scholarly journals Tying the Knot: A Holistic Approach to the Enhancement of Religious Minority Rights and Freedom of Religion

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 689
Author(s):  
Silvio Ferrari ◽  
Kerstin Wonisch ◽  
Roberta Medda-Windischer
Keyword(s):  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Politics Of Difference

The debate on religious minority rights has long been stranded in the shallows of a sterile juxtaposition between the politics of sameness and the politics of difference [...]

I. The Northern Ireland Peace Agreement, Minority Rights and Self-Determination

1998 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 943-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Warbrick ◽  
Dominic McGoldrick ◽  
Geoff Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
The Other ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
The Right

The Northern Ireland Peace Agreement1 was concluded following multi-party negotiations on Good Friday, 10 April 1998. It received 71 per cent approval in Northern Ireland and 95 per cent approval in the Republic of Ireland in the subsequent referenda held on Friday 22 May, the day after Ascension. To some, it must have seemed that the timing was singularly appropriate following 30 years of “The Troubles”, which were perceived as being between a “Catholic minority” and a “Protestant majority”. While there are some minority groups identified by their religious affiliation that do require rights relating only to their religion, such as the right to worship in community,2 to practise and profess their religion,3 to legal recognition as a church,4 to hold property5 and to determine its own membership,6 some minority groups identified by their religious affiliation are properly national or ethnic minorities–religion is merely one factor which distinguishes them from the other groups, including the majority, in the population. One example of the latter situation is to be seen in (Northern) Ireland where there is, in fact, untypically, a double minority: the Catholic-nationalist community is a minority in Northern Ireland, but the Protestant-unionist population is a minority in the island of Ireland as a whole.7 The territory of Northern Ireland is geographically separate from the rest of the United Kingdom. The recent peace agreement addresses a whole range of issues for Northern Ireland, but included are, on the one hand, rights for the populations based on their religious affiliation, their culture and their language and, on the other, rights with respect to their political participation up to the point of external self-determination. It is a holistic approach. Like any good minority rights agreement,8 it deals with both standards and their implementation and, like any good minority rights agreement, it is not a minority rights agreement but, rather, a peace settlement.

The Politics of Religious Pluralism in Indonesia: The Shi'a Response to the Sampang Incidents of 2011–12

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-64
Author(s):  
Ken Miichi ◽  
Yuka Kayane
Keyword(s):  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Religious Intolerance ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
Direct Elections

AbstractAn increasing number of reports and studies on offenses against religious minorities has been published in Indonesia since the country's democratic transition in 1998. While the literature on intolerance unveils the young democracy's institutional problems which have undermined and eroded minority rights, such as direct elections and the lack of judicial independence, it leaves many critical questions to address. Although the number of victims of religious intolerance increased, in the same institutional settings, a large number of religious minorities has managed to prevent escalating violence and avoid being targeted by intolerant groups. Under what circumstances and how do minorities deter attacks in a time of heightened tension against them under a democratic system that has afforded them little protection? This article sheds light on the case of the Shi'a who suffered a series of attacks in Sampang, Madura in the East Java province, but have since gradually developed resilience. A series of attacks in Sampang in 2011–12 was one of the most destructive events against religious minorities in Indonesia. Examining the Sampang incidents, this article argues that if the religious minority can develop a cohesive network with elements of the majority capable of mobilising state power, it would build a safety net preventing attacks by intolerant groups. Thus, this article aims to develop our understanding of how religious minorities address violence caused by hostile socio-political forces and adapt to Indonesia's democracy.

The Place of the Niqab in the Courtroom

ICL Journal ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vrinda Narain
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Fair Trial ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Reasonable Accommodation ◽  
Critical Multiculturalism ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Right ◽  
Religious Reasons

AbstractThis paper analyzes the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R v NS, 2012 SCC 72 where the Court considered if a witness who wears a niqab for religious reasons can be required to remove it while testifying. The Court identified the two Charter rights engaged: the witness’ freedom of religion and the accused’s fair trial rights, including the right to make full answer and defense. This paper focuses on those aspects of the Supreme Court’s decision that relate to religious freedom, multiculturalism and reasonable accommodation. Analyzing the Court’s reasoning through the lens of critical multiculturalism, I consider the potential of the reasonable accommodation framework to forward minority rights. I suggest that had the Supreme Court applied an intersectional framework to adjudicating NS’s claim, it could have crafted a more contextual response based on her location along multiple axes of discrimination: gender, religion and racialised minority. This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of mediating individual and group tensions, to move towards a more inclusive notion of citizenship than can foster a commitment to a shared multicultural future.

Religious Pluralism and Human Rights in Europe: Where to Draw the Line? Religion, Secular Beliefs and Human Rights, 25 Years After the 1981 Declaration

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-544
Author(s):  
Nazila Ghanea
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Freedom Of Association ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
The Social ◽  
Vexing Question ◽  
Do So

AbstractThese two books address the vexing question of human rights and freedom of religion or belief essentially in two different contexts and from two different perspectives: the European and the international. They do so in a broad manner, addressing the social, political, legal and policy implications of religion at large as well as freedom of religion or belief itself. From an overview of both, it can be seen that neither minority rights, cultural rights, freedom of expression nor freedom of association compensate the absence of freedom of religion or belief in human rights terms.

scholarly journals Book Review: Author: Al Khanif; Title: Religious Minorities, Islam, and The Law: International Human Rights and Islamic Law in Indonesia; Publisher: Routledge, 2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Abubakar Eby Hara
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Review Author ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
International Human ◽  
Minority View ◽  
Secular State

This book examines religious minority rights in Islam in Indonesia from the international and local human rights perspectives. Its main contribution lies in the effort to find Indonesia's uniqueness in managing minority rights in religion. This study leads the author to a rich discussion of how international human rights through its activists spread the need for freedom of every citizen and how advocates of religious orthodoxy ​​respond to it. In contrast to analysts who use the dichotomous view of the acceptance or rejection of international human rights values, the author sees complexity in the process of spreading these values. It can be said that there is a process of modifying the values ​​of secularism in human rights and localization to make these values ​​an integral part of society. In this line of view, the author calls the Indonesian state a quasi-theistic secular state which means that Indonesia is a secular country but friendly and tries to guarantee freedom of religion and worship. In the case of minority rights in Islam, the state prioritizes harmony in society and supports the orthodox views of the majority. The minority view must be assimilated with the orthodox teachings of Islam to get a place to live. The quasi-theistic secular state continues to experience contestation and has undergone a long construction process based on the narration of the peaceful entry of Islam and the relatively moderate character of Indonesian Islam. At a certain level, this state concept has developed to be an identity and norms that become a reference for how to treat religious minorities. The author thus succeeded in showing that Indonesia is an example of a country that can develop its own identity and norms of religious life that are different from that of the Western secular state system.

scholarly journals MENGKAJI POLITIK HUKUM KEBEBASAN BERAGAMA DAN BERKEYAKINAN DI INDONESIA

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muktiono Muktiono
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
National Legal System ◽  
International Human ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
Human Rights Norms

Indonesia has entered the era of human rights characterized by increasingly massive domestication of the international human rights norms in national legal system. In such a situation, in fact, the rights to freedom of religion and of belief for minorities have not received their benefits and instead they become victims. This Article seeks to investigate how it can happen by using the legal politics analysis as perspective. Legal politics here will focus on how the governments of several regimes in Indonesia have used their legislation and policy to regulate matters relating to the rights to freedom of religion and belief. In addition, it will also see how the Constitutional Court contributed to this issue by influencing the legal politics as this Court is the sole authority in interpreting the constitutional right to the freedom of religion and belief thereby affecting its normation and implementation. Key words:  Religious minority group, human rights, legal politics of Indonesia

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