In a side-event of the 54th session of the Human Rights Council in Germany, director of CAP Freedom of Conscience, Thierry Valle, has delivered an oral statement emphasizing the urgent need to grant asylum/humanitarian visas to the 101 members through EU consulates in Turkey as the only way available means to safeguard their right to freedom of religion and their right to life and freedom from inhumane or degrading treatment.
We, together with United Sikhs welcome the efforts made by France to combat stigmatization and discrimination against minorities since its last UPR.
We remain concerned about France’s policies on freedom of religion and belief, which are leading to a climate of religious intolerance, community withdrawal, hate speech and hate crimes.
As stated in our latest contribution to the OSCE 23 Report on hate crimes, the French policy act as a catalyst for intolerance, in violation of international conventions such as the Durban Declaration.
We are deeply concerned about the recent transfer of 6 billion dollars in Iranian assets from South Korea to the Swiss Central Bank.
Although Reuters has reported that Iran’s use of the funds is explicitly limited to humanitarian aid, we are concerned about their misuse and are shocked that a nation that continually violates the fundamental rights of its citizens could benefit from such a substantial economic measure.
Since May of this year, over 100 Ahmadis from various countries where they were heavily persecuted, have been detained by the Turkish authorities in Edirne Immigration Detention Center. They want to apply for asylum in an EU country.
Those people from the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light do not want to stay in Turkey, another Muslim majority country, where people also consider them infidels and treat them as such.
Anti-religious intolerance and hate crimes continues to be a concern across the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) region. Such manifestations of intolerance threaten both the security of individuals and societal cohesion, as discrimination and intolerant discourse often escalate into violence and wider scale conflict. At the same time, a comprehensive security regime is also needed to fully respect, protect and fulfil freedom of religion or belief, which is specifically acknowledged as one of the fundamental principles guiding mutual relations among OSCE participating States and an integral aspect of the OSCE’s concept of security. Furthermore, participating States of the OSCE have agreed on a broad range of commitments to address racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, discrimination and intolerance, including intolerance against Christians, Muslims, Jews and members of other religions. This side event will present the current situation in the OSCE area with regards to anti-religious hate crime, including reporting and addressing it. It will also highlight ODIHR’s recent and forthcoming tools, such as community security guides and factsheets. The discussion will also address gender-related aspects of anti-religious hate crime. The side event will be organized by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) with the support of the FoRB Roundtable Brussels-EU
Violence in Yemen in 2023 has seen an uptick , including an increase in targeted attacks and violent speech towards religious minorities. On 25th May 2023, Houthi militia stormed a peaceful meeting of Bahais in Sana’a and arrested 17, including five women, and continue to detain 11 of them incommunicado. In 2 June 2023, the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights reported how the Mufti Shamseddin Sharafeddin, appointed by leaders of the Houthi militant movement, accused the detained Bahais of being apostates and saying “they should be killed,” if they did not repent Similar hate speech and incitement has been recorded in Yemen towards Christian converts and others since the start of the conflict and was raised during the virtual 53rd Human Rights Council parallel event co-sponsored by the Slovak Republic Bureau of the Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief.
CAP Liberté de conscience and Human Rights Without Frontiers are deeply concerned about the Ukrainian children who were taken away against their will from the Ukrainian occupied territories to Russia in the framework of the war and whose parents are desperately in search of them. Both NGOs strongly support the recommendations of the UN Secretary-General, who urges
Recognizing that the Universal Declaration on Human Rights has been and continues to be a source of inspiration for the 193 member states of the United Nations and non-governmental organizations, as shown in the Universal Declaration on Combating and Preventing Forced Organ Harvesting, presented by five NGOs during a World Summit in 2021;
