2018

Pushing Forward Improvement to Laws in Europe and Protection of Freedom of Belief

From January 18 to 19, 2018, the first large-scale conference on law and human rights was ushered in Florence, Italy. This conference was organized by the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB) on the theme of "Law and Freedom of Belief in Europe, a Difficult Journey." The conference explored how to effectively protect the right to freedom of belief and religion for immigrants and refugees in Europe by legal means, with the aim to create a social environment where people can live in peace and mutual understanding. Famous human rights experts, religious scholars, jurists and lawyers from European countries including Italy, France, Denmark and England attended the conference and Christians from The Church of Almighty God in Italy were also invited to attend. During the conference, The Church of Almighty God became a focus of attention.

Dozens of Bitter Winter Reporters Arrested

Accused of espionage and subversion, at least 45 contributors are in custody; the reporter who filmed a secret camp in Xinjiang “disappeared” after the arrest. In August 2018, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities designated Bitter Winter a “foreign hostile website” for publishing secret documents and news reports about the CCP’s suppression of religious beliefs and human rights violations. The authorities have retaliated by launching repeated attempts to hack the website, and by targeting reporters and contributors.

70 years of the Universal Declaration, we don't give up

On 8th December 2018 the conference "Spiritual Human Rights 2018" organised and hosted by Soteria International, associate member of FOB, was held to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Alessandro Amicarelli, FOB's chairman of the board of directors, delivered the following presentation "70 years of the Universal Declaration, we don't give up".

NGOs Express Serious Concerns About Rights of Defense Violations in Russian Scientology Case

Scientologists are in jail in Saint Petersburg for the sole fact of practicing their faith, which Russian authorities regard as “extremist,” a charge also used against other groups. We have followed with great concern news published in the Russian media about serious irregularities in the case of Scientologist Ivan Matsitsky, who has been in jail in the last seventeen months.

Violated the Rights of Defense of Scientologists in Russia

We receive and publish the following two articles regarding Russia's authorities violations of the Rights of Defense of two Scientologists in Russia. Based on these informations FOB together with other NGOs has signed a paper expressing concerns about Rights of Defense violations in Russian Scientology Case.


November 18, Sunday, by Dmitry Marakulin

KOMMERSANT

China's camps for Uyghurs exposed

Brave and fearless reporters enter the dreaded "transformation through education" camp for Muslim Uyghurs in Huocheng county, China. While China tries to defend the indefensible claiming that the transformation through education camps are benign “schools,” one of our reporters secretly visited the new large camp in Yining, Xinjiang, and proved it is undoubtedly a jail.

Final Acts of FOB Convention "Law and Freedom of Belief in Europe, an arduous journey" released

Pacini Publishing House has released the edited book of the Acts of the Convention "Law and Freedom of Belief in Europe, an arduous journey", organised by FOB in Florence on 18-19 January 2018. The Acts (608 pages, hardcover) consist of 27 contributions from different perspectives ranging from philosophy to law, from sociology to religious studies.

Open letter to the Prime Minister of the Italian Republic, professor Giuseppe Conte

Esquire professor Giuseppe Conte,

Our Federation is at work on the entire European region to protect and promote the individuals’ freedom to believe and not believe, a right which is granted in Italy firstly by the Constitution, in other nations by the respective statutes and international treaties, as well as by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of December 1948.

Other boundaries

A lot is being talked about and heard about nowadays, concerning boundaries. The defense of Europe’s outer boundaries; the defense of Italy’s outer boundaries.

This necessity has become a sort of recurring item in the very moment when, practically everything, demonstrates the uselessness of the defense of any given outer boundaries.

William (Bill) C. Walsh, obituary

18 October 1948 - 22 september 2018

It is with deep sadness that we heard about the passing of William (Bill) Walsh BA, JD of Washington DC.

Partner at Bisceglie and Walsh Law Firm, Bill was an energetic and passionate International Human Rights attorney who dedicated over 40 years to human rights matters, representing clients nationally and internationally in the US, Europe and in the International courts too.

FORB in EU and Russia

In the year of the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, FOB calls on States to implement FORB at the United Nations Palace in Geneva

The chairman of FOB, attn. Amicarelli and other delegates took part in the event FORB IN EU AND RUSSIA organised by the UN ECOSOC accredited association "Fundacion VIDA" during the 39th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the 18th of September 2018.

OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting - Warsaw 2018

In this page you can find documents and videos about the activities of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB) and the associated NGOs, concerning freedom of religion and belief and human rights issues, at the Europe’s largest annual human rights conference. It was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in Warsaw, from 10 to 21 September 2018.

Working with minorities and cooperating with States authorities and International organisation is vital to improve Freedom of Religion and Belief in the world

Today 13th of September 2018 Alessandro Amicarelli, chairman of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB) has represented the federation at the OSCE ODIHR Human Dimension Implementation Meeting 2018 in Warsaw. He made a statement at session 6, on Tolerance and Non Discrimination, enphasising the vitality of the dialogue with minorities and State bodies and international organisations for the improvement of Freedom of Religion and Belief in the world.

Stop the Persecution of Chinese Refugees of The Church of Almighty God in South Korea

Heavily persecuted in China, with many documented cases of torture and extra-judicial killings, hundreds of members of The Church of Almighty God have escaped to South Korea, where they are seeking refugee status. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pursuing them also in Korea. It has coerced or persuaded with threats their relatives to go to Korea and  askthat the refugees “return home,” i.e. go back to China where they would not go “home” but to jail, and is staging false “spontaneous demonstrations” with the help of local organizations agains the “cults.”

An Open Letter to the Italian Minister of Economy, Mr. Giovanni Tria

Dear Mr. Tria:

We wish you a fruitful visit to China on behalf of Italian economic interests.

Last July, Italy was an official participant in the Washington D.C. “Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom”. There, 82 countries solemnly agreed that religious liberty should be regarded as a non-negotiable cornerstone of international relations.

Will Germany delivier another victim to her persecutors on August 31?

In April, Germany deported back to China an Uyghur asylum seeker who “disappeared” after his repatriation. Now, Germany has apologized for the “mistake,” yet plans to deport on August 31 Sister Zhao of The Church of Almighty God, who will likely “disappear” as well.

German authorities have announced that on August 31 they will forcibly deport to China Sister Zhao, an asylum seeker currently detained in Ingelheim who resisted repatriation on July 9.