Posts from — June 2007

The Schmap online London guide (Third Edition) includes a photograph I took of the tower of Southwark Cathedral. It’s not a particularly distinguished photo, but it’s rather flattering to the ego to have it published.

Of course, there’s no money attached to the publication!

Technorati Tags: Barney Leith, photography, London, Southwark, Schmap

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I’ve been wearing contact lenses since 1964. I was fitted with my first pair by Keith Clifford Hall at his rooms in London’s prestigious Park Lane.

After Mr Clifford Hall’s death, I was passed on to his former assistant, Miss Thompson. Miss Thompson was unique amongst my contact lens practitioners in having a single-barreled surname. After Miss Thomspon retired, I moved on to Mr David Evershed-Martin. When Mr Evershed-Martin developed cancer and had to give up his London practice, he suggested I go to Mr Nigel Burnett Hodd’s practice in Devonshire Street - which I did.

I had to get one of my new lenses checked today. Mr Burnett Hodd was not available, so I saw Mr David Raz-Rhodes instead.

I’m sure that the majority of contact lens practitioners don’t have such interesting double-barreled names, so it’s a curious feature of my 43 years with contact lenses that so many of the optometrists who’ve cared for my eyes and my contact lenses have had such distinguished monikers. And they’ve all been connected with each other in one way or another. David Evershed-Martin’s father worked with Keith Clifford Hall. Nigel Burnett Hodd and David-Raz Rhodes are close friends of Mr Evershed-Martin’s. Mr Raz-Rhodes studied optometry at the same time as David Evershed-Martin and they shared a flat after they had qualified.

My first consultation with Mr Clifford Hall and my first set of lenses cost my mother

Yes, sadly I have to admit it. Before this weekend just gone, I had never been to Geneva before.

Sad, really, to have waited until I am almost 60 to visit such a beautiful city.

To be honest I had no reason to be there other than to accompany Mrs Barnabas and Wendi Momen on a business trip. They were going there for a George Ronald Publisher Ltd editorial/board meeting with May Hofman, with whom we stayed in Le Lignon in the municipality of Vernier.

May and husband Paul Ojermark live in a vast 1960s complex of flats which is almost a kilometre long. It sounds horrendous, but is much more pleasant than one might expect, given the age and size of this complex. May and Paul have a wonderful view across the

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Allow me to recommend Abdur Rahman’s Corner. Abdur Rahman is an English Muslim. His blog expresses a wonderful and refreshing spirituality.

Technorati Tags: Islam, spirituality

I’ve just returned from an excellent weekend in Geneva. I’m hoping to write a bit about the weekend, but that will have to be later.

In the meantime, you can read about a part of my weekend on Nabil Stendardo’s blog. It turned out that three of us at the Nineteen Day Feast in Vernier (a municipality in the Canton of Geneva) on Sunday morning were fellow bloggers: Nabil, Wendi Momen, and yours truly.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, blogging

Asma Jahangir, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, has issued the following statement on the conclusion of her recent visit to the United Kingdom.

SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF CONCLUDES VISIT TO THE UK

15 June 2007

Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief of the United Nations Human Rights Council, made the following statement on 15 June 2007 in London at the end of her visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:

“In July 2004, I was appointed Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. My mandate is to examine incidents and governmental actions in all parts of the world which are inconsistent with the provisions of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, and to recommend remedial measures for such situations. In the framework of my mandate, I receive individual complaints which are documented in my communications report. Furthermore, I undertake visits to several countries per year where I can get first-hand impressions and develop some issues in more depth.

At the invitation of the Government, I have visited the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 4 to 15 June 2007. During my visit I had the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister, senior politicians and Government officials responsible for religious matters. In addition, I talked with representatives of religious and belief organizations, non-governmental organizations of relevance to my mandate as well as academics and individuals. These talks were held in London, Birmingham, Bradford, Glasgow and Belfast. Furthermore, I visited a school, a prison and an immigration removal center.

The reasons for conducting the UK visit were manifold. Firstly, the situation in the United Kingdom has a special significance and interest for my mandate. The United Kingdom has historically been home and safe harbour for those persecuted on religious grounds. It features a multi-cultural and multi-religious society, which poses a number of challenges in celebrating its diversity and yet ensuring that individual freedoms are protected, too. New pressures have arisen to review its immigration policies and I intended to examine whether these have affected victims of religious persecution who are coming from abroad. Secondly, there have been concerns about the situation of Muslims across the country in the aftermath of the tragic terrorist attacks of 7 July 2005. Consequently, I wanted to assess the situation in view of counter-terrorism legislation and the pressures on the society as a whole. Finally, the recent developments in Northern Ireland are of particular interest to my mandate.

I am very much impressed by the depth of knowledge and the ability of the UK Government in responding to difficult situations and tackling the contentious issues involved. There is a great wealth of experience in the United Kingdom in dealing with religious tensions and terrorist acts carried out under the cover of religion. There is a significant potential to draw some “lessons learnt” from the response to the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland and to address new challenges in devising counter-terrorism measures. In this regard, I would like to emphasize that the protection and promotion of fundamental freedoms and human rights is vital for any democratic society.

Despite the overall respect for human rights and their value in this country, there are a few areas of concern with regard to freedom of religion or belief. Subsequent to recent terrorist attacks and threats, laws have been introduced which undermine the human rights of all and which are largely perceived to target the Muslim population in the United Kingdom. A discriminatory application of stop-and-search powers and religious profiling may ultimately prove to be counterproductive. Moreover, whilst I am conscious of the fact that States are obliged to take effective measures in combating terrorist attacks, I have received allegations of the abuse of counter-terrorism laws and in particular of provisions which make the failure to disclose information about acts of terrorism a criminal offence.

I have to admit that my stay in Northern Ireland was particularly impressive for me. After decades of violence, which claimed more than 3,500 lives on religious/political grounds, there seems to be now hope for a shared future. There are promising initiatives which seek to cross the sectarian divide among the Christians, both on political and on grassroots levels. However, there remain several contentious areas such as religious inequalities in the labour market, housing, education, policing and criminal justice agencies. It is also important not to forget the concerns of religious minorities in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, it may be useful to take into account the perspectives of believers who are dispassionate about their faith and of secularists or humanists as well as of women. While there is no legal discrimination against women, yet many of them are in a vulnerable situation within their own communities. I believe that equality must be all-encompassing and the argument that traditions should override the rights of women is unacceptable.

On a general level in the United Kingdom, further issues of concern relate to the situation in schools concerning religious education and collective worship, religious symbols, blasphemy laws and interfaith dialogue. The balancing of competing rights may also be an issue of controversial debate, for example with regard to sexual orientation regulations and freedom of conscience. I am aware of the differences concerning the legal and institutional frameworks in England/Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; in my report I intend to discuss some of these aspects in greater detail.

World politics also has its repercussions at the domestic level, for example the impact of developments in the Middle East on the situation of the Jewish community in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the number of asylum seekers has dropped dramatically in recent years, including those applying on grounds of religious persecution. Asylum claims are subject to rigid scrutiny and few applications are successful in the initial decision. In this regard, I have received reports that very demanding criteria need to be met in order to obtain asylum.

Finally, I was saddened to meet converts who face problems with the community of their former religion. While the right to change one’s religion is recognised by international human rights standards, some people seem to accept a conversion only when it involves a change into their own religion. Such an approach does not acknowledge diversity and infringes on freedom of religion or belief. In this regard, let me emphasize that theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief are protected.

I would like to thank everyone I met during my mission for the candidness with which they were willing to openly engage in the exchange of minds. Challenges are not unknown to the people of the United Kingdom and I have felt the endeavour to always take the discussion a step forward. My forthcoming country report to the Human Rights Council will deal with several issues concerning my mandate in more depth and it will also include conclusions and recommendations.”

An insightful statement, I think.

Technorati Tags: UN, religious freedom, Asma Jahangir, special rapporteur, UK

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At the 14 June meeting in Portcullis House, Asma Jahangir, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, said she generally avoids telling people what her religion is.

In Asma’s view, people’s spiritual and moral development is more important than the religious labels they wear.

I think she’s right.

Technorati Tags: faith religion, Islam, UN, Pakistan

The UK is one of the better countries for freedom of religion or belief. So says Asma Jahangir, the doughty UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, who has just been looking into religious freedom in the UK for almost two weeks.

During her visit, Ms Jahangir held discussions with representatives of a wide range of organizations, including the Baha’i community. I had the privilege of joining my colleagues Rob Weinberg and Dan Wheatley in a meeting to discuss the Baha’i community with the Special Rapporteur. We spoke about the work our Office of External Affairs had done last year to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. She noted this, and quickly moved on to discuss the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran and Egypt. She was (and has long been) very supportive of the Baha’is in these and other countries who are suffering extreme forms of discrimination on grounds of their religion.

Asma Jahangir is a truly remarkable woman. An article in Time magazine describes her as “a mere sparrow of a woman”. “But,” Time continues, “she’s got a big voice, which she isn’t afraid to use.” There’s no doubt about this. She comes over as a very warm person, with a lovely smile. When she speaks at a meeting, she makes sure to greet everyone in the room personally. Of course, this tends to disarm confrontation. But it is deceptive. There’s a steel core to Asma Jahangir and she is relentless in pursuing her work as the UN’s special rapporteur for the much violated human right of freedom of conscience.

Yesterday Dan Wheatley and I attended a general meeting for parliamentarians, religious organizations and human rights NGOs with Asma Jahangir. Ian McCartney MP, Foreign Office human rights minister, chaired the meeting in the Thatcher Room in Portcullis House.

Other parliamentarians attending included Lord Avebury*, John Battle MP*, Baroness Caroline Cox*, Mike Gapes MP (Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee), David Lepper MP*, Lembit Opik MP*, Ken Purchase MP, Phyllis Starkey MP* and Baroness Janet Whitaker*. (* Members of the All Party Friends of the Bah

These are the blogs that participants on my recent introduction to blogging course in Liverpool have started:

Deep Breathing

Is Something Bothering You?

Plausible Deniability

Wendi’s Wanders

And, of course, Tobbot continues on his merry way!

Technorati Tags: Baha’i Bahai, blogging

This is a promo video for a film by Ahmed Ezzat about the the dilemma faced by the Baha’is in Egypt, who are legally required to have ID cards but who are denied them by the Egyptian authorities because they will not claim to be Muslims, Jews or Christians - the only three religious categories allowed under the Egyptian ID card system.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Egypt, ID cards, freedom of religion