Freedom of Expression
7 March 2010
Dorota Nieznalska is an artist who was prosecuted and convicted for “offending religious beliefs” when in 2002 she exhibited at a gallery in Gdansk an installation “Passion” that included a cross on which was a photograph of male genitalia, while a video of a man training in a fitness studio played in the background. The work symbolised men’s self-imposed suffering in order to become “real”, strong men.Last summer she was acquitted on appeal, and the liberal… read more »
20 February 2010
In February 2010 the EHF sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Greece protesting about threats to a human rights organisation, the Greek Helsinki Monitor, by a government minister speaking in the Greek parliament. We copied our letter widely. The Greek Helsinki Monitor has successfully taken many cases against Greece to the European Court of Human Rights, including several related to secularist concerns. It is currently backing cases by several parents seeking to apply… read more »
21 July 2009
The following message was sent via the Kremlin website to President Medvedev on 21 July 2009 about the prosecution of the curators of the Forbidden Art exhibition: Dear President Medvedev I write on behalf of the European Humanist Federation, which represents forty-two organisations in nineteen countries. We wish to protest at the prosecution of the art critic and former head of the Department of Modern Art at the Tretiakov Gallery, Andrei Yerofeev, and the former… read more »
10 July 2009
The OSCE held a special conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Vienna on 9-10 July 2009. This was in part a result of EHF’s representations. Our representative at this Special Human Dimension Implementation Meeting was Vera Pegna, our permanent representative with OSCE. Also attending were Andrew Copson, EHF Board Member, representing the British Humanist Association, and Catherine Lützeler of the Centre d’Action Laique, Belgium. This is Vera Pegna’s report on the event: You may recall… read more »
8 October 2008
Speech by DAVID POLLOCK (President of the European Humanist Federation) at the EHF side-meeting at the OSCE HDIM, October 8 2008 Good evening. Welcome. The notice of this meeting is about defamation of religion but I wish to range wider than that and deal with the place of religion in the public square. I will return to defamation at the end. The notice quoted Monsignor Anthony Frontiero, and we invited him to this meeting. Sadly… read more »
6 October 2008
Intervention by David Pollock at OSCE HDIM 2008 It was announced in April that the OSCE is preparing “ legislative guidelines on hate crime“. It is welcome that guidelines will be available because protection of minorities – racial, religious or however defined – from incitement of hatred is sadly necessary in many states. And it is welcome that OSCE is preparing them because that means they will probably be suitably protective of free speech. I… read more »
1 October 2008
The EHF ran a side-meeting on Wednesday 8 October at 6.o0 pm. The meeting contrasted views expressed at the 2007 meeting by Monsignor Anthony R. Frontiero, representative of the Holy See, and David Pollock, the president of the EHF and explored the differences constructively. David Pollock’s speech is here. The official announcement of the meeting was as follows: Freedom of Religion and Belief: Views at Odds “Demonizing Christianity, or deliberately mocking and undermining central tenets of the… read more »
27 May 2008
In recent years an alliance of Islamic states at the United Nations has made determined and partially successful attempts to subvert the right to freedom of religion or belief by declaring that defamation of religion – especially Islam – is not protected by that right. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights invited submissions on two very similar resolutons passed by the Human Rights Council (resolution 7/19 of 27 March 2008) and by the General… read more »
17 May 2008
The situation in the UN Human Rights Council Paper by Keith Porteous-Wood, Executive Director, National Secular Society (UK)* I want today, though, to talk about Human Rights, the essential bedrock of all civilisation and all secular democracies. And I want to talk about the particular and precious human right of free expression. Alarm bells rang for me when I attended a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. To my dismay, it turned… read more »
17 April 2008
Address by José Manuel Durao Barroso, European Commission President at the EHF Colloquium on Human Rights, April 2008 * Ladies and Gentlemen, I warmly thank the European Humanist Federation for inviting me to bring to a conclusion this European conference on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, organized in partnership with the Centre d’Action Laique and with the support of the European Commission. I am pleased to address… read more »