Religion and Human Rights

Catholic rights discourse in nineteenth-century Germany: Bishop Ketteler protected religious and social freedoms from the equal threats of secularizing liberalism and …

by Martin O'Malley

‘Rastafari and Cannabis: Framing a Criminal Law Exemption’

by Matt Gibson

(2010) 12 (3) Ecclesiastical Law Journal 324 - 344.

Rastafari cannabis use presents a challenge in reconciling the doctrines of freedom of religion and the criminal law.... more Rastafari cannabis use presents a challenge in reconciling the doctrines of freedom of religion and the criminal law. Hitherto, the domestic courts have not resolved this clash in favour of religion, displaying reluctance to explore the doctrinal limits of religious freedom. This has occurred at a time of increasing Rastafari numbers across the United Kingdom, forcing some followers to choose between adherence to either their religion or generally applicable criminal laws. Such ‘choice’ inhibits the development of domestic religious freedoms where they conflict with criminal laws protecting wider societal and communitarian interests. This dilemma could be addressed through a statutory exemption in England and Wales from domestic anti-drugs legislation for purposes of religious manifestation. This paper examines the difficult balance between the criminal law and Rastafari cannabis claims in the relevant jurisprudence. A comparative analysis highlights that treatment of religious freedom in Rastafari cannabis case law outlines not only doctrinal scope for a domestic religious drug-use exemption, but also some ways in which regulation could be practically framed. Other jurisdictions' attitudes to non-religious recreational drug use are also instructive in this task.

Do the values that are called “human rights” have independent and universal validity, or are they historically and culturally relative human inventions?

by Aljaž Jelenko

Religion, Human Rights and the Role of Culture

by M Y Karen Lee

15(6) (2010) International Journal of Human Rights 887-904

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is widely taken as the only universal framework of human rights today. With... more The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is widely taken as the only universal framework of human rights today. With the diversity that existed at its drafting, it aimed to speak to the world to the tune of a vague and abstract universalism. When aspirations turn into practice, this universalism appears to be in conflict with the particularism inherent in religion. The solution does not lie in excluding religion in the discussion of common good. For religion is part of human rights history. The challenge lies, instead, in making religion part of the civil society and nurturing a culture of intellectual solidarity.

Regenerating the State in the Arab World: The Role Of the European Union in Democracy Building

by Noufal Abboud

expertiza in materia drepturilor omului si a dreptului european

by Antonescu Madalina Virginia

7. "Rabbinic Nazi Camp Survivors and the Call for a Religious Protection of Human Prerogatives"

by Isaac Hershkowitz

in: M. Neerland-Solime (ed.), Prisoners of War and Forced Labor: Histories of War and Occupation (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010), pp. 138-149.

Universal Human Rights and Non-Western Normative Systems: A comparative analysis of violence against women in Mexico and Pakistan

by Silvie Bovarnick

Published in the Review of International Studies. (33): 59-74.

Abstract:

How universally useful are human rights in addressing violence against women? This paper... more Abstract:

How universally useful are human rights in addressing violence against women? This paper addresses this question by looking at the link between gender, ethnicity and human rights to uncover the complexities that underpin current debates about universal justice and multiculturalism. While my discussion of rape in Mexico and Pakistan illustrates significant particularities with respect to how violence against women is constituted in these different cultural contexts, it also shows that culturally specific manifestations of violence against women often share striking similarities in the way that they are allowed to persist, justified and made invisible. As such, they are part of a global mechanism that reproduces gender subordination in a predominantly patriachial world.

The Struggle Over Muslim Personal Law In A Rights-Based Constitution. A South African Case Study

by Abdulkader Tayob

Tayob, A. (2005) The struggle over Muslim Personal Law in a rights-based constitution: a South African case study. Recht van de Islam, 22, 1-16.

The recognition of religious law in a democracy provides a good study of the impact of the constitution on the... more The recognition of religious law in a democracy provides a good study of the impact of the constitution on the practice of religion in a multicultural society. This paper discusses the debate over the nature and form of Muslim Personal Law and a rights-based constitution in South Africa. In reviews the debate between competing interpretations within Muslim society. Secondly, it also places the debate in the context of a changing legal culture with respect to the practice of religion and a rights culture.

Human Rights in China —Examining the Human Rights Values in The Chinese Confucian Tradition

by Mee-Yin Mary Yuen

Different countries have their own cultural and ethical traditions for sustaining human flourishing and to build a... more Different countries have their own cultural and ethical traditions for sustaining human flourishing and to build a good society. Since 1948 and the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, the human rights discourse has become one of the global ethical discourses for upholding human dignity. Because of its global usage, it is worth examining the common values between human rights discourse and other ethical traditions such as Chinese Confucian ethics. Because of the different interpretations of human rights and Confucianism from the governments (both East and West) and from civic organizations or scholars, in this paper I have examined the main ideas of Confucianism through reading the original texts and interpretations of some scholars, so as to uncover those values which can uphold human dignity and freedom, especially freedom of conscience and expression.

In this paper, I have examined the main ideas of Confucian ethics which seems to be not as compatible with human rights thought. I found that although no obvious rights language is used in Confucian ethics, they share some commonalities. The overarching concept of ren, or benevolence with an altruistic direction, that defines a person’s relationship with others not only within the role-based framework but also toward other suffering people, is of utmost importance in building a society with care and love, which is also valuable in human rights ethics. With this notion of ren, one will appreciate more the contextual self and role-based ethics of reciprocal relationships in Confucian thought. Moreover, I have also investigated the concept of relationship between the ruler and the people under a benevolent government with a virtuous ruler in early Confucian thought and rule by law in the later thought. The ruler as a virtuous person or a moral ideal may not be the most important requirement for a ruler in the western countries. But many Chinese people expect their rulers to have high moral standards, though this is not a sufficient condition to be a good ruler. A virtuous leader is important in the sense that such a ruler would treat the common people justly with respect and kindness, and bring peace and security to people. In addition to this, governance by law is necessary to control the ruler who may abuse his power.

Furthermore, the notion of harmony which emphasizes not only dissolving conflict but building a relationship of mutual trust and respect, has been studied. Harmony is the goal of measuring human relationships as well as social order, between the rulers and the ruled people, and among people themselves. This notion is very much related to freedom of conscience as one should be allowed peaceful free expression in a harmonious society. Finally, the concept of governance through moral persuasion which allows comments and opinions from ministers and people has been examined. Together with the above understanding, one can say that if the ruler makes mistakes, the ministers and people should be allowed to remonstrate or criticize the ruler, so that the common good can be realized.

Besides the above, from the development of discourse on human rights and religious freedom in the Roman Catholic tradition, we can see that living traditions can learn from others and develop or change. The development of a Catholic theory of human rights with its own characteristics shows that Confucian ethics can also have its own ethical discourse with human rights value with its own special features. From the above analysis, although we can see differences between the two traditions, overlapping consensus is also highly possible. Putting aside the political factor, if the common values of human rights and Confucian ethics are recognized and affirmed by government of China and other western countries, I believe that Chinese people, and other people in the world at large, would benefit and their freedom of conscience upheld.

Tayob, Abdulkader. "Human Rights". In Oxford Bibliographies Online. 17-Nov-2010. <http://www.oxfordbibliographiesonline.com/>.

by Abdulkader Tayob

The study of Islam and human rights looks at the relationship between a specific culture and way of life on the one... more The study of Islam and human rights looks at the relationship between a specific culture and way of life on the one hand and a set of universal values and legal instruments on the other. Agreements and charters on various aspects of human rights were presented and adopted by the United Nations, which was established soon after World War II. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 was followed by other agreements and instruments on economic and social rights; on the rights of children, migrant workers and their families, and other vulnerable groups and individuals; and against racial and gender discrimination. In the discussion on Islam and human rights, Islam was represented by states and in public debate. At the formal level of the United Nations, Islam was represented by specific Muslim states and their legal and religious institutions. Since 1948 and particularly after the 1970s, the relationship between Islam and human rights has increasingly been debated by religious scholars, secular intellectuals, activists, and ordinary Muslims.

Justice and The Khmer Rouge: Concepts of Just Response to the Crimes of the Democratic Kampuchean regime in Buddhism and The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia at the time of the Khmer Rouge tribunal.

by Tallyn Gray

Masters thesis: Pre-Print copy Added to The Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) Analysis of the Tribunal section, also at the data base of The Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies at Lund University-

A modified version of this paper has been published by National University of Malaysia's Institute of Ethnic Studies(KITA) as a volume in their UKM Ethnic Studies Paper Series


Gray, Tallyn (2010) Justice and the Khmer Rouge: Ideas of a just response to the atrocities of Democratic Kampuchea in Buddhism and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
Siri Kertas Kajian Etnik UKM, (UKM Ethnic Studies Paper Series No. 16 ,November 2010): Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), Bangi, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (National University of Malaysia)

The purpose of this study was to analyze two approaches to concepts of a just
response to the atrocities of... more The purpose of this study was to analyze two approaches to concepts of a just
response to the atrocities of Democratic Kampuchea as they are presently operating in
the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and in Khmer Buddhism. It
assessed what Buddhism and the ECCC offer in answer to Cambodians’ justice needs
and where both ways of conceiving justice overlap and diverge. The research was a
qualitative study from a constructivist perspective using semi-structured in-depth
interviews with the monastic community, an official at the ECCC and a group of
therapists at an NGO working with survivors. It concluded that in order to answer the
justice deficit left by the Khmer Rouge era a polyphonic response working at a micro
and macro level, involving both an official process and others rooted in local cultural
dynamics is required in order to provide survivors with ways to express their
suffering, receive acknowledgement of it, and have their persecutors held to account.
Both Buddhism and the ECCC offer ideas on retributive and restorative modes of
justice that are complementary to each other and provided a way to calm minds that
are still deeply wounded 30 years after the end of the regime.

Official narratives, restricted justice? Cambodian responses to the Khmer Rouge tribunals historical narrative of the Democratic Kampuchean era.

by Tallyn Gray

Presented at 'Worlds of Violence' Postgraduate Conference, 9-10 September, 2010, Department of History, University of Essex

Thirty years after the fall of Democratic Kampuchea five former figures of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, deemed to... more Thirty years after the fall of Democratic Kampuchea five former figures of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, deemed to be ‘most responsible’ for the atrocities of that era are on trial at a  hybrid local/international court in Phnom Penh.

Domestic and international political and legal factors are engaging with and actively constructing an ‘official’ narrative of the history of the Khmer Rouge era through the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia(ECCC) . However this  ‘official’ historical narrative while offering some comfort to survivors is deliberately limited, leaving gaps and voices unheard.
While the court itself is new, the process of dealing with traumatic history and memory has been an ongoing process within Cambodian cultural and societal dynamics since 1979. 

This paper utilizes secondary sources and primary sources collected by the author to discuss  how processes within Cambodian culture, in particular Buddhist ontologies, have  been and are currently dealing with the historical legacy of the Khmer Rouge parallel to and in partnership with the ongoing legal process.