By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers (The European Times, 04.12.2024) — On 22 November, the Hindu community of Belgium celebrated the first legal step to the recognition of Hinduism by the Belgian Government and Parliament with their decision last year to grant a subsidy to the Hindu Forum Belgium, the official interlocutor of the Belgian State. This platform for all Vedic spiritual traditions will coordinate cooperation among various Hindu/Vedic communities and organisations in Belgium towards full recognition.

One year ago, on November 28, 2023, a French SWAT team raided several houses and appartments where yoga practitioners, members of MISA yoga school in  Romania, had gathered for their spiritual retreats.  A few days earlier, on November 15 2023, Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, Minister Delegate for Citizenship and City Development of the French government and overseer of MIVILUDES, lodged a bill aimes to ‘reinforce the fight against sectarian drifts' prompted by a specious increase in “saisines” (dubious and controversial reports) received by the MIVILUDES.

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following report: Religious Freedom Challenges for Jehovah’s Witnesses – Four years after USCIRF’s 2020 publication on the global persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses, countries continue to prosecute and impose harsh penalties on the community for their religious beliefs and peaceful religious activities.

We are international scholars of religion and human rights activists concerned with the increasing number of violations of freedom of religion or belief throughout the world. We admire South Korea’s rich and vibrant religious heritage and pluralism, and are grateful to the South Korean government for its participation in international efforts denouncing the violations of religious liberty in totalitarian countries.