The Center for the Study of Law and Religion (CSLR) at the Emory Uni-
versity School of Law in Atlanta, USA, under the auspices of a project
titled ‘Law, religion and human rights in international perspective’,
funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, convened a conference on
‘Law, religion and human rights in Africa’ in Durban, South Africa,
from 30 April to 3 May 2008. Participants in the conference included
13 leading religious liberty scholars and activists from nine African
countries. The conference was the first of several regional conferences
designed to identify ongoing and future problem areas relating to the
relationships between church and state and the interaction of religion
and law in countries of the world.
The ‘Law, religion, and human rights project’ is the latest in a series
of CSLR projects focusing on law, religion and human rights in inter-
national, inter-religious and interdisciplinary perspective. Its projects
have explored the contribution of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and
other faith traditions to the cultivation — and abridgment — of human
rights and democratic norms within international law and munici-
pal constitutional law. They have probed some of the hardest issues
of religious persecution and bigotry, religious proselytism and dis-
crimination, women’s and children’s rights and their abridgment by
religious groups, among other topics. Those projects have provided
a common table and an open lectern for penetrating dialogue and
debate among antagonists from multiple confessions and professions
around the world. They have provided vital resources for scholars,
activists, religious and political leaders, the media, and public policy
experts working on issues of religion and human rights domestically
and internationally.