Freedom of Expression
10 January 2013
EU Commissioner Reding responsible for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, answered Parliamentary Questions on blasphemy laws within the European Union Questions : By MEPS Sophia in ‘t Veld (ALDE) , Joanna Senyszyn (S&D) , Cornelis de Jong (GUE/NGL) , Marietje Schaake (ALDE) “The recent wave of violence in the Muslim world following the online posting of a video depicting Mohammed has led numerous EU leaders to defend freedom of expression and opinion against accusations of blasphemy. At… read more »
7 December 2012
Muslims Pressing for Blasphemy Laws in Europe by Soeren Kern November 30, 2012 at 8:00 am The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a bloc of 57 Muslim countries, is pressuring Western countries into making it an international crime to criticize Islam or Mohammed – all on the name of “religious tolerance.” The Dutch parliament has approved a motion to revoke a law that makes it a crime to insult God. Free speech activists say the move represents… read more »
1 October 2012
The signatories of this petition ask the Council of Human Rights of the UN and the European Commission to promulgate international and European laws for the protection of freedom of thought, conscience and exercise of religion and belief without discrimination and to remove any items outlawing blasphemy in national constitutions and laws. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (57 countries) requires that blasphemy is considered a defamation of religions and criminally sanctioned. Freedom of expression is… read more »
25 September 2012
Message from Raffaele Carcano, Secretary of UAAR -the largest Italian humanist association. 22 September 2012 “Italian ministers, and especially Foreign Affairs ministers, have had us used to disparaging nonbelievers. Two years ago Franco Frattini, minister under the last Berlusconi government, said that “atheism, materialism and relativism are perverse phenomena characterized by intolerance that undermine society”. A few days ago his successor, Terzi, commented on the facts surrounding the cartoons published on Charlie Hebdo, showing once… read more »
21 September 2012
(politics.co.uk) - By Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association and vice president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. In the wake of protests and violence in connection with the ‘Innocence of Muslims’ video, a number of political and religious authorities have made fresh calls for an international law against the “defamation of religion”, or “blasphemy”. The calls have come from religious leaders in Egypt, both Muslim and Christian, from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah (who called the video “the worst attack ever on… read more »
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 »