The Human Right of Religious Freedom

— THIS WEEK IN DC —

ICE threatened to expose asylum-seekers to COVID-19 if they did not accept deportation; More than a dozen accused Capitol rioters say Trump incited them; House Democrats keep $75k income threshold for direct payments; Trump’s second impeachment trial begins with damning video of insurrection; Senate votes trial is constitutional after emotional first day; Democrats offer new footage showing 'extreme violence' in Capitol attack; House Democrats propose multi-billion dollar COVID-19 relief package; Biden terminates Trump emergency order used to construct border wall; Democratic leaders push to raise minimum wage amid Senate resistance; Biden formally ends Trump's border emergency, but troops will stay; McConnell not pressuring GOP to acquit Trump.

IN THIS ISSUE

Reimagining a World Without FGM
MPAC Welcomes Sri Lanka’s Reversal of Forced Cremation Policy and Urges Codification
Stanford Law review elects its first Iranian-American, Muslim president
Harvard Law Review elects Hassaan Shahawy ’22 as its 135th president
China bans BBC World News from broadcasting
Former Republican officials float possibility of forming 'center-right' party
Saudi Arabia releases prominent women’s rights activist from prison after pressure from the Biden Administration over human rights violations

FEATURED ISSUE

Reimagining A World Without FGM

Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a statement on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), calling for an end to the cruel practice. This day functions as opportunity to amplify the existing efforts on the elimination of FGM, recognize the many women and girls who have suffered as victims of this practice, and to call on the global community to reimagine a world where women have total autonomy over their own lives. In keeping with MPAC’s values, eliminating FGM also requires renewing our collective commitment to the health, wellbeing, and economic advancement of all women and girls around the world—both near and far.

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Members of Muslim group Sri Lanka Thawheed Jamaath protest against the cremation of Muslim COVID victims near the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo [Chamila Karunarathne/EPA]

MPAC Welcomes Sri Lanka’s Reversal of Forced Cremation Policy and Urges Codification

On Wednesday, February 10, following immense international condemnation, Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, while answering a question by Muslim lawmaker Rishard Bathiudeen, indicated that his government will grant permission for Muslims who have died of the COVID-19 virus to be buried. This marks a clear victory for international religious freedom, a key issue in MPAC’s advocacy. Through our engagement with the U.S. Legislature, Department of State, and civil society stakeholders, MPAC joined allies Imam Malik Mujahid (Justice For All) and CAIR National in advocating for international religious freedom, human rights, and fair treatment of Muslims in Sri Lanka.

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GOOD TO KNOW

Stanford Law review elects its first Iranian-American, Muslim president
Harvard Law Review elects Hassaan Shahawy ’22 as its 135th president
China bans BBC World News from broadcasting
Former Republican officials float possibility of forming 'center-right' party
Saudi Arabia releases prominent women’s rights activist from prison after pressure from the Biden Administration over human rights violations

— THIS WEEK IN HISTORY —

Feb 7, 1947 - The UK announces its intention to end the mandate for Palestine; Feb 7, 1969 - Al-Fatah-leader Yasser Arafat becomes President of PLO; Feb 7, 1999 - Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan upon the death of his father, King Hussein; Feb 8, 1962 - In Paris, 8 people killed at a protest against independence for the French colony Algeria; Feb 9, 1994 - Israeli minister Shimon Perez signs accord with PLO's Yasser Arafat; Feb 10, 2015 - Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha murdered; Feb 10, 1098 - Crusaders defeat Prince Redwan of Aleppo at Antioch; Feb 11, 1979 - Iran's premier Bakhtiar resigns, Ayatollah Khomeini seizes power; Feb 11, 1985 - King Hussein of Jordan & PLO leader Arafat sign accord; Feb 12, 1502 - Muslims in Granada forced to convert to Catholicism; Feb 13, 1258 - Baghdad, then a city of 1 million, falls to the Mongols as the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed, tens of thousands slaughtered, ending the Islamic Golden Age; Feb 13, 1991 - US air raid on the Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad kills more than 408 civilians.

Feb 7, 1795 - 11th Amendment to US Constitution ratified, affirms power of states; Feb 7, 1962 - US President JFK begins blockade of Cuba by banning all Cuban imports and exports; Feb 8, 1887 - The Dawes Act authorizes the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments; Feb 8, 1942 - Congress advises FDR that Americans of Japanese descent should be locked up en masse so they wouldn't oppose the US war effort; Feb 8, 1944 - 1st African American reporter accredited to White House, Harry McAlpin; Feb 8, 1964 - US Rep Martha Griffiths address gets civil rights protection for women being added to the 1964 Civil Rights Act; Feb 9, 1886 - US President Grover Cleveland declares a state of emergency in Seattle because of anti-Chinese violence; Feb 10, 1989 - Ron Brown chosen as 1st African American chairman of a major US party (Democrats); Feb 10, 1855 - US citizenship laws amended; all children of US parents born abroad granted US citizenship; Feb 11, 1794 - 1st session of US Senate open to the public; Feb 11, 1993 - President Clinton selects Janet Reno to be first female US Attorney General; Feb 12, 1909 - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) forms; Feb 12, 1999 - US President Bill Clinton acquitted by the Senate in his impeachment trial; Feb 13, 1957 - Southern Christian Leadership Conference organizes in New Orleans with Martin Luther King Jr. as President; Feb 13, 1923 - 1st Black pro basketball team, "Renaissance", organizes.

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