We are very concerned about the systematic discrimination and exclusion of law-abiding citizens who follow the teachings of the Scientology religion in Germany.
In fact, there have been at least three thousand ninety-five cases in the last ten years in which German government agencies have included “faith-breaking” clauses in their invitations to bid, requiring bidders to renounce any association with Scientology.
Institutional torture can take many forms, and one particularly insidious manifestation is when control and ideology take precedence over human dignity[i]. The case of the French police’s treatment of Romanian yoga practitioners is a stark example of this.
A recent study commissioned by the OSCE Representative, on Freedom of the Media has revealed the connections between media freedom, democracy and global and local security. The detailed research document, crafted by a team from the Varieties of Democracy Institute at the University of Gothenburg presents evidence on why safeguarding media freedom is vital for upholding peace and stability within and among nations.
ODIHR recognizes France’s efforts to address hate crimes in a comprehensive manner, and improve its hate crime data collection. However, based on available information, it observes that France’s hate crime recording and statistics do not sufficiently distinguish hate crimes from other crimes. In addition, ODIHR observes that France would benefit from enhancing its efforts to build the capacity of prosecutors and judges to prosecute and sentence hate crimes.
WARSAW, 16 November 2023 – Launching its annual Hate Crime Report on today’s International Day for Tolerance, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) emphasized the importance of identifying the underlying bias motives of hate crimes in order to diminish the impact on victims and assist their recovery.
