Prohibitions on manifesting non-respect for a religion or other system of belief, including blasphemy laws, are incompatible with the Covenant, except in the special circumstances provided for in article 20, paragraph 2, of the Covenant. Those prohibitions shall also comply with the strict requirements of Article 19(3) and Articles 2, 5, 17, 18 and 26. For example, it would be unacceptable for such laws to discriminate in favour of or against one or more religions or belief systems or their adherents in relation to another or religious believers in relation to non-believers. Nor would it be permissible for such prohibitions to be used to prevent or punish criticism of religious leaders or comments on religious teachings and beliefs. [76] In a number of countries where Islam is the state religion or where Muslims are in the majority, values and attitudes derived from Islam have influenced censorship laws that criminalize blasphemy, often associated with harsh penalties. Blasphemy in Islam is generally defined as unholy statements or actions regarding God, Muhammad, or anything that is considered sacred in Islam. [152] The Islamic holy book, the Qur`an, rebukes blasphemy, but does not specify the punishment. The hadiths, which are another source of Sharia law, offer various punishments for blasphemy, including death. As an Islamic emirate, Afghanistan prohibits blasphemy as a crime under Sharia law. Blasphemy can be punished with retaliatory punishments up to execution by hanging. [153] Since the Taliban came to power in 2021, people have been arrested for blasphemy. [154] Instead of a law against blasphemy, Malta had laws against denigration of religion and against immorality.

Section 163 of the Maltese Penal Code was enacted in 1933 and prohibits the „denigration of the Roman Catholic apostolic religion“[80], which is the state religion of Malta. Defamation of the Maltese religion made the slander punishable by a prison sentence of one to six months. Article 164 denigrating a „legally tolerated“ sect punished the slanderer with a prison sentence of one to three months. Article 338 (bb) imposes liability on any person who, „even if, while intoxicated, publicly makes obscene or indecent remarks, or performs obscene acts or gestures, or in any other manner not otherwise provided for in this Code, violates public morality, decency or decency“. Kind. 342 provides: With the introduction of the Dutch Penal Code of 1881, which had been in force since 1886, the Netherlands received its first law against blasphemy. The Minister of Justice argued that while God would be perfectly capable of protecting his own rights, the Dutch legislature must „protect the rights of society.“ [87] Multilateral global institutes such as the Council of Europe and the United Nations have rejected the imposition of „anti-blasphemy laws“ (ABL) and reaffirmed freedom of expression. [75] [62] In November 2008, Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin expressed the intention of the country`s coalition government to repeal Section 147.

[93] He stated that the government would tighten anti-discrimination legislation to prohibit insults to a group of people. [95] In May 2009, the government decided to leave the law as it was. The decision followed a Supreme Court ruling in which a man who hung a poster that read „Stop the tumor that is Islam“ was found not guilty of insulting a group of people because of their religion. [95] The decision not to lift the blasphemy ban was partly motivated by the Orthodox Christian SGP`s support for the minority government in the Senate. After parliamentary elections in 2012, a new coalition government was formed and a majority of parliament promised to support a proposal to repeal the blasphemy law. [96] In 2018, following the fall of Willy Toledo and three feminist protesters accused of blasphemy, the ruling PSOE and the supporting Unidas Podemos party promised to end „medieval laws on violating religious sentiments and insulting the crown.“ The legislation was suspended following the announcement of the 2019 Spanish general elections. The government and its allies were then brought back to power, meaning the proposals are now likely to return to the national parliament. [129] The definition of „blasphemy“ was introduced into French Law in the 13th century (after much debate among moralistic Frenchmen), based on St.

Thomas Aquinas` definition: a sin of language, „a failure to explain one`s faith,“ and thus constituted an attack on the purity of religion. This justified punishment by law, which became extreme during the reign of Louis IX. Later canonized by the Catholic Church as St. Louis, he became obsessed with his struggle against heretics, Jews, and Muslims and placed the punishment for blasphemy on the mutilation of the tongue and lips. [39] Louis IX passed this law against blasphemy in 1254 after his return from the Seventh Crusade. [40] In June 2018, the Irish government agreed to a referendum to remove the crime of blasphemy from the Constitution. The referendum, which took place on 26 October 2018, abolished the constitutional ban on blasphemy by a majority of 64.85% to 35.15%. [65] In January 2020, justice and gender equality minister Charles Flanagan signed an executive order launching an amendment to the law. [73] Until then, blasphemy was prohibited by sections 36 and 37 of the 2009 Defamation Act, for which violators could expect a fine of up to €25,000.

[74] [65] A new analysis by the Pew Research Center found that 79 of the 198 countries and territories studied around the world (40%) in 2019 had laws or policies prohibiting blasphemy, which is defined as speech or actions considered contempt for God or people or objects considered sacred. Twenty-two countries (11%) had laws against apostasy, the act of abandoning faith. The analysis builds on the Center`s broader research on global boundaries related to religion. In 1696, a Scottish court sentenced Thomas Aikenhead to death for blasphemy. [138] The last indictment for blasphemy in Scotland was in 1843. [139] In the Catholic Church, there are specific prayers and devotions as acts of reparation for blasphemy. [36] For example, the devotion to the Holy Face of the Golden Arrow (Prayer), first introduced by Sister Mary of St. Peter in 1844, is recited „in a spirit of reparation for blasphemy.“ This devotion (begun by Sister Mary and then promoted by Venerable Leon Dupont) was approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1885.

[37] The Raccoltabook contains a number of these prayers. [38] The devotions of the first five Saturdays are conducted with the intention of repairing Our Lady for blasphemy against her, her name and her sacred initiatives. As recently as 1887, blasphemy laws were used in New Jersey to protect peace. In this case, a former Methodist minister, Charles B. Reynolds, was fined for publishing a pamphlet called „Blasphemy and the Bible“ describing his religious views, as well as a satirical cartoon titled „Throwing Pearls Before Pigs.“ Robert Ingersoll, a leading lawyer and freethinker of the time, defended Reynolds, arguing that laws were an obsolete vestige of an ignorant and intolerant past and enslaved the human spirit. However, the jury upheld the conviction. In Austria, a section of the Penal Code refers to blasphemy:[15] The Irish Constitutional Convention recommended in 2013 the lifting of the constitutional prohibition on blasphemy (Article 40.6.1.i), but the Taoiseach hinted that it would postpone the case. [67] After the Charlie Hebdo shooting in January 2015, calls for repeal became loud again. [67] In some countries, including Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, blasphemy laws date back to the days of British rule. While citizens of Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago were not prosecuted in 2019, the number of blasphemy charges in Pakistan increased from 2018 to 2019.