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FECRIS’S Application for INGO Status Sent Back by PACE Bureau Evidence of Civil and Penal Convictions Comes to Bureau’S Attention

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FECRIS’S Application for INGO Status Sent Back by PACE Bureau Evidence of Civil and Penal Convictions Comes to Bureau’S Attention A toA Special Message the P arliamentary Assembly’s COMMITTEE ON LEGAL AFFAIRS FECRIS’s application for INGO status sent back by PACE Bureau Evidence of civil and penal convictions comes to Bureau’s attention. penal convictions Europe's standards, conventions of FECRIS member and legal instruments in the mem- groups and individuals ber states, and assist in the imple- associated with them. mentation of these standards.'” Based on those convic- According to Professor Ben tions, the Bureau ques- Vermeulen, senior researcher at tioned the report rec- Utrecht University in the ommending approval Netherlands, “It is evident, that an by Rapporteur Mr organization which through its aims Dick Marty of the and purposes, or the means that it Council of Europe’s employs, acts in a way which is Committee on Legal inconsistent with these standards Affairs and Human should not be given INGO status. Rights. For instance, the fact that an organ- In conducting his ization uses 'deprogramming', a investigation into technique allegedly used by AIS/Pro FECRIS’ application, Juventud - a member group of Mr Marty FECRIS – which, according to the evidently did not have European Court of Human Rights available to him all in Ribera Blume v. Spain (14 the evidence regard- October 1999,), is a violation of Roger Ikor, extremist founder of FECRIS member group Article 5 of the European CCMM, called for “an end to all this balderdash, from ing the convictions, cults, but also from the great religions.” both civil and penal, Convention on Human Rights of FECRIS member (ECHR) in as far as the government he Bureau of the Council groups, nor additional evidence that is involved is a strong argument of Europe’s Parliamentary has come to light that strongly against allowing INGO status to TAssembly (PACE) has declined argues against consultative status such an organization. Such an to pass onto the Assembly an appli- being granted. organization acts against the spirit cation by the European Federation The past and current conduct of of the ECHR, and thus does not of Centres of Research and FECRIS and its member groups is live up to the aforementioned stan- Information on Sectarianism an important factor in assessing and dards.” (FECRIS) to be granted consulta- determining whether it qualifies for A secondary point is whether or not tive (now called “participatory”) sta- INGO status. Particularly relevant the individual and group convic- tus with the Council of Europe. is Resolution (2003)8, which lays tions and actions are simply the The Bureau’s refusal to forward the down the requisite conditions. result of a few individuals “going application is apparently based on Point 9.c of the Resolution states astray” or whether these convictions evidence that had come to their that INGOs undertake “to promote reflect FECRIS’ ethos. In that light, attention concerning many civil and the respect of the Council of Continued on page 6 FEBRUARY 2005 1 FRI – Swedish VIOLATING FECRIS group COUNCIL OF EUROPE STANDARDS n September 2001, the Committee of Ministers of the ICouncil of Europe laid down the standards to be observed in its Replies to Recommendation 1412 and Recommendation 1396 (Docs. 9220 and 9215 adopted at the 765th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies). The Committee stated that “govern- ments are under an obligation, in their dealings with such groups [of a religious, esoteric or spiritual nature], to remain in conformity not only with Article 9 but with all the provisions of the European Members of the Swedish FECRIS member group FRI. Convention on Human Rights and other relevant instruments protecting the dignity inherent to all human beings embers of the Swedish group doctor to examine Carl-Johan. This and their equal and inalienable rights. FRI have been involved in doctor concluded that was not suffer- This entails, inter alia, a duty to respect Mdeprogramming as recently as ing from any psychiatric condition. the principles of religious freedom and mid-2003. Some time between June After two months of wrongful impris- non-discrimination”. and August that year, an adult mem- onment, he was released. It is note- In accordance with this principle, the ber of a free Christian Church was worthy that FRI failed to counsel the Committee notes that: "legal measures incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital parents and the son to resolve their in this area should be applied vis-à-vis solely on the basis of his religious differences through dialogue and tol- illegal practices carried out in the name beliefs. FRI members Per and Gudrun erance – essential Council of Europe and by such groups, using ordinarily Swartling, along with deprogrammer principles – and instead condoned the available procedures of criminal and Pether Öhlén who has worked with unethical and improper detention of civil law (Paragraph 10 iii of the recom- FRI in the past, had been approached the young man on the basis of his reli- mendation).” by the family because of their con- gious beliefs. ■ “Freedom of thought, conscience cerns that Carl-Johen, their son, had and religion is of vital importance for joined a minority religious group. As the identity of believers and their con- Mr Olsen was unable to persuade the “FECRIS member group ception of life, but is also equally impor- son to leave his faith, it was arranged FRI failed to counsel the tant for atheists, agnostics, sceptics and that the young man be involuntarily parents and their son to the unconcerned; it includes the right to placed in a psychiatric institution. resolve their diferences hold or not to hold religious beliefs, to The “diagnosis” that formed the basis practice or not to practice a religion and for his committal was a contrived psy- through dialogue and toler- to change one’s religion or belief;” chiatric condition called "religious ance - essential Council “Religious pluralism is an inherent delusion". Mr. Ohlen was clearly of Europe principles - and feature of the notion of a democratic working closely with the doctors in instead condoned the society and thus a key reference for this institution as the son was at one unethical and improper determining whether or not a restriction point given the choice of a 50% detention of the young on religious freedom is acceptable under reduction in the drug that was being man on the basis of his paragraph 2 of Article 9 of the administered to him if he were to religious beliefs.” Convention; states are entitled to take cooperate with Mr. Ohlen. Eventually action within the law if it becomes clear it was arranged for an independent 2 FEBRUARY 2005 that a movement or association carries Gong. No group that has participated on, ostensibly in pursuit of religious in such a symposium or implicitly aims, activities which are harmful to supported and condoned the brutal the population and contrary to the and violent suppression of millions of law (cf. also, as regards abuse of rights, members of Falun Gong - one of the Article 17 of the Convention) but the great human rights tragedies of the last fundamental principles must be reli- few years – should be approved by the gious freedom and, in criminal law, Council of Europe. ■ the presumption of innocence;” “Where religious pluralism gives rise to religious divisions, with atten- dant tensions, the public authorities’ ACADEMIC response should not be to eliminate religious pluralism, but to strive to AND LEGAL ensure that the various groups respect Unlike United Nations rapporteurs each other." who have severely criticized the EXPERTISE “Distinctions based essentially on persecution of the Falun Gong in religion alone are not acceptable - and China, FECRIS has condoned it. that the freedom enshrined in Article Legal and human rights experts, 9 of the Convention is guaranteed not The current president of FECRIS theologians, sociologists and other only to citizens, but to all persons French member group UNADFI, academics that have researched the within the jurisdiction of the former MP Catherine Picard, has field of religion have condemned the Contracting States.” admitted to meeting with the approach taken by FECRIS and its FECRIS and its member groups Chinese “leader of religious affairs” members groups – which represent the have failed to comply with these stan- regarding their treatment of “cults”. “anti-cult movement,” as it is generally dards and there is no reason to suppose Neither FECRIS, UNADFI or called. they will do so in the future. They do CCMM have ever criticized the per- In 1998, a Swedish government not quality for INGO status. secution; on the contrary, CCMM commission report “In Good Faith: attended a Chinese government sym- Society and the New Religious Movements” stated : “The main con- Condoning Brutalities posium intended to justify its perse- cution of Falun Gong, reproduced clusion drawn by the Swedish FECRIS member group CCMM in Chinese government propaganda Commission from several visits to France has implicitly condoned the about Falun Gong and publicly organisations in other countries act- campaign of torture, death and persecu- announced that the Chinese wished ing within the sphere of new reli- tion of the Falun Gong by the Chinese to emulate the approach taken by gious movements is that nothing government. This is a campaign so CCMM against “sects” in France to should be done to augment disagree- destructive that the UN Special crack down on Falun Gong. ment between these movements and Rapporteurs on Torture, Summary The Talmudic truth “who can the rest of the community. On the Executions, Violence Against Women, protest an injustice but does not is an contrary, society should help to bring Religious Freedom and Freedom of accomplice to the act” directly applies about a dialogue between all parties Expression have published detailed to FECRIS complicity regarding concerned.” reports in 2004 documenting the cam- China’s abysmal treatment of Falun Internationally renowned scholars paign of persecution.
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