Presidente da França, Emmanuel Macron, promete lutar contra o “separatismo islâmico”

 

Presidente da França, Emmanuel Macron, promete lutar contra o “separatismo islâmico”

Orientadora: Gabriellen da Silva Xavier do Carmo, mestranda voluntária do Cedire

Autora: Marília Fabiano Roncato Sagula

O presidente francês Emmanuel Macron anunciou planos de leis mais duras para combater o que chama de “separatismo islâmico” com o intuito de defender os valores seculares. As medidas anunciadas pelo presidente visam formar uma legislação que inclui (i) o monitoramento mais rigoroso de organizações esportivas e outras associações para que não se tornem uma fachada para o ensino islâmico extremista; (ii) o fim do sistema de “imames” (sacerdotes islâmicos) enviados para a França vindos do exterior; (iii) uma maior supervisão do financiamento de mesquitas e; (iv) o ensino doméstico restrito.

Segundo Emmanuel Macron, sua conduta está sendo tomada de acordo com os princípios do secularismo, ou laïcité, da França. Contudo, conforme proposto pelo Governo Francês, o secularismo garante liberdade de consciência, assegurando a liberdade de expressar as próprias crenças ou convicções dentro dos limites do respeito pela ordem pública, implicando a neutralidade do Estado no que concerne à igualdade de todos perante a lei, sem que haja distinção de religião ou crença.

Diante disso, existem algumas acusações de que Macron tenta reprimir o Islã na França, gerando reclamações de que as autoridades usam o secularismo para atacar especificamente os islâmicos, em situações como a proibição do hijab.

Sendo assim, de acordo com os opositores ao modo como essa política vem sendo tratada por Macron no que tange à comunidade islâmica, a laïcité, que teria como proposta assegurar a liberdade de consciência e de expressão das crenças e convicções, vem, supostamente, sendo utilizada, nessas circunstâncias, como um instrumento de restrição de práticas islâmicas na França.

REFERÊNCIAS:

BBC News. France's Macron vows to fight 'Islamist separatism'. Disponível em: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54383173

GOUVERNEMENT FRANÇAIS. Observatoire de la laïcité: Qu’est-ce que la laïcité? Disponível em: https://www.gouvernement.fr/qu-est-ce-que-la-laicite.

Is Europe Joining the International Religious Freedom Bandwagon?

Growing international threats to religious freedom are coming under increasing scrutiny by Western democracies. Long a foreign policy emphasis in the United States, and more recently in Canada, the crisis in international religious freedom (IRF) is gaining greater attention in Europe, especially in Italy and the United Kingdom. Can these nations be effective in promoting international religious freedom? Will their own domestic struggles with religious freedom handicap their efforts abroad?

Pasquale Annicchino, a fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute and at the University of Salerno, discussed recent developments in IRF promotion by Italy and the EU. David Reeves Taylor, chairman of Christian Solidarity Worldwide and a former British diplomat, addressed recent developments in IRF promotion by the UK. The Religious Freedom Project's Thomas Farr moderated.

Featuring

Pasquale Annicchino is a research fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, a fellow in constitutional law and comparative constitutional law at the Department of Political Science of the University of Salerno, and a member of the European University Institute’s Ethics Committee. Annicchino serves as book review editor for Religion and Human Rights: An International Journal and is a member of the editorial board of Quaderni di Diritto e Politica Ecclesiastica, published by Il Mulino. He has written on law, religion and religious freedom in Europe, and is a member of the ReligioWest project. This project studies how different Western states in Europe and North America are redefining their relationship to religions, under the challenge of increasing religious activism in the public sphere, associated with new religious movements and with Islam. Annicchino received his doctorate in law from the University of Siena, his LL.M/D.E.A. from the European Academy of Legal Theory in Brussels, and an LL.M from University College London, where he also served as editor in chief of the UCL Human Rights Review.

David Taylor is an international affairs analyst with a particular focus on the Middle East. He spent 17 years in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, most of it focused on the Middle East and North Africa. He then spent 14 years as Middle East editor and deputy editor of the Daily Brief at Oxford Analytica. He now divides his time between editorial work for Oxford Analytica, the Lausanne Movement and other clients, and working with Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the Religious Liberty Partnership and other NGOs on international religious freedom issues.

Source: The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University.

EU Guidelines on freedom of religion or belief (2013)

The Council of the European Union adopted in 24 June 2013 a set of Guidelines in the area of human rights of paramount importance: EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief (FORB). It is a part of the set of nine other guidelines the EU has on the death penalty, torture, children in armed conflict, human rights defenders, rights of the child, violence against women, promotion of international humanitarian law, human rights dialogues with third countries and LGBTI rights.

In the EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief (FORB), the EU reiterates the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief as a fundamental right of every human being. The EU Guidelines underlines the right of all persons to manifest their religion or belief either individually or in community with others - persons who change or leave their religion or belief, as well as persons holding non-theistic or atheistic beliefs should be equally protected, as well as people who do not profess any religion or belief.

In line with universal and European human rights standards, the EU and its Member States are committed to respecting, protecting and promoting freedom of religion or belief within their borders. With these Guidelines, the EU also reaffirms its determination to promote in its external human rights policy, freedom of religion or belief as a right to be exercised by everyone everywhere. The Guidelines explain what the international human rights standards on FORB are and they give clear political lines to officials of EU institutions and EU Member States. They also provide officials with practical guidance on how to seek to prevent violations of FORB in order to promote and protect freedom of religion or belief in the EU's external action. EU missions (EU Delegations and Member States Embassies and Consulates) play a key role in an early warning system, they will monitor respect for freedom of religion or belief and identify and report on situations of concern in third countries. The EU will raise freedom of religion or belief in appropriate high-level contacts and will encourage partner countries and regional organisations in political dialogues to accede to and implement relevant international instruments. The EU is furthermore committed to ensure that FORB remains prominently on the UN agenda and it will further strengthen its cooperation with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur on FORB.

Background

When the EU launched the Common Foreign and Security Policy ten years ago, it placed Human Rights at the heart of this policy. This stemmed from our conviction that respecting and promoting the rule of law as well as fundamental rights and freedoms not only defines the EU but is also in our interest. The European Security Strategy, adopted in 2003 and reviewed in 2008, states clearly that “spreading good governance, supporting social and political reform, dealing with corruption and abuse of power, establishing the rule of law and protecting human rights are the best means of strengthening the international order." An integral part of our Human Rights Policy is a series of Guidelines on issues of importance to the Union. These Guidelines are practical tools to help EU representations in the field better advance our policy.

Read the Guidelines here.

Source: EU Delegation to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva.

Article 18: An Orphaned Right - A Report by the APPG on International Religious Freedom

About the APPG on International Religious Freedom

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on International Religious Freedom was established in July 2012 with the following purpose: “To raise awareness and profile of international religious freedom as a human right amongst parliamentarians, media, government and the general public in the UK; and to increase effectiveness and awareness of the UK’s contribution to international institutions charged with enforcing this human right.”

THE REPORT - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Centrality of Article 18

Article 18 UDHR remains the benchmark against which the enjoyment of the freedom of religion or belief should be measured. Although there is also a considerable range of normative and institutional activity focussing on freedom of religion or belief, as well as unilateral and multilateral state initiatives which parallel or supplement this activity, the primary contention of this report is that when considered against the standard set by Article 18, freedom of religion or belief is not currently being protected internationally as it ought.

No treaty

Unlike many other human rights, there is as yet no focussed United Nations (UN) Convention directly addressing the subject of freedom of religion or belief. In consequence, freedom of religion or belief has for many years been something of a “residual” right, only protected to the extent that it does not stand in the way of achieving some other goal or ambition. While the UN Vienna Declaration of 1993 asserts that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and inter-related, in practice within the family of human rights this freedom remains on the margins. It is in this respect an orphaned right, and the purpose of this report is to commence a process of reuniting this right with its family.

What Article 18 promises

Article 18 states that freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental right which may not be derogated from, even in times of public emergency. It protects traditional, non-traditional and new religious beliefs and practices, as well as numerous beliefs not associated with divine or transcendent powers, or not of a religious nature. Everyone has the freedom to manifest their religion or belief, either alone or together with others, publicly or privately. Nobody is to be subject to coercion that would impair the individual’s freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of their choice, nor is discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief permissible.

The reality

However, as this report explains, almost 75% of the world’s population live in countries with high levels of government restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, or where they face high-level hostility due to their religious affiliations, and this figure is rising. Across the globe there is widespread denial of freedom of worship, and of freedom to teach, promote and publicly express one’s religion or belief.

This report instances examples of state intimidation, discrimination and violence towards people on account of their religion or belief, as well as situations where states do not offer adequate protection from persecution by non-state actors. This is not limited to any one region, or any one form of religion. Through evidence submissions and other means, the group is aware of a deeply troubling scale of violation of freedom of religion or belief worldwide. This catalogue of abuse covers Shia Muslims in Bahrain, Baha’is and Zoroastrians in Iran, Christians across large swathes of the Middle East, Sufi muslims from the Sunni tradition in Somalia, atheists in Indonesia, Falun Gong practitioners in China, Buddhists in Tibet, Jewish people in Europe and Hindus in Pakistan — truly a global concern that affects the full range of religious and non-religious belief.

Defamation of religions

While the UN has declared that everyone has the right to freedom of religion or belief, it has done relatively little to make this a reality. Much of the work at the UN is focussed on a very different question, the so-called “defamation of religions” debate, which focuses on protecting religions — not believers — from criticism, and becomes a means of restricting rights and freedoms, rather than safeguarding them. The firm position of this report is that the focus of the UN ought to be less on when it might be appropriate to restrain rights in the name of religion, and more on encouraging and supporting international action to champion the freedom of religion or belief for all. At the same time as pursuing this goal, it is necessary to identify effective UK policy and action, and this report makes a number of recommendations in this regard.

Response of the FCO

In the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) report Human Rights and Democracy 2012, freedom of religion or belief is described as “one of the Government’s key human rights priorities”, and it outlines a strategy for promoting this freedom. The recognition that it is not only the promotion but also the protection of freedom of religion or belief that is a key priority is to be greatly welcomed — but what is now needed is further effective action. This report seeks to identify a number of practical strategies that can be adopted.

This report goes on to outline five overarching prerequisites for the construction and implementation of any successful policy on international freedom of religion or belief:

- Clear commitment from across the domestic political spectrum, based on the recognition of the central significance of the freedom of religion or belief as an essential freedom for all

- Broad-based consultation across the spectrum of religion and belief

- International action that is reflective of, and grounded in, a full respect for freedom of religion and belief in domestic policy

- International action that is focused on freedom for all people, irrespective of the nature of their religion or belief

- Grounding for all action in freedom of religion or belief as set out in the UDHR Article 18, which includes freedom for everyone to adhere to a religion or belief of their choice, including the right not to have, or to be associated with, a religion or belief, the right to change religion or belief and the right to manifest religion or belief in accordance with the Universal Declaration and as subsequently developed under international law, in a manner that is respectful of the human rights of other individuals

Against that background, this report makes a number of detailed recommendations, but has identified the following as a matter of priority:

Recommendation One

We ask that the British Government consider the appointment of an Ambassadorial-level focal point on freedom of religion or belief, to spearhead the implementation of mainstreaming, country and thematic work within the FCO and across relevant departments, and to assist the FCO in projection and implementation of its strategies.

Recommendation Two

We call on the British Government to become a state party to the First Optional Protocol of the CPPR. This would allow individuals in the UK to raise questions about potential violations of their rights directly with the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), and in addition show leadership to encourage other states to follow suit.

Recommendation Three

We ask the Foreign Secretary to establish a sub-group of the Human Rights Advisory Group to focus on freedom of religion and belief.

Recommendation Four

We call on the FCO to undertake a baseline evaluation of the extent, quality and impact of mainstreaming issues concerning freedom of religion or belief into the work of the office, and undertake further evaluations at fixed intervals to determine progress.

Recommendation Five

We call on the Department for International Development (DfID) to ensure that where aid is provided or contracts are awarded overseas, it is channelled to civil-society organisations and government programmes that can demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of freedom of religion or belief, and can show how their work will have a positive rather than negative impact in this area.

Recommendation Six

We ask the FCO to consider revising the Human Rights and Democracy Programme (HRDP) to enable support of longer-term projects than the one-year cycle currently permits.

Recommendation Seven

We ask the British Government to make representations to the UN to ensure that there is sufficient funding to support a paid, full-time Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief and resource their office.

Recommendation Eight

We call on DfID to identify freedom of religion or belief as a new priority in its work.

Recommendation Nine

We ask the British Government to make representations to the UN nations to ensure that the Rabat Plan of Action is woven into continued engagement with HRC Resolution 16/18 and the Istanbul Process, making sure that the international focus remains the duties of states to protect the freedom of religion or belief of those subject to its jurisdiction, rather than deviating from the rights laid down in Article 18 to address issues around “incitement to religious hatred”.

Recommendation Ten

We urge the FCO to convene an expert group to scope the issues involved in initiating a process to consider a convention on freedom of religion or belief at the international level.

To read the full report , click here.

Source: anorphanedright.net/