News from August 2017
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: The constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the right to worship according to one’s own beliefs but states citizens must accept restrictions established by law to protect the rights of others and to satisfy “just demands based upon considerations of morality, religious values, security, and public...
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: The constitution defines the country as an Islamic republic and designates Islam as the sole religion of the citizens and state. Only Muslims may be citizens, and apostasy is a crime punishable by death. On Nov. 15, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of blogger Mohamad Cheikh Ould Mohamad...
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
Release: The constitution guarantees the right of individuals to worship according to their beliefs. It establishes the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC) as the national church, which has privileges not available to other religious groups. Other religious groups must register with the government to receive tax ...
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
Release: The constitution and other laws provide for freedom of religion, including the freedom to change religion, and prohibit discrimination based on religious belief. Rastafarians were concerned about access to public education. Muslims objected to a government policy that required women to remove the hijab for identification and passport photographs.
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: The constitution establishes the state as secular, prohibits religious harassment, and provides for freedom of religion and worship. During the year, the government implemented a series of measures, which it stated it took to preserve order within religious groups undergoing internal disputes. These...
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
Release: The constitution states the state is secular, prohibits religious discrimination, and provides for the right of individuals to choose and profess their religion. The Secretariat of Religious Affairs (SRA) issues weekly themes for inclusion in Friday sermons at mosques and Sunday sermons in churches.
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: Moroccan laws and policies regarding religion and religious organizations apply in the approximately 85 percent of the Western Sahara administered by Morocco. The Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO), a Sahrawi independence movement based in Algeria, administers the...
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
Release: The constitution and laws provide for freedom of religion and the right to profess one’s faith freely. The constitution provides that the government will support the Roman Catholic Church. By law, public schools are secular, but private schools run by registered religious institutions are eligible for...
By Commerce Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: Information systems-from communications platforms to internet-connected devices-require both security and privacy safeguards to work successfully and protect users in our increasingly complex and interconnected world.
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: The constitution provides protections for religious freedom with “reasonable restrictions" to ensure public order and the rights of other individuals. The constitution provides for the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and belief and to the free exercise of religion. Ahmadi Muslims continued to report some difficulties in receiving government approval for conducting community-sponsored social welfare projects.
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
Release: The constitution prohibits discrimination based on religion and provides for freedom of conscience, religion, belief, and thought. The Malawi Human Rights Commission investigated one case of religious discrimination against a Rastafarian student for wearing dreadlocks, but it was unresolved at year’s...
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: The provisional federal constitution (PFC) provides for the right of individuals to practice their religion, makes Islam the state religion, prohibits the propagation of any religion other than Islam, and stipulates all laws must comply with the general principles of sharia. The federal government was...
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: The constitution and other laws and policies prohibit religious discrimination and protect religious freedom, including the freedom to practice any religion or belief through worship, teaching, or observance and to debate religious questions. The constitution provides for special qadi courts to adjudicate...
By DOJ Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: FORT WORTH, Texas - A Stephenville, Texas, resident, Kristopher Ray Facio, 26, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 480 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in April 2017 to an information charging one count of attempted coercion and enticement, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
Release: The constitution gives individuals the right to choose, change, and freely practice their religion, and prohibits religious discrimination. It specifically recognizes the right of indigenous communities to express their religion freely. The constitution states relations between the state and the Catholic...
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: The constitution prohibits religious discrimination and provides for freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the right to worship, alone or in community with others, and to change religion or belief. Although the law requires new religious groups to register, unregistered groups were...
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
Release: The provisional federal constitution (PFC) provides for the right of individuals to practice their religion, makes Islam the state religion, prohibits the propagation of any religion other than Islam, and stipulates all laws must comply with the general principles of sharia. The federal government was...
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: The constitution states Islam is the state religion and sharia shall be “a main source" of legislation. The constitution guarantees the freedom to practice religious rites in accordance with “the maintenance of public order and morality." Religious groups must register with the government to acquire...
By DOJ Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that GRAHAM ALLEN HELMS, age 29, of Durant, Oklahoma, pled guilty to two counts of BANK ROBBERY, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2113(a), punishable by not more than 20 years imprisonment, and up to a $250,000.00 fine or both.
By State Newswire | Aug 15, 2017
News Release: The constitutions of the union government and of the semiautonomous government in Zanzibar both prohibit religious discrimination and provide for freedom of religious choice. Three individuals were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the arson of a church in Kagera. A Christian bishop in...
