Religious Extremism

Saudi Leader Sends Mixed Messages About Islamist Extremism

April 09, 2018

During his recent US tour, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent mixed messages about Islamist extremism and human rights reform, condemning Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Sunni terror groups such as the Islamic State (IS), while denying evidence of any Saudi support for Islamist extremist groups and supporting "different forms of equality" for men and women.
Islamist Authoritarianism Pushes Muslims away from Islam

March 26, 2018

As the authoritarian social and political consequences of coercive Islamism are pushing Muslims to convert to other faiths and become secular "deists," according to scholarly research and policy data, some Islamist experts suggest reform of traditional Islamic jurisprudence as a remedy to apostasy.
UN Agents Criticize Saudi Death Sentence for Accused Iran Spies

March 23, 2018

A group of UN human rights mandate holders has called on authorities in Saudi Arabia to halt the execution of a man accused of spying for Iran and "spreading the Shia faith" in the country, warning that the interrogation and trial of the man and 14 others convicted of similar crimes did not comply with due-process guarantees.
Turkish Forces Commit Religious Cleansing in Afrin Operation

March 21, 2018

Military forces from Turkey's Islamist government, along with its allied proxies from local jihadist groups including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, are engaging in religious cleansing against "infidel" Yezidis and Christians as part of the Turkey's military operation to wrest control of the northern Syrian town of Afrin from US-backed Kurdish militias.
Saudi Prince Sends Mixed Signals on Rights Reforms

March 20, 2018

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's "60 Minutes" interview on CBS News included a declaration that "women are absolutely equal to men" but did not address restrictions on guardianship laws by which male relatives control almost all aspects of women's social and private lives within the Wahhabi monarchy.
Indonesian University Ends Face-Covering Ban

March 20, 2018

Conservative Islamist groups successfully protested for an end to the recent decision by the rector of Indonesia's State Islamic University to ban the full head-and-face covering of women, arguing that religious freedom rights outweighed the university administration's concerns about the growing influence and social intimidation of Islamic dress and morality codes.
Turkey's Government Uses Western Tech for Political Repression

March 20, 2018

A Canadian digital-freedom watchdog has raised the alarm about Turkey's Islamist government using Anglo-German sources to acquire and deploy dual-use, Canadian-American spyware technologies against Turkey's citizens for electronic and digital surveillance.
Iran Court Imprisons Professor for "Anti-State Propaganda"

March 20, 2018

The struggle between hard-line and reformist factions for control over the direction of Iran's Islamic theocracy was on full display with the 18-month jail sentence meted out by the Tehran Revolutionary Court to one of the country's most popular political-science professors and public intellectuals for support for Islamic reforms considered "anti-state propaganda."
Tunisian Women's Groups Push for Equal Rights

March 20, 2018

A panoply of women's groups in Tunisia, led by the Tunisian Coalition for Equality in Inheritance, is driving a popular mobilization campaign to reform the country's sharia-based Personal Status Code that deprives women of equal inheritance rights and other legal rights based on gender discrimination rooted in conservative interpretations of Islamic law.
Pakistan Court Approves Islamist Terror Party in Election

March 19, 2018

A court in Pakistan court has approved the participation in Pakistan's parliamentary elections this summer of a radical Islamist party whose leader carries a $10 million US bounty for his alleged role in mass-casualty terrorist attacks in India in 2008.