Freedom of Religion
The US Department of State reported in 2010 that freedom of religion was generally respected by the government. The government conserves the mosques. Although there are 17 mosques in the Republic of Cyprus-controlled area, only five of them are in public use.
In November 2005 the Ombudsman's Office issued a report on a complaint from Jehovah's Witnesses whose child was excused from religious instruction but who was subsequently harassed by fellow students and pressured by a religious instructor. The report concluded that the student's complaint was valid and that the instructor's remarks during a lesson on religious sects violated the student's religious freedom. Also, in November 2005 press reports said that the police and the municipality had harassed the Buddhist temple in Strovolos.
Nicos Trimikliniotis and Corina Demetriou noted that:
"‘Religious’ discrimination is not exhausted there, however, as the treatment of Jehovah Witness conscientious objectors refusing to serve in the military illustrate."
Read more about this topic: Human Rights In Cyprus
Famous quotes containing the words freedom of, freedom and/or religion:
“Woe to that nation whose literature is cut short by the intrusion of force. This is not merely interference with freedom of the press but the sealing up of a nation’s heart, the excision of its memory.”
—Alexander Solzhenitsyn (b. 1918)
“Pharisaism, obtuseness and tyranny reign not only in the homes of merchants and in jails; I see it in science, in literature, and among youth. I consider any emblem or label a prejudice.... My holy of holies is the human body, health, intellect, talent, inspiration, love and the most absolute of freedoms, the freedom from force and falsity in whatever forms they might appear.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“I am no lover of pompous title, but only desire that my name may be recorded in a line or two, which shall briefly express my name, my virginity, the years of my reign, the reformation of religion under it, and my preservation of peace.”
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)