Author: Thomas Krapf

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Islamists protest the release of Asia Bibi in Pakistan (photo: AFP/Getty Images/A. Hassan)

Human rights in the Islamic world

Battle cry "blasphemy"

Many predominantly Muslim countries have penal laws against "blasphemy", "defamation of religion" and "apostasy". In practice they serve as highly effective weapons to settle personal animosities, family vendettas and land disputes. By Thomas KrapfMore

Abusing blasphemy legislation: Indonesia's slide towards identity politics'Finally free!' – Asia Bibi on Pakistan prison and life in exileInterview with the Islamic scholar Ebrahim Moosa: The reinvention of Islam

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Most Recent Photo Essay

Psychologists sound the alarm: in December 2019 Iran's health minister warned of the high economic and social costs of mental illness in Iran. The Association of Iranian Psychologists estimated that one quarter of the population suffers from depression. The American Cato Institute saw Iran in 2019 as the third most unhappy country in the world. Since then, the country has been broadsided by the coronavirus pandemic

Iran: knee-deep in trauma and depression

The country's mood was already weighed down by economic and social problems and military crises before the pandemic reached Iran. The regime's crisis management has done little to improve things. By Shabnam von Hein