Centre number: CZ021 Candidate name: Dunja Dervišbegović Candidate number: 1809 Topic: Belief systems Question: What actions can be taken to support freedom of belief, when many governments would like to restrict it? What actions can be taken to support freedom of belief, when many governments would like to restrict it? In today’s society, freedom of belief is a right that people, especially those in the West, take for granted. It is considered one of the pillars of modern civilisation, the right that has enabled us to live side by side with people and cultures from around the world. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, freedom of belief entails the rights that individuals have regarding their religion; this includes “freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance.” Freedom of belief is relevant and important in our day-to-day lives as citizens. Without our rights to exercise our religion freely and without repercussions we would be feeling unsafe and uncomfortable, whether it be because the ways in which we display our religion are threatened or because we are shamed and mocked for our choices. An instance where it can be interpreted that rights relating to religious freedom were not respected was in France in 2006, where the government passed a ban prohibiting any “religious symbols in public schools”1. This meant that there were no more Jewish kippahs, Muslim headscarves or large Christian crosses allowed on school property, and this decision was, surprisingly enough, met with quite little criticism, as 70% of the French population was in favour of the ban. This shows that even though France advocates itself as a country with no governmental religious restrictions, this is not entirely true. 1 Park, Vivian. “France Passes Religious Symbol Ban.” Christian News on Christian Today, 9 Feb. 2004, 20:02 Global Perspective The United Nations is responsible for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document designed to set the basic rights and necessities that all people should be treated in accordance with. The article specifically pertaining to freedom of belief is Article 182, which reads that every individual has the right to change their religion, and that they have the right to practice their religion both alone and in a community, with no repercussions. In theory, this document should provide protection for people no matter where they are, and which government they are led by, as stated in the preamble of the document. However, practical situations in real life seem to prove that this document tends to fall on deaf ears, as governments choose to ignore and act the way that they seem fit. For some countries, it is even part of the law to not allow complete religious freedom, as is seen in India for example, where government restrictions on religion are quite high, and state governments even have the ability to “restrict conversions”3, and even ban cow-slaughter, affecting an entire population of Muslims. These types of actions can disproportionally affect huge sections of people, and still be part of the law. A similar example regarding government restrictions is Nigeria, which is placed relatively moderately on a graph plotting social hostilities with government restrictions (see attached figure 1.1), which shows that by law, it is not extreme. However, if we look closer at the social hostilities axis, it is easy to see that Nigeria is the countries highest up. This is partly because of Boko Haram, an extremist group targeting all who do not follow their specific ideology, including Muslims and Christians, which quite evenly make up Nigeria’s population. This is a blatant violation of the human right of religious freedom, as well as several others. Apart from this group in Nigeria, both Christians and Muslims reported experiencing high levels of discrimination in areas where they were the minority. 2 3 “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” United Nations, United Nations Lipka, Michael. “Religious Restrictions Vary Significantly in the World's Most Populous Countries.” Pew Research Center, 13 Apr. 2017 From a global perspective there is quite a lot that is in place to encourage countries to adopt these laws and abide them. However, the UN does not hold the power to be able to change entire laws and force countries to adopt things that they do not have the desire to do, so in this way they are only effective to a certain degree. National Perspective Government restrictions on religious freedom vary greatly from country to country, and as a national example, France is just like most Central European countries; in favour of equal treatment of all, but (as is common with countries of that population density) with some minor incidents. The constitution ensures freedom of religion and law protection of minorities, however, some laws do limit freedom of religion and displays of religious symbols in public, which can be described as government interference/restrictions. A famous example previously touched on is the French banning of “the covering of the face” by the government, under the excuse of protecting public safety4. The bill to ban the niqab was passed in July 2010, and was met with considerable support and understanding from French nationals, despite numerous protests by Muslim communities around the world and the Paris Mosque’s grand mufti’s disappointed words5. The bill passing was also condemned by Amnesty International, a prominent human rights organisation, who said that “a full ban would violate the rights of freedom and expression and religion of those women who wear the burqa or niqab ... as an expression of identity”6. This shows that the French decision was not one that did not go unnoticed. However, despite the numerous efforts of communities around the globe to unite and reverse the ban, it is still in place today, even if it is in place in the country with the highest European Muslim population. 4 “France.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, 17 Nov. 2010 5 Paris, Henry Samuel in. “France to Consider Banning the Burqa.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 19 June 2009 6 “Burqa Ban Passes French Lower House Overwhelmingly - CNN.” Archive.is, 8 July 2012 Source Evaluation The sources I used were almost all from sources believed to be reliable, such as the U.S. Department of State and the United Nations, and I purposefully chose these as my main sources of information as I trusted what they had to say. That being said, I also tried to use sources from other perspectives that showed a different side, mainly with the choices of language. For example, I used a website called Christian News because I wanted to understand what a Chrisitan religious group thought of an issue concerning a different one. Similarly, I used The Telegraph as a source on the same issue because I felt that I wanted a perspective from a more right-wing source, as politics and political opinions are central to government decisions. On the other hand, I felt that the image I used from Pew Research Centre was an appropriate and effective source to use in terms of depicting countries, and providing a visual way to understand the information. Pew Research is a world-renowned organisation concerned with social issues, trends and public opinions. Overall, I believe that the sources I used present an accurate and valuable insight into freedom of belief and government restrictions around the world, and that they are varied and diverse in order to be able to present a well-rounded view of this issue. Possible scenarios If freedom of belief is not protected and encouraged in societies internationally, communities around the world might find themselves in uncomfortable situations of discrimination and harassment, especially in multiethnic environments. This would cause intolerance between people, and between entire communities, which in turn has the potential to develop into conflict and perhaps even war, at which point it would be too late to preach tolerance and freedom. In terms of government-limited freedom of religion, it results in a general air of repression, where minority religions are forced to live in fear and uncertainty of their future both in the state, and as individuals. Possible courses of action In order to encourage freedom of religion in all forms and on all levels, governments should be tasked with two approaches. The first way of encouraging freedom of belief is through encouraging education and media to be fair, as these are powerful tools to spread a message of tolerance and acceptance, so that members of minority communities feel accepted and welcome, and that they have the right to manifest their religion and beliefs in ways they feel comfortable with. This is possible through education as next generations are getting educated on issues that are still going to be relevant when they grow up, and they are immediately made aware of the importance of being tolerant and respecting the freedoms that people around them are entitled to, all from a young age. Apart from education, an extremely useful tool in spreading a message of tolerance is through media. The media is something that we are surrounded with all the time, from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep. We are constantly bombarded with so much information that we begin to take it in and adopt other people’s opinions as our own. Even though this tool can be used in a harmful way of negatively influencing large numbers of people, it is simultaneously a great way to get a powerful point across, especially if it is backed up by a celebrity or a person with a great level of respect and recognition. The second way of encouraging freedom of belief is through individual citizens themselves to be proactive about their own rights and about the rights of the people around them, through being personally responsible for and seeking their own education on matters that affect them, and also through activism and awareness. Through seeking education themselves, people are actively showing the government that they care about issues of freedom, and that they are aware of the rights that they are entitled to have. Education by itself is a powerful tool as it serves a double purpose; educating yourself, and also showing you are aware. The other way of encouraging freedom of belief through citizens is through activism and support. Marches, strikes and presentations are all extremely effective ways to get in the public eye and speak up about issues that matter, and they tend to have a domino effect as more and more smaller groups link up to create an organization that helps combat discrimination, all while, once again spreading the word and spreading awareness. Personal response I conclude that it is extremely important to be proactive about protecting not only your own freedom of belief, but standing up for communities where their freedom is threatened, and to not think that just because it does not directly affect us in some parts of the West, it will not have any international repercussions. Some steps that we can all do, and something that I will do, is to make sure to stand up for people who find themselves in situations where their freedom is threatened, whether it be in school or in everyday life. It is important to step out of your comfort zone and have compassion and understanding for people who feel marginalized or unprotected just because of their beliefs. Word count: 1849 Figure 1.1 Bibliography Park, Vivian. “France Passes Religious Symbol Ban.” Christian News on Christian Today, 9 Feb. 2004, 20:02, https://www.christiantoday.com/article/france.passes.religious.symbol.ban/17.htm (accessed 23 Feb 2018) “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” United Nations, United Nations, http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ (accessed 19 Feb 2018) Lipka, Michael. “Religious Restrictions Vary Significantly in the World's Most Populous Countries.” Pew Research Center, 13 Apr. 2017, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/13/religious-restrictions-vary-significantly-in-the-worlds-mostpopulous-countries/ (accessed 25 Feb 2018) “The Right to Freedom of Expresion and Religion.” Icelandic Human Rights Centre, www.aclu.org/other/yourright-religious-freedom (accessed 6 Mar 2018) “France.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, 17 Nov. 2010, www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2010/148934.htm (accessed 27 Feb 2018) Paris, Henry Samuel in. “France to Consider Banning the Burqa.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 19 June 2009 www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/5580732/France-to-consider-banning-the-burqa.html (accessed 1 Mar 2018) “Burqa Ban Passes French Lower House Overwhelmingly - CNN.” Archive.is, 8 July 2012 www.archive.is/20120708224037/http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-13/world/france.burqa.ban_1_burqa-ban-veil (accessed 3 Mar 2018) Figure 1.1 Lipka, Michael. “Religious Restrictions Vary Significantly in the World's Most Populous Countries.” Pew Research Center, 13 Apr. 2017, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/13/religious-restrictions-vary-significantly-in-the-worlds-mostpopulous-countries/ (accessed 3 Mar 2018)
