Member's statement: Religious Freedoms
Member's statement by Mr Harry Harvey on .
- MLA
- Mr Harry Harvey
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 10 February 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Religious Freedoms
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4790262
Read the official Assembly record
Text
One of the pillars of a democratic society is freedom of religion. From the Glorious Revolution until now, citizens in this part of the globe have benefited from individual rights and freedoms, not least in the area of faith. Sadly, that is not the case elsewhere, particularly for the global Christian community, which suffers more persecution than other faith groups. Over 380 million Christians face persecution and discrimination — that is one in seven believers worldwide. That figure represents an increase of 15 million since last year and represents one in seven Christians globally, according to Open Doors' worldwide watch list 2025. At this year's parliamentary launch of the watch list on 15 January, MPs heard speakers from Bangladesh, East Africa and Nigeria. Indeed, North Korea remains number one on the watch list, a position that it has held almost every year since 2002. In early 2024, the North Korean Government announced stricter regulations and increased crackdowns. It has been officially reported that the North Korean authorities publicly executed about 30 young teenagers for watching a South Korean drama on a USB drive, and several 17-year-olds were sentenced to life imprisonment or death for similar reasons in June and July 2024. I pay tribute to the incredible work of Open Doors and other charities working in that space to raise awareness and support those who are being persecuted by Governments across the globe. I also welcome the recent appointment of David Smith MP as UK special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, and I wish him well in that important role. It is important that, as leaders in our community, we all speak out against persecution internationally and that, as local legislators, we guard against any attempt to dilute freedom of religion and belief here, be it through word or action, however subtle it may appear.
307 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.09 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.74).
- Subject area: Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.25 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.03 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.04 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.10 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.32 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.09 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.74 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.02 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.21 |
| Adopts it | 0.03 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 1.00 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:55 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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