ABSTRACT
Boyle and Sheen have prepared a very useful document, an encyclopedia on how religious freedom of practice and belief fare in over sixty countries around the world from every major regional grouping: Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. On the whole the work is very representative, although one wonders why Afghanistan would be omitted from the list. This world report is an edited accumulation of descriptions of religious freedom from the various countries, where possible, from experts living in those societies. Since every culture has its own interpretation of religious freedom or whether such is permissible, it is necessary to have some objective standards by which to measure the existence or non-existence of these liberties. For Boyle and Sheen that standard consists of a number of declarations by the United Nations, especially including the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Also providing important measuring rods are the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Convention on the Rights of the Child, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The editors point out the existence of national and regional declarations on human freedoms. The basic point in the text is that while practically every country makes constitutional or legal claims or proclamations regarding the importance of freedom, threats to religious liberty of belief and practice abound. Though some countries demonstrate greater recognition of religious liberty than others, practically every nation hosts some significant threat to the practice of religion, especially involving religious or racial minorities or women. In addition, the editors make clear, there is a need to be ever vigilant regarding threats to freedoms presently observed.
