian organisation Human Rights
Service, supporting the rights of immigrant women, has become the representative of
this unease and has denounced the risk of Koranic Law supplanting Norwegian civil
law. However, also within the institutions there are now many signs of concern and at-
tempts to contain what is perceived as an Islamic invasion, in a country that has a lit-
tle more than 4.5 million inhabitants. So, although girls are not forbidden from wear-
ing the Islamic veil in schools, attempts to ban clothes that entirely cover the body,
such as the burqa and niqab are advancing slowly.
Judaism
Although there are few Jews in Norway, members of the Jewish community have suf-
fered a number of attacks on synagogues and cemeteries, in particular during the Is-
raeli-Lebanese war in the summer of 2006. On that occasion, even the internationally
famous author Jostein Gaarder bitterly criticised the people of Israel, and was seen by
many as anti-semitic.
Sources
National Panel Recommends Separation of Church and State, Associated Press, 9th
February 2006
Norway Opens Hearings on Church-State Separation After 469 Years, Associated
Press, 24th April 2006
Separating from the state, Il Regno – Attualità, No. 18-2006
Hege Storhaug, Men størst av alt er friheten. Om innvadringens konsekvenser, Kagge
Forlag, Oslo 2006, pp. 302
Muslimer og kristne anerkjenner retten til å skifte religion, Islamsk Rad Norge
Katia Jansen Fredrikssen, Sharia in Norwegian Courtrooms?, Isim Review, Autumn 2007
Hege Storhaug, Tilslørt. Avslørt. Et oppgjør med norsk naivisme, Kagge Forlag, Oslo
2007, pp. 178
354
OMAN
The Basic Law of the state, dated 1996, establishes Islam as the
State religion and the Shari‘a as the source of the law. Freedom
to practice religious rites is guaranteed provided these are in
AREA
compliance with tradition and do not disturb public order. Arti-
212,457 kmq
cle 29 of the penal code establishes prison sentences for all who
blaspheme God, or the prophets, or against religion. At times POPULATION
this article is used to restrict religious freedom. 2,580,000
The Sultan has given land to the Christian and Hindu commu-
REFUGEES
nities, made up almost exclusively of immigrants, so they may
build their own places of worship. Non-Muslim religious com- 7
munities are free to keep in touch with their coreligionists out- INTERNALLY
side the country. The publication of non-Islamic religious ma- DISPLACED
terial is forbidden although the authorities tolerate it being im- ---
ported from abroad after prior inspection by them.
The authorities control the contents of the Friday sermons to
ensure that they do not address political issues or subjects not
RELIGIOUS
in harmony with government policies. Each month the Ministry
ADHERENTS
for Awqaf (Religious Endowments) and Religious Affairs es-
tablishes the parameters for sermons and the imams are expect-
ed to strictly respect them.
Apostasy is not considered a crime by the law of this sultanate,
but those who convert from Islam to another faith have many
problems since Family Law forbids apostate parents from hav-
Muslims 87.4%
ing legal parental authority. Hindus 5.7%
The Law does not forbid proselytism, but, in the event of Affiliated Christians 4.9%
Others 2%
protests, the Ministry for Awqaf and Religious Affairs does act
against groups and individuals who engage in it. Seminars on Baptized Catholics
ecumenical dialogue are tolerated to the extent that they do not 72,000
encourage Muslims to abandon their faith.
Non-Muslim religious groups must be registered and their ac-
tivities are subject to restrictions.
Only foreigners are permitted to attend schools in which Islam-
OMAN
ic religious instruction is not provided. On the other hand, such

Islamic religious instruction is compulsory in the schools for
citizens of Oman.
355
PAKISTAN
Despite this year’s election, won by the Pakistan People’s Party

PAKISTAN
(in theory a secular moderate party), in the last two years there
has been a dramatic increase in the number of attacks against re-
AREA
ligious minorities across the country. Often these “attacks” have
796,095 kmq
taken the form of fatwas (edicts or rulings by Islamic courts with
POPULATION life and death consequences for those targeted, including non-
156,250,000 Muslims), but they have also included armed assaults against
places of worship and the abduction of members of religious mi-
REFUGEES norities. By far the worst instrument of religious repression is
2,035,023 the blasphemy law, which continues to claim more and more
INTERNALLY victims. This law actually refers to Article 295.B and 295.C of
DISPLACED the Pakistan Penal Code. Section B refers to offences against the
--- Koran, which are punishable by life imprisonment, Section C
addresses acts defiling the Prophet Muhammad, punishable with
life imprisonment or death. Together with the hudud ordinances
– a class of Koran-inspired legal punishments that include flog-
RELIGIOUS ging and stoning for activities deemed incompatible with Islam-
ADHERENTS ic law, such as adultery, gambling, consumption of alcohol,
crimes against property –, the blasphemy law is an example of
the most sectarian and fundamentalist piece of legislation the
country has ever had. According to a number of analysts this law
is one of the tools used by Muslim fundamentalists to strike at
minorities and push the country further along the path of radical
Muslims 96.1% islamisation.
Others 1.4%
According to the Justice and Peace Commission, the Union of
Christian Churches of Pakistan and a great many human rights
Baptized Catholics organisations, the blasphemy law “is bad;” it is “like a sword of
1,041,000 Damocles hanging over Pakistani minorities, in addition to be-
ing a clear violation of their religious and human rights as guar-
anteed by the Constitution”.
Khalil Tahir, head of the Adal Trust which helps the Christian
community to defend itself against false accusations, told
AsiaNews that most of “those accused under the blasphemy law
are from the social and religious minorities”; that is why it is
important to help them, he says, “in the courts and in prison and
also after they are released.” Sadly, this help is all too frequent-
ly needed.
Pervez Masih, 33, was a teacher before he was charged with
blasphemy. He was released on 8th April 2006, after five years
in jail. The court that released him found him innocent and yet
356
he still lives under the shadow of threats. He cannot even build a house for himself
since he has to be on the move all the time.
During his trial, he says that, “a high official of the local administration invited me to
embrace Islam and in return, they would withdraw the charges against me. I refused
and my defence was not even considered. In prison I saw at least 10 Christians forced
to convert. I was lucky: God helped me remain strong in my faith.”
Ranjha Masih, a Christian from Lahore, faced the same Calvary. He too was sentenced
to life in prison only to be freed, after eight years of solitary confinement, in Novem-
ber 2006. Masih, 58, was arrested on 8th May 1998, the day of the funeral of Bishop
John Joseph, who shot himself as a protest against the blasphemy law. Right after his
burial, local Christians demonstrated against the government. Stones were thrown,
one of them hitting a shop sign that featured a verse from the Koran. On the basis of
this incident, the police arrested Masih and charged him with blasphemy.
In 2003, a Faisalabad court sentenced him to life imprisonment amid protests by local
Muslims who demanded he be hanged. Throughout his imprisonment, the police kept
him in solitary confinement “for security reasons”. He was released thanks to the ef-
forts of the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) of Lahore. Now
he is hoping to immigrate to Germany but an anonymous letter to a newspaper has an-
nounced that he will die a violent death “wherever he may hide”.
The dangerous issue of blasphemy does not end with the courts, however. In the last
few years, Muslims have increasingly often taken the law in their own hands and met-
ed out their version of “justice” against “blasphemers”. Christian churches, homes, hos-
pitals and schools have been destroyed in the process. For example few in Pakistan’s
Christian community can forget what happened in Sangla Hill. An enraged mob made
up of some 2,000 Muslims destroyed an entire village after being incited by a false
blasphemy charge levelled against one of the villagers. After this attack, which was fol-
lowed by many others, Christian leaders wrote to President Musharraf, calling on him
to “do something, because this fanaticism will destroy the country from within.”
Johnson Michael, chairman of the Bishop John Joseph Trust said: “I have met many
PAKISTAN
people in my life but never anyone like these survivors. They are very strong in their
beliefs, strength they are paying for everyday, but which gives strength to the whole
community. I am greatly inspired by their example.” At present the association is fi-
nancially helping the survivors of blasphemy charges, trying to find them a home and
a job. But their mission is “truly uphill.”
Peter Jacob, executive secretary of the Episcopal Justice and Peace Commission, said:
“If someone is accused of blasphemy, even if the court acquits him, his life becomes
miserable in Pakistan and he has to live in hiding and poverty.” Even family members
lose “all their social rights and [are] condemned to a life of ignorance and poverty.”
So far, “no one has been hanged by the law as a result of blasphemy-related charges
but 24 people have been killed by extremists who have never been apprehended.”
357
Attacks against Christians

PAKISTAN
On the night of 25th December 2006 some Muslims tried to set fire to the small church
of Shahdaara. The parish priest, Father Samuel Raphael, told AsiaNews that the fire
set by the criminals burnt the carpet and some altar furnishings, but no one was hurt.
“It was nevertheless an act of profanation of a place of worship and so we informed
the police, naming the three culprits,” he said. Despite the formal complaint, the po-
lice did very little. “They went to the three people’s homes but, failing to find them,
they simply left.”
In another case Shahbaz Bhatti, chairman of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (AP-
MA), reported that Martha Bibi, a Christian woman from the village of Kot Nanak
Singh (Kasur district), was accused on 22nd January 2007 of making derogatory re-
marks about the Koran and defiling the sacred name of the Prophet Muhammad. He
said that in the area where Martha Bibi, her husband and their six children live, there
are 12 Christian families in the midst of 500 Muslim families. Her husband is a brick-
layer who, with his wife’s help, also runs a small construction tools rental business.
On one occasion they rented out some equipment for the construction of the Sher Rab-
bani Mosque. Because they were not getting paid, on the morning of 22nd January Mrs
Bibi went to the construction site to demand payment, but she was refused. She then
asked for the return of the rental material and as she was preparing to take it away
Muhammad Ramzan, Mohammad Akram and Muhammad Dilbar began hitting her.
Only the intervention of passers-by allowed her to get away. That night the mosque’s
imam accused Martha of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad and incited Mus-
lims to attack Christians.
When they heard about the accusations, she and her family sought refuge at a neigh-
bour’s house. When the police arrived she was taken to Changa Manga Police Station
where she was charged under Article 295.C of Pakistan’s Penal Code, which imposes
long prison sentences or the death penalty on offenders, if found guilty. Even though
no evidence against her was ever presented at her trial, she was kept in prison for five
months.
In February 2007, the Catholic bishop of Faisalabad and two Muslims, a journalist and
a scholar, received death threats for taking part some months earlier in an inter-faith
meeting at a local madrassah. A hitherto unknown extremist group calling itself the
“Islamic Soldiers Front” claimed responsibility for the threatening letters and phone
calls in which all three men were branded as “infidels”. Mgr Joseph Coutts, who heads
the diocese of Faisalabad, tried immediately to be reassuring, saying that “we are not
going to be terrorized by such intimidations; we will continue our inter-faith activities
for social harmony and peace in the country.”
In the Punjab a Christian man was attacked on 23rd March by a mob of some 150 Mus-
lims who beat and tortured him for hours, after accusing him of desecrating a copy of
the Koran. The attack ended when the police moved in, but instead of arresting the
358
aggressors they took the victim into custody for allegedly violating Article 295.B, the
infamous blasphemy law. If found guilty the man could spend the rest of his life be-
hind bars.
In another case, Amanat Masih, 50, was accused of tearing some pages from a Koran
and burning them. According to a press release by Sharing Life, the Pakistani Protes-
tant group that reported the incident, the mob decided he was guilty and attacked his
house. After breaking in, they dragged him outside and tortured him.
Sadiq Masih, a 45-year-old Protestant, was mortally wounded on 30th July in his own
home by members of the Chaudri family, his former employers. He had quit his job at
the family farm, tired of the endless abuse he was subjected to for being Christian.
Arif Khan, 50, a Baptist bishop in Rawalpindi, and his wife Kathleen, 45, both US na-
tionals, were murdered on 29th August in Islamabad. Two Christians from the city of
Wana were arrested for the crime, allegedly motivated by a question of “honour”. But
according to local Christian sources, the whole thing was a set-up. The actual perpe-
trator of the crime was in fact a Muslim named Said Alam.
Persecution against Ahmadis

In a Muslim country like Pakistan, which has a Sunni majority, Ahmadis suffer from
merciless persecution. The community was founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ah-
mad, an Indian religious leader who claimed he was a prophet sent to revitalise Islam.
Although Ahmadis say they are Muslim they are viewed as a heretical group by main-
stream Muslims because they do not recognise Muhammad as the last prophet. For
this reason they are persecuted by Muslim extremists in many countries, including In-
donesia and Bangladesh. In Pakistan a law adopted in the 1970s prohibits them from
calling themselves Muslims.
In a report on the persecution suffered by them in 2005, the Ahmadis denounced “re-
ligious and political leaders and the media for their responsibility” in their predica-
ment. The study reproduced almost 1,400 articles and other writings from the Pak-
istani press inciting hatred against this so-called “heretical” Islamic sect. Included in
PAKISTAN
the evidence are resolutions in which Ahmadis are called murderers; accusations that
they are conspiring against the state; pressing demands on the government to take
stern actions against them to “discourage” their religious practices.
The report, which reprints newspaper clippings, accuses government officials of back-
ing the incitement to hatred. Top leaders, it reads, have maintained the policy of
persecution initiated 21 years earlier by General Zia ul Haq. In fact, based on the ev-
idence collected, it is apparent that there is a tacit agreement between the mullahs and
the military against the Ahmadis.
According to the community’s Annual Report, between 1984 and 2007, 87 members
of the Ahmadi have died in “accidents” or on the gallows. At the time of its publica-
tion, it noted that blasphemy charges were pending against 3,533 people.
359
PALAU
Article IV of the Constitution of 1979 fully recognises religious

PALAU
freedom. Religious groups must register as non-profit organisa-

tions and are exempt from taxation. Registration is quick and
AREA
no application has been turned down in recent years.
459 kmq
Foreign missionaries need a visa from the Palau Bureau of Im-
POPULATION migration. There are no known cases of applicants having been
19,000 rejected.
The government provides financial assistance to parochial
REFUGEES
schools as well as cultural organisations. It also funds cultural
--- activities. No religion is taught in public schools.
INTERNALLY Since 1998 Bangladeshi nationals have been denied work per-
DISPLACED mits (since 2001 Indians and Sri Lankans as well) after employ-
--- ers complained that the religious practices of “non-Christian”
religions interfered with work. However, nationals from the
aforementioned countries already present in the country were
not expelled and continue to be free to practice their faith.
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Non religious 1.8%
Others 3.5%
Baptized Catholics
10,000
360
PANAMA
Article 35 of the 1972 Constitution, frequently amended up un-

til 2004, fully acknowledges religious freedom, on condition
that Christian morals and public order are respected. This same
AREA
Article recognises Catholicism as the religion professed by the
75,517 kmq
majority of citizens, although with no specific privileges.
Religious freedom is effectively respected. Religious associa- POPULATION
tions have juridical status, and consequently are self-governing 3,280,000
and permitted to own property.
REFUGEES
Foreign missionaries are allowed in the country with a visa that
is valid for three months and can be renewed. 16,890
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Muslims 4.4%
Others 7.4%
Baptized Catholics
2,757,000 PANAMA
361
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
The Preamble to the Constitution of 1975, which was amended

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
in 1995, refers to “our noble traditions and Christian princi-

ples”, but the Constitution itself does not recognise any State
AREA
religion. Instead, religious freedom is guaranteed under Article
462,810 kmq
45 and missionary activities are allowed.
POPULATION The Christian churches provide healthcare and educational
5,733,000 services for which, in principle, they receive financial assis-
tance from the state. However, some schools and clinics have
REFUGEES
had to close from time to time, when such public subsidies ran
10,003 out, a familiar problem given the government’s financial diffi-
INTERNALLY culties. According to Bishop Francesco Sarego of Goroka, the
DISPLACED Chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Papua New
--- Guinea and the Solomon Islands, “70 percent of all the educa-
tional services are provided by Christian bodies” (Fides).
The proliferation of a host of small ecclesial movements has
led to repeated complaints about their proselytizing activities;
RELIGIOUS
nevertheless, the authorities have always upheld the right to
ADHERENTS
profess any faith whatsoever and to engage in evangelistic
activities.

Others 1.3%
Baptized Catholics
1,776,000
362
PARAGUAY
Article 24 of Paraguay’s Constitution establishes the protection

of religious freedom and, in general, there are no problems for
any religious denomination. The same Constitutional Charter
AREA
acknowledges “Relations between the State and the Catholic
406,752 kmq
Church are based on independence, cooperation, and autono-
my”. In recent years the number of Evangelical Christians has POPULATION
increased, albeit by a small percentage (6.2 percent in 2006). 6,132,000
Religious organisations and churches must register with the
REFUGEES
Ministry of the Interior and there seem to be no difficulties in
this process. 62
In August 2007 President Nicanor Duarte attacked a number of INTERNALLY
bishops and priests, and more generally the Catholic communi- DISPLACED
ty, before the 2008 presidential elections, due to the presence ---
among the ranks of the opposition party of the Bishop Emeri-
tus of San Pedro, Fernando Lugo Mendez, who had already
suspended a divinis because of his candidature by January
RELIGIOUS
2007.
ADHERENTS
As reported by the Radio Giornale Vaticano on 27th August
2007, the Episcopal Conference expressed its own views on
this subject in a press release clarifying that “due to its juridi-
cal status and evangelising mission, the Conference neither
supports nor accompanies any of the candidates in this election.
The Church merely proclaims her right and duty to enlighten
citizens in the conscious and responsible exercise of their elec- Others 2.3%
toral rights as a fundamental element in the democratic sys-
tem”. The Paraguayan bishops go on to recall that the Constitu- Baptized Catholics
tion regulates relations between State and Church, basing these
on independence, cooperation and autonomy, and they reaffirm
5,602,000
PARAGUAY
that “the Church is always open to constructive dialogue both
with the State and its authorities as well as with all government
institutions”.
363
PERU
In Peru the Constitution supports and sanctions religious free-

PERU
dom in Article 2 and forbids all discrimination on religious

grounds. Furthermore, Article 50 of the Constitution states that:
AREA
“Within the framework of an independent and autonomous
1,285,216 kmq
regime, the State acknowledges the Catholic Church as an im-
POPULATION portant element in the historical, cultural and moral formation
28,330,000 of Peru, and proffers the Church its collaboration. The State re-
spects other denominations and may establish forms of collab-
REFUGEES
oration with them.”
995 The government maintains good relations with Catholics, and
INTERNALLY an agreement signed with the Vatican in 1980 guarantees the
DISPLACED Catholic Church special status, under which it enjoys preferen-
150,000 tial treatment in the education sector, tax allowances and facil-
itations for immigrant religious personnel.
In 2004 the Ministry for Justice promulgated a series of provi-
sions for regulating relations with non-Catholic communities
RELIGIOUS
so that they might enjoy benefits similar to those accorded to
ADHERENTS
the Catholic Church.
There are many Protestant denominations present in the coun-
try – Baptists, Anglicans, Assemblies of God and others – con-
stituting a “second field” of religious reference after the
Catholic one.
Catholics and Evangelicals often cooperate closely in the field
Others 2.8% of human rights, especially in rural areas.
In May 2007 the remains of Pastor Jorge Parraga Castillo were
Baptized Catholics found on the military base in Manta; after being identified they
24,991,000 were buried in Huancayo. On 24th October 1989, as witnessed
by a report from the Inter-American Commission for Human
Rights, men in uniform had arrived in the locality of Atcas, in
the province of Yuyos, and had “combed the area”, committing
acts of violence and arresting a number of people, among them
Pastor Castillo, from the local Evangelical Church. No more
was heard about the minister until his body was discovered.
364
PHILIPPINES
Section 5 of Article 3 of the 1986 Constitution states: “No law

shall be made respecting the establishment of religion, or pro-
hibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoy-
AREA
ment of religious profession and worship, without discrimina-
300,000 kmq
tion or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test
shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.” POPULATION
These principles are respected in practice and there are no 86,970,000
recorded violations against them on the part of the authorities.
REFUGEES
The problem of Mindanao 106
This condition of religious freedom and the free exercise of this INTERNALLY
freedom has encountered obstacles and difficulties, owing to DISPLACED
the long struggle, not only political but also military, that has 300,000
pitted movements that were originally Marxist but have subse-
quently become overwhlemingly Islamist in character, against
the central government, with the extreme and bloody episodes
RELIGIOUS
that are typical of a civil war.
ADHERENTS
It is, in fact, the case that in some regions, and above all on the
island of Mindanao, the religious makeup is different from that
found in the rest of the Philippines, which have an overwhelm-
ingly Christian majority. Here, however, there are areas with
PHILIPPINES
high concentrations of Muslims and in a few provinces Islam is
the religion of most of the people. Muslims 6.2%
In 1989 an extensive degree of autonomy was granted to a part Ethnoreligionists 2.7%
Others 1.4%
of the island of Mindanao by the central government, which es-
tablished the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (AR- Baptized Catholics
MM) comprising the five predominantly Muslim provinces of 70,502,000
Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi Tawi,
plus the Islamic city of Marawi. The principal centre is Cotaba-
to, an independent city, although it lies within the province of
Maguindanao. The region is governed by a Regional Governor
who is directly elected, like his vice president and the local
government. A single chamber assembly has the task of dis-
cussing the regional orders and plays a similar role to that of a
local parliament.
This province remains the poorest region of the Philippines and
in spite of its autonomy status, it receives 98 percent of its fund-
ing from the central government. Extensive funding is also
365
received from Muslim countries, and these monies are frequently aimed at sponsoring
PHILIPPINES
an intensive activity of Islamic proselytism. Within the self-governing territory of the

ARMM, civil laws are in force which draw their inspiration from Islamic law, and
there are Islamic courts, though these have competence only in the area of family and
civil law.
Over time, extremist Islamic movements have emerged which are seeking a total is-
lamisation of the law and a degree of autonomy that is tantamount to separatism.
These movements have initiated guerilla activities and committed acts of terrorism
against the central government and have been responsible for numerous acts of vio-
lence against Christians.
On Mindanao alone, in the space of 10 years 120,000 people have been killed – such
is the frightful outcome of this war. In addition, the region has more recently become
a refuge for numerous “Islamic fighters” from world regions such as the Middle East
and Pakistan.
Attacks against Christians

The situation of uncertainty, and the proliferation of criminal groups who are difficult
to identify, has produced violence whose principal target appears to be Christian mis-
sionaries.
On 2nd April 2007 an Indonesian Catholic priest, Father Francis Madhu, 31, was shot
dead by four armed men as he was getting ready to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass in
Lubuagan, a city in the northern province of Kalinga. The reason for the murder is still
unknown. According to Colonel Francis Lardizabal, a local army officer, he was shot
five times in the chest with an M16 rifle and killed instantly. Kalinga Police Chief
Severino Cruz added that one of the accused was a local peasant farmer, Nestor
Wailan, who had shouted at the priest “Are you ready?” and then shot him.
On 10th June 2007 an armed gang abducted Fr Giancarlo Bossi in Payao, in the south-
ern peninsula of Mindanao. On 12th August, after 39 long days in captivity, the priest
was released and returned to Italy for medical treatment. While in Italy, he met the
Pope at the Youth Agora held on 31st August 2007 in Loreto. Both men were “moved”
by their meeting and embraced for a long time. Immediately afterwards, Father Bossi,
a missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, flew back to the Philip-
pines.
On 15th January 2008 Fr Reynaldo Jesus Albores Roda, of the Oblates of Mary Im-
maculate (OMI), was murdered by suspected Al Qaeda militants while praying in the
chapel of Our Lady’s School in Tabawan, near Tawi-Tawi. His assailants, at least ten
people, tried to abduct him and when he resisted, he was killed with a single pistol-
shot. The attackers fled the scene, taking with them a Muslim teacher, Omar Taub.
Pope Benedict XVI expressed his “deep condolences” for the death of this priest and
366
appealed to his killers to “renounce the ways of violence and play their part in build-
ing a just and peaceful society where all can live together in harmony.”
On 23rd January 2008 a Protestant pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philip-
pines was killed, with six pistol shots, in the eastern province of Leyte. Local Police
Chief Superintendent Abner Cabalquinto noted that there were no obvious motives for
the killing. Initial investigations indicated that two men on a motorcycle had accosted
this Christian leader, who was driving near Abuyog, and had shot him before fleeing
the scene.
On 28th May 2007 the body of another Protestant pastor, Berlin Guerrero, aged 46,
was discovered at Camp Pantaleon Garcia, near Laguna. He had been kidnapped on
27th May, close to his house in Biñan.
Signs of hope
In recent years the government has been seeking a diplomatic solution to the conflict
in negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, but the negotiations have be-
come bogged down over the issue of how much territory should be granted to a hypo-
thetical autonomous region to be run by the Moro Front.
One organisation established by the central government with the aim of promoting di-
alogue between the various religious communities within the country is the National
Ecumenical Consultative Committee (NECCOM). This body is made up of represen-
tatives of the Catholic Church, of Islam and of the various Protestant denominations.
A number of different interreligious initiatives have moreover been promoted at the
PHILIPPINES
grass roots in recent years in an effort to reconcile the parties involved and persuade
them to renounce the armed struggle.
On 29th November 2006 over 30,000 people gathered in the regional capital on the
southern Archipelago of Mindanao to celebrate the opening of the ninth “Week of
Peace”, an event which “asks for the end to all hostility, in the name of God the
Almighty and Merciful”.
The theme of the gathering had been chosen by the Bishops’ Ulama Conference
(BUC) of the Philippines, a body composed of 24 Catholic bishops, 18 Protestant rep-
resentatives and 24 Muslim ulamas, who had organised the event.
Christians of the various denominations, Muslims, teachers, students, human rights
activists and government officials all marched together to call for an end to the war
between Manila and the rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). For Fa-
ther Angelo Calvo, a Claretian missionary and president of the group PAZ (Peace Ad-
vocates of Zamboanga), a group active in working for peace in the region of the south-
ern Philippines, this group of marching people was “like a carpet, full of colours, unit-
ed with those who weep over the war and calling powerfully for it to stop”.
367
POLAND
In Article 53, the Polish Republic’s 1997 Constitution guaran-

POLAND
tees all registered religious organisations full freedom to imple-

ment their pastoral, cultural and editorial activities.
AREA
The manner in which this freedom is implemented depends on
323,950 kmq
the individual religious denominations.
POPULATION The judicial system regulates this subject in detail and effec-
38,140,000 tively there have been no problems linked to the free activities
of the various religions and religious communities.
REFUGEES
There are at times difficulties arising from the interpretation
9,790 and the practical implementation of the principal of separation
INTERNALLY between the state and the Church. At times the overlapping of
DISPLACED reciprocal duties can result in elements of tension.
--- In general it is possible to state that there are no signs indicat-
ing possible obstacles to the activities of churches and religious
associations in Poland.
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Others 2.6%
Baptized Catholics
36,660,000
368
PORTUGAL
The Constitution guarantees the right to religious freedom in

Article 13, which assures equality to all citizens before the law,
as well as in Article 41, which defines as “inviolable” the “free-
AREA
dom of conscience, religion and worship”. In particular, no-
91,982 kmq
body can be “persecuted, deprived of rights”, but nobody is ei-
ther “exempt from civic obligations and duties because of their POPULATION
beliefs or religious worship”, though consciencious objection is 10,600,000
guaranteed according to law. Besides, nobody can be “asked by
REFUGEES
any authority about his beliefs, except to gather statistics data”
that nevertheless cannot allow the identification of the individ- 353
ual; and nobody can be harmed for having “refused to answer”. INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
Concerning the relations between civil and ecclesiastic institu- ---
tions, “churches and other religious communities are separate
from the State and are free in their organization and in the ex-
ercise of their duties and worship”. The Church is guaranteed
RELIGIOUS
“the freedom of instruction of any religion practised within the
ADHERENTS
scope of the respective confession”, “as well as the use of the
media adequate to the prosecution of its activities”.
The relations with the Catholic Church are regulated by the

Concordat of 2004. No Church or religion is financed by the
state, though it supports the construction of churches (and, in
exceptional cases, non-catholic temples). Non religious 6.5%
Others 1.1%
PORTUGAL
The Law 16/2001 on Religious Freedom has created a Com-
Baptized Catholics
mission of Religious Freedom with the mission of giving ad-
9,339,000
vice and counselling the government on this matter. The Com-
mission promoted thematic conferences in 2006 and 2007.
This law also regulates the recognition of minority denomina-

tions and admits the possibility of making agreements with the
State, as long as they are well established in the country accord-
ing to the criteria fixed by law and as long as they have had an
organized presence on social level in the country for more than
30 years or have existed in another country for more than 60
years.
369
The law also provides for tax exemptions and the possibility of religious classes in
PORTUGAL
state schools, as well as a certain amount of religious broadcasting in state radio and
TV.
From the law of 2001 on, as with the Catholic Church, the smaller Churches can cel-
ebrate religious marriages which are recognised by the state and give spiritual assis-
tance in the army and in prisons, among other services. But the specific conditions of
the exercise of that assistance are not regulated yet and have been a bone of contention
for the minority confessions in the country. There have been cases of pastors and min-
isters of those confessions who, after having been requested by patients, went to a hos-
pital but could only come in with the support and under the responsibility of the
Catholic chaplain.
During 2007 the Ministry of Health was preparing a project of regulation, which in the
first months of 2008 had still not been concluded. The first proposal of the document
was criticized by the leaders of the Catholic Church, after which the government start-
ed negotiations.
In July of 2007 it was announced that the Catholic bishops were not satisfied with sev-
eral areas of the government’s action and with implications of these actions for the
Catholic Church: besides the religious assistance in hospitals and prisons, there was
also the support given to private social institutions and the new rules concerning own-
ership of the media. The government and the Bishops’ Conference have started nego-
tiations, which in the first months of 2008 had not been concluded.
370
QATAR
The 1972 Constitution defines Islam as the State religion and

Islamic Law as the main source of the legislation. Article 7b
says that “the State makes every effort to inculcate society with
AREA
the good principles of the Islamic religion and to purge it from
11,000 kmq
all forms of moral degeneration.” Until a few years ago practis-
ing any religion other than Wahabi Islam was formally forbid- POPULATION
den, but then the government granted legal status to Catholics, 679,000
Anglicans, Orthodox, Copts and the Indian churches. Official
REFUGEES
recognition requires the presence of at least 1,500 believers in
the country. The Protestant denominations are not legally 46
recognised, given the absence of registration requests, but they INTERNALLY
enjoy equal freedom of worship and their religious services are DISPLACED
protected by the police, provided they first notify the authori- ---
ties. The government does not permit the Hindus, the Buddhists
and the Baha’i to hold religious services. Apostasy is punish-
able with the death sentence, though since 1971 when the coun-
RELIGIOUS
try gained independence, there has never been an execution for
ADHERENTS
this crime. Proselytism by non-Muslims is strictly forbidden.
Christians
During 2006 and 2007 work continued on a complex, autho-
rised by the government in the year 2000, that hosts places of
worship for the Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox communities.
Muslims 82.7%
The complex includes a conference centre, a residence for tem- Affiliated Christians 10.4%
porary guest accommodation, a bookshop and a bar. The cost of Hindus 2.5%
Non religious 2.3%
building this place of worship ultimately totalled around 15 Others 2.1%
million dollars; Catholics from all over the Arabian Peninsula,
mainly Filipinos and Indians, have all contributed. Local gov- Baptized Catholics
ernment sources had however recommended postponement of 64,000
completion of the project, so as to avoid opposition from con-
servative citizens. The inauguration of the Catholic church –
QATAR
the first in the country – was in mid March 2008 and it will
serve the local community of around 140,000 believers, made
up entirely of foreigners.
This church – dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary – has been
built on land in the southern suburbs of the capital city Doha,
donated by Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who in the
course of recent years has pursued a policy of interreligious di-
alogue and in 2002 initiated diplomatic relations with the Holy
371
See. The building will not have a bell tower or a crucifix and will not be open to the
QATAR
public, being reserved for the faithful alone. These restrictions, and the prohibition on
converting Muslims, are in a sense a tribute the Emir must pay to the Wahabi Islamic
majority, who had for a long time opposed the construction of this church. The future
parish priest, Father Tom Veneration, reported that “the government has given the
Christian denominations land for building their own places of worship after more than
20 years of formal requests. Catholics have been assigned the largest plot, because we
have been present in this country since ancient times and our community is the
largest”. “Until now”, says this priest, “we prayed in our homes or in small chapels in-
side the American and Filipino compounds in Doha. Together with all the Catholics
who live here, I am immensely happy that soon I will be able to celebrate Mass in a
real church, the mark of our presence here”.
Others
The Emir of Qatar intends to sponsor a centre for interreligious dialogue between
Christians, Jews and Muslims, the first of its kind in the Arab world. The daily news-
paper Gulf News reported this in May 2007, quoting Mrs. Aisha al-Mannai, from the
Shari‘a College in Qatar University, who said, “We are pleased to announce such an
important initiative. We must work together to promote dialogue”. The centre’s objec-
tive is to “conduct research and publish books on dialogue, coordinate with other sim-
ilar institutes in the world, organise annual conferences and follow their development”.
The presiding council of the centre consists of three Muslims, three Christians and a
Jew. The Apostolic Nuncio for Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen and Qatar, Archbishop Moun-
jed Al Hashem, expressed his satisfaction, though he made it clear that “the Pontifical
Council for Interreligious Dialogue has not been invited to be part of this centre”.
Sources
AsiaNews
Gulf News
372
ROMANIA
In Article 29, the 1991 Romanian Constitution declares reli-

gious freedom, expressly and in detail, and generally speaking
the governmental institutions abide by this.
AREA
Relations between the various denominations are generally
238,391 kmq
friendly, although there have been cases involving criticism
from the Romanian Orthodox Church addressed at other Chris- POPULATION
tian denominations, especially Protestant ones, which are ac- 21,580,000
cused of aggressive proselytism.
REFUGEES
The extremist nationalist press continues to publish anti-semit-
ic articles that often encourage acts of vandalism of a similarly 1,757
anti-semitic nature. In the course of the year there were a num- INTERNALLY
ber of attacks on Jewish cemeteries, as happened in Sighisoara DISPLACED
on 17th March 2007 and in Resita on 24th March. Swastikas and ---
anti-Semitic graffiti have also often appeared on buildings in
Bucharest and Cluj. The authorities always tend to minimise
these episodes, frequently attributing them to minors, drunk-
RELIGIOUS
ards or the mentally ill.
ADHERENTS
In February 2007, the government approved new rules for pas-
toral care in prisons; only officially recognised religious groups
are permitted to enter prisons; the chaplain, who by law must
belong to the Orthodox Church, is responsible for coordinating
religious activities.
On 5th July 2007, the Radio Giornale Vaticano, along with
many other Italian and foreign newspapers, reported that the Non religious 10.7%
Catholic cathedral of Saint Joseph in Bucharest was at risk of Others 1.3%
collapse because a nineteen story seventy-five metre tall sky-

Baptized Catholics
scraper that was being built less than ten metres from its north-
1,886,000 ROMANIA
western wall. In attempting to defend the cathedral people went
on hunger strikes and organised peaceful protests as well as
sending a letter to the authorities, signed also by Jews and
members of the Orthodox Church. Archbishop Ioan Robu of
Bucharest, said that with this building permit the authorities
had inflicted a serious blow to the Church and also violated
Law 422 of 2001 on the protection of historical monuments, as
well as twenty-four other laws, partially or totally violated due
to the irregular manner in which the work was being carried
out.
On 10th July building work was stopped pending resolution of
the legal proceedings.
373
In the course of the year, however, a number of contentious cases brought by religious
ROMANIA
communities for the restitution of their lands or other properties, confiscated during
the years of the communist regime, were in fact resolved.
A number of minority religious groups have complained during the course of the year
that members of the Orthodox Church had provoked incidents and threatened them,
interfering with their religious activities and their missionary work.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons) have of-
ten complained during the year of discrimination in the workplace, some of them hav-
ing been threatened by their colleagues because of their religious beliefs.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses also continue to report physical and psychological abuse, in
particular by members of the Orthodox Church, in the face of total indifference on the
part of the police.
On 8th January 2007 Human Rights Without Frontiers reported the dismay of numer-
ous human rights activists and many members of religious minorities, on hearing that
President Traian Basescu had approved a new law on religious communities, since this
was a law proposing the protection of a few religious groups, in particular the Roman-
ian Orthodox Church, the largest in the country, with the minorities maintaining that
this was a form of discrimination. Ioan Ceuta, General Superintendent of the Assem-
bly of Romanian Pentecostal Churches, has asserted that “this law is extremely restric-
tive” and that the Baptists too are intending to call for certain aspects of the law to be
mitigated.
374
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
The relationship between the State,

the Church and society
In recent months all religious organisations in Russia have
AREA
shown support for the current government’s structures. There
17,075,400 kmq
was further proof of this at the end of 2007, when all Orthodox,
Catholic, Buddhists, Muslims and Jews called upon the faithful POPULATION
to go and vote in the elections for the Duma as a “moral duty”. 142,480,000
In particular, the Russian Council of Muftis approved the cre-
REFUGEES
ation of a movement called “Muslims supporting Putin”
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
(AsiaNews, 19th November 2007). 1,655
In January 2006 the state approved a law establishing strict INTERNALLY
controls for all non-governmental organisations; the leaders of DISPLACED
the traditional religious confessions, however, presented an ap- 136,550
peal to the authorities requesting exemption from having to
present the detailed fiscal documentation called for by this new
legislation (Kommersant, 8th December 2006).
RELIGIOUS
On 26th July 2007 Putin signed a number of amendments to the
ADHERENTS
2002 Bill on extremism, according to which the definition of
extremism included “obstruction to the legal activities […] of
social, religious and other organisations” and incitement to re-
ligious hatred, which now does not necessarily need to be ac-
companied by violence or threats of violence (Forum 18 News
Service, 28th August 2007).
A spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchate, Father Vsevolod Non religious 32.7%
Chaplin, reported a number of attacks on mosques (in Muslims 7.6%
Others 2.3%
Jaroslavl’), on synagogues (Chabarovski and Astrachan’), and
on Orthodox churches (Novokujbysevsk), as well as the murder Baptized Catholics
of an imam in Kislovodsk (Interfax, 27th September 2006). 955,000
Part of the intelligencija has expressed radical and anti-clerical
tendencies that often reached violent levels, such as in March
2007 when a controversy broke out over the exhibition entitled
“Forbidden Art 2006”, held at the Sacharov Center. It was de-
scribed by the Union of Orthodox Citizens as “blatant anti-
Christian provocation”, because it presented sacrilegious and
blasphemous works of art (Blagovest-info.ru, 16th March 2007).
On 24th July 2007 an open letter to Putin appeared in the press,
signed by a group of ten academics, among them the two No-
bel Prize winners Zorev Alferov and Vitalij Ginzburg, asking
him to stop the “clericalisation of society”, and in particular not
375
to acknowledge theology as a scientific subject nor allow the teaching of the “Foun-
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
dations of Orthodox culture” in schools (La Nuova Europa, No. 5, 2007, pp. 85-88).
Following agreements between the Russian Federation and the European Union, ef-
fective as from on 1st June 2007, a normal annual visa involves an uninterrupted stay
in these respective countries lasting no more than 90 days over a six month period.
This caused problems for foreign priests and religious personnel present in Russia,
who were obliged to obtain work visas or residence permits in order to continue their
ministry.
The problem of religious instruction in schools

The problem of education, and more specifically that of religious instruction in state
schools, continues to be widely debated with leaders of religious organisations and
personalities from the secular world assuming animated positions.
There are several subjects under discussion: firstly, whether it is a good idea to intro-
duce the study of religion in general or rather focus on Orthodoxy, albeit taking cul-
tural and non-denominational approaches (this will be replaced with the study of Is-
lam in regions that have a Muslim majority). Secondly, there is a debvate about teach-
ers and didactic means. In 2002 a manual written by Alla Borodina received mainly
negative reviews due to its aggressiveness and lack of professionalism. In February
2007 a new manual was published by the Institute of History of the Science Academy
– that was also studied by consultants representing the various religions – which pre-
sented an overview of the main religions in the world and is more scientific and ob-
jective in its approach.
For some time now the Orthodox Church has fought for the introduction in schools of
a non-compulsory subject called “Foundations of Orthodox culture”, which in recent
years has been taught ad experimentum in a number of provinces within the frame-
work of subjects of “local interest”, while the Ministry for Education prefers a course
called “History of Religions”. At the start of the 2006-2007 school year, the Minister
for Education, Fursenko, consulted the Lower House on this subject, which rejected
“The Foundations of Orthodox culture”, proposing that this subject should be replaced
by a general course of introduction to religion. The Lower House also proposed that
“the main religious concepts” with regards to the origins of humankind and the mean-
ing of life, should be added to subjects studied in schools, so as to avoid conflict be-
tween the Ministry for Education and the Russian Orthodox Church. Also according
to the Lower House, religious instruction must be optional and bear in mind the rights
of “society’s non religious members”. Children under the age of 14 must have their
parents’ written permission to study religion (Kommersant, 29th November 2006).
A number of surveys have been carried out concerning religious instruction in the
country’s 79 regions. In 11 regions the ministerial circular letter allowing the introduc-
376
tion of this specific subject was ignored, while another 8 regions stated that religion
was sufficiently represented in other subjects and there was no reason for this subject
to be taught separately. Only 3 regions (Belgorod, Kursk and Smolensk) warmly wel-
comed this initiative (Data provided by the Ministry for Education dated 1st January
2007, reported by Itogi, 26th February 2007).
A report by the Lower House’s Commission for Tolerance and Freedom of Beliefs
(23rd April 2007), states that between 500 and 600,000 students follow courses on Or-
thodox culture; 150-200,000 study Islamic culture; 50,000 take courses with philo-
sophical-religious contents; another 10,000 respectively study Judaism, Buddhism
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
and the traditional religions followed by minorities in the northern regions; at least 20-
30,000 teachers are involved in the educational process. The situation varies, ranging
from 10 Russian regions in which there is no religious instruction of any kind, to 12
regions with 10,000 or more pupils studying the “Foundations of Orthodox culture”
(reaching a maximum in Belgorod, where there are 134,762 students). The same re-
port expresses doubts concerning “voluntary choice”, made at a local level, observing
that “the absence of a common programme at federal level […] results in situations in
which the principle of free choice is ignored”. In the Belgorod province the teaching
of Orthodoxy is effectively compulsory and resulted in protests from various parents,
especially Protestant ones; in Voronez province intolerance was expressed against a
seven-year-old student, the son of a Protestant minister called Aleksej Perov, who re-
fused to make the Orthodox Sign of the Cross (Forum 18 News Service, 25th Septem-
ber 2007). Powerful opposition from academic and Islamic circles also exert great in-
fluence on the State.
On 13th November 2007 the Duma approved a number of amendments to the Law “on
education”, abolishing subjects of “local interest” and the teaching of national lan-
guages and literature in some republics, unifying the Federation’s school programmes.
Therefore, after 1st September 2009, the “Foundations of orthodox culture” will dis-
appear from education programmes, in spite of formal protests, presented on 6th No-
vember, by the Patriarch Aleksy and the Holy Synod. In the meantime, the Duma has
approved a law allowing private religious institutes to provide diplomas approved by
the State (Izvestija, 14th November 2007).
The presence of chaplains in the army

The Church has been debating the issue of army chaplains for some time. The first of-
ficial document regulating relationships between the Church and the army was a joint
statement by Aleksy II and Minister for Defence Mr. Gracev, signed on 2nd March 1994.
In a statement reported by Interfax on 12th December 2006, Patriarch Aleksy ex-
pressed his approval of a mechanism regulating relations between religious organisa-
tions and the Armed Forces, to protect the rights of believers in the military and to
377
contribute to solving the extremely serious moral problems currently experienced by

RUSSIAN FEDERATION
the army. Currently there are no de jure chaplains, but there are priests who effective-
ly act as chaplains, by carrying out a mission to soldiers. According to data provided
by Interfax (14th February 2006), there are about 2,500 Orthodox priests working in
the Russian army. According to Father Dimitrij Smirnov, the person responsible for
the Russian Orthodox Church’s relations with the Armed Forces, it is hoped that this
number might increase to 3,500.
Defending life and the family

The State has expressed great concern for the demographic crisis experienced by the
country, and has often appealed to the Church, requesting its support in the battle for
the renewal and consolidation of the family. The subject of defending life and the fam-
ily has been one of the strong points of public speeches made by the patriarch Aleksy
and the Orthodox hierarchy.
Abortion continues to be an extremely serious problem, in spite of the fact that over
the past 5 years abortions have dropped by 21 percent and in 2007 the number of abor-
tions was lower than that of births, for the very first time in over a decade. Further-
more, for the first time in the history of the Russian State, restrictive legislation has
been approved and applied with regards to abortions; “social motivations” (with the
exception of incest and rape) have been abolished, eliminating 92 medical pathologies
that permitted abortion within the first 12 weeks (Avvenire, 31st October 2007).
In addition to state and ecclesial initiatives of a general nature, there have also been a
number of local initiatives; for example, one significant event consisted in the build-
ing of an Orthodox Church in Jurga, in Siberia, dedicated to “Innocent Saints”. The
Church was specifically created to celebrate Masses for the repose of the souls of ba-
bies killed by abortion (Vatican Radio, 11th August 2006). Just as in Alapaevsk
(province of Sverdlovsk, in the Urals), the Orthodox clergy launched a campaign for
financial aid to be provided to mothers who decide to keep their babies, with no dis-
tinctions between religious beliefs. According to information provided by AsiaNews
(28th March 2007), the number of voluntary abortions in the region has fallen by 40
percent.
Archbishop Arsenij and the head of the health department for Moscow and its
province, Andrej Selkovskij, have signed a cooperation agreement (Interfax, 4th Octo-
ber 2006), authorizing the Church’s presence in Moscow’s hospitals and its voluntary
aid service currently provided by about sixty groups of Orthodox faithful.
Another significant event was the Health Ministry and the Orthodox Church’s oppo-
sition to the introduction of euthanasia, when there were rumours that the Federal
Council was preparing a draft Law on this subject (Blagovest-info.ru, 14thApril 2007).
378
The figure of Benedict XVI as perceived by public opinion

From the moment of his election, Benedict XVI has been considered with great re-
spect, mainly due to his reputation as a brilliant theologian, attentive to modernity’s
problems but simultaneously and profoundly attached to tradition. As emphasised by
Monsignor Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, at the time Archbishop of the Mother of God in
Moscow (AsiaNews, 30th January 2006), the Russian press reacted in a very positive
manner to the Encyclical, Deus caritas est.
The reactions to the controversy that arose from the speech made by Benedict XVI in
Regensburg were also interesting. The Orthodox Church expressed solidarity with the
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Pontiff with a statement made by Bishop Mark Golovkov, vice-president of the Patri-
archal Department for Foreign Affairs (Nezavisimaja gazeta, 18th September 2006)
and by the Hegumen Filaret Bulekov, the Patriarch of Moscow’s observer at the Coun-
cil of Europe in Strasburg (Vedomosti, 26th September 2006), who invited Muslims to
“more balanced reactions to statements and lessons concerning Islam”, declaring that
the Pope’s words had not been correctly interpreted, but rather “politicised”.
The Russian national press reported the news on the front pages, emphasising the Pon-
tiff’s reasons and the provocative nature of the criticism (Izvestija, 18th and 19th Sep-
tember).
Muslim reaction within the country followed the judgement of other Muslim believ-
ers (albeit in a more moderate manner), (Nezavisimaja gazeta, 18th September), ex-
horting the Pontiff to be “responsible”, but also asking Russian Muslims to show
“calm and balanced understanding of this situation”.
At the end of 2006 Joseph Ratzinger’s Introduction to Christianity was also published
in Russian, with a preface by Metropolitan Kirill.
Respect for Pope Benedict XVI was confirmed by a visit on 13th March 2007 from
President Putin. Although this was a meeting “between two heads of state with no
links to the development of relations between the Catholic and the Orthodox Church”
(interview by Father Igor Vyzanov given to AsiaNews, 12th March 2007), it was obvi-
ous that this sort of event “could not be without ecumenical aspects” (interview with
the Apostolic Nuncio Monsignor Antonio Mennini by Avvenire, 10th March).
The Church and the State address the problem of historical remembrance
August 2007 saw the beginning of commemorations of the great Stalin purges of
1937-38. The Orthodox Church played an extremely important role in this event, or-
ganising a day of prayer on 8th August and a procession with a large wooden crucifix
from the monastery-concentration camp of the Solovki Islands to the execution firing
range in Butovo (where more than 20,000 people were shot), following the canal that
links the White Sea to Moscow, which was built mainly by those imprisoned in the
gulags. President Putin too paid homage, remembering the victims of repression and
379
visiting the mass graves in Butovo on 30th October (La Nuova Europa, No. 6, 2007,
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
pp. 66-68).
On 18th November 2007 the Russian Orthodox Church solemnly commemorated the
90th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate, annulled in the days of Peter the
Great and restored in 1917, on the eve of the Revolution. On this occasion Putin held
a solemn reception at the Kremlin.
The Catholic Church in Russia

The restitution or building of a number of Catholic churches has been reported. In
June 2006, the parish church of Saint John the Baptist in Carskoe Selo, near Peters-
burg, was reconsecrated (Vatican Radio, 29th June 2006). This church, built in 1826,
had been confiscated by the communists in 1938 and later transformed into a gymna-
sium, then an air-raid shelter and a concert hall; the parish community, dedicated to
the Immaculate Heart of Mary, was reinstated in 2003. Also in 2006, the diocese of
Saint Joseph in Irkutsk reported that a Catholic church in the village of Versina had
been given back. According to Vatican Radio (9th April 2007), the Russian authorities
gave permission to build the first Catholic Church in the Kamcatka peninsula, in
Petropavlovsk (diocese of Irkutsk). This Church is dedicated to Saint Theresa of the
Child Jesus. On 11th November 2007 the Catholic Church dedicated to Saint Michael
Archangel in Murmansk was consecrated.
One important event for the small Russian Catholic community was the plenary as-
sembly of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences, held between the 4th and
the 8th of October 2006 in Saint Petersburg; for the very first time in history the pres-
idents of the 34 European Catholic Episcopal Conferences met in Russia. Two signif-
icant moments were the talk by a representative of the Moscow Patriarch and the
Archbishop of the Mother of God in Moscow, Monsignor Kondrusiewicz’s, report on
the situation of religion and the Church in Russia, and also the Eucharistic celebration
with the parish community in Saint Catherine’s in the Northern capital city. This event
also emphasised the need for reciprocal openness between Catholic and Orthodox be-
lievers, according to the exhortation from the Presidents of the Episcopal Confer-
ences: “We are encouraged to discover a way for improving (relationships), rather
than falling into the temptation of once again addressing the problems of the past.”
On 27th December 2006 the official website for the Russian Catholic Episcopal Con-
ference was created (www.ruscatholic.ru) directed by Father Andrzej Obuchowski
(diocese of the Transfiguration in Novosibirsk) and by Igor’ Kovalevsky, Secretary
General for the Episcopal Conference.
On 21st September 2007, after spending about 15 years working in Siberia and in Eu-
ropean Russia and having been the rector of the seminary of the Queen of the Apos-
380
tles in Saint Petersburg for a year, Father Paolo Pezzi was appointed to lead the arch-
diocese of the Mother of God.
The Russian Orthodox Church

Within the framework of generally good relationships with the State, in Chabarovsk
(Far East) there have been reports of complaints from the Orthodox parish communi-
ty of Saint Nichols, within the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, deprived of the
chapel which had been made available to the community by local authorities since
1997 and which was situated inside the complex of the Third Municipal Hospital in
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Chabarovsk (which was opened well before 1917). In 2006 the hospital complex was
sold to a Russian-Chinese commercial organisation, and the community was offered
the use of a chapel in another hospital complex which however was situated in the
suburbs of the city. The local Orthodox ordinary, Archbishop Mark, approved the
move undertaken by the local authorities. (Forum 18 News Service, 23rd November
2007). This unusual case seems emblematic of the widespread use of private financial
interests in some Russian regions.
According to Interfax, 26th August 2007, the police dispersed a protest organised by
about twenty Orthodox believers in Puskin Square in Moscow, who were asking for
the monastery of the Passion of Christ, demolished in 1936-1937, to be rebuilt. Three
protesters who refused to disperse were arrested by the police for a few hours and ac-
cused of having taken part in a demonstration that had not been authorised by the au-
thorities.
The fundamental problem for the Russian Orthodox Church remains that of its inter-
nal unity. On 17th May 2007, an “Act of Canon Communion” sanctioned the reunifi-
cation of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate, rectify-
ing a schism that had lasted 80 years, caused mainly by the pro-Communist position
assumed by the Orthodox Church in Russia and officially sanctioned in 1927 after the
declaration of loyalty to the regime pronounced by the Metropolitan Sergy (Stragorod-
skij). The head of the new reunified Church is the Patriarch Aleksy II, but the Ortho-
dox Church abroad preserves broad pastoral and financial-administrative autonomy.
This process, started in 2003 due to Putin’s intervention, was not entirely painless; in
spite of the long preparation for reunification, two bishops, part of the clergy (60
priests out of 200) and part of the faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, did
not accept this, thereby creating a new schism (Blagovest-info.ru, 1st November 2007).
A new painful division within the Russian Orthodox Church came about on April 24th
2006, when Bishop Basil Osborne, then leading the diocese of Suroz (an autonomous
diocese on British territory since 1931) moved together with some of the faithful to
become part of the jurisdiction of Constantinople (Blagovest-info, 15th–16th May
2006). The main reason was the diversity in ecclesial experience between the clergy
381
and the faithful educated by the Metropolitan Antony (Bloom), and the others who had
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moved to Great Britain more recently.

Bishop Diomid from Cukotka also strongly opposed the Moscow Patriarch, and to-
gether with representatives of the clergy and secular members of his diocese, on 22nd
February 2007, wrote an open letter to “all the faithful children in Christ of the Ortho-
dox Church”, in which he denounced a series of “derogations from the pureness of the
Orthodox doctrine”, in particular a “strengthening of the heretic doctrine of ecu-
menism” (Portal-credo.ru, 22nd February 2007). On 19th November 2007, in a new
letter addressed to the Patriarch Aleksy II, he accused him of “heresy” for having
prayed together with Catholics during his recent visit to Paris and asked for his ex-
communication (Portal-credo.ru, 23rd November 2007). The Synod has not spoken on
this subject, while the rebel bishop has received many letters of disapproval from
prelates and associations of believers also begging him to reform.
Orthodox-Catholic relationships
Good relationships between the Catholic and the Russian Orthodox Church reflect a
broader resumption of the dialogue between the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches,
already mentioned in the report drafted by Monsignor Eleuterio F. Fortino, Undersec-
retary for the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Unity among Christians, pub-
lished on 19th January 2006 in L’Osservatore Romano, a process that experienced oth-
er significant moments with Benedict XVI visiting Turkey and meetings held by the
mixed theological committee in Belgrade (18th-25th September 2006) and again in
Ravenna (8th-14th October 2007).
At a local level, meetings held by the mixed working-group created in 2004 by Patri-
arch Aleksy and Cardinal Kasper, for clarifying difficulties and problems between
Catholics and Orthodox faithful in Russia, continued to be held regularly.
One important factor was the first cultural symposium held in Europe, which was or-
ganised jointly by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture, and the Moscow Patri-
archate. This Symposium was held in Vienna from 3rd May to 6th May 2006, on the
subject “Giving Europe a Soul: The mission and responsibility of Churches”, with the
participation of experts from all over the continent.
There have been many visits to the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate by members of the
Vatican; in February 2006, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray arrived in Moscow invited by
the Patriarch. He brought a message of good wishes from the Pope,which Aleksy II
answered with a letter and pectoral cross. On this occasion, the two prelates affirmed
a concept later often repeated and reasserted by authoritative representatives of the
Catholic-Orthodox dialogue in the past two years – the need for a “shared Christian
testimony” when facing the torment and challenges of contemporary society. This sub-
ject in particular was in the forefront again when the Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk
382
and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the
Moscow Patriarchate, visited Benedict XVI on 18th May 2006 and 7th December 2007.
On 17th July 2006 the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed a favourable
opinion with regards to the continuation of dialogue with the Vatican, identifying a
number of priority issues concerning rights and the dignity of human beings, the moral
responsibility of individuals and the defence of the family and of life.
Another important appointment, within the framework of inter-denominational dia-
logue, was the visit made to Moscow by Cardinal Erdö, president of the European
Council of Episcopal Conferences, on 11th June 2007, for an Orthodox-Catholic con-
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
sultation. The subject of this meeting, organised by the Moscow Patriarchate, was
“The anthropological and ethical foundations of the teachings of the Church for the
creation of society, human rights and the dignity of the person”. Cardinal Poupard too
made an ecumenical visit to Moscow in June 2007, to attend the conference on evan-
gelisation organised by the Patriarchate of Moscow together with the Russian Acade-
my of Science.
The promotion of a “common Christian front” also continued during the visit made by
Aleksy II to France in September 2007; during which visit he made a number of state-
ments and gave numerous interviews (see La Vie, 26th September 2007), in which em-
phasis was placed on the need for “a common answer that the Orthodox and the
Catholics can and must provide” with regards to the “tendencies of the contemporary
world, such as secularisation, religious relativism, religion’s alienation compared to
social life, the propaganda from the culture of consumerism, the reviewing of ethical
rules”.
The, overall, positive development of Orthodox-Catholic relations also underwent a
cyclical return to complaints – from the Orthodox Christians – on the two now tradi-
tional points of Uniatism and proselytising by Catholics, perhaps more motivated by
the need to provide indirect answers to currents within the Orthodox Church than any
reality borne out by the facts. The episode that caused the greatest sensation was a
statement made by Metropolitan Kirill on 30th November 2007, within the framework
of an international conference held in Moscow and entitled “Local churches and the
canonical territory; canon, juridical and interreligious issues”. Speaking freely after
presenting his paper, the prelate stated the need to change the status of Catholic dio-
ceses in Russia, returning to the pre-existing apostolic administrations (“Interfax”, 3rd
December 2007).
It is interesting to observe – when facing the many controversies arising within inter-
denominational issues – the Russian Orthodox Church’s positive approach to the doc-
ument in which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reasserted the vision of
the Church that emerged from the Second Vatican Council; during a press conference,
Metropolitan Kirill stated that he saw there “an honest position”, indispensable with-
383
in the perspective of “sincere dialogue” and “fully conforming with the doctrine of the
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Catholic Church” (Interfax, 10th July 2007).

A very important acknowledgement has been given to the Apostolic Nuncio in the
Russian Federation, Archbishop Antonio Mennini; in September 2007 the Patriarch
Aleksy II in fact awarded him the decoration of Saint Daniil from Moscow, “for his
efforts addressed at establishing good relations between the Russian Orthodox Church
and the Roman Catholic Church, marked by affection, openness and trust” (Vatican
Radio, 5th September 2007).
Ecumenical and interreligious dialogue

Another important ecumenical event was the first anniversary of the death of John
Paul II; on this occasion a commemorative lamp was lit in Moscow’s Catholic Cathe-
dral of the Immaculate Conception, and many messages of respect and condolences
arrived from the Patriarchate of Moscow, the President of the Council of the Russian
Federation, Mr. Aleksandr Torsin, from Rabbi Zinovy Kogan, and from many other
personalities. A pilgrimage of 150 people to the tomb of Pope Wojtyla closed the
“Year of John Paul II” announced in 2005 by the Russian Catholic bishops.
The most impressive event was certainly the interreligious Summit organised by the
Russian Orthodox Church on 4th and 5th July 2006 in Moscow, which gathered togeth-
er over 200 representatives of the Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian-Chaldeans, the
Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, the National Council of American Churches,
representatives of the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu communities, directors of
the Ecumenical Council of Churches and other international religious organisations.
In particular, following an invitation from the Patriarch, the Vatican sent an important
delegation consisting of five Cardinals. The Pope, who during the Angelus on 2nd Ju-
ly described this event as the mark that “indicates the common desire to promote dia-
logue among the civilisations and the quest for a more just and peaceful world”, also
sent a message of good wishes hoping that people would learn “to know one another
ever more deeply and to respect one another in the light of the dignity of the human
being and his eternal destiny”.
Another ecumenical event was held on 27th and 28th February 2007 in Moscow (ZEN-
IT, 5th March 2007) when there was a meeting between the representatives of the
Christian Churches from communities in Baltic countries and the Community of In-
dependent States. Entitled “Contemporary Europe: God, humankind and society – Hu-
man rights and moral change”, participants focused on the fact that, in the name of
equality, human rights, and the desire to be “politically correct”, European societies
and governments try and legitimise tendencies that are corrosive for the traditional
idea of the family. This work-meeting, organised by the Russian Orthodox Church,
ended with a decision to recreate the Christian Interdenominational Consultative
384
Committee, and with an appeal to the State and to European society to respect Chris-
tian principles and rights.
The Jewish Communities

The most serious episode of anti-Semitism was an attack on the Moscow synagogue
on 11th January 2006 when a twenty-year-old Russian called Aleksandr Kopcev, en-
tered the synagogue and stabbed 9 people, “out of racial hatred felt for the Jews be-
cause they have a better lifestyle”, as he confessed to the police. The attack was con-
demned by Patriarch Aleksy II, who in a letter to the chief Rabbi of Russia, Berl Lazar,
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
expressed his “profound sadness at the news of this cruel incident in the synagogue”,
emphasising that “the authorities, the police forces and religious personalities should
do everything possible to prevent such expressions of religious and ethnic intoler-
ance”. The Russian Catholic community too, through Archbishop Kondrusiewicz,
condemned this expression of violence, stating that “the seeds of evil can only be
stopped through cooperation and awareness that all human beings are brothers”
(AsiaNews, 12th January 2006). In November 2006 the Russian Federation’s Supreme
Court confirmed a strict 16-year prison sentence with compulsory psychiatric care.
On 22nd September 2006 Blagovest-info.ru reported a number of episodes of thuggery,
with stones thrown at the windows of synagogues in Chabarovsk and Astrachan’ (which
luckily did not cause serious damage to the buildings nor did they wound anyone).
In October Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar reported the desecration of a number of
Jewish and Tatar graves in the cemetery in Tver’ (Blagovest-info.ru, 5th October 2006).
During an official ceremony at the end of 2007, however, Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berl
Lazar made a significant statement in the name of the Federation of Jewish Commu-
nities in Russia: “Jews living in Russia feel safe today. We can celebrate our religious
festivities in the public squares, in the presence of mayors and governors. This is in-
deed a modern miracle” (Interfax, 10th December 2007).
Relations with Islam

The problem of terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism came to the forefront in July
2006 with the killing of Samil Basaev, the Chechen terrorist who also claimed respon-
sibility for the Beslan massacre (September 2004), in which 330 civilians were killed,
among them 186 children. Commentating operations by Russian Special Forces,
which in the course of a raid in Ingusetija on 9th July resulted in the death of Basaev,
Father Michail Dudko, secretary for State-Church relationships, emphasised the im-
portance of “not interpreting the Chechen situation as a clash between Christianity and
Islam. We emphasise” – he added – “the fact that the actions of people such as Basaev
are a distortion of the Islamic doctrine and that it is baseless to accuse Russia of
carrying out a religious war in the Caucasus. This is precisely why authentic religious
385
instruction is indispensable”. On this same occasion, Father Dudko also reminded

RUSSIAN FEDERATION
people that the Russian Orthodox Church supports the introduction of the subject
“Foundations of Islamic culture” in the Caucasus regions.
A large mosque is being built in the centre of Moscow (70 metres high and with 4
minarets, it will be able to host 5,000 people). Plans were ratified by the Mayor of
Moscow on 7th August 2006 (Blagovest-info.ru, 25th September 2006)
As previously mentioned, within the framework of the current cooperation, in the
present electoral climate between the Muslim community and the Russian govern-
ment, the first private hospital was opened in Moscow at the beginning of December
2007, which respects the rules of Islamic law (clear separation between women’s and
men’s wards, female doctors wearing the veil, halal, hence “pure” medication and
food), as explained during an interview to Interfax (6th December 2007) given by An-
na Kisko, spokesperson for the health network that organised this hospital. The cre-
ation of this “Islamic hospital” is supported by the Russian Health Ministry and by the
Russian Council of Muftis.

On 17th September 2007 a session of the “Advisory Council of the Leaders of the
Protestant Churches of Russia”, which also includes a representative of the President’s
administration, was held in Moscow. The day’s agenda included the problem of reli-
gious instruction in schools as well as the issue of religious discrimination in Russia.
There were complaints about aggressions against one of the communites of the As-
sembly of God in Moscow, when the building was burnt down (Portal-credo.ru, 17th
September 2007).
Incidents in various regions of the Russian federation – as reported by Forum 18 News
Service, 7th June 2006 – emphasise the tendency shown by local authorities to obstruct
the activities of some religious communities as well as not protecting them from hooli-
ganism; there were reports of a number of episodes, such as about twenty drunks
breaking into a room in which 300 Pentecostals from Spassk, in Siberia, were cele-
brating Easter; or obscene acts carried out by the participants in a Gay and Lesbian
event in the square outside and in the doorway of the Catholic Church of Saint Cather-
ine in Saint Petersburg, without the police present intervening in any way at all.
Difficulties continue for non-Orthodox religious organisations wishing to build places

of worship in Moscow. Although this right is guaranteed by the Law on Freedom of
Worship dated 1997, the authorities often blame the opposition presented by citizens
resident in the area, or declare that where there are already Orthodox buildings, or oth-
ers are planned, there cannot be other places of worship. For example, the Emmanuel
Pentecostal community, to whom after many difficulties in 2005 the Moscow author-
386
ities assigned a piece of land for building their own place of worship, saw this land
later denied to them with the excuse that it had previously been sold to someone else.
And the Russian-American Christian University also encountered problems when
building their own headquarters, which is now however about to be completed and
will be inaugurated in the course of the 2008-09 academic year.
The court in Novgorod sentenced to 2 years imprisonment a man who had set fire to
the Seventh Day Adventist community’s place of worship (Blagovest-info.ru, 19th
February 2007).
Newsru.com, 5th February 2007, reported that in Kujbysev, in the province of Novosi-
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
brsk, the headquarters if Jehovah’s Witnesses was covered in petrol and set on fire.
A member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Izevsk (Udmurtija) was sentenced to pay a
fine for failure to report for civil service, because this too depends from the Ministry
for Defence (Interfax, 24th October 2007). In 2007 the local Public Prosecutor’s Of-
fice analysed 6 analogous cases, and 4 citizens were fined (Blagovest-info.ru, 7th De-
cember 2007).
387
RWANDA
Although the 1991 Constitution (as amended with additional

RWANDA
protocols in 1992, 1993 and 1995) guarantees religious free-

dom in Article 18, local authorities often restrict this right, in-
AREA
tervening against groups such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and
26,338 kmq
Pentecostals, who refuse to perform certain activities which are
POPULATION either regarded as their patriotic duty or as a symbolic of na-
9,208,000 tional unity.
Political parties are forbidden to make any kind of distinction
REFUGEES
according to race, ethnic origin, tribe, clan, geographic origin,
53,577 gender, religion or any other discriminatory criteria.
INTERNALLY Foreign missionaries and institutions affiliated to religious
DISPLACED groups can operate without authorisation, but must declare their
--- objectives and activities to the local authorities in order to ob-
tain a “provisional permit”. Many groups, however, complain
that it is hard to obtain the permit and so operate without autho-
risation, which can result in formal reprimands or even prison
RELIGIOUS
sentences.
ADHERENTS
The state wishes all religious meetings to be held in formal
places of worship and forbids them from being held in private
homes. A permit is needed to hold religious meetings at night,
not only because, in the past, rebel groups used to call their
night-time gatherings “religious meetings” at which they
planned violent attacks, but also to avoid noise and disturbance.
Ethnoreligionists 9% The general situation, however, as far as religion is concerned,
Muslims 7.9% is quite calm, although the police now intervene with determi-
Others 0.4%
nation against all activities that might disturb public order, even
Baptized Catholics if only slightly. Hence, after February 2007 the police in three
4,381,000 districts (Kigali, Nyarugenge and Gasabo) arrested and de-
tained so-called “street preachers”, Christians who were
preaching the Gospel and evangelising passers-by in the street,
because this was considered as causing “disorder”. In February
2006 the police moved against churches and temples causing
high noise levels, confiscating excessively noisy musical in-
struments and ordering mosques to lower the volume of loud-
speakers calling the faithful to prayers (BBC).
Religious instruction is allowed in state schools, often as an al-
ternative to courses on morals. There are both Christian and
Muslim schools. The Catholic Church runs 137 playschools
with 38,648 children; 1,232 primary schools with 892,434
388
students; 131 secondary schools with 61,351 students, 16 hospitals and 87 dispen-
saries (Fides, December 2007).
The difficult legacy of the 1994 genocide

In the space of 100 days, between April and July 1994, Hutu extremists massacred be-
tween 500,000 and 800,000 people, most belonging to the Tutsi ethnic group. Thou-
sands more were later killed during the Tutsi revenge, ultimately leading, according to
the government, to about 937 thousand victims (the United Nations speaks of “only”
800,000 people killed).
For years tens of thousands of people were imprisoned awaiting trial, charged with
having taken part in the genocide, while the International Penal Court for Rwanda (the
TPIR) organised by the UN (the headquarters of which were in Arusha, Tanzania) suc-
ceeded in hearing only a few dozen cases. Most trials – of secondary figures, i.e. those
who were acting on the orders of their superiors, such as common soldiers and ordi-
nary people – were moved to hundreds of popular tribunals, the so-called gacaca,
which means “grass” in the local Kinyarwanda language and recalls the tradition of
meeting in a field to settle local controversies. Faced with 818,000 individuals accused
of crimes linked to the genocide, the government revised its procedures a number of
times in order to speed up the hearings, successively increasing the powers of the
gacacas. In May 2007 they were given the power to pass life sentences, whereas the
previous limit had been 30 years. Furthermore, as an alternative to a prison sentence,
the option was introduced of sentencing those found guilty to various forms of com-
munity service. Between May and October 2007 about 47,000 people were sentenced
to these kinds of community service. Decisions are taken by a people’s jury of nine
ordinary people and there are neither public prosecutors nor lawyers for the defence,
these roles being carried out by the parties involved. Amnesty International and other
groups have often reported that the gacacas do not respect the required minimum in-
ternational standards for a fair trial. Many judges have been accused of using their
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power for personal or political ends, or in an abusive manner (Human Rights Watch).
Government sources have acknowledged that dozens of people have committed sui-
cide after being sentenced by these popular tribunals. At the end of 2007 there were
still tens of thousands awaiting trial.
The wounds caused by the massacres are still raw and a law of 2003 defines as “ille-
gal” all forms of revisionism or denial as far as the genocide is concerned. In May
2006, a priest, Jean-Marie Vianney Uwizeyeyezu was arrested and accused of the
crime of having underestimated the extent of the genocide. According to a pro-gov-
ernment daily newspaper, in the month of April he minimised the 1994 massacres in
a homily (Vatican Radio) and was alleged to have said that it was a mistake to call
389
those responsible for the genocide “dogs”. In October 2006 he was sentenced to 12
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years in prison.
Catholics
Among the hundreds of thousands of people accused of genocide, or other crimes
linked to it, there are Christian believers and priests and both the gacaca and the TPIR
have sentenced clergymen, both Catholic and of other religions, in some cases for se-
rious crimes. But the authorities and the state media, as well as the international press
and public opinion, were prompted by these episodes to formulate a generic accusa-
tion of complicity in the genocide against the entire ecclesial hierarchy.
In particular, the Church has been accused of seeking to protect the priests involved
in the genocide and of not wanting to acknowledge its responsibilities, forgetting
among other things the extremely high price paid in terms of human lives by the
Church in Rwanda. Among the victims there were 248 consecrated persons, including
three bishops, 103 priests, 47 religious brothers belonging to various congregations
and 65 nuns (Fides). It has been observed that the international media often report
simply that a Catholic “priest” or “a nun” has been sentenced for genocide, without
even giving their names, as though their identity were not considered important.
Even though in recent years there have been signs of reconciliation between the gov-
ernment and the Catholic Church, at the 2007 Commemoration Service for the geno-
cide, only the Lutheran was invited to send a representative to say a prayer, although
in previous years participation was not restricted to the Lutheran Church.
This situation of suspicion and disfavour towards the Church seems to be encapsulat-
ed by the events concerning the Belgian priest Guy Theunis, SMA, a member of the
Society of African Missions. He was arrested on 6th September 2005 at Kigali airport
while waiting for a flight for Belgium. Charges of genocide were instantly and wide-
ly trumpeted by the media, although they were only officially announced some days
after his arrest. It was alleged that in his work for the local French language magazine
Dialogue (which he edits and writes for) Father Theunis had incited ethnic division,
the planning of the genocide and subsequent revisionism, in particular by publishing
extracts from the extremist Rwandan newspaper Kangura. This was, in fact, simply a
press review, in which various articles from local newspapers were translated and
commented on. The superior of his order, Father Gérard Chabanon, immediately dis-
missed these accusations as totally unfounded and rejected the idea that this magazine,
“which analyses from a Christian point of view the problems addressed”, could ever
have had such an agenda. The charge is even more surprising, however, given the kind
of person Father Guy is. He lived in Rwanda between 1970 and 1994, and was always
extremely active in the field of communications. After the genocide he returned to
390
Belgium, then lived in South Africa from 1998 to 2003, and then in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. During the 23 years he spent in Rwanda he was a member of var-
ious institutions for the defence of human rights and against violence. He was later al-
so heard as a witness of events surrounding the genocide by international political and
judicial authorities, such as the French National Assembly’s investigative committee
and the Belgian Senate. Prior to this no one had even suggested that eh was involved
with “pro-genocide” activities, in spite of the fact that since 1994 he had travelled to
Rwanda on numerous occasions. He is the first foreigner to have been charged in the
gacacas. Other international organisations, such as Reporters without Frontiers, have
protested, observing that “Father Theunis has always defended the principles of toler-
ance and respect for others. He has spent his life fighting racism and ethnic hatred”.
They have described the accusations as “outrageous” and “absurd”, pointing out that
the quotations taken from the extremist newspaper Kangura were published in order
to alert his readers about this extremism and “with the intention of condemning hatred
and intolerance”.
The events which followed are likewise revealing. On 11th September 2005, at the end
of a hearing attended by about a thousand people, the judges of the gacaca in Ubumwe
committed Father Theunis to be tried by an ordinary court, considering his crimes
(“having incited Rwandans to massacre with his articles and his words”) as belonging
to “Category No. 1”, the most serious, that of the “planners” of the 1994 genocide and
punishable even by the death sentence. After weeks, the High Court of Justice in Ki-
gali approved the Belgian government’s request for extradition. The priest will be tried
in his country of origin, where he returned on his own without a police escort in No-
vember 2005. Human Rights Watch has commented that the Rwandan authorities have
no evidence justifying the priest’s arrest or trial. The trial is still ongoing. In an inter-
view with the magazine Nigrizia in February 2007, he described the current situation
as follows: tens of thousands of people have been imprisoned for over 13 years and
still not brought to trial. Tens of thousands more have been released after years in
RWANDA
prison awaiting trial, in an atmosphere of revenge in the villages that still results in vi-
olent incidents directed against those even only suspected of being involved in the
genocide.

Since 2003 the requests for registration presented by two Methodist Christian groups,
the United Methodist Church of Rwanda (UMC-RWANDA) and the International
Union Methodist Community (Communauté Méthodiste Union Internationale), are
still pending. Both groups claim to be the main representative of the Methodist Church
and the legitimate representative of the World Methodist Church. Their case has been
referred to the Supreme Court.
391
Jehovah’s Witnesses
RWANDA
Discrimination against the Jehovah’s Witnesses continues because of their refusal to

accept the ideas and symbols of state sovereignty and national unity, for example the
custom (not compulsory by law) for the bride and groom to touch the national flag
during the marriage ceremony while they exchange their vows. This custom is reject-
ed by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who have difficulty finding a public official prepared
to celebrate marriages without including this patriotic ritual.
Every year dozens of Jehovah’s Witnesses are arrested because they refuse to take part
in night watches (groups of citizens patrolling the streets to guarantee public security)
and are held in prison for anything from one night to one month. Arrests continue, in
spite of the fact that in 2005 judges ruled that no law obliges citizens to take part in
these activities. In many districts the Witnesses have reached agreement with the au-
thorities to perform alternative forms of community service. In many areas however,
the authorities continue to refuse permits for building places of worship. In May 2006
the mayor of Gitarama responded that he would not approve any permits until they
stopped “inciting citizens to disobey government policies”.
Discrimination also affects school students, who are sometimes expelled for refusing
to participate in patriotic ceremonies.
392
SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS
This small state, which is part of the British Commonwealth,

consists in three small islands of the Lesser Antilles. The 1983
Constitution guarantees full religious freedom in Article 11,
AREA
and sets out in detail both the rights of individuals and those of
261 kmq
religious groups.
There are no reports regards to interference by the authorities in POPULATION
SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS

the life of religious groups or any episodes of intolerance. 46,000
Registration is not compulsory for religious organisations.
REFUGEES
---
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Others 5.2%
Baptized Catholics
5,000
393
SAINT LUCIA
This Island in the Lesser Antilles is a member of the British

SAINT LUCIA
Commonwealth. The Constitution dated 1979, the year in

which the country became independent, guarantees full reli-
AREA
gious freedom in Article 9.
616 kmq
The dominant religion is Christianity, mainly Catholic. Non-
POPULATION Christian religions, such as Islam and the Rastafari Movement
159,000 (Rastafarians) have very few followers and were brought to the
country via immigration.
REFUGEES
There are no reports of violations of religious freedom or
--- events involving intolerance.
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Others 3.9%
Baptized Catholics
101,000
394
SAINT VINCENT AND GRENADINES
The group of islands in the Lesser Antilles that form the State
SAINT VINCENT AND GRENADINES

of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is part of the British Com-
monwealth. Article 9 of the Constitution, approved when the
AREA
country became independent in 1979, sets out in detail the in-
388 kmq
dividual and associative rights deriving from complete reli-
gious freedom. POPULATION
State schools provide moral instruction based on the principles 118,000
of Christianity, but attendance is not compulsory.
REFUGEES
There are no reports of events involving intolerance or viola-
tion of religious freedom ---
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Hindus 3.4%
Others 7.5%
Baptized Catholics
15,000
395
SAMOA
Religious freedom is guaranteed by the 1997 Constitution and

SAMOA
in practice is also respected by the government, which punish-

es all persecutory acts or discrimination. There is no established
AREA
State religion, although the Constitution’s introduction de-
2,831 kmq
scribes the country as “an independent state based on Christian
POPULATION principles and Samoan custom and tradition”.
179,000 Public ceremonies generally start with a shared prayer. Reli-
gious groups are permitted to operate with no formal recogni-
REFUGEES
tion.
--- Specific religious instruction is not provided in schools. Each
INTERNALLY faith can operate its own schools and include religious instruc-
DISPLACED tion within the educational timetable.
--- In villages and small towns there is strong social pressure for
everyone to take part in the community’s religious functions
and activities, and for every family to contribute to the finan-
cial needs of the leaders and activities of the local church. This
RELIGIOUS
contribution can amount to 30 percent of the family’s income.
ADHERENTS
However, since the year 2000 there have been no reports stat-
ing that communities ban those practising a religion that differs
from that of the majority.

Baha’i 2.3%
Others 1.1%
Baptized Catholics
40,000
396
SAN MARINO
Religious freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution. Relations

with the Catholic Church are regulated by the Concordat of
April 1992. On the basis of this agreement, citizens may ask for
AREA
3/1000th of their tax to be given to the Catholic Church or to
61 kmq
other charitable institutions.
On 23rd April 2007, San Marino held the Presidency of the POPULATION
Committee of Ministers of the European Council, and organ- 31,000
ised the first European conference on “The religious dimension
REFUGEES
of intercultural dialogue”. Inaugurating this event, the secretary
general for the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, emphasised ---
that “once faith was considered a private, even an intimate mat- INTERNALLY
ter”, but “nowadays it is right for religious organisations to DISPLACED
have more importance than in the past, since they have the ---
power to bring people to dialogue and understanding”. He also
pointed out that “the religions, like many other human convic-
tions, are an expression of cultural identity that deserves re-
RELIGIOUS
spect”.
ADHERENTS
Sources
“The Council of Europe ascertains the public role played by re-
ligions”, ZENIT, 24th April 2007
SAN MARINO
Non religious 6.9%
Others 0.9%
Baptized Catholics
30,000
397
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
In this small archipelago religious freedom is recognised by the

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
1990 Constitution, which in Article 8 establishes the secular

character of the state and the separation of religion and politics,
AREA
while Article 26 guarantees “freedom of conscience, religion
964 kmq
and worship”.
POPULATION Religious groups must register, but there are no reports of un-
151,000 registered groups being banned. Missionaries, both Christian
and of other faiths, are present in the country.
REFUGEES
---
INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Baha’i 2.1%
Others 0.9%
Baptized Catholics
111,000
398
SAUDI ARABIA
Of all the Islamic countries, Saudi Arabia is the one in which

religious freedom is most emphatically rejected, even in princi-
ple. The kingdom declares itself to be “integrally” Islamic and
AREA
regards the Koran as the country’s only Constitution and the
2,149,690 kmq
Shari‘a as its basic law. In the theological interpretation of Wa-
habism endorsed by the State, the land of the Arabic peninsula POPULATION
is the homeland of the prophet Mohammed, the most holy of all 23,680,000
lands, where one cannot even practice the tolerated “religions
REFUGEES
of the Book”, namely Judaism and Christianity. For this reason
too, anything that might seem an “attack” against this sort of re- 240,742
ligious virginity is severely prosecuted and the authorities are INTERNALLY
committed to preventing the spreading of any religious mes- DISPLACED
sage other than the Islamic faith. Every manifestation of non- ---
Muslim faith (possession of Bibles, wearing a crucifix, a
rosary, praying in public) is therefore forbidden.
The religious police (the notorious mutawwa’in) have great
RELIGIOUS
power and are responsible for monitoring the activities of oth-
ADHERENTS
er religions. The excessive “zeal” shown by the mutawwa’in
has been the cause of summary arrests and torture in the pris-
ons. The religious police often incarcerate members of minori-
SAUDI ARABIA
ty religious groups, both Christians and Shiite Muslims, who
are released only after signing a document in which they re-
nounce their faith. Non-Muslim workers are subject to arrest,
Muslims 93.7%
deportation, and imprisonment if found exercising any reli- Affiliated Christians 3.7%
gious practice, or if accused of owning religious material or of Others 2.6%
proselytism. In recent years, thanks to international pressure,

Baptized Catholics
the Saudi royal family has allowed the practice of other reli-
900,000
gions, but only in private, although the distinction between the
public and the private sphere is not year clear.
On 4th May 2006 the American Congress Commission on Inter-
national Religious Freedom (USCIRF) asked the government
for “energetic action” against Saudi Arabia due to reiterated vi-
olations of religious freedom. The Commission asked the Sec-
retary of State to keep Saudi Arabia on the annually drafted
“blacklist” of countries guilty of “serious violations” of reli-
gious freedom. The Commission’s leader, Michael Cromartie,
explained that the situation regarding religious freedom in Sau-
di Arabia had basically not improved over the past two years
since the country had been put on the “blacklist”. Washington
399
had allowed the country “an additional 180 days temporary waiver” for reforms; this
SAUDI ARABIA
expired in March 2006. However, according to Cromartie, religious freedom “does not
exist” in this country and the United States government “should not hesitate to take
decisive action” as far as Saudi Arabia is concerned – such as imposing travel restric-
tions on Saudi officials, or restrictions on exports.
Christians
It is hard to know exactly how many Christians are present in this country. They are
certainly a significant percentage of the over 8 million foreign workers. It is estimat-
ed that there are at least a million of them, mainly from the Philippines, but also from
Europe, the United States and the Middle East. Christians are deprived of all pastoral,
care since priests are not allowed into the country. Basically, Christians are denied the
possibility of expressing their faith through public worship.
There have recently been numerous reports of raids carried out by the mutawwa’in
against Christian religious services, in particular those held by the Philippine commu-
nity in Riyadh, and the confiscation of any religious material used.
In an interview with AsiaNews, an Indian Malankarese priest, Father George Joshua,
described his expulsion from Saudi Arabia. Father Joshua had been found by the reli-
gious police on the evening of 5th April 2006, while celebrating Mass in a private room
with a group of foreign Catholics. “They spoke to me and listed all the places I had
been until then, all my activities, the group prayers I had organised in private homes.”
“Then they forced me to put back on my vestments and made me stand in front of the
table we had used as an altar and in front of the crucifix. They took many photographs
as evidence that I was a Christian priest performing illegal religious activities.”
On 9th June 2006 ten policemen armed with truncheons broke into a private home in
the al-Rowaise district in Jeddah where a religious service was being held, attended
by over 100 Eritrean, Ethiopian and Filipino Christians. The faithful invited the po-
licemen to sit down and they complied, waiting for three hours for the service to end,
and then arresting the four leaders of this group (two Ethiopians and two Eritreans):
Mekbeb Telahun, Fekre Gebremedhin, Dawit Uqbay and Masai Wendewesen. The
men were deported in July 2006.
On 15th October 2006 the mutawwa’in raided a room in Tabuk where a Filipino priest
was preaching. The religious police confiscated Bibles and arrested the priest, who
was released after a week.
In October 2006 a Filipino Christian was arrested in Jeddah and accused of possess-
ing drugs. The accusation was later changed to one of proselytism. The man was re-
mained in custody for eight months and then given 60 lashes in punishment, after
which he was deported back to his country.
400
In May 2007 the arrest was reported of a Saudi citizen, who was accused of having
converted to Christianity. Apart from the fact that he was tortured, there are no other
details known about this case.
In August 2007, the case of a Christian doctor of Egyptian origin called Mamdooh
Fahmy was resolved with his return to Cairo. Fahmy had worked since 2004 as a doc-
tor at the Albyaan Menfhoh Medical Center in Riyadh. From the very beginning, his
Muslim colleagues had started to insult him for being a Christian, and in 2005 he re-
ceived a “visit” from the mutawwa’in. After searching his house, the officers accused
him of being a Christian missionary and also of drinking alcohol. Kept in isolation for
5 days, he was then released. Having lost his job, the doctor wanted to return to Egypt,
but for two years the Saudi authorities refused to return his passport to him or provide
him with the documents he needed to leave the country. The case was finally resolved,
partly thanks to an international campaign led by International Christian Concern
(ICC).
On 6th November 2007 the Pope welcomed the Saudi King Abdallah, “in a cordial at-
mosphere”. In the absence of diplomatic relations, this was the first meeting between
the Holy See and Saudi Arabia at such a level. The Vatican had always indicated Sau-
di Arabia as one of the countries in which religious freedom was less respected.
Very little news seeped out about this “historical meeting”. The Al-Jazeera TV net-
SAUDI ARABIA
work stated that some of the issues discussed had been the “situation experienced by
the Christian minority in Saudi Arabia, the need for greater interreligious cooperation
and prospects for peace in the Middle East”. Commenting on this visit to AsiaNews,
Monsignor Paul Hinder, Apostolic Vicar in Arabia since 2005, emphasised that reli-
gious freedom in Saudi Arabia is still a problem, although in recent year there have
been fewer arrests of Christians and the King has reduced the power of the mu-
tawwa’in. “I believe that this meeting was also an excellent opportunity for discussing
the religious rights of Christians in Saudi Arabia. This subject is not explicitly men-
tioned in the press release, but there was mention of “the positive and industrious pres-
ence of Christians”. I believe that within this framework the Pope was also able to dis-
cuss freedom of worship in Saudi Arabia”.
Muslims
On 24th March 2006, under an agreement with the Minister of Justice, the general di-
rector of prisons, Maj. Gen. Ali Al-Harithy announced that prisoners must in future be
released if they had not been put on trial within six months from the date of their ar-
rest. Previously, the National Society for Human Rights, a Saudi NGO, had inter-
vened, denouncing the conditions for prisoners in Saudi jails. The Basic Law issued
401
by King Fahd in 1992 states in Article 26 that “the State protects human rights in ac-
SAUDI ARABIA
cordance with Islamic Law”.

In March 2006 the Saudi authorities prevented the Imam of the Great Mosque in Med-
ina from holding further sermons. During the Friday sermon Sheik Abdul-Bari al-
Thubaithy had made a questionable speech on the role of women in society, in which
he severely criticised the advocates of equal rights for women and men. The Sheik al-
so praised the fact that the Consultative Council had refused to allow women the right
to drive cars.
In June 2006 the Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (the
official name of the mutawwa’in, or religious police) expressed its intention to open
special centres in all cities for “registering complaints against witches and charlatans,
following their movements and putting an end to their activities”. This was made pub-
lic by the head of this Authority, Ibrahim bin Abdallah al-Ghaith, as reported by the
daily newspaper al-Madinah, and quoted by AsiaNews.
An important development occurred in June 2007 with the creation of a “Department
of Laws and Regulations” to verify the repeating accusations and criticisms recently
directed at the mutawwa’in. These extremely powerful religious police are responsi-
ble not only for prosecuting those who drink alcohol, those who do not dress accord-
ing to the Islamic rules or behave “immorally”, but also for repressing all religious ac-
tivities, even private ones, not in conformity with Wahabi Islam. In its first report, the
National Society for Human Rights, accused the mutawwa’in of having “obtained
confessions through force” and of other violations. During that same month, three
members of the Saudi religious police were put on trial, for the first time in history,
due to their involvement in the death of a man they had arrested. According to official
statistics, on January 2007 there were 3,227 such religious police working in 1,310
centres in all the 13 Saudi provinces.
Shiite Muslims
Although representing between 10 and 15 percent of the population, the Shiites con-
tinue to complain of discriminations. In the Eastern province, where most of them
live, no governor of a province, no mayor or director of ministerial centres is Shiite;
and out of the 59 government-appointed members of the municipal councils, only 3
belong to this community. However, among the elected members of these municipal
councils, the Shiites are well represented, as in the city of al-Qatif. But out of 150
members of the Majlis al-Shura (the national Consultative Council) only 4 are Shiites.
In March 2006 Ala’ Amin al-Sadeh protested at a judge’s refusal to accept his testimo-
ny because he was a Shiite. Sadeh was invited to present his protest to the Ministry of
the Interior. There is no information regarding the outcome of this protest.
402
In April 2006 the religious police arrested a female Shiite student in Riyadh, accused
of proselytising among students. She was released after a few days.
The government does not finance the construction of Shiite mosques. The obtaining
of building permits for mosques (not required for Sunni ones) is a slow and difficult
process. Hence the Shiites use their own private mosques, known as husseiniya that
have no official authorisation. In January 2007 the authorities arrested a member of
the Shiite clergy because he held services in an illegal husseiniya.
On 16th April 2007 two Shiites were arrested in al-Ahsa for having planned to celebrate
celebrating the Birth of the Prophet. The government considers this festivity a form of
idolatry and an imitation of the Christian Christmas. The festivity was however cele-
brated in other parts of the kingdom with no interference from the authorities.
The Ahmadis
On 29th December 2006 the religious police carried out a raid against an assembly
held by the Ahmadi community, arresting 49 people of Pakistani and Indian national-
ity, among them about twenty women and children. The Ahmadis consider them-
selves Muslims, but are considered heretics by other Muslims because they do not ac-
knowledge Mohammed as the last prophet; this is why they suffer persecution from
extremists in many Islamic countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran
and Saudi Arabia. Another 9 Ahmadis were arrested at the beginning of 2007. All
SAUDI ARABIA
those arrested were later expelled from Saudi Arabia. The Saudi authorities expressed
concern regarding the size of the group (about 150 people). In January 2007, in an
open letter to the Saudi King, Human Rights Watch condemned the campaign of ar-
rests, detentions and deportations directed against the Ahmadi community. “Your
government arrests and holds members of the Ahmadi community only because of
their religious faith. This is an extremely serious violation of the international princi-
ples of religious freedom”, wrote the organisation. In conclusion, the letter invited
Riyadh to “honour and respect religious freedom and the freedom to gather in peace
to pray with other people. This unjust persecution must stop”. But it was not to be,
and on 7th February 2007, two more Ahmadi workers were arrested in Riyadh and ex-
pelled from the kingdom.
Ismailis
According to Human Rights Watch, in the months of August and September 2006, a
believer from the Ismaili community, Hadi al-Mutif, began a hunger strike in protest
against his imprisonment for having “insulted the prophet Mohammed”. Twelve years
earlier, during his original trial, al-Mutif had been sentenced to death, but then the sen-
tence was commuted to life imprisonment. According to HRW he has tried to commit
403
suicide twice, and so in January 2007, the authorities decided to place him in solitary
SAUDI ARABIA
confinement.
In September 2006 three hundred Ismailis from Najran protested against the discrim-
ination directed at their communities and asked for the release of their co-religionists,
who had been imprisoned since the year 2000. They also asked for an official apolo-
gy for having been described as “infidels” by a judge and for an end to the building of
settlements of naturalised Yemenites on their lands.
404
SENEGAL
Senegal is a secular state and the 1963 Constitution, as amend-

ed in 1998, acknowledges freedom of religion in Article 19,
with full administrative and organisational freedom for reli-
AREA
gious communities. Article 17 acknowledges these communi-
196,722 kmq
ties as “means of education” on an equal footing with state
schools. POPULATION
Sunni Islam is the dominant religion. Most Muslims practice a 11,148,000
form of Islam that combines outward religious observance with
REFUGEES
local cultural values and beliefs. In recent years neo-Wahabi
groups have spread in the cities, however, accusing other Mus- 20,421
lims of ignorance, syncretism and collaborationism. INTERNALLY
Shortly before the presidential and general elections of 25th DISPLACED
February 2007, which later confirmed the victory of Abdoulaye 22,400
Wade, the Senegalese Muslim and Catholic leaders invited
everyone to remain calm and to respect the rules of democracy.
At the beginning of February, Archbishop Theodore-Adrien
RELIGIOUS
Sarr of Dakar had called on opposition parties to cancel an
ADHERENTS
unauthorised rally. Archbishop Sarr’s request was broadcast on
Senegalese radio and published in all the local newspapers. A
similar appeal to the candidates, to contribute to a peaceful po-
litical campaign, was issued by El Hadj Moustapha Cissé, a
Muslim religious leader and coordinator of the Senegal Centre
for Religious Intellectuals for Peace and Harmony (CCRIPC),
Muslims 87.6%
which includes both Muslims and Catholics. This appeal was Ethnoreligionists 6.2%
launched after a series of incidents, involving supporters of the Affiliated Christians 5.5%
Others 0.7%
various presidential candidates, had left a number of people in-
jured. Baptized Catholics
551,000
SENEGAL
Sources
LA CIVILTA’ CATTOLICA, 2007 II page 190
Fides, 16th February 2007
405
SERBIA, MONTENEGRO AND KOSOVO
The Constitution of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro, ap-

proved in 2003, complemented by Articles 26 and 27 of the

“Charter of Human Rights, Minority Rights and Civil Free-
AREA
doms”, guarantees the right to full religious freedom.
102,173 kmq
There is no State religion, although the Serbian-Orthodox ma-
POPULATION jority enjoys particular consideration from the authorities.
10,612,000 Legislation in the Republic of Montenegro also guarantees the
right to religious freedom and respects it. It also mentions the
REFUGEES
Serbian-Orthodox Church, the Islamic religious community
106,523 and the Catholic Church, stating that these are institutions that
INTERNALLY are separate from the State.
DISPLACED Serbian legislation instead adopts rather discriminating provi-
247,500 sions with regard to religious groups, creating inequalities be-
tween them. The Serbian law regulating the activities of reli-
gious associations, in force since April 2006, establishes a dif-
ferent status for religious minorities, including some of those
RELIGIOUS
previously officially recognised. The law recognises seven tra-
ADHERENTS
ditional religious communities: the Serbian-Orthodox Church,
the Catholic Church, the Evangelical Slovakian Church, the
Reformed Christian Church, the Evangelical Church, the Is-
lamic Community and the Jewish Community. The other de-
nominations may register once again, in compliance with the
law in force since April, but approval for legal status is given at
Muslims 16.2% the government’s discretion. Many NGOs, religious communi-
Others 15.9% ties, the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe) and the Council of Europe have repeatedly and sharply
Baptized Catholics
criticised this law regulating religion, judging it as invasive of
587,000
the freedom of religious groups. Registration in fact involves
indicating the group’s name, those of its members, their signa-
tures, submitting the statutes of the group, a description of the
ceremonies and the basic activities.
In Serbia there is religious instruction in primary and in second-
ary schools; students are asked to choose to attend a class
which includes the teaching of one of the seven traditional of-
ficial religions. Should the student or the family not want reli-
gious instruction, this course is replaced by lessons on civics.
On 16th January 2006 the Catholic Agency ZENIT reported that
President Filip Vujanovic of the Republic of Montenegro had
informed the Pope in the course of a private audience, of prepa-
406
rations for a referendum on Montenegro’s independence from Serbia and its separa-
tion from the federation.

This referendum was duly set for 21st May 2006, as reported by L’Osservatore Ro-
mano on that same day, and was promoted by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic of
Montenegro with the intention of removing this small republic from the political and
economic conditioning of its bigger partner, Serbia, and at the same time speeding up
its entry in the European Union. The Serbian government, for its part had more than
once stated that it would accept the result of the referendum, whatever it might be; this
was in fact basically a formal assent. On 22nd-23rd May the same source reported the
results of this referendum, which decided in favour of separation from Serbia with
55.4 percent of the vote, which meant that the quorum of 55 percent required by Eu-
ropean observers had only just been achieved.
On 16th December 2006 Vatican Radio reported on the decision by the Holy See and
the Republic of Montenegro to establish diplomatic relations; the Vatican in fact offi-
cially acknowledged the country’s new political status on 19th June 2006.
The Italian Catholic magazine Il Regno (published in Bologna, Issue No. 18/2006) re-
ported on the holding of the IX Plenary Session of the Mixed International Commis-
sion for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox churches in Bel-
grade from 18th-25th September 2006. The Commission had not worked between 2000
and 2005, when it reopened on the initiative of the Orthodox Church. Benedict XVI
too expressed his happiness at the resumption of the theological dialogue which is
aimed at “eliminating the remaining differences and upholding the fundamental desire
to do everything possible to re-establish full communion” which was “a fundamental
good for the community of the disciples of Christ”.
On 26th September Human Rights Without Frontiers reported that the religious mi-
norities in Serbia are frequently attacked and discriminated against and detailed nu-
merous episodes, among them the stabbing of a member of the Hare Krishna sect in
June and vandalism inflicted on 6th September on the new Islamic faculty in Novi
Pazar. There have been constant reports of incidents of vandalism against Catholic,
Orthodox, Lutheran and Adventist churches.
On 27th August in Gornij Milanovac, the police arrested an Islamic delegation return-
ing from Belgrade which also included the Mufti of Sandzak, Muamar ef Zukurlic.
The cars and personal belongings of the travellers were searched. The Mufti refused
to hand over his personal luggage and protested to the Prime Minister.
On 22nd January 2007, Pope Benedict XVI welcomed the new Montenegrin Ambas-
sador to the Holy See, Antun Sbutega, as reported by the Radio Giornale Vaticano on
the same day. The Pope described Montenegro as the “privileged place for that ecu-
menical encounter longed for by all”, adding that “Some outstanding examples of
Christian-Muslim encounter have likewise been achieved in Montenegro”.
407
On 18th August AsiaNews reported that the Serbian Minister for Religious Affairs, Mi-
lan Radulovic, had been replaced by Radomir Naumov; many sources however assert
that this is only a piece of formal window-dressing, leaving the real decision-making
power in the hands of Radulovic. In fact, those movements and groups that do not
qualify as “historical religions”, namely the Baptists, Hare Krishna, Pentecostals, Je-
hovah’s Witnesses and Old Catholics, continue to be denied legal recognition, which
also makes it impossible for them to open bank accounts and own property.
KOSOVO
Until 18th February 2007, Kosovo was administered by the civil authorities of the NA-
TO mission present there since 1999. On 17th February 2008, the Kosovo Assembly
declared its independence from Serbia.
The interim Constitution decrees the right to religious freedom and the provisional
government respects this right, contributing to interreligious dialogue with its politi-
cal choices.
Religious groups do not need to register; registration is in fact only needed to access
state subsidies. For this one must register with the Ministry for Public Affairs as an
NGO.
In April 2007 the President of Kosovo, Fatmir Sejdiu, visited the Orthodox monastery
in Decani for the Orthodox Easter and spoke in Serbian during this visit.
On 4th March 2007, L’Osservatore Romano reported that the Council of Europe had
condemned violations of ethnic and religious minority rights in the country. Hostility
between the Albanian majority and the Serbian minority is still tangible. The Roma
ethnic group is also still threatened, as was also emphasised in Amnesty Internation-
al’s Annual Report 2007 (published in May).
In July 2006 the government passed a new law on religious freedom establishing the
right to freedom of expression, conscience and religion for all those living in the coun-
try, whatever their religious beliefs. This law also establishes the separation of reli-
gious communities from public institutions, with equal rights and duties for all reli-
gious communities.
On 21st May 2007, ACN News reported the words of Bishop Dode Gjergji, the forty-
four-year-old Apostolic Administrator of Prizren. He insists that there is only one pos-
sibility for Kosovo, and that is independence, or else there will be a war. The bishop
has also criticised Serbian efforts to oppose independence.
Elections were held on 18th November 2007 for renewing Parliament and many local
administrations.
The last annual round of peace talks on Kosovo were held in Baden, near Vienna, but
yielded no results, according to all the participants (Kosovo, USA, the European
408
Union, Serbia and Russia). Serbia has called for more talks to be held in the future, at
the same time emphasising however that it will never accept Kosovo’s independence.

Bishop Gjergji, also commented on these talks, saying: “the people of Kosovo are
achieving their right to be free; just as in the past the Catholic Church was ready to
defend the rights of the Albanians, so in the future it will continue to defend the rights
of the Serbs and of all the other minorities in the new State of Kosovo” (L’Osserva-
tore Romano, 16th December 2007).
409
SEYCHELLES
Article 21 of the 1993 Constitution guarantees full religious

SEYCHELLES
freedom, and goes into great detail in this matter.

Despite of this fact, in 2006 the government decided to intro-
AREA
duce an amendment to the law regulating communications pre-
455 kmq
venting religious denominations and political groups from ob-
POPULATION taining radio licences. In general, they are not prevented from
84,000 broadcasting their programmes on services provided by other
national radio stations. The government allows all religious or-
REFUGEES
ganisations to take turns broadcasting their own reports. Most
--- of the population professes the Christian religion, mainly
INTERNALLY Catholic. There is also a small Muslim community. Relations
DISPLACED between the various groups are peaceful and helped by a gov-
--- ernment that promotes dialogue.
Sources
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Others 3.1%
Baptized Catholics
71,000
410
SIERRA LEONE
The 1991 Constitution guarantees religious freedom and its free

practice in detail in Article 24. Religious groups are not re-
quired to register.
AREA
Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter are recognised,
71,740 kmq
as are Islamic ones such as the anniversary of Mohammed’s
birth. Both Christian and Muslim religious instruction is per- POPULATION
mitted in schools. The Catholic Church runs 56 kindergartens, 5,694,000
with 5,858 children; 554 primary schools, attended by 112,579
REFUGEES
pupils; 54 secondary schools, with 31,060 students, plus 4 hos-
pitals and 7 dispensaries (Fides, 7th September 2007). 8,795
Relations between the various denominations are generally INTERNALLY
good, although there have been episodes of intolerance be- DISPLACED
tween Muslims (of which there are a large number in the North ---
of the country) and Christians (present above all in the South),
usually linked to passing events.
Foreign missionaries are allowed but must pay an annual tax,
RELIGIOUS
just like all other foreign residents; this was increased in 2005
ADHERENTS
from about US$ 3 to about US$ 70.
SIERRA LEONE
Muslims 45.9%
Others 2.2%
Baptized Catholics
264,000
411
SINGAPORE
Article 15 of Singapore’s 1963 Constitution (amended in 1993

SINGAPORE
and 1994) explicitly protects freedom of religion, acknowledg-

ing that every person has the right to profess, practice and prop-
AREA
agate his or her religion as long as it does not involve any act
639 kmq
contrary to public order, health or morality.
POPULATION All religious groups must be registered with the authorities and
4,483,000 religious education cannot be taught in state schools. Foreign
missionaries are allowed, but the Maintenance of Religious
REFUGEES
Harmony Act prohibits religious groups from engaging in po-
10 litical activities. The law also bans incitement against the gov-
INTERNALLY ernment and subversive activities. The authorities can order an
DISPLACED end of such activities and anyone who breaks the law can be
--- punished with up to two years in prison and a fine.
Under the Compulsory Education Act of 2000 all students must
attend state schools. Madrassas (Islamic schools) are placed on
par with their public counterparts but starting in 2008 they must
RELIGIOUS
meet minimum standards established by the government. Oth-
ADHERENTS
erwise students will have to transfer to another madrassa or to
a state school.
The only groups to suffer discrimination are the Jehovah’s Wit-
ness (banned since 1972) and Rev Moon’s Unification Church
(banned since 1982).
Despite the ban, Jehovah’s Witnesses have not been arrested;
Traditional chinese
religions 42.7% instead have been able to meet in private homes, which the gov-
Muslims 18.4% ernment de facto tolerates. But anyone refusing to perform their
Buddhists 14.3%
Affiliated Christians 12.3% military service can land in jail for up to 15 months, a sentence
Hindus 5.1% that can be extended by an additional 24 months if the offend-
Non religious 4.7%
Others 2.3% er refuses a second time.
Jehovah’s Witnesses or any group associated with them, like
Baptized Catholics the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society or the International
174,000 Bible Students Association, are not allowed to distribute their
material. In August 2006 for example, a man was arrested for
trying to import Jehovah’s Witnesses material into Singapore.
The material was seized and he was ordered to pay a fine of
US$ 3,846.
412
SLOVAKIA
The Slovak Constitution of 1992 establishes the State’s non-de-

nominational character in Article 1, and in Article 24 states the
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religious belief.
AREA
This same article also acknowledges the right to profess freely
49,012 kmq
one’s religious belief, the right to not profess any religious be-
lief, and the right to change one’s religion. Interreligious rela- POPULATION
tions are generally good, although it must be said that there is 5,441,000
an attitude of anti-semitism among certain sections of the pop-
REFUGEES
ulation. Registration is advised but not compulsory for reli-
gious groups; however, some groups are excluded, either by 279
their own free choice or due to government decisions, includ- INTERNALLY
ing quite large groups such as Hare Krishna, Scientology and DISPLACED
the Presbyterians. ---
Whatever religion they may belong to, foreign missionaries are
not required to register; the most numerous groups in this coun-
try are the Catholics, the Lutherans and the Methodists.
RELIGIOUS
According to statistics the number of those practising a religion
ADHERENTS
has risen in a staggering manner since the fall of the communist
regime. At the end of 2006 there were sixteen registered
groups.
In May 2007 an amendment to the law regulating the registra-
tion of religious groups was passed and put into force, thereby
increasing the necessary requirements for obtaining this impri-
matur. On the other hand, on 12th June 2007 the government al- Non religious 14.3%
so decided to increase by 7 percent the state contributions to the Others 0.1%
clergy of the registered religious groups. Some groups, such as

Baptized Catholics
the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons, refused to accept
state subsidies, preferring to maintain their independence.
4,005,000 SLOVAKIA
During 2007 two religious groups, the Mormons and the Ba-
ha’i, obtained registration.
On 10th February 2006 the Catholic news agency ZENIT report-
ed the imminent signing of a treaty between the Slovak Repub-
lic and the Holy See concerning the right to conscientious ob-
jection for doctors and health workers regarding abortion and
all the most important bioethical issues. According to this
treaty, a Catholic doctor would have the right to refuse to per-
form abortions, euthanasia, artificial insemination, as well as
experiments on embryos or embryonic stem cells. As early as
15th December 2005 a European Union report signed by a
413
group of experts, had emphasised how the implementation of such a draft treaty would
SLOVAKIA
have a negative effect on certain “fundamental rights” such as abortion and ‘marriage’
between homosexuals, and therefore expressed a negative opinion as far as this the
signing of this treaty was concerned.
The practical consequence of this issue was a government crisis in 2006; as reported
in an article by Mark Adams and Bradford Short for the magazine published by the
Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute in New York, on 6th February the Demo-
cratic Christian Movement (KDH), one of the parties forming the coalition govern-
ment, refused to vote with the majority, which followed Prime Minister Mikulas
Dzurinda’s decision not to ask parliament to vote on ratification of the treaty with the
Vatican.
The government is very active as far as the prevention of anti-semitism is concerned,
as well as with initiatives for commemorating the Shoah. In January the Minister for
Education organised an international conference in Bratislava on “Teaching and Re-
membering the Holocaust” in cooperation with the International School of the Holo-
caust and with the Yad Vashem Museum, both in Jerusalem, with the Council of Eu-
rope and with the Holocaust Documentation Centre.
In the course of 2007, an agreement was reached between the government and the Slo-
vak Jewish community regarding the restitution of property confiscated during the
1940s.
414
SLOVENIA
In Article 7, the Slovenian Constitution of 1991 decrees the

separation between the state and the religious communities, to
whom in Article 41 it guarantees full religious freedom.
AREA
Coexistence between the various religions is usually serene,
20,266 kmq
with the exception of a few conflicts between the Catholic
Church and the foreign missionaries of certain Protestant POPULATION
groups, which the Church considers to be excessively zealous 2,011,000
and aggressive in their proselytising activities.
REFUGEES
Registration is not compulsory for religious groups, but those
wishing to do so may register with the Government Office for 263
the Religious Communities, in order to acquire legal status. In INTERNALLY
2006 some 41 groups had officially registered and four cases DISPLACED
were pending. ---
On 3rd March 2007 a new law on religious freedom came into
force, which closely mirrors that of 1976. The Law clarifies the
State’s respect for the right to religious freedom, the legal sta-
RELIGIOUS
tus and the rights of the various different faiths and of their
ADHERENTS
members, the procedures to be followed for the registration of
these groups, the opportunities available to registered groups
and the responsibilities of the Government Office for the Reli-
gious Communities. At the request of the National Council,
however, the new law has been submitted to the scrutiny of the
Slovenian Constitutional Court.
According to this new legislation, those denominations wishing Non religious 7.8%
to register must meet two fundamental criteria: they must have Others 0.1%
at least one hundred members and be able to show that they

Baptized Catholics
have been active in the country for at least ten years.
Religious groups already registered under the previous law, are
1,602,000 SLOVENIA
automatically recognized by the new one.
For the moment there have been no instances of the restitution
to Jewish citizens of properties confiscated or nationalised dur-
ing and after World War II. In 2006 the Justice Ministry’s De-
partment for Restitution and National Reconciliation invited
bids for a contract to draw up an inventory of all these proper-
ties; the contract was won by the Institute of Contemporary
History and the research is still ongoing. In October 2006, the
Justice Ministry published its own report on this issue, and a
third report, sponsored by the World Jewish Restitution Orga-
nization, has not yet been completed.
415
SOLOMON ISLANDS
Article 11 of the 1978 Constitution fully acknowledges reli-

SOLOMON ISLANDS
gious freedom in all its aspects and this is also respected by the
laws and by the authorities.
AREA
Religious groups must register, but there are no reports of reg-
28,896 kmq
istrations being denied.
POPULATION The state subsidises private schools that are effectively run ex-
467,000 clusively by the 5 main Christian groups: Catholic, Anglican,
Methodist, Evangelical and Adventist, although other denomi-
REFUGEES
nations are not forbidden from having schools.
--- Towards the end of the Nineties, and at the beginning of the
INTERNALLY new century, there were clashes and violent episodes between
DISPLACED different religious groups caused by ethnic and political reasons
--- that resulted in a full civil war with hundreds killed and tens of
thousands of refugees. Tension still continued in recent times
although without violence. In August 2007, Harold Keke,
leader of an armed group and already with two life sentences
RELIGIOUS
for the murders of the Catholic priest Father Augustine Geve (a
ADHERENTS
Member of Parliament and Minister for Youth and Sport) in
August 2002, and of the Anglican minister Nathaniel Sado in
February 2003, was found not guilty of a number of other mur-
ders.

Others 1.2%
Baptized Catholics
99,000
416
SOMALIA
For years the exercise of religious freedom has depended on the

balance of the war that is afflicting this country and that has at
times seen extremist Islamic forces prevailing and at others
AREA
more moderate elements. Thus, President Abdullahi Yusuf’s
637,657 kmq
transitional federal government, the result of the agreements
signed in Arta in 2000 and supported by the United Nations, POPULATION
which was appointed in October 2004 and established in 2005, 7,815,000
was unable to assert control. In June 2006 the Union of Islam-
REFUGEES
ic Courts seized power in Mogadishu and took control over the
south of the country. In the months that followed there were 901
various attempts at an agreement between the Courts and the INTERNALLY
transitional Somali government, but with no lasting results. DISPLACED
During their rule, the Courts imposed an extremist interpreta- 1,000,000
tion of the Shari‘a (Islamic law), declaring Islam as the only re-
ligion permitted and imposing a series of prohibitions such as
bans on football, music, films, closing all the cinemas, banning
RELIGIOUS
people from watching television in public places, from singing
ADHERENTS
and dancing, even at weddings, just as the Taliban had done in
Afghanistan in 1996. Indeed, on 17th October 2006, the Islam-
ic Courts even sentenced to death eight members of Somalia’s
National Commission for Music, a body affiliated to UNESCO,
for having played music considered as forbidden by the Koran.
At the time the “guilty” parties managed to flee to Kenya.
Muslims 98.3%
In December 2006, the UN Security Council approved a reso- Affiliated Christians 1.4%
lution to send African UN blue helmets to Somalia. In the Others 0.3%
meantime the Ethiopian Army entered the country, officially in

Baptized Catholics
order to support the federal transitional government and as a
100
preventive defence measure against the Somali threat.
SOMALIA
Ethiopia, the only majority Christian and pro-Western country
in the area, is also supported by the United States, which fears
the establishment in Somalia of an extremist Islamic govern-
ment linked to Al Qaeda. On 25th December Ethiopian planes
bombed the Baledogle military air base as well as the interna-
tional airport in Mogadishu, and on 28th December Ethiopian
soldiers entered Mogadishu together with the transitional gov-
ernment troops, while the Islamic militants fled. In the mean-
time, Sheik Hamed al-Ali, leader of the Islamic Courts and for-
mer secretary of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait, declared ji-
had (holy war) on the internet “against the Ethiopian invaders”,
417
accusing them of having attacked an Islamic country and calling on “all Muslims to
SOMALIA
join the war to defend Somalia”.

The Islamic militias then embarked on an endless guerrilla campaign, similar to the
one in Iraq. Subsequently they began to re-conquer the territory, thanks in part to sup-
port from Eritrea. Somalia has become increasingly chaotic, with one million refugees
deprived of any aid – out of 9 million inhabitants (data provided by the UN High Com-
mission for Refugees) – a catastrophic economy and non-existent services. Mean-
while, other African countries did not send the troops requested by the United Nations
(with the exception of a contingent from Uganda), and the Ethiopian military presence
has been increasingly criticised on the international stage. The Islamic Courts have
progressively regained control over the territory and in December 2007 Mogadishu
was in a state of daily warfare. In November at least 200 thousand people fled the city,
which had no water, food, medicine or electricity, while the Somali parliament had for
some time already been meeting in the safer city of Baidoa, 250 kilometres away. In
November, Davide Bernocchi, managing director of Caritas Somalia, launched an ap-
peal: “We are unable to help all those in need. The security situation is appalling and
the political one a stalemate. And then there are the ‘jackals’, those for whom the
refugees are a profitable source of business; people linked to the aid business. We need
to open a safe humanitarian corridor so as to get food to those who need it.”
In any case, both the Islamic Courts and the transitional government have only ever
controlled the Mogadishu area and the south of the country. Somaliland in the north
has, for its part, never acknowledged the authority of the central government and is
trying to obtain recognition as an independent country. The “Republic of Somaliland”
and the semi-autonomous region of Puntland have adopted Islam as the State religion,
partly applying the Shari‘a and carefully controlling all religious activities. Here the
Somalis are only permitted to practise Islam and proselytising by other religions is for-
bidden. Christian social organisations are allowed to operate without interference, but
on condition that they do not undertake any proselytising activities. On 11th May 2007
Islamic websites announced that two aid workers had been kidnapped in Puntland be-
cause they had attempted Christian proselytising.
During its time in power, the transitional federal government adopted a Charter that
acknowledges Islam as the national religion but also affirms the equality of all citizens
without distinction based on race, gender or religion. The Charter also refers to the old
Somali Constitution of 1960, which specifically recognised religious freedom.
Throughout the country however, conversions from Islam to other religions, although
formally allowed, are in practice socially unacceptable. Anyone suspected of having
recanted Islam is likely to be threatened or even killed.
418
In May 2007, in Mogadishu, the transitional government banned women from wear-
ing the Islamic veil in public. According to the Reuters agency, security forces had
been ordered to stop all women wearing the veil, confiscate their veils and burn them.
The chief of police, Ali Nur, explained that many suicide bombings and murders had
been carried out against the authorities by men disguised as women and unidentifiable
precisely because of the Islamic veil. This ruling led to protests among Muslims, es-
pecially since it was enforced by male police officers. In the beginning there were
scenes of veiled women fleeing and being chased by police. This measure also has a
symbolic significance however, because the Islamic Courts had forced women to wear
the veil, whereas before then, Somali women usually only covered their heads. Fol-
lowing the many protests, the ban was revoked.
During its rule in Mogadishu, the transitional government has, on numerous occa-
sions, suspended the activities of various independent radio stations, such as Shabelle
Media Network and HornAfrik, on the grounds that that their programmes encouraged
violence.
Catholics
For years now the churches have been destroyed and the few remaining Catholics
meet and celebrate Mass in private homes with barred windows so as not to risk their
lives.
There are a number of nuns living in Mogadishu who work at the SOS Kinderdorf In-
ternational Hospital, run by the German group SOS Children.
On Sunday 17th September 2006, in Mogadishu, the Italian nun Sister Leonella (Rosa)
Sgorbati of the Missionaries of Consolation was killed, together with a bodyguard,
outside this hospital. Two men in a car had been waiting for her outside the hospital
where she worked as a nurse. When she arrived they got out of their car and shot her
at least five times at point-blank range. A hospital guard tried to protect her with his
body, but the shots went straight through him. The people living in the district, who
SOMALIA
have deep affection for the SOS Children (the only hospital still working in the coun-
try) and the nuns who work there, organised the search for the murderers. One of the
men was immediately found and arrested.
The Islamic authorities immediately condemned this murder and even Sheik Sharif
Shek Ahmed, leader of the Islamic Courts, described it as an “a despicable act”, “con-
trary to Islam and to religion” (Corriere della Sera, 18th September 2006). Hundreds
of people quickly gathered outside the hospital to ask that it should not be closed and
to mourn for Sister Leonella.
But the very disapproval of ordinary people and that of the authorities proves how
widespread extremist violence is, ready to attack even those for whom there is deep
affection just because they are Christians. It seems that the assassins were members of
419
the Al Shabah group (“Youth”), the most violent and fanatical group, inspired by the
SOMALIA
Taliban and thought to be linked to Al Qaeda. This group is led by Adan Hashi Farah,
known as Aeru, who trained in Afghanistan under Osama Bin Laden. He is the man
who led the destruction of the Italian cemetery in Mogadishu in January 2005, dese-
crating the graves and dispersing the remains of those buried there. The cemetery has
been replaced with a mosque, an Islamic centre and training camp for kamikaze mili-
tiamen.
This was the last of a series of violent attacks on foreign aid workers, among them the
murder of an Italian woman, Annalena Tonelli in 2003.
On 7th September 2006, the Islamic militia shot twenty-two year-old Ali Mustaf
Maka’il for the “crime” of having converted from Islam to Christianity and having re-
fused to chant Koranic verses with them.
420
SOUTH AFRICA
Article 15 of the 1997 Constitution guarantees for the exercise

of religious freedom. The state respects this and does not dis-
criminate against any religion. Religious instruction is permit-
AREA
ted in schools but is not compulsory. Problems linked to reli-
1,221,037 kmq
gion arise due to secondary issues and are also connected with
the violence that is widespread in this country. For example, on POPULATION
5th March 2007, the Daily News reported that an employer in 47,390,000
Durban had asked two followers of the Baptist Church of
REFUGEES
Nazareth to shave off their beards. The men refused. The
group’s spokesman, the Reverend Harry Mthwetwa, explained 36,736
that “this is one of our principles. Believers would prefer to die INTERNALLY
rather than shave off their beards”. Should the employer insist, DISPLACED
they may ask the courts for protection, but they would have to ---
prove that this is truly an important principle of their religion.
In November 2006, parliament approved a law allowing mar-
riage between two people of the same gender. Christian groups
RELIGIOUS
who had opposed this law were critical. The Christian Action
ADHERENTS
Network declared that in this manner the entire population is
obliged to accept the moral principles of the radical homosex-
SOUTH AFRICA
ual minority and “the masses [will] become confused”.
Christians
In May 2006 the Independent Communications Authority of
South Africa (ICASA), ordered the Evangelical Christian Good Ethnoreligionists 8.4%
News Community radio station to close down because it was not Muslims 2.4%
Hindus 2.4%
broadcasting in the Zulu language – the most widely spoken Others 3.7%
language in the KwaZulu-Natal province, where the radio sta-
tion has its headquarters. The broadcasters protested that this Baptized Catholics
radio station had 100,000 listeners and addressed issues of gen- 3,234,000
eral interest, not only local ones, adding that this decision had
damaged their missionary work.
Witchcraft
There are frequent reports of violent attacks on, and murders of,
those believed to be practising witchcraft. In March 2006 a
group of youths burnt down the home of an elderly woman
thought to be a witch. In September 2006 a family of three was
burned to death in the province of Limpopo for reasons the po-
lice believe were linked to accusations of witchcraft. In the
421
Eastern Cape Province, a woman was stoned to death by an angry crowd who thought
SOUTH AFRICA
she was a witch. In November 2006 the court in Pietermaritzberg sentenced a man to
life imprisonment for having killed five people whom he believed to have bewitched
a relative of his.
422
SPAIN
Current Legislation
The Constitution of 1978 rules that for Spaniards equality be-
fore the law is guaranteed, with no discrimination based on
AREA
birth, race, gender, religion, opinions or any other situation or
505,992 kmq
personal circumstances, specifying that individuals and com-
munities are guaranteed ideological and religious freedom as POPULATION
well as freedom to worship, with no restrictions except those 44,100,000
necessary for maintaining public order, in compliance with the
REFUGEES
law. Article 16 also states that no denomination has the charac-
ter of a State religion, although “public administrations will 5,147
take into account the religious beliefs that are widespread in INTERNALLY
Spanish society, and will consequently establish relations of co- DISPLACED
operation with the Catholic Church and other denominations”. ---
Article 27 further establishes that “the public authorities guar-
antee parents the right to provide their children with religious
and moral instruction in conformity with their beliefs”. Reli-
RELIGIOUS
gious instruction, provided by teachers chosen by the ecclesias-
ADHERENTS
tical organisations, is optional.
A law on religious liberty, the General Act of 1980, regulates
the legal status of those confessional bodies recognised and en-
tered on the register of religious communities.
Relations with the Catholic Church are regulated by a Concor-
dat and by four accords, signed between 1976 and 1979, cover-
ing various matters. However, the agreement with the Federa- Non religious 5.7%
tion of Evangelical Churches of Spain (FEREDE), with the Others 0.7%
Federation of the Jewish Communities of Spain and with the

Baptized Catholics
Spanish Islamic Commission dates only from 1992. But the
41,530,000
conflicts and divergences between the two most representative
Islamic organisations (the Spanish Federation of Islamic Reli-
gious Organisations and the Spanish Union of Islamic Commu-
nities) remain unresolved, which also greatly hinders the sign-
ing of the agreement by other communities.
SPAIN
Taxpayers are permitted to give the Churches a part of person-

al tax revenues (0.7 percent), while property and objects of
worship are exempt from taxation.
Possible revision of Concordat

The government of José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is continuing
to push the proposal of abolishing all forms of payment or
423
subsidies for priests or other religious personnel employed by the public administra-
SPAIN
tion, such as chaplains, teachers of the Catholic religion and others. For these activi-
ties and for the maintenance of the Church’s architectural patrimony, the Spanish State
currently spends 5 billion Euros a year. This would abolish an agreement, renewed in
2006, between the same administration and the Spanish Catholic Episcopal Confer-
ence regulating the financing of the Church, which in turn revoked the Church’s com-
mitment to self-financing which it adopted in 1979. With this new agreement, the vol-
untary contributions provided by individual taxpayers would be raised from 0.52 per-
cent to 0.7 percent, in return for the bishops giving up VAT exemption and a guaran-
teed minimum on the amount received from the State, should these voluntary contri-
butions not meet expectations. This agreement could be extended to include the
Protestant community represented by FEREDE and has also been welcomed by the
committee representing the Muslims.
Proposed Law in Catalonia

At a local level, the government of Catalonia has drawn up a law on places of wor-
ship, which will prevent the celebration of any religious rite whatsoever without per-
mission, giving each municipality the power to grant licences to the churches. Should
this law actually be passed, even a prayer meeting will need a special licence, which
may be granted or not, at the unchallengeable discretion of the local authorities. Ac-
cording to the leadership of the Generalitat (the Catalonian regional government) this
proposal has arisen from the need to restrict the proliferation of improvised mosques
and the temples of other minor denominations. Its application however, as plainly stat-
ed by the Catalan parliamentary deputy Gloria Renom, “strikes directly at the Catholic
Church”, because in reality “it will be impossible to celebrate Mass or meet to discuss
religion without a permit from the municipality, whether in the smallest chapel or the
largest cathedral”. Places of worship in hospitals, sanatoriums, prisons and locations
that are part of the country’s artistic or architectural heritage will be able to obtain ex-
emption from the need to have a permit.
This bill, introduced by the Vice-President of the autonomous Catalan government,
Josep Lluis Carod Rovina, has also caused concern among the bishops. Already in No-
vember 2007 Bishop Joan-Enric Vives Sicilia of the diocese of Urgell had expressed
the concern shared by the Catalan bishops at this proposed measure “since it involves
the exercise of a fundamental right, namely the right to religious liberty”. The bishops
also pointed out that “they are proposing to use one law to regulate realities that dif-
fer greatly, such as churches, synagogues and mosques”. In Catalonia there are in fact
13 different religions with 3,500 places of worship, of which 2,500 are Catholic ones.
424
Education in citizenship and Human rights Law

Among the proposed laws being challenged by the various religious faiths, first place
goes to the “proposed education in citizenship and human rights”, promulgated in
June 2007, which envisages the introduction of this subject in the school curriculum
of some autonomous communities, beginning in the 2008-2009 school year.
This course seems to assume that the state can interfere in the moral education of
school pupils, ignores the religious traditions, the existence of God and the importance
of human life as fundamental factors in the ethical and moral outlook of a great many
citizens and appears on all the evidence to discriminate against the teaching of reli-
gion.
Christian Protestants, through the Consejo General de Enseñanza Religiosa Evangéli-
ca (CGERE) have also publicly opposed this project, expressing the idea that consci-
entious objection should be promoted, and likewise through the Alianza Evangélica
Española (AEE), which has pointed out the indoctrinating characteristics of some of
the content of this new school subject, which appears to take the form of a new “sec-
ular catechism”, imposed in a dogmatic manner.
By contrast, the Muslim Federación Española de Entidades Religiosas Islámicas
(FEERI) has approved the project and was also satisfied with the contents of this pro-
gramme on issues related to the Islamic religion.
Tensions between the government and the Catholic Church

Starting with the legalisation of homosexual ‘marriage’ in 2005, which prompted a
sharp reaction from the Catholic episcopate, tensions between the government and the
Catholic Church show no sign of diminishing.
By the end of 2006 the differences between the two sides on the mixed Church/State
Commission over the Royal Decrees governing the teaching of the Catholic religion
in schools and the working conditions for the teachers providing this had still not been
resolved. In the context of the national educational system, the challenge has also in-
volved the symbols of Christianity, and in particular the crucifix. From Valladolid to
Palencia, there have been numerous attempts to remove crucifixes from the walls of
classrooms, in an attempt to exclude religion from public life.
At the beginning of 2007, there was also conflict over a request by the data protection
SPAIN
agency, which is seeking to oblige all parishes to delete from their parish registers the
names and baptismal details of those people who now claim to have abandoned
Catholicism.
The tensions between the Socialist government and the Catholic Church were partic-
ularly in evidence at the beginning of 2008 in the months leading up to the general
elections in March, with savage attacks against the Catholic Church by some leading
figures in the Socialist party. The government appears to assume that religion should
425
be confined to the churches and concerns only peoples’ private lives, whereas the
SPAIN
Catholic Church regards the individual’s right to religious freedom as central, a right
expressed in his personal and social life and which necessarily impinges on every area
of existence, such as marriage, the family, the social services, etc.
The government is planning to amend the existing law on religious freedom and so it
will be necessary to wait and see before passing judgment.
Islam
Amidst the various signs of the government’s openness with regard to Islam, it is
worth noting the state-financed publication of the first educational manual on Islam,
for use by primary school children during the 2006/07 school year. As far as the gov-
ernment authorities is concerned, the leaders of the Islamic communities have become
far more demanding, although in a survey commissioned by the interior ministry and
conducted by the polling agency Metroscopia, that was published on 23rd November
2006, some 83 percent of Muslims answered that they had not encountered any obsta-
cles in practising their religion, while just 13 percent answered that they had. In spite
of this, among the expectations expressed on 10th December 2006 by 50 imams be-
longing to the Islamic Council of Catalonia, was that public land should be made
available to them for building mosques and the request for the change of destination
and use of Christian holy places. This has also been the goal of a long campaign start-
ed by Abdusalam Mansur Escudero, the president of the Spanish Islamic Junta, who
is demanding the right to use the Catholic Cathedral of Cordoba as a place of worship
open to Muslims also. Far from encouraging interreligious dialogue, these provoca-
tions have, if anything, had the opposite effect. Among the various incidents of vio-
lence against Muslims, recorded between 2006 and 2007, one of the most significant
was the damage inflicted on the mosque in Cordoba in the Parco Colon, which was
covered with swastikas and anti-Islamic slogans on 19th November 2006.
The new religious movements

In an attempt to obtain legal status as a religion, the Church of Scientology started le-
gal proceedings at the Audiencia nacional, which on 11th October 2007 decided that
the presence of a registry of religious denominations does not authorise the State to
monitor the legitimacy of the beliefs professed. Instead, for purposes of registration,
the Public Administration must verify solely that the statutes of the denominational or-
ganisation are in compliance with Article 3 of the Ley Organica de Libertad Religiosa,
which lays down the limitations to the exercise of religious liberty (Article 3.1: respect
for the rights of others and for public order; Article 3.2: activities with objectives that
are other than those of religion and worship).
426
Sources
La Junta Islámica pide a Zapatero que la catedral de Córdoba se abra al culto musul-
mán, LibertadDigital.es, 16th February 2006
John Ward Peterson, A Church-State Schism, Washington Post, 1st March 2006
Europa/Spagna – Non ammettere l’esistenza obiettiva della verità e del bene, ignorare
l’esistenza di Dio e la dimensione trascendente, imporre l’ideologia di genere: alcu-
ni motivi per respingere la materia di “Educazione per la Cittadinanza” che si vuole
imporre nelle scuole, Fides, 23rd January 2007
Father John Flynn, Religious symbols in the cross hairs. Hostility to signs of Chris-
tianity mounts, ZENIT, 12th March 2007
Denuncian intento de adoctrinar a menores andaluces en homosexualidad y “plural-
ismo moral”, ACI-Prensa, 22nd July 2007
FEF reitera al Gobierno español la legalidad de la objeción de conciencia frente a
EpC, ACI-Prensa, 8th August 2007
Marta Lago, Il monopolio delle idee e la libertà religiosa in Spagna, L’Osservatore
Romano, 20th November 2007
Adriano Petrucci, Spagna/ PSOE ipotizza di ridurre finanziamenti a Chiesa, ApCom,
5th February 2008
SPAIN
427
SRI LANKA
Legislation
SRI LANKA
The security situation deteriorated progressively in 2006 and

2007 as civil strife went from bad to worse in the north and the
AREA
east. Tensions and clashes between the separatists of the Tamil
65,610 kmq
Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, LTTE) and govern-
POPULATION ment security forces reached a peak when the government for-
20,705,000 mally withdrew from the 2002 ceasefire and the number of at-
tacks and suicide bombs against civilians in the south and the
REFUGEES
capital rose.
182 Since 1983 70,000 people have died in the civil war; 5,000 in
INTERNALLY 2007 alone. The dramatic political situation has stopped two
DISPLACED anti-conversion bills tabled in 2004, preventing them from be-
460,000 ing debated in parliament, but it did not cause them to be with-
drawn.
Sri Lanka’s Constitution accords Buddhism the “foremost
place” in the country, but assures all faiths the right to freedom
RELIGIOUS
of religion and worship. In practice though, the country’s Chris-
ADHERENTS
tian minority has especially been targeted in attacks by Bud-
dhist fundamentalists and nationalists. In the last two years in
fact the Christian community has been attacked several times.
At the same time the local Catholic Church continues to lead
the way in denouncing the many human rights violations per-
petrated by both sides in the civil war, whilst actively promot-
Buddhists 68.4%
Hindus 11.3% ing a diplomatic solution to the 25-year-old conflict.
Muslims 9%
Others 1.9% Current legislation on religious freedom
For the moment, it seems, the two anti-conversion bills before
Baptized Catholics parliament have been shelved, but no one should still keep an
1,381,000 eye on the matter. The aim of both draft laws is to contain al-
leged Christian “proselytism” by punishing both those who
convert and anyone who “facilitates” their conversion.
After getting cabinet approval, the “Act for the Protection of
Religious Freedom” was published in the Government Gazette
but is still awaiting a first reading in parliament. According to
its provisions, anyone found guilty of trying to “convert or help
to convert, either directly or otherwise, any person from one re-
ligion to another” can get up to seven years in prison and a large
fine. The proposed legislation would even set up separate Bud-
dhist courts known as Sanghadhikarana presided by Buddhist
428
monks with the power to rule on petitions forwarded by villagers without going
through the police or state courts.
Unfortunately, the bill on the Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion, which
was tabled in July 2004 by the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a nationalist party of
Buddhist monks allied with the government, has instead inched its way forward. Un-
der its terms any would-be convert would have to inform local authorities of his or her
decision within a given period of time; furthermore, it states that “No person shall con-
vert or attempt to convert […] any person from one religion to another by force […]
or any fraudulent means.” Anyone breaking the law could be subject to five years in
jail and a fine of up to US$ 1,500. The penalty could rise to seven years and US$ 5,000
if converts belong to the Schedule 1 class, that is people deemed most at risk for
“forced conversions” like women, children, prison inmates, the physically and men-
tally disabled, students, hospital and clinic patients, refugees, members of the armed
forces or the police.
The Bill on the Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion received partial ap-
proval after amendments were introduced in response to a decision by the Supreme
Court in August 2004 to strike down two articles it found in violation of Article 10 of
the Constitution which ensures Sri Lankans freedom of religion and the right to the re-
ligion or creed of their choice. In April 2006 the speaker of Sri Lanka’s parliament set
up a Standing Committee (legislative) of 19 MPs to examine the proposed amend-
ments to the text of the bill. Under the country’s parliamentary rules this is the last
stage before the bill goes before the house for a final reading and vote. Many Christ-
ian analysts have pointed out that in the event that the draft law is approved, it would
be in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Other experts have not-
ed that parliament can block the proposed law, but only in a secret vote; otherwise, no
SRI LANKA
MP will have the courage to go against it.
Bishop Joseph Vianney Fernando of Kandy, the chairman of the Catholic Bishops’
Conference of Sri Lanka, explained why the country finds itself in this tight spot, ex-
plaining that “fundamentalist Christian groups over the past 20 years have exploited
conditions of poverty and people’s needs to aggressively convert them. Such behav-
iour has greatly upset the Buddhist majority but has also been cause for concern for
the Church itself since Catholics have been the most affected by it.”
In its actions, Sri Lanka’s Bishops’ Conference has acted in a decisive and clear man-
ner to stop the draft law, but also to check the fundamentalist Christian fringe groups,
expressing its condemnation of all conversions obtained by “unethical” means. In
their campaign against the anti-conversion bill, Catholics are working with other
Christian groups, but also with Muslims, Hindus and some Buddhist leaders. Even
Benedict XVI is concerned at the anti-conversion law, Bishop Joseph Vianney Fernan-
do told the AsiaNews Agency.
429
The situation of Christians

SRI LANKA
In the eyes of Buddhist nationalists, Christians are guilty of spoiling the “country’s
centuries-old harmony”. In attacking Christians they make no distinction between
Catholics, Protestants or Evangelicals. Hindus and Muslims are not subject to violence
because they have no tradition of proselytism in Sri Lanka, another of the “offences”
attributed to Christians. In reality the intransigent positions held by Buddhist monks
are due to the gradual decline of Buddhism in the countryside and the growth of Chris-
tian denominations. Some deaths and disappearances of religious people should be set
in the context of the ongoing civil war, which is claiming innocent victims among the
entire population.
In 2006 there was an escalation in the number of “disappearances”, which is a euphe-
mism for extrajudicial executions. About 1,100 such cases have been recorded in the
last two years alone, many in Jaffna, a town isolated from the rest of the country ever
since the government shut down Highway A9 in 2006. Among the victims were a
Catholic priest, 35-year-old Fr Nihal Jim Brown, and his assistant, Wenceslaus Vinces
Vimalathas, a father of five. They were last seen on August 20, 2006 on a motorcycle
at the Allaipiddy checkpoint, in an area under army control, at a time when security
forces were engaged in clashes with LTTE guerrillas.
The Apostolic Nuncio to Sri Lanka, Mgr Mario Zenari, has followed the case person-
ally from the start. “Alas, to date, there is no trace of Fr Jim Brown,” he told AsiaNews
in August 2007. Meanwhile, the government has made only “cosmetic” effort to find
him. Appeals by the Church and local NGOs have fallen on deaf ears and the special
Commission set up by the President to examine 15 cases of serious human rights vio-
lations (including Father Brown’s) with the assistance of a panel of international ex-
perts only started to look into one or two cases in mid-2007. Since the start, the inves-
tigations have proceeded very slowly. The international experts on the Commission
have criticised its actions, saying that they did “not meet international norms,” citing
delays and a “serious conflict of interest” arising from the involvement of the Attor-
ney General’s Office in the commission’s work.”
According to Human Rights Watch the Commission just seems “an effort to stave off
domestic and international criticism rather than a sincere attempt to promote account-
ability.”
The government’s inability to bring an end to these “disappearances” comes as no sur-
prise, considering that the security forces themselves and paramilitary groups, not to
mention the Tigers, are involved in many of these cases, which is what might have
happened to Fr Jim Brown and Vimalathas. Priests in Jaffna have reported that the
commanding officer of the Naval Camp at Allaipiddy, the missing priest’s first and last
parish, had accused him of being an LTTE supporter and had threatened him.
430
For the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

(WGEID) Sri Lanka ranks second to none, except for Iraq, in terms of disappearances.
And Amnesty International has also made an appeal on behalf of Father Jim Brown
and his assistant. According to this human rights organisation the fate of both men ap-
pears to fit in with a “pattern of ‘disappearances’ by state agents.”
Government troops have also been accused of attacking the church of Our Lady of
Victory in Pesalai, in the northern district of Mannar. On 17th June 2006, they opened
fire on hundreds of civilians, Christians and Hindus, who were seeking refuge from
clashes underway outside the place of worship.
On 26th September 2007 Fr Nicholaspilai Packiyaranjith was killed when a mine ex-
ploded under his car as he was making his way with food and other necessities to the
refugee camp and an orphanage in Vidathalvu. Born in Jaffna, the 40-year-old priest
worked as the coordinator for the Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) in Mannar district. No
one claimed responsibility for the attack but army and rebel sources each blamed the
other.
After this tragic episode, 22 organisations, including Caritas in Kandy, the National
Peace Council and the Christian Alliance for Social Action, signed a letter asking “the
government of Sri Lanka, the LTTE and all armed participants, to respect internation-
al humanitarian law and ensure the security of religious leaders and humanitarian
workers so that they are able to carry out their crucial work of assisting and protect-
ing people affected by the conflict.”
Fr Packiyaranjith, better known as Father Ranjith, was the fourth religious person to
be killed or disappear since August 2006 as well as the 58th person to join the long and
sad list of humanitarian workers killed or disappeared since January 2006.
The civil strife in the north of the country, the only part of the country still in rebel
SRI LANKA
hands after Tamil Tigers lost their stronghold in the east of the island, imposes many
limits on freedom of religion. Still there was some good news in the summer of 2007.
The government kept its word, after appeals by local Church representatives, and re-
opened the main road to Madhu on 10th August. This enabled pilgrims to travel more
easily and safely to the famous Marian shrine for the 15th August celebrations. A year
earlier the authorities had closed down the same road as the conflict between army and
Tamil rebels escalated.
The church of Our Lady of Madhu is located some 220 kilometres north of the capi-
tal in territory held by Tamil Tiger who have hitherto respected the pilgrims. In July
security forces and Tamil Tigers agreed to a “Zone of Peace” around the shrine that
would guarantee the safety of the faithful during the main religious celebrations. In
Kilinochi, the Defence minister and Tamil Tiger representatives signed statements in
which they agreed to avoid any action in the area. But both sides have failed to respect
the demilitarised zone around the shrine and the year ended with renewed fighting.
431
Fr Devarajha Sandanampillai, the parish priest at St Sebastian Church in Mannar, is

SRI LANKA
now hoping that “more pilgrims will come with the re-opening of the Madhu Road”
(the shortest route to the shrine).
For the Feast Day of the Assumption about 25,000 pilgrims came to the shrine. Mgr
Harold Anthony Perera, bishop of Galle, who was present, told AsiaNews that “there
was tension since the shelling from nearby areas, Pandivirichchanai and Mullikkulam,
could be heard. I could hear over the shelling when both Sinhalese and Tamil pilgrims
started crying, calling on Our Lady of Madhu for peace, as well as when the proces-
sion went around the shrine and during the final blessing.”
But the threats and violence are not a consequence of war alone; they are also moti-
vated by religion. For instance, in mid-October 2007 the Catholic community (around
300 families) of Rosa Mystica Church in Kotugoda Parish in Crooswatta, north of
Colombo, was unable to attend Mass and catechism for fear of violence by Buddhist
monks and extremists. Their church was begun in 2003 and was supposed to start its
last building phase in February 2007. As the Tamilnet news website reported, on Sep-
tember 28, as work began on the roof, Uddammita, the head monk of a nearby Bud-
dhist temple, along with other extremists, threatened the episcopal vicar that “if build-
ing does not stop by tomorrow, you’ll lose 10 to 15 lives.” The local priest, Fr Susith
Silva, went to court where the judge temporarily suspended the church completion,
whilst appealing to both sides to settle the dispute amicably. The parish obeyed the in-
junction but this did not stop the problems. On 6th October, police interrupted the cel-
ebration of Mass and ordered the priest conducting the service to stop. Some 301
Catholic families, mostly farmers, live in the area and they cannot afford the taxi fare
to travel to the nearest church, located several kilometres away. So they went to court
to request permission for Mass, catechism and other religious activities to be held
there, expecting the broader issue of church construction to be settled at a later date.
But the Buddhist protestors claimed that this would offend the 348 Buddhist families
living in the area. In explanation, the Buddhist leader Uddammita said that “most peo-
ple in the area are Buddhist and they don’t want a church here. Catholics can go to the
other two or three churches in the area. We are not going to let them finish the build-
ing. If it restarts the whole village is going to rise up.”
The pastor of the Godagama Prayer Centre, in Maharagama, a Colombo neighbour-
hood, has had to cope with the same difficulties. In May 2006 he was threatened by a
Buddhist mob led by a local monk who forced him to stop celebrating a religious serv-
ice. When he went to police to file a complaint about the intimidations he had re-
ceived, instead of trying to help him the police told him that if local residents did not
like them he should stop performing religious services.
Despite everything, the Catholic Church continues to play an important role in Sri
Lankan society, providing assistance to all those in need, irrespective of their faith.
432
Catholic leaders have taken the lead in the campaign against human rights violations
and expressed their support for people in the country’s northern region. Caritas Inter-
nationalis has provided food, blankets and shelters to displaced people from Bat-
ticaloa, on the Jaffna Peninsula, and in the Valuthayam-Mannar area. Time after time
various Catholic organisations have called on the parties to the conflict to go back to
the negotiating table and on the international community to intervene in favour of an
agreement. In the case of Caritas, both the government and the rebels consider it a
neutral party and have allowed its humanitarian workers to operate and move around
in the conflict zone. Catholics are the only ones to have faithful in both communities
(Singhalese and Tamil).
Catholic leaders have made several appeals to the Vatican to put pressure on the Sri
Lankan authorities to respect human rights and religious freedom – and to “release”
Jaffna from its current state as an open prison after land routes were cut by the gov-
ernment. When Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse visited the Vatican on April
20, 2007, the Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) of the diocese of Jaffna sent a let-
ter to the Pope “to inform and draw his attention” to some of the problems that afflict-
ed the country. In it the Commission called for the reopening of Highway A9 “even
under the control of an international monitoring team” since it is the only link between
Jaffna and the rest of the island and the only way in for humanitarian aid; it also ap-
pealed for “observers from the UN Human Rights Commission [to be sent in to] to in-
vestigate the many disappearances” that have taken place with no one brought to jus-
tice. In 2006 alone some 583 people disappeared. In turn the Pontiff spoke out in pub-
lic four times between mid-2006 and 2007 to condemn the war between the army and
the Tamil rebels, calling instead for a diplomatic solution.
In the run-up to the Vatican visit the Sri Lankan government issued a statement that
SRI LANKA
“President Rajapaksa will meet with the Holy Father with the aim of garnering inter-
national support for the government’s efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict through
a negotiated settlement.” But in spite of the nice words, the president’s Vatican visit
left many in Sri Lanka’s Catholic community full of doubts. For them it looked more
like an attempt by Rajapakse to gain Vatican support in his fight against Tamil Tiger
rebels by getting Vatican authorities to accept the government’s version of the inter-
ethnic conflict.
Fr Reid Shelton Fernando, chaplain to the Young Christian Workers Movement, not-
ed that if the government’s aim was to bring Benedict XVI up to speed about the sit-
uation and show its willingness to bring the conflict to an end, then in addition to
Catholic representatives from the ruling majority, it should have included Catholics
from non-governmental parties in the delegation that visited the Vatican. Others went
so far as to wonder whether the goal was just propaganda-related, asking themselves
why no Catholic leader from the Tamil minority was invited.
433
SUDAN
Government policies and new legislation

SUDAN
With the simultaneous approval in 2005 of a Temporary Na-

tional Constitution and the Constitution for Southern Sudan,
AREA
there are now two different systems as far as religious freedom
2,505,813 kmq
is concerned. In the 10 southern regions ruled by the govern-
POPULATION ment of Southern Sudan, religious freedom is in principle guar-
36,362,000 anteed, with citizens of all beliefs considered as equals.
In the 16 northern regions, however, all residents are subject to
REFUGEES
the Koranic law, the Shari‘a, as interpreted by the National
222,722 Congress Party, the main Muslim political party in the Khar-
INTERNALLY toum-based national unity government. This legislation pre-
DISPLACED scribes the death penalty for the crime of apostasy (abandoning
6,000,000 the Islamic faith, whether converting to another religion or not),
corporal punishment – even including the amputation of limbs
for certain crimes – the ban on Muslim women marrying non-
Muslim men, and the prohibition of alcohol and other provi-
RELIGIOUS
sions inspired by Islamic tradition. The only rule that has not
ADHERENTS
yet been applied is the death penalty in cases of apostasy, but
Muslims who convert to another religion become the object of
social ostracism or are punished on the basis of other accusa-
tions, while those considered to be the cause of their apostasy
are also prosecuted.
Consequently, the missionary organisations in Northern Sudan
Muslims 70.3%
Affiliated Christians 16.7% and the Christian Churches in the country themselves are
Ethnoreligionists 11.9% obliged to restrict themselves to pastoral activities for those
Others 1.1%
who are already Christians and to providing only social servic-
Baptized Catholics es for the population as a whole. There is however no law re-
5,050,000 stricting conversions to Islam.
In February 2007 the Head of State, President Omar Hassan al-
Bashir, set up a Commission for the Rights of non-Muslim res-
idents in the capital (Khartoum is in the North and governed by
Shari‘a legislation), as established in the Comprehensive Peace
Treaty signed in Nairobi with the rebels of the SPLA/M (Sudan
People’s Liberation Army/Movement) in January 2005, and
with the political opposition represented by the NDA (National
Democratic Alliance) in June of the same year. The object of
this commission is to establish the terms under which Shari‘a
is applied to non-Muslims in the North.
434
However, the commission, which is made up of magistrates and officials from the
Ministry of Justice nominated by the head of state, and by representatives of the Chris-
tian Churches and the Islamic community, had met only once by the end of the year
and had reached no decisions. It had however asked President al-Bashir to release
Christian women imprisoned in Khartoum together with their children for having sold
alcoholic drinks.
Religious bodies are not subject to restrictions as far as buying and selling land is con-
cerned, but a special permit from the state is required to build places of worship. This
law is not in fact applied in the South, while in the North it is implemented sporadi-
cally. Mosques have been built without legal authorisation in various locations in the
North, as have Christian centres of activity in the refugee camps around the capital,
but only some of these buildings – all of them Christian – have been demolished. As
for those requests actually submitted, those for mosques have been approved after
lengthy bureaucratic procedures, whereas those for Christian churches had never been
granted in 30 consecutive years, from 1975 to 2005. However, in July 2005 the Min-
istry for Planning and for Public Property in the state of Khartoum, did grant permits
for building three churches on the fringes of the capital.
In the North the weekly day of rest is by law a Friday, with employers being required
to allow their Christian employees two hours of free time on Sundays for religious
worship. However, the many employers who do not respect this requirement have
never been found guilty in any of the court proceedings instituted against them. In the
South Sunday is established as the weekly day of rest, the Muslim minority has been
unable to ensure that their right to two hours off work on a Friday is respected. (U.S.
Department of State, 2007 Report on International Religious Freedom).
On 30th May 2006, a presidential decree granted a pardon to around one thousand
Christian women who had been imprisoned for having produced and sold alcoholic
drinks in the city of Khartoum, in contravention of the Shari‘a law. Starting in June,
these women were progressively released. A little over a year later, this presidential
pardon was renewed for those women who had been arrested for the same offence dur-
ing the intervening period of time. In August 2007, 847 women were released, togeth-
er with 158 children who had lived in the cells with their mothers.
SUDAN
(Sudan Tribune, 29th June 2006 and 6th August 2007)
Educational situation
There are no laws outlining the rights of Christian school children in the North or of
Muslim school children in the South. The former are obliged to attend school on Sun-
days, like everyone else, and the latter have to attend school on Fridays. According to
the official educational syllabus, all students in the North, including Christians, must
follow courses on Islamic religious instruction, from kindergarten to university,
435
provided by State-approved teachers. State schools do not provide Christian religious

SUDAN
instruction for Christian students. (U.S. Department of State, 2007 Report on Interna-
tional Religious Freedom).
Interreligious dialogue
Initiatives in interreligious dialogue have been undertaken by the SIRC, the Sudanese
Interreligious Council, sponsored by the national unity government and the SCC, the
Sudan Council of Churches which includes Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox.
Discrimination and pressure applied by the authorities

Christians living in the North constantly report instances of social discrimination both
in educational opportunities and in the workplace. Muslims in the South report being
threatened, especially after the death in August 2005 of Vice-President John Garang,
previously the former rebel leader, who came from this region.
In spite of the expectations of the Sudanese churches in the South, none of the Church
properties confiscated by past Sudanese governments have been returned to their le-
gitimate owners by the government of Southern Sudan. In the North the national uni-
ty government and the local authorities have implemented policies that consist of put-
ting pressure on the Churches to abandon their institutions in the heart of the capital –
which date back to the colonial period – and denying permission to build on land al-
ready owned by the churches, while at the same time offering to buy this land, which
would thus be a source of very lucrative property speculation for the state authorities
and for local companies.
The security and intelligence agencies exercise regular surveillance over religious ac-
tivities, often infiltrating their own agents among the faithful in the churches and
mosques.
Violence
In May 2006, security and intelligence officers arrested and beat up Christians who
met with a Muslim woman who had converted to Christianity, after her family had ac-
cused them of kidnapping her. The Reverend Elia Komondan, of the Episcopalian
(Anglican) All Saints Cathedral and Anthony Gabriel, a Catholic teacher, were re-
leased, along with four others, after a week in prison after the woman came out of hid-
ing and gave herself up to police. She was not accused of apostasy and returned home
to her family without formalising her conversion (Compass Direct News, 17th May
2006, 23rd May 2006).
In September 2006, the body of Mohamed Taha, editor of the newspaper Al Wafaq,
was found beheaded in a street in the capital. The magazine had recently republished
436
an article on the prophet Mohammed that in 2005 had resulted in Mohamed Taha’s ar-
rest. He had been tried for contempt of religion and acquitted. The murder was blamed
on Islamic extremists. In November, 28 people were arrested in connection with this
crime (Sudan Tribune, 6th September 2006, 23rd November 2006).
On 1st January 2007, police officers using tear gas attacked an Episcopalian Church in
the diocese of Khartoum, while a New Year prayer vigil was being held inside by 800
faithful, among them the Vice President Abel Alier. Six people were wounded and
damages to the value of seven thousand dollars was inflicted on the church. None of
the police officers involved were prosecuted for this attack (Compass Direct News,
10th January 2007).
On the night of 27th April 2007, four Evangelical Christians (three Sudanese and one
Egyptian) were killed and five others wounded when the truck they were travelling in
was ambushed on the road to the city of Torogi. The group belonged to the Bahry
Evangelical Church in northern Karthoum and were on a Christian outreach mission
in the region, showing a film on the life of Christ in the villages of the Nuba Moun-
tains (Compass Direct News, 3rd May 2007).
On 27th September 2007, a man wearing the uniform of the SPLA blew himself up
during an open-air religious service near a Baptist Church in the town of Khorfulus in
the Upper Nile region. Six young children were killed in this attack and five others
wounded (Compass Direct News, 3rd October 2007).
On 25th November 2007, Gillian Gibson, an English teacher working in a primary

school in Khartoum, was arrested because a colleague accused her of having offend-
ed the prophet Mohammed. The teacher had allowed her 7-year-old pupils to name a
teddy bear Mohammed. She was subjected to a summary trial and sentenced to 15
days in prison, while the Islamic authorities and Islamist protest groups called for her
to be given the severest sentence of 40 lashes and six months in prison. On 4th Decem-
ber the woman was pardoned by the President and deported (Reuters, 27th November
SUDAN
2007; The Guardian, 4th December 2007).
437
SURINAME
The former Dutch colony, known at the time as Dutch Guyana,

SURINAME
reflects its history in its ethnic and religious composition. The

country is home to ethnic groups originating in various areas of
AREA
previous Dutch colonies, such as Indians, Indonesians etc.
163,820 kmq
Article 18 of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of Suriname
POPULATION states that each individual has the right to freedom of worship
506,000 and religious belief, with no further details provided.
There are no reports indicating particular events involving the
REFUGEES
free exercising of religious freedom.
1 National holidays respect the varied and multiethnic social en-
INTERNALLY vironment. Religious holidays include the Christian Good Fri-
DISPLACED day, Easter Monday and Christmas as well as the Islamic an-
--- niversary of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed and the Hindu
Spring festivity of Holi (or Phagwa).
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Hindus 17.8%
Muslims 13.9%
Non religious 4.9%
Others 13%
Baptized Catholics
126,000
438
SWAZILAND
The new Constitution has been applied since February 2006,

after the previous one of 1968 was suspended in 1973.
The Constitution acknowledges religious freedom, specifying
AREA
the right to “freedom of thought, conscience or religion”.
17,361 kmq
Swaziland is nearly homogeneous ethnically, so most probably
because of that there are no long-standing records of ethnic or POPULATION
religious discrimination. In practice, the government respects 1,102,000
freedom of religion and also the rights of non-believers or the
REFUGEES
beliefs of minority groups. The only exception is the Jehova’s
Witnesses. Sometimes their prayer meetings are banned or dis- 789
rupted when considered by the government to be more political INTERNALLY
than religious. DISPLACED
Christianity is the majority religion in the country and there are ---
no reports of violations of the constitutional principles.
Sources
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS
PeaceReporter
SWAZILAND
Others 2.4%
Baptized Catholics
56,000
439
SWEDEN
“Religious freedom, in other words the right to practice, alone

SWEDEN
or together with others, one’s own religion” is declared by Ar-

ticle 1 of Chapter II on the “Fundamental freedoms” of the
AREA
Constitution promulgated in 1974. However, although the arti-
449,964 kmq
cles declaring the Lutheran Church of Sweden to be the state
POPULATION church have been abolished, Article 2 of the 1809 Constitution
9,090,000 is still in force and specifies that “the King must always profess
the pure evangelical doctrine adopted and explained in the Con-
REFUGEES
fession of Augsburg in the original version and by the Decree
75,078 of the 1593 Uppsala Synod, and the Princes and Princesses of
INTERNALLY the Royal household must also be brought up in this same faith
DISPLACED and within the Kingdom. Any member of the Royal Family not
--- professing this faith will be excluded from all rights of succes-
sion”.
Following the separation of Church and State, eight other reli-
gious denominations have also received state funding, accord-
RELIGIOUS
ing to the number of believers, who can also contribute dona-
ADHERENTS
tions deducted from their tax liability. These other churches are:
the Swedish Missionary Church, the Catholic Church, the
Swedish Missionary Alliance, The Baptist Union of Sweden,
the Salvation Army, the Methodist Church, the Pentecostal
Church and the Evangelical Church, In all there are 39 religious
groups which have the right to receive state funding.
Non religious 29.4% In the education sector, although not part of the state system,
Others 2.7% there are 67 denominational primary schools and 6 secondary
schools, mainly Christian, which also follow the state curricu-
Baptized Catholics
lum. The attitude of the state institutions towards freedom of
111,000
education is confrontational and tends towards a form of secu-
larist ideological control. A controversy that arose when an ad-
ministrative court granted a permit to carry out educational ac-
tivity to a school run by the Brethren Christian Fellowship,
prompted a harsh reaction from the Ministry for Education,
which announced new rules aimed at reducing religion’s influ-
ence in private denominational schools. Anna Neuman,
spokesperson for Minister Jan Bjorklund, said that “a student
should not be able to pass a natural science exam by answering
that God created the world”.
440
Islam
With the increase in the numbers of Muslim immigrants, the institutions of the state
are faced with requests to recognise Islamic juridical-religious rules, such as a demand
presented in May 2006 by the Council of Swedish Muslims to political parties repre-
sented in Parliament, to introduce Koranic Law for issues concerning marriage and di-
vorce, and to organise Courses in Arabic and Islam in state schools. Although the
equal opportunities minister, Jens Orback, on that occasion said no to any special
treatment for minorities, female students attending state schools were given permis-
sion to wear the Islamic veil. This was established by the National Agency for Educa-
tion, in January 2007, after it had overturned the decision taken by a private non-reli-
gious school in Umeå, which had expelled a student for not respecting the prohibition
imposed by the school’s own regulations.
The use of the veil is permitted in the Police Force and also in the Swedish Army,
where there is also a military chaplaincy for Muslim soldiers, headed by an imam.
Within the local Islamic community, such political and religious demands are not al-
ways pursued with peaceful means. It has emerged that there is widespread availabil-
ity in mosques of propaganda audio and video material inciting a holy war against the
infidels and in particular against the Jews. And yet, in January 2006, the Justice Min-
ister ruled that from a legal point of view these were not relevant events as crimes pun-
ishable under the law against incitement to hatred, but rather the consequence of the
conflict in the Middle East. Nonetheless, still in January 2006, three Muslims were ar-
rested for having thrown fire bombs at an Iraqi polling station in Stockholm and for
having planned an attack on a pro-Israeli Protestant church in Uppsala.
The perception of such potential for violence has also prompted reactions within so-
ciety which are in turn setting off a domino effect. The Swedish artist Lars Vilks pro-
voked a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the Stockholm government. A cartoon of
his, published on 19th August 2007 by the daily newspaper Nerikes Allehanda in Öre-
bro in Southern Sweden, portrayed Mohammed’s head on the body of a dog. This was
SWEDEN
one of many such cartoons created by Vilks, who for months had targeted religious
symbols as an assertion of his right to freedom of expression. However, as long as he
only portrayed Jesus Christ with the body of an elephant or posing as a paedophile,
there were no particularly indignant reactions. But now, a group of furious Muslims,
organised by Jamal Lamhamdi, the imam in Örebro, protested outside the offices of
Nerikes Allehanda. To avoid reprisals however, the cartoon in the paper’s online ver-
sion was “corrected” and no longer viewable. This did not however prevent a death
sentence being issued by Islamic extremists on 15th September 2007 against the artist
and also against Ulf Johansson, the chief editor of Nerikes Allehanda. However, in
fact the whole of this Scandinavian country, defined by Al Qaeda in Iraq as a “Cru-
sader State” has become the target of this terrorist organisation, which has threatened:
441
“We know how to make them retreat and apologise, and, if they do not, we will attack
SWEDEN
their economy and their colossuses such as Ericsson, Volvo, and Ikea.”
Judaism
According to statistics provided by the Jewish community, the number of anti-Semit-
ic incidents has increased, reaching a peak during the Israeli-Lebanese conflict.
Sources
Sweden Charges Three over Church and Iraq Vote Attacks, Reuters, 3rd May 2006
Muslims Demand Muslim Law, SR International, 28th May 2006
Swedish Education Agency Rejects Veil Ban, The Local, 24th January 2007
Swedish Paper Defends Publishing Mohammad Drawing, Reuters, 28th August 2007
Sweden Wants to Curb Religious Elements in Private School Education, Associated
Press, 15th October 2007
442
SWITZERLAND
The Swiss Constitution declares the equality of all citizens in

the eyes of the law and in Article 8 guarantees that “Nobody
shall suffer discrimination, particularly on grounds of origin,
AREA
race, sex, age, language, social position, lifestyle, religious,
41,284 kmq
philosophical or political convictions, or because of a corporal
or mental disability”. Article 15 specifically protects freedom POPULATION
of religion, and states that “All persons have the right to choose 7,480,000
their religion or philosophical convictions freely, and to profess
REFUGEES
them alone or in community with others”, together with “the
right to join or to belong to a religious community, and to fol- 45,653
low religious teachings”. At the same time, “No person shall be INTERNALLY
forced to join or belong to a religious community, to participate DISPLACED
in a religious act, or to follow religious teachings”. ---
Relations between the State and religious denominations are
autonomously regulated by each Canton; every Canton finan-
cially supports at least one of the three traditional religions, rep-
RELIGIOUS
resented by the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church and the
ADHERENTS
Old Catholic Church, although the Constitution of the Canton
of Basle is also open to the Jewish community and to other de-
nominations. Article 72 also establishes that “the Confederation
SWITZERLAND
and the Cantons may, within the framework of their powers,
take measures to maintain public peace between the members
of the various religious communities”.
Non religious 8.2%
Islam Muslims 2.7%
Others 0.7%
Since 2006, in German-speaking Switzerland, a number of
building projects for minarets presented by the Muslim com- Baptized Catholics
munities of Wangen bei Olten in the Canton of Soletta and of 3,327,000
Langenthal in the Canton of Berne, have raised fears and oppo-
sition from the local authorities and the population.
While the Catholic Bishop of Basle, Kurt Koch, President of
the Swiss Episcopal Conference, acknowledges the Muslims’
right to build mosques, there is significant opposition at a local,
cantonal and federal level. For Bishop Pierre Bürcher, first
President of the “Islam” workgroup set up in 2001 by the Swiss
Bishops’ Conference, the minaret “is indeed a symbol for Mus-
lims, but it is not a fundamental part of a mosque, and we must
avoid becoming fixated on this point”. In his opinion, “what re-
ally matters is what happens inside the mosques, where the
443
Koran is read and explained and where some people may stray from the right path. It
SWITZERLAND
is in fact in this place of worship that the imams pronounce the khutba, the Islamic
sermon, the contents of which are often politicised, and it is here that anti-Western
sentiments are expressed and where the faithful are even instigated to carry out terror-
ist acts”. If anything, the problem is “whether the authorities are really aware of what
is happening inside the mosques and whether such practices are legal. In my opinion,
these are the issues that matter and no so much whether the law permits the building
of another minaret or not”.
Following these controversies, the Canton of Zurich has commissioned a study to de-
termine whether the authorities are addressing the needs of the Muslim population.
This initiative was followed at the beginning of this year by another similar one, which
was openly criticised by some ministers.
The task of determining whether cantonal health, education, justice and social servic-
es cater for the needs of the Muslim population was entrusted to Professor Thomas
Widmer of the Institute of Political Science in Zurich, who outlined the objectives of
this study, explaining that: “We wish to understand whether the services provided by
the cantonal authorities respect the religious freedom of the Muslim population, but at
the same time whether their religious activities disturb other people using these same
public services”.
Sources
An initiative addressed at forbidding minarets, swissinfo.ch, 3rd May 2007
Adam Beaumont A Bishop advises that mosques should be supervised more closely,
swissinfo.ch, 20th May 2007
Zurich starts its first study on Muslims, swissinfo.ch, 17th July 2007
444
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
The Constitution of 1973 states that Islamic Law is one of the

sources of the legislation and that the head of state must be a
Muslim. Islam is not the State religion however, and the Con-
AREA
stitution guarantees recognition of other religions and freedom
185,180 kmq
of religion and worship. The Baath party, which has governed
Syria since 1963, reacts harshly to opposition and controls the POPULATION

various religious communities, whether they belong to the Sun- 18,870,000
ni Islamic majority or the non-Muslim minorities. For these mi-
REFUGEES
norities, the choice between the current regime and a possible
extremist Muslim alternative is a complex one. Considering po- 1,503,769
litical Islam a threat to its stability, the government entrusts the INTERNALLY
security services with the task of monitoring the content of ser- DISPLACED
mons given in the mosques. 433,000
Christians
Christian communities enjoy absolute freedom to build places
RELIGIOUS
of worship (often obtaining construction materials from the
ADHERENTS
State) as well as the freedom to organise religious activities.
Priests are exempt from military service, nor are there obstacles
to their incardination in the dioceses. There are however prob-
lems as far as censorship of the religious press is concerned
(this also affects Muslims), and also for Christian schools,
which were nationalised in 1967. Christmas and Easter are con-
Muslims 89.3%
sidered official festivities and the media broadcasts religious Affiliated Christians 7.8%
ceremonies Non religious 2.9%
At the end of March 2006 during a visit to the headquarters of

Baptized Catholics
ACN, Melkite Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart of Aleppo
401,000
stated that the Syrian Church also suffers from extremism and
violence: “This is why both ecumenical and interreligious dia-
logue are so necessary”, he said. The archbishop revealed that
he is planning to establish a centre for dialogue and reconcilia-
tion in his archdiocese.
On the subject of Islamic-Christian dialogue, it is worth noting
the words of Grand Mufti Hassoun on 19th September 2006,
when he exhorted everyone to consider the most recent position
of the Holy See with regard to the “Regensburg case”, as ex-
pressed by the Pope himself and by the Vatican Secretary of
State, as an expression of the “good intentions that reign in the
hearts of our Christian brothers”. “Pope Benedict XVI’s dis-
445
avowal and sadness following the reactions, represent for us more than an apology and
a great mark of respect towards the Islamic world”.

For their part, the Arab group for interreligious dialogue, in a statement also made
public on the same day, affirmed “the need to continue on the path of dialogue, the on-
ly way capable of purifying hearts and drafting a road map for the future of the re-
gion”. This group called for the removal from the debate of all those differing view-
points that could not help Islamic-Christian coexistence in Syria, and at the same time
thanked the Syrian government for the security measures it has implemented “which
have spared us violence and hatred”. In Syria in fact, there were almost no aggressive
reactions to the Pope’s speech.
Muslims
After years of silence, in March 2006 opposition movements organised a “National
Salvation Front” that includes the Muslim Brothers as well as liberals, communists
and Kurds. The organisation’s leader, Ali Saadeddin al-Bayanouni, says he is sure that
the effects of the “Islamic wave” so evident in the Egyptian and Palestinian elections
would also be felt, possibly even in free elections in Damascus. Bayanouni spoke of
his movement as being one of “moderates”, and rejected any intention of making Syr-
ia a state governed by Islamic Law.
In March 2006, the Syrian government abolished the ban, imposed back in 1963 when
the secular Baath Party won the elections, on imams visiting military barracks and
speaking of religion to the soldiers. The government’s decision seems to be a response
to the leaders of the Muslim Brothers who have declared their conviction that they
could be elected to power in Syria, should Bashar al-Assad’s regime fall and free elec-
tions be held. Both the minister of defence, General Hassan Turkmani, and the army
chief of staff, General Ali Habib, have in fact spoken of including religious instruction
on the curriculum of the military academy, as an “answer to the thirst for God that ex-
ists in the barracks”, but they also called on the military to reject all forms of religious
extremism, which could shatter coexistence and reciprocal respect. The occasion for
this intervention by the two army leaders was a round table discussion on the issue of
“Syria facing international challenges”, organised in Damascus with the participation
of Greek Melkite Bishop Isidore Batikha, former patriarchal vicar of Damascus, who
called for “the application of the law of reciprocity between Christians and Muslims”.
The conference was also attended by the Grand Mufti of Syria, Sheik Ahmad Has-
soun, who emphasised “the fundamental role of religion in the battle against secular-
ism and laicism”. The two generals also impressed on the military the urgent need to
recover the perennial values of religion, because “a society without God will come in-
to conflict with history and society”.
446
Concerned that the Muslim Brothers in fact hold the leadership in the opposition,
Bashar al-Assad in fact seems committed to deepening the “secular” character of the
Syrian regime. In July 2006, the Syrian press paid a lot of space to the problem of re-
lations between “the secular community” and the “religious one”, following the pub-
lication of an appeal by 39 imams asking President Assad to exercise his constitution-
al role to stop the “poisonous campaign” against religious instruction in the state pri-

mary schools. The imams maintain that such a choice is aimed at “transforming soci-
ety into a secular one, according to a model that empties the country of the values
taught and experienced by the fathers”. The Minister for Religious Heritage in Syria
criticised these imams, maintaining that there was a plot against the secular concept
of the State. “They wish to follow the example of the extremists in Afghanistan and
Somalia”, said Mohammad Ziad al-Ayoubi, “infiltrating the souls of the citizens and
exploiting religion”. On 6th July the government daily al-Thawra spelled out the risk
run by Syria, namely that of transforming the secular state into one governed by the
Shari‘a. Emphasising that many restaurants have forbidden alcoholic drinks and the
number of women wearing the chador has increased, al-Thawra appealed for the cre-
ation of a front for defending the secular state.
In January 2007 the government authorised the so-called Qubaisiyyats to hold study
groups reserved for women. Until then, these groups of women involved in religion
had held their meetings in private homes. A number of observers have interpreted this
permission as a stratagem for better controlling such groups.
On 14th May 2007 the journalist Adel Mahfoudh was sentenced to six months in
prison. He had been arrested for the first time on 7th February 2006, for having pub-
lished an article in which he argued the need for dialogue between Muslims and the
authors of the cartoon about Mohammed published by the Danish newspaper the Jyl-
lands-Posten. Mahfoudh was released on bail, then arrested and released again in the
course of the year.
Others
In an article published by Il Regno (No. 6/2006) there is an analysis of about fifty
manuals used for Christian and Muslim religious instruction, in the twelve different
levels of primary and secondary education in Syria. This investigation – carried out by
Canadian researcher Monique Cardinal, Professor of Islamology at Laval University
in Québec – emphasises the powerful imprint imposed by absolute state control over
educational programmes and texts. In the chapters devoted to martyrdom in the Chris-
tian education course for 8th and 10th grades (ages 13-15) there is no hesitation in
quoting speeches by deceased Syrian President Hafez al-Assad alongside Biblical
texts on martyrdom, to exemplify the importance of sacrificing one’s own life for the
defence of one’s country. The Christian textbook for the 8th grade (age 13) even uses
447
the example of a Lebanese suicide bomber who blew himself up in front of an Israeli
military convoy in 1985 in Southern Lebanon. In the fourth year (age 9) Muslims learn
the two reasons that justify jihad: defending what is sacred to Islam and driving out
the enemy occupier from Palestine. In parallel, the Christian course for second year
secondary students (age16) emphasises the role played by the national Church in sup-
porting the Arab people in the battle against “criminal Zionism”.
Sources
ACN International
AsiaNews
Il Regno
448
TAJIKISTAN
All religions are more or less tolerated in the country. Several

times the government has reiterated the secular nature of the
state, but Islamic traditions are quite strong, especially in small-
AREA
er towns and villages. But religious fervour is also growing in
143,100 kmq
the cities.
Yet because of increased concern over the spread of Islamic ex- POPULATION
tremism, government attitudes towards freedom of religion 7,164,000
have hardened of late. Indeed the government is actively mon-
REFUGEES
itoring religious organisations to ensure they do not become po-
litically prominent. 1,133
There might also be further limits on religious freedom should INTERNALLY
a new bill “On Freedom of Conscience, on Religious Associa- DISPLACED
tions and Other (Religious) Organisations” be adopted. Various ---
versions of the draft bill have been discussed for more than two
years, all involving tougher rules in matters of religious free-
dom.
RELIGIOUS
The latest version of the draft bill was made public at a round
ADHERENTS
table held on 21st November last year at the office of the Organ-
isation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Dushanbe
(Forum 18 News Service, 27th November 2007). Some aspects
of earlier versions were watered down, starting with the num-
ber of adult members required for setting up a religious associ-
ation – the numbers are down from 400 to 50. Yet some areas
Muslims 83.6%
remain a problem for many religious groups; 24 organisations,
TAJIKISTAN
Non religious 13.9%
including Catholics, Baptists, Adventists, Lutherans, Pente- Affiliated Christians 2.1%
Others 0.4%
costals and other Protestant denominations, sent a letter to the
authorities expressing their bewilderment over the draft bill. In Baptized Catholics
it they argued repeatedly that the bill is at odds with the Consti- 300
tution of Tajikistan as well as with 12 laws and legal codes cur-
rently in force in the country.
Article 6 has for example drawn strong criticism for the provi-
sion that “an authorised state body on religious affairs” can or-
ganise among other things religious ceremonies, but nothing in
the bill says who this “authorised state body” is and why it
should intervene in the internal affairs of religious organisa-
tions. Similarly, Article 10 refers to state bodies that can con-
trol religious organisations, but does not say what they are or
what responsibilities they are supposed to fulfil. Article 19 lists
the documents religious groups require in order to apply for
449
legal recognition, among them a certificate showing that the applicants have been res-
TAJIKISTAN
ident in Tajikistan for at least 10 years, which for religious organisations is “an out-
right contradiction of democratic principles.” The same article also states that the
competent authority will examine religious communities for any possible “contradic-
tions” they may have vis-à-vis undefined cultural and national values. Article 27 re-
quires that missionary activity and “religious propaganda” must be authorised. Article
29 stakes that the international links of religious organisations and their right to send
people abroad to study our subject to the prior “consent” of the authorised state bod-
ies on religious affairs.
In spite of the limits of the draft bill, it still represents progress compared to earlier
versions which imposed even more stringent requirements on religious organisations,
indeed, there were so many that the continued legal existence of most non-Muslim re-
ligious groups would have been called into question.
Islam
Tajikistan is an overwhelmingly Muslim country; more than 95 percent of its popula-
tion is Sunni Muslim. It is also the only Central Asian Republic with an officially reg-
istered Islamic Party, the Islamic Rebirth Party (IRP).
Nonetheless, in recent years Islam has become the principal challenge to the govern-
ment’s authority due to the latter’s great concern over the possible spread of Islamic
extremism.
In the past year government authorities have adopted various initiatives to limit the
radicalisation of the more conservative forms of Islam, especially among the younger
generations.
In April 2007 Education Minister Abdujabbor Rahmonov introduced a new dress code
for young people attending Tajikistani schools and universities; this reaffirmed the ban
on wearing the hijab, the traditional Islamic headscarf (The Telegraph, 18th April
2007). In his view the hijab was foreign to Tajikistan’s traditions; it was “propaganda
from other countries and we will not allow it” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 26th
April 2007). A 20-year-old female student, Davlatmoh Ismoilova, sued the Education
Ministry claiming she had a right to wear the headscarf. Her challenge came to nought
and her case was thrown out by the court (Ibid., 3rd August 2007). Similarly, the Edu-
cation Minister ordered male students at the Islamic University of Tajikistan to wear
suits and ties as well as shave their beards and avoid Middle-Eastern style hats if they
wanted to go to university (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 17th January 2008).
Inevitably state control has also extended to mosques, especially those that are unreg-
istered and operating outside government-authorised religious organisations.
After a census of all the mosques in the capital, a representative from the Prosecutor’s
Office in Dushanbe, Ilyos Ortukov, said that of the 148 unregistered mosques in the
450
city 13 would be demolished, another 28 would be allowed to operate after register-

ing with authorities and the rest would be closed down. “These unofficial mosques ap-
peared in the early 1990s and the city administration wants to take them under its con-
trol,” he said (Associated Press, 20th March 2007).
The first three mosques were demolished in Dushanbe on 8th August (AsiaNews; 13 th
October 2007), a decision many of the faithful criticised, viewing it as an attempt to
prevent them from practising their faith outside “official” Islam, free from the tight
control of the Ulema Council. The authorities dismissed such charges, saying instead
that they had acted out of “architectural” considerations since the buildings did not fit
with the new urban development plan for downtown Dushanbe, adding that in any
event the buildings were not registered as mosques with the Justice Ministry.
In the northern region of Sughd, the authorities ordered 350 mosques, operating with-
out government registration, to regularise their situation or suffer immediate closure
(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 8th September 2007).
Last August Dushanbe city authorities ordered all of the city’s imams to take an exam
to establish their knowledge and suitability to carry out their functions. Anyone who
failed the test would be out of a job and be replaced by other clerics (Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, 8th and 20th August 2007). This decision, which the authorities
justified as being for the protection of the people, was criticised by many imams; for
them, it was but another expedient used by the government to remove unwelcome, in-
dependent-minded clergymen, and replace them with more accommodating imams.

On 11th October 2007 Culture Minister Mirzoshorukh Asrori withdrew official recog-
TAJIKISTAN
nition from the Jehovah’s Witnesses making all their activities illegal and putting the
survival of their community in the country at risk (AsiaNews, 22nd October 2007).
Saidbek Mahmudolloev, head of the Information Division in the Culture Ministry’s
Religious Affairs Department, said the main problem with the Jehovah’s Witnesses is
their refusal to do their military service, an undertaking that violates their religious
principles. “There is no alternative service in Tajikistan yet, so everyone ought to obey
Tajik laws,” he said. On top of that they are also held responsible for other violations
of the law like engaging in missionary activities door-to-door or in public places as
well as handing out religious brochures about their faith.
In response the Jehovah’s Witnesses announced they would appeal against the deci-
sion to President Emomali Rahmon and Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov and ask to have
the ban lifted.
Even so just a few days before the ban came into effect, Jehovah’s Witnesses got a
long-awaited authorisation in the district of Tursunzade for the use of a Kingdom Hall,
the only place of worship recognised by the state for that community.
451
In April the Witnesses had already found themselves at odds with the authorities (Fo-
TAJIKISTAN
rum 18 News Service, 18th October 2007). At customs the National Security Commit-
tee (NSC) seized two shipments containing foreign religious literature. In a written
statement 15th June 2007 the Department of Religious Affairs told Jehovah’s Witness-
es that the literature in question had a negative impact on the country and recommend-
ed the authorities not release it (quoted in the 2007 Report on International Religious
Freedom by the US State Department).
The US State Department also reported that on 2nd April 2007 Dushanbe city officials
broke up a religious service by Jehovah’s Witnesses that had brought together more
than a thousand people and told the group they could not organise any large scale
meetings without prior authorisation.
Like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, two other Christian organisations – the Ehya (Revival)
Protestant Church and the Hayat Faravan (Full Life) Baptist Church respectively reg-
istered in 2001 and 2003 – were told to suspend their activities for three months until
they had introduced certain modifications to their charters (Reuters, 23rd October
2007). The Culture Ministry for example accused the Hayat Faravan Baptist Church
of violating its own rules because, even though its statutes permit its members to en-
gage in humanitarian work, they are not specifically allowed to prepare and distribute
food (Forum 18 News Service, 9th November 2007).
In the first half of 2007, the Department of Religious Affairs and the Office of the Pub-
lic Prosecutor carried out a thorough investigation into each religious community, lo-
cal sources reported (Forum 18 News Service, 28th October 2007). The process includ-
ed asking religious leaders for lists of members who attend functions on a regular ba-
sis as well as detailed information on community activities, meeting places and tax in-
formation. It is not clear whether the subsequent suspension of the activities of some
of these religious groups should be linked to such controls.
452
TANZANIA
There is no State religion in Tanzania and Article 19 of the 1984

Constitution (with numerous amendments until 1998) recognis-
es freedom of religion, additionally specifying the right to
AREA
change one’s religion or faith and declaring that the state has no
883,749 kmq
right to interfere with the activities of the religious communi-
ties. POPULATION
The authorities encourage religious dialogue and participate 41,793,000
equally in Christian and Muslim festivals. At the same time
REFUGEES
they do not allow election campaigns to be held in places of
worship or schools 435,630
The population is equally divided between Christians and Mus- INTERNALLY
lims, though in the Zanzibar archipelago 98 percent of the peo- DISPLACED
ple belong to the Islamic faith. The number of the Catholics on ---
the island is about 11,000 (1 percent) and is rising steadily.
There was occasional debate about introducing of Shari‘a law
in Zanzibar, but the number of supporters of this idea remains
RELIGIOUS
small. The religious organizations must to register with the
ADHERENTS
Registrar of Societies at the Ministry of Home Affairs on the
mainland and with the Chief Government Registrar on Zanz-
ibar. Normally there is no problem to register a religious organ-
ization but on Zanzibar the groups registering on Zanzibar must
produce a letter of approval from the Mufti.
For Christians it is very difficult to buy and register a plot in or-
der to build a church or rectory. For five years requests by Muslims 31.7%
Catholics to be allowed to buy a plot and build a church have Ethnoreligionists 17%
Others 0.9%
been turned down for no good reason. “This is in the belief that
whenever the Islam religion exists there should be no any oth-
er religion”, a priest from Zanzibar wrote to ACN. After two
Baptized Catholics
11,367,000
TANZANIA
years of lobbing the Catholics were given a six month construc-
tion permit. This period is too short time (it could be prolonged,
but only once for another 6 months) in order to finish any large-
scale project.
Muslims have often complained of discrimination, claiming to
be under-represented in key positions in the state institutions.
There has also been tension within the Muslim community it-
self, due to different interpretations of Islamic law, especially
as far as family matters are concerned.
In February 2007 the Zanzibar police ruled that women drivers
should not wear the Islamic veil. According to a number of
453
studies in fact, many accidents appear to have been caused by restricted vision, due to
TANZANIA
the hijab.
There are still problems linked to witchcraft in the country and especially in rural ar-
eas. In spite of repeated condemnation by the authorities, in 2007 over a hundred eld-
erly village women were accused of witchcraft and killed.
Sources
ACN International
Corriere della Sera, 4th February 2007
454
THAILAND
Thailand is among Asia’s most tolerant nations as far as inter-

faith relations are concerned. Even during the period of military
rule, which lasted from the bloodless coup in September 2006
AREA
to the restoration of parliamentary democracy in the January
513,115 kmq
2008 elections, religious freedom was never affected. In 2007
as the new Constitution was being drafted (approved on 19th POPULATION
August 2007 in a referendum), many Buddhist groups demand- 65,310,000
ed that Buddhism be recognised as the State religion. The pro-
REFUGEES
posal, which was backed only by a minority, was rejected by a
wide margin by the constituent assembly. Still, any insult or 125,643
defamatory statement about Buddhism or Buddhist clerics is an INTERNALLY
offence that can be punished with prison or a fine. DISPLACED
Religious groups are required to register with the authorities, ---
but even unauthorised groups can operate freely. The number of
foreign missionaries is officially limited, but there are many
unauthorised missionaries who conduct their activities without
RELIGIOUS
problems.
ADHERENTS
Sadly, violence remains pervasive in the southern part of the
country as separatists and government forces battle each other.
Although the violence is essentially political in nature, it dis-
proportionately affects the local Buddhist community because
it is closely identified with the central government.
Muslims constitute a majority of the population in the
Buddhists 85.3%
provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla; for this Muslims 6.8%
reason rebels want to secede and join neighbouring Malaysia. Affiliated Christians 2.2%
Others 5.7%
The region itself was an independent sultanate until 1902 when
it was annexed by Thailand.
Despite frequent attacks, the clashes have not yet turned into an
Baptized Catholics
327,000
THAILAND
openly sectarian conflict. Muslim rebels have often been ac-
cused of encouraging corruption and favouring local organised
crime syndicates who benefit from the widespread disorder and
lawlessness created by the situation.
The violence in this part of Thailand began on 4th January 2004
when a group of Muslim militants stormed an army depot in
Narathiwat province. From then till January 2008 more than
2,800 people have died as a result of the ensuing violence and
many more people have been wounded. An atmosphere of ter-
ror has been generated, especially since many of the victims are
ordinary people killed as they made their way home from work.
455
In their fight against the Thai state, Muslim rebels have deliberately targeted ordinary
THAILAND
Buddhists, seeing in them representatives of the Thai majority. In response the gov-
ernment has deployed some 30,000 soldiers and police agents across the region. For
their part locals have complained that government forces have mistreated the civilian
population, committing abuses against people solely on the basis of unsubstantiated
charges of collaboration with the rebels. In fact the state of emergency gives the au-
thorities the power to imprison anyone, even if only suspected of collaborating with
the rebels, for a 30-day period, renewable without limit. The army and the police have
frequently applied these emergency powers in ways that have led groups like Human
Rights Watch to charge them with human rights violations, including the summary ex-
ecution or ‘disappearance’ of ‘suspects’.
In three years of insurgency there have been 3,198 recorded attacks in the three south-
ernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, 750 against the army, 638 against
the police, and 1,810 against civilians, leaving more 3,000 children orphaned (see
AsiaNews, 9th March 2007).
Teachers and Buddhist monks have become the ‘rebels’ preferred as targets. Attacks
against Buddhist monks are so systematic that the authorities at first provided army
escorts; however this did not stop the attacks but simply gave attackers an opportuni-
ty to kill soldiers as well. The situation was such that on 10th November 2006 monk
elders in Narathiwat decided that monks would no longer go through the streets ask-
ing for alms as they used to do every morning. It is estimated that, as of July 2007, the
rebels have destroyed 43 Buddhist temples in Yala province, 81 temples and seven
monasteries in Pattani and 71 temples and 16 monasteries in Narathiwat, forcing the
monks to retreat to temples located in urban centres.
In response to this Thailand’s Queen Sirikit urged monks across the country to go back
and live in the monasteries of the south during the Buddhist Lent (a three-month pe-
riod that begins on 30th July during the rainy season, a time when monks usually do
not travel but stay indoor in monasteries). Hundreds of monks have heeded her call
and returned to live in the 266 temples that had been abandoned as a result of the
growing violence.
Buddhist teachers in the public schools are another target of choice for rebels. Unable
to stop the attacks, the government has had to resort to arming teachers and training
them to shoot. Despite these measures, things are getting worse. On 24th July 2006 un-
known assailants killed a teacher as he was giving lessons in a school in Baan Bue
Rang, Narathiwat. In the evening of 13th June 2007, 13 schools were set ablaze in Yala
and Pattani provinces in a series of simultaneous attacks; a bomb later exploded in
front of a school in Narathiwat province, wounding a private guard.
456
According to official figures from January 2004 to October 2007, more than 200
schools were set on fire, more than 80 teachers, both Buddhist and Muslim, were
killed and over 70 were wounded. At least 1,600 teachers applied for a transfer.
In 2006 and 2007 the violence further escalated. No longer were only isolated individ-
uals attacked but explosive devices were set off in crowded places. On 10th May 2006
a bomb exploded in a crowded market in Pattani. In an apparently co-ordinated oper-
ation between 1st and 2nd August 2006, about 100 explosions were reported against
public buildings, homes of government officials and police officers, karaoke bars,
cafés and railway stations. During the night of 14th March 2007, unknown assailants
stopped a bus and killed all eight Buddhist passengers – only the driver, a Muslim, was
spared.
During the night of 18th February 2007, as thousands of people (especially ethnic Chi-
nese) celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, another series of co-ordinated attacks
were carried out in the southern provinces. In just 45 minutes, 29 bombs exploded,
killing eight people and wounding about 70. Experts estimate that at least 200 people
must have been involved in these attacks. On 15th January 2008 a bomb exploded in
a crowded market in Yala, wounding at least 27 people. The day before, eight soldiers
were killed in an ambush as they escorted teachers home.
Factories have not been spared. During the night of 20th February 2007, a big rubber
warehouse was set on fire in Yala province.
In some areas, like Sapong village (Yala), Muslim rebels handed out flyers threaten-
ing to kill Muslims loyal to the government and those who work on Fridays (the Mus-
lim day of prayer). They also ordered students not to attend state schools and imposed
taxes (Associated Press).
Moderate Muslims have become victims of the violence as well. On 4th January 2006,
anniversary of the insurgency, unknown gunmen shot two Muslim leaders working as
volunteer security guards in Pattani and Narathiwat. Muslim teachers, public officials
and merchants have been attacked and murdered in great numbers. On 5th April 2007
THAILAND
a rebel armed gang stormed a mosque in Yala, where around 100 people had gathered
inside for their morning prayer, and threw a bomb. On 9th April 2007, also in Yala,
Buddhist vigilantes killed four young Muslims in a truck. On 19th March 2007 un-
known gunmen killed three Muslims, wounding another seven, in a college in
Songkhla province. On 12th June 2007 a Muslim religious teacher was killed in Yala.
The following day 200 hooded young Muslims marched in protest in front of a
mosque demanding the authorities find the murderers.
The result of this ongoing violence has been growing tensions between Buddhists and
Muslims, but so far these have not yet degenerated into open clashes in the street.
457
TIMOR LESTE
In 2006 and 2007 the small country’s political leadership was

TIMOR LESTE
shaken by a dangerous crisis. Nonetheless, throughout the

emergency the government was able to guarantee religious
AREA
freedom as required by its young Constitution of 2002. There
14,374 kmq
were no major violations of religious freedom on the island na-
POPULATION tion, where Christians, especially Catholics, constitute the
923,000 largest group. No cases of violence or intimidation against mi-
nority religious groups were recorded.
REFUGEES
In May 2006 the firing of some 600 army soldiers, who were
--- protesting against discriminatory treatment, sparked weeks of
INTERNALLY fierce clashes between police and the “rebels.” At the end the
DISPLACED death toll stood at 37 with more than 150,000 people displaced.
100,000 The then Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri was held responsible
for the crisis. He eventually resigned after being accused of or-
ganising death squads to eliminate political opponents. The
United Nations sent in an Australian-led peace force to sta-
RELIGIOUS
bilise the situation.
ADHERENTS
Following the May 2007 elections, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
José Ramos-Horta became president whilst his predecessor,
Xanana Gusmao took over the prime ministership.
On 21st May 2007 in receiving Justino Maria Aparício Guter-
res, East Timor’s first ambassador to the Holy See, Benedict
XVI praised the “civic maturity” shown by East Timorese in
Muslims 3.2% the presidential elections and urged political leaders to restore
Traditional religions 3% public order and ensure security for their citizens. He also
Others 1.6%
asked the Church to continue in her evangelisation work and in
Baptized Catholics the promotion of moral values among the country’s political,
820,000 economic and financial elites.
458
TOGO
The Constitution decrees religious freedom and the public au-

thorities have generally respected this right in practice.
Furthermore, the Constitution forbids the formation of political
AREA
parties based on religion and states that “no political party
56,785 kmq
should identify itself by a region, an ethnic group or a religion”.
This however does not prevent individual Catholic, protestant POPULATION
or Muslim citizens from holding important positions within lo- 5,469,000
cal and national administrations.
REFUGEES
In 2004 the government had voted in favour of the UN Resolu-
tion for the abolition of all forms of religious intolerance, 1,328
which defines religious freedom as an intrinsic human right. INTERNALLY
The most recent official statistics available, dating back to DISPLACED
2004, show that 33 percent of the population profess tradition- 1,500
al Animist religions, 28 percent are Catholics, 14 percent Sun-
ni Muslims, 10 percent Protestants and the remaining 10 per-
cent are Christians belonging to various denominations.
RELIGIOUS
The State recognises three official religions: Catholicism,
ADHERENTS
Protestantism and Islam, and requires all other religious groups
to register as associations. Registration, and therefore official
recognition, brings fiscal advantages on imports, via an appli-
cation to the Foreign Ministry.
In order to obtain registration, a religious association must
present its statutes, a statement about its doctrine, the names
and addresses of the members of its governing body, the minis- Ethnoreligionists 37.7%
ter’s diploma, a contract, a map of the location of its headquar- Muslims 18.8%
Others 0.9%
ters and also a statement regarding its financial situation. The
religious group’s ethical behaviour is extremely important for Baptized Catholics
obtaining juridical status and must never in any circumstances 1,561,000
threaten public order.
In 2006 the government refused registration to very few reli-
gious groups – and only and exclusively because their work in-
volved illegal activities or activities considered as immoral. In
the past the government rejected a request presented by a Mus-
TOGO
lim group because this group had been accused of involvement

in selling arms to Northern Ghana.
Respect for religious liberty has in recent years however been
heavily conditioned by a continuing succession of political
tensions.
459
2006, as reported by MISNA quoting the words of President Gnassingbè, did howev-
TOGO
er witness the beginnings of a global political agreement and the start of a new polit-
ical era for Togo, after 13 years marked by crises and political violence.
Internal reconciliation has also involved the creation of a “monitoring committee” to
monitor the legality of the elections, which after various postponements, were held on
10th October 2007 and saw the resumption of the 81-seat Parliament. This election is
seen as a decisive step for this country towards achieving the democratic standards re-
quired by the European Union, which only resumed the sending of humanitarian aid
in 2007 after suspending this in 1993 because of the absence of any guarantee of
democracy.
One should remember that in December 2005, the Togolese government’s High Au-
thority for Radio-Television and Communications (HAAC), a regulating agency for
controlling the media, had forbidden all political programmes by local and religious
radio and television stations, and that in the past it had suspended broadcasting by Ra-
dio Maria because it had adopted a critical stance with regard to the government’s ac-
tions.
Sources
ANSA
MISNA
PeaceReporter
460
TONGA
In the small archipelago of Tonga the right to religious freedom

is recognised in Article 5 of the 1875 Constitution, amended on
various occasions until 1990. Missionaries are present and ac-
AREA
tive here and all groups are permitted to work without registra-
650 kmq
tion. At the end of 2006, following the non-approval of the
greatly expected democratic reforms, there were violent street POPULATION
protests condemned by the religious authorities. The Catholic 94,000
Bishop of Tonga, Monsignor Soane Lilo Foliaki, condemned
REFUGEES
all forms of violence in a message read out in all the churches.
Protests stopped after a number of reforms were approved. ---
Almost all schools are run by religious groups. INTERNALLY
DISPLACED
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Baha’i 6.7%
Others 0.4%
Baptized Catholics
15,000 TONGA
461
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
The 1976 Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago,

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
amended until 2000, lists in Article 4 a series of fundamental

rights of citizens, and among them in paragraph H, freedom of
AREA
conscience and religious belief and observance.
5,130 kmq
The main religion is Christianity in its various expressions, but
POPULATION there are also Islamic and Hindu minorities.
1,336,000 The religious lives of the various communities take place with-
out problems and are totally autonomous from government au-
REFUGEES
thorities. Government representatives take part in the various
22 religious festivities which facilitates interreligious relations.
INTERNALLY There are no reports of events involving intolerance or viola-
DISPLACED tions of individual or associative rights to religious freedom.
---
RELIGIOUS
ADHERENTS

Hindus 22.8%
Muslims 6.8%
Others 5.8%
Baptized Catholics
398,000
462
TUNISIA
According to its Constitution, “Tunisia is a free, independent

and sovereign state; its religion is Islam” (Art. 1). Moreover,
the Tunisian Republic guarantees the inviolability of the human
AREA
person and also freedom of conscience, and protects freedom of
163,610 kmq
religious practice on condition that “it does not disturb public
order” (Art. 5). POPULATION
About 99 percent of Tunisians are Muslims, but there is still a 10,130,000
small Jewish Tunisian community, remnants of a centuries-old
REFUGEES
presence, now steadily decreasing. Emigration increased with
the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. While at the begin- 101
ning of the 20th century there were 100,000 Jews, today they INTERNALLY
are no more than 2,000. They own their own places of worship. DISPLACED
The rabbinic court was closed in 1957 and replaced with a ---
“Board of personal status”, integrated in civil law.
The Catholic Church is not Tunisian. There are 20.000 mem-
bers out of 10 million inhabitants and they are all foreigners.
RELIGIOUS
The Church does, however, enjoy official recognition thanks to
ADHERENTS
a Modus Vivendi signed between the Holy See and the Tunisian
government on 9th July 1964. This convention, in accordance
with which the Church “cedes definitively and in exchange for
no fee”, most of its places of worship and other buildings,
“safeguards the free practice of the Catholic faith” and “ac-
knowledges its legal representative in the Prelate of Tunis”.
Muslims 98.9%
The Catholic Church, however, has been permitted to keep five Affiliated Christians 0.5%
churches, among them the Cathedral in Tunis, dedicated to Others 0.6%
Saint Vincent de Paul. This Modus Vivendi dated 1964 also es-
Baptized Catholics
tablished that, should Catholic believers feel the need for a suit-
20,000
able place of worship, the ecclesiastic authorities would be per-
TUNISIA
mitted to present a request to the government, a request that
would be favourably looked upon. It was thus that, in March
2005, the Archbishop of Tunis, Monsignor Fouad Twal, was
able to announce the reopening of the Church of Saint Joseph
in Djerba. His initiative was motivated by the large number of
foreign Catholic tourists who travel every year to this island
(ZENIT, 21st March 2005).
As far as the conversion of Muslims to other religions is con-
cerned, the law neither punishes nor forbids this, though seek-
ing to convert Muslims to another faith is prohibited by law,
seeing that the Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience
463
(cf. Art. 5). It is nevertheless extremely difficult for a Muslim to change religion.
TUNISIA
There are however some conversions to Christianity, often in its neo-protestant Evan-
gelical version, although the Catholic Church does not refuse those asking to be bap-
tised. There are also a number of Tunisian ministers. Although they are not really
obliged to hide, those converted must nonetheless avoid appearing in churches. They
are in fact often the victims of rejection by their families or in the workplace.
464
TURKEY
Modern Turkey has inherited the institutional system imposed

in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk), who was, at the time,
greatly inspired by European state systems. Political develop-
AREA
ments in recent years, especially the electoral victory in 2002 of
774,815 kmq
the Party of Justice and Development (an Islamic party ), led by
Recep Tayyip Erdogan (who is now Prime Minister) and the POPULATION
election of Abdullah Gül as President of the Republic in 2007, 72,970,000
have not resulted in any significant changes in the institutions.
REFUGEES
The Constitution still describes Turkey as a “democratic, sec-
ular and social State that respects human rights” (Art. 2), and 6,956
declares that “all individuals are equal in the eyes of the Law, INTERNALLY
without distinction as to language, race, colour, gender, politi- DISPLACED
cal opinion, philosophical beliefs, membership of a religion or 1,200,000
a sect […]” (Art. 10), and also specifies that “everyone enjoys
total freedom of conscience, creed and religious conviction”
(Art. 24).
RELIGIOUS
It is however necessary to emphasise that Turkish secularism,
ADHERENTS
from its very beginnings, was fundamentally different from
secularism as perceived and practised in the European coun-
tries, in particular in France, where the State “does not recog-
nise and does not finance any religion” (law of 1905). The sec-
ularism instated by Atatürk does not imply the State’s neutrali-
ty on the subject of religion, but places religion under the
Muslims 97.2%
State’s protection. A special agency, the Dyanet, under the di- Non religious 2.1%
rect authority of the Prime Minister, manages religious affairs. Affiliated Christians 0.6%
Others 0.1%
All those occupying positions linked to religion (teachers of re-
ligion, ministers, etc.) both inside and outside the country, de- Baptized Catholics
pend on this department for their appointments, training and 32,000
salaries.
TURKEY
Furthermore, one’s religion is stated on all civil documents.
Neither Jews nor Christians have any representatives in the
Dyanet. In a certain sense, they have no interest in being part of
it, since this would place them under the protection of the state,
which could then interfere in their teachings and worship. In
connection with these minorities, one cannot speak of neutrali-
ty, given that their status deprives them of equality with their
Muslim compatriots.
This is a kind of secularism sui generis and therefore has very
specific characteristics. Although agnostic, Atatürk wished
465
thereby to acknowledge the religious sentiments of the great majority of his people,
TURKEY
who are Sunni Muslims. The principle of “Turkishness”, which determines the nation-
al identity, implies the implicit confusion between ethnicity (Turkish) and religion
(Sunni). It is necessary to bear in mind this reality in order to understand the situation
with regard to religious freedom in Turkey.
Islamic minorities
The members of the two minorities belonging to Islam, the Kurds (Sunnis but not
Turks) and the Alevis (Turks and not Sunnis), although Turkish citizens, do not fully
benefit from all the rights established by the Constitution. Furthermore, the denomi-
national identity of the Alevis, in spite of their numbers (15 million people), is not
recognised, which deprives them of all representation within the Dyanet.
Juridical situation of the Christians

From an institutional point of view, Christians are divided into two categories.
1 - The communities recognised by the Treaty of Lausanne (24th July 1923). This doc-
ument, considered to be modern Turkey’s international birth certificate, contains ju-
ridical provisions concerning the rights of minorities qualified as “protected”, this in-
cludes the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church in
addition to the Jewish community. Not only does it affirm the equality of their mem-
bers with the other “inhabitants of Turkey” (Art. 38), but also guarantees them their
civil, political and cultural rights. Thus the Treaty states that “Differences of religion,
creed or confession shall not prejudice any Turkish national in matters relating to the
enjoyment of civil or political rights, as, for instance, admission to public employ-
ments, functions and honours, or the exercise of professions and industries” (Art. 39
§ 3). Furthermore, it states that “Turkish nationals belonging to non-Muslem minori-
ties shall enjoy the same treatment and security in law and in fact as other Turkish na-
tionals. In particular, they shall have an equal right to establish, manage and control at
their own expense, any charitable, religious and social institutions, any schools and
other establishments for instruction and education, with the right to use their own lan-
guage and to exercise their own religion freely therein” (Art. 40).
In reality however, the Christians who fall within the scope of the Treaty of Lausanne
suffer serious discrimination or expropriations, to the extent that today the future of
these two communities is seriously compromised. From the time the Treaty came in-
to force, right up to modern times, the authorities have interpretated its provisions in
a restrictive way.
In principle, the institutions of the “protected minorities” are subject to a 1935 law, ac-
cording to which the government required them to draw up an inventory of their pos-
sessions and to formally declare it. However, in the absence of applicative decrees, the
466
Turkish State regulates these issues through police orders. As a result of this circum-
stance, in 1970 the seminary of the Holy Cross in Istanbul, which belongs to the (Or-
thodox) Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate, was arbitrarily closed. This seminary took
in as boarders, boys from Anatolia who had come to Istanbul in order to regain pos-
session of a culture that had been deleted from official school texts, and for some of
them, to train for the priesthood. Patriarch Mesrob II’s most recent request to the State
authorities for the reopening of the seminary, the only one belonging to his Church,
ended once again without success. In March 2007, the patriarch refused to take part in
a ceremony in the Armenian Church of the Holy Cross, on the shores of Lake Van, or-
ganised by the state authorities to celebrate the completion of its restoration. His re-
fusal was in protest at the fact that this church, which dates back to the 10th century,
has been turned into a museum.
In 1971, a similar measure was taken, aimed at the only theological institute of the Ec-
umenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, on the island of Halki in the Sea of Marmara.
This occurred because Patriarch Bartholomew I had refused to allow it to be placed
under the tutelage of the Dyanet. Although he enjoys the spiritual primacy within Or-
thodoxy, and has jurisdiction over 250 million believers all over the world (though on-
ly 2,500 in Turkey itself), the Patriarch is not acknowledged as such by the Turkish
State, they only recognise him as the “Greek-Orthodox Patriarch of Phanar” (the name
of the district in Istanbul where he has his headquarters).
These closures are preventing the replacement of the local clergy and might well – in
the long term – lead to the disappearance of the two patriarchates that are covered by
the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne. In fact, according to a rule established by the
State, the two Patriarchs must be Turkish nationals and be elected by metropolitans
(bishops) who are likewise Turkish nationals. According to Bartholomew I, there are
petitions in circulation asking for the Patriarchate to be moved abroad.
Charitable organisations are also significantly obstructed in their work, because they
are subject to company tax. In 1974, a sentence passed by the Court of Cassation for-
bade the selling of property to the Christian minorities, on the pretext that this would
TURKEY
go against the national interest. Furthermore, it ordered the seizure of many of the
churches’ orphanages, hospitals and schools, on the pretext that their ownership of
them dated from after 1936 (when the properties of the minorities were officially reg-
istered under the 1935 law). Considered as state property, these institutions were en-
trusted to ad hoc foundations. These expropriations contravene Articles 40 and 41 of
the Treaty of Lausanne, which gives “protected minorities” the right to dispose of their
own foundations as juridical means for exercising their religion, as well as their apos-
tolic and charitable work, with “total freedom to use their own languages”. They also
contravene Article 24 of the Turkish Constitution (see supra) as well as Article 9 of
the European Convention for Human Rights, which Turkey has signed up to.
467
2 – The second category of Christians are those “forgotten” by the Treaty of Lausanne.
TURKEY
This includes members of the Oriental Churches (Assyrian-Chaldean, Syriac and Ma-
ronite) in spite of the fact that they are the most ancient religions existing in Anatolia.
Since they are not recognised, they do not have any legal status or any rights, which
places them in an even more precarious position. These churches are deprived of the
right to own and manage their own schools, social centres, seminaries or religious for-
mation centres or to build churches. All these restrictions are listed in a document
drafted by the European Union on Turkey’s progress towards becoming a member of
the European Union that was drawn up in preparation for the Brussels summit of De-
cember 2004.
As far as communities of Western Christian denominations are concerned (Latin-rite
Catholics and the various Protestant communities), they can only legitimate their pres-
ence on the basis of letters sent by the Turkish authorities to the French, Italian and
British authorities, as ‘footnotes’ to Treaty of Lausanne, with the objective of guaran-
teeing the continuation of their work in the educational and health sectors, activities
established several centuries earlier by European missionaries. But their status is no
more than that of the managers of these charities. Catholics and Protestants do not en-
joy any juridical status, they cannot own property, whether bought or inherited, nor
can they construct new buildings, replace personnel or take someone to court etc.
Generally speaking, Christians are excluded from certain professions (the police, the
army, the higher administrative appointments). It should also be noted that, in the
name of secularism, the religious minorities cannot be represented, as such, in parlia-
ment, which deprives them of the means of defending their collective interests and
those of their members.
Anti-Christian climate
At the time of his visit to Turkey (28th November-1st December 2006) Pope Benedict
XVI reminded the Turks of their obligations on the subject of freedom of worship in
his speech to the Diplomatic Corps: “The fact that the majority of the population of
this country is Muslim is a significant element in the life of society, which the State
cannot fail to take into account, yet the Turkish Constitution recognizes every citizen’s
right to freedom of worship and freedom of conscience. The civil authorities of every
democratic country are duty bound to guarantee the effective freedom of all believers
and to permit them to organize freely the life of their religious communities. […] This
assumes, of course, that religions do not seek to exercise direct political power, as that
is not their province, and it also assumes that they utterly refuse to sanction recourse
to violence as a legitimate expression of religion.” With these last words the Pope was
implicitly referring to the anti-Christian climate that has been developing in Turkey
for some years now. The result of an alliance between exaggerated nationalism and the
468
re-islamisation of society, this development is accompanied by a growing mistrust of

minorities, and of Christians in particular, who are increasingly perceived as “internal
enemies”. This is what Archbishop Ruggero Franceschini of Smyrna (Izmir) had to
say on this subject in July 2007: “If they [the Turks] really were secular, they would
respect all believers in the schools, whatever their religion. Instead we have had to put
up with long years of education that exalted only the importance of Turkey – not its
historical importance or that of its scenery, but the importance of its military conquests
and Koranic doctrines, a compulsory subject in all schools and often taught by ill-
trained people. The teachers endeavour, above all, to deny the reality of Christianity,
or to belittle its importance, treating the Gospel as “an invented story” (ZENIT, 3rd
July 2007).
Anti-Christian violence
This climate appears to have encouraged the attacks against Christians, perpetrated in
2006 and 2007, and which even led to the targeting of foreign Christians whose resi-
dency papers were in order.
On 8th January 2006, in Adana, in Southern Turkey, a Protestant minister, Kamil
Kiroglu, was attacked in his own home by five young men. One of them was armed
with a knife and ordered him to recant Christianity and become a Muslim: “Renounce
Jesus, or I will kill you now.” The pastor’s life was saved by the arrival of visitors to
the church.
On 6th February 2006, Father Andrea Santoro, a priest of the diocese of Rome, who
was present in Turkey as a fidei donum priest, was murdered while praying in the
Church of Saint Mary in Trebizond, on the shores of the Black Sea in northern Turkey.
According to witnesses, his murderer shot him many times in the back, while shout-
ing “Allah is great” (Le Figaro, 7th February 2006; Le Monde, 8th February 2006; La
Croix, 9th February 2006; ZENIT, 21st February 2006). Arrested a short while later, still
in possession of the murder weapon, 16-year-old Ohuzan Akdil said that he had acted
in reaction to the publication of the “Mohammed cartoons” in the Danish newspaper
TURKEY
Yllands-Posten at the end of 2005. He was sentenced to 18 years and 10 months.
(ZENIT, 8th October 2007). This left Monsignor Luigi Padovese, the Vicar Apostolic
of Anatolia, feeling “bitter and dissatisfied”, because “they have not clarified the rea-
sons for this attack, simply attributing it to a young, unbalanced mind”, (L’Eglise dans
le Monde, No. 134, 2 tr. 2007. See also L’Osservatore Romano, French edition, 14th
February 2006).
On 9th February 2006, in Smyrna, while inside the parish church of Saint Elena, a
Slovenian Franciscan, Father Martin Kmetec, was attacked by a group of young Mus-
lims who threatened to cut his throat, saying: “Sooner or later we will kill you
all” (ZENIT, February 12th 2006).
469
On 11th March 2006, a Turkish Capuchin priest, Handi Leylek, and a group of adoles-
TURKEY
cents were threatened with death by a man armed with a knife while in the Catholic
Church of Saint Anthony in Mersin, a city on the southern coast of Turkey. Roberto
Ferrari, an Italian priest who lives there, managed to call the police and the attacker
was arrested.
On 2nd July 2006, Father Pierre Brunissen, the French fidei donum priest who on 5th
March had reopened the church in Trebizond, was stabbed in a street in Samsun, a city
on the shores of the Black Sea where he usually exercised his ministry. On 21st Feb-
ruary he had been threatened by a group of youngsters who had entered the church in
Samsun. He was hospitalised and managed to survive in spite of his serious wounds.
His attacker, Attila Nuran, is known to be close to extremist Islamic movements (ZEN-
IT, 2nd July 2006; La Croix, 4th July 2006; Le Figaro, 4th July 2006; L’Eglise dans le
Monde, No. 134, 2 tr. 2007).
On 19th January 2007, the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was assassinated
in Istanbul, outside the offices of the bilingual weekly magazine Agos, of which he
was the editor in chief. Dink was very well known for his work in favour of the offi-
cial recognition of the genocide of the Armenians, which in July 2006 had caused him
to receive a six-month suspended prison sentence for “contempt of the Turkish iden-
tity” a crime defined under Article 301 of the Penal Code. And yet he was working for
reconciliation between the Armenians and the Turks, criticising the intolerance of the
Armenians of the diaspora. Originally from Trebizond, his murderer, Ogun Samast, a
17-year-old boy, was arrested in Samsun still carrying his weapon. Samast declared
that he had not repented. The trial against him, as well as seventeen other defendants,
opened in Istanbul in July 2007. They were all militants in the Great Union Party,
which is both nationalist and extremist, an offshoot of the Grey Wolves movement (Le
Figaro, 21st and 31st January 2007; Le Monde, 23rd January, 11th-12th February and
3rd July 2007; La Croix, 22nd and 24th January 2007).
On 27th January 2007, a Protestant church in Samsun was attacked by unknown per-
sons who threw stones, smashing all the windows of the building (La Croix, 29th Jan-
uary 2007).
On 11th October 2007, Arat Dink, Hrant’s son and successor as editor-in-chief of Agos,
was given a one-year suspended prison sentence for violating Article 301, after pub-
lishing an interview given by his father before his death in his magazine (Le Monde,
13th October 2007).
On 18th April 2007, in Malatya, a city in Central Anatolia, three Evangelical Chris-
tians, two of which were converted Turks, Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, and one
German called Tilmann Geske, had their throats cut while at work for the publishing
house Zirve, which distributes Bibles and other Christian literature. Five students,
aged between 19 and 20, were arrested on suspicion of their murder. It seems that they
470
were members of a Sufi brotherhood. They stated they had acted for “their homeland”.
Six other suspects, thought to have been their accomplices, were later also arrested,
among them Emre Günaydin, leader of the “Foyers idealists”, a branch of the Grey
Wolves movement. Their trial opened on 23rd November 2007. The local press defend-
ed the accused, which obliged the co-plaintiffs’ lawyers to confine themselves to a lo-
cal hotel. One of these lawyers, Mr. Cengiz, said: “For as long as the State’s represen-
tatives continue to say that Turkey is threatened by internal enemies, and that mission-
aries are agents paid by foreign states to divide Turkey, these crimes will be in-
evitable”. He believes that these ultra-nationalist murderers are “linked to state organ-
isations” (La Croix, 20thApril and 23rd November 2007; Le Monde, 20th April and 24th
November 2007; Le Figaro, 20th April 2007).
On 3rd September 2007, the police arrested a man called Semih Sahin, who was about
to set fire to the entrance of a Protestant church in Smyrna, the minister of which is
the brother-in-law of one of the two men who had converted to Christianity and were
murdered in Malatya.
On 13th November 2007, a large group of forest guards started to demolish the 17th-
century chapel of the Transfiguration of the Lord, situated outside the theology semi-
nary in Halki, in spite of the fact that the chapel was undergoing restoration with the
permission of the local authorities. The guards removed and threw away the tiles from
the roof and broke all the windows and window frames. The chapel’s total destruction
was avoided at the very last minute after a protest by Metropolitan Meliton, director
of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s legal department, to the prefect of the Prince Islands.
At the end of November, a Syriac-Orthodox monk, Edip Daniel Savci, resident at the
Mor Yacup monastery near Mydiat, in South-Eastern Turkey, was kidnapped and then
released a few days later.
On 16th December 2007, the Italian Capuchin Father Adriano Francini, Superior of the
Custody of Turkey and Rector of the Sanctuary of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus, was
stabbed outside the Church of Saint Anthony in Smyrna where he had just said Mass.
His attacker was a young man aged 19 who justified his crime on the grounds that the
TURKEY
priest had refused to baptise him. Pretending to be a candidate for conversion is cur-
rently a method often used to accuse Christians in Turkey of proselytism. Monsignor
Franceschini reacted ironically, saying: “Once again they will say this was the act of
a madman. But it has to be said that during the last year and a half, attacks by these
mentally-ill people have increased significantly in Turkey” (La Croix, 18th December
2007; Le Monde, 18th December 2007).
On 30th December 2007, the police arrested a young man about to murder a Turkish
Protestant pastor working in Antalya, in Southern Turkey. The attacker told the police:
“Missionaries have a bad influence on the young.” According to Monsignor Luigi
471
Padovese, “those who convert to Christianity are considered traitors to the Turkish
TURKEY
identity” (La Croix, 2nd January 2008).

Commenting on the situation experienced by Christians in Turkey, Cardinal Walter
Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, said
on 3rd July 2006: “I believe these actions can only take place within a context of sus-
picion and xenophobia. The problem is not restricted to the person committing the
crime. Furthermore, Islamic extremism, under the guise of patriotism, is increasing
significantly in Istanbul” (ZENIT, 4th July 2006).
None of these events prevented Turkey’s new ambassador to the Holy See, when pre-
senting his credentials on 19th January 2007, from telling Pope Benedict XVI that “as
confirmed by the leaders of my country a few weeks ago, the Turkish Constitution
guarantees freedom of worship and of conscience for all its citizens, whatever their
origins or personal beliefs may be. Within the framework of secularism, the heart of
democracy in Turkey, the Turkish State treats all religious communities according to
criteria of equality. In other words, the individual freedoms of our citizens are correct-
ly guaranteed in this sector, with no discrimination based on ethnic or denomination-
al criteria.”
Sources
Emre Oktem, “La spécificité de la laïcité turque”, Se Comprendre, Paris, No. 04/07,
August-September 2004
Camille Eid, “Turquie, la voie étroite des minorities”, Oasis, Venice, No. 6, October
2007
Annie Laurent, “L’Europe malade de la Turquie”, published by F.- X. di Guibert,
Paris, 2005
Andrea Santoro, “Lettres de Turquie” (preface d’Annie Laurent), éd. du Jubilé, Paris,
2007
472
TURKMENISTAN
Niyazov’s death: while hoping for change reality remains

unchanged
The political event that characterised this recent period was the
AREA
death by a heart attack of Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan’s
488,100 kmq
tyrannical father for 21 years. In the eyes of the international
community Niyazov is, regrettably, famous for having estab- POPULATION
lished one of the regimes that most seriously violated and re- 5,000,000
pressed civil liberties and individual rights in the world: sup-
REFUGEES
pressing all political opposition and the independent press, as
well as imposing an extremely powerful cult of the president’s 125
personality. The Ruhnama, a religious text he wrote, has be- INTERNALLY
come compulsory in all schools, from kindergarten to high DISPLACED
schools; he has changed the names of the months and days of ---
the week, also decreeing that the period of his regency should
be described as “the golden century”.
Many international observers had envisaged a possible collapse
RELIGIOUS
of the country when he died; the situation was instead charac-
ADHERENTS
terised by perplexing calm, with the Deputy Prime Minister
TURKMENISTAN
Kurbanguly Berdhymukhamedov assuming control of the
country, initially ad interim, and then permanently, after elec-
tions – judged by western countries as neither free nor impar-
tial (AsiaNews, 14th February 2007) – had elevated him to the
Presidency with 89 percent of votes casted. A former dentist,
Muslims 87.2%
and sometime Minister, Berdhymukhamedov was one of Niya- Non religious 10.4%
zov’s oldest supporters and had survived his many government Affiliated Christians 2.3%
Others 0.1%
reshuffles unscathed.
Although promising a number of reforms, Berdhymukhamedov Baptized Catholics
remained bound to the legacy of his predecessor. He main- 100
tained the powerful cult of the President’s personality.
Compared to the previous regime however, there has been a
change of direction in foreign policy; in fact, the country
obliged by the rigid isolation resulting from Niyazov’s closed
and dictatorial policies, has resumed contact with the interna-
tional community and Ashgabad has become the location for
intense diplomatic relations. Berdhymukhamedov’s participa-
tion in UN meetings provided a clear signal of this change
(AsiaNews, 26th September 2007). On this occasion, on 24th
September Berdhymukhamedov met with students at Columbia
University in New York, and pressed for answers to their
473
questions, he declared that in Turkmenistan there is full freedom of expression and of

TURKMENISTAN
the press, and that no obstacles are posed to religious groups and foreign NGOs.
Also within the framework of greater openness to foreign countries are the two most
important new laws on human rights implemented by Berdhymukhamedov. The first
is the decree passed in July 2007 (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 16th July 2007)
abolishing the need for citizens to have permits for travel within the country and also
simplifying a number of procedures for travelling to Russia and other bordering coun-
tries. This provision however, is far from extensively applied. There remains in fact a
blacklist of citizens, many known to the government as being active in politics, reli-
gion or human rights, who are still forbidden from entering or leaving the country.
The second is the reopening of internet cafés, a reform promised by Berdhymukhame-
dov during his election campaign and implemented soon after his election. But there
are many difficulties preventing the people of Turkmenistan from having real and full
access to the outside world through the internet, as emphasised by a special report
from the IWPR and published on 28th November 2007. The most important obstacles
being the excessively high cost of this service – the equivalent of about ten dollars an
hour – as well as the slowness and unreliability of the connections, the many filters
blocking access to many websites, and the extensive control exercised over surfing
and all emails sent. Furthermore, to this day it is still impossible for a private citizen
to have an internet connection in his own home.
As far as other reforms are concerned, a year after Niyazov’s death, various analysts
are united in judging Berdhymukhamedov’s government as devoid of any important
new ideas, with just a few small improvements in health, pensions, and education, and
they also emphasise how little has been done as far as civil freedom and human rights
are concerned.
Tajigul Begmedova, president of the Turkmen branch of the Helsinki Foundation for
Human Rights, as reported in an article published on TOL.cz on 10th January 2008, has
stated that “many reforms have been announced but not implemented. In fact, politi-
cally speaking, Turkmenistan is the same as it was under Niyazov. The situation with
regards to human rights remains extremely serious in this country, with no freedom of
expression whatsoever. And, like his predecessor, the new president does not tolerate
dissent.”
Discouraging signals are also emerging as far as religious freedom is concerned.
Shortly after the death of President Niyazov, Farid Tukhbatullin, an exiled Protestant
and leader of the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (AsiaNews, 22nd December
2006), stated that even if the new government was interested in answering internation-
al demands for greater freedom, the “overwhelming majority of police officials and
MSS secret police have a vested interest in preserving the current situation, under
which they enjoy unlimited rights.”
474
The Christian NGO Open Doors also emphasised (AsiaNews, 14th February 2007),
how the new president had not mentioned in his programme “political change, free-
dom for the press or the release of political prisoners”.
Felix Corley, leader writer for Forum 18 News Service, the news agency specialised
in addressing the subject of religious freedom in the former Soviet Republics and
Eastern Europe, declared (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 21st August 2007), that
“religious freedom does not exist in Turkmenistan. The government controls the Is-
lamic religion from within – to the extent that it has become a branch of the govern-
ment. […] All other religions are controlled from the exterior through the secret po-
lice and other government agencies. They are all extremely restricted in the activities
they are permitted to carry out”.
A number of members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom in
the World have shown more optimism with regards to a positive evolution for human
rights in this country after a recent visit to Turkmenistan in August 2007 (Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, 1st September 2007). Michael Cromartie, president of this
Commission, commented that: “In Turkmenistan there is still a repressive situation,
but there are also signs that the government is aware of this and wishes to improve
matters […] In a while we will judge whether these intentions are real and we will
TURKMENISTAN
have proof of this. [For the moment] we have listened to their words, but we have re-
ceived no proof.” On 2nd May 2007, the same US Commission had recommended
that Turkmenistan should be listed among its “Countries of Particular Concern”, i.e.
nations in which the authorities are involved in systematic violations of religious
freedom (ZENIT, 7th May 2007).
Catholics
There is a very small Catholic community in Turkmenistan, with about 64 baptised
Catholics, 50 catechumens and about the same number of sympathisers, out of a pop-
ulation of 5 million inhabitants. However, Father Andrzej Madej leads the Turkmen
mission, whose activities continue with enthusiasm and vigour even though there are
only two priests and no churches; Masses and other religious activities are held in pri-
vate homes or at the nunciature in Ashgabad, which is Vatican diplomatic territory
(ACN News, 30th August 2006). The Catholic community in Ashgabad has not present-
ed a registration request since it cannot satisfy the requisite establishing that the com-
munity must be led by a local citizen the two priests being of Polish origin (Forum 18
News Service, 24th May 2006).
The Armenian Catholic Community is larger, however, but on a variety of pretexts, it
is always denied public recognition (AsiaNews, 22nd December 2006).
475
Orthodox
TURKMENISTAN
The Russian Orthodox Church’s Holy Synod, held in Moscow on 12th October 2007
has decided to separate the ecclesiastical territory of Turkmenistan from its central
Asian diocese, which is based in the Uzbek capital Tashkent and led by Metropolitan
Vladimir (Ikim) (Forum 18 News Service, 19th October 2007). A request to this effect
had already been made in 2005 in a letter from the then President Saparmurat Niya-
zov to Patriarch Alexei II, who had politely declined this proposal. Father Georgi
Ryabykh, assistant to Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad who is respon-
sible for the Moscow Patriarchate’s foreign relations, while not denying that pressure
had been applied in this sense, added however that the decision had been motivated
by practical reasons, since the Turkmen community was rather more isolated than oth-
ers: “The diocese’s main city, Tashkent, is too far from Turkmenistan […] and then
there is the problem of the rivalry between these two states. […] Turkmenistan does
not like the Uzbek influence.”
Although the Russian Orthodox Church is one of the two officially acknowledged re-
ligions, it certainly still experiences difficulties. In was only in November 2005 that
the first parishes managed to obtain re-registration. Furthermore, the authorities con-
tinue to deny the Church permission to build a new cathedral in Ashgabad, as had been
planned in the mid-Nineties, nor has permission been granted to complete the church
still under construction in Dashoguz. In compliance with the existing ban on subscrip-
tions to foreign newspapers Orthodox believers in Turkmenistan are not permitted to
receive the Patriarchate of Moscow’s newspaper or other Orthodox publications.
Muslims
In 2007 too, the State continued to restrict the number of citizens permitted to partic-
ipate in the haj pilgrimage to Mecca: only 188, carefully selected by the government,
after receiving approval from the Gengeshi (Council) for Religious Affairs, were able
to fulfil their religious obligation, although Saudi Arabia custodian of this Holy City-
had given Turkmenistan a quota of 5 thousand pilgrims. For years Turkmenistan has
justified the small number of pilgrims, with the excuse of high travelling expenses,
since these are provided by the State; this year however, the higher spheres of gov-
ernment had promised that anyone who wished to would be permitted to make this
journey at their own expense; this promise was not kept (AsiaNews, 14th December
2007).
The situation of the minority religious groups

In this country all activities by non-registered religious groups are forbidden; they are
not even allowed to gather and pray.
476
The situation of such religious groups, which had slightly improved during the last
period of Niyazov’s government, has once again become difficult and tense with the
new president Gurbanguly Berdhymukhamedov’s rise to power. Controls and attacks
on religious minorities have started again as well as their members being brought to
trial.
Local officials and police officers continue to threaten members of non-registered mi-
nority religious groups; on the other hand registration is nearly impossible to obtain,
and exposes religious communities to an even worse risk of almost total interference
in and control over their activities by the state authorities.
Many active representatives of religious communities are still forbidden from leaving
and entering the country and various provisions of this kind have been ordered over
the past two years.
The Baptist minister Vyacheslav Kalataevsky, a Ukrainian citizen who was however
born and grew up in Turkmenistan, was expelled from the country in 2001; he re-
turned in secret to join up with his wife and children, but was discovered and arrest-
ed, and in May was sentenced to three years in a work camp. Released thanks to the
amnesty of 9th October 2007, celebrating the end of Ramadan, on 11th December he
was once again obliged to leave the country (Forum 18 News Service, 10th January
TURKMENISTAN
2008).
The same destiny was suffered by the Russian Baptist Yevgeny Potolov, resident in
Turkmenistan since 1998; he too was expelled in 2001 for having participated in the
activities of a non-registered religious group and returned in secret to rejoin his fami-
ly, only to be once again deported in July and separated from his wife and seven chil-
dren (Forum 18 News Service, 18th July 2007).
Jehovah’s Witnesses also experience a very difficult situation, especially in the ab-
sence of a law on conscientious objectors. In 2007, six Jehovah’s Witnesses were sen-
tenced for having refused to do military service. Three of them were among the 9
thousand prisoners released thanks to the amnesty of October 9th (Forum 18 News Ser-
vice, 9th October 2007). Another Jehovah’s Witness, Begench Shakhmuradov, not
among those pardoned, was sentenced twice for the same offence. On 12th September
2007 he was sentenced to two years in prison with a suspended sentence, the same
punishment had already been imposed in February 2005 (AsiaNews, 15th September
2007).
According to reports from the Jehovah’s Witnesses pressure on their community has
increased since the beginning of 2007. Members of this religious group have suffered:
raids on their meetings; religious material burnt; imposition of fines; dismissal from
existing jobs; or found it impossible to get new jobs. In April various incursions by
armed forces interrupted ceremonies for the Remembrance of the Death Of Christ
477
both in the city of Turkmenabad and in Ashgabad. This is the most important event of
TURKMENISTAN
the year for Jehovah’s Witnesses and in both cases, after searching the apartments and
removing religious material, members of this community – both adults and children –
were taken to local police stations to be interrogated, and then obliged to sign written
statements (Forum 18 News Service, 20th July 2007).
478
TUVALU
As the Preamble to the Constitution states, this country is “an

independent state founded on Christian principles, a state of
law, and based on the customs and traditions of Tuvalu”.
AREA
Religious freedom is acknowledged in detail in Article 23 of
26 kmq
the 1978 Constitution, amended in 1990.
All groups with more than 50 members must register. Mission- POPULATION
ary activities are admitted with no restrictions. 10,000
In practice however, in this tiny nation, the profession of reli-
REFUGEES
gious beliefs differing from those generally recognised has at
times resulted in discrimination. ---
In the various islands, the Council of Elders traditionally has INTERNALLY
the power to restrict freedom of worship if it is considered con- DISPLACED
trary to customs and traditions. In 2003, on the atoll of Nanu- ---
manga, the island’s Falekaupule (Council of Elders) “forbade
the profession” of the Tuvalu Brethren Church, to which a
number of residents had converted. Part of the community then
RELIGIOUS
opposed this new faith by throwing stones and constantly
ADHERENTS
threatening people. The Brethren Church took the case to court,
complaining that this decision violated the right to freedom of
worship. In October 2005, the courts however rejected this re-
quest, observing that in addition to human rights, local customs
and traditions are also recognised (mentioned in the introduc-
tion) and that the Council’s decisions are part of this provision.
The Brethren Church appealed to the High Court (the first ap- Non religious 5.7%
peal in the history of this country), but at the end of 2007 a de- Baha’i 5%
cision had still not been reached. In the meantime, in April

Baptized Catholics
2006, the Council had decided to dismiss public officials who
100
belonged to the Brethren Church. In spite of a High Court or-
der opposing this, in June 2006 the Council of Elders dismissed
TUVALU
five of its officials who were members of this Church.
In January 2006, the Council of the main island Funafuti, also
forbade the practising of “new religions”, a ban aimed above all
at the Brethren Church. The High Court stopped all actions
against this church and its faithful but proceedings against this
order have not yet started.
Similar problems have also been reported in relation to other
new beliefs, and sometimes the local communities rise up
against such activities and proselytising, protesting that these
subvert the traditional social order.
479
UGANDA
Article 32c of the 1995 Constitution recognises full religious

UGANDA
freedom.
All private associations must register, including religious
AREA
groups. This procedure takes several weeks and generally there
241,038 kmq
are no problems. The government denies or revokes the regis-
POPULATION tration of cults which practise rituals that are contrary to public
28,704,000 order, often passing themselves off as new Christian demonina-
tions. In September 2007, for example, the police in Gulu ar-
REFUGEES
rested twelve followers of the Church of New Jerusalem, a cult
228,959 that preaches the imminent end of the world and the Last
INTERNALLY Judgement. In October 2007, once again in the district of Gulu,
DISPLACED the police freed more than 200 children who had been “lured”
1,030,893 by three self-proclaimed pastors of a new “Christian” church,
on the pretext of enrolling them in a new but still non-existent
school. To oppose the proliferation of such false churches, a
draft law now proposes that new groups should provide accred-
RELIGIOUS
itation in the form of a letter of presentation from an authorita-
ADHERENTS
tive and recognised religious authority.
Holding night-time prayer meetings is still forbidden in some
areas, because of the fear that some gangs of criminals might
use this excuse to meet before going into action, and also to en-
sure that public order is respected.
There are many private Christian schools and Islamic madras-
Muslims 5.2% sas. Religious instruction is optional in state schools and in-
Ethnoreligionists 4.4% cludes the study of all the world religions, rather than one spe-
Others 1.7%
cific faith. Missionaries are permitted in this country and are
Baptized Catholics fairly active.
12,274,000 The violent attacks on religious groups and believers are the re-
sult of the war between the army and the rebels of the Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA), which has been running for over two
decades is still ongoing. In recent years, however, there have
been a series of armistices and partial agreements. On 23rd Feb-
ruary 2008, the government and the rebels met in Juba (Sudan)
and signed a final ceasefire, which establishes that the rebel
leaders will be tried by an Ugandan court for crimes committed
in recent years. However, shortly after the leader of the LRA,
Joseph Kony, left his base in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo and it remains to be seen whether he will respect this
agreement. This conflict, with its ethnic origins, has caused
480
bloodshed in Northern Uganda since 1986, causing more than 100,000 civilian deaths
and over 2 million refugees, most of whom are now in camps where health is precar-
ious and food is lacking. Thousands of children (12,000 according to official data, but
believed by some to have been as many as 80,000) have been kidnapped and enslaved,
with the boys “enlisted” and the girls reduced to sexual slavery.
There is still a widespread belief in witchcraft; in June 2007, in the Kitgum district,
the crowd stoned and then burned alive three women accused of being witches and of
having caused the death of a motorcyclist.
“No one listens to our call for help”

“The world never pays attention to our condition. We do not have the means to make
ourselves heard.” In June 2007 Father Thomas Achia, director of the Centre for Social
Services and Development Aid in the diocese of Moroto, described the extremely dif-
ficult conditions in the Karamoja region, in North-Eastern Uganda, where the pover-
ty is beyond anything one can imagine, to Aid to the Church in Need. “Anyone who
manages to eat one apple in the course of the day is lucky.”
In addition to the poverty, the long civil war has left an glut of weapons. Gunfights
and car thefts are daily events, in broad daylight and in the streets. One of Father
Achia’s assistants was also murdered, and many aid agencies are afraid to send per-
sonnel to this region. It is not only the remaining rebels but also the army that gener-
ates yet more rage and resentment by attacking and killing civilians. People do not
even feel safe in the refugee camps and try to gather in small spaces.
“The lack of hygiene is unimaginable, in the best cases there is one latrine for three
thousand people.” “There are no medicines, nor vehicles for transporting people to
hospital. Many die of diseases such as malaria and cholera, many women die in child-
birth due to the dreadful hygienic conditions. Neonatal and child mortality is also ter-
rifying and life expectancy is even lower than the Ugandan average, already an ap-
pallingly low 39 years.”
Tribal customs are also very widespread and diseases are considered the work of
UGANDA
witchcraft. When a man dies his widow must marry his brother and “many people
know only the law of kill or be killed and are totally unaware even of the existence of
human rights”.
The Church runs schools and educational programmes to help people produce more
food, it teaches reading and writing, catechism, and helps to explain the meaning of
all this and how to lead a better life. There are 16 priests and nuns who share these
harsh and difficult conditions.
481
Anglicans
UGANDA
On 25th November 2006, the Anglican priest Godfrey Tabura was killed by unknown
snipers while on his motorbike in Kyenda, in the district of Mubende. The reason for
this murder is unknown, although the police exclude robbery, since not even the mo-
torbike was stolen.
Other Christians
On 25th February 2006, six people escaped from prison, all accused of murdering the
Ugandan student, Isaac Juruga and the American Evangelical couple, Warren and
Donna Petty, who were killed in March 2004, at the Evangelical technical school in
the district of Yumbe. It has never been established whether these murders were car-
ried out in order to steal from the victims, or out of hostility to the Evangelical pres-
ence in an area that is predominantly Muslim, or perhaps even because of rivalry be-
tween clans.
482
UKRAINE
Since 2005 the Ukrainian government has taken various steps

to grant religious organisations the status of a legal person,
which gives them, for example, the right to set up their own
AREA
schools as well as exempting their clergymen and aides from
603,700 kmq
military service. Likewise on 30th June 2006, the Ukrainian
parliament approved some amendments to the Land Code, giv- POPULATION
ing religious organisations the right to permanently use state 46,760,000
and municipal land pursuant to their status as non-profit organ-
REFUGEES
isations that perform socially useful activities and in keeping
with their spiritual, social, moral and educational character. 7,277
On 8th November 2006, the Department of Religious Affairs INTERNALLY
(which had been set up on 26th May 2005 within the Justice DISPLACED
Ministry) was replaced by the State Committee for Nationali- ---
ties and Religion. It is directly answerable to the Council of
Ministers, thus giving it a higher status than its predecessor.
The number of religious communities rose by 857 in 2006 to a
RELIGIOUS
total of 33,063 as of 1st January 2007, according to official da-
ADHERENTS
ta on the current situation of religious groups in Ukraine (RISU,
6th July 2007). Orthodox Christians have a majority, 16,581 in
all or 50.1 percent of the total. Of these, 10,972 are loyal to the
Patriarchate of Moscow whilst another 4,007 are attached to the
Patriarchate of Kiev. The Greek-Catholic Church has some
3,628 communities, 1,532 of which (43 percent) are located in
and around the city of L’viv where they constitute the largest Non religious 14.9%
religious group. By comparison, in the same area the Orthodox Others 2.1%
Patriarchate of Kiev has only 442 communities, another 62 Or-

Baptized Catholics
thodox communities are loyal to Moscow and 146 attached to
4,826,000
the Latin-rite Catholic Church.
UKRAINE
In an interview, Achmed Tamin, head of the Spiritual Direction
of the Muslims of Ukraine and rector of the Islamic University
(RISU, 29th June 2007), made an important observation, name-
ly that the country is home to some 2 million Muslims, who ei-
ther belong to its national minorities or are Russians and
Ukrainians who converted to Islam.
Overall, the last two years have been difficult for Ukraine be-
cause of the unstable political situation caused by the split in
the forces that were behind the 2004 “Orange Revolution”. It is
therefore not surprising that important draft legislation like the
“Bill on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations”
483
(a draft bill that was vetted in July 2006 and favourably received by the Council of
UKRAINE
Europe’s Venice Commission) has not yet been passed. In practice this has meant that
local economic interests have tended to prevail at the expense of believers’ moral
rights. One example, according to Mgr Stanislav Padewski, Bishop of Kharkiv and
Zaporizhzhya, is the expulsion on 27th June 2007 of a group of women from a Latin-
rite Catholic Church in Dnipropetrovs’k that had been confiscated in Communist
times and privatised in 1998 (ACN-News, 6th July 2007). On this occasion the current
owners did not hesitate from employing strong-arm tactics to protect their property
rights.
The 22nd International Congress on the Family was held on 9th-11th May 2006 in Kiev
under the chairmanship of Cardinal Ljubomir Husar (primate of the Greek-Catholic
Church). All of the country’s main religions were represented (ZENIT, 24th April
2006). In the Ukraine the institution of the family is still suffering from decades un-
der an atheistic regime which deprived it of its Christian values and threatened its very
existence. The Ukraine declared 2006 as the Year of the Child’s Right to Protection,
this was followed by the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in co-operation with oth-
er Christian Churches declaring 2006 as the Year of the Child’s Spiritual Protection.
Catholic Church
The country is home to a large Catholic community, the Greek-Catholic Church,
which follows the Byzantine rite (it was banned under Stalin but re-legalised on 1st
December 1989), as well as a Catholic community that follows the Latin rite. In
March 2006 the Greek-Catholic Church commemorated the 60th anniversary of the so-
called ‘L’viv Synod’ when Soviet authorities forced it to join the Orthodox Church. In
a message commemorating the event, Cardinal Husar stressed that the anniversary
should encourage the country’s Christians towards greater unity.
On that occasion, Pope Benedict XVI wrote a letter to Cardinal Husar that made ref-
erence to the “unspeakable trials and sufferings” that the Greek-Catholic Church had
to endure, but also stressed its dual mission, namely that of maintaining “the visibili-
ty of the Eastern tradition in the Catholic Church” and facilitating “the meeting of the
traditions, witnessing not only to their compatibility but also to their profound unity
in diversity” (ZENIT, 16th March 2006).
An invaluable tool for learning about the martyrs of the 20th century is the collection
of historical documents titled “The Liquidation of the UGCC: 1934-1946”, the first
volume of which was published in August 2006 (ZENIT, 17th September 2006).
It must be noted that the Patriarchate of Moscow never disavowed the ‘pseudo-synod’
of L’viv. Instead in a note dated 17th August 2005 Russian Orthodox Patriarch Aleksij
renewed its accusation against the Greek-Catholic Church of engaging in proselytism
in Ukraine and listed the “merits” of the Russian Orthodox Church accumulated since
484
1946, highlighting the help and care it provided to the faithful of the Greek-Catholic
Church when it was suppressed. The Russian Orthodox Church has been especially
adamant about local authorities in L’viv refusing to grant the GreekCatholics land to
build another place of worship.
The Latin-rite Catholic Church is comprised of the metropolitan archdiocese of L’viv
(L’viv of the Latins) and six suffragan dioceses for a total of some 800 parishes. The
proposal to set up an autonomous diocese within the “Orthodox canonical territory”
that overlaps with the area of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Exarchate (Odessa,
Mykolaiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad and Crimea), and to create a new seminary in Odessa,
angered the local Orthodox Church (Spravedlivost, No. 3, 2006). The latter has com-
plained that the proposal far exceeds what the local Greek-Catholic community needs
based on its actual size, a point that underscores what it sees as the proselytising aim
of the proposal.
The Catholic bishops of the Latin rite in Ukraine together with a delegation of
Catholic bishops of the Byzantine Rite made an ad limina visit in September 2007
(ZENIT, 24th and 27th September 2007), receiving from the Pope a warm exhortation
to “intensify cordial collaboration […] for the good of the entire Christian People,”
giving special “attention to the proposal of at least one annual meeting that would
gather together the Latin-rite Bishops and those of the Greek-Catholic- rite, to discuss
together how to make your pastoral action increasingly more harmonious and effec-
tive” in view of increasing the missionary and ecumenical spirit.
Orthodox Churches
The country’s Orthodox community continues to be troubled by divisions. There is the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the Patriarcate of Moscow
(UOC-MP), the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyvian Patriarchate (UOC-KP),
which is considered non-canonical because it is not under the jurisdiction of either
Constantinople or Moscow, and also the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
UKRAINE
(UAOC), which is considered non-canonical for the same reasons as the UOC-KP.
Civil authorities have been pushing for an end to the schism and the re-establishment
of a united Ukrainian Orthodox Church, an issue that is indeed of concern to the var-
ious Church communities themselves.
In February 2006 the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church loyal to the Patriar-
chate of Moscow decided to renew the dialogue with the Autocephalous Church and
revive the Joint Commission set up on 22nd November 1995 (Sedmica.ru, 16th Febru-
ary 2006). The Commission has since met on a regular basis but both sides have ex-
cluded the possibility of involving the Patriarchate of Kiev despite President
Yushchenko’s request to that effect in February 2007. Their reason is that the Patriar-
chate is not a canonical structure (Blagovest-info.ru, 6th March 2007).
485
Conflicts between different Orthodox communities have been reported over the own-
UKRAINE
ership and right to use of certain places of worship, like the Church of the Resurrec-
tion in Ostroh (HRWF, 23rd February 2006), Trinity Church in Rochmaniv (Ternopil
province), and the Church of Saint George in Subranec (RISU, 5th February 2007).
In particular Interfax reported (2nd October 2006) that the Orthodox in L’viv picketed
the local city council to protest against the authorities’ decision to officially give to the
Patriarchate of Kiev the land on which is built the Church of Saint Vladimir (the prop-
erty itself belonged to the Moscow Patriarchate since 1991 but was later seized by its
opposite in Kiev). The community loyal to Moscow had built a chapel on this land
which it has now lost.
486
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Islam is the official religion of all seven emirates in the Feder-

ation and likewise for the Federal Constitution. The State’s fun-
damental charter guarantees religious freedom for non-Mus-
AREA
lims on condition that they do not offend against the law or
83,600 kmq
public morals. Article 75 of the provisions relating to the Fed-
eral Supreme Council specifies that “the rules of the Islamic POPULATION

Shari‘a shall apply, as shall those federal and other laws in 4,006,000
force in the member emirates of the Federation that are in har-
REFUGEES
mony with the provisions of the Shari‘a. Further, those custom-
ary rules and principles of natural and comparative law shall 159
apply where not in contradiction with the rules of Shari‘a”. INTERNALLY
As in other countries in the Gulf, proselytism is forbidden here DISPLACED
– leading to threats of expulsion against a number of mission- ---
aries – as is the distribution of non-Islamic religious literature.
Strict government control can be inferred from a statement
made by the Vicar Apostolic of Arabia, Monsignor Paul Hinder,
RELIGIOUS
who in 2004 said: “We would never be able to accept the con-
ADHERENTS
version of a Muslim. Such an event would create extremely se-
rious risks, not only for those concerned but for the entire
Church”.
The authorities are tolerant in granting permits for the building
of non-Islamic places of worship and schools, in particular
Christian ones. There are in fact at least 31 Christian places of
Muslims 75.6%
worship in this country, built on land donated by the royal fam- Affiliated Christians 11.1%
ilies of the individual emirates. The emirates of Dubai and Abu Hindus 7.6%
Others 5.7%
Dhabi have given land for building Christian cemeteries, and
likewise for cremation facilities for the Hindu community. Baptized Catholics
Dubai also has two Hindu temples, one of them also used by the 459,000
Sikhs. However, official permission is necessary for every sin-
gle use of the building.
Christians
On 12th December 2006 the local press reported the dismissal
of a foreign teacher for having attempted to convert her pupils
to Christianity. According to the head teacher, this teacher was
later expelled from the country.
Father Tony Kuruvilla, a Salesian, said he was surprised by the
“devotion observed among immigrants of many different na-
tionalities”. In fact the attendance of the faithful at the Mass
487
and parish activities creates overcrowding problems. “I have often wondered about the
reason for this devotion to faith”, reflected Father Kuruvilla. “I fear that it is influ-
enced by the atmosphere of encirclement that weighs upon the Christians.”
At the end of May 2007, the Holy See and the United Arab Emirates announced the
decision to establish diplomatic relations. The joint communique emphasised a desire
for “reciprocal friendship” and for “greater depth in international cooperation” also
specifying that the level of their respective representatives would be that of Apostolic
Nuncio for the Holy See, and that of Ambassador for the Emirates. The United Arab
Emirates are part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia, with its headquarters in Abu
Dhabi, under Monsignor Paul Hinder. According to reliable estimates there are some-
where over a million Christians, mostly Catholics, belonging to over one hundred dif-
ferent nationalities, who contribute to the good of society in the emirates. In the
churches of this country, Mass is celebrated in a number of different rites and lan-
guages, while a variety of religious congregations lend their services in education, as
teachers in the Christian schools.
Various
In July 2006 the daily newspaper Gulf News reported on the confiscation of material
described as “linked to witchcraft” in various border areas, such as ancient engravings
on stone tables, animal claws, amulets dating back to pre-Islamic eras and other ob-
jects. The authorities believe that many of these confiscations concern people who
own these objects for “personal use”, but many speak of the existence of organised
trading in the region. Abdullah Ibrahim, one of those responsible for the consumers’
department in Abu Dhabi, explained that “this material is confiscated because it is
considered illegal; most of these objects in fact date back to pre-Islamic periods and
therefore are contrary to Islamic principles”. Ibrahim states that the Abu Dhabi Emi-
rate destroys the confiscated material without punishing the smugglers transporting it,
and gives an assurance that the inspectors responsible for these confiscations are qual-
ified to recognise objects of particular historical and artistic value, which are then
handed over to museums.
Sources
AsiaNews
Gulf News
Vatican Radio
488
UNITED KINGDOM
The Church of England is the state church in England, and the

British Sovereign must be a member under the 1688/89 Bill of
Rights. While being supreme head of the episcopalian Church
AREA
of England, the monarch is also the sworn protector of the pres-
230,762 kmq
byterian Church of Scotland (though in Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland there is no State Church). In any event, no POPULATION
Catholic and no one married to a Catholic may become King or 58,115,000
Queen of the United Kingdom. The Sovereign has a number of
REFUGEES
powers in making ecclesiastical appointments. The two arch-
bishops, of Canterbury and York, and the 24 bishops of the An- 299,718
glican Church, known as “Lords spiritual”, sit in the House of INTERNALLY
Lords. Other religious communities are independent from the DISPLACED
State and organised according to Common Law. No church is ---
financed by the State, which does however guarantee tax emp-
tion for properties owned by charitable organisations, a catego-
ry that most religious denominations currently belong to.
UNITED KINGDOM
RELIGIOUS
Citizens may abstain from working on the rest days established
ADHERENTS
by their own religion, on condition that this does not cause con-
flict and/or obligations for their colleagues.
Exceptions are made for Sikhs in the workplace, allowing them
to wear turbans instead of crash helmets or protective headgear.
In England and Wales the law requires some sort of collective

worship in schools (School Standards and Framework Act Non religious 13.2%
1998), which usually takes the form of an assembly. “Collec- Others 4.2%
tive worship” is supposed to differ from “corporate worship”,

Baptized Catholics
where everyone is a member of a particular faith, by acknowl-
5,153,000
edging that school pupils will hold different beliefs among
themselves. Schools may organise a single act of worship for
all pupils or separate acts of worship for pupils in different age
or school groups, which must be “wholly or mainly of a broad-
ly Christian character”. Such provisions are opposed by the
British Humanist Association which condemns them as “un-
workable, hypocritical, counter-productive and divisive” and
actively campaigns for their abolition. The educational system,
which includes religious instruction for students up to the age
of 19, also allows for exemptions. Some denominational
schools receive funding from the state, but there are still signif-
icant restrictions to obtaining recognition.
489
Since 2nd December, 2003, under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Reg-
UNITED KINGDOM
ulations, it has been unlawful to discriminate against workers because of religion or

similar beliefs. Also, following the approval in October 2007 of a law on racial and
religious hatred, those found guilty of this offence now face up to seven years impris-
onment.
There is also an anti-terrorism law in force since 2001 that strictly punishes all crimes
committed for religious motives, while in April 2006, a law was passed (the 2006 Ter-
rorism Act) banning all organisations that glorify or incite terrorist acts, and also for-
bidding the distribution of material praising armed struggle.
Still within the area of legislation, the Sexual Orientation law, approved by both hous-
es of Parliament which came into force in Great Britain (i.e. excluding Northern Ire-
land) on 30th April 2007, and obliges adoption agencies to entrust children to homo-
sexual couples, has caused uproar as there are no exceptions whatsoever for conscien-
tious objection, Judge Andrew McClintock was forced to stand down from serving on
the Family Panel. His appeal on the grounds of freedom of conscience, and of reli-
gious discrimination was rejected by the Sheffield Employment Tribunal on 28th Feb-
ruary 2007.
The Catholic Church

Due to a latent suspicion of Roman Catholicism at the heart of the nation’s institutions,
the formal conversion to Catholicism of former Prime Minister Tony Blair only took
place after he had resigned his government position in 2007, so as to avoid embarrass-
ment for the Labour Party.
Gordon Brown considered ending Britain’s historic discrimination against Catholics,
by repealing the 1701 Act of Settlement, under which the monarch is forbidden to
marry a Catholic, and a member of the Royal Family who marries a Catholic loses his
or her place in the line of succession, but decided not to proceed with the changes. His
decision to keep the law as it stands drew harsh comment from Church leaders, par-
ticularly Scotland’s Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who accused the new Prime Minister of
supporting “state-sponsored sectarianism”, making explicit reference to the anti-
Catholic sectarian violence that takes place in Scotland particularly on the occasion of
sports events.
Cases of Christianophobia
In any case, the level of social tolerance experienced by Christians in some areas is
not high. Nadia Eweida, working at the British Airways check-in counter, experi-
enced this and was dismissed in September 2006 for having continued to wear a cross
around her neck and over her uniform, in spite of the company forbidding this. The
woman, who is an Anglican, lost her petition to the company in November 2006, but
490
later, giving in to pressure from public opinion, in January 2007, British Airways
changed its company policy, allowing the wearing of religious symbols by uniformed
staff also.
Once again in January 2007, a school in Gillingham forbade a thirteen year old girl
called Samantha Devine from wearing a crucifix, threatening to expel her.
Islam
Shortly before his lecture at the Royal Courts of Justice, where he called for elements
of Shari‘a law to be considered on 7th February 2008, the Anglican Archbishop of
Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams said, on BBC Radio 4’s ‘World at One’ programme,
that British Law had already accommodated aspects of the internal law of other reli-
gious communities and that, in his opinion, it would be opportune to find a “a con-
structive accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law” for matters such as fam-
ily law and financial issues. The previous week, the British Minister for Labour and
Pensions, had announced that polygamists could obtain family allowances for all their
wives, on condition that they had married them abroad.
UNITED KINGDOM
This judgement might have appeared to be in line with opinions expressed on 13th
June 2006 by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who considered
“realistic and feasible” the idea of “making Great Britain the gateway for Islamic fi-
nance and exchanges”. A year and a half later however, now as Prime Minister, Brown
responded to the statements by Archbishop Williams by declaring that the Shari‘a
“cannot be used as a justification for breaking British Law, nor can the principles of
the Shari‘a be pleaded in a civil court […] the Prime Minister believes that in this
country one should apply British Laws based on British values”. In the meantime, the
positions adopted by the Church of England have also fallen into line.
Paradoxically, after the suicide attacks of July 2005 in London, carried out by an Al
Qaeda cell, two ideologists of Islamic extremism, Yussuf Al Qaradawi and Tariq Ra-
madan became, respectively, advisor to the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and
advisor to the British government. However, not everyone within the Anglican hierar-
chy agreed with these choices, to the extent that in September 2005, the Sunday Tele-
graph published the text of a private document written by Guy Wilkinson, Archbish-
op Williams’ advisor for interreligious dialogue. Accusations addressed at the British
government, then led by Tony Blair, were that it had encouraged a “schizophrenic” ap-
proach to multiculturalism. Instead of integrating minorities, its policies had made so-
ciety “more separate than before”. The Muslim population of about 1.8 million – on-
ly 3 percent of the total – had, the Anglican leaders complained, been given “privi-
leged attention”, thereby marginalising the “remaining” majority of citizens.
Now however, Archbishop Williams has acknowledged that “certain provisions of
Shari‘a are already recognized in our society and under our law, so it’s not as if we’re
491
bringing in an alien and rival system”. He accepted that “nobody in their right mind,
UNITED KINGDOM
I think, would want to see in this country a kind of inhumanity that’s sometimes been
associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states – the extreme punish-
ments, the attitudes to women”. But, he claimed, adopting the Shari‘a need not mean
denying people “the rights that are guaranteed to them as citizens in general”. A few
days earlier the Anglican Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, had had a totally
different experience, having received death threats in response to an article he had
written in which he said that Islamic extremists had transformed some areas of the
United Kingdom into no-go areas for non-Muslims.
Bishop Nazir-Ali’s remarks were widely shared by public opinion, and were backed
up by the results of a report entitled “The Hijacking of British Islam”, by researchers
from the Policy Exchange centre, who revealed that in a quarter of the one hundred
mosques they had visited in the country, they had found extremist literature in which
British Muslims were invited to segregate themselves from non-Muslims and in which
the beheading of apostates, the stoning of adulterers and jihad were all justified.
There are examples of converts to Christianity from Islam being targeted. Nissar Hus-
sein, 43, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, who was born and raised in the UK convert-
ed to Christianity from Islam with his wife, Qubra, in 1996. In April 2008, the family
suffered a number of threats and, after being told that his house would be burnt down
if he did not return to Islam, he reported the threats to the police. Reports say that po-
lice were unhelpgul and told him that such threats were rarely carried out. A few days
later the unoccupied house next door was set ablaze.
On the other hand, incidents of so-called “islamophobia” are on the increase. In 2005
a Muslim man was been beaten to death by youths in Nottingham who yelled anti-Is-
lamic abuse at him.
Within the educational system, the controversy over the Islamic veil still plays a sig-
nificant role. According to the guidelines issued by the government in October 2007,
it is legitimate to wear the veil in state schools, although school authorities are allowed
to adopt specific rules in the case of veils which cover the whole face. In March 2006
the House of Lords overturned a Court of Appeal ruling that Denbigh High School’s
muslim headmistress, Yasmin Bevan, was wrong to exclude pupil Shabina Begum
from school for wearing the head-to-toe jilbab garment. The Lords debate did not con-
sider the issue of religious dress per se, but rather ruled that the school was entitled to
enforce its uniform policy. The Muslim Council of Britain described the ruling as a
“common sense approach”.
Judaism
Since 2000 there have been more than 100 attacks on synagogues, as well as acts of
vandalism and desecration of grave stones in Jewish cemeteries.
492
Sources
Collective Worship and School Assembly: What is the law? What are your rights?,
http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/contentViewArticle.asp?article=1252
Vikram Dodd, Islamophobia blamed for attack, The Guardian, 13th July 2005
The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 No. 1263,
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/uksi_20071263_en_1
Girl banned from wearing cross at school, AFP, January 13th 2007.
Escuela inglesa prohíbe que alumna católica luzca crucifijo, ACI-Prensa,
15th January 2007
Laura Clout, British Airways Caves in on Cross Ban, Telegraph, 19th January 2007
Idem, Opt-out Refusal ‘Bans Church From Public Life’, Telegraph, 30th January
2007
Richard Woods - David Leppard, How liberal Britain let hate flourish, The Sunday
Times, 12th February 2007
Andrew Fletcher, Hardline takeover of British mosques, The Times, 7th September
2007.
UNITED KINGDOM
Hannah Fletcher, Christian JP refused to rule on gay adoption, The Times,
23rd October 2007
Ruth Gledhill, British Muslim ‘bullied’ for converting to Christianity, The Times,
28th April 2008
Marke Greaves, Brown ditches plan to repeal anti-Catholic law, Catholic Herald,
11th July 2007
Religious hatred law in force, PA News, 1st October 2007
School wins Muslim dress appeal, BBC News, 22nd March 2006,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4832072.stm
Patrick Wintour, Muslim groups draft rulebook for mosques to drive out extremists,
The Guardian, 30th October 2007
Severin Carrell, Catholics bear brunt of Scottish sectarian abuse,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/nov/28/religion.catholicism
493
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
There are a number of Constitutional provisions, such as the

14th Amendment, which prohibit discrimination based on race,

colour, religion, gender or nationality, as well as numerous laws
AREA
safeguarding religious freedom.
9,372,614 kmq
Over time more specific rules were added and respect of these
POPULATION rules is guaranteed by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights
299,296,000 Division. The Educational Opportunities Section, integrating
Titles IV and IX of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, forbids religious
REFUGEES
discrimination in primary and secondary schools, in high
281,219 schools and in universities. The Equal Employment Opportuni-
INTERNALLY ty Commission ensures the respect of Title VII in this same law
DISPLACED and forbids discrimination in the workplace, while the Housing
--- and Civil Enforcement Section is responsible for enforcing an-
ti-discrimination laws on housing and credit, and Title II of the
same law covers access to public places.
In the year 2000 the so-called RLUIPA (Religious Land Use
RELIGIOUS
and Institutionalized Persons Act) was passed, a law aimed at
ADHERENTS
safeguarding individuals, places of worship and other religious
institutions from any possible legislative discrimination as far
as city planning is concerned.
In the course of recent years, this juridical system has permit-
ted an ever increasing number of cases involving religious dis-
crimination to be addressed. According to the Civil Rights Di-
Non religious 9.4% vision, there was a significant increase in such cases between
Others 5.9% 2001 and 2006, as compared to the 1995-2000 period, in partic-
ular in the educational sector, where the figure rose from one
Baptized Catholics
single case examined and no formal investigation, to 82 cases,
67,530,000
involving 40 investigations; as far as housing and civil enforce-
ment was concerned, the figure rose from 4 investigations and
1 court case to 18 investigations and 6 court hearings; the
RLUIPA was applied in 118 revisions of cases and in 26 inves-
tigations, of which 15 were resolved without resorting to the
courts and 4 led to civil lawsuits. With regard to family law,
cases involving religious issues rose from 1 to 16.
On this subject, on 20th February 2007, Attorney General Alber-

to Gonzales announced that the Department of Justice was to
adopt a programme entitled “The First Freedom Project”, to
protect citizens involved in controversies having religious
494
implications. At the same time, the Department of Justice (which since 2004 has pub-

lished a newsletter on the more significant legal cases addressing this subject) has
published its own “Report on Enforcement of Laws Protecting Religious Freedom:
Years 2001-2006”.
In the course of 2007, there was a significant increase in sentences concerning issues
related to the Islamic religion. With a total of 888 judicial cases, the phenomenon has
reached such proportions that the number is higher than that for the whole period be-
tween 1980 and 2006. There are seven different categories of juridical issues ad-
dressed.
The most numerous cases concerned events in prisons, with 280 cases in which Mus-
lims complained that their constitutional rights had been violated.
In light of this 212 requests were made for political and humanitarian asylum, with
half of the cases involving non-Muslim Indonesian citizens, while 44 cases were pre-
sented by Muslims (12 from Pakistan and 6 from Bangladesh).
There were also 69 complaints of discrimination in the workplace, though in fact the
verdict was found in favour of the employer in every case except one.
From a penal point of view, in addition to judging common crimes involving circum-
stances linked to the Islamic religion, the courts were also involved in various cases
linked to terrorism of Islamic origin. However, only three cases involved acts of vio-
lence inspired by anti-Islamic feelings. On the other hand, there were various occa-
sions in which a number of American citizens in turn questioned the Islamic Repub-
lic of Iran, the Republic of Sudan, and also a number of Islamic banks or organisations
for having facilitated acts of terrorism.
There were also three cases involving insults, as well as numerous judicial litigations
based on accusations of slander, albeit often in conflict with the constitutional right to
freedom of speech.
Of a more political nature, though still with potential legal implications, was the liti-
gation brought by a number of Islamic associations against the US administration and
government agencies within the framework of challenges to the Patriot Act on the is-
sue of national security.
The overall picture is completed by rulings made by judges called upon to express
opinions on issues concerning family law, a subject in which the customs of immi-
grants often conflict with American judicial provisions.
Sentences did not however always respect the rights of individuals and families, to the
extent that a Federal judge in the State of Massachusetts was able to order that Chris-
tians attending state schools should be taught “gay” priorities, considering these les-
sons as necessary for becoming “engaged and productive citizens”. On 24th February
495
2007 district magistrate Mark L. Wolf rejected a civil rights case presented by David
Parker, intimating that it was reasonable, even compulsory, for state schools to teach
children to accept and approve of homosexuality. Basically, Wolf shared the argu-
ments adopted by a group of pro-homosexual associations, according to whom the
freedom of religious rights and the control exercised by parents over the education of
their children undermined the foundations of teaching and learning. The case had been
brought by David and Tonia Parker and Joseph and Robin Wirthlin, whose children at-
tended school in Lexington, in the State of Massachusetts, and who alleged a viola-
tion of their civil rights and those of the state by officials and staff at the Estabrook
primary school, since they were indoctrinating their children on lifestyles that are con-
sidered immoral by them as Christians. The only choice remaining for the Parkers, the
judge told them, was to send their children to a private school, teach them at home, or
elect a School Council with a majority of people sharing their beliefs. The judgement
in fact asserts that even to allow Christians to withdraw their children from school or
from those parts of the lessons which violate their religious principles, was not a rea-
sonable option. In his ruling, Judge Wolf states that “An exodus from class when is-
sues of homosexuality or same-sex marriage are to be discussed could send the mes-
sage that gays, lesbians, and the children of same-sex parents are inferior and, there-
fore, have a damaging effect on those students.”
Since 31st May 2006, thanks to a law passed in South Carolina, at state level religion
can be taught as part of the curriculum in high schools, on condition that these cours-
es are taught outside the school buildings. In practice, parents can provide their chil-
dren with permission to leave so as to attend private courses, as previously established
by the United States Supreme Court in 1952, on condition that participation is volun-
tary and that public funding is not used. According to the Bible Education in School
Time Network, there are about 270,000 students across the country who attend these
programmes, but above all in the primary and middle schools, only the states of Geor-
gia and South Carolina acknowledge their validity and provide the relevant education-
al credits for attendance.
The debate continues over the students’ right to manifest their beliefs at school and in
universities. The crucifix removed in October 2006 from an altar in a chapel, on the
orders of Gene Ray Nichol, the headmaster of the College of William and Mary in
Williamsburg, Virginia, is now to be replaced, although placed in a glass cabinet. A
national debate had arisen addressing this case, following protests from the families
of students, who had threatened to withdraw their donations to this institute. In their
complaints, it was pointed out in particular that in this place of worship, although it
was originally Anglican and later Episcopalian, the crucifix could be removed, if de-
sired, by those using it for ceremonies or meetings.
496
The Catholic Church

The press paid significant attention to the position of the US Catholic Bishops’ Con-
ference, outlined in a document entitled “Statement on Responsibilities of Catholics
in Public Life”, dated 10th March 2006, in which the bishops reiterated the non-nego-
tiable principles guiding the work of the Church – and hence also of the Catholic faith-
ful – within the political sphere.
Sources
Journal of Church and State, Baylor University, Waco, Texas:
Volume 48 Summer 2006 Number 3
Volume 48 Autumn 2006 Number 4
Volume 49 Winter 2007 Number 1
Volume 49 Spring 2007 Number 2
Volume 49 Summer 2007 Number 3
Usa: il ruolo dei cattolici nella politica. I vescovi rispondono ad un documento di
55 deputati democratici, ZENIT, 13th March 2006
Jon Hurdle, Pennsylvania Students Sue Over Religion Policy, Reuters, 21st April 2006
Father John Flynn, Religious symbols in the cross hairs. Hostility to signs of Chris-
tianity mounts, ZENIT, 12th March 2007
Brett Martel, ACLU sues eastern LA schools again Associated Press, 17th May 2007
Judge rules against evangelist in free speech. Associated Press, 5th July 2007
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, Washing-
ton D.C. (U.S.A.) 2008
Report on the application of laws protecting religious freedom: Years 2001-2006”:
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/religdisc/ff_report.htm
Newsletter from the Justice Department on judicial cases:
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/religdisc/newsletters.html
Jeff Breinholt, Islam in American Courts: 2007 Year in Review, http://www.familyse-
curitymatters.org/challenges.php?id=1386082
497
URUGUAY
Uruguay is the country with the longest tradition of secular-

URUGUAY
ism, and one of the first to legislate against the Catholic

Church. In the same spirit, this country on the eastern coast is
AREA
moving towards the legalization of surgical abortion. The state
175,016 kmq
already distributes contraceptive drugs that induce chemical
POPULATION abortion (Noticias Globales, 11th April 2006). On 17th October
3,310,000 the Uruguayan Senate rejected abortion, but on 6th November
it finally approved the law on sexual and reproductive health,
REFUGEES
which effectively legalizes abortion. This is now permitted
140 during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, for reasons of financial
INTERNALLY hardship, health, risk to the mother’s life or fetal abnormality
DISPLACED (Noticias Globales, 6th November 2007). The law now needs to
--- be approved by Congress and signed by the president of the re-
public. In this were to be the case, President Tabaré Vázquez
(a member of the left-wing coalition, Frente Amplio) has stat-
ed that, as a qualified doctor, he would not sign the legaliza-
RELIGIOUS
tion of clinical abortion into law.
ADHERENTS
At the same time, on 19th December, the Senate approved the
law on civil partnerships, which accords homosexual couples
the same rights as married couples (Noticias Globales, 20th De-
cember 2007).

Non religious 33.1%
Others 1.6%
Baptized Catholics
2,549,000
498
UZBEKISTAN
Legislative overview
Articles 18, 31 and 61 of Uzbekistan’s Constitution guarantee
freedom of religion for individuals and groups. However, turn-
AREA
ing rights into actual practice has proven difficult because of
447,400 kmq
the regulations of the existing regime.
On top of an already restrictive law on religious freedom adopt- POPULATION
ed in 1998 Uzbek authorities amended the country’s penal and 96,468,000
administrative codes in June 2006 by introducing new penalties
REFUGEES
“for the illegal production, conservation, importation and dis-
tribution of unauthorised religious literature.” With these meas- 1,054
ures now in place the censoring of religious literature has inten- INTERNALLY
sified, with the courts frequently ordering the destruction of DISPLACED
seized material. 3,400
Changes to media legislation adopted in January 2007 include
stiffer penalties for anyone criticising the actions of the govern-
ment via the Internet or in articles, commentaries or news re-
RELIGIOUS
ports published abroad, effectively defining such actions as un-
ADHERENTS
lawful, anti-constitutional propaganda. Not only has this meant
shutting down many political or news websites and blogs, it has
also led to the blocking of www.portal-credo.ru, one of the
main Russian language religious news websites. Similarly,
according to a report by the Forum 18 News Service published
UZBEKISTAN
on 10 April 2007, Uzbek authorities have blocked independent
Muslims 76.2%
online news magazines such as www.centrasia.ru, www.fer- Non religious 21.6%
ghana.ru and www.uznews.net. These steps were taken just af- Affiliated Christians 1.7%
Others 0.5%
ter the last two news websites had reported on the government’s
growing control over religious affairs and the activities of var- Baptized Catholics
ious Muslim and Protestant groups. 4,000
In an article dated 22nd August 2006, AsiaNews reported that a
meeting of religious leaders called by the state Religious Affairs
Committee was held in Tashkent on 4th August 2006 to discuss
the draft of another proposed bill that would outlaw talking
about religious issues outside “recognised” places of worship,
imposing fines ranging from 200 to 600 times the average
monthly salary (about US$ 10) on first time offenders and jail
sentences of up to eight years on those guilty of re-offending.
Over the past two years the Uzbek government has tried to im-
prove its international image on human rights and religious
freedom. And yet, however good its intentions might have
499
been, its words soon appeared to be hollow because of its de facto authoritarian and
UZBEKISTAN
repressive policies.
Uzbek authorities have been particularly active since the United States State Depart-
ment added Uzbekistan to its list ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ in its 2006 report.
They have mounted a public relations campaign to show how much the country sup-
ports religious tolerance and that the question of human rights is a government prior-
ity. As part of this charm offensive, the Uzbek government has organised internation-
al events. Christian Solidarity Worldwide for example reported on 7th February 2007
that the Uzbek Embassy in the United Kingdom organised a one-day seminar on
“Uzbekistan’s experience in achieving inter-religious harmony.”
Intentions aside, Uzbek government officials have had their feathers ruffled by foreign
interference. The Uzbekistan Daily Digest on 2nd November 2007 reported that Uzbek
Ambassador to the United Nations Alisher Vohidov in his 31 October speech to the
United Nations General Assembly criticised the use of human rights as a pretext to in-
terfere in the domestic affairs of his country.
Similarly, in an article published by AsiaNews on 5th April 2007 Uzbek Foreign Min-
ister Vladimir Norov said during a meeting between a delegation from the European
Union and representatives of Central Asian nations held on 27th-28th March 2007 in
Astana (Kazakhstan) that as far as his government was concerned it did not intend “to
explain itself” to anyone on human rights.
In spite of the dearth of positive signals, on 15 October 2007 European Union foreign
ministers “suspended” a travel ban on eight senior Uzbek officials for six-months,
which had been imposed two years earlier in response to an incident in May 2005 in
which Uzbek police fired on unarmed demonstrators in Andijan. According to a report
released on 23rd October 2007 by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, the de-
cision was criticised by many human rights activists who accused the European Union
of sacrificing human rights in order to protect its interests in the country’s oil and en-
ergy resources, despite all the clear signs that the Uzbek government was as repres-
sive as ever.
Religious freedom is severely restricted, not only by law but also by the tight control
exerted by the state on religious groups and their activities. Uzbekistan’s secret police,
the National Security Service or NSS (in particular its anti-terrorism department), and
the mahallas (neighbourhood-level administrations) are powerful tools in the hands of
the state to exert such control.
In a survey of various Christian groups published by Forum 18 News Service on 5th
September 2007 many believers have confirmed that NSS agents carry out close sur-
veillance of places of worship, video-taping who comes and goes, and occasionally,
recruiting “collaborators” to inform on other worshippers and their activities. This has
inevitably led to mutual suspicions and sown divisions within religious groups. Other
500
worshippers have said that their phones have been tapped, a common practice for any-
one suspected of involvement in political, social or religious activity or working for
human rights. “Often when we talk on the phone for a long time about Christianity,”
said one Protestant activist, “a voice just tells us to stop talking and put the phone
down.”
Limitation on free religious practice

Uzbekistan’s tiny Catholic Church has not complained of any particular problem. On-
ly the Sisters of Mother Teresa, the Missionaries of Charity, feared the government
might take action against them, this according to an article by AsiaNews dated 5th Oc-
tober 2006, after the Uzbek Justice Ministry went ahead with a “planned” check of
possible irregularities with regard to their presence in the country. “The ministry,”
AsiaNews wrote, “will examine the representative office of this Indian NGO, as to its
compliance with Uzbek law and the goals set in the charter.” For now the check has
not interfered with the nuns’ presence or their activities.
The same can be said about the Orthodox Church, whose members are mostly ethnic
Russians.
By contrast, Protestant groups and Jehovah’s Witnesses have had a rough time in
freely practicing their faith either because they are essentially seen as “Western” or be-
cause they are very active and perceived as a great danger for their proselytising.
A programme on Uzbek state television titled “Hypocrites” accused these religious
groups of coercing people, reported the Forum 18 News Service on 19th December
UZBEKISTAN
2006. “On the pretext of financially helping people in need, they [the aforementioned
groups] instil their own teachings in […] people’s minds. As it turns out, soon the tar-
geted people become complete zombies” and before long the “family, neighbourhood
and society have lost [this or] that young person”. Thus “[a]lthough our people have
left behind the afflictions of the Soviet system,” the programme said at its start, “even
more dangerous afflictions are emerging” as a result of the activities of “certain mis-
sionary communities”.
An article in Narodnoe Slovo (24th April 2007) by Prof Mansur Bekmuradov reflect-
ed similar views. In it the scholar from the Tashkent State Institute of Culture claimed
that some missionaries are trying to turn the Uzbek population into zombies. Similar-
ly, he said, anyone trying to share his or her faith with others was guilty of “religious
violence” and constituted “one of the most dangerous social, political, ideological and
moral problems” the country had to deal with.
In addition to enduring such highly defamatory views, these groups have had to put
up with police raids. More often than not believers who gather in the privacy of their
homes have had to face legal penalties, including prison. And whatever religious ma-
terial they might have had is usually seized and destroyed.
501
Among the stiffest sentences imposed on anyone for engaging in religious activities
UZBEKISTAN
there is that of Protestant clergyman Dmitri Shestakov who was sent to a labour camp
for four years for “illegal organisation of social or religious groups,” “ethnic, racial or
religious hatred” and “distributing materials containing ideas of religious extremism”
(see Forum 18 News Service, 8th February 2007).
Likewise the authorities have tried to isolate religious communities from the outside
world, not only by denying Uzbek citizens the right travel abroad, but also by ex-
pelling foreigners suspected of having contact with local religious communities.
State interference with and control over religious groups has even been greater among
Muslim communities. The state has used its media and educational institutions to train
a class of loyal imams whom it has placed at the helm of local mosques. During Fri-
day prayers, imams must deliver sermons that have been pre-approved by the Mufti
Council, which is de facto under state control. Mosques that are not under state con-
trol cannot register and are used instead as clubs, libraries, and museums as in Soviet
times. Religious education outside state control is banned on pain of stiff fines or
prison. At school, students must fill out questionnaires to determine their “political
loyalty” to the president.
The state also picks who can go on haj to Makkah (Mecca) in fulfilment of one of Is-
lam’s five pillars; a duty every adult Muslim must do at least once in his or her life-
time. In the last two years the Uzbek government has allowed 5,000 of its citizens to
go on the pilgrimage even though Saudi authorities, as custodians of the holy city,
have set a quota of 25,000 pilgrims per year for Uzbekistan. Even then Uzbeks must
first get a permit from their local mahalla committee and then by the National Haj
Commission, and are required to fly the national airline. In the end the state can exert
considerable control over the whole process.
For some international observers however, such an intrusive and repressive attitude on
the part of the authorities might be counterproductive on the long run. In an article
published on 1st December 2006 by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, a West-
ern analyst was quoted as saying that even if in “the short term it has been very suc-
cessful in terms of preventing any further violence in Uzbekistan […] until social con-
ditions improve, and other outlets of protest are allowed, Islamic radicalism may re-
main the only means for people to express their frustrations.”
Limitation on the actvitities of foreign human rights organisations

Human rights groups, especially those suspected of ties with religious groups or of re-
ceiving help, economic or otherwise, from Western nations, have likewise become
victims of government action. In 2006 a court suspended more than ten such associa-
tions on a permanent or a temporary basis. A similar number now are expected to suf-
fer a similar fate. By accusing foreign NGOs of “unlawful religious activities” the
502
Uzbek government is terminating their activities, thus removing any possible influ-
ence of Western culture in the country, this according to a report by Radio Free Eu-
rope/Radio Liberty on 7th February 2007.
AsiaNews reported on 14th July 2006 that Uzbek authorities in Tashkent had shut down
the NGO Central Asia Free Exchange or CAFE after a court found its members guilty
of unlawful religious activities for the purpose of Christian proselytism. The group,
which was involved in projects like training medical staff, building orphanages and
teaching English, was also charged with the unlicensed use of the Internet and using
an unauthorised logo. On 5th June 2006 Human Rights Without Frontiers quoted an
Associated Press news release from four days earlier to report that other organisations
had suffered the same fate for the same reasons, including Global Involvement
Through Education. Again Human Rights Without Frontiers quoted MoscoNews.com
on 29th August 2006 to report that US-based Partnership in Academics and Develop-
ment, two South Korean NGOs, the Korean Foundation for World Aid and the Insti-
tute of Asian Culture and Development were also shut down. Crosslink Development
International was also told to wind up its operations for allegedly undertaking activi-
ties contrary to its statute and for providing economic help to the Christian Church of
the Full Gospel, this according to a report by Ria Novosti dated 23rd August 2006
picked up the next day by Human Rights Without Frontiers.
On 17th April the Uzbek justice minister told the TASS Russian news agency that
Friendship and Hope International activists (involved in humanitarian work since
1995) were warned in writing that they should cease and desist from all “missionary
UZBEKISTAN
activity” or face punishment otherwise. In a report dated 26th February 2007 News
Briefing Central Asia said that the Uzbek justice ministry had warned World Vision In-
ternational, a US-based Christian organisation, that it was violating local laws.
503
VANUATU
The 1980 Constitution acknowledges religious freedom (Art. 5)

VANUATU
and the introduction refers to “traditional Melanesian values,

faith in God and Christian principles”. Religious groups must
AREA
register, but non-registration does not result in any adverse con-
12,189 kmq
sequences.
POPULATION The traditional and most popular churches at times oppose mis-
220,000 sionary activities undertaken by new groups. In rural areas
there is still the custom of approving innovations based on ma-
REFUGEES
jority wishes and this also applies to religious matters. Gener-
1 ally speaking those wishing to build a new church must obtain
INTERNALLY approval from the community. Those who do not above all risk
DISPLACED social disapproval and can appeal to local leaders so as to have
--- their rights acknowledged.
In 2007 there was widespread opposition of a planned visit by
Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Church of Unification; the
visit was later cancelled.
RELIGIOUS
The government finances Christian schools but not the few ex-
ADHERENTS
isting non-Christian religious schools that are however allowed
to operate.
Religious instruction is also available in state schools.

Others 3.5%
Baptized Catholics
33,000
504
VENEZUELA
This country is going through somewhat precarious times: at

the economic level, poverty and insecurity have increased;
while at the political level, President Chavez is introducing pro-
AREA
found institutional changes. The Church is concerned about the
912,050 kmq
difficult situation of the country and is calling for the uphold-
ing of freedoms throughout Chavez’s reforms (Fides, 17th Jan- POPULATION
uary 2006). However, President Chavez has fiercely criticised 27,030,000
the hierarchy of the Church, accusing them of fomenting rebel-
REFUGEES
lion among the opposition. For their part, the bishops have de-
fended the need to preserve freedom of speech and have de- 200,907
scribed the provocations by Chavez as an attempt to distract so- INTERNALLY
ciety from the real problems of the country (Radio Giornale DISPLACED
Vaticano, 20th January 2006). Worst of all, however, was the ---
murder, in unexplained circumstances, of the assistant secretary
of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, Father Jorge Piñango
Mascareño (ZENIT, 25th April 2006).
RELIGIOUS
Despite this, the Church, via Cardinal Jorge Urosa, has called
ADHERENTS
on the government to respect religious education in the schools,
and has proposed a number of modifications to the new educa-
tion law, aimed at guaranteeing respect for spiritual and higher
values (Fides, 21st June 2006; ZENIT, 23rd June 2006). The
Church – as Bishop Mario del Valle Moronta of San Cristóbal
has observed – has pointed to the need for both government and
opposition to work out a shared vision for the country, and at
VENEZUELA
Non religious 2.2%
the same time has suggested the urgent need for a new evange- Others 3%
lisation (ACN News, 2nd August 2006). In accordance with this

Baptized Catholics
view, the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference issued guidelines
23,526,000
for those voting in the presidential elections, based on the prin-
ciples of the Gospel and safeguarding the values of justice,
freedom, democracy and peace. But at the same time they re-
minded people of the prohibition in Canon Law against priests
standing for electoral office (ZENIT, 5th November 2006; Ra-
dio Giornale Vaticano, 24th November 2006). In the same way
they hoped through their declarations to put an end to the cli-
mate of violence that was developing as the confrontation be-
tween the politicians of the government and of the opposition
increased. (Reuters, 28th November 2006).
505
Following the reelection of Hugo Chavez as president of the country, but before he an-
VENEZUELA
nounced his intention of adopting socialist principles, the Episcopal Conference had
appealed through its president, Cardinal Jorge Urosa, for the country to follow a path
of transformation into a Venezuela that was open to higher values, which avoided a
Marxist socialism that tended towards totalitarianism (ZENIT, 21st December 2006).
Despite this appeal, the response of the Venezuelan president was aggressive: he ac-
cused the Catholic hierarchy of talking nonsense; of defending the indefensible; and
advised them to read Marx, Lenin and the Sermon on the Mount in the Bible, in order
to learn where socialism had begun (Vatican Radio, 9th January 2007). The tension
continued on other issues, such as the defence the bishops’ conference made of free-
dom of speech when the television channel Canal Radio Caracas de Television was
about to be closed down – the response by the Venezuelan leader being further insults
against the bishops. (ZENIT, 10th January 2007; L’Osservatore Romano, 6th January
2007). These clashes produced further declarations, such as that by Archbishop Rober-
to Lückert of Coro, who denounced the autocratic and militaristic methods of Presi-
dent Chavez, after he had declared Jesus as the greatest socialist in history (ZENIT,
14th January 2007). Or again, by Cardinal Rosalío Castillo Lara, who stated “On this
solemn occasion I wish to ask you to join together and fervently pray to the Divine
Pastor to save Venezuela”, adding that “We find ourselves in a situation of extreme
gravity, such as [we have faced] very few [times] in our history” (ACI Prensa, 15th
January 2006).
The bishops of Venezuela published a document, the fruit of their 87th plenary assem-
bly, proposing that whatever political system was adopted, it must be centred on the
human person, must guarantee private property and its social function and promote
democratic values (Vatican Radio, 16th January 2007; ZENIT, 16th January 2007;
L’Osservatore Romano, 3rd-4th January 2007). Nonetheless, in their latest meeting of
July last year, the bishops were forced to voice their doubts regarding the democratic
nature of the constitutional reform. The concern of the bishops focused on the grow-
ing poverty and unemployment, the restriction of freedom of speech and the absence
in the new law on education of details regarding the ultimate purpose of education, the
rights of teachers and those of parents to request religious education in the schools
(Fides, 10th July 2007). Following this the Archbishop of Caracas, Cardinal Jorge
Urosa spoke of the need for calmness and reason and of the right of the opposition to
protest against government measures. But he underlined the gravity of the possibility
of private education being nationalised, even if not even turned into an education sys-
tem modelled on Bolivarian values – i.e. a combination of patriotism, based on the fig-
ure of Simón Bolivar, and socialism (Vatican Radio, 19th September 2007). He also
warned that the Church would oppose the so-called “Socialism of the 21st century” if
506
it proved to be a totalitarian power as was the Marxism developed by the old commu-
nist countries (ACI Prensa, 2nd August 2007). His opinion was shared by the other
members of the Venezuelan episcopate, for example one month later, by Archbishop
Balthazar Porras of Merida (ACI Prensa, 8th September 2007) or a few months earli-
er by Emeritus Archbishop Pérez Morales of Los Teques, warning people against an
approaching totalitarianism (ACI Prensa, 7th February 2007)
Since then the bishops have observed the political developments within the country.
In August they published an exhortation: “Llamados a vivir en la libertad” (“Called
to live in freedom”) in which they gave their considered view that the proposed con-
stitutional reform was unacceptable because it limited the fundamental rights of the
democratic system and of the individual (Fides, 22nd October 2007; ACI Prensa, 28th
November 2007; La Civilta Cattolica, 3rd March 2007). Needless to say, this stance by
the bishops prompted ferocious criticisms and insults from the government, which on-
ly increased in the run-up to the referendum on constitutional reform – which Presi-
dent Chavez finally lost by the narrowest of margins. The Bolivarian leader accused
the Church of manipulation and lying (Avvenire, 14th July 2007; ACI Prensa, 17th Ju-
ly 2007) and even went so far as to call the Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez
Madariaga an “imperialist clown” (ACI Prensa, 24th July 2007). A short time after this
he accused the Catholic Church of defending immorality and lies (ACI Prensa, 7th Au-
gust 2007). In December the Archdiocese of Caracas rejected the accusations by Vice
President Jorge Rodriguez to the effect that the Catholic Church was sponsoring po-
litical meetings in opposition to the constitutional reform in a place of worship – a for-
mer chapel. He explained that the meeting referred to had been an initiative of the laity
VENEZUELA
and had taken place in a community centre that is not parish property (ACI Prensa, 6th
December 2007). Nonetheless, a short time afterwards, there was great concern when
Cardinal Jorge Urosa was physically attacked and insulted by a gang of 15 or so mem-
bers of the government group La esquina caliente, while the police stood by and did
nothing (ACI Prensa, 9th December 2007). A few months earlier, not a single govern-
ment representative attended the funeral of Cardinal Rosalío José Castillo Lara (ACI
Prensa, 20th October 2007). By contrast, the response of the bishops to the defeat of
Chavez in the referendum was a call for everyone to work together for reconciliation
and peace (ACI Prensa, 4th December 2007). But tension is increasing between the in-
stitutions of the Venezuelan government and the Catholic Church, as the former con-
tinues to push forward its plans to establish a Bolivarian socialist experiment.
507
VIETNAM
Things have improved somewhat in Vietnam but it is not yet

VIETNAM
possible to say that freedom of religion is completely respected

in this country.
AREA
A new religious law came into effect in February 2007: it treats
331,689 kmq
the country’s different faiths as social forces that can and must
POPULATION contribute to its progress, under the guidance of the all-power-
84,110,000 ful Communist Party. From this perspective religious activities
are still subject to the approval of the civil authorities. For ex-
REFUGEES
ample, at the start of the year all religious leaders must submit
2,357 an annual plan of activities, and it is not certain that everything
INTERNALLY will be approved.
DISPLACED Under the law some domains remain officially off-limits, but
--- some leeway does exist in practice, a member of the Paul
Nguyen Van Binh’s Club in the archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh
city told AsiaNews. “According to the ‘Religions Law,’ activi-
ties like education, health care, communication, newspapers,
RELIGIOUS
and religious publishing must respect the law to the letter. And
ADHERENTS
no explanation has been given as to why the law does not allow
religious organisations to play a role in secondary education,
the universities and hospitals.” In fact, the law does allow “re-
ligious leaders, nuns or priests” to “work in education, the me-
dia, social work and health care,” as individual citizens; but it
does ban “religious organisations from doing so”, said Mr
Buddhists 49.5%
Non religious 20.5% Phuong, a Catholic attorney.
New religions 11.3% In practise the level of religious freedom is directly related to
Affiliated Christians 8.3% what local authorities are willing to allow, especially in areas
Others 1.9% that do not normally come under international scrutiny. Indeed
they tend to tightly limit religious freedom when they are not
Baptized Catholics
actually engaged in persecutory actions.
5,990,000
The United States and the Holy See have publicly acknowl-
edged that the situation has improved in the country. The State
Department has removed Vietnam from its list of countries of
particular concern with regards to religious freedom. And the
United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious
Freedom John V. Hanford III, head of the Office of Internation-
al Religious Freedom, said that “Vietnam has made significant
improvements toward advancing religious freedom.”
The Vatican, in a press release issued on 25th January 2007, on
the occasion of the first meeting between Vietnam’s Prime
508
Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and the Pope, said that “relations have, over the last few
years, made concrete progress, opening new spaces of religious freedom for the
Catholic Church in Vietnam.” However, the same statement referred to unspecified
“problems that remain” which can hopefully be resolved “through existing channels
of dialogue.” Tan Dung’s visit to the Vatican not only started the year but also raised
hopes that the two sides might re-establish normal diplomatic relations after they were
cut off following the Communist takeover in 1954. That possibility was even men-
tioned in Vietnam’s tightly controlled press which reported that the prime minister
himself had talked about the issue.
The Vatican mentioned it as well in a statement issued on 12th March 2007 at the end
of a visit by a Vatican delegation headed by Mgr Pietro Parolin, undersecretary of the
Section for Relations with States, to the South-East Asian country. The Vatican dele-
gation met Le Cong Phung, deputy minister for Foreign Affairs; Pham Xuan Son,
deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Communist Party Central
Committee; and Vu Mao, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Vietnam’s
National Assembly.
“On these occasions, the normalization of relations with the Holy See is always
brought up.” As to this, the Vietnamese authorities gave assurances that, following the
prime minister’s instructions, “the competent bodies are already at work, and certain
concrete ways to begin the process of establishing diplomatic relations have been ex-
amined,” the Vatican statement said.
The government in Hanoi has among other things an interest in getting the collabora-
tion of the country’s 8 million Catholics (about 10 percent of the population). At each
party congress the need to fight corruption is articulated time and time again as a way
to guarantee the country’s progress, at a time when the authorities are hard pressed to
provide assistance to the more marginalised sections of society. In this context one can
understand the hope expressed in the Vatican statement of 25th January 2007 that
“Catholics can, ever more effectively, make a positive contribution to the common
VIETNAM
good of the country; by promoting moral values, in particular among the young; by
spreading a culture of solidarity and to charitable assistance in favour of the weaker
sectors of the population”.
The Montagnards (who are largely Protestant, Catholic or followers of traditional re-
ligions) from the central plateaus are in a separate category altogether because of the
role they played during the Vietnam War against the Vietcong.
In a report released on 14th June, 2006, Human Rights Watch found that Christians in
this region were still being forced to sign statements renouncing their religion even
though the law itself bans such a practice. Here the authorities have strictly limited the
freedom of movement and assembly for religious purposes. According to this report,
509
more than 350 Montagnards had been jailed since 2001, mainly for their involvement
VIETNAM
in political or religious activities, however peaceful they may have been.

But also in January 2007, Compass Direct News, a Protestant news agency which fo-
cuses on the persecution of Christians around the world, reported that 17 people had
been arrested at a prayer meeting organised by the Mennonite Church at the home of
Rev Nguyen Hong Quang.
At the end of March an event took place that the Vietnamese authorities tried to ex-
plain away as strictly political. On 30th March 2007, Fr Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic
priest, was sentenced to eight years in prison for anti-regime propaganda. Four other
people were convicted along with Father Van Ly, who has already spent 14 years be-
hind bars. The 60-year-old priest was charged with founding a pro-democracy move-
ment called Bloc 8406 that was established in April 2006 with some 2,000 members.
He was also accused of supporting illegal groups like the Vietnam Progression Party.
In reaction to this, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution (No.
243) that called for his “unconditional release” and that of all political prisoners.
Also on 30th March, on the pretext of enabling some villages to celebrate Easter Mass,
the provincial authorities in Kontum (located in central Vietnam on the border with
Laos and Cambodia) vowed to bring religion under their control and limit Catholic ac-
tivities, especially among local minorities. As AsiaNews reported (30th March 2007)
the local authorities sent the diocesan bishop, Michel Hoang Duc Oanh, a letter (No.
76/UBND) informing him that certain villages had been given permission to hold
Easter Mass. However, the real intent was to assert their authority over Easter celebra-
tions and ban religious activities in other villages, though these measures in fact vio-
late the law. A Catholic lawyer, Phuong, told AsiaNews that “under Vietnam’s law on
religious freedom,” the Vietnamese have the right “to practise their chosen faith” or
practise none at all. “But many local governments are unaware of the law’s existence”
or do not respect it and their “dealings with Catholics are dictated by the law of the
jungle.” For this reason, “local governments still produce propaganda which portrays
the Catholic Church as a hostile force. They are always suspicious of Catholics’ activ-
ities. So they react accordingly, violating the rights of the people.”
In late April 2007 the country’s Catholic bishops spoke out. In an interview with Viet-
Catholic News, an Australia-based Vietnamese news agency, Mgr Paul Nguyen Van
Hoa, bishop of Nha Trang and chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Viet-
nam, reported that the bishops had raised the issue of religious freedom with the gov-
ernment, and stressed cultural and moral problems that affect young people as well as
justice and truth. For Bishop Hoa the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam is the
only institution in Vietnamese civil society that has the courage to openly talk about
such issues with the state. He cited his own personal experience as an example. “Many
people know that the Holy See wanted to appoint me bishop of Hanoi and that this
510
appointment was never accepted,” he said. “This shows where I stand, what struggle
I had to put up and is evidence of the perseverance with which I held my position.”
Whilst criticising Father Ly’s decision to get into politics – ”a priest should work for
everyone and not for one group against another”, the bishop said –, the prelate insist-
ed that everyone still had the right to express his or her opinion on matters of justice,
truth and society’s interests.
This was the first explicit intervention by the episcopate against the government and
once again it was the issue of Father Ly, despite its political aspect, that prompted it.
In July Mgr Paul Nguyen Van Hoa formally denied a statement made by Vietnam’s
President Nguyen Minh Triet in which the latter said that “the Bishops’ Conference
and the Holy See” had agreed to Fr Nguyen Van Ly’s trial.
Reported by Eglises d’Asie, the formal rebuttal was due to comments reprinted in the
Vietnamese daily Tuoi Tre, which the Vietnamese president allegedly made on 23rd
June in an interview with CNN during his trip to the United States, comments which
did not however appear in the interview’s official transcript supplied by CNN.
“President Nguyen Minh Triet’s answer does not correspond to the truth,” was Mgr
Paul Nguyen Van Hoa’s blunt reply in an open letter sent to the president himself on
7th July.
The toughest row came at the end of the year and involved Church property. For the
first time Hanoi Catholics took to the streets on 18th December 2007, some four to five
thousands of them demonstrating peacefully, praying and holding candles and calling
on the government to return to the Church the Toa-Kham-Su Building, once home to
the apostolic delegation.
This “protest” prayer was their way to champion a letter, dated 15th December 2007,
which Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet sent to the local People’s Committee call-
ing for the return of the building, seized by the government in 1959. The authorities
had rejected the prelate’s request, and now it was about to be sold to developers who
wanted to turn it into a supermarket and car park. For several days and nights, priests,
VIETNAM
nuns and lay people surrounded the statue of the Virgin located in the compound’s gar-
dens and the big cross they had planted. A demonstration in solidarity with the pro-
testers was also organised in Ho Chi Minh City, once known as Saigon.
On 31st December AsiaNews reported that Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan
Dung had met the bishop of Hanoi to discuss the issue of Church properties seized by
the government. On that occasion the Prime Minister saw for himself the thousands of
protesters, who cheered him.
The situation however was starting to get out of hand as protesters clashed with po-
lice and the People’s Committee threatened the archbishop and the “squatters”. As this
unfolded Vietnamese-language newspapers and TV stations began attacking the
Church’s demand. By contrast, Nham Dam, the Communist Party’s official newspa-
511
per, reported on 28th January 2008 in its international edition that Archbishop Ngo
VIETNAM
Quang Kiet had met Patriotic Front Chairman Huynh Dam. Ostensibly, the purpose
behind the visit was for the two men to exchange greetings for the start of Tet or the
Lunar New Year (7 February). The paper also provided a general rundown of the hu-
manitarian activities in which Catholics are involved and of the role they play in the
peaceful development of the capital. It also mentioned the Front’s “appreciation” for
their activities. Similarly, VNA, Vietnam’s official news agency, on 30 January report-
ed another visit by the archbishop to the Front’s deputy chairman and secretary gen-
eral, Vu Trong Kim, again officially for the Tet celebrations. In the news agency ac-
count, the talks gave the Communist leader an opportunity to say that “the Front is al-
ways open to Catholics who want to articulate their problems” and to show that “the
organisation is committed to working with the appropriate authorities in order to ad-
dress such problems.”
On 1st February, local Church sources told AsiaNews that in order to “show good will
and respect for the Pope,” the authorities were granting Catholics the use of the com-
pound, thus bringing the demonstrations to an end. The positive outcome, which Arch-
bishop Ngo confirmed the next day, came after Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican
secretary of State, sent a letter to the archbishop of Hanoi. In it Cardinal Bertone said
that Benedict XVI was closely following events in Vietnam and that the Vatican was
going to raise the issue with the government. The purpose was to find a solution to the
controversy that had set the archbishopric against city authorities over who owned or
had usufructuary rights to the apostolic delegation’s former home. In his message the
prelate expressed his “admiration” for Hanoi Catholics and their peaceful protest but
also voiced his fears that the whole thing might get out of hand. He thus urged the par-
ties to get back to “normal.”
Although this incident ended on a positive note, this cannot be said for others. For in-
stance, AsiaNews reported that on 24 December a prayer meeting was disrupted in a
private home in Co Noi village in the northern province of Son La. A young man in
attendance from a neighbouring province was brutally beaten and taken away, on
criminal charges. He was eventually released but only after mass protest by the vil-
lagers. In the diocese of Son Tay, Fr Joseph Nguyen Trung Thoai was arrested to pre-
vent him from celebrating Christmas Mass in Co Noi. In his case too release was ob-
tained only after a mass rally by the villagers. In Muong La, Catholics were allowed
to gather for a Christmas prayer meeting in a private home, but police prevented out-
siders from attending. A group of Montagnards who had trekked 40 kilometres from
Truong An to take part in the Mass in Muong La were turned away.
A new chapter is starting in northern Vietnam. In early January 2008 members of Thai
Ha parish requested the return of the land of their church. Such a situation is not dis-
similar to the request by the diocese of Hanoi for the return of the old apostolic dele-
512
gation building in Hanoi. The Redemptorist Fathers had bought the land in Thái Hà in
1928. A church, a convent and a seminary were built on the estate’s 60,000 m2 (about
650,000 ft2), but in 1954, when the Communists took over and the country was divid-
ed, the Thái Hà religious were jailed or deported. The 60,000 m2 were reduced to
2,700. Since then several petitions have been submitted to the authorities to get the
land back, but over time a hospital had been built and several sections of the proper-
ty had been transferred to government companies and officials. The latest incident,
since the beginning of the year, involves a packing company, Chien Thang, which was
granted a section of the estate and which did not wait long before building. When lo-
cal parishioners began protesting at the action, they were met by the military which
was deployed to allow the construction to go ahead. On 7th January 2008 the Redemp-
torist provincial superior, Fr Joseph Cao Dinh Tri, issued a statement expressing
strong objection to the illegal seizure of land and the plans to build on it. On that day
the authorities announced that construction would stop, but a day later Hanoi’s Peo-
ple’s Committee gave the company the green light to resume work.
Feeling cheated, the parishioners resumed their peaceful protest after that. They took
to the streets on 7th February again, marching and organising a prayer sit-in.
VIETNAM
513
YEMEN
The 1991 Constitution states that Islam is the State religion. Ar-
YEMEN
ticle 3 of the Yemenite Constitution establishes that “the Islam-

ic Shari‘a is the source for all legislation”. Apostasy is men-
AREA
tioned among the hudud (Koranic crimes) in Article 12 of the
527,968 kmq
1994 Penal Code and is punishable with death. The other
POPULATION hududs are rebellion, robbery, stealing, adultery, false accusa-
22,282,000 tions of adultery and drinking wine.
REFUGEES
Christians
117,363 Various articles in the Yemenite press during the period of this
INTERNALLY report addressed the issue of Christian proselytising activities,
DISPLACED defined by Yemen as “an invasion”. In a report published by al-
27,000 Haqiqa al-Dawliya on 27th August 2007, Majed al-Kahlani
wrote claiming that a large number of missionaries are hiding
behind the humanitarian aid ‘label’ to carry out their proselytis-
ing activities, exploiting the financial needs of the young and
RELIGIOUS
their desire to have relationships with the opposite sex. Al-
ADHERENTS
Kahlani speaks of 120 Yemenites who have converted to Chris-
tianity in the Hadramaut region alone, and also refers to the
Yemen4Jesus website, created by the new Christians to spread
their faith. The article also reports the views of the director of
the Ministry for Religious Affairs, Sheik Hamoud al-Suaidy,
concerning the punishment due to such apostates, namely death
Muslims 98.7%
Hindus 0.9% if they persist in their apostasy. The law currently lays down the
Affiliated Christians 0.2% death penalty for apostasy from Islam, but in practice it has
Others 0.2%
never been applied.
Baptized Catholics
6,000 Muslims
During this period the rebellion in the Saada province, in north-
western Yemen, continued; with clashes between the al-Shabab
al-Mumin (the Believing Youth) led by the Houthi clan, and
government forces. Official sources report over 5 thousand men
killed in 2007 alone. The rebels belong to the Zaidi Shiite com-
munity, who have always been a thorn in the side of the gov-
ernment of President Alì Abdullah Saleh, who accuses them of
wishing to destabilize the country so as to maintain exclusive
control over the northern territories. A ceasefire mediated by
Qatar was announced in June 2007, but only lasted a few
months.
514
In January 2006, for the second year running, the celebration of the Shiite festivity of
Eid al-Ghadir was forbidden in a number of localities in the province of Saada, the
stronghold of Houthi’s followers (see below).
In May 2006, President Alì Abdallah Saleh pardoned two imams, Yahya Hussein al-
Dailami, sentenced to death, and Mohammed Ahmad Miftah, sentenced to eight years
in prison. The two imams were accused of having links with Iran, against their coun-
try’s interests. Actually, they had publicly criticised the action by the government
against the al-Houthi rebellion in Saada province. However, they had both preached
peaceful protest.
During the month of Ramadan in 2007, one hundred ulema addressed an appeal to the
civil authorities requesting them to shoulder their responsibilities with regard to the
“degradation of customs” in the country. The ulema also mentioned the increase in
Christian proselytism among young Muslims and the request to modify the Islamic
laws “on the pretext of adapting them to international criteria”. The ulema also criti-
cised the fashion shows involving Yemenite girls during the summer festival of Sanaa,
sport for women, promiscuous dancing (as at the Hadramaut festival), the opening of
massage parlours and the participation of Yemenite girls in plays and songs abroad.
The government has implemented a new policy aimed at opposing the activities of Is-
lamic extremist groups. It was hence decided to close down unauthorised schools and
religious centres and to check on the preaching of radical imams; a number of festi-
vals were forbidden and the opening hours of the mosques restricted. In an overview
of the Yemenite government’s actions, the Yemen Times observed that those targeted
are a few small Shiite groups with political affiliations, such as the al-Haq Party,
closed because it was not in compliance with the law. Since the beginning of 2007,
4,500 non-authorised schools and religious centres have been closed down, on suspi-
cion of providing an education diverging from the state educational programmes and
of promoting extremist ideologies. The government has forbidden both private and
state schools from using programmes differing from those officially approved. A num-
ber of books supporting fundamentalist positions have been banned. Imams inciting
people to violence or making statements considered a danger to public order have
YEMEN
been targeted. Private Islamic organisations can however maintain relations with in-
ternational Muslim associations, although the authorities occasionally check up on
them.
Jews
The members of the small Jewish community, now reduced to about 500, have the
right to vote but cannot be elected. The thousands of Yemenite Jews who emigrated to
Israel in past decades are allowed to visit the country if holding a non-Israeli passport.
In January 2007 the small community from Saada (45 people) was moved to Sanaa
515
following threats from a follower of al-Houthi. In the capital this community is pro-
YEMEN
tected by the State.
Sources
AsiaNews
al-Ghad
al-Haqiqa
al-Dawliya
516
ZAMBIA
Religious freedom is guaranteed by Article 19 of the 1991 Con-

stitution, as amended in 1996, which in the introduction de-
clares the Republic a “Christian nation”. Religious instruction
AREA
for Christians is taught in state schools, while Islamic religious
752,618 kmq
instruction – as well as other kinds of religious education – is
permitted in the private schools run by the respective religious POPULATION
groups. Unregistered religious groups are not allowed to oper- 11,800,000
ate. Violators can face a fine and imprisonment for up to seven
REFUGEES
years.
There was a controversy in 2006 involving the Universal 112,931
Church of God. Lusaka residents rioted as they believed that INTERNALLY
church members were engaged in satanic practices. In 2006 the DISPLACED
High Court overturned the government’s deregistration order ---
so this Church continues operations pending judicial review. In
March 2006, Foreign Minister Ronnie Shikapwasha stated pub-
licly that the government would begin the practice of consult-
RELIGIOUS
ing with the Council of Churches in Zambia before it registers
ADHERENTS
church groups.
In March 2006, the ZENIT News Agency broadcast a report
from Father Andrzej Halemba, a Polish missionary working in
the diocese of Kasama, in northern Zambia. The priest noted a
rapidly growing Islamic influence, due to foreign investment in
the area. According to the priest, “Over the past 10 years, an ag-
gressive presence of Islam has been built up in Zambia, a coun- Ethnoreligionists 14.3%
try that is Christian according to its Constitution.” Father Baha’i 1.8%
Others 1.5%
Halemba added that in his diocese, which borders on Tanzania,
the increased Muslim presence had created significant prob- Baptized Catholics
lems for Christians. For example, Muslim-run companies 3,794,000
would only employ non-Muslims on condition that they con-
ZAMBIA
verted to Islam, and those who did convert were offered finan-
cial support and free education for their children.”
In 2007 the Oasis Forum (the Law Association of Zambia,
NGOs Coordinating Committee, the Zambia Episcopal Confer-
ence, the Christian Council of Zambia and the Evangelical Fel-
lowship of Zambia) declared a “constitutional struggle” in or-
der to call for the government to empower a constituent assem-
bly to adopt a new Constitution by the end of 2008. However
although the government strongly criticised the Oasis Forum
for its stand, the leaders of Oasis have not been not prevented
517
from criticizing the government, mobilizing public opinion, organizing happenings or

ZAMBIA
other activities.
Just before the presidential elections, the bishops of Zambia wrote a pastoral note en-
titled “The Truth will make you free”, to emphasise the importance of these elections
for the future of democracy in this country. In this letter the bishops begged voters, in
particular Christians, to vote in an informed and responsible manner. “A vote”, they
say, “is not only a right but also a duty to the country, to help to identify and appoint
credible people who are capable of making the state work for the common good.”
Sources
Equilibri, 6th November 2007
Vatican Radio
ZENIT, 14th March 2006
518
ZIMBABWE
The Constitution of 1979, as amended in 2000, recognises reli-

gious freedom in Article 19. In practice however, this right is
not always respected. During the period addressed by this re-
AREA
port, the government continued to criticise, interfere with and
390,757 kmq
intimidate religious leaders who criticised government policies
or reported human rights abuses by the authorities. In June POPULATION
2006, for example Pastor Dandala, secretary general of the 15,217,000
AACC (All Africa Conference of Churches) expressed grave
REFUGEES
concern, stating “We would like the world to help us find a per-
manent solution for the problems we have in Zimbabwe. We 3,981
are indignant seeing the extent of the infringement of human INTERNALLY
rights in this country”. DISPLACED
Religious groups are not required to register, although religious 570,000
organisations operating in schools or medical centres must reg-
ister with the ministries regulating these sectors.
In July 2006, the previous Act for the Suppression of Witchcraft
RELIGIOUS
was substituted by a new Act, stating that those actions com-
ADHERENTS
monly associated with witchcraft will be considered a criminal
offence if they are intended to cause harm. On the basis of this
new Act, words alone are not considered witchcraft and hence
are not illegal. The new amendment also criminalises witch
hunts, imposes penalties on those who accuse others of witch-
craft and rejects the plea of killing a witch as a defence for the
charge of attempted homicide. Personal attacks on individuals Ethnoreligionists 30.1%
thought to be practising witchcraft are prosecuted by the law if Others 2.4%
ZIMBABWE
they involve murder, physical aggression or other crimes
Baptized Catholics
against the integrity of the person.
1,368,000
The religious groups in the country have continued to challenge
government laws restricting freedom of assembly, speech and
association. Although not specifically directed at religious free-
doms, the law on security and public order (POSA) has been re-
peatedly used to interfere in public meetings, including those of
religious groups and members of civil society.
In March 2007, the leaders of the main Christian denomina-
tions in the country published a joint statement addressed to the
national political authorities. The religious leaders emphasised
the profound crisis in the country, describing it as an extreme-
ly dangerous and unstable situation, clearly and unequivocally
519
siding with the use legitimate political authority and against the grasping of power by
ZIMBABWE
means of violence, oppression and intimidation.

The European Union too, under the presidency of Mrs. Angela Merkel, has con-
demned the constant and violent repression of freedom of opinion and other basic hu-
man rights. It should also be noted that as early as February 2007, the EU decided to
extend the sanctions imposed since 2002 in response to Mugabe’s authoritarian regime
in the country until 2008. The reaction of the authorities in Zimbabwe was aggressive.
On 19th March Foreign Minister Mumbengegwi even threatened to expel western
diplomats, should their countries provide financial or diplomatic support to the oppo-
sition.
Unlike previous years, there have not been reports of violence against religious lead-
ers. During the period covered by this report, the divisions between the main religious
groups and adherents of the traditional indigenous religions persisted. However, the
interfaith council, formed in 2004, continued its work trying to establish closer rela-
tions between the various groups.
It is estimated that between 70 percent and 80 percent of the population belong to
mainline Christian denominations such as the Catholics, Anglicans and Methodists.
However, in the course of recent years a variety of churches and groups practising in-
digenous traditions have broken away from these major groups.
Although the country is almost completely Christian, most people continue also to
practise traditional African religions to varying degrees. In October 2006, the police
carried out an operation in the south of the country against a religious sect whose
members were starving themselves to death while awaiting the Second Coming of Je-
sus Christ. This sect, previously affiliated to the Seventh Day Adventists, also includ-
ed many children in a state of advanced malnutrition. In this country, which for years
now has suffered an economic crisis that has brought it to its knees, many extremist
sects have appeared recently and this worries the authorities. Only 1 percent of the
population follows Islam, though this religion has continued to grow, especially in ru-
ral areas.
In July 2007 the Zimbabwe state radio ZBC reported that one of President Mugabe’s
most prominent critics, the Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, had been
reported to the police for having committed adultery. The radio claimed that the Arch-
bishop had been in a relationship with a married woman for two years, and that she
had confessed this secret affair to ZBC News, which also stated that her husband had
reported the priest. In August the Bishops decidedly rejected these slanderous allega-
tions against Archbishop Ncube, expressing their indignation at this smear campaign
against the priest. The bishops described this as an outrageous and absolutely de-
plorable accusation, adding that the Catholic Church had never been and was not an
enemy of Zimbabwe. In the days leading up to this declaration, Archbishop Ncube,
520
who is renowned for his open stance in defence of human rights and against Mugabe’s
authoritarian regime, had been the object of an all-out press campaign aimed at prov-
ing his guilt. In September 2007, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Arch-
bishop Pius Ncube. The priest’s decision, as he himself explained, was not an admis-
sion of guilt but arose from his desire to avoid the Catholic Church being dragged
through the courts. He insisted that this scandal was a deliberate attack by the govern-
ment, not only against himself but also against the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe. It
is strongly suspected that the entire incident was a set-up, because the bishop (who
was defended by the Episcopal Conference) had become an extremely awkward fig-
ure for the regime. He opposed Mugabe’s re-election, accusing him of rigging the
2005 election in order to remain in power, as he had for the past 25 years, and he had
called on all citizens to start a “non-violent revolution” following the example of
Ukraine. He had also persuaded the bishops of Zimbabwe to condemn the dictator’s
regime with a letter entitled: “God hears the cry of the oppressed” and issued appeals
for help so that the people of this country need no longer go hungry.
Sources
Fides, 18th March 2007
AGI, 18th April 2006
Equilibri, 20th March 2007
KORAZYM, 11th September 2007
ICN NEWS, 23rd June 2007
PeaceReporter, 25th October 2006, 16th July 2007
Vatican Radio, 9th May 2007, 31st August 2007
ZIMBABWE
521
Sources consulted
S O U R C E S
C O N S U L T E D
Research Reports
Amnesty International, Report 2008
US Departement of State, Annual Report on International Religious Freedom
2006-2007, Washington 2007- 2008
Human Rights Watch, World Report 2008
Periodicals
Actualité des Réligions - 163, bd Malesherbes - 75859 Paris Cedex 17 - France
Catholic World Report - P.O. Box 1328, Dedham, Ma 02027 - USA
Coscienza e Libertà - Lungotevere Michelangelo 7 - 00192 Rome - Italy
Eglises d’Asie - 128, rue du Bac - 73341 Paris Cedex 07 - France
Il dialogo-Ai hiwar - Via Barbaroux 30 - 10122 Turin - Italy
Il Regno - Attualità e Documenti - Via Nosadella 6 - 40123 Bologna - Italy
Il Segno - Via Aurelia 481 - 00165 Rome - Italy
Jesus - Via Giotto 36 - 20145 Milan - Italy
La Civiltà Cattolica - Via di Porta Pinciana 1 - 00186 Rome - Italy
La Nuova Europa - Via Tasca 36 - 24068 Seriate (BG) - Italy
L’Apostolo di Maria - Via Legnano 18 - 24124 Bergamo - Italy
L’Eglise dans le Monde - 29, rue du Louvre - 78750 Mareil-Marly - France
Mondo e Missione - Via Mosé Bianchi 94 - 20149 Milan - Italy
Nigrizia - Vicolo del Pozzo 1 - 37129 Verona - Italy
Note on Church-State Affairs - web site: www.baylor.edu/~Church State
Offene Grenzen - Postfach 2010 - 38718 Seesen - Germany
News papers
al-Nahar - P.O. Box 11-0266 - Riad El Solh - Beirut - Lebanon
al-Safir - P.O. Box 113/5015 - Mneimneih Street - Hamra - Beirut - Lebanon
Avvenire - Piazza Carbonari 3 - 20125 Milan - Italy
Corriere della Sera - Via Solferino 28 - 20121 Milan - Italy
Il Foglio - Largo Corsia dei Servi 3 - 20122 Milan - Italy
Il Sole 24 Ore - Via Paolo Lomazzo 52 - 20154 Milan - Italy
La Croix - rue Bayard 3/5, 75393 Paris - France
Korea Times - 43, Chungmuro 3-ga, Chung-ku, Seoul - Korea
La Repubblica - Piazza Indipendenza 11/B - 00185 Rome - Italy
Las Vegas Review Journal - 1111 W. Bonanza Road - P.O. Box 70 - Las Vegas,
NV 89125, USA
Le Figaro -37, rue du Louvre - 75002 Paris - France
Libération -11, rue Béranger -75154 Paris - France
525
Libero -Via Merano 18 - 20127 Milan - Italy

Liberté - 37, Rue Larbi ben M’hidi, Alger – Algeria
L’Osservatore Romano - Via del Pellegrino - 00120 Vatican City
Financial Times - 1 Southwark Bridge - London SE19HL - UK
The Christian Science Monitor - 210 Massachusetts Avenue - Boston MA 02115 - USA
Daily Nation - Kimathi Street - P.O. Box 49010 - GPO 00100 Nairobi - Kenya
The New York Times - 229 West 43rd Street - New York NY 10036 - USA
The Wall Street Journal Europe - Boulevard Brand Whitlock 87 - Brussels - Belgium
News Agencies
ACI-Prensa - Apartado postal 040062 - Lima 4 - Peru
ACN News - Bischof-Kindermann-Str. 23 - 61462 Königstein - Germany
Adista - Via Acciaioli 7 - 00186 Rome - Italy
AFP - Place de la Bourse - Paris - France
AGI - Via Cristoforo Colombo 98 - 00147 Rome - Italy
African News Bulletin (ANB-BIA) - Av. Charles Woeste 184 - 1090 Brussels - Belgium
ANSA - Via della Dataria 94 - 00187 Rome - Italy
AP.Biscom - Via del Gesù 62 - 00186 Rome - Italy
Apic - Pèrolles, 42 - Case Postale 1054 - Fribourg - Switzerland
Article 19 - Lancaster House 33 - Islington High Street - London N1 9LH - UK
Asca - Via due Macelli 23/F - 00187 Rome - Italy
AsiaNews - Via Guerrazzi 11- 00152 Rome - Italy
Associated Press - 50 Rockfeller Plaza - New York, N.Y. 10020 - USA
Catholic Information Service for Africa - P.O. Box 14861 - Nairobi - Kenya
Compass Direct News - P.O. Box 27250 - Santa Ana - CA 92799 - USA
Fides - Via di Propaganda 1/C - 00187 Rome - Italy
Forum 18 News Service - Postboks 6663 - Rodeløkka N-0502 Oslo - Norway
Human Rights Without Frontiers - Av. Winston Churchill 11/33 - 1180 Brussels -
Belgium
International Islamic News Agency - web site: www.iina.com
MISNA - Via Levico 14 - 00198 Rome - Italy
Reuters - 85 Fleet Street - London EC4P 4AJ - UK
ZENIT - C.P. 18356 - 00164 Rome - Italy
The Voice of the Martyrs/The Persecution & Prayer Alert - P.O. Box 117
- Port Credit Mississanga - ON L5G4L5 - Canada
526
Web sites
www.kirche-in-not.org
www.aed-france.org
www.afrobarometer.org
www.al-watan.com
www.asianews.it
www.barnabasfund.org
www.cbn.org/cbnnews
www.fides.org
www.keston.org
www.cesnur.org
www.hazara.net
www.hrw.org
www.hrwf.org
www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/
www.faluninfo.net
www.forum18.org
www.lorient-lejour.com.lb
www.misna.org
www.mindanews.com
www.opendoorsusa.org
www.persecution.net
www.persecution.com
www.persecution.org
www.peacelink.it/anb-bia/anb.html
www.iwpr.net
www.rferl.org
www.www.religionandpolicy.org
www.religioscope.com
www.worldevangelicalalliance.org
www.memri.org
www.ceri-sciencespo.com/publica/cemoti/presente.htm
www.vidimusdominum.org
www.washtimes.com
www.zenit.org
Statistical Data
World Christian Encyclopedia - Second Edition 2001 - Oxford University -
198 Madison Avenue - New York - USA
Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2006 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana - 00120 Vatican
City - © 2008
527
UNHCR - 94, rue de Montbrillant - CH-1202 Geneva - Switzerland

The Global IDP Project of the Norwegian Refugee Council - 59, chemin Moïse-
Duboule - CH 1209 - Geneva - Switzerland
Calendario Atlante dell’Istituto Geografico De Agostini - Corso della Vittoria 91 -
Novara - Italy
528
Index of countries
I N D E X
O F
C O U N T R I E S
Afghanistan page 13 Chad page 81

Albania 18 Chile 83
Algeria 20 China 86
Andorra 24 Colombia 113
Angola 25 Comoros 115
Antigua and Barbuda 29 Congo, Brazzaville 117
Argentina 30 Congo, Dem. Rep. of the 118
Armenia 32 Costa Rica 121
Australia 34 Croatia 122
Austria 35 Cuba 124
Azerbaijan 36 Cyprus 127
Bahamas 40 Czech Republic 130
Bahrain 41 Denmark 132
Bangladesh 43 Djibouti 135
Barbados 48 Dominica 137
Belarus 49 Dominican Republic 138
Belgium 53 Ecuador 139
Belize 55 Egypt 140
Benin 56 El Salvador 147
Bhutan 58 Equatorial Guinea 148
Bolivia 61 Eritrea 149
Bosnia and Herzegovina 62 Estonia 156
Botswana 65 Ethiopia 157
Brazil 66 Fiji Islands 161
Brunei Darussalam 68 Finland 162
Bulgaria 69 France 163
Burkina Faso 71 Gabon 167
Burundi 72 Gambia 168
Cambodia 74 Georgia 169
Cameroon 76 Germany 171
Canada 77 Ghana 174
Cape Verde 79 Greece 176
Central African Republic 80 Grenada 178
530
Guatemala page 179 Liechtenstein page 294

Guinea - Bissau 181 Lithuania 295
Guinea - Conakry 182 Luxembourg 296
Guyana 183 Macedonia 297
Haiti 184 Madagascar 298
Honduras 185 Malawi 300
Hungary 186 Malaysia 302
Iceland 188 Maldives 310
India 189 Mali 311
Indonesia 205 Malta 313
Iran 219 Marshall Islands 314
Iraq 228 Mauritania 315
Ireland 237 Mauritius 317
Israel and Palestinian Territories 239 Mexico 318
Italy 245 Micronesia, Fed. S. 320
Ivory Coast 249 Moldova, Republic of 321
Jamaica 251 Monaco 323
Japan 252 Mongolia 324
Jordan 253 Montenegro 406
Kazakhstan 256 Morocco 325
Kenya 261 Mozambique 328
Kiribati 264 Myanmar 330
Korea, Dem. People’s Rep. of 265 Namibia 335
Korea, Republic of 271 Nauru 336
Kosovo 408 Nepal 337
Kuwait 272 Netherlands 340
Kyrgyzstan 275 New Zealand 342
Lao People’s Dem. Rep. 280 Nicaragua 344
Latvia 283 Niger 345
Lebanon 284 Nigeria 346
Lesotho 290 Norway 353
Liberia 291 Oman 355
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 292 Pakistan 356
531
Palau page 360 Sudan page 434

Panama 361 Suriname 438
Papua New Guinea 362 Swaziland 439
Paraguay 363 Sweden 440
Peru 364 Switzerland 443
Philippines 365 Syrian Arab Republic 445
Poland 368 Taiwan 111
Portugal 369 Tajikistan 449
Qatar 371 Tanzania 453
Romania 373 Thailand 455
Russian Federation 375 Timor Leste 458
Rwanda 388 Togo 459
Saint Kitts and Nevis 393 Tonga 461
Saint Lucia 394 Trinidad and Tobago 462
Saint Vincent and Grenadines 395 Tunisia 463
Samoa 396 Turkey 465
San Marino 397 Turkmenistan 473
Sao Tome and Principe 398 Tuvalu 479
Saudi Arabia 399 Uganda 480
Senegal 405 Ukraine 483
Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo 406 United Arab Emirates 487
Seychelles 410 United Kingdom 489
Sierra Leone 411 United States of America 494
Singapore 412 Uruguay 498
Slovakia 413 Uzbekistan 499
Slovenia 415 Vanuatu 504
Solomon Islands 416 Venezuela 505
Somalia 417 Vietnam 508
South Africa 421 Yemen 514
Spain 423 Zambia 517
Sri Lanka 428 Zimbabwe 519
532
A
N N E X
Rapporto ingl_2008.qxp
16-10-2008
12:43
Annex: Worldwide Freedom of Religion

Pagina 533

WORLDWIDE FREEDOM OF RELIGION

Respect for freedom of conscience, creed and religion as a fundamental principle is
neither obvious nor universal. Such respect has not traditionally been part of religious
teaching, although every religion has always claimed the right to such freedom for it-
self. In Europe we learned such respect the hard way, through violent conflict, reli-
gious wars, inquisition and cruel executions for heresy. Harder than ever before was
the European experience with Nazism and communism, the two totalitarian ideologies
of evil dominating the Twentieth Century. Nazism perished and left Europe with the
so called Order of Yalta. Communist persecution of the churches, aimed at their erad-
ication, was still in full swing when the Second Vatican Council met. As Vaclav Hav-
el wrote, the violence in the communist totalitarian system was spiritual rather than
physical, designed “to achieve the gradual destruction of the human spirit, of basic hu-
man dignity.”1 It was in this political context that respect for freedom of religion was
first proclaimed officially in the Catholic Church. On 7 December 1965, Pope Paul VI
promulgated the:
“Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae,

on the Right of the Person and the Communities
to Social and Civil Freedom in Matters Religious”
THE DEFINITION OF FREEDOM OF RELIGION

The Declaration marked a true human rights revolution in Catholic thinking. Due to
lack of agreement among the Council fathers, the document appeared as a Papal De-
claration rather than a Constitution of the Second Vatican Council. In its second para-
graph, the Declaration defines precisely what it means by the right of religious free-
dom:
“2. This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious
freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the
part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that
no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether pri-
vately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.
1 Vaclav Havel, ‘The Power of the Powerless’. In: Vaclav Havel or Living in Truth. Edited by
Jan Vladislav. Faber and Faber 1986.
535
The council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation
in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the re-
vealed word of God and by reason itself.(2) This right of the human person to re-
ligious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is
governed and thus it is to become a civil right.
It is in accordance with their dignity as persons-that is, beings endowed with rea-
son and free will and therefore privileged to bear personal responsibility-that all
men should be at once impelled by nature and also bound by a moral obligation
to seek the truth, especially religious truth. They are also bound to adhere to the
truth, once it is known, and to order their whole lives in accord with the demands
of truth. However, men cannot discharge these obligations in a manner in keep-
ing with their own nature unless they enjoy immunity from external coercion as
well as psychological freedom. Therefore the right to religious freedom has its
foundation not in the subjective disposition of the person, but in his very nature.
In consequence, the right to this immunity continues to exist even in those who
do not live up to their obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it and the
exercise of this right is not to be impeded, provided that just public order be ob-
served.”2
The right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human per-
son. It belongs to everyone because of his/her personhood, irrespective of what he/she
believes or whether he/she is a religious believer or a non-believer. It is a pre-politi-
cal right belonging to the essence of his/her personality and not a right granted by the
state or society. The right to religious freedom is not to be restricted to a right to free-
dom of conscience in the private sphere. It is also a public matter as it includes the
freedom to act publicly, alone and in association with others (“provided that just pub-
lic order be observed”, as was added in a later draft). Respect for such freedom re-
quires the absence of any form of coercion, whether physical, psychological, social,
financial or economical.
Prior to the definition in paragraph 2, the motives for the Declaration are given in the
first paragraph:
“1. A sense of the dignity of the human person has been impressing itself more
and more deeply on the consciousness of contemporary man,(1) and the demand
is increasingly made that men should act on their own judgment, enjoying and
making use of a responsible freedom, not driven by coercion but motivated by a
sense of duty. The demand is likewise made that constitutional limits should be
set to the powers of government, in order that there may be no encroachment on
the rightful freedom of the person and of associations. This demand for freedom
in human society chiefly regards the quest for the values proper to the human
spirit. It regards, in the first place, the free exercise of religion in society. This
2 Emphasis added. Compare: George Weigel, Freedom and its Discontents. Catholicism Con-
fronts Modernity.Ethics and Public Policy Center Washington D.C. 1991.
536
Vatican Council takes careful note of these desires in the minds of men. It pro-
poses to declare them to be greatly in accord with truth and justice. To this end,
it searches into the sacred tradition and doctrine of the Church-the treasury out
of which the Church continually brings forth new things that are in harmony with
the things that are old.
First, the council professes its belief that God Himself has made known to
mankind the way in which men are to serve Him, and thus be saved in Christ and
come to blessedness. We believe that this one true religion subsists in the
Catholic and Apostolic Church, to which the Lord Jesus committed the duty of
spreading it abroad among all men. Thus He spoke to the Apostles: “Go, there-
fore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things what-
soever I have enjoined upon you” (Matt. 28: 19-20). On their part, all men are
bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and His Church, and to
embrace the truth they come to know, and to hold fast to it.
This Vatican Council likewise professes its belief that it is upon the human con-
science that these obligations fall and exert their binding force. The truth cannot
impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the
mind at once quietly and with power.
Religious freedom, in turn, which men demand as necessary to fulfil their duty
to worship God, has to do with immunity from coercion in civil society. There-
fore it leaves untouched traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men
and societies toward the true religion and toward the one Church of Christ.”3
The Declaration, as shows this paragraph, belongs to the aggiornamento of the

Catholic Church through the Council convoked by the holy Pope John XXIII. Until
then, the Catholic Church had not been in the forefront of the modern human rights
movement. What brought her there at the time were the American Jesuit Father John
Courtney Murray and the severe persecution of the Church in the communist world.
The first section of paragraph 1 is a true reflection of the American challenge to So-
viet totalitarian repression. The Declaration signalled a “new appreciation for, and
overt support of, the democratic revolution in world politics.” 4
According to the Declaration, the free exercise of religion is a fundamental human

right founded in the dignity of the human person and needs democratic government
(constitutional limits) to enjoy immunity from external coercion. In the same docu-
ment, the Declaration also claims a special right to freedom for the Catholic Church
by underlining the moral duty of men and societies toward the true religion and the
one Church of Christ.
3 Emphasis added.
4 George Weigel op.cit. p.37. He also calls Murray the chief intellectual architect of the Dec-
laration.
537
This, in summary, can be said to be the definition of freedom of religion in our Church
since 1965, further elucidated and philosophically underpinned by Pope John Paul II
in his great Encyclicals.5 Respect for the dignity of the human person is founded in the
Gospel and in man created in God’s image with his transcendental destiny.
THE FRAGILITY OF FREEDOM OF RELIGION

The very need for this volume underlines the fragility of freedom of religion as a fun-
damental principle.
Respect for our neighbour who professes another creed than we do, is the exception
rather than the rule in our societies; belief in the truth of one’s own religion and toler-
ation of other beliefs don’t go together easily. This is especially the case, where cer-
tain beliefs are at the origin of moral precepts and the laws of the land. In for instance
family law, Christians, Muslims and secularists are on a collision course, on which tol-
eration seems impossible.
The necessary constitutional limits to assure such respect require democratic govern-
ment and a clear separation of powers; a condition met only in a limited number of
countries today. Even in these countries respect between majorities and minorities in
society is fragile. Equality before the law between the dominant religion, minority
churches and associations of non-believers remains problematic.
Their constitutional and legal provisions are of recent origin and subject to frequent
dispute and adaptation. The Declaration’s condition “that just public order be ob-
served” leaves many questions unanswered. What is meant by a just public order? Is
it the existing legal order in modern states? If it is not including the permissive order,
challenged by the Encyclical Evangelium Vitae, where is the just borderline?
In the former communist countries and in the Eastern Churches respect for freedom of
religion still is a controversial issue. Where the Orthodox Church is the predominant
one as for instance in Russia, the harmony between Church and State rather than in-
dividual freedom is the guiding principle, in line with a tradition going back to the Ro-
man Empire of Theodosius in 385. In their interpretation freedom of religion is not a
personal right to be respected by the State but a national Church right to be protected
by the State against “proselytism” from foreign churches and religions.
Within our Catholic Church the promotion of respect for the fundamental human right
to freedom of thought, conscience and religion requires humility, wisdom and
courage.
Humility is needed to realise that error had no rights6 in Catholic teaching before 1965
and that freedom of religion as a fundamental right emerged in Europe from Reforma-
5In particular: Veritatatis Splendor, Redemptoris Missio.

6E.g. the wellknown Syllabus of Errors. Apostolic Constitution decreed by Pope Pius IX on 8
December 1864.
538
tion and Enlightenment.7 Reformation and the French Enlightenment were in direct
opposition to the power of the Catholic Church. Freedom of religion found its first
constitutional expression in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States of America. It reached Rome and most European countries only after the Sec-
ond World War.
Wisdom is required for us Catholics as latecomers in the pro-active promotion of the

fundamental right to freedom of religion in our turbulent, secularised and multicultur-
al world. With no more Soviet totalitarian system to challenge, we seem to be at a loss
with respect to both the definition of this fundamental human right and the limits to
the public order to be observed. In our Western societies believing in God has become
no more than one human possibility among others. The right to freedom of religion
had already been defined as just such a right among others in international, European
and national constitutional laws before our recent Popes defined it as the fundamental
right underlying all other human rights. Do we insist on writing this hierarchy into hu-
man rights law or do we accept and promote positive human rights law as it stands?
Does this fundamental right include the right not to profess any religion and promote
atheism? Do we accept the right of a father over life and death of his wife and chil-
dren under Shari‘a as a “religious” right underlying all other human rights or should
we reject it as contrary to (our conception of) a just public order? These are just a few
of the question we face when moving from the claim that our (Catholic) freedom of
religion be respected to the conviction that such respect is the fundamental right for
every human person irrespective of his belief or non-belief.
Courage is needed above all in the promotion of this right as the fundamental one
underlying all other human rights. Its fundamental nature, though, supports the free-
dom of the Catholic Church to promote human rights in conformity with the Laws
of God. The ideologies of evil of the Twentieth Century have been overcome, wrote
Pope John-Paul II in his last book. Still he wonders whether – with respect to abor-
tion and same-sex unions – we now have to cope with “a new ideology of evil, per-
haps more insidious and hidden than its predecessors, which attempts to pit even hu-
man rights against the family and against man.”8 Meant are the efforts to rewrite hu-
man rights law in such a way that certain individual rights - to private life or to
equal treatment on the basis of sexual orientation – are elevated to fundamental
rights superseding others like freedom of religion.9 Courage is needed to expose and
record such efforts as a serious threat to freedom of religion. Courage is also needed
7 Most influential were John Locke’s, Letter on Toleration.and Voltaire’s, Traité sur la
Tolérance. Also: Stefan Zweig, Castellio gegen Calvin oder Ein Gewissen gegen die Gewalt.
Fischer Taschenbuch 2003.
8 John-Paul II, Memory and Identity. London 2005. Chapter 2.
9 For a recent discussion, see Jakob Cornides, ‘Human Rights Pitted Against Man.’The Inter-
national Journal of Human Rights. Vol. 12, No.1, 107-134. February 2008.
539
to expose and record taking justice in one’s own hand, under Shari‘a, with respect to
a person who changes his or her religion, towards women or in the exercise of pater-
nal rights.
In this volume and true to the guidelines of our Founder, we expose and record those
violations to the fundamental right on freedom of religion that have come to our at-
tention – whatever their source.
Frans A.M. Alting von Geusau
540
ACN in the world

A C N I N T H E
W O R L D
INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT
ACN International - Bischof-Kindermann-Str. 23 - 61462 Königstein im Taunus - Germany
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Rapporto ingl_2008.

qxp 16-10-2008 12:42 Pagina 1

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International

Translation into English

Graphics and printing

Why do we need a Report on Religious Freedom?

Religious freedom and human rights

ACN’s presence and role

Guide for using this report

Guide for using this report

Structure and format

– a summarised description of the legal and institutional framework in relation to

Legal and factual sources consulted

In spite of ongoing attempts to implement reforms, the situation

Legislation on religious freedom

In a country that is totally Muslim, proselytism by other religions is culturally consid-

Initially in the preamble, and then in detail in Articles 10 and

24, the 1998 Albanian Constitution allows the right of religious

According to the Constitution of 1976, amended in 1996 “Islam

is the religion of the State.” (Art. 2). Furthermore, “the freedom

The 1993 Constitution guarantees freedom of worship, albeit

acknowledging a special relationship with the Roman Catholic

Article 8 of the 1992 Constitution reads as follows: “(1) The

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

The right to exercise complete religious freedom is enshrined in

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Affiliated Christians 93.9%

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Argentina, ap-

proved in 1853 and amended on several occasions up until

The Constitution of 1995 in Article 23 states the right to free-

dom of thought, conscience and religious belief.

There are no problems with regards to religious freedom in this

country – it is guaranteed by the Constitution and is respected

The Federal Constitution lays down, in Article 7, that “All fed-

In Azerbaijan the right to freedom of conscience is sufficiently

protected, even though some administrative restrictions can in-

The 1973 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Bahamas guar-

antees complete religious freedom (Article 12), protecting both

Affiliated Christians 86.9%

The Constitution establishes Islam as the State religion is and

Article 2 of the Constitution establishes Islam as the State reli-

The situation of the Christians

“Christian practice” of “forced conversions”. Experts on the subject of religion in

Article 19 of the 1966 Constitution, as amended in 1974, 1981

and 1984, guarantees, in some detail, complete religious free-

Affiliated Christians 97%

Under a 2002 law on religious freedom Russian Orthodoxy has

people crowded into Republic Square on 19th March to hear the

(Forum 18 News Service, 16th May 2007).

Other religious groups

Article 6.b. of the Constitution of 1831 recognises “the rights

Article 11 of the 1981 Constitution sets out in detail the rights

Affiliated Christians 90.8%

Religious freedom is established in the Constitution and the

government generally respects this right when implementing its

Although the law provides for religious freedom, the govern-

Other Christian communities

The Catholic Church greeted the new government of Evo Morales

between the various opposing political groups (Radio Giornale

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

In its preamble, and in Article 2 para. 3, the 1995 Constitution

of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina establishes the

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA