On March 15, the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia. The resolution was sponsored by 55 predominantly Muslim member states and passed consensus with all 193 states in support.
On March 15th, a high court in southwest India ruled in support of banning hijabs in public colleges and high schools. What started as a school policy dilemma in Udupi in December last year has become a precedent-setting issue in India.
On Saturday, March 12, the Saudi Arabia court confirmed the 10-year travel ban for the human rights activist and blogger Raif Badawi. The ban will effectively imprison Badawi in the country for another ten years.
Released on Friday, March 11, Badawi was arrested in 2012 and jailed for ten years for charges of "insulting Islam."
On Saturday, March 12, Saudi Arabia executed 81 men, including Yemeni, Syrian, and Saudi nationals. According to SPA (Saudi Press Agency), a state-run media, the men were found guilty on the charges of terrorism and holding “deviant beliefs.”
A woman has been accused of stabbing her date in a Nevada hotel room on March 5. According to court documents submitted by the police, the 21-year old Nika Nikoubin wanted revenge for an Iranian leader killed by an American drone strike in 2020.
Nikoubin met the victim online through the Plenty of Fish online dating website.
Raif Badawi, a prominent Saudi blogger and human rights advocate, arrested in 2012, is finally free after ten years in prison. Ensaf Haidar, Badawi's wife, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that her husband called her about his release.
"Raif called me. He is free," she said. Haidar is living in Quebec, Canada, along with their three children.
On March 4, the United States Supreme Court overturned a ruling from an appellate court in favor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The supreme court unanimously ruled that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) has lesser precedence over state secrets privilege.
State secrets privilege allows the federal government to "block the release of any information in a lawsuit" if its release can lead to a breach of national security.
On February 11, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and communications minister Khumbudzo Nthsavheni signed a proclamation enacting the Internet Censorship Act of 2019. The law gives extensive censorship power to the Film and Publications Board (FPB).
On Sunday, February 20, an Egyptian lawmaker proposed a law that will ban "non-specialist" journalists from discussing religion. The proposal responds against Ibrahim Issa's statement on February 18, dismissing the Prophet Muhammad's ascension.
Tarek Radwan, head of the Human Rights Committee of the Egyptian Parliament, proposed the law draft. Ali Gomaa, of the parliament's Religious Affairs Committee, signaled his support for Radwan's proposal.
On January 19, a Tennessee couple sued the Department of Children's Services after an adoption agency refused to facilitate their adoption because they are Jewish. Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram said they were denied state-mandated training and certification because of their religion.
