30 December 2009
Swami Manavatavadi (see December 23) writes that, apparently at the instigation of the state Governor, he has been visited by “the Deputy Commissioner along with the President of District Bar Association, President of District Congress (Party) Committee, many Lawyers and a crowd of Respectable persons of the Town” who have promised to solve the ten points at issue. Swami Manavatavadi has as a result suspended his hunger strike pending the outcome of their intervention. EHF… read more »
23 December 2009
For the second time EHF has intervened to support Swami Manavatavadi and his International School of Humanitarian Thoughts and Practice – known as Kids’ Kingdom. An associate member of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, the school is dedicated to the education and rehabilitation of street children, orphans, dalits and destitute women. From the start it has been persecuted by its Brahmin neighbours and Swami Manavatavadi is now on hunger strike in protest. See our… read more »
20 December 2009
EHF member DFW organised a conference for young people at Klingberg, Germany, in November to discuss secular values. We have a full report on this successful event. The report is available in German (and with photos) here. DFW are planning a new conference for November 2010.
18 December 2009
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against Italy’s compulsory display of crucifixes in State school classrooms. Meantime in a referendum Switzerland has voted to ban construction of minarets. The EHF, IHEU and the two principal Belgian organisations have jointly published an article in the Belgian newspaper Le Soir applauding the judgement, deploring the referendum and explaining the reasons why.
15 December 2009
Two events in late 2009 – the immensely important Lautsi judgement on crucifixes in Italian classrooms and the Swiss referendum on minarets – gave us the opportunity to join with IHEU and the two principal Belgian laique organisations in producing an article published in the Belgian newspaper Le Soir on December 15. The original text (in which the references to CAL had not been corrected to include all the organisations) is in French and the… read more »
1 December 2009
The European Convention on Human Rights is of fundamental importance to humanists and secularists, both because of our support for human rights in general and because some of the Articles protect us from discrimination and lend support to separation of religion and politics. It is enforceable in countries that have adopted the Convention (including all states in the EU) through the European Court of Human Rights. Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights,… read more »