Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution , racism , and political persecution , though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering , harassment , imprisonment , internment , fear or pain are all factors that may establish persecution, but not all suffering will necessarily establish persecution. The threshold of severity has been a topic of much debate.
126-689: As part of the Nuremberg Principles , crimes against humanity are part of international law. Principle VI of the Nuremberg Principles states that The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law:... (c) Crimes against humanity: Telford Taylor , who was Counsel for the Prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials wrote "[at] the Nuremberg war crimes trials, the tribunals rebuffed several efforts by
252-594: A threat to the prevailing order. Books infested with bookworms were sometimes burned in the Medieval era as a rudamentary form of pest control , rather than targeted censorship. According to the Hebrew Bible , in the 7th century BCE , King Jehoiakim of Judah burned part of a scroll that Baruch ben Neriah had written at prophet Jeremiah 's dictation (see Jeremiah 36 ). In 213 BCE Qin Shi Huang ,
378-669: A Zoroastrian family was forced to convert to Islam , the children were sent to an Islamic school to learn Arabic and study the teachings of Islam , as a result some of these people lost their Zoroastrian faith. However, under the Samanids , who were Zoroastrian converts to Islam, the Persian language flourished. On occasion, the Zoroastrian clergy assisted Muslims in attacks against those whom they deemed Zoroastrian heretics. A Zoroastrian astrologer named Mulla Gushtasp predicted
504-706: A century later in the Han dynasty official Sima Qian 's Records of the Grand Historian . Some of these books were written in Shang Xiang , a superior school founded in 2208 BCE. The event caused the loss of many philosophical treatises of the Hundred Schools of Thought . Treatises which advocated the official philosophy of the government (" legalism ") survived. In the New Testament 's Acts of
630-537: A consequence of professing their faith , both historically and in the modern era . Early Christians were persecuted for their faith at the hands of both Jews from whose religion Christianity arose and the Roman Empire which controlled much of the land across which early Christianity was distributed . Early in the fourth century , the religion was legalized by the Edict of Milan , and it eventually became
756-619: A consequence of professing their faith, both historically and in the current era. Hindus have been brutally persecuted during the historical Islamic rule of the Indian subcontinent and during Portuguese rule of Goa . Even in modern times, Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh have suffered persecution. Most recently, thousands of Hindus from Sindh province in Pakistan have been fleeing to India voicing fear for their safety. After
882-810: A corollary, they also rejected proposals to confer on the General Assembly the power to impose certain general conventions on states by some form of majority vote. There was, however, strong support for conferring on the General Assembly the more limited powers of study and recommendation, which led to the adoption of Article 13 in Chapter IV of the Charter . It obliges the United Nations General Assembly to initiate studies and to make recommendations that encourage
1008-701: A failure by the Egyptian government to effectively investigate properly and prosecute those responsible. The Muslim conquest of Egypt took place in AD 639, during the Byzantine empire . Despite the political upheaval, Egypt remained a mainly Christian, but Copts lost their majority status after the 14th century, as a result of the intermittent persecution and the destruction of the Christian churches there, accompanied by heavy taxes for those who refused to convert. From
1134-549: A great many papers to the flames. Aino, Sibelius' wife, recalled that "In the 1940s there was a great auto da fé at Ainola [where the Sibelius couple lived]. My husband collected a number of the manuscripts in a laundry basket and burned them on the open fire in the dining room. Parts of the Karelia Suite were destroyed – I later saw remains of the pages which had been torn out – and many other things. I did not have
1260-618: A grievous loss. In 1976 detractors of Venezuelan liberal writer Carlos Rangel publicly burned copies of his book From the Noble Savage to the Noble Revolutionary in the year of its publication at the Central University of Venezuela . In Catholic hagiography , Saint Vincent of Saragossa is mentioned as having been offered his life on condition that he consign Scripture to the fire; he refused and
1386-495: A group of Indian National Congress Party leaders who owned filling stations. The Persecution of Yazidis has been ongoing since at least the 10th century. The Yazidi religion is regarded as devil worship by Islamists . Yazidis have been persecuted by Muslim Kurdish tribes since the 10th century, and by the Ottoman Empire from the 17th to the 20th centuries. After the 2014 Sinjar massacre of thousands of Yazidis by
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#17327722013421512-491: A mistake. As noted in Claire Tomalin's intensively researched "The Invisible Woman", Charles Dickens is known to have made a big bonfire of his letters and private papers, as well as asking friends and acquaintances to either return letters which he wrote to them or themselves destroy the letters – and most complied with his request in the 1850s and the 1860s. Dickens' purpose was to destroy evidence of his affair with
1638-409: A penalty for an act which constitutes a crime under international law does not relieve the person who committed the act from responsibility under international law. The fact that a person who committed an act which constitutes a crime under international law, acted as Head of State or responsible government official , does not relieve him from responsibility under international law. The fact that
1764-508: A person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him. This principle could be paraphrased as follows: "It is not an acceptable excuse to say 'I was just following my superior's orders'". Previous to the time of the Nuremberg Trials , this excuse was known in common parlance as " superior orders ". After
1890-402: A person pursuant to an order of a Government or of a superior, whether military or civilian, shall not relieve that person of criminal responsibility unless: 2. For the purposes of this article, orders to commit genocide or crimes against humanity are manifestly unlawful. There are two interpretations of this Article: Nuremberg Principle IV, and its reference to an individual's responsibility,
2016-525: A public context. The burning of books represents an element of censorship and usually proceeds from a cultural, religious, or political opposition to the materials in question. Book burning can be an act of contempt for the book's contents or author, intended to draw wider public attention to this opposition, or conceal the information contained in the text from being made public, such as diaries or ledgers. Burning and other methods of destruction are together known as biblioclasm or libricide . In some cases,
2142-594: A public order, that if someone should be discovered to have hidden a writing composed by Arius, and not to have immediately brought it forward and destroyed it by fire, his penalty shall be death. As soon as he is discovered in this offense, he shall be submitted for capital punishment....." According to Elaine Pagels , "In AD 367, Athanasius , the zealous bishop of Alexandria ... issued an Easter letter in which he demanded that Egyptian monks destroy all such unacceptable writings, except for those he specifically listed as 'acceptable' even 'canonical'—a list that constitutes
2268-577: A recurring phenomenon throughout the history of Islam . Persecution may refer to unwarranted arrest, imprisonment, beatings, torture, or execution. It may also refer to the confiscation or destruction of property, or incitement to hate Muslims. Persecution can extend beyond those who perceive themselves to be Muslims and include those who are perceived by others as Muslims, or it can include Muslims who are considered non-Muslims by fellow Muslims. The Ahmadiyya regard themselves as Muslims, but are seen by many other Muslims as non-Muslims and "heretics". In 1984,
2394-596: A set of guidelines for determining what constitutes a war crime . The document was created by the International Law Commission of the United Nations to codify the legal principles underlying the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi party members following World War II . Any person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefor and liable to punishment. The fact that internal law does not impose
2520-820: A state religion in the Late Roman Empire led to the persecution of Pagans, who were seen as a threat to the new faith and persecution of pagans have continued in Post-Roman Europe , Arabia, and North Africa. The destruction and conversion of pagan temples into churches, mosques, or other structures were common practices during the Christianization of the Roman Empire and later the Spread of Islam in Middle East and North Africa . This
2646-555: A widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack". These include: (h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender...or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph [e.g. murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, torture, sexual violence, apartheid, and other inhumane acts] or any crime within
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#17327722013422772-846: Is a historical and ongoing issue in Egypt against Coptic Orthodox Christianity and its followers. It is also a prominent example of the poor status of Christians in the Middle East despite the religion being native to the region. Copts are the Christ followers in Egypt, usually Oriental Orthodox , who currently make up around 10% of the population of Egypt — the largest religious minority of that country. Copts have cited instances of persecution throughout their history and Human Rights Watch has noted "growing religious intolerance" and sectarian violence against Coptic Christians in recent years, as well as
2898-558: Is a prejudice against the Jewish movement for self-determination and the right of the Jewish people to a homeland in the State of Israel . Anti-Zionism can include threats to destroy the State of Israel (or otherwise eliminate its Jewish character), unfounded and inaccurate characterizations of Israel's power in the world, and language or actions that hold Israel to a different standard than other countries. The persecution of Muslims has been
3024-727: Is now known as the Haun's Mill massacre . Their forcible expulsion from the state caused the death of over a hundred due to exposure, starvation, and resulting illnesses. The founder of the church, Joseph Smith , was killed in Carthage, Illinois by a mob of about 200 men, almost all of whom were members of the Illinois state militia including some members of the militia who were assigned to guard him. The Mormons suffered through tarring and feathering , their lands and possessions being repeatedly taken from them, mob attacks, false imprisonments, and
3150-475: Is obligatory to kill their scholars and religious figures so that they do not misguide others", which in that setting would have legitimized violence against them as apostates . Ottomans have often relied on Ibn Taymiyya religious ruling to justify their persecution of Druze . Falun Gong was introduced to the general public by Li Hongzhi in Changchun , China , in 1992. For the next few years, Falun Gong
3276-514: Is otherwise proper. On Nov 15, 2007, a quorum of the Supreme Court of Canada consisting of Justices Michel Bastarache , Rosalie Abella , and Louise Charron refused an application to have the Court hear the case on appeal, without giving reasons. Book burning Book burning is the deliberate destruction by fire of books or other written materials, usually carried out in
3402-579: Is parallel to that of racism , (based on race ). The Rwandan genocide remains an atrocity that the indigenous Hutu and Tutsi peoples still believe is unforgivable. The Japanese occupation of China caused the death of millions of people, mostly peasants who were murdered after the Doolittle Raid in early-World War II. Due to their Christian faith and ethnicity, the Assyrians have been persecuted since their adoption of Christianity. During
3528-468: Is punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years. Because of these difficulties, Mirza Tahir Ahmad migrated to London. Persecution of Pagans refers to the historical and ongoing acts of religious intolerance, violence, and oppression against followers of pagan or polytheistic religions. This persecution has been carried out by various religious and political groups, including Christians, Muslims, and governments throughout history. The rise of Christianity as
3654-622: Is reasonably certain that Hindus bore a disproportionate brunt of the Pakistan Army's onslaught against the Bengali population of what was East Pakistan. An article in Time magazine dated 2 August 1971, stated "The Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the Muslim military hatred." Senator Edward Kennedy wrote in a report that
3780-545: Is related to book burning, both because it might have similar cultural, religious, or political connotations, and because in various historical cases, books and artworks were destroyed at the same time. When the burning is widespread and systematic, destruction of books and media can become a significant component of cultural genocide . The burning of books has a long history of being a tool utilized by authorities both secular and religious , in their efforts to suppress dissenting or heretical views that are believed to pose
3906-436: Is reported to have written a book which he himself burned in 1808. To this day, his followers mourn "The Burned Book" and seek in their Rabbi's surviving writings for clues as to what the lost volume contained and why it was destroyed. Nikolai Gogol burned the second half of his 1842 magnum opus Dead Souls , having come under the influence of a priest who persuaded him that his work was sinful; Gogol later described this as
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4032-504: Is required as a matter of law. (For example, the Nuremberg Trials were a "practice" of the "international law" of the Nuremberg Principles; and that "practice" was supported by the international community.) In this context, "practice" relates to official state practice and therefore includes formal statements by states. A contrary practice by some states is possible. If this contrary practice is condemned by other states then
4158-413: Is substantial evidence that Finnish composer Jean Sibelius worked on an Eighth Symphony. He promised the premiere of this symphony to Serge Koussevitzky in 1931 and 1932, and a London performance in 1933 under Basil Cameron was even advertised to the public. However, no such symphony was ever performed, and the only concrete evidence of the symphony's existence on paper is a 1933 bill for a fair copy of
4284-642: Is the religious persecution inflicted upon the followers of the Zoroastrian faith. The persecution of Zoroastrians occurred throughout the religion's history. The discrimination and harassment began in the form of sparse violence and forced conversions . Muslims are recorded to have destroyed fire temples . Zoroastrians living under Muslim rule were required to pay a tax called jizya . Zoroastrian places of worship were desecrated, fire temples were destroyed and mosques were built in their place. Many libraries were burned and much of their cultural heritage
4410-825: Is to defend the Dogon from systematic attacks. That resulted in the Ogossagou massacre of Fulanis in March 2019, and a Fula retaliation with the Sobane Da massacre in June of that year. In the wake of the Ogossagou massacre, the President of Mali , Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and his government ordered the dissolution of Dan Na Ambassagou—whom they hold partly responsible for the attacks. The Dogon militia group denied any involvement in
4536-496: The 2012 Ramu violence in Bangladesh, a 25,000-strong Muslim mob set fire to at least five Buddhist temples and dozens of homes throughout the town and throughout the surrounding villages after they saw a picture of an allegedly desecrated Quran , which they claimed had been posted on Facebook by Uttam Barua, a local Buddhist man. The persecution of Christians is religious persecution that Christians may be subjected to as
4662-521: The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London ordered an end to the production of verse satire and the confiscation and the burning of specific extant works, including works by John Marston and Thomas Middleton . Nine books were specifically singled out for destruction. Scholars disagree about what properties these nine books have in common to cause official offence. During the 18th century,
4788-568: The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights . The abduction and disappearance of Coptic Christian women and girls also remains a serious ongoing problem. For almost 1000 years, the Dogon people , an ancient tribe of Mali had faced religious and ethnic persecution—through jihads by dominant Muslim communities. These jihadic expeditions were to forced the Dogon to abandon their traditional religious beliefs for Islam. Such jihads caused
4914-529: The International Society for Human Rights , up to 80% of all acts of persecution are directed against people of the Christian faith. The Missouri extermination order forced Mormons to move to Illinois. This was after Sidney Rigdon gave his July 4th Oration which meant to state that Mormons would defend their lives and property. This speech was taken critically by the state government . Missouri state militia troops slaughtered Mormons in what
5040-804: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant , Yazidis still face violence from the Turkish Armed Forces and its ally the Syrian National Army , as well as discrimination from the Kurdistan Regional Government . According to Yazidi tradition (based on oral traditions and folk songs), estimated that 74 genocides against the Yazidis have been carried out in the past 800 years. Persecution of Zoroastrians
5166-667: The Kuomintang Muslim General Bai Chongxi led his troops on a campaign to destroy Buddhist temples and smash idols, they turned the temples into schools and Kuomintang party headquarters. During the Kuomintang Pacification of Qinghai , the Muslim General Ma Bufang and his army wiped out many Tibetan Buddhists in the northeast and eastern Qinghai, and destroyed Tibetan Buddhist temples. The Muslim invasion of
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5292-784: The Muslim conquest of Egypt onwards, the Coptic Christians were persecuted by different Muslims regimes, such as the Umayyad Caliphate , Abbasid Caliphate , Fatimid Caliphate , Mamluk Sultanate , and Ottoman Empire ; the persecution of Coptic Christians included closing and demolishing churches and forced conversion to Islam . Since 2011 hundreds of Egyptian Copts have been killed in sectarian clashes, and many homes, Churches and businesses have been destroyed. In just one province ( Minya ), 77 cases of sectarian attacks on Copts between 2011 and 2016 have been documented by
5418-731: The Odantapuri monastery, was also destroyed by his forces. Sumpa based his account on that of Śākyaśrībhadra who was at Magadha in 1200, states that the Buddhist university complexes of Odantapuri and Vikramshila were also destroyed and the monks were massacred. Muslim forces attacked the north-western regions of the Indian subcontinent many times. Many places were destroyed and renamed. For example, Odantapuri's monasteries were destroyed in 1197 by Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji and
5544-575: The Partition of India in 1947, there were 8.8 million Hindus in Pakistan (excluding Bangladesh) in 1951. In 1951, Hindus constituted 1.58% of the Pakistani population. Today, the Hindu minority amounts to 1.7 percent of Pakistan's population. The Bangladesh Liberation War (1971) resulted in one of the largest genocides of the 20th century. While estimates of the number of casualties was 3,000,000, it
5670-744: The Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire the Imperial Court Library (now Austrian National Library ) was in extreme danger, when the bombardment of Vienna caused the burning of the Hofburg , in which the Imperial Library was located. The fire was halted in a timely manner - saving countless irreplaceable books, diligently collected by many generations of Habsburg emperors and the scholars in their employ. At
5796-402: The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court . (The Rome Statute was agreed upon in 1998 as the foundational document of the International Criminal Court, established to try those individuals accused of serious international crimes.) Article 33, titled "Superior Orders and prescription of law," states: 1. The fact that a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court has been committed by
5922-425: The Satanic Panic . Philosophers throughout the history of philosophy have been held in courts and tribunals for various offenses, often as a result of their philosophical activity, and some have even been put to death. The most famous example of a philosopher being put on trial is the case of Socrates , who was tried for, amongst other charges, corrupting the youth and impiety. Others include: The persecution of
6048-507: The Serer people of Senegal , Gambia and Mauritania is multifaceted, and it includes both religious and ethnic elements. Religious and ethnic persecution of the Serer people dates back to the 11th century when King War Jabi usurped the throne of Tekrur (part of present-day Senegal) in 1030, and by 1035, introduced Sharia law and forced his subjects to submit to Islam . With the assistance of his son (Leb), their Almoravid allies and other African ethnic groups who have embraced Islam ,
6174-440: The Shia Fatimid Caliphate , Mamluk , Sunni Ottoman Empire , and Egypt Eyalet . The persecution of the Druze included massacres , demolishing Druze prayer houses and holy places and forced conversion to Islam. Those were no ordinary killings in the Druze's narrative, they were meant to eradicate the whole community according to the Druze narrative. Most recently, the Syrian Civil War , which began in 2011, saw persecution of
6300-459: The State church of the Roman Empire . Christian missionaries , as well as the people that they converted to Christianity, have been the target of persecution, many times to the point of being martyred for their faith . There is also a history of individual Christian denominations suffering persecution at the hands of other Christians under the charge of heresy , particularly during the 16th century Protestant Reformation as well as throughout
6426-467: The burning of Jaffna Public Library in Sri Lanka (1981). In other cases, such as the Nazi book burnings , copies of the destroyed books survive, but the instance of book burning becomes emblematic of a harsh and oppressive regime which is seeking to censor or silence some aspect of prevailing culture. In modern times, other forms of media, such as phonograph records , video tapes , and CDs have also been burned, shredded, or crushed. Art destruction
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#17327722013426552-422: The haibutsu kishaku during the Meiji Restoration (starting in 1868) was an event which was triggered by the official policy of separation of Shinto and Buddhism (or shinbutsu bunri ). This policy caused great destruction to Buddhism in Japan , the destruction of Buddhist temples, images and texts took place on a large scale all over the country and Buddhist monks were forced to return to secular life. During
6678-405: The jurisprudence found in certain articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which deal indirectly with conscientious objection . It is also supported by the principles found in paragraph 171 of the Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status which was issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Those principles deal with
6804-406: The 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War . Following the sentence, activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir attacked the Hindus in different parts of the country. Hindu properties were looted, Hindu houses were burnt into ashes and Hindu temples were desecrated and set on fire. The violence included the looting of Hindu properties and businesses, the burning of Hindu homes,
6930-426: The 19th century Senegambian jihadist and Muslim leader—El Hadj Umar Tall, chose Bandiagara as the capital of the Toucouleur Empire thereby exacerbating the inter-religious and inter-ethnic conflict. In recent years, the Dogon accused the Fulanis of supporting and sheltering Islamic terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda in Dogon country, leading to the creation of the Dogon militia Dan Na Ambassagou in 2016—whose aim
7056-432: The Allied occupation of Japan , GHQ officials banned any kind of criticism of the Allies or "reactionary" political ideas and many books were confiscated and burned. Over 7,000 books were destroyed. In 1588, the exiled English Catholic William Cardinal Allen wrote " An Admonition to the Nobility and People of England ", a work sharply attacking Queen Elizabeth I . It was to be published in Spanish-occupied England in
7182-405: The Allied air bombing which almost completely destroyed the Abbey shortly afterwards. Also saved by the two officers' prompt action were the collections of the Keats-Shelley Memorial House in Rome, which had been sent to the Abbey for safety in December 1942. The Sarajevo Haggadah – one of the oldest and most valuable Jewish illustrated manuscripts , with immense historical and cultural value –
7308-414: The Apostles , it is claimed that Paul performed an exorcism in Ephesus. After men in Ephesus failed to perform the same feat many gave up their "curious arts" and burned the books because apparently, they did not work. And many that believed, came and confessed and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts, brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted
7434-453: The Battle of Fandane-Thiouthioune . From the 20th to the 21st centuries, persecution of the Serers is less obvious, nevertheless, they are the object of scorn and prejudice. The 1984 anti-Sikh riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre was a series of pogroms directed against Sikhs in India , by anti-Sikh mobs, in response to the assassination of Indira Gandhi , on 31 October 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards in response to her actions authorising
7560-400: The Crown, who pressured the general public to take part in such "spectacles". According to American historian David Cressy, over "the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries book burning developed from a rare to an occasional occurrence, relocated from an outdoor to an indoor procedure, and changed from a bureaucratic to a quasi-theatrical performance". With the Bishops' Ban of 1599
7686-466: The Dogon to abandon their original villages and moved up to the cliffs of Bandiagara for better defense and to escape persecution—often building their dwellings in little nooks and crannies. In the early era of French colonialism in Mali, the French authorities appointed Muslim relatives of El Hadj Umar Tall as chiefs of the Bandiagara —despite the fact that the area has been a Dogon area for centuries. In 1864, Tidiani Tall , nephew and successor of
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#17327722013427812-490: The Druze at the hands of Islamic extremists . Ibn Taymiyya a prominent Muslim scholar muhaddith , dismissed the Druze as non-Muslims, and his fatwa cited that Druzes: "Are not at the level of ′Ahl al-Kitāb ( People of the Book ) nor mushrikin ( polytheists ). Rather, they are from the most deviant kuffār ( Infidel ) ... Their women can be taken as slaves and their property can be seized ... they are to be killed whenever they are found and cursed as they described ... It
7938-483: The East: A Concise History. London: Routledge. According to the Chronicle of Fredegar , Recared , King of the Visigoths (reigned 586–601) and first Catholic king of Spain , following his conversion to Catholicism in 587, ordered that all Arian books should be collected and burned; and all the books of Arian theology were reduced to ashes, along with the house in which they had been purposely collected. Which facts demonstrate that Constantine's edict on Arian works
8064-494: The Germanic peoples , Islamization of the Sudan region , Persecution of pagans under Theodosius I , Persecution of pagans under Constantius II , Scramble for Africa , Colonization of Australia , and Colonization of the Americas . Modern Pagans, who practice various forms of paganism, are a religious minority in every country where they exist. They have been subject to religious discrimination and/or religious persecution. The largest modern Pagan communities are in North America and
8190-399: The Government of Pakistan , under General Zia-ul-Haq , passed Ordinance XX , which banned proselytizing by Ahmadis and also banned Ahmadis from referring to themselves as Muslims . According to this ordinance, any Ahmadi who refers to oneself as a Muslim by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, directly or indirectly, or makes the call for prayer as other Muslims do,
8316-544: The Indian subcontinent was the first great iconoclastic invasion of the Indian subcontinent . According to William Johnston, hundreds of Buddhist monasteries and shrines were destroyed, Buddhist texts were burnt by the Muslim armies, monks and nuns were killed on the Indo-Gangetic Plain during the 12th and 13th centuries. The Buddhist university of Nalanda was mistaken for a fort because of its walled campus. The Buddhist monks who had been slaughtered were mistaken for Brahmins according to Minhaj-i-Siraj . The walled town,
8442-592: The Middle Ages when various Christian groups deemed heretical were persecuted by the Papacy. In the 20th century, Christians have been persecuted by various groups, and by atheistic states such as the USSR and North Korea . During the Second World War members of many Christian churches were persecuted in Germany for resisting the Nazi ideology. In more recent times the Christian missionary organization Open Doors (UK) estimates 100 million Christians face persecution, particularly in Muslim-dominated countries such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia . According to
8568-417: The Muslim coalition army launched jihads against the Serer people of Tekrur who refused to abandon Serer religion in favour of Islam. The number of Serer deaths are unknown, but it triggered the exodus of the Serers of Tekrur to the south following their defeat, where they were granted asylum by the lamanes . Persecution of the Serer people continued from the medieval era to the 19th century, resulting in
8694-471: The Qajar period as one of their worst. During the Qajar dynasty , religious persecution of the Zoroastrians was rampant. Due to the increasing contacts with influential Parsi philanthropists such as Maneckji Limji Hataria , many Zoroastrians left Iran for India . There, they formed the second major Indian Zoroastrian community known as the Iranis . Ethnic persecution refers to perceived persecution based on ethnicity . Its meaning
8820-499: The Spaniards. Several books written by the Aztecs were burnt by Spanish conquistadors and priests during the Spanish conquest of Yucatán . Despite opposition from Catholic friar Bartolomé de las Casas , numerous books found by the Spanish in Yucatán were burnt on the order of Bishop Diego de Landa in 1562. De Landa wrote on the incident that "We found a large number of books in these characters and, as they contained nothing in which were not to be seen as superstition and lies of
8946-428: The US sending an army to Utah to deal with the "Mormon problem" in the Utah War which resulted in a group of Mormons led by John D. Lee massacring settlers at the Mountain Meadows Massacre . Throughout the history of Jehovah's Witnesses , their beliefs, doctrines and practices have engendered controversy and opposition from local governments, communities, and mainstream Christian groups. The persecution of Copts
9072-564: The United Kingdom, and the issue of discrimination receives most attention in those locations. Although the persecution of Pagans has decreased in recent centuries, it still exists in some parts of the world. The community of Pagans and Wiccans continues to face Christian persecution, particularly in the United States, where they are frequently subjected to negative stereotypes and misconceptions, such as those perpetuated during
9198-705: The Vatican, and ordered that all copies of his work be burned. Activity by Cyril of Alexandria ( c. 376–444) brought fire to almost all the writings of Nestorius (386–450) shortly after 435. 'The writings of Nestorius were originally very numerous', however, they were not part of the Nestorian or Oriental theological curriculum until the mid-sixth century, unlike those of his teacher Theodore of Mopsuestia , and those of Diodorus of Tarsus , even then they were not key texts, so relatively few survive intact, cf. Baum, Wilhelm and Dietmar W. Winkler. 2003. The Church of
9324-868: The Zoroastrian high priest of the Sasanian Empire . Anti-Buddhist sentiment in Imperial China between the 5th and 10th century led to the Four Buddhist Persecutions in China of which the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution of 845 was probably the most severe. However, Buddhism managed to survive in China, but it was greatly weakened. During the Northern Expedition , in 1926 in Guangxi ,
9450-539: The actress Nelly Ternan. To judge from surviving Dickens letters, the destroyed material – even if not intended for publication – might have had considerable literary merit. Martin Gardner , a well-known expert on the work of Lewis Carroll , believes that Carroll had written an earlier version in the 1860s of Alice in Wonderland which he later destroyed after writing a more elaborate version which he presented to
9576-797: The beginning of the Battle of Monte Cassino in World War II , two German officers – Viennese-born Lt. Col. Julius Schlegel (a Roman Catholic) and Captain Maximilian Becker (a Protestant) – had the foresight to transfer the Monte Cassino archives to the Vatican. Otherwise the archives – containing a vast number of documents relating to the 1500-years' history of the Abbey as well as some 1,400 irreplaceable manuscript codices , chiefly patristic and historical – would have been destroyed in
9702-487: The book-burners. Anthony Comstock 's New York Society for the Suppression of Vice , founded in 1873, inscribed book burning on its seal, as a worthy goal to be achieved. Comstock's total accomplishment in a long and influential career is estimated to have been the destruction of some 15 tons of books, 284,000 pounds of plates for printing such "objectionable" books, and nearly 4,000,000 pictures. All of this material
9828-531: The child Alice who inspired the book. In the 1870s Tchaikovsky destroyed the full manuscript of his first opera, The Voyevoda . Decades later, during the Soviet period, The Voyevoda was posthumously reconstructed from surviving orchestral and vocal parts and the composer's sketches. Alberto Santos-Dumont , after being considered a spy by the French government in 1914 and then having this deception excused by
9954-591: The commission of a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity as set forth in Principle VI is a crime under international law. In the period just prior to the June 26, 1945 signing of the Charter of the United Nations , the governments participating in its drafting were opposed to conferring on the United Nations legislative power to enact binding rules of international law . As
10080-415: The commission should ascertain to what extent the principles contained in the Charter and judgment constituted principles of international law. The conclusion was that since the Nuremberg Principles had been affirmed by the General Assembly, the task entrusted to the commission was not to express any appreciation of these principles as principles of international law but merely to formulate them. The text above
10206-462: The communal strife. There are allegations that the government destroyed evidence and shielded the guilty. The Asian Age front-page story called the government actions "the Mother of all Cover-ups" There are allegations that the violence was led and often perpetrated by Indian National Congress activists and sympathisers during the riots. The chief weapon used by the mobs, kerosene , was supplied by
10332-403: The conditions under which conscientious objectors can apply for refugee status in another country if they face persecution in their own country for refusing to participate in an illegal war. Any person charged with a crime under international law has the right to a fair trial on the facts and law. The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law: Complicity in
10458-546: The destroyed works are irreplaceable and their burning constitutes a severe loss to cultural heritage . Examples include the burning of books and burying of scholars under China's Qin dynasty (213–210 BCE ), the destruction of the House of Wisdom during the Mongol siege of Baghdad (1258), the destruction of Aztec codices by Itzcoatl (1430s), the burning of Maya codices on the order of bishop Diego de Landa (1562), and
10584-775: The devil, we burned them all, which they (the Maya ) regretted to an amazing degree, and which caused them much affliction". The founding of the Church of England after King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church led to the targeting of English Catholics by Protestants . During the Tudor and Stuart periods , Protestant citizens loyal to the Crown attacked Catholic religious sites across England, frequently burning any religious texts they found. These acts were encouraged by
10710-535: The event of the Spanish Armada succeeding in its invasion. Upon the defeat of the Armada, Allen carefully consigned his publication to the fire, and it is only known of through one of Elizabeth's spies, who had stolen a copy. Carlo Goldoni is known to have burned his first play, a tragedy called Amalasunta in the 1730s, when encountering unfavorable criticism. The Hassidic Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
10836-774: The fall of the Zand dynasty to the Qajar army in Kerman. Because of Gushtasp's forecast, the Zoroastrians of Kerman were spared by the conquering army of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar . Despite the aforementioned favorable incident, the Zoroastrians during the Qajar dynasty remained in agony and their population continued to decline. Even during the rule of Agha Mohammad Khan, the founder of the dynasty, many Zoroastrians were killed and some were taken as captives to Azerbaijan . Zoroastrians regard
10962-586: The first Superman story when under the impression that it would not find a publisher. Axel Jensen made his debut as a novelist in Oslo in 1955 with the novel Dyretemmerens kors , but he later burned the remaining unsold copies of the book. In August 1963, when C.S. Lewis resigned from Magdalene College, Cambridge and his rooms there were being cleaned out, Lewis gave instructions to Douglas Gresham to destroy all his unfinished or incomplete fragments of manuscript - which scholars researching Lewis' work regard as
11088-448: The first emperor of the Qin dynasty , ordered the burning of books and burying of scholars and in 210 BCE he supposedly ordered the premature burial of 460 Confucian scholars in order to stay on his throne. Though the burning of books is well established, the live burial of scholars has been disputed by modern historians who doubt the details of the story, which first appeared more than
11214-411: The first movement and short draft fragments first published and played in 2011. Sibelius had always been quite self-critical; he remarked to his close friends, "If I cannot write a better symphony than my Seventh, then it shall be my last." Since no manuscript survives, sources consider it likely that Sibelius destroyed most traces of the score, probably in 1945, during which year he certainly consigned
11340-538: The jurisdiction of the Court Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group due to their religious affiliation . Not only theorists of secularization (who presume a decline of religiosity in general) would willingly assume that religious persecution is a thing of the past. However, with the rise of fundamentalism and religiously related terrorism , this assumption has become even more controversial. Indeed, in many countries of
11466-837: The law enforcement to start suo motu investigation into the attacks. US Ambassador to Bangladesh express concern about attack of Jamaat on Bengali Hindu community. The persecution of Jews is a recurring phenomenon throughout Jewish history . It has occurred on numerous occasions in widely different geographic locations. It may include pogroms , looting and the demolition of private and public Jewish property (e.g., Kristallnacht ), unwarranted arrest, imprisonment, torture , killing, or even mass execution (in World War II alone, approximately six million people were deliberately killed because they were Jewish). They have been expelled from their hometowns/countries, hoping to find safe havens in other polities. In recent times anti-Semitism has often been manifested as Anti-Zionism , where Anti-Zionism
11592-399: The main Indian investigating agency, is of the opinion that the acts of violence were organized with the support from the then Delhi police officials and the central government headed by Indira Gandhi 's son, Rajiv Gandhi . Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister after his mother's death and, when asked about the riots, said "when a big tree falls, the earth shakes" thus trying to justify
11718-522: The massacre and rejected calls to disband. Historically the relationship between the Druze and Muslims has been characterized by intense persecution. The Druze faith is often classified as a branch of Isma'ili . Even though the faith originally developed out of Ismaili Islam , most Druze do not identify as Muslims , and they do not accept the five pillars of Islam . The Druze have frequently experienced persecution by different Muslim regimes such as
11844-572: The military operation Operation Blue Star . There were more than 8,000 deaths, including 3,000 in Delhi. In June 1984, during Operation Blue Star , Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to attack the Golden Temple and eliminate any insurgents, as it had been occupied by Sikh separatists who were stockpiling weapons. Later operations by Indian paramilitary forces were initiated to clear
11970-536: The police, he destroyed all his aeronautical documents. The following year, according to the afterword to the historical novel "De gevleugelde," Arthur Japin says that when Dumont returned to Brazil, he "burned all his diaries, letters and drawings." After Hector Hugh Munro (better known by the pen name Saki ) was killed in World War I in November 1916, his sister Ethel destroyed most of his papers. There
12096-674: The present 'New Testament'". (Pagels cites Athanasius's Paschal letter (letter 39) for 367 CE, which prescribes a canon, but her citation "cleanse the church from every defilement" (page 177) does not explicitly appear in the Festal letter. ) Heretical texts do not turn up as palimpsests , scraped clean and overwritten, as do many texts of Classical antiquity . According to author Rebecca Knuth, multitudes of early Christian texts have been as thoroughly "destroyed" as if they had been publicly burnt. In 1759 Pope Clement XIII banned all publications written by Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus from
12222-627: The price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. After the First Council of Nicea (325 CE), Roman emperor Constantine the Great issued an edict against nontrinitarian Arians which included a prescription for systematic book-burning: "In addition, if any writing composed by Arius should be found, it should be handed over to the flames, so that not only will the wickedness of his teaching be obliterated, but nothing will be left even to remind anyone of him. And I hereby make
12348-405: The progressive development of international law and its codification . The Nuremberg Principles were developed by UN organs under that limited mandate. Unlike treaty law, customary international law is not written. To prove that a certain rule is customary one has to show that it is reflected in state practice and that there exists a conviction in the international community that such practice
12474-411: The prominent, high-profile event of the Nuremberg Trials, that excuse is now referred to by many as the " Nuremberg Defense ". In recent times, a third term, " lawful orders " has become common parlance for some people. All three terms are in use today, and they all have slightly different nuances of meaning, depending on the context in which they are used. Nuremberg Principle IV is legally supported by
12600-659: The prosecution to bring such 'domestic' atrocities within the scope of international law as 'crimes against humanity". Several subsequent international treaties incorporate this principle, but some have dropped the restriction "in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime" that is in Nuremberg Principles. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court , which is binding on 111 states, defines crimes against humanity in Article 7.1. The article criminalizes certain acts "committed as part of
12726-521: The rape of Hindu women, and the desecration and destruction of, according to community leaders, more than 50 Hindu temples ; 1,500 Hindu homes were destroyed in 20 districts. While the government has held the Jamaat-e-Islami responsible for the attacks on the minorities, the Jamaat-e-Islami leadership has denied any involvement. The minority leaders have protested the attacks and appealed for justice. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has directed
12852-506: The refugee status claim. In the decision, Justice Anne L. Mactavish addressed the issue of personal responsibility: An individual must be involved at the policy-making level to be culpable for a crime against peace ... the ordinary foot soldier is not expected to make his or her own personal assessment as to the legality of a conflict. Similarly, such an individual cannot be held criminally responsible for fighting in support of an illegal war, assuming that his or her personal war-time conduct
12978-525: The reign of Yazdegerd I , Christians in Persia were viewed with suspicion as potential Roman subversives, resulting in persecutions while at the same time, they promoted Nestorian Christianity as a buffer between the Churches of Rome and Persia . Persecutions and attempts to impose Zoroastrianism continued during the reign of Yazdegerd II . Nuremberg Principles The Nuremberg principles are
13104-547: The rule is confirmed. (See also: Sources of international law ) In 1947, under UN General Assembly Resolution 177 (II), paragraph (a), the International Law Commission was directed to "formulate the principles of international law recognized in the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal and in the judgment of the Tribunal." In the course of the consideration of this subject, the question arose as to whether or not
13230-533: The same report, Senator Kennedy reported that 80% of the refugees in India were Hindus and according to numerous international relief agencies such as UNESCO and World Health Organization the number of East Pakistani refugees at their peak in India was close to 10 million. In a syndicated column "The Pakistani Slaughter That Nixon Ignored", Pulitzer Prize –winning journalist Sydney Schanberg wrote about his return to liberated Bangladesh in 1972. "Other reminders were
13356-567: The separatists from the countryside of Punjab state. The Indian government reported 2,700 deaths in the ensuing chaos. In the aftermath of the riots, the Indian government reported 20,000 had fled the city, however the People's Union for Civil Liberties reported "at least" 1,000 displaced persons . The most affected regions were the Sikh neighbourhoods in Delhi . The Central Bureau of Investigation ,
13482-453: The seventh largest Baháʼí population in the world, with just over 251,100 as of 2010. The Baháʼí Faith originated in Iran, and it represents the largest religious minority in that country. The persecution of Buddhists has been a widespread phenomenon throughout the history of Buddhism , a phenomenon which is continuing today. As early as the 3rd century AD, Buddhists were persecuted by Kirder,
13608-449: The strength to be present and left the room. I therefore do not know what he threw on to the fire. But after this my husband became calmer and gradually lighter in mood." It is assumed that a draft of Sibelius' Eighth Symphony - which he worked on in the early 1930s but with which he was not satisfied - was among the papers destroyed. Joe Shuster , who together with Jerry Siegel created the fictional superhero Superman , in 1938 burned
13734-471: The town was renamed. Likewise, Vikramashila was destroyed by the forces of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji around 1200. The sacred Mahabodhi Temple was almost completely destroyed by the Muslim invaders. Many Buddhist monks fled to Nepal , Tibet, and South India to avoid the consequences of war. Tibetan pilgrim Chöjepal (1179-1264), who arrived in India in 1234, had to flee advancing Muslim troops multiple times, as they were sacking Buddhist sites. In Japan,
13860-478: The wars which followed the breakup of Yugoslavia . In 1940s France, a group of anti-fascist exiles created a Library of Burned Books which housed all the books that Adolf Hitler had destroyed. This library contained copies of titles that were burned by the Nazis in their campaign to cleanse German culture of Jewish and foreign influences such as pacifist and decadent literature. The Nazis themselves planned to make
13986-428: The works of French philosopher and writer Voltaire were repeatedly burned by government officials in the kingdoms of France and Prussia . In 1734, the publication of his Lettres philosophiques in the city of Rouen led to a public outcry, as it was seen as an attack against the ancien régime of France. In response, the French authorities ordered copies of book to be publicly confiscated and burnt, and Voltaire
14112-474: The world today, religious persecution is a Human Rights problem. Atheists have experienced persecution throughout their history . Persecution may refer to unwarranted arrest, imprisonment, beating, torture, or execution. It also may refer to the confiscation or destruction of property. The persecution of Baháʼís refers to the religious persecution of Baháʼís in various countries, especially in Iran , which has
14238-748: The yellow "H"s the Pakistanis had painted on the homes of Hindus, particular targets of the Muslim army" (by "Muslim army", meaning the Pakistan Army , which had targeted Bengali Muslims as well), ( Newsday , 29 April 1994). In Bangladesh, on 28 February 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Delwar Hossain Sayeedi , the Vice President of the Jamaat-e-Islami to death for the war crimes committed during
14364-628: Was adopted by the Commission at its second session. The Report of the commission also contains commentaries on the principles (see Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1950, Vol. II, pp. 374–378). Concerning Nuremberg Principle IV, and its reference to an individual's responsibility, it could be argued that a version of the Superior Orders defense can be found as a defense to international crimes in
14490-581: Was also at issue in Canada in the case of Hinzman v. Canada. Jeremy Hinzman was a U.S. Army deserter who claimed refugee status in Canada as a conscientious objector , one of many Iraq War resisters . Hinzman's lawyer, Jeffry House , had previously raised the issue of the legality of the Iraq War as having a bearing on their case. The Federal Court ruling was released on March 31, 2006, and denied
14616-435: Was created to outlaw "heterodox religions" and retroactively applied to Falun Gong. Amnesty International states that the persecution is "politically motivated" with "legislation being used retroactively to convict people on politically-driven charges, and new regulations introduced to further restrict fundamental freedoms". Persecution of Hindus refers to the religious persecution inflicted upon Hindus that may undergo as
14742-608: Was defined as " lewd " by Comstock's very broad definition of the term – which he and his associates successfully lobbied the United States Congress to incorporate in the Comstock Law . The Nazi government decreed broad grounds for burning material "which acts subversively on Nazi Germany's future or strikes at the root of German thought, the German home and the driving forces of German people". During
14868-516: Was done to eradicate paganism and assert the dominance of Christianity and Islam. During the Age of Discovery , Many Europeans consider aspects of Native American , African Tribes , Polynesian, and Aboriginal Australian religion as pagans, which attributed to their genocide and forced conversions . Some notable examples are the Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire , Christianisation of
14994-928: Was forced to flee Paris . In 1751, King of Prussia Frederick the Great ordered a pamphlet written by Voltaire titled Doctor Akakia to be publicly burnt as it insulted Pierre Louis Maupertuis , the president of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin , of whom Frederick was a significant patron. Following John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, slaveholders and their supporters spread panic about abolitionism , believing that anti-slavery conspiracies would lead to widespread slave revolts. Pro-slavery southerners burned books in Mississippi , South Carolina , and Texas , including textbooks from public schools. Books that were critical of slavery, or insufficiently supportive of it, were seen as "anti-Southern" by
15120-694: Was hidden from the Nazis and their Ustaše collaborators by Derviš Korkut , chief librarian of the National Museum in Sarajevo . At risk to his own life, Korkut smuggled the Haggadah out of Sarajevo and gave it for safekeeping to a Muslim cleric in Zenica , where it was hidden until the end of the war under the floorboards of either a mosque or a Muslim home. The Haggadah again survived destruction during
15246-630: Was killed by the marauders, being later canonized. In art, she is commonly represented holding a book to signify the library she saved, and is considered a patron saint of libraries and librarians. During a tour of Thuringia in 1525, Martin Luther became enraged at the widespread burning of libraries along with other buildings during the German Peasants' War , writing Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants in response. During
15372-417: Was lost. Gradually an increasing number of laws were passed which regulated Zoroastrian behavior and limited their ability to participate in society. Over time, the persecution of Zoroastrians became more common and widespread, and the number of believers decreased by force significantly. Most were forced to convert due to the systematic abuse and discrimination inflicted upon them by followers of Islam . Once
15498-519: Was martyred. He is often depicted holding the book which he protected with his life. Another book-saving Catholic saint is the 10th-century Saint Wiborada . She is credited with having predicted in 925 an invasion by the then-pagan Hungarians of her region in Switzerland. Her warning allowed the priests and religious of St. Gall and St. Magnus to hide their books and wine and escape into caves in nearby hills. Wiborada herself refused to escape and
15624-659: Was not rigorously observed, as Arian writings or the theology based on them survived to be burned much later in Spain. In 1244, as an outcome of the Disputation of Paris , twenty-four carriage loads of Talmuds and other Jewish religious manuscripts were set on fire by French law officers in the streets of Paris. During the Spanish colonization of the Americas , numerous books written by indigenous peoples were burned by
15750-405: Was part of United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations testimony dated 1 November 1971, "Hardest hit have been members of the Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and shops, systematically slaughtered, mass rape and in some places, painted with yellow patches marked "H". All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law from Islamabad ". In
15876-463: Was the fastest growing qigong practice in Chinese history and, by 1999, there were millions of practitioners. Following the seven years of widespread popularity, on July 20, 1999, the government of the People's Republic of China began a nationwide persecution campaign against Falun Gong practitioners, except in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau . In late 1999, legislation
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