News from June 2019
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution guarantees the freedom of religion, as well as the right to change one’s religion, forbids the establishment of a state religion, guarantees equality for all religious groups, and prohibits incitement of religious hatred. Some religious groups and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution provides the right to manifest religion or belief in worship, observance, practice, or teaching, either individually or in community with others, and either in public or in private. The law prohibits discrimination based on religious belief. In response to 2017 media reports that a little-used...
By Homeland Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: Washington, D.C. - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program has awarded the 1,000th SBIR contract since the program’s initiation in 2004. The 1,000th contract is one of twenty-four awarded as part of the FY19.1 Solicitation Phase I awards, bringing the total number of SBIR contracts to 1,018.
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution prohibits religious discrimination and provides for freedom of conscience, thought, and religion, including the freedom to change religion or belief and to manifest and propagate one’s religion. The government continued to provide extensive support for schools operated by religious groups, including paying and certifying all teachers.
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The law and unimplemented constitution prohibit religiously motivated discrimination and provide for freedom of thought, conscience, and belief as well as the freedom to practice any religion. The government recognizes four officially registered religious groups: the Eritrean Orthodox Church, Sunni Islam...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and the law prohibits discrimination based on religious orientation. Federal law bans covering one’s face in public. Jewish and Muslim groups launched legal challenges against laws, scheduled to take effect in 2019 in Wallonia and Flanders, banning the ...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion, including the freedom of individuals to change their religion. Rastafarians continued to disagree with the government’s ban on marijuana, stating it was integral to their religious rituals. They said, however, that draft legislation introduced in September...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and religion and bans religious groups from undertaking actions inciting religious hatred. It establishes the separation of religion and state and prohibits pursuit of political goals by religious groups. The law requires all religious groups to register...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion and equal protection under the law regardless of religion. It prohibits all forms of religious intolerance and “religious fundamentalism." The law also requires the head of state to take an oath of office that includes a promise to fulfill the duties...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution establishes the state as secular, prohibits religious harassment, and provides for freedom of religion and worship. Religious leaders stated that security forces battling armed Anglophone separatists in the Northwest and Southwest Regions killed three clerics. On several occasions, Christians...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
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. Most areas of the country...
By DOJ Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: Scores of suspected criminals were arrested and dozens of firearms seized as part of “Operation Steel Penguin," which targeted people believed to illegally possess firearms.
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution prohibits religious discrimination and stipulates there shall be no state religion. It provides for freedom of belief, the right to practice and promote any religion, and to belong to and participate in the practices of any religious organization in a manner consistent with the constitution.
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution establishes the country as a “secular state" but defines secularism as “protection of the age-old religion and culture and religious and cultural freedom." It provides for the right to profess and practice one’s own religion. The constitution prohibits converting persons from one religion...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution states Buddhism is the state religion, and it is promoted by the government through holiday observances, religious training, Buddhist instruction in public schools, and financial support to Buddhist institutions. The law provides for freedom of belief and religious worship, provided...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution designates Islam as the state religion, requires citizens to be Muslim, and requires public office holders, including the president, to be followers of Sunni Islam. The constitution provides for limitations on rights and freedoms “to protect and maintain the tenets of Islam." The law...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
Release: The constitution defines the country as an Islamic republic and designates Islam as the sole religion of the citizenry and state. Only Muslims may be citizens. In April the National Assembly voted to amend the penal code to remove the discretion of the courts in imposing death sentences for apostasy...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
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 State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and the law prohibits discrimination based on religious orientation. Federal law bans covering one’s face in public. Jewish and Muslim groups launched legal challenges against laws, scheduled to take effect in 2019 in Wallonia and Flanders, banning the...
By State Newswire | Jun 21, 2019
News Release: The constitution provides for freedom of religion and prohibits discrimination based on religion. The government continued to ban the use of marijuana, including for religious activities, which affects some practitioners of the Rastafarian religion. Civil society sources stated Rastafarians still faced...
