Introducing now a pragmatic endeavor, addressing the European Union, to implement an official appointment of some figure dealing with the issues connected to the monitoring, advancing and execution of FoRB, i.e. the Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Putin wants to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses from Russia

Under the guise of the fight to terrorism, in Putin’s Russia a new war has started for some time, not a cold war indeed, versus several religious groups.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, Adventists, Pentecostal, Baptist, Scientology, Hare Krishna, are only a few of the targets of this attack started over fifteen years ago through federal laws “against extremism and terrorism” as wanted by the now-deceased former president Boris Eltsin and the Orthodox Church.

FOB – The 60^th Anniversary of the Treaties of Rome will be celebrated in the Italian capital city on Saturday march 25^th, by government leaders or prime ministers of the EU.

It will be an occasion to go over the current state of the Union and the future of the integration process.

Certainly an appraisal will be done on the past sixty years and according to us, it should not be regardless of the discussion of issues, which in this period of our history, are mercilessly imposed on us as far as human rights and civil liberties are concerned.

On January 26, the President of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Guido Raimondi, presented the activities of the ECHR in 2016 and the state of affairs in Europe (Press Conference Speech by President Guido Raimondi [in French] and Press Release).

By Pierre Barrucand – The phenomenon of religious persecution has been known through the ages, as witness the Bacchanals affair in Rome in 187 BC or even, if we may believe Aristophanes, the process against Socrates, accused of having wanted to introduce a new religion. These persecutions were particularly intense against monotheistic religions, even though they tolerated the practice of several ancient cults with which they felt ties.

FOB - The following news could be considered negative for the Lutheran Church, but that would be a superficial judgment. Perhaps it could be negative from an economic point of view, as it would be for the Italian Catholic Church, if they gave up the advantages granted to them by the Lateran Treaty. However, the independence of any church from any government and vice versa is, as a matter of fact, a much more valuable asset for every church and for every state. The Norwegian Lutheran Church receives support from its followers in the right proportion, and that is fair.

Friday, 9th of December Soteria International hosted the Spiritual Human Rights conference in Copenhagen. The Spiritual Human Rights conference is an annual conference focusing on Human Rights from a spiritual perspective.

This year the conference was co-hosted by Youth for Human Rights, the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), and the European Muslim Initiative for Social Cohesion (EMISCO) with the theme “How Universal is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?”.

After World War II, the word “Righteous Among the Nations” (Hebrew: חֲסִידִי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם‎, khasidi umót ha'olám "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") was a term used in rabbinic Judaism to refer to non-Jews who acted heroically, putting their own life at risk to save jews from nazi genocide of Shoah.

It is also an award bestowed from the Yad Vashem, the national institute for the Shoah memory, since 1962.

Yad Vashem has given these prestigious awards to 19 Jehovah Witnesses.

Interview with professor Massimo Introvigne

This interview stems from a meeting between professor Massimo Introvigne, Sociologist of Religions, and the FOB Secretary, professor Silvio Calzolari, happened during the recent scientific conference on Anatheism, held in Turin at the Lascaris Palace on 1 and 2 December, where they were both speakers.

An article from Massimo Introvigne

Short analysis by Silvio Calzolari (FOB Secretary) on the declarations released at OSCE HDIM conference by FOB President, Alessandro Amicarelli and by the confederated associations SOTERIA and CAP.

In recent decades, the right of every human being to freedom of expression and religious practice has often been proclaimed, including at the highest levels (United Nations, Council of Europe, the Helsinki Conference, OSCE etc.).

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 19 to 30 September 2016. In this year FOB has presented two statements, one in session #12 and one in session #13.

Soternia International is one of the association federated to FOB. Its representative released this statement to stigmatize that spiritual groups have been victims misinterpretation of their activities - due to incorrect information being circulated - and suffered abuses due to this.

Coordination of Associations and Individuals for Freedom of Conscience (CAP)

OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting 2016:
Freedom of Religion or Belief
September 2016

CAP is an association created in 2000 to unite minority religions in Europe to counter discrimination concerning the right to freedom of conscience and belief. It has consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Human Dimension Implementation Meeting 2016

Working session 12: Fundamental freedoms II,
Freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief

STATEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN FEDERATION FOR FREEDOM OF BELIEF (FOB)
about Freedom of Belief in Italy : Problems & Perspectives

Tuesday, 27 September 2016

OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Human Dimension Implementation Meeting 2016

Working session 13: Fundamental freedoms II,
including freedom of movement

Freedom of Thought, Conscience, Religion or Belief

STATEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN FEDERATION FOR FREEDOM OF BELIEF (FOB)
about Freedom of Movement in connection to Freedom of Religion and Belief

Tuesday, 27 September 2016

Interview by FOREF Europe with Dr. Ján Figeľ, EU Special Envoy for the promotion of FoRB