Main speakers at a recent international conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief stressed the importance of respecting religious freedom while fighting terrorism.
Main speakers at a recent international conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief stressed the importance of respecting religious freedom while fighting terrorism.
“The threat of terrorism must not be used as an excuse to infringe on the right of individuals and groups to freely choose and manifest their religion or belief. We should not use excuses to limit these freedoms,” commented Ambassador Christian Strohal, recently installed as director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the organizers of the conference.
“Terrorism and extremism have to be combated, but this fight must not justify just any action,” added keynote speaker Professor Abdelfattah Amor, addressing the representatives of the 55 European and Central Asian states that make up the OSCE. “Today it seems that everything is placed under question, especially freedom of religion or belief. I am concerned that we may currently be witnessing a return to the past, and that the progress that has been made over the past decades in ensuring the right to freedom of belief is under threat.” Amor is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
“We are highly concerned at recent developments in many nations that have reduced religious freedom in the name of national security,” comments Dr. Jonathan Gallagher, deputy secretary general of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA), a conference participant. “The rise in religious intolerance and discrimination must be combated, for the risk of destabilization and inter-religious violence is grave when the religious beliefs of faith communities are disregarded.”
In its three sessions July 17 to 18, the 200-plus delegate OSCE Conference examined limitations to religious freedom, promoting religious tolerance, and the role of media in freedom of religion or belief.
Among those speaking at the meeting was Imam Ilgar Allahverdiyev, who heads the Azerbaijan chapter of the IRLA. He said “there should be no pressure on any religion by the state, that religious education should not be obligatory, and that the state should encourage religious pluralism.”
The OSCE sessions are expected to result in concrete recommendations on what member states and international organizations can do to more effectively protect their citizens’ right to freedom of religion. According to Jens-Hagen Eschenbaecher, a spokesman for the group, the final report of the conference, which contains the recommendations, will be available “in about one month.”
