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Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are
religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within soc ...
,
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
, and
political persecution
Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...
, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of
suffering
Suffering, or pain in a broad sense, may be an experience of unpleasantness or aversion, possibly associated with the perception of harm or threat of harm in an individual. Suffering is the basic element that makes up the negative valence of a ...
,
harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral ...
,
imprisonment
Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...
,
internment
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
, 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 source of much debate.
International law
As part of the
Nuremberg Principles,
crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
are part of international law. Principle VI of the
Nuremberg Principles states that
Telford Taylor
Telford Taylor (February 24, 1908 – May 23, 1998) was an American lawyer and professor. Taylor was known for his role as lead counsel in the prosecution of war criminals after World War II, his opposition to McCarthyism in the 1950s, and his o ...
, who was Counsel for the Prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials wrote "
tthe Nuremberg war crimes trials, the tribunals rebuffed several efforts by 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
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...
of the
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ...
, which is binding on 111 states, defines crimes against humanity in Article 7.1. The article criminalizes certain acts "committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack". These include:
Religious
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group due to their
religious affiliation Religious identity is a specific type of identity formation. Particularly, it is the sense of group membership to a religion and the importance of this group membership as it pertains to one's self-concept. Religious identity is not necessarily the ...
. Not only theorists of
secularization
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
(who presume a decline of
religiosity
In sociology, the concept of religiosity has proven difficult to define. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests: "Religiousness; religious feeling or belief. ..Affected or excessive religiousness". Different scholars have seen this concept as b ...
in general) would willingly assume that religious persecution is a thing of the past. However, with the rise of
fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing ...
and
religiously related terrorism, this assumption has become even more controversial. Indeed, in many countries of the world today, religious persecution is a Human Rights problem.
Atheists
Atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
s 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.
Baháʼís
The persecution of Baháʼís refers to the
religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within soc ...
of Baháʼís in various countries, especially in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
which has the seventh largest Baháʼí population in the world, with just over 251,100 as of 2010.
The
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
originated in Iran, and it represents the largest religious minority in that country.
Buddhists
The persecution of Buddhists has been a widespread phenomenon throughout the
history of Buddhism
The history of Buddhism spans from the 5th century BCE to the present. Buddhism arose in Ancient India, in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha, and is based on the teachings of the ascetic Siddhārtha Gautama. The religion evolved as it sp ...
, a phenomenon which is continuing today. As early as the 3rd century AD, Buddhists were persecuted by Kirder, the Zoroastrian high priest of the
Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
.
Anti-Buddhist sentiment in
Imperial China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...
between the 5th and 10th century led to the ''
Four Buddhist Persecutions in China
The Four Buddhist Persecutions in China were the wholesale suppression of Buddhism carried out on four occasions from the 5th through the 10th century by four Chinese emperors, during the Northern Wei, Northern Zhou, Tang and Later Zhou dynasties. ...
'' of which the ''
Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution
The Huichang Persecution of Buddhism () was initiated by Emperor Wuzong (Li Chan) of the Tang dynasty during the Huichang era (841–845). Among its purposes were to appropriate war funds and to cleanse Tang China of foreign influences. As such ...
'' of 845 was probably the most severe. However, Buddhism managed to survive in China, but it was greatly weakened. During the
Northern Expedition
The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...
, in 1926 in
Guangxi
Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
, the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
Muslim General
Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi (18 March 1893 – 2 December 1966; , , Xiao'erjing: ) was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China (ROC) and a prominent Chinese Nationalist leader. He was of Hui ethnicity and of the Musli ...
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
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
temples.
The
Muslim invasion of the Indian subcontinent was the first great
iconoclastic
Iconoclasm (from Greek: grc, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, εἰκών + κλάω, lit=image-breaking. ''Iconoclasm'' may also be conside ...
invasion of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
. 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
The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain encompassing northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including most of northern and eastern India, around half of Pakistan, virtually all of Bangla ...
during the 12th and 13th centuries.
The Buddhist university of
Nalanda
Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.[Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...]
s according to
Minhaj-i-Siraj
Minhaj-al-Din Abu Amr Othman ibn Siraj-al-Din Muhammad Juzjani (born 1193), simply known as Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani, was a 13th-century Persian historian born in the region of Ghur.
In 1227, Juzjani migrated to Ucch then to Delhi. Juzjani was th ...
. The walled town, the
Odantapuri
Odantapuri (also called Odantapura or Uddandapura) was a prominent Buddhist Mahavihara in what is now Bihar Sharif in Bihar, India. It is believed to have been established by the Pala ruler Gopala I in the 8th century. It is considered the second ...
monastery, was also destroyed by his forces. Sumpa based his account on that of Śākyaśrībhadra who was at
Magadha
Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...
in 1200, states that the Buddhist university complexes of Odantapuri and
Vikramshila
Vikramashila (Sanskrit: विक्रमशिला, IAST: , Bengali language, Bengali:- বিক্রমশিলা, Romanization, Romanisation:- Bikrômôśilā ) was one of the three most important Buddhist Mahavihara, monasteries i ...
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
Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khaljī, (Pashto :اختيار الدين محمد بختيار غلزۍ, fa, اختیارالدین محمد بختیار خلجی, bn, ইখতিয়ারউদ্দীন মুহম্মদ ...
and the town was renamed. Likewise,
Vikramashila
Vikramashila (Sanskrit: विक्रमशिला, IAST: , Bengali:- বিক্রমশিলা, Romanisation:- Bikrômôśilā ) was one of the three most important Buddhist monasteries in India during the Pala Empire, along with N ...
was destroyed by the forces of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji around 1200. The sacred
Mahabodhi Temple
The Mahabodhi Temple (literally: "Great Awakening Temple") or the Mahābodhi Mahāvihāra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an ancient, but rebuilt and restored Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, marking the location where the Buddha ...
was almost completely destroyed by the Muslim invaders. Many Buddhist monks fled to
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
, Tibet, and
South India
South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...
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, the
haibutsu kishaku
(literally "abolish Buddhism and destroy Shākyamuni") is a term that indicates a current of thought continuous in Japan's history which advocates the expulsion of Buddhism from Japan. Under the shogunate, obtaining the permission to open or cl ...
during the
Meiji Restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
(starting in 1868) was an event which was triggered by the official policy of separation of
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
and Buddhism (or
shinbutsu bunri
The Japanese term indicates the separation of Shinto from Buddhism, introduced after the Meiji Restoration which separated Shinto ''kami'' from buddhas, and also Buddhist temples from Shinto shrines, which were originally amalgamated. It is a ...
). This policy caused great destruction to
Buddhism in Japan
Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had a ...
, 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 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
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
, which they claimed had been posted on
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
by Uttam Barua, a local Buddhist man.
Christians
![Siemiradzki Christian Dirce](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Siemiradzki_Christian_Dirce.jpg)
The persecution of Christians is
religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within soc ...
that
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
may be subjected to as a consequence of professing
their faith, both
historically
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
and in the
modern era
The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...
.
Early Christians
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish d ...
were persecuted for their
faith
Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
Religious people often ...
at the hands of both
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
from
whose religion Christianity arose and the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
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
The Edict of Milan ( la, Edictum Mediolanense; el, Διάταγμα τῶν Μεδιολάνων, ''Diatagma tōn Mediolanōn'') was the February 313 AD agreement to treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire. Frend, W. H. C. ( ...
, and it eventually became the
State church of the Roman Empire
Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire when Emperor Theodosius I issued the Edict of Thessalonica in 380, which recognized the catholic orthodoxy of Nicene Christians in the Great Church as the Roman Empire's state religion. ...
.
Christian missionaries
A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...
, 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
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
suffering persecution at the hands of other Christians under the charge of
heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
, particularly during the 16th century
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
as well as throughout 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
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
and
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
members of many Christian churches were persecuted in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
for resisting the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
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
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
. According to the
International Society for Human Rights
The International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) is an international non-governmental, non-profit human rights organization with Participative Status with the Council of Europe and is a member of the Liaison Committee of the Non-Governmental O ...
, up to 80% of all acts of persecution are directed against people of the Christian faith.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism)
The Missouri
extermination order forced Mormons to move to Illinois. This was after
Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon (February 19, 1793 – July 14, 1876) was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Biography Early life
Rigdon was born in St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on February 19, 1793. He was ...
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
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...
. Missouri state militia troops slaughtered Mormons in what 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
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
, was killed in
Carthage, Illinois
Carthage is a city and the county seat of Hancock County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,490 as of the 2020 census, Carthage is best known for being the site of the 1844 death of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint mov ...
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
Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture and punishment used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge. It was used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a ty ...
, their lands and possessions being repeatedly taken from them, mob attacks, false imprisonments, and the US sending an army to Utah to deal with the "Mormon problem" in the
Utah War
The Utah War (1857–1858), also known as the Utah Expedition, Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the US go ...
which resulted in a group of Mormons led by
John D. Lee
John Doyle Lee (September 6, 1812 – March 23, 1877) was an American pioneer and prominent early member of the Latter Day Saint Movement in Utah. Lee was later convicted as a mass murderer for his complicity in the Mountain Meadows massacre, s ...
massacring settlers at the
Mountain Meadows Massacre
The Mountain Meadows Massacre (September 7–11, 1857) was a series of attacks during the Utah War that resulted in the mass murder of at least 120 members of the Baker–Fancher party, Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train. The massacre occur ...
.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Throughout the history of
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
, their beliefs, doctrines and practices have engendered
controversy
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...
and opposition from local governments, communities, and mainstream Christian groups.
Copts
The persecution of Copts is a historical and ongoing issue in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
against
Coptic Orthodox Christianity
The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي ...
and its followers. It is also a prominent example of the poor status of
Christians in the Middle East
Christianity, which originated in the Middle East during the 1st century AD, is a significant minority religion within the region, characterized by the diversity of its beliefs and traditions, compared to Christianity in other parts of the ...
despite the religion being native to the region.
Copt
Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christians, Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since Ancient history, antiqui ...
s are the
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
followers in Egypt, usually
Oriental Orthodox
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent o ...
, 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
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
has noted "growing religious intolerance" and sectarian violence against Coptic Christians in recent years, as well as a failure by the Egyptian government to effectively investigate properly and prosecute those responsible.
The
Muslim conquest of Egypt
The Muslim conquest of Egypt, led by the army of 'Amr ibn al-'As, took place between 639 and 646 AD and was overseen by the Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long period of Roman Egypt, Roman reign over Egypt that began in 30 BC. ...
took place in AD 639, during the
Byzantine empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
. 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
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or ...
for those who refused to convert. From the
Muslim conquest of Egypt
The Muslim conquest of Egypt, led by the army of 'Amr ibn al-'As, took place between 639 and 646 AD and was overseen by the Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long period of Roman Egypt, Roman reign over Egypt that began in 30 BC. ...
onwards, the Coptic Christians were persecuted by different Muslims regimes, such as the
Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...
,
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
,
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
,
[Robert Ousterhout, "Rebuilding the Temple: Constantine Monomachus and the Holy Sepulchre" in ''The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'', Vol. 48, No. 1 (March, 1989), pp.66–78] Mamluk Sultanate
The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16th ...
, and
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
; the persecution of Coptic Christians included closing and demolishing churches and
forced conversion
Forced conversion is the adoption of a different religion or the adoption of irreligion under duress. Someone who has been forced to convert to a different religion or irreligion may continue, covertly, to adhere to the beliefs and practices which ...
to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
.
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 the
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights or EIPR ( ar, المبادرة المصرية للحقوق الشخصية) is an independent Egyptian human rights organization, established in 2002. It is a Cairo-based think tank.
Structure and leade ...
.
The abduction and disappearance of Coptic Christian women and girls also remains a serious ongoing problem.
Dogons
For almost 1000 years,
the
Dogon people
The Dogon are an ethnic group indigenous to the central plateau region of Mali, in West Africa, south of the Niger River, Niger bend, near the city of Bandiagara, and in Burkina Faso. The population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000. They spe ...
, an ancient tribe of
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
had faced religious and ethnic persecution—through jihads by dominant Muslim communities.
[ Griaule, Marcel; Dieterlen, Germaine; (1965). ''Le mythe cosmologique. Le renard pâle.'', 1. Paris: Institut d'Ethnologie Musée de l'homme, p. 17] These jihadic expeditions were to forced the Dogon to abandon
their traditional religious beliefs for Islam. Such jihads caused 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
The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that existe ...
in Mali, the French authorities appointed Muslim relatives of
El Hadj Umar Tall
Hadji Oumarûl Foutiyou Tall (Umar ibn Sa'id al-Futi Tal, ar, حاج عمر بن سعيد طعل), ( – 1864 CE), born in Futa Tooro, present day Senegal, was a West African political leader, Islamic scholar, Tijani Sufi and Toucouleur ...
as chiefs of the
Bandiagara
Bandiagara () is a small town and urban commune in the Mopti Region of Mali. The name translates roughly to "large eating bowl"—referring to the communal bowl meals are served in. Mainly on its Bandiagara Escarpment it has about 2,000 speakers ...
—despite the fact that the area has been a Dogon area for centuries.
In 1864,
Tidiani Tall Tidiani Tall (c.1840 – 1888) succeeded his uncle, El Hadj Umar Tall, as head of the Toucouleur Empire following Umar's 1864 death near Bandiagara.
Tidiani Tall also had 4 children: Coumba Tall, Madina Tall, Fadima Tall, and Addafini Abdulahi. ...
, nephew and successor of the 19th century
Senegambian
The Senegambia (other names: Senegambia region or Senegambian zone,Barry, Boubacar, ''Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade'', (Editors: David Anderson, Carolyn Brown; trans. Ayi Kwei Armah; contributors: David Anderson, American Council of Le ...
jihadist and Muslim leader—El Hadj Umar Tall, chose Bandiagara as the capital of the
Toucouleur Empire
The Tidjaniya Caliphate ( ar, الخلافة التجانية; also known as the Tijaniyya Jihad state or the Segu Tukulor or the Toucouleur Empire) (1861–1890) was founded in the mid-nineteenth century by Elhadj Oumar Foutiyou Tall of the To ...
thereby exacerbating the inter-religious and inter-ethnic conflict. In recent years, the Dogon accused the
Fulanis of supporting and sheltering
Islamic terrorist
Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism) refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists.
Incidents and fatalities ...
groups like
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
in Dogon country, leading to the creation of the Dogon militia
Dan Na Ambassagou in 2016—whose aim is to defend the Dogon from systematic attacks. That resulted in the
Ogossagou massacre
On March 23, 2019, several attacks by gunmen killed a reported 160 Fulani herdsmen, Fulani herders in central Mali. The violence came in the aftermath of the Malian government cracking down on Islamic terror cells in the country. Two villages, O ...
of Fulanis in March 2019, and a Fula retaliation with the
Sobane Da massacre
On 10 June 2019, the Dogon village of Sobane Da in Mali was attacked. Moulaye Guindo, mayor of neighbouring Bankass, blamed a Fulani militia group. The attack killed 35 people, revised from an earlier claim of 95 killed with 19 missing. A survivo ...
in June of that year. In the wake of the Ogossagou massacre, the
President of Mali
This is a list of heads of state of Mali since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day.
A total of seven people have served as head of state of Mali (excluding three acting presidents). Additionally, two people, ...
,
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (; 29 January 1945 – 16 January 2022), often known by his initials IBK, was a Malian politician who served as the president of Mali from September 2013 to August 2020, when he was forced to resign in the 2020 Malian co ...
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 the massacre and rejected calls to disband.
Druze
![Qalb Lauzeh - GAR - 11-001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Qalb_Lauzeh_-_GAR_-_11-001.JPG)
Historically the relationship between the
Druze
The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...
and Muslims has been characterized by intense persecution. The
Druze
The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...
faith is often classified as a branch of Isma'ili. Even though the faith originally developed out of Ismaili Islam, most
Druze
The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...
do not identify as Muslims, and they do not accept the Five Pillars of Islam, five pillars of Islam. The
Druze
The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...
have frequently experienced persecution by different Muslim regimes such as the Shia
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
, Mamluk, Sunni
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, and Egypt Eyalet.
[Goren, Haim. ''Dead Sea Level: Science, Exploration and Imperial Interests in the Near East.'' p.95-96.] The persecution of the Druze included massacres, demolishing Druze prayer houses and holy places and
forced conversion
Forced conversion is the adoption of a different religion or the adoption of irreligion under duress. Someone who has been forced to convert to a different religion or irreligion may continue, covertly, to adhere to the beliefs and practices which ...
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 the Druze at the hands of Islamic extremism, Islamic extremists.
Ibn Taymiyya a prominent Muslims, 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 Shirk (Islam), 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 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 Apostasy in Islam, apostates. Ottomans have often relied on Ibn Taymiyya religious ruling to justify their persecution of
Druze
The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...
.
Falun Gong
Falun Gong was introduced to the general public by Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. For the next few years, Falun Gong 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 was created to outlaw "heterodox religions" and retroactively applied to Falun Gong.
[Leung, Beatrice (2002) 'China and Falun Gong: Party and society relations in the modern era', Journal of Contemporary China, 11:33, 761 – 784] Amnesty International states that the persecution is "politically motivated" with "legislation being used retroactively to convict people on driven charges, and new regulations introduced to further restrict fundamental freedoms".
[The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called ''heretical organizations'' ]
The Amnesty International
Hindus
Persecution of Hindus refers to the
religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within soc ...
inflicted upon Hindus that may undergo as a consequence of professing their faith, both historically and in the current era. Hindus have been brutally persecuted during the historical
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic rule of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
and during Portugal, Portuguese Goa Inquisition, rule of Goa.
Even in modern times, Hindus in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
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 the Partition of India in 1947, there were 8.8 million Hindus in Pakistan (excluding Bangladesh) in 1951. In 1951, Hindus constituted 22% of the Pakistani population (including present-day Bangladesh which formed part of Pakistan). 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 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), ''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 Ted Kennedy, Edward Kennedy wrote in a report that 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 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 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 (Bangladesh), International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, the Vice President of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamaat-e-Islami to death for the war crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Following the sentence, activists of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami#Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, 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, 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 Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamaat-e-Islami responsible for the attacks on the minorities, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, 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 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.
Jews
![Massacre of Jews in Lietūkis garage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Massacre_of_Jews_in_Liet%C5%ABkis_garage.jpeg/1200px-Massacre_of_Jews_in_Liet%C5%ABkis_garage.jpeg)
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 Expulsions and exoduses of Jews, expelled from their hometowns/countries, hoping to find safe havens in other polities. In recent times Antisemitism, anti-Semitism has often been manifested as Anti-Zionism, where Anti-Zionism 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.
Muslims
![Srebrenica Massacre - Exhumed Grave of Victims - Potocari 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Srebrenica_Massacre_-_Exhumed_Grave_of_Victims_-_Potocari_2007.jpg)
The persecution of Muslims has been 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, the Government of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, under General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, 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, is punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years. Because of these difficulties, Mirza Tahir Ahmad migrated to London.
Pagans & Heathens
Philosophers
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:
* Giordano Bruno - pantheist philosopher who was burned at the stake by the Roman Inquisition for his heretical religious views, his cosmological views, or both;
* Tommaso Campanella - confined to a convent for his heretical views, namely, an opposition to the authority of Aristotle, and later imprisoned in a castle for 27 years during which he wrote his most famous works, including ''The City of the Sun'';
* Baruch Spinoza - Jewish philosopher who, at age 23, was put in Herem_(censure), cherem (similar to excommunication) by Portuguese_Synagogue_(Amsterdam), Jewish religious authorities for Heresy in Judaism, heresies such as his controversial ideas regarding the authenticity of the Hebrew Bible, which formed the foundations of modern biblical criticism, and the pantheistic nature of the Divine. Prior to that, he had been attacked on the steps of the community synagogue by a knife-wielding assailant shouting "Heretic!", and later his books were added to the Catholic Church's Index of Forbidden Books.
Serers
The persecution of 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 War Jabi, 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
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. With the assistance of his son (Leb), their Almoravid allies and other Ethnic groups in Senegal, African ethnic groups who have embraced Islam, the Muslim coalition army launched jihads against the Serer people of Tekrur who refused to abandon Serer religion in favour of Islam.
[Page, Willie F., "Encyclopedia of African history and culture: African kingdoms (500 to 1500)", pp 209, 676. Vol.2, Facts on File (2001), ][Mwakikagile, Godfrey, "Ethnic Diversity and Integration in The Gambia: The Land, The People and The Culture," (2010), p 11, ] 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 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.
[Godfrey Mwakikagile, Mwakikagile, Godfrey, "Ethnic Diversity and Integration in The Gambia: The Land, The People and The Culture," (2010), p 241, ]
Sikhs
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre was a series of pogroms
[State pogroms glossed over](_blank)
The Times of India. 31 December 2005. 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 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 Harmandir Sahib, Golden Temple and eliminate any insurgents, as it had been occupied by Sikh separatists who were stockpiling weapons. Operation Woodrose, Later operations by Indian paramilitary forces were initiated to clear the separatists from the countryside of Punjab (Indian state), 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, 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 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 a group of Indian National Congress Party leaders who owned filling stations.
Yazidis
The Persecution of Yazidis has been ongoing since at least the 10th century.
The Yazidism, Yazidi religion is regarded as devil worship by Islamists. Yazidis have been persecuted by Muslim Kurds, Kurdish tribes since the 10th century,
and by the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
from the 17th to the 20th centuries. After the 2014 Sinjar massacre of thousands of Yazidis by 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.
Zoroastrians
![A_Zoroastrian_Family_Teheran_1910](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/A_Zoroastrian_Family_Teheran_1910.JPG)
Persecution of Zoroastrians is the religious persecution inflicted upon the followers of the Zoroastrianism, 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 conversion to Islam, forced conversions. Muslims are recorded to have destroyed fire temples. Zoroastrians living under Muslim rule were required to pay a tax called jizya.
Zoroastrian fire temple, places of worship were desecrated, fire temples were destroyed and mosques were built in their place. Many libraries were book burning, burned and much of their cultural heritage 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
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. Once a Zoroastrian family was forced to convert to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, the children were sent to an Madrasa, Islamic school to learn Arabic and study the teachings of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, 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 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 Mohammad Khan Qajar, 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 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 people, Parsi philanthropists such as Maneckji Limji Hataria, many Zoroastrians left
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
for India. There, they formed the second major Indian Zoroastrian community known as the Irani (India), Iranis.
Ethnic
Ethnic persecution refers to perceived persecution based on ethnicity. Its meaning is parallel to that of
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
, (based on Race (human classification), 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.
Assyrians
Due to their Christian faith and ethnicity, the Assyrians have been persecuted since their adoption of Christianity. During 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 Nestorianism, Nestorian Christianity as a buffer between the Churches of Catholic Church, Rome and Christianity in Iran, Persia. Persecutions and attempts to impose Zoroastrianism continued during the reign of Yazdegerd II.
During the eras of Mongol rule under Genghis Khan and Timur, there was indiscriminate slaughter of tens of thousands of Assyrians and destruction of the Assyrian population of northwestern Iran and central and northern Iran.
More recent persecutions since the 19th century include the Massacres of Badr Khan, the Massacres of Diyarbakır (1895), the Adana massacre, the Assyrian genocide, the Simele massacre, and the al-Anfal campaign.
Germans
The persecution of Volksdeutsche, ethnic Germans refers to systematic acts of persecution which were committed against groups of ethnic Germans based on their ethnicity.
Historically, anti-German sentiment and the persecution of ethnic Germans have both been due to two causes: the German population was believed to be , whether factually or not, linked with German nationalism, German nationalist regimes such as those of the Nazis or Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm. This was the case in the World War I era persecution of Germans in the United States, and it was also the case in Eastern Europe, Eastern and Central Europe following the end of World War II in Europe. While many victims of these persecutions did not, in fact, have any connection to those regimes, cooperation between German minority organisations and the Nazi regime had occurred, as the example of the Selbstschutz shows, which is still used as a pretext for hostilities against those who did not belong to such organisations. After World War II, many Volksdeutsche were killed or driven from their homes in acts of vengeance, others were killed or driven from their homes during the ethnic cleansing of territories which occurred before they were populated with citizens of the annexing countries. In other cases (e.g. in the case of the formerly large German-speaking populations of Russia, Estonia, or the Transylvanian (Siebenbürgen) German minority in Rumania and the Balkans) the persecution was a crime which was committed against innocent communities which had not collaborated with the Nazi Germany, Third Reich.
Hazara people
The Hazara people of central Afghanistan have been persecuted by Afghans, Afghan rulers at various times in the history. Since the tragedy of 9/11, Sunni, Sunni Muslim terrorism, terrorists have been attacking the Hazara community in southwestern Pakistani town of Quetta, home to some 500,000 Hazara who fled persecution in neighbouring Afghanistan. Some 2,400 men, women and children have been killed or wounded with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claiming responsibility for most of the attacks against the community. Consequently, many thousands have fled the country seeking asylum in Australia.
Roma
Antiziganism is hostility, prejudice, discrimination or
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
directed against the Romani people as an ethnic group, or people who are perceived as being of Romani heritage.
The ''Porajmos'' was the planned and attempted effort, often described as a genocide, during World War II by the government of Nazi Germany and its allies to exterminate the Romani (Gypsy) people of Europe. Under the rule of Adolf Hitler, a supplementary decree to the Nuremberg Laws was issued on 26 November 1935, defining Gypsies as "enemies of the race-based state", the same category as Jews. Thus, the fate of Roma in Europe in some ways paralleled that of the Jews.
Historians estimate that 220,000 to 500,000 Romani were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators, or more than 25% of the slightly less than 1 million Roma in Europe at the time.
[ Ian Hancock puts the death toll as high as 1.5 million.]
Rohingyas
The UN human rights chief slammed Myanmar's apparent "systematic attack" on the Rohingya minority, warning that "ethnic cleansing" seemed to be underway.
Ethnic Rohingya Muslims who fled from security forces in Myanmar’s Rakhine State have described killings, shelling, and arson in their villages that have all the hallmarks of a campaign of “ethnic cleansing,” Human Rights Watch said.
“Rohingya refugees have harrowing accounts of fleeing Burmese army attacks and watching their villages be destroyed,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director. “Lawful operations against armed groups do not involve burning the local population out of their homes.”
Sri Lankan Tamils
Widespread attacks on Sri Lankan Tamils came in the form of island wide ethnic riots, including The 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom and the Black July riots. Further persecution through murders, targeted rape and kidnapping occurred. Whilst previously, the majority of Tamils demanded instead for a separate state, by 1983 armed struggles against Sinhalese extremists began to rise, culminating in the formation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Uyghurs
Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in modern-day Xinjiang (called East Turkestan by East Turkestan independence movement, independence activists) declared two short-lived independent East Turkestan Republic (disambiguation), East Turkestan Republics in the 20th century. In late 1949, the region and the rest of China came under the control of the People's Republic of China.
Uyghur activist groups have said that anger towards the Chinese government has been fueled by years of state-sponsored oppression and discrimination. In 2017, the China began a large-scale crackdown on the Xinjiang region, which it justifies as a counterterrorism campaign following sporadic terrorist attacks in Xinjiang. Scholars estimate that the Chinese government detained over one million Uyghurs in Xinjiang internment camps, internment camps (also called re-education camps) in order to indoctrinate them away from religion and Sinicization, Sinicize them (assimilate them into Chinese culture). Critics of the policy have described it as the Sinicization of Xinjiang and they have also called it an ethnocide or a cultural genocide, while some governments, activists, independent NGOs, human rights organizations, academics, government officials, and the East Turkistan Government-in-Exile have called it a genocide.
Based on genetics
People with albinism
Persecution on the basis of albinism is frequently based on the belief that albinos are inferior to persons with higher concentration of melanin in their skin. As a result, albinos have been persecuted, killed and dismembered, and graves of albinistic people dug up and desecrated. Such people have also been ostracized and even killed because they are presumed to bring ''bad'' luck in some areas. Haiti also has a long history of treating albinistic people as accursed, with the highest incidence under the influence of François Duvalier, François "Papa Doc" Duvalier.
People with autism
People with autism spectrum disorders have commonly been victims of persecution, both throughout history and in the present era. In Cameroon children with autism are commonly accused of witchcraft and singled out for torture and even death.
Additionally, it is speculated that many of the disabled children murdered during Action T4 in Nazi Germany may have been autistic, making autistic people among the first victims of The Holocaust.
LGBT
A number of countries, especially those countries in the Western world, have passed measures to alleviate discrimination against sexual minorities, including laws against Homophobia, anti-gay hate crimes and workplace discrimination. Some countries have also legalized same-sex marriages or civil unions in order to grant same-sex couples the same protections and benefits as those which are granted to opposite-sex couples. In 2011, the United Nations passed its first resolution which recognizes LGBT rights by country or territory, LGBT rights and, in 2015, same-sex marriages were legalized in all states of the United States.
See also
* Defamation
* Discrimination
* Latter-day Saint martyrs
* Oppression
* Persecutory delusion
* Right to asylum
* Social defeat
* Social exclusion
* Yogi#Persecution
Notes
References
External links
Language alternatives to creating and being persecutors
{{Discrimination
Persecution,
Abuse