Falun Gong (FLG) is a Chinese exercise and spiritual discipline emerging from Buddhist and Daoist
traditions. The practice is widely recognized as nonviolent. Its moral teachings centered on the tenets of
truth, compassion, and tolerance carry benefits to adherents and their communities. By the late 1990s, FLG
was estimated to have tens of millions of adherents in China.
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.
The Inter-ministerial Mission of Vigilance and Fight against Sectarian Drifts (MIVILUDES), placed directly under the Prime Minister in France, has set in place a policy that directly contradicts Article 18.4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the “Covenant”) which provides
Pursuant to §10 of the General Assembly Resolution 66/167 invitation to provide input for the Secretary General’s forthcoming report on steps taken by States to combat intolerance, negative stereotyping, stigmatization and discrimination based on religion or belief, CAP provides the following report regarding the French policy on minorities of religion or belief in France that needs to be changed to effectively implement the Resolution.
