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.
Alessandro Amicarelli, lawyer and president of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief, asked Prof. Vasco Fronzoni, member of the Scientific Committee of FOB, if the ban on Halal slaughter could cause concern in the field of human rights. The result was an interview published in The European Times, reproduced below.
After two years of online activities due to COVID-related problems, finally OSCE, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, was able to organize again a in-person yearly Human Dimension Meeting in Warsaw held from September 26 to October 7. One of the issues discussed was the anti-cult activities by FECRIS and its Russian's accomplices.
by Steno Sari — Religious freedom is so important that without it no freedom of conscience and no public liberty may exist. Following up the death of the 22-year-old woman Mahsa Arnin, deceased after being arrested by the religious police of Teheran ...
Soon the 35th anniversary will recur, of a reprehensible happening that to date remained totally unpunished from a judicial standpoint, but now – from a moral perspective – would be universally condemned by anyone who got acquainted with it, as well as its mean instigators, perpetrators, accomplices and cover-up henchmen.
La Libre Belgique (28.07.2022) – On 20 October 2018, La Libre mentioned a report that the Centre for Information and Advice on Harmful Sectarian Organisations, CIAOSN, had asked the House (the federal parliament) to investigate sexual abuse of minors committed within the Jehovah's Witness community.
On June 28-30, Alessandro Amicarelli, president of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief, attended at the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit 2022 that took place in Washington, D,C. Amicarelli discussed in two breakout sessions about Tai Ji Men. He visited Taiwan before and was invited to teach courses on human rights and religious freedom there.
The following is an appeal promoted by Bitter Winter, an online magazine on religious liberty and human rights published by CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions. OB, signatory of the appeal, over the years has published a number of articles on FECRIS and its role in spreading anti-cult ideology.
Maria d'Arienzo, Full Professor of Ecclesiastical Law and Confessional Rights at the Department of Law of the University of Naples Federico II, as well as a member of the Scientific Committee of Freedom of Belief, has been elected as a member of the Interministerial Commission for the Treaities with the Religious Denominations, established at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic.
Washington, D.C. – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released its 2022 Annual Report documenting developments during 2021, including significant regress in countries such as Afghanistan and the Central African Republic (CAR). USCIRF’s 2022 Annual Report provides recommendations to enhance the U.S. government’s promotion of freedom of religion or belief abroad.
ABSTRACT: The paper reviews the main United Nations documents on “transitional justice,” i.e., on how countries that move from an authoritarian to a democratic rule should deal with past injustices. The question was hotly discussed with respect to post-Communist Eastern Europe, including Lithuania, but also concerns post-authoritarian Taiwan. The paper argues that past violations of religious liberty should also be addressed by transitional justice, through revisions of the court cases, legal reforms, public acknowledgement of past wrongdoings, and compensations to the victims.
The United Nations Zero Discrimination Day is held each year in March 1st. On this year 2022, Alessandro Amicarelli, chairman of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB), introduced one of the bi-monthly webinars on the Tai Ji Men case titled “Tai Ji Men: 25 Years of Discrimination.” The webinar was organized by CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions, and HRWF, Human Rights Without Frontiers, a Brussels-based NGO.
