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