Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon looks ahead to the UK-hosted conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief

Minister of State Lord Ahmad looks forward to the UK hosting the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief in London in July 2022.

The conference will bring together government, civil society, faith and belief groups to agree on actions to:

• prevent Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) violations and abuses
• protect and promote freedom of religion or belief internationally

The conference programme will be wide-ranging and inclusive, involving a diverse set of participants and speakers with the overarching aim of promoting respect for FoRB around the world.

Statement from Lord Ahmad

I’m sincerely looking forward to welcoming our partners and friends from around the world to London in early July for the United Kingdom-hosted Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

This will be the first international ministerial conference on this theme since 2020 and the first to take place in person since 2019.

Together with our international partners we share a collective commitment to freedom of religion or belief for everyone, everywhere.

This is an issue that we all should care about. Although the right to freedom of religion or belief is enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it is regrettable, indeed tragic, that too many people around the world continue to live in fear of persecution on the basis of what they choose to believe or not to believe, or indeed how they choose to practice those beliefs.

Being denied the fundamental human right of freedom of religion or belief can be devastating for individuals and communities.

At the conference we’ll therefore hear from survivors directly on the impact that persecution has had upon them, on their lives, on their communities.

As individuals suffer from being denied this human right, societies, countries where survivors live suffer too. They become smaller, diminished culturally and spiritually by this lack of freedom. Therefore, let us strengthen all of our communities by driving forward the collective importance of not just promoting this important issue, but strengthening freedom of religion or belief for all.

This conference in London will bring together ministers, but also importantly other representatives from government, from faith and belief group leaders, and indeed importantly from civil society as well.

Alongside the official ministerial conference, an associated conference fringe will see a series of events organized directly by civil society.

These will be taking place around the United Kingdom and provide further opportunities for all to join this important debate and discussion and learn from each other about this important issue.

I therefore hope that you will take this opportunity to really get involved and share our collective commitment to promoting and protecting, and indeed strengthening freedom of religion or belief for everyone across the world.

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EGYPT: Jehovah’s Witnesses banned since 1960 call upon the UN Human Rights Committee

On the occasion of the upcoming 134^th session of the UN Human Rights Committee (28 February – 25 March 2022), the African Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses (AAJW) and the European Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses (EAJW) have filed a joint submission about the situation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Egypt banned since 1960.

They request the Government of Egypt to take the necessary steps to:

1. Ensure that Jehovah’s Witnesses are able to register their local religious organizations

2. End the continuous and intrusive surveillance and interrogations of Jehovah’s Witnesses

3. Allow Egyptian and foreign Jehovah’s Witnesses to worship peacefully and to associate with one another;

4. Cancel the directives of the Administration of Land Registration and Documentation of the Ministry of Justice in Egypt that prohibit its agencies from registering title to property belonging to legal entities of Jehovah’s Witnesses;

5. Abide by its commitment to uphold the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Covenant for all citizens, including Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Religious freedom violations

A decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs dated 20 June 1960 deregistered the local branch of the Watch Tower Society and effectively banned the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The pretext for the ban was an alleged failure to re-register according to Law 384 of 1956. Efforts to re-register were rejected for “security reasons.” All the property owned by Witness entities were confiscated.

For over 60 years, Jehovah’s Witnesses have not been allowed to build or own places of worship. Consequently, they are obliged to hold their religious meetings discreetly, in private homes. Many Witnesses report continued surveillance of their telephone conversations, their homes and their meeting locations. Additionally, the Witnesses are not permitted to import their religious literature or to manifest their religious beliefs by peacefully sharing a Bible message with persons who wish to receive it.

In February 2020, an Egyptian Witness who owns an apartment arranged for it to be completely renovated so as to be suitable for religious meetings and rented it to fellow worshippers. Since Witnesses cannot obtain a zoning permit to use property for their religious meetings, the NSA repeatedly attempted to obtain a copy of the rental contract in order to file charges against the Witnesses involved. Despite repeated telephone calls and threats, the Witnesses refused to give the NSA a copy of the contract. Their agents then interrogated and harassed the Witness landlord and ordered that the apartment be emptied and closed immediately. Subsequently, Jehovah’s Witnesses have not been able to use the property.

On 28 March 2020, a National Security (NSA) agent visited a Witness family in central Cairo to interrogate them about meetings held in their home.

The NSA searches for and threatens Jehovah’s Witnesses who are foreign nationals, especially those believed to be “leading ministers” and those associating with Egyptian Witnesses. During interrogations, agents try to intimidate them and often threaten them with arrest in order to obtain information both about fellow believers in Egypt and about how they are organized. A few examples:

March 2020: NS agents forcefully entered the homes of at least two Egyptian Witnesses, without a warrant or consent, in order to interrogate them about a married Witness couple who were foreign nationals lawfully resident in Egypt. Because of the threat of arrest and deportation, the couple fled Egypt and returned to the United States.

April/May 2020: NS agents interrogated two Sudanese Witnesses about their religious activities

The above incidents have occurred since the European Parliament’s adoption of the 24 October 2019 Resolution on Egypt, which “stresses the importance of guaranteeing the equality of all Egyptians, regardless of their faith or belief; calls for Egypt to review its blasphemy laws in order to ensure the protection of religious minorities … calls on the Egyptian authorities, including the military and security forces, to respect the rights of Christians, protect them against violence and discrimination and ensure that those responsible for such acts are prosecuted.”

During 2021, owing to Covid-19 precautions, all of Jehovah’s Witnesses religious meetings have been held via videoconference. The NSA has strenuously investigated who holds licences for a proprietary videoconferencing system, how meeting details are distributed, who the hosts are, the names of the attendees, etc. Such details constituted part of the information sought during interrogations of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Background

Jehovah’s Witnesses have been present in Egypt since 1912. In the 1930s, they established congregations in Alexandria and in Cairo. By the post-war years of 1945–1950, there were already a significant number of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Egypt.

Well into the 1950s, Egyptian Jehovah’s Witnesses enjoyed relative freedom of worship. On 3 November 1951, the Cairo Governorate granted recognition to a branch of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (Watch Tower Society), a legal corporation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In 1956, the Governorate of Alexandria granted similar recognition to the local congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

In 1959, a campaign of false accusations labelling Jehovah’s Witnesses as “Zionists” caused the police to order the Witnesses to cease holding their religious services.

On 20 June 1960, a decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs deregistered the local branch of the Watch Tower Society and effectively banned the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in all Egypt.

Later on, the Administration of Land Registration and Documentation of the Ministry of Justice in Egypt issued three directives (in 1985, 1993 and 1999) that prohibit its agencies from registering any property as well as marriages.

As a result, property cannot be bought or owned in the name of any organized group of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They cannot even obtain land to bury their dead but must use privately owned cemeteries.

Although more than 60 years have passed, officials continue to deny them the opportunity to meet with key authorities in order to resolve the situation.

States have the primary responsibility to ... protect the human rights of religious minorities

Today we honour and remember the victims of acts of violence based on religion or belief.

Across the world, we continue to witness a rise in hate speech, intolerance, and even physical violence and attacks on individuals, groups, and sites, purely because of their religious beliefs or significance.

This violence often goes hand-in-hand with the infringement of other fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of thought or conscience. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has fueled racism, stigma, and disinformation, often targeting ethnic and religious minorities, has further exacerbated this dangerous convergence.

Despite the risks, victims continue to speak out with great courage to defend their rights. I stand in full solidarity with them — and with the determined efforts of civil society actors, community and faith leaders, to mobilize against any act of violence or discrimination.

“States have the primary responsibility to prohibit and deter discrimination and violence and to protect the human rights of religious minorities”

António Guterres, UN Secretary General -August 22nd, 2021

States have the primary responsibility to prohibit and deter discrimination and violence and to protect the human rights of religious minorities and ensure that perpetrators of these crimes are held accountable. At the same time, the international community must do more to support the victims of these heinous acts, as well as those who are working to address the root causes of intolerance and hate. I have made tackling this issue a priority, including through initiatives like the Call to Action for Human Rights, the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech, and the UN Plan to Safeguard Religious Sites.

Freedom of religion or belief is a human right, enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today, this right is being tested.

Let us commit to turning the tide on this appalling trend, to building more inclusive and peaceful societies, where diversity is celebrated as a richness that strengthens us all.

Message for the commemoration of the 2021 International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief

Religious liberty endangered by French Draft Law Against “Separatism”

France has a serious problem with radical Islam, but the draft law against “separatism” announced by President Macron may create more problems than it claims to solve. This is the conclusion of a “White Paper” co-authored or endorsed by well-known scholars of new religious movements Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist and managing director of CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) and Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, from the University of Bordeaux, French lecturer in law Frédéric-Jérôme Pansier, human rights activists Willy Fautré, of Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers, and Alessandro Amicarelli, human rights attorney in London and chairperson of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB).

“Eradicating the social roots of terrorism is a laudable purpose“, say the members of the task force who is launching the White Paper, “and some provisions of the draft law make sense, but there are also serious problems.”

The White Paper can be downloaded as a FREE pdf at the website of CESNUR.ORG

First, the law is being proposed and publicized by some politicians and media with disturbing accents implying that only an “Islam des Lumières,” an Enlightenment-style Islam, is accepted in France, where all conservative Muslims, i.e, the majority of Muslims in France and Europe, are suspected of extremism if not terrorism. “This“, the report says, “risks to fuel extremism rather than containing it.”

Second, the total ban on homeschooling punishes thousands of French parents who are not Muslim, and in most cases do not even decide to educate their children at home for religious reasons. Several sociological studies have concluded that homeschooling is a legitimate form of education and may give good results. “Islamic ultra-fundamentalism“, the authors state, “appears in homeschooling in a tiny minority of cases, and may be controlled or eliminated through adequate controls rather than by banning the practice altogether.”

Third, there is a speedy procedure for dissolving religious organizations deemed to operate against “human dignity” or use not only physical but also “psychological pressures.” This, the White Paper says, is standard jargon used against the so-called “cults” and in fact some French politicians have already announced that the law will be used to “dissolve hundreds of cults” (called in France sectes).

Rather than relying on the pseudo-scientific notions of “brainwashing” or “psychological control,” the White Paper suggests, the law should focus on the “criminal religious movements” (a label several scholars prefer to the elusive “cults” or sectes) that use physical violence or commit common crimes. And, the report adds, the defense of “human dignity” may not lead to violate the corporate freedom of religious bodies, for example when they decide whom to admit or to expel, or suggests that their current members do not associate with those who have been expelled. The White Paper quotes several court decisions stating that excommunication and “ostracism” are part of religious liberty, as religions have the right to take decisions about their own organizations.

Fourth, the reference to places of worship unduly used to spread “hostility to the laws of the Republic” should not mean that sermons should not be free to criticize laws they regard as unjust. Religion has always had the prophetic function of criticizing laws deemed as unfair, which is different from inciting to violence.

“We understand“, the authors explain, “that France has its own tradition and history of laïcité, and our purpose is not to suggest that France should adopt the American model of religious liberty, or the Italian model of cooperation between religion and the state. On the contrary, our aim is to find ways to address, within rather than outside the French legal tradition, legitimate concerns about radicalization and terrorism, without infringing on the rights of religious minorities or breaching France’s international human rights obligations.”

https://www.cesnur.org/2020/separatism-religion-and-cults.htm

Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher Appointed Next Secretary General of World Evangelical Alliance

Deerfield, IL – October 29, 2020

The International Council (IC) of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Thomas Schirrmacher as the next Secretary General / CEO. Bringing many years of experience serving in various roles in the WEA, Dr Schirrmacher was recommended by the Search Committee from among more than a dozen candidates, and unanimously affirmed by the IC on a conference call on October 27. He will assume leadership of the WEA on March 1, 2021.

In a letter announcing the appointment to WEA’s constituency, Dr Goodwill Shana, Chair of the International Council, said: “Thomas will be known to many of you, as he has served in the WEA for many years. He enjoys working with groups of diverse people and seeing people work together to advance the aims of the WEA. He is committed to building partnerships and seeing WEA contribute to the development of the global Christian community.”

“He has a great deal of experience that we believe will benefit the WEA and we are very happy to appoint such a gifted person,” Dr Shana continued and added: “We have every confidence that Thomas is able to lead WEA at this point in our life and history and with great vision for the future. We will continue to covet your prayers and support in ensuring that this very significant step proceeds smoothly and results in the strengthening of the WEA and the proclamation of the gospel around the world.”

Outgoing Secretary-General Bp Efraim Tendero commented: “It is with great joy that I will be handing over the stewardship of the WEA to Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher early next year, the person who is best prepared to lead the global body of evangelicals into the future. As we have partnered together in the WEA Senior Leadership Team for several years, I saw in him the charisma, competence, and capacity that is matched by the character, conviction and calling from God that are needed for such a global task. I have full confidence that he will lead the WEA as empowered by the Holy Spirit in advancing the Good news of the Lord Jesus Christ to all nations, and effecting personal, family and community transformation for the glory of God.”

Upon his appointment, Dr Schirrmacher said: “I am humbled that so many esteemed leaders are putting their trust in me. Having been part of the leadership for a long time, I already feel very much at home in the WEA. Beside all my academic and socio-political involvement, the center of my convictions has always been the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ for each individual and the whole world. And I see WEA as the best place to serve the Church. I feel safe in the assurance that I am carried by the prayer of millions of believers and knowing that I am standing on the big shoulders of my predecessors.”

About Dr Thomas Schirrmacher:

Dr Schirrmacher has served in various roles in the WEA since 1999, and is currently the WEA’s Associate Secretary General for Theological Concerns. Prior to this, he was a member of the Religious Liberty Commission, developed the International Institute for Religions Freedom, built up WEA’s Office for Intrafaith and Interfaith Relations, is Chair of WEA’s Theological Commission, and WEA’s Ambassador for Human Rights.

Dr Schirrmacher studied theology at colleges in Switzerland, the United States, Netherlands and also received a degree from India. He holds several degrees in various disciplines and a number of earned doctorates to his name. He was pastor and co-pastor of local churches in the Bonn area from 1982 – 2000 and, in 2015, was consecrated as an episcopal leader serving the Communio Messianica, a global body of believers from another faith background. He also taught theology and trained future pastors from 1982 – 2018.

Dr Schirrmacher has a great concern for the persecuted church and, with others, started the WEA’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP).

Dr Thomas Schirrmacher is married to Dr Christine Schirrmacher. Together they have two adult children and currently live in Bonn, Germany. Christine is a professor of Islamic Studies at the Universities of Bonn and Leuven as well as serving WEA as Commissioner for Islamic Affairs.