No to the "anti-mosques" law in Veneto

F.O.B. asks the Government of challenging the "anti-mosques law” which violates the Constitution and the freedom of religion of all religious minorities:

Sign the petition

F.O.B. (European Federation for Freedom of Belief) calls on the Government to challenge the law on places of worship approved in the Veneto region. As already sanctioned by the Constitutional Court on the previous one, this "anti-mosques law" violates the principles of our Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion, belief and conscience to all religious denominations.

Romania, a yoga group wins an important case at the European Court: Romania must pay eur 291,000 to the victims

Amarandei and Others v. Romania (no. 1443/10)

HRWF (28.04.2016) – Human Rights Without Frontiers Int’l (HRWF Int’l) hails the decision of the European Court in a case filed against Romania by yoga practitioners of the “Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute” (MISA).

ECHR unequivocally states that Romanian authorities have majorly violated Human Rights when handling the case of MISA

Violations of the freedom of religion and belief for MISA yoga practitioners in Romania

For almost a decade Soteria International has been raising awareness among international and European politicians and Human Rights NGOs about violations of the freedom of religion and belief in Romania in the case of the spiritual movement MISA and its founder Gregorian Bivolaru.

Letter of concern regarding Gregorian Bivolaru

In concern of the fundamental rights of the refugee Magnus Aurolsson, formerly named Gregorian Bivolaru

We are deeply concerned that the fundamental rights of the religious refugee Gregorian Bivolaru are today not secure within the EU judicial collaboration.

Last month European police and media seem to continue the same persecution based upon religious discrimination, for which Gregorian Bivolaru was granted the status of political asylum By the Supreme Court of Sweden in 2006.

Given that

France: financing for the 'de-radicalisation' of 'anti-sect' movements called into question

HRWF (02.03.2016) - Two prominent figures of de-radicalisation in France have put down their arms: one having not had her accreditation renewed and the other renouncing her mission for political reasons. They have left the scene, but it is difficult to assess whether they have in fact succeeded in their mission.

Text of the Anti-Cult Law Proposal in Israel

We publish the text of the bill against dangerous cults based on the notion of mental manipulation. Academics of MEIDA have mobilized themselves to counter this initiative by sending documents and studies that refute the notions of "cult" and "mental manipulation". The CESNUR site was the first one to give the news in Italy and HRWFspread the appeal of the Israeli scholars through its Newsletter. FOB is intervening, on the basis of its statutory purposes, to contribute to the campaign against this bill.

Marrakesh Declaration

Statements by representatives of all religions and of many Muslim leaders, on the respect for religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries and on how to tackle terrorism by factions who call themselves Muslim though elated criminals that Muslims themselves condemned as such.

In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate

Executive Summary of the Marrakesh Declaration on the Rights of Religious Minorities in Predominantly Muslim Majority Communities

25th-27th January 2016

“Forbidden to pray”: stories of religious intolerance in the republican Italy

I consider “Forbidden to pray” a key book. The investigation we carried out with Agenzia Radicale and Quaderni Radicali from 2012 to date, but also the action of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief are, in my view, directly inter-related to this text. It explains and confirms a number of data and analysis that we’ve had the opportunity to deepen with Giuseppe Rippa, Raffaella Di Marzio and others, and which are well summarized in the Parliamentary Question that Marco Perduca of the Radical Party introduced in 2012 to seek clarification on the Anti-Cult Team.

Freedom of belief and conscience: the dangers of the anti-cult refrain

It is necessary to refute once and for all the refrain that some anti-cult groups are dangerously spreading against freedom of belief and conscience: "cults" would violate human rights and those who defend human rights should not "defend cults." First, we reiterate once again that "cult" is defined as a religious minority unsympathetic to the speaker, and is a term devoid of any scientific value.

Presentation of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB) at Montecitorio Palace

On December 21, 2015, the European Federation for Freedom of Belief held its presentation conference at the Chamber of Deputies.
The event, organized in the prestigious “Hall of Globe” of Montecitorio Palace thanks to Hon. Luciano Ciocchetti, was attended by about seventy people, among whom also representatives of nine religious and spiritual minorities:

ISKCON calls on Bangladesh Government to Protect Religious Minorities

New Delhi: On 10th December two people were injured when attackers threw crude bombs and fired gun shots at a Hindu religious gathering of over two thousand devotees at the temple of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Kaharol region of Dinajpur. “Luckily, the bombs did not explode,” said ISKCON general secretary of Bangladesh Caru Candra Dasa who was present at the place of incident, “however, the attackers opened fire at the entrance, injuring two people."

Request to UNHCR to review the guidelines about the Pakistani Christians refugees matter

The European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB) supports Lord David Alton’s request addressed to UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - to review the guidelines about the Pakistani refugees matter.
According to Lord Alton, the UNHCR is denying the existence of an ongoing persecution against Pakistani Christians, reducing such dramatic situation to a case of simple discrimination.

OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting - Warsaw 2015

In this section you can find documents and videos about the activities of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB) and the NGOs CAP, Soteria International and AIDLR, 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 21 September to 2 October 2015.