Washington, DC – On Novembre 20, 2023 the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released the following new report: Religious Garb Restrictions and International Human Rights Law – This report analyzes how countries impermissibly restrict individuals’ freedom to wear garb expressing or in accordance with their religion or belief.
Nazism justified the extermination of the Jews - and other disliked minorities, including Jehovah's Witnesses - on the theory that they were a kind of disease that endangered the superior races, primarily the German Aryan race. Painful history, but past history... or maybe not! The anti-Spanish Association of the Victims of the Jehovah's Witnesses (AEVTJ) claims that being a Jehovah's Witness is like having 'diabetes', i.e. a disease that must be monitored, treated and possibly eradicated. For the good of mankind, that is.
Although Russia is already engaged in a war that threatens to escalate into an apocalyptic nuclear conflict, the war on religious minorities also continues undaunted. Using questionable, if not downright illiberal, motives, they are pointed at as extremist organisations dangerous to the Russian population and culture. All this despite repeated condemnations by the ECHR.
by Steno Sari — Stereotypes have always helped us in classifying the world around us. Like compasses, they orient us in a reality that is otherwise too big for us, which is thus tamed and subdivided, with little subtlety, into Manichaean, clear-cut alignments between good and bad, civilised and uncivilised, inside and outside, near and far.
From Spain a small step for the Christian community of Jehovah's Witnesses, but a big step for freedom of belief in Europe and around the world. While there are still, unfortunately, numerous violations of freedom of belief and religion globally, timely denounced with diligence by the USCIRF, the Spanish government has given a clear indication of which path to follow for a peaceful and civilized coexistence. The hope is that other governments will follow its example.
by Francesco Alicino — In the Italian Constitution the regulation of relations between the State and religions hinges on the principle of equality, which implies respect for the right to difference (equality in difference). A principle and a right that is often functional to the autonomous subjectivity of individual confessional organizations (Art. 8, c. 2, Const.), adhering to which an individual can develop his or her personality (Art. 2 and 3 Const.), religiously oriented.
FECRIS stands for European Federation of Centers of Research and Information on Cults and Sects, is based in France (Marseille). It is funded handsomely by the French government, but operates throughout Europe and also in various non-European nations. But do not be fooled, the majority of non-French groups and associations that have joined FECRIS are very small groups, sometimes consisting of one or two individuals sometimes existing only on paper.
by Francesco Alicino — This article analyzes the role of religious freedom and the principle of state secular-ism in Italy under the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, the author focuses on the Government’s anti-Covid-19 restrictive measures that have limited some fundamental rights, including the right to freely profess and celebrate religious rites in community; which has led to a lively debate.
by Steno Sari — In an address to an international conference, Pope Francis said, "Religious freedom is not just that of a private worship thought. It is freedom to live according to ethical principles consequent on the truth found, both privately and publicly."
France, even more than Germany, has always been the European country that has made intolerance toward religions almost a national sport. Article 2 of the French constitution consists of the famous motto liberté, egalité, fraternité. The current constitution dates back to 1958, and the above motto traces back to the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens.
Humanity is experiencing an "emergency" period. If on the one hand the WHO has declared the Covid-19 emergency over, on the other hand the emergency pitting Ukraine and NATO on one side and Russia on the other side with the bugbear of nuclear conflict as a backdrop continues.
by Francesco Alicino — In a constitutional democracy, the right to freedom of religion implies that everyone can freely profess, practise, and propagate their faith in various forms, alone or in community with others, in public or private, in worship, teaching, and observance.
by Steno Sari — “Amoktat”, that is, the act of a madman. With this simple label, Hamburg police shelved the March 9 killing of seven Jehovah's Witnesses inside a Kingdom Hall. A fact that is difficult to understand and of which many details and motive are not known.
Today 35-year-old Philipp F. shot to death seven people, all of them Jehovah's Witnesses. Police had visited him after receiving a tip that raised doubts about his mental health and warned them that the man "harbored a particular hatred of religions and in particular of Jehovah's Witnesses."
Once again, justice prevailed over the intolerant and uncivilized attitude of the Russian judicial bodies towards the Christian congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.
This was reported by The European Times in an article that we reproduce below.
The second section of the Rome Court of Appeals has finally ended the long-running diatribe between the UAAR and the City of Verona by requiring the latter to respect the dictates of the Constitution. FOB congratulates the UAAR and those who have done their utmost to reaffirm and enforce the inalienable right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief.
The 2023 International Religious Freedom Summit organised by the Coalition for International Religious Freedom was held in Washington DC from January 31st to February 1st, 2023.
On the occasion of the Justice Day celebrated in Taiwan on 11 January 2023, CESNUR and Human Rights Without Frontiers co-organized a webinar entitled "True and independent justice for Tai Ji Men". Among the speakers was Alessandro Amicarelli, president of FOB, who gave the following closing speech.
Rosita Šorytė — In Central Asian countries, courts have penalized the Jehovah’s Witnesses for allegedly damaging the mental health of their victims and propagating “religious extremism.” These accusations did not originate in Central Asia but were imported there from Russia. After examining some specific court cases, the paper discusses three main Russian accusations against Jehovah’s Witnesses (...)
by Steno Sari — Isn’t it true that dishonest people take advantage of honest people? Therefore, what advantage does an honest person (from the Latin honestus, 'honoured', a derivative of honos, 'honour') have in a world where dishonesty prevails? First of all, it must be said that a society based on deceit and lies does not function well and the whole community suffers because dishonesty often leads to social disintegration and the devaluation of ethical and moral values.
