Religion Provisions of the Mozambique Constitution of 2004

One of my current research projects involves analysis of the religion provisions of various constitutions enacted since the year 2000. From time to time on this blog, I'll post extracts of those provisions arranged according to categories such as "Religious Freedom" (guarantee of individual rights), "Established Religion" (joining religion and government), "Establishment Clause" (separating religion and government), "Ceremonial Deism" (symbolic references to religion that have little or no legal effect), "Equal Protection of Religion" (non-discrimination guarantees), "Preamble", "Religious Education", and "Religious Limitations."
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The 2004 Mozambique Constitution contains classic elements of liberal approaches to religion: it separates church and state, guarantees individual religious exercise, prohibits religious discrimination, and states that public education shall be secular.  There is one provision of the Constitution that is both unique and somewhat mystifying in terms of its practical effects: Article 12(4) states that the State "shall recognize and esteem the activities of religious denominations" in order to further various goals.  The implications of this provision will depend on whether it is seen as primarily rhetorical or as license for the government to foster closer ties with and/or endorse religious groups.

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Mozambique Constitution 2004

Establishment Clause

Article 12(1). The Republic of Mozambique shall be a lay State.

Article 12 (2). The lay nature of the State rests on the separation between the State and religious denominations.

Religious Freedom

Article 12(3). Religious denominations shall have organisational freedom, freedom to carry out their functions and freedom of worship, and they shall conform to the laws of the State.

Article 54(1)  All citizens shall have the freedom to practice or not to practice a religion.

Article 54(3)  Religious denominations shall have the right to pursue their religious aims freely and to own and acquire assets for realising their objectives.

Not Clear

Article 12(4)  The State shall recognise and esteem the activities of religious denominations in order to promote a climate of understanding, tolerance and peace, the strengthening of national unity, the material and spiritual well being of citizens, and economic and social development.

Equal Protection of Religion

Article 35  All citizens are equal before the law, and they shall enjoy the same rights and be subject to the same duties, regardless of colour, race, sex, ethnic origin, place of birth, religion, level of education, social position, the marital status of their parents, their profession or their political preference.

Article 54(2)  Nobody shall be discriminated against, persecuted, prejudiced, deprived of his or her rights, or benefit from or be exempt from duties, on the grounds of his faith or religious persuasion or practice.

Miscellaneous

Article 54(4)  The protection of places of worship shall be ensured.

Religious Limitations

Article 76  Political parties shall be prohibited from using names containing expressions that are directly related to any religious denominations or churches, and from using emblems that may be confused with national or religious symbols.

Religious Education

Article 113(3)  Public education shall not pertain to any religion.

"Blasphemy and the Modern, 'Secular' State

Rebecca Ross, Blasphemy and the Modern, 'Secular' State, (2012) 17 Appeal 3.

This article in the Canadian legal journal Appeal contains an interesting discussion of Canada's prohibition on blasphemous libel, a subject I've written much about.  The key question explored is whether such a prohibition is consonant with the country's status as a multicultural and secular democracy that cherishes freedom of speech and religion.  Ross' style is somewhat discursive, and the discussion ranges from Canada to the Danish Cartoon Controversy to the Rushdie Affair and back again, but she also makes some valuable and insightful contributions to the topic.  For one thing, she eschews formalism and instead argues that Canada's blasphemy law must be considered in a real-world context where Islam is the most highly-visible religion to be concerned with blasphemy:

"Here we encounter one of the foundational concerns with religious freedom: is religion a choice, or is it a cultural identity?  While some scholars argue that certain faiths like Islam view religion as an identity because of their different philosophical worldview, cultural critics argue that Islam is simply a more coercive form of opinion, due to the serious--and often fatal--consequences of apostasy and the forbiddance of religious critique.  While the standard Post-Colonial academic response to such criticism is to argue that the Western world is 'othering' a different culture and perpetuating stereotypes of Muslim barbarism, and while it is true that theoretically, any religion could require the same responses to blasphemy, we are still left with the uncomfortable fact that in contemporary society there are different consequences for criticizing Islam as opposed to other religions.  . . .  Canada's law against blasphemy must be considered within this context; to do otherwise would be to ignore contemporary socio-political reality as well as law's impact on the real world outside of Academia."  (p. 8)

In discussing Canada's ban, Ross also makes the interesting point that the dramatic growth in the numbers of religious nonbelievers in Canada requires that they be treated as a minority group and that recognition needs to be given to the fact that blasphemy laws affect them quite differently than such laws affect religious individuals.  (p. 15)  She also points out that "Canadian blasphemy law makes no distinction between those who criticize others' religions as opposed to those who criticize their own." (p. 15)

Ross concludes with strong words:

Blasphemy laws raise the spectre of censorship in an area of religion, not race or ethnicity, and the threat of violence in this area should be defined in exactly the way threats of violence in pursuit of political aims are usually defined--as terrorism.  The question is: should the state be involved in determining who can speak about religion?  According to Canadian notions of freedom of expression, religion and multiculturalism, the answer must be a resounding 'No.'" (p. 18)

"Witch" Tortured and Set on Fire in Papua New Guinea

According to today's New York Times, a young woman in Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea was tortured and then burned alive in front of hundreds of witnesses based on accusations that she was a "witch."  The accusations were made from the family of a young boy who died in hospital the day prior.  Photographs of the burned corpse was shown in local newspapers.

(Here is a link to the article; it may be behind a paywall.)

Capital University Law Review to Publish "A Polemic Against the Standing Requirement in Constitutional Cases"

I'm quite pleased that Capital University Law Review will publish my article "A Polemic Against the Standing Requirement in Constitutional Cases" (draft available on SSRN).

Religion Provisions of the Morocco Constitution of 2011

One of my current research projects involves analysis of the religion provisions of various constitutions enacted since the year 2000. From time to time on this blog, I'll post extracts of those provisions arranged according to categories such as "Religious Freedom" (guarantee of individual rights), "Established Religion" (joining religion and government), "Establishment Clause" (separating religion and government), "Ceremonial Deism" (symbolic references to religion that have little or no legal effect), "Equal Protection of Religion" (non-discrimination guarantees), "Preamble", "Religious Education", and "Religious Limitations."
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The Morocco Constitution of 2011 is a very interesting example of a document that strongly incorporates a national religion while simultaneously making reference to traditional liberal concepts like freedom of religion, non-discrimination, and "the rights of man."

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Morocco Constitution 2011

Source (including translation):  World Constitutions Illustrated (HeinOnline)

Preamble

“A sovereign Muslim State, attached to its national unity and to its territorial integrity, the Kingdom of Morocco intends to preserve, in its plentitude and its diversity, its one and indivisible national identity. Its unity, is forged by the convergence of its Arab-Islamist, Berber [amazighe] and Saharan-Hassanic [saharo-hassanie] components, nourished and enriched by its African, Andalusian, Hebraic and Mediterranean influences [affluents]. The preeminence accorded to the Muslim religion in the national reference is consistent with [va de pair] the attachment of the Moroccan people to the values of openness, of moderation, of tolerance and of dialog for mutual understanding between all the cultures and the civilizations of the world.”

“To deepen the bonds of togetherness with the Arab and Islamist Ummah [Oumma], and to reinforce the bonds of fraternity and of solidarity with its brother peoples;”

Ceremonial Deism

Article 1:  “The Nation relies for its collective life on the federative constants [constantes fidratrices], on the occurrence of moderate Muslim religion, [on] the national unity of its multiple components [affluents], [on] the constitutional monarchy and [on] democratic choice.”

Established Religion

Article 3:  “Islam is the religion of the State, which guarantees to all the free exercise of beliefs [cultes].”

Article 41:  “The King, Commander of the Faithful [Amir Al Mouminine], sees to the respect for Islam. He is the Guarantor of the free exercise of beliefs [cultes]. He presides over the Superior Council of the Ulema [Conseil supirieur des Oukdma], charged with the study of questions that He submits to it. The Council is the sole instance enabled [habilite] to comment [prononcer] on the religious consultations (Fatwas) before being officially agreed to, on the questions to which it has been referred [saisi] and this, on the basis of the

tolerant principles, precepts and designs of Islam. The attributions, the composition and the modalities of functioning of the Council are established by Dahir [Royal Decree]. The King exercises by Dahirs the religious prerogatives inherent in the institution of the Emirate of the Faithful [Imarat Al Mouminine] which are conferred on Him in exclusive manner by this Article.”

Article 175

“No revision may infringe the provisions relative to the Muslim religion, on the monarchic form of the State, on the democratic choice of the Nation or on [those] acquired in matters of [the] freedoms and of fundamental rights inscribed in this Constitution.”

Religious Freedom?

Article 3 “Islam is the religion of the State, which guarantees to all the free exercise of beliefs [cultes].”

Article 41:  “The King, Commander of the Faithful [Amir Al Mouminine], sees to the respect for Islam. He is the Guarantor of the free exercise of beliefs [cultes].”

Miscellaneous

Article 7:  “The political parties may not be founded on a religious, linguistic, ethnic or regional basis, or, in a general manner, on any discriminatory basis or [basis] contrary to the Rights of Man. They may not have for [an] objective [but], infringement to the Muslim religion, to the monarchical regime, to the constitutional principles, to the democratic foundations or to the national unity and territorial integrity of the Kingdom”

Fiji Teens Steal Skull, Charged with Withcraft

According to the Toronto Star, two teenagers in Fiji were arrested and charged with "pretending to exercise witchcraft" after stealing a skull from a graveyard in a plan to use it for occult practices.  If convicted, the teens face up to five years in prison.

Ancient Scrolls Torched in Mali

Before their recent ouster, according to the Toronto Star, extremists in Mali set fire to a library containing ancient manuscripts, some dating to the 12th Century.  The Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu housed over 30,000 documents and was destroyed as part of a campaign to cleanse the area of "un-Islamic" elements, which also included the destruction of several hundred ancient tombs.