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20 July 2000 Helsinki Commission Issues Study on Religious Freedom (Study done by Library of Congress on 12 OSCE countries)
By Stephanie Sackellares Read the full Report:
(Free Adobe Acrobat Reader software is required to view and print these files) Washington -- The Helsinki Commission released a study of legal systems and their effects on religious liberty in 12 member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) July 19. Included in this examination, which was completed by the Law Library of the Library of Congress at the Helsinki Commission's request, were Austria, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uzbekistan. These countries were chosen based on their diverse geographical location, history and religious communities. The project was inspired by the agreement of OSCE participating states to "ensure that their laws, regulations, practices and policies conform with their obligation under international law and are brought into harmony with the provisions of the Declaration on Principles and other OSCE commitments," according to a Helsinki Commission press release. Discovery of governmental restrictions on individual religious liberties sparked concern among Helsinki Commission members, who expressed fears that several governments have not fully kept promises made to avoid laws and practices that prevent free expression of religious beliefs. They spoke out at a briefing on the report given by Librarian of Congress James Billington and experts on religious law who worked on the project. Among the countries discussed at the briefing were Greece, France and Turkey. One researcher noted that the lower house of the French parliament last month passed a law creating the new crime of "mental manipulation" and established civil and criminal penalties for activities by religious or philosophical groups that government officials have deemed unacceptable. "I have urged the French Parliament to abandon this course of action," responded Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ), chairman of the Helsinki Commission. Smith also noted that the Greek government recently eliminated the policy requiring people to identify themselves by religious affiliation on government-issued identification cards. Such a scheme left minority religious groups vulnerable in Greece as well as other places they may have traveled, Smith said. "I commend the Greek Government's decision to abandon that policy." He said religious liberty conditions in Turkey and some other OSCE countries remain in question. For example, he cited raids on Protestant groups in Turkey "and the continuing conflict over the closure of the Greek Orthodox seminary on the island of Halki." The study was compiled by legal experts from the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service and the Helsinki Commission. "Religious Liberty: The Legal Framework in Selected OSCE Countries" can be downloaded at the Commission's website at www.house.gov/csce. The presentations at the July 19 briefing are also available. The Helsinki Commission -- formally known as the Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) -- is an independent agency of the U.S. government mandated to monitor compliance by participating States with the Helsinki Final Act. It is composed of nine members each from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce.
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