Bitter Winter, the magazine specialising on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China, has interviewed our Chairman regarding the situation of religious freedom in China with a specific focus on the cases of arbitrary detention of the members of The Church of Almighty God (CAG) heavily persecuted in China.
Last 28th of June at Brussels in the premises of the prestigious Solvay Library at the European Parliament the Faith and Freedom Summit 2018 was successfully held.
Speakers and participants from several countries attended a packed one-day conference that covered the many aspects of the protection of freedom of religion and belief in Europe and its challenges in the modern society.
An Open Letter to President Trump to Save Demei Zou
Nine non-governmental organizations appeal to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to intervene in the case of Demei Zou, an asylum seeker of a Chinese Christian new religious movement, The Church of Almighty God, who is detained in Detroit, Michigan and faces deportation to China.
Dear President Trump:
The European Political group Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) has organised Faith and Freedom Summit 2018 that will be held at the prestigious premises of Solvay Library in Brussels on the 28th of June.
The event is co-organised by ACRE in partnership with other associations, two of which are also associate members of FOB, specifically CAP-LC and All Faiths Network.
On May 14, 2018, a new online news magazine has been launched at the International Book Fair of Torino, in Italy, Bitter Winter. The name refers both to the difficult situation of religious liberty in China and to a theme in classical Chinese painting.
On last 18 April in the Uttarakhand State, Northern India, a new law was approved whereby "forced or fraudulent conversions" can be punished with imprisonment from one to five years, without bailing chance. Moreover, one would need to get a governmental allowance for a religious conversion to be accepted.
A "forced or fraudulent conversions" is the charge versus the Christians on the part of the Hindu extremists who represent the nationalist government.
Police in at least seven cities across Russia have conducted aggressive raids against Jehovah's Witnesses. In what appears to be a coordinated campaign, special police forces (OMON), at times wearing masks and carrying machine guns, raided Witnesses' homes, pointed guns at them, and detained both young and old for interrogations.
The 15th of March 2018 on the occasion of the 37th UN Human Rights Council atty. Amicarelli, chairman of FOB, has represented at the United Nations, the European Federation for Freedom of Belief at the event “Deterioration of Religious Freedom in Eastern Europe” organised by the UN accredited NGO and FOB associate, CAP-LP, Coordination of Associations and Individuals for Freedom of Belief.
The 15th of March 2018 on the occasion of the 37th UN Human Rights Council atty. Amicarelli, chairman of FOB, will represent at the United Nations, the European Federation for Freedom of Belief at the event "Deterioration of Religious Freedom in Eastern Europe" organised by the UN accredited NGO and FOB associate, CAP-LP, Coordination of Associations and Individuals for Freedom of Belief.
On March 1, 2018, during the 37th session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, the FOB (Freedom of Belief) member NGO Coordination of the Associations and Individuals for Freedom of Conscience (CAP LC) organized a Side Event on the denial of religious freedom in China and the case of The Church of Almighty God.
We are introducing and relaying this interesting, well-specified article from Epoch Times, which tells about a recent interview with professor Massimo Introvigne, one of the most important scholars of religion in the world, regarding the ongoing persecution against religious minorities in the Chinese Popular Republic on the part of the ruling Communist Party.
In the prestigious setting of Sant'Apollonia Auditorium at the homonymous XIV century convent complex located in Via San Gallo, in the historic center of Florence, the international convention of the European Federation for the Freedom of the Belief (FOB) took place on 18th and 19th January, under the auspices of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland), of the patronage of the Tuscany Regional Council, of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and of the University of Florence.
Thousands of members of the Church of Almighty God (CAG) have been incarcerated in China, following a further crackdown on unauthorized religious organizations. According to the rough statistics, more than 300,000 members of CAG were incarcerated and detained in China from the beginning of the persecutions in the 1990s to 2017.
Last August 2017 representatives of CAG contacted FOB seeking help and advice about their ongoing situation being denied freedom of belief in their country and being neglected protection in some European and non-European countries, that were not acknowledging they were being persecuted on the basis of their faith. FOB started a research with the support of leading experts and scholars who carried out a in-depth study on this matter. After a meeting in Warsaw at the HDIM OSCE Meeting between representatives of FOB and of CAG, further contacts have been developed.
FOB is growing bigger and now enlists amongst its federated associations the British All Faiths Network (AFN).
Active since December 2010, All Faiths Network's purpose is to promote religious harmony for common benefit, working toward an inclusive and positive dialogue.
Currently AFN includes representatives of 25 creeds and denominations and is actually the Great Britain bigger coalition of diverse confessions.
Being composed of individuals having deep religious and non religious convictions, AFN holds a set of common values based on:
The European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB) has taken part in the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting 2017 as we did in the previous years.
From the 11th to the 22nd of September 2017 the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting 2017 has taken place in Warsaw at the Narodowy Stadium being organised by the OSCE ODIHR - Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe - Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
FOB – A secretive and very close conference against religious minorities took place in the city of Salekhard – which is the regional capital of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Russia (YANAO). Subject of the conference was “Destructive and pseudo-religious organizations, sects and cults: challenges and solutions”. It took place from 27 to 29 September 2017 in the administration building of the YANAO Government.
