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<p>Her Majesty's Government promotes Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in many
countries through diplomatic channels, public statements and support for projects
to promote tolerance. A small selection of examples of steps Her Majesty's Government
has taken recently to tackle and condemn religious persecution is provided below.
It would place a disproportionate burden on resources to produce an exhaustive list
of all recent actions taken by Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials abroad in
this area.</p><p>During his recent visit to Bangladesh, Lord Ahmad visited an Ahmadiyya
mosque where he spoke publicly of the importance of religious tolerance. In the wake
of recent attacks against Coptic Christians in Egypt, the Foreign Secretary made a
statement condemning religious intolerance and violence against religious minorities.
We have issued a number of statements in response to Russia's Supreme Court ruling
banning Jehovah's Witnesses as 'extremists'. Officials from our Embassy in Moscow
have attended court hearings and continue to monitor this case closely. In Eritrea,
we have continued to call on the Government to release all prisoners detained without
due process, including those detained for their religious beliefs. And in Sudan, we
lobbied consistently on behalf of four imprisoned Christian pastors (now released
– partly, we judge, as a result of our efforts).</p><p>At the United Nations Human
Rights Council we continue to work to sustain consensus on the adoption and implementation
of the European Union sponsored Resolution on 'Freedom of Religion or Belief' and
the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation sponsored Resolution on 'Combating Religious
Intolerance'. We also continue to support a number of projects to promote tolerance
through the FCO's Magna Carta Fund, including a project to promote legal and social
protection of FoRB in secondary school curricula across the Middle East and North
Africa.</p>
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