UN Side Event: Annual Report of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
A series of events under the theme Comparative and International Perspectives against the Background of the Annual Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief was held in New York City on October 22 and 23, 2015 in connection with the delivery of the Annual Report at the United Nations by Special Rapporteur Heiner Bielefeldt.
Following the delivery on Thursday of the Report entitled “The Rights of the Child and His or Her Parents in the Area of Freedom of Religion or Belief”, a reception was held honoring Heiner Bielefeldt and discussing…
UN Side Event: The State of Religious Freedom
In an event that took place at the United Nations in New York City on 28 October 2016, Professor Heiner Bielefeldt provided a thoughtful retrospective look at his six-year tenure as UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Professor Bielefeldt was to be joined by Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, set to replace Professor Bielefeldt in office on November 1, but laryngitis prevented Mr. Shaheed from joining him.
Stephen Hickey, Political Counsellor at the UK Mission to the United Nations in New York welcomed the group and made brief remarks on freedom of religion and belief. David Colton, representative in New York for LDS Charities, acted as the moderator of the event. Professor Bielefeldt’s…
Center Sponsors UN Side Event on Religious Freedom: New York City October 2014
A United Nations Side Event held on October 24, 2014, and set to coincide with the Report by Heiner Bielefeldt, UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religious or Belief, was co-hosted by the United Kingdom Mission to the UN and BYU’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS). Noted authorities featured at the event included Ambassador Peter Wilson, CMG, Deputy Permanent Representative of the UK Mission, Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., Director of ICLRS and Susa Young Gates Professor of Law at Brigham Young University, along with Lucy Vickers (Oxford Brookes University), Peter Petkoff (Oxford University), Katayoun Alidade (Catholic University of Leuven / RELIGARE), Todd R. McFarland (Associate General Counsel, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists), Richard T. Foltin (Director, National and Legislative Affairs at American Jewish Committee), Bobbi Nassar, UN NGO Committee on Human Rights Co-Chair, and Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Among those attending were diplomats from missions to the United Nationas and representatives from non-governmental agencies interested in fostering religious freedom globally.
Freedom of Religion Is Topic of UN Side Event, October 2014
Report by Laurie Williams Sowby, Deseret News, October 31
It began with a Jewish piano teacher who was dismissed from her job at a European music conservatory because she refused to give exams on Saturdays, the day she honored as the Sabbath. When he heard of the case, Professor Heiner Bielefeldt knew religious freedom in the workplace was an issue he wanted to pursue. Dr. Bielefeldt, human rights professor at the University of Erlangen-Nürnburg in Germany, was appointed as U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2010 with a three-year renewal of his appointment in 2013. He presented his report at the United Nations Oct. 23 and headed panels on the topic Oct. 23 and 24 in New York.
The U.N. side event on Oct. 24, co-hosted by the United Kingdom and BYU’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies, featured several noted authorities in the field. The session was attended by 60 people, including diplomats from missions to the U.N. and representatives from…
Center Hosts Panel Discussion Following Special Rapporteur UN Report
Report by Lawrence Richard Peterson Jr.
Between October 28 and 30, 2013, Professor Cole Durham of the J. Reuben Clark Law School’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies was involved in events featuring Heiner Bielefeldt, the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief.
On Monday, October 28th, the Canadian Mission to the United Nations hosted a side event on the UN campus moderated by Andrew Bennett, Canada’s Ambassador for Religious Freedom. On Tuesday, Professor Durham attended the UN Committee on Human Rights where Professor Bielefeldt presented his report.
On Wednesday the International Center for Law and Religion Studies co-hosted with the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief a luncheon and panel discussion featuring Professor Bielefeldt. Other panelists were Laksmi Puri, deputy executive director of UN Women, Gulalai Ismail, founder and chairperson of Aware Girls, Margareta Grape, representative to the UN of the World…