28 October 2008
Vera Pegna represented the EHF at the OSCE’s 2008 Mediterrannean Conference, held in Amman, Jordan, on 27-28 October 2008 and at the Civil Society side-event which preceded it on 26 October. She took an active part in and out of the formal sessons and her intervention in the plenary session dealt with the Israel/Palestine conflict from a humanist perspective. (This is also available on the OSCE website.) At the Civil Society preparatory meeting she added… read more »
22 October 2008
Réponses au questionnaire adressé aux Organisations Non Gouvernementales par le Groupe Interconvictionnel1 d’ONG de préparation du Colloque 3I I ) Présentation du Groupe Interconvictionnel d’ONG (G3I) Ce groupe interconvictionnel de préparation du Colloque 3I (G3I) est un groupe européen. Il comprend des associations humanistes regroupées dans l’Union Humaniste Internationale et la Fédération Humaniste Européenne, des associations laïques regroupées au sein de la Ligue Internationale de l’Enseignement et de la Culture, des associations de conviction chrétienne… read more »
Georges Liénard reports INGO meeting The Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) recognised by the Council of Europe met on 1-3 October 2008, with IHEU represented by Silvia Geise (who heads the IHEU delegation), Michel Grosmann and Georges Liénard (nominated by EHF). (Keith Porteous Wood was not present.) The meeting elected chairs and vice-chairs of the five committees: Human rights committee Sustainable Territorial development Committee Social cohesion and eradication of poverty Committee Civil society and Democracy … read more »
A report is now available here on the latest meeting of international non-government organisations attached to the Council of Europe, and new material has been added to the Council of Europe page.
16 October 2008
The European Parliament’s Working Group on Separation of Religion and Politics held a meeting yesterday on Religion and Education. EHF vice-president Rob Buitenweg described the position in the Netherlands and other speakers covered the UK, Spain and France. Working Group chair Sophie in’t Veld MEP foresaw clashes over exemptions for religious schools when the new EU directive banning discrimination in fields wider than employment was debated. Read a full report here.
15 October 2008
October 2008 meeting of Working Group on Separation of Religion and Politics With Veronique de Keyser, the Belgian socialist MEP, in the chair, the meeting on 15 Ocotber 2008 heard from Keith Porteous Wood, of the UK’s National Secular Society, about the problem of religious schools within the British system of public schools. By being selective (he said) these schools attracted middle class parents who were prepared to pretend a religious belief and to go… read more »
13 October 2008
In the morning before the General Assembly, EHF held a seminar on its work in the main European institutions. Vera Pegna spoke on our work in the OSCE. Georges Liénard spoke on the Council of Europe. David Pollock spoke on the EU and the European Parliament. OSCE – Vera Pegna This morning you will hear reports on EHF activity in three European organisations: OSCE, CoE and the EU. I am going to report on our… read more »
9 October 2008
Intervention by Vera Pegna at OSCE HDIM 2008 OSCE and all its member states are committed to the rule of law. This means they are committed to democracy and to all that democracy comprises, first and foremost the democratic representation of the citizens. Since we are here to check the implementation of commitments (thanks, ODIHR) the European Humanist Federation wishes to draw your attention to a matter of serious concern for democrats: the erosion of… read more »
Vera Pegna, EHF’s representative at OSCE, warned today’s plenary session that the rule of law and democratic institutions were being “surreptitiously eroded by giving undue access to public institutions to non-elected bodies like churches” and even giving religious institutions “the right to intervene in the law-making process”. This limited the power of Parliaments and “changed the very concept of representative democracy”. She referred in particular to the EU’s granting to churches and other religious institutions… read more »
Speaking at a side-meeting at the OSCE human rights conference in Warsaw last night, EHF President David Pollock strongly criticised the views expressed by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone, a few days ago about the role of religion in politics. Bertone said “Politics needs Christianity” and based his case for religious believers having a role in public affairs on this alleged need. In a closely argued speech, David Pollock stated that specifically religious… read more »