Council of Europe on Illegal Activities of Sects

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Subject: Council of Europe on Illegal Activities of Sects

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

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Council of Europe on Illegal Activities of Sects



Human Rights Without Frontiers
Av. Winston Churchill 11/33
B-1180 Brussels - Belgium
Phone: +32 +2 345 61 45  
Fax: +32 +2 343 74 91

Press and Information Service
Section "Religious Intolerance and  Discrimination"

June 23, 1999

----------------

Council of Europe

Illegal Activities of Sects in Europe: The Assembly Gives Priority to
Prevention


Offical Press Release of the Council of Europe

Strasbourg, (22.06.99)/HRWF (23.06.1999)  
Website: http://www.hrwf.net/
http://www.hrwf.net/
Email: [email protected]

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly today adopted,
unanimously, a Recommendation which gives  priority to the prevention
against dangerous sects. "Major legislation on sects is undesirable",
the Assembly reiterated during a debate organised during its  summer
session.

The Recommendation which was adopted following the debate  pointed to
the risk that any legislation passed in this area might well interfere
with the freedom of conscience and religion guaranteed by Article 9 of
the European Convention on Human Rights.
 
Nonetheless, the serious incidents which had occurred in recent  years
did warrant an insistence that the activities of groups referred to
as  sects which the Assembly did not feel it necessary to define  be
carried out in keeping with the principles of democratic societies.

Therefore, it was vital to have access to reliable, objective
information on these groups, directed in particular at teenagers
within the framework of school curricula and at the children of
followers of groups of a religious, esoteric or spiritual nature.

Consequently, the Assembly called on the governments of the  member
States:

to support the setting up of independent, national or regional
information centres on sects; 

to include information on the history and philosophy of important
schools of thought and of religion in general school curricula; 

to use the normal procedures of criminal and civil law against illegal
practices carried out by these groups;

to encourage the setting up of non-governmental organisations to
protect victims, but also; 

to take firm steps against any discrimination or marginalisation of
minority groups and encourage a spirit of tolerance and  understanding
towards religious groups.

The Assembly also requested that the Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe set up a European Observatory on groups of a
religious, esoteric or spiritual nature, to make it easier for
national centres to exchange information. The Council of Europe should
also take action to promote the setting up of information centres in
central and eastern European countries.

A political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe 
promotes democracy and human rights continent-wide. It also develops
common responses to social, cultural and legal challenges in its 41
member States.


Press Contact

Christiane Dennemeyer, Council of Europe Press Service

Tel. +33 3 88 41 25 63 - Fax. +33 3 88 41 27 89

E-mail: [email protected]


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