Promotion et protection de la liberté de religion ou de conviction
European Parliament recommendation to the Council of 13 June 2013 on the draft EU Guidelines on the Promotion and Protection of Freedom of Religion or Belief
RESEARCHER OF SECTS ALEXANDER DVORKIN
The lecture about history of Islam which was given by leader of anti-sect movement in Russia Alexander Dvorkin is still fresh in memory. The lecture took place on 5 February 2013 in the Northern Arctic Federal University (Arkhangelsk city, Russia) under the title “Origins of Islam. Not-told stories” (length is 1h 25min).
Ordinary Anti-cultism
The first reason is that in Russia, in the early 1990’s, anti-cultism was a marginal and rare occurrence. Then it gained strength and became common and ordinary. To me, as a religious expert concerned with problems related to freedom of conscience, anti¬cultism became a sort of addition to the two main problems in Russia – idiots and roads’. In my point of view, today anti-cultists are enthusiasts who suggest the most harmful and foolish ways of solving problems concerning religious life.The second reason – I like the documentary film by Mikhail Romm Obyknoveniy fashizm [Ordinary Fascise For me, the combination of documentation and logic is the key to solving problems, but we will talk about this later.
Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review France 2013
The European Office for Human Rights of the Church of Scientology (EOHRCS), la Coordination des associations et des particuliers pour la liberté de conscience (CAP), and the Centre of Information and Counseling on New Spiritualities (CICNS) noted with concern a continued repressive policy towards minorities of religion or belief and new religious movements, despite recommendations made to France during its first UPR.
US commission France Miviludes
The most extensive “anti-cult” efforts have been in France. Since 1998, the French government has had a governmental entity specifically tasked with collecting and disseminating official information on groups deemed to be “cults” and coordinating government efforts to oppose such groups. The organization in its current form is called the “Inter-ministerial Mission for Vigilance and to Combat Sectarian Aberrations,” or MIVILUDES
Safeguarding human rights in relation to religion and belief, and protecting religious communities from violence
Concerned about increasing physical and psychological violence against religious communities throughout the world, the Assembly today called on member States to take account of the situation of these communities in their bilateral political dialogue and to promote in their foreign relations “a policy which takes into consideration the question of the full respect for the fundamental rights of religious minorities”.
A SUMMARY OF VITAL PRINCIPLES Freedom of Conscience: Tensions between Church, State and Religious Minorities in Family Issues
Vital information on human rights standards provided for the Salles report on ‘Sectarian Influence on Minors’
On 23 April 2013, Mr. Pieter Omtzigt (Netherland, member of PACE, EPP) co-sponsored an event with Lord Dundee (UK, member of PACE, EDG). The European Interreligious Forum for Religious Forum (EIFRF) helped to organise the event during the Plenary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The main reason for the meeting was to provide information crucial to the discussion of a report in progress on “Sectarian Influence on Minors”, with Mr. Rudy Salles as rapporteur (France, member of the PACE). Mr. Salles, whilst invited to participate, was not able to attend.
Mr. Omtzigt, as the moderator, introduced the panelists by explaining that religious freedom issues were of significant concern in many countries of Europe. He spoke of the unfortunate developments in Hungary with regards to their recent law on the registration of religious groups and also his own country Netherlands, where there were religious tensions. He pointed out that whilst some approaches enabled religious communities to integrate and work together, others had proven to be unworkable. In this last category he identified the widely criticized French approach of isolating and targeting minority religious and made the point that it would not be advisable to export this to other European countries.
The attendees were told that this meeting was to be an open debate and they were free to discuss any points during the meeting. Mr. Omtzigt then gave the floor to Professor Marco Ventura (K.U. Leuven).
Deprived of his son because of his religious practices
A 45-year old father, Richard Dray, has been fighting for three weeks to be able to make contact with his 12-year old son. According to Mr. Dray, an inhabitant of Toulouse, “social services and the legal system have separated us because of my religious practices.”
