This thesis conducts a survey on initiatives of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in United Nations in combating so called "defamation of religion". Firstly the thesis provides with a historical context of this issue, afterwards it gives information about OIC itself. Subsequently it deals with the UN resolutions concerning "defamation of religion" and related documents. Final part of the thesis gives an analysis of problematic issues of the initiative and possible impacts of adopting an internationally binding legislation.

Gods, Have Merced! chronicles the struggle of Jose Merced, a Santeria priest, with the city of Euless, Texas, where he has been residing for 17 years in an effort to overrule an ordinance that bans the most critical element of his faith: animal sacrifice. As the city officials justify the ban on the basis of public health, Merced thinks he is merely a victim of selective code enforcement aimed a restricting his freedom of religion. Local and national media covered the lawsuit he filed against the City of Euless, and Merced seems ready to take the fight over animal sacrifice to the United States Supreme Court. He wants American justice to give his African-originated religion recognized in a city where people seem uneasy about a practice that brings back the historic fears of Voodoo and its popularly assumed malefic practices. The film explores the complex structure of Santeria, its African roots, its renaissance in the Americas and the very controversial issue of animal sacrifice in the US.

Cette thèse propose une lecture juridique, politique et sociale de l’application de la loi anti-blasphème de 1965 dans le plus grand pays musulman du monde, l’Indonésie. Plusieurs controverses sont apparues ces dernières années concernant la nature de la loi sur le blasphème dans la vie religieuse de la société démocratique indonésienne ; cette loi correspond-elle à la prévention des abus en matière de religion et/ou de blasphème, comme il est mentionné explicitement dans son titre, ou bien concernerait-elle plutôt la restriction de la liberté de religion et d’expression en matière religieuse ? En avril 2010, après le procès contrôlant la constitutionnalité de cette loi, une décision de la Cour constitutionnelle indonésienne a établi que la loi examinée ne correspondait pas à cette seconde lecture. Si cette loi a bien pour objectif de restreindre la liberté de religion ou d’expression en matière religieuse, selon la Cour, cela ne signifie pas que cette forme de restriction est inconstitutionnelle dès lors que la Constitution de 1945 en vigueur s’accompagne d’une restriction légale au respect ou à la sauvegarde des valeurs religieuses en particulier, à côté de la moralité, de la sécurité et de l’ordre public. Toutefois, les débats et les tensions au sein de la société concernant l’application de cette loi perdurent sans relâche. Les défenseurs des droits de l’homme maintiennent que l’existence d’une telle loi anti-blasphème est contraire à l’esprit de la démocratie. En revanche, les défenseurs de la censure religieuse s’obstinent à affirmer que cette loi est nécessaire pour éviter les conflits religieux. À travers une analyse de son contenu juridique et de sa mise en application, nous considérons que la loi anti-blasphème de 1965 a visé en premier lieu à entraver le déploiement des courants de croyance spirituelle locale ou des courants mystiques javanais qui, dans une certaine mesure, sont considérés par les musulmans en particulier comme une menace pour les religions existantes et pour la désintégration du pays. Dans un second temps, nous verrons que l’existence de ladite loi est davantage destinée à restreindre le nombre des religions reconnues par l’État d’une part, et à réprimer les courants religieux « dissidents » ou « hétérodoxes » d’autre part. Si les actes jugés comme blasphématoires, parmi lesquels figure la diffusion d’interprétation religieuse « déviantes » de l’orthodoxie, sont des infractions sanctionnées, ce n’est pas la loi anti-blasphème de 1965 qui sert de référence, mais l’article 156a du Code pénal qui trouve son origine dans ladite loi. Ainsi, la loi anti-blasphème de 1965 est plutôt utilisée pour restreindre la liberté de religion et de conviction au sens large, alors que l’article 156a du Code pénal est chargé de limiter la liberté d’expression en matière religieuse. En Indonésie comme ailleurs, le renforcement de l’application de la loi anti-blasphème va de pair avec l’émergence des groupes religieux radicaux qui veulent voir triompher leur conception totalitaire d’une liberté d’expression bridée par le respect de la foi religieuse. Ces derniers utilisent de cette loi non seulement à des fins religieuses, mais également à des fins politiques, notamment celle déstabiliser un régime « laïque » ou bien d’étendre leur influence. L’objectif de cette thèse est non seulement d’analyser la nature de la loi anti-blasphème de 1965, mais aussi de proposer une perspective alternative pour aborder les conflits juridiques en Indonésie concernant les deux droits fondamentaux, à savoir le droit à la liberté de religion et le droit d’expression. La thèse vise alors la prévention des conflits juridiques en la matière et ainsi qu’à trouver un équilibre entre les libertés concernées. / This thesis proposes a legal, political and social reading of the application of the blasphemy law in the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia. Several controversies have emerged in recent years regarding the nature of the blasphemy law in the religious life of the Indonesian democratic society. For instance, disagreement remains with regards to the intent of this law, i.e., whether it really aims at preventing misuse of religion and/or acts of blasphemy, as explicitly mentioned in its title, or whether it intends to restrict the freedom of religion and religious expression. In April 2010, after the examination of the constitutionality of this law, the Indonesian Constitutional Court ruled out the second possibility. The court further argues that even if the law has an unintended effect of restricting the freedom of religion or religious expression, it is not against the constitution since the 1945 Constitution is accompanied by a legal restriction to respect or preserve religious values in particular, as well as morality, security and public order. However, the debates and tensions within society regarding the implementation of this law continue unabated. On the one hand, human rights defenders persist in saying that the existing anti-blasphemy law is contrary to the spirit of democracy. On the other, defenders of religious censorship persist in resisting that this law is necessary to avoid religious conflicts. Through an analysis of legal content and its implementation, I argue that the blasphemy law of 1965 initially aims to hinder the development of the local spiritual belief stream or Javanese mystical groups, which to some extent are considered by Muslims in particular as a threat to existing religions and a source of disintegration of the country. Further, I maintain that the existence of the above-mentioned law has the tendency to restrict the number of religions officially acknowledged by the State and to repress “dissident” or “heterodox” religious movements. If acts considered blasphemous, including the "deviant" religious interpretation of orthodoxy, are punishable offenses, it is not the anti-blasphemy law of 1965 that serves as a reference, but the article 156a of the Penal Code, which has its origin in that blasphemy law does. As a consequence, the blasphemy law of the 1965 is rather used to restrict the freedom of religion and belief in the broad sense, while article 156a of the Penal Code is applied to limit the freedom of religious expression. In Indonesia, as elsewhere, the strengthening of the application of the blasphemy law goes hand in hand with the emergence of radical religious groups intend to promote their totalitarian concept of freedom of expression restrained by respect for the religious faith. The latter make use of this law not only for religious reasons, but also for political reasons, including destabilizing a secular regime or extending their influence. The thesis does not only aim to analyze the nature of the blasphemy law of 1965, but also to propose an alternative perspective in understanding and solving the problem of the legal conflicts in Indonesia pertaining to the two fundamental rights, namely the right to freedom of religion and expression. The thesis also seeks to find a balance between two freedoms and to propose preventive measures that can be adopted in the aforementioned legal conflicts.

"Every country has religious minorities. Any study of religious minorities and the protections afforded to them must also examine the significance of minorities per se. Minorities have no internationally accepted definition. Definitions are either broad and with little specificity or narrow and exclusive. Generally, two trends with regard to minority rights can be observed. On the one hand, in many countries, a comprehensive system of the legal protection of minorities has been introduced. Here the biggest problems stem from the difference between formal and informal rights. On the other hand, a number of countries have not legally committed themselves to the protection of minorities; ranging from inadequate safeguards to non-recognition of the minority. National minorities have received broad, although not well-differentiated, reporting in the international media and attention in international organisations and its impact on the discourse on religious rights have been minimal. However, minority religious rights have featured less significantly on the public agenda. The implications of the status of national minorities and religious groups are that many minorities believe that the majority group generally receive privileged status in state structures, while the minorities are viewed with suspicion. The issue of religious representation and safeguards arose within the Constitution of the Republic of Kenya ("Kenyan Constitution") where there is a recently concluded Constitutional Review Commission that had the Christian majority object to the "excessive protection" being granted to the Muslim minority. There was a huge debate as to the extent of inclusion of Sharia in the resultant draft constitution as well as the protection of fundamental principles of human rights and Islam. The question thus arises, should one apply Sharia or enshrine it in the constitution of a country, or will this involve overprotection that may lead to long-term exploitation of the law by the minority. The Arab Republic of Egypt ("Egypt") and the Republic of Kenya ("Kenya") have been chosen as case studies as they are interesting reflections of the development of states in Africa: Kenya with a Muslim minority maintaining a hold on the application of Islamic law where there is a Christian majority, while in Egypt the Copt and Shia Muslim populations are trying to assimilate into the state. Sharia is of imporance both to Kenya and Egypt. In Egypt the entire legal system is premised on the constitutional provision that Sharia is the principle source of law, thus some religious minorities in Egypt look for ways to maintain their identity and circumvent the application of Sharia provisions. Kenya, with a Muslim religious minority, is grappling with the concept of Sharia and how far it should apply to Muslims in a country. Thus these two countries have an inverse mirror image problem of each other as between the two major world religouns, Christianity and Islam. ... Chapter one sets out the content of the research, identifies the problem and applies the methodology. Chapter two discusses the international and regional law on religious minorities with a regional emphasis on African and the Arab region. Chapter three discusses the Islamic law on religious minorities, both Muslim minorities in non-Muslim states and non-Muslim minorities in Muslim states. Chapter four will focus on case studies comparing the protection accorded to the Muslims in Kenya with the Copts in Egypt, and analysing the extent to which Kenya and Egpyt have complied with international and regional law. Chapter five will set out recommendations and conclusions." -- Introduction. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Naz Modirzadeh at the Department of Political Sciences, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, The American University in Cairo, Egypt / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2004. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Over the last few years, the debate on what a secularized state is, and should be have been increasing in both spread and aggression. One of the many topics triggering this debate is the question if call to prayer should be allowed or not. The Islamic call to prayer is a phenomenon that awakes strong emotions and reactions in western society, and it has been well debated in media. The aim of this thesis is thus to investigate this debate and what ideological standpoints the arguments are based upon. sing the theories of Jürgen Habermas and José Casanova, on the theories of secularization, the debate on the permission of call to prayer in Växjö have been analysed. To give a fair representation of the debate, articles from four different, well established Swedish newspapers have been used.    It has been found that one of the most frequently used arguments against a permission is the fear that the allowance of one call to prayer a day will lead to more extreme, and eventually radical, Islamic elements in the Swedish society.  The study shows that the view of what a secularized state is, is diverse but can generally be divided into two categories, the view that proclaims positive or negative freedom of religion.  Among the arguments against the permission, most part are solely emotional, whereas the arguments supporting the permission often are more rational.     The conclusion is that main part of the arguments is based on liberal and democratic values but how they are interpreted varies. On the side supporting the permission, the arguments are based on equality, the importance of the freedom of speech and the belief that multicultural is enriching. On the opposite side, the arguments are based on the conservation of the Swedish heritage, the Christian faith and effective integration. Many arguments against a permission are problematic since they are constructed on an emotional basis. In a secular state, this type of questions should be handled rational, based on the law of freedom of religion.

The bachelor thesis examines the protection of religious freedom in Sweden and France, with a main point on the right to wear religious symbols and clothing. The subject is processed in relation to the Member States obligations in accordance with the freedom of religion, provided for in Article 9 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. The right to wear religious symbols and attire has a broad meaning, and in this thesis special focus is placed on the right to wear a religious veil, as the Swedish legal situation is in stark contrast to the French law's restrictive view on the subject. In order to answer the thesis main question, a legal-judicial and comparative law approach is applied. Legislation that has been dealt with in its entirety, is the second chapter in the Swedish regeringsformen (1974:152), the European Convention, the French principle of laïcité, the French Education Act (Article L141-5-1 du Code de l’éducation), the French law on the prohibition of veils in public environments (Loi n° 2010-1192  du 11 octobre 2010 interdisant la dissimulation du visage dans l'espace public) and the French Constitution (Constitution of October 4, 1958). Finally, the authors orientation in the research questions of the essay has been emphasized, and a remark about the French legislation has been made.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur lärare ser på konfessionalitet i utbildningen i svensk kommunal grundskola samt hur de tolkar det som står i skollagen med en icke-konfessionell skola. Med utgångspunkt i skolans styrdokument och forskning om icke-konfessionalitet, har vi utformat frågeformulär som aktiva lärare på grundskolan svarat på för att få fram empirin. Utifrån de 53 lärarnas svar har vi arbetat induktivt för att få fram kategorierna för analysen som sedan resultatet har bearbetats efter. Resultatet visar på lärares bristande kunskaper om vad icke-konfessionalitet innebär i den svenska kommunala grundskolan. Studien visar även på hur lärarnas arbetssätt skiljer sig åt både på monokulturella och mångkulturella skolor. Slutligen undersöker studien hur lärarnas fenomenologiska uppfattningar och det interkulturella pedagogiska perspektivet speglar sig i hur lärarna arbetar i verksamheten.

In recent years, circumcision of boys has sparked off debate in Sweden. Even though mostpoliticians do not consider the procedure as problematic, if the procedure is done beforepuberty as the rights are covered by the Swedish law on freedom of religion, the SwedishCentre Party are drafting a ban on religious circumcisions of boys. This essay aims to analyzethe current discourse surrounding the subject of circumcision.Circumcision of boys is a procedure of frequent occurrence in all parts of the world. Thecircumcision is most often performed when the boy is an infant, or of such a low age, that thechild is too young to understand and give consent for such a procedure. Therefore, it is mostoften the guardian who decides if a circumcision is to be performed. In the current discourse,many regard circumcision as a way for the child or guardian to express their religion, since itis the right of the guardians to pass on their religion onto their child. Consequently, a ban oncircumcision of boys would discriminate against people belonging to the Jewish and Muslimfaith who will not be able to perform their religious duties freely, which could result in theincrease of isolation and segregation in society. Many see the choice of religion as a right thatis to be taken by the child, and that is why a prohibition on circumcision of boys is advocatedby some groups in society.According to the ‘UN Convention on the Rights of the Child’, all the decisions involving achild are to be taken while considering the well-being and what is best for the child inquestion. There is concurrently legislation that allows circumcision of boys on the conditionthat both guardians give their consent. The ones advocating for a ban on circumcision of boysargue that the procedure is against the well-being of the child as it is a limitation of the child’sbest interest and bodily integrity. While the side arguing for circumcision of boys consider theprocedure as part of the religious identity and the group identity, and that the procedure alsohas medical benefits that are considered to be favorable for the child’s well-being. / Omskärelse av pojkar har väckt debatt i Sverige under de senaste åren. Även om de flestapolitiker inte anser att ingreppet är problematiskt om det sker innan puberteten och medhänvisning till lagen om religionsfrihet, arbetar Centerpartiet för ett förbud mot religiösomskärelse av pojkar. Uppsatsen syftar till att analysera nuvarande diskurser kring omskärelseav pojkar.Omskärelse av pojkar är ett ingrepp som är vanligt förekommande i hela världen, liksom iSverige. Omskärelsen sker oftast när pojken är ett spädbarn eller i för låg ålder för att kunnaförstå och samtycka till ingreppet. Därav är det i de flesta fallen vårdnadshavarna sombeslutar om att omskärelsen ska ske. I de rådande diskurser betraktar många omskärelser somett uttryck för barnets och vårdnadshavarnas religionsfrihet, eftersom vårdnadshavarna harrätt till att föra över sin tro på sitt barn. Därmed anses förbud mot omskärelse varadiskriminering mot muslimer och judar som inte kan utföra sin religion fritt, vilket kan ökasegregationen i samhället och känslan av utanförskap. Medan många tolkar barnets religionsom barnets rätt att fritt välja sin religion därmed hävdar dem ett förbud mot omskärelse avpojkar.Enligt FN:s barnkonvention ska alla beslut rörande barn fattas utifrån barnets bästa. Samtidigthar vi en lagstiftning som tillåter omskärelse av pojkar om både vårdnadshavarna uttryckersitt medgivande. De som förespråkar ett förbud mot omskärelse anser att ingreppet är motbarnets bästa eftersom det innebär inskränkning av barnets intresse och kroppsliga integritet.Medan de som är för ingreppet anser att ingreppet ingår i den religiösaidentiteten/gruppidentiteten och medför medicinska fördelar vilka anses vara för barnetsbästa.

Many studies have been completed on factors affecting judicial decisions. Studies have focused on civil rights cases, economic cases, criminal cases, sexual discrimination and obscenity cases, but no work has specifically looked at religious liberty cases. This work examines the factors affecting United States Courts of Appeals judges' decision-making in religious liberty cases. I hypothesize that gender, race, religious background, prior judicial experience, circuit, region and litigant status will all influence the way judges vote in religious liberty cases. The explanatory power of this study is relatively low, but the results indicate that judges follow the law when making decisions in religious liberty cases.

Generally, traditional "marriages" according to Islamic custom are void in South African law because they are potentially polygynous and do not comply with the formalities prescribed by the Marriage Act 25 of 1961 . A valid concern for those who oppose polygyny is that it may enforce and promote gender inequality in that it is practised in patriarchal Muslim societies. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 1996 contains numerous provisions aimed at combating gender inequalities, and these could be used to justify the policy of non-recognition. On the other hand, the Constitution has ushered in an era of tolerance and empathy; and the equality and religion clauses could be used to ensure that polygynous marriages are no longer ignored. This study will examine the tensions between Muslim personal law and clauses in the Constitution which have led to calls for the reformation and codification of Muslim personal law. / Private Law / LL. M.