Religious Extremism

Public Protests in Iran Against Acid Attacks Against Women by Islamist Vigilantes

October 23, 2014

Following a recent series of attacks by Islamist vigilantes who threw acid in the face of Iranian women as punishment for "poor veiling" with the chador (hijab), Iranians have taken to the streets to protest the government's failure to use the full measure of the justice system to detain and prosecute the perpetrators of the assaults.
Saudi Application of Sharia for Public Beheadings Echoes IS Practices in Iraq and Syria

October 22, 2014

Saudi Arabia's justice system has come under criticism from international human rights groups, who point out that the use of sharia law to limit due process rights and to justify public beheadings reflects the same practices being used by the Islamist terror group The Islamic State (“IS”) in Iraq and Syria.
Islamist Political Parties at Center of Egyptian Court Decision on Ban of Religious Parties

October 22, 2014

Egypt's Court of Urgent Matters is deciding a lawsuit that would require the disbanding of a range of Islamist political parties, based on the constitutional prohibition on parties "formed on the basis of religion, gender or ethnic discrimination, sectarianism, or geographical location.”
Saudi Arabia's Death by Crucifixion Sentence for Shiite Cleric Highlights Sunni-Shiite Cleavage

October 22, 2014

Saudi Arabia's Specialised Criminal Court condemned a Shiite cleric to death by crucifixion for charges that international human rights experts are criticizing as violations of freedom of speech and religion and as part of the Wahhabi fundamentalist regime's ongoing repression of the country's Shiite minority.
Pakistan's Islamist Blasphemy Laws Mean Death Sentence for Christian

October 22, 2014

Pakistan's High Court has upheld the death sentence ruling against Asia Bibi, a Christian woman whose conviction of blasphemy under the country's notorious Islamist laws has mobilized international human rights actors who criticize the blasphemy laws for their arbitrary and expansive free speech and religious freedom limitations.
Islamic State Condemned by U.S. as Non-Islamic and Enemy of Islam

October 22, 2014

The violent Islamists leading The Islamic State's admitted practices of raping, trafficking, and enslaving young women and girls from captive minority religious communities have been officially condemned by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry as "an enemy of Islam" and as a group that "does not represent Islam."
Tunisian Islamists Declare Willingness for Coalition Government

October 17, 2014

The leadership of Tunisia's Islamist Party, Ennahda, has declared its willingness to cooperate in a coalition government with non-Islamist parties, as the country's still-fragile democratization process plays out with upcoming legislative elections.
UN Reports on Islamic State's Mass Enslavement of Women and Girls

October 08, 2014

A newly issued report by the United Nations Human Rights Office states that militant extremists directing The Islamic State have organized the mass enslavement and trafficking of women and girls to Islamist extremist fighters, as well as a range of gross human rights abuses that comprise a "systematic policy that aims to suppress, permanently cleanse or expel" Christians, Yazidis, and non-Sunni-extremist Muslims from Iraq and Syria.
Turkey to Build International Islamic University to Promote Turkish Islam

October 08, 2014

Turkey's chief imam, the government minister who heads the Directorate of Religious Affairs (“DRA”), has announced the country's plans to establish an International Islamic University, aimed at the global promotion of "Turkish Islam" and reflecting the continuing Islamization of higher education in Turkey.
Indonesia's Aceh Province Extends Sharia Law to Non-Muslims

October 08, 2014

The local government of Indonesia's Aceh Province has approved new legislation that will apply sharia law, including limitations on personal rights, marriage, and media freedoms, to non-Muslims, and will punish violations with lashing and imprisonment.