Duties that citizens are expected to do. W h a t d o e s i t m e a n t o b e a c i t i z e n? Responsibilities. Strogers Upper Elementary Resources

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1 Citizenship Definition People have rights and responsibilities from the country of their citizenship. People are often citizens of the country in which they are born. It is possible to have citizenship from more than one country. This is usually possible because the parents of the citizen are from different countries. Typically, people with citizenship from two countries need to choose one country to have their citizenship with once they turn 18 years old. Sometimes, people move permanently and change their citizenship to a new country. Sometimes, people live as foreigners in a country that is not the country of their citizenship. Rights Privileges that every citizen has from their country Rights Examples Responsibilities Duties that citizens are expected to do Responsibility Examples

2 Citizenship Around the World Directions: The following pages will have readings on the six shown countries below. Read these reading to find out about each countries rights and responsibilities as a citizen. Egypt Germany France South Korea Russia Cuba

3 Egyptian Citizenship Egypt s government is difficult to explain. The government states that Egypt is a democracy, but currently the president has total power and citizens can only vote between two people which the government chooses. In Egyptian law, freedom of speech is promised to all its citizens, but Egypt puts more journalist in jail than every country in the world, with the exception of two. In 2016, 15 journalist were sent to jail for 3-5 years because of something they wrote about. Often times, journalists have been sent to prison for more than two years without even having a trial. In 2017, Egyptian police arrested 240 people for a peaceful protest that the government said was insulting to the President. Although the official religion of Egypt is Islam, Egyptian law allows three religions in its country; Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Citizens are not allowed to change their religion to another religion, unless they are changing to Islam. In June 2014, a judge sent four Christians to jail for six years because they posted insulting photos related to Islam on Facebook. While attacks on Christian and Jewish places of worship go unpunished. In recent years, Egypt has been a country with few rights in the area of freedom of speech and religion. The Egyptian government has also been known to shut down the internet for the whole country when protests or persecutions become out of control. Egypt also has an recent attacks from the terrorist group ISIS, who commonly attacks religious groups that are not Islam related.

4 German Citizenship Germany s government is a democratic republic. German citizens vote for their country s president every five years. However Germany s Chancellor is elected by the government s leaders. Both the chancellor and the president share a role in ruling Germany. In Germany s constitution it states, Everyone has the right freely to express his or her opinion by speech, writing and pictures and freely to inform himself from generally accessible sources. Freedom of the press and freedom of reporting by radio and motion pictures are guaranteed. There shall be no censorship. Germany has some of the world s strongest freedom of speech laws. About 65% of German citizens claim Christianity as their religion. Another 4% of Germans claim Islam as their religion. In Germany the freedom of religion is a guaranteed right for all citizens. More than 60 years ago, Germany had bans on certain religions, but those bans are long gone. There are also other religions that can be found within Germany, but they account for less than 1% of German citizens. In recent years, many refugees have tried fleeing to Germany to become citizens, but Germany has strict citizenship laws. Germany requires non-citizens, who are seeking citizenship, to apply for citizenship then live in Germany for eight years before officially becoming a citizen.

5 French Citizenship France s government is a democratic republic. French citizens vote for their country s president every five years. The elected resident then choses a prime minister, who assists in leading France. France has been a long time protector of the freedom of speech for its citizens. In 1789, France declared protection of its citizens freedom of speech. Since 1789, France has created some exceptions to their citizens freedom of speech. For example, citizens may not speak, write, publish hate speeches or anything that could encourage people to hurt another person or group of people. Therefore, French citizens do have the freedom of speech, as long as it s not hateful. France promised freedom of religion to its citizens in the constitutional rights, which were written in Today, more than 230 years later, French citizens still have the right to believe in any religion they choose. About 54% of French citizens follow Christianity as a religion, while 40% of citizens claim to follow no religion. The French government also has a law that, guarantees all citizens regardless of their origin, race or religion are treated as equals before the law and respecting all religious beliefs. France has been a long time strong supporter of human rights. France was one of the first countries to support the human right of religious freedom. Though, in recent years France has been fighting the growing population of cults. The French government has declared cults, such as Scientologists, as a threat to the country. The government sees these cults as thieves more than religions, therefore they do not allow their existence in France.

6 South Korean Citizenship South Korea has a democratic government that allows its citizens to vote for their leaders. South Koreans vote for their president every five years. The elected president then serves a single five year term. In South Korea, people are allowed to have peaceful protests at specific times and places. In 2016, an agricultural protest was stopped by the police with water cannons. Later, the government apologized for stopping the protests in such a way. The government then clearly announced that peaceful protests were still allowed. In 2017, many protests happened because of a scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye. The government allowed these protests to happen without any interference. The government of South Korea has no restrictions on any religion. About 50% of its citizens follow one of the three main religions of the country: Buddhism, Christianity, or Confucianism. The government also celebrates two religious national holidays, including Buddha s Birthday and Christmas. The government does not allow any religious teachings in public schools, but private schools are allowed to teach religious beliefs. South Korean citizens enjoy many human rights that many other countries do not allow. In January 2019, 22,000 South Korean women protested through the streets of Seoul, Korea. This was the largest protest of women in Korean history. This peaceful protest displays South Korea s freedom of speech.

7 Russian Citizenship In Russia, voting is allowed for most of the country s public offices. However, many citizens claim that the government controls the outcome of the elections. Therefore, real voting does not occur in Russia. Most news agencies are controlled by the government in Russia. These government controlled news agencies are often used to speak badly about human right s defenders. Throughout Russia, people who have spoken against the government have been harassed, jailed, and attacked by people supporting the government. The progovernment attackers are believed to be hired by the government. The government has also banned Russians from posting their opinions on the internet anonymously. In 2018, the religious group known as Jehovah s Witnesses, was banned from Russia by the Supreme Court. The government further stated that if any Jehovah s Witnesses continued to share their belief then they could be put in jail for up to 12 years. This is one example of the Russian government s intolerance to different beliefs. Other religious groups have also faced problems with the government by having their websites blocked and their books or other publications banned. Currently, Russian government has a lot of restrictions on its citizens. Some people who have spoke against the government have reported being tortured or treated very poorly in prison. Some prisoners were sent to far away prison colonies in Russia and the families of the prisoners were not allowed to know their location until months later.

8 Cuban Citizenship Cuba is considered to have a communist government, although some say it has had a democracy since the death of Fidel Castro. Fidel Castro was the dictator of Cuba for more than 40 years. Voting in Cuba is still not a right. Cuban law states that it does have free speech, as long as the speech does not disagree with the government. Cuban citizens have been arrested and sent to jail for speaking against the government. In 2017, 5,155 Cubans were arrested for a reason related to speaking their opinions about the government in public. In 2016, a Cuban man was sent to a maximum security prison for writing, Castro is gone! on a wall. Therefore, it is dangerous to speak freely in Cuba. The Cuban law states that there is freedom of religion for its citizens. Most Cubans claim Catholicism as their belief. There are many Catholic churches in Cuba because of the high number of Catholic believers. If a person has a different belief system, then life for them in Cuba can be hard. Temples are banned from being built in Cuba. The government also closely monitors the actions of the religious groups so that they know what is happening. So, Cuban s are not completely free to in the area of religion. In recent years, Cuba has improved in the area of human rights. Although thousands of Cuban citizens still flee Cuba every year to escape the country. Unjustified arrests are becoming less common in Cuba and travel restrictions have been lifted from citizens as well.