II.2.1.4.3 Religion

Main Point

Public religious activity v. private worship

Soft Law

  1. UNHCR, ‘Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees’, HCR/IP/4/Rev.1, 1979, paras. 71–73, 167–174.
  2. OHCHR, Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion and Belief, UN General Assembly Resolution, A/RES/36/55, 25 November 1981.

UNHCR Documents

  1. UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection: “Religion-Based Refugee Claims under Art. 1A (2) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees”', April 2004.
  2. UNHCR, ’UNHCR statement on religious persecution and the interpretation of Article 9(1) of the EU Qualification Directive’, 17 June 2011, C-71/11 & C-99/11.

Cases

  1. Toufighi v. Mukasey, 538 F. 3d 988 (9thCir. 2008). (US judicial decision ruling that conversion from Islam to Christianty was not genuine and would not result in apostasy charges if returned to Iran).
  2. Dobrican v. INS 77, F 3d 164 (7th Circuit 1996). (US judicial decision on religious objections to military service by Jehovah’s Witness in Romania).
  3. Ahmad and Others v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, (CA) (1990) Imm AR 61. (UK judicial decision on persecution of Ahmadiyas in Pakistan).

Readings

Core

  1. G. Goodwin-Gill and J. McAdam, The Refugee in International Law, 3rd edition, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), pp. 71–72, 104–116. [G. Goodwin-Gill, The Refugee in International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), pp. 44–45, 54–59.]
  2. J. Hathaway and M. Foster, The Law of Refugee Status (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), pp. 399-405. [J. Hathaway, The Law of Refugee Status (Toronto: Butterworths, 1991), pp. 145–148.]
  3. K. Musalo, ‘Claims for Protection Based on Religion or Belief’, International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 16, no. 2 (2004), pp. 165–226.

Extended

  1. J. Hathaway and M. Foster, The Law of Refugee Status, 2nd edition, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), pp. 262-274.
  2. A. Zimmerman, C. Mahler, ‘Article 1A, Paragraph 2’, in A. Zimmerman (ed.), The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and Its 1967 Protocol: A Commentary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 379–387.

Editor’s Note

It should be noted that many forms of persecution may be related to overlapping grounds under Article 1. Although persecution related to military conscription tends to be viewed as triggered by religious objection, it may also implicate political opinion.

It may also be useful to think about the scope of protected activities under the 1951 Geneva Convention. With regard to religion, does, or should, it include non-traditional religious beliefs? Anti-religious beliefs? Satanism? Witchcraft?

 II.2.1.4.3 Religion II.2.1.4.3 Religion

UNHCR DocumentsUNHCR Documents

#NameSize
1UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection: “Religion-Based Refugee Claims under Art. 1A (2) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees”’, April 2004.UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection: “Religion-Based Refugee Claims under Art. 1A (2) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees”’, April 2004.Empty

CasesCases

#NameSize
1Dobrican v. INS 77, F 3d 164 (7th Cir 1996)Dobrican v. INS 77, F 3d 164 (7th Cir 1996)Empty
2Ahmad and Others v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, (CA) (1990) Imm AR 61. Ahmad and Others v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, (CA) (1990) Imm AR 61. Empty