Foreign Policy Blogs

Freedom of Conscience in 2008

Amnesty International's Report 2008 considers the current state of the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights,’ sixty years after it was adopted. In the section "At a Glance,' Amnesty International challenges world leaders to apologize for six decades of human rights abuses and "to deliver concrete improvements." The press release said that the "most striking images of 2007 were of monks in Myanmar, lawyers in Pakistan, and women activists in Iran." In the section on Facts and Figures, Amnesty International cites Article 18 of the Universal Declaration, which declares that "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." In contrast to the legal right, Amnesty International says that the reality in 2008 is that 45 countries are actively detaining Prisoners of Conscience.

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