Stoned to Death – On June 26 in Sudan, Maryam Alsyed Tiyrab was convicted and sentenced to execution by stoning on a charge of adultery, a violation of Islamic law.
Tiyrab, 20, a citizen of Sudan, was accused of adultery, a crime classified as Hudud in the Islamic law system. Hudud crimes include highway robbery, apostasy, illicit sexual intercourse and drinking alcohol, and may be punished by the amputation of hands and feet, flogging and even death. Although the last sentence of death by stoning in Sudan was overturned by the Sudanese High Court, the penalty is still permitted by law.
The African Center for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) stated, “The application of the death penalty by stoning for the crime of adultery is a grave violation of international law, including the right to life and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.” Further, they report that Tiyrab was tried without representation of a lawyer, the trial was held without a formal complaint from the police and that her “confession” was illegally obtained.
Stoning is torture per the UN Convention Against Torture, which Sudan ratified August 10, 2021, but no legal reforms to remove stoning from the Sudanese criminal codes have been ratified. In July 2020, progress was made under a transitional government, including a repeal of flogging from the criminal codes. But the prime minister and other leaders at that time were removed by a military coup d’etat on October 25, 2021—the 2nd time in the past four years that Sudan’s head of state has been overthrown.
“The death by stoning case is a reminder that the criminal law reforms during the transition [government] were not complete, and that such harsh, archaic punishments are still officially on the books,” stated human rights lawyer and Human Rights Watch’s Sudan researcher Jehanne Henry.
The head of Sudan’s sovereign council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, stated on July 4, 2022, that he intends to dissolve the sovereign council and allow for talks of civilian government to resume in Sudan. But when, and whether this will have an effect for Tiyrab, remains to be seen.
ACJPS, based in Uganda and formed in 2009, has a mission of creating a Sudan committed to all human rights, the rule of law, and peace, in which the rights and freedoms of the individual are honored and where all persons and groups are granted their rights to non-discrimination, equality and justice.
The former President of the Chamber and deputy Eduardo Cunha, had his mandate revoked in 2016, due to accusations of passive corruption and money laundering. A former militant of the MDB, Eduardo Cunha is now back in political life. He can now run for the 2022 elections as a member of PTB.
Eduardo Cunha was one of the most powerful and influential figures in Brazilian politics when he was President of the Chamber of Deputies. So powerful, in fact, that he was one of the main orchestrators of Dilma Roussef’s (PT) impeachment in August 2016. The process gave way to Michel Temer’s (MDB) presidency.
Shortly after the impeachment, however, in September, Eduardo Cunha had his mandate revoked, for the reasons already cited. The nullification was approved in the Chamber by 450 votes, which was considered a “major loss to Cunha” at the time. It was the longest process of its kind, lasting 11 months.
The formal accusation against Cunha was that he lied to the Investigative Parliamentary Commission (CPI) on Petrobras about having bank accounts in Switzerland. The former deputy was supposed to not be politically active until 2027.
However, the Regional Federal Court of the 1st Region (TRF-1) released Cunha from his sentence, making him eligible to contest elections. – “The change comes after an injunction granted by judge Carlos Augusto Pires Brandão (…), which suspends the legal effects of a resolution of the Chamber that determined the ineligibility of Cunha and the prohibition of holding federal positions. Although effective immediately, the determination is provisional and it will be up to the Court to evaluate the defense’s request. – According to PTB’s official site.
Cunha’s lawyer, Mr. Fábio Luiz Bragança Ferreira, said: “The injunction granted by TRF-1 recognizes something we have been advocating for some time: that the sanctioning action of any court, whether jurisdictional, administrative, or political, must be subject to the constitutional guarantees of due process of law and full defense. Adding to that is the proximity of elections, when the voter will have the opportunity to express himself as our democratic regime demands”.
It is not clear, however, if Cunha still has the amount of influence he had before the nullification of his mandate. And it is unknown whether he will be a viable candidate for PTB.
GENEVA/ADDIS ABABA (25 July 2022) – Members of the UN International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia are undertaking a visit to Ethiopia from 25 to 30 July 2022. This will be the Commission’s first visit to Ethiopia since it was established by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council on 17 December 2021.
The International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia is an independent body mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to, among other things, conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law and international refugee law in Ethiopia committed since 3 November 2020 by all parties to the conflict.
The Commission’s three experts – Ms. Kaari Betty Murungi – Chair (Kenya), Mr. Steven Ratner (USA), and Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka) are supported by a Secretariat based in Entebbe, Uganda.
While in Ethiopia, the Commission will interact with a wide range of interlocutors. On 30 July, the experts will issue a communiqué on their visit.
Three independent publishers were allegedly rejected for books on 2019 protests
Three independent publishers were allegedly barred from the Hong Kong book fair for printing pro-democracy books on the 2019 protests. (Photo: Unsplash)
Published: July 25, 2022 06:30 AM GMT Updated: July 25, 2022 07:25 AM GMT
The organizers of Hong Kong’s annual book fair, dubbed one of Asia’s largest literary events, has barred three independent publishers allegedly for their pro-democracy stance, media reports say.
Organized by Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the 32nd edition of the book fair runs from July 20-26 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, reported Portuguese-language newspaper, Hoje Macau.
The theme of this year’s festival is “History and City Literature” with the tagline “Reading the World: Stories of Hong Kong.”
The previous fair was held in 2019 as it was suspended for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The event usually attracts about one million visitors.
This year, the organizer has faced criticism for rejecting attendance applications of three independent publishers — Hillway Culture, Humming Publishing, and One of a Kind — without citing any specific reason.
Raymond Yeung Tsz-Chun founder of Hillway Culture alleged that they have been banned for their “political” and “sensitive books.”
“As far as the book fair is concerned, we do not censor books in advance”
“Publishers like us, who put out political and so-called ‘sensitive’ books, are starting to be censored,” the UK’s Guardian newspaper quoted Yeung as saying.
Writers and publishers also alleged that independent publishing houses that show the political realities in Hong Kong are being censored and their voices muzzled.
Novelist Gabriel Tsang, who works with publisher Spicy Fish Cultural Production Limited said that writers and publishers might have to think about different approaches to expressing opinions under current circumstances.
“Many writers have their own intentions, and they must think a lot about whether they can have work published. They may use some allegory or use many rhetoric skills, rather than directly expressing what they wanted to express originally,” Tsang said
The council, however, dismissed allegations of censure and rejection of publishers for political reasons.
“As far as the book fair is concerned, we do not censor books in advance,” said the council’s deputy executive director, Sophia Chong.
“Media reports say writers and publishers have come under higher levels of scrutiny”
She noted that the authorities can decide on whether to allow or not
“Publications can be displayed at the book fair as long as they are lawful and classified as Class I articles,” said Chong.
Hoje Macau reported that during the last book fair the publishers exhibited books related to the pro-democracy protests that have swept the city since 2019.
Following the protests that crippled the former British colony, China’s communist regime has imposed draconian national security law in June 2020 to crush all forms of dissent in the semi-autonomous city once dubbed one of the world’s freest cities.
Dozens of pro-democracy politicians, activists and supporters have been arrested and jailed under the law, while pro-democracy and independent media outlets have been shuttered. Media reports say writers and publishers have come under higher levels of scrutiny and censorship.
Hillway Culture’s Raymond Yeung, was arrested in April and charged for allegedly taking part in illegal assemblies during the 2019 unrest. One of a Kind has published books about the city’s 2019 protests and Occupy Central, a large-scale civil disobedience movement in 2014.
“Government uses a series of laws against journalists including the national security law”
The crackdown on free speech has been extended to restrict the freedom of journalists and authors across Hong Kong.
The working environment for local and foreign journalists in Hong Kong has become increasingly difficult as the government uses a series of laws against journalists including the national security law, intimidation and police violence, mass sackings, intervention, and censorship of media outlets, it reported.
This led to the closure of Apple Daily, Stand News, and other media outlets.
RTHK, the local public broadcaster, lost its former editorial independence, resorting to spreading fear and alarming self-censorship across media outlets in the city.
Observers lamented that the barring of independent publishers has effectively damaged the spirit of inclusivity at Hong Kong’s book fair that it has long upheld and was lauded for.
A decade after its outbreak, the Europe migrant crisis is still treated as a temporary disease, a vexing ailment that could be cured never to return again. The European governments are persistent in their efforts to curb the influx of migrants and prepare the grounds for the return of those already living in the European Union as refugees. These policies are usually justified by economic considerations, that are increasingly dominating the agenda as Europe anticipates the cold shadow cast by the potential loss of Russian oil and gas in winter due to the Ukrainian crisis.
The people from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Afghanistan – the list goes on – who sought refuge in Europe in the hope of escape from war and poverty in their homeland are now facing an uncertain fate. Their vulnerable position and inability to surmount challenges presented by integration into a new society put the migrants in a vicious circle and fuel xenophobic beliefs.
Perhaps the most controversial policy on the migration issue is adopted by the United Kingdom. When the Syrian crisis unfolded, the government of David Cameron was accused of hypocrisy because in the first five years of the Syrian war it approved entry for only 200 Syrian refugees. The situation changed for the better after the introduction of the so-called “refugee scheme” under which the UK pledged to accept 20.000 Syrians by 2020.
However, soon after the completion of the scheme then Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the plan to deport Syrians along with migrants from Afghanistan and Somalia to Rwanda in a deal tailored after a similar mechanism developed by Israel. The Rwandan asylum plan caused fear among the refugees and provoked public protests. Although the first flight to the African country scheduled for June 14th was cancelled at a last-minute notice, the UK authorities vowed to pursue the original plan.
Another example of inconsistent migration policy is Denmark’s decision to send Syrians back to Damascus despite Copenhagen’s stance in support of the opposition of the Damascus-based government of Bashar al-Assad. Much like the UK Rwandan initiative, it was not received well. The European Court of Human Rights assumed that such a step would set a dangerous precedent, which would result in Western states throwing out thousands of Syrian refugees.
Even Sweden which has distinguished itself as a most welcoming country with roughly 20% of its population being migrants and refugees has started to roll back on the freedom of entry. The lack of integration of migrants into the Swedish culture and society has caused an uprise in the formation of right-wing groups, resulting in the decision to make the immigration policy stricter. Since 2016 family reunification was made much more difficult and Swedish authorities no longer accept migrants with no valid IDs.
A similar situation is unwrapping in Germany, which over the last decade has received 3,3 million refugees, mostly from the Middle East. The official position of the German government is that hosting migrants is beneficial for Germany because they contribute to population growth and serve as a source of the labour force. In 2022 Berlin even made the process of becoming a resident easier for the immigrants. Why was the bill passed only now despite the need for it to have been present for many years? The obvious conclusion is that Germany hosts around 900,000 Ukrainian refugees and they are not easy to shelter. Some even suspect that to be able to support the Ukrainians Berlin might follow the example of other European countries in getting rid of other, less desirable refugees.
Sources among the Syrians living in Germany claim that various non-governmental organizations are offering Syrian refugees short-term job contracts with a promise to help them get German citizenship upon completion of the contract. The job is described simply as “maintaining security”, a vague definition not dissimilar from those included in the papers signed by Syrians hired by Turkey to fight in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. Two people who have seen the contracts confirm that the job indeed entails travelling abroad as a mercenary. The destination, although not specified in the contract, is rumoured to be Ukraine. In at least one case a Syrian was threatened with deportation before being offered to sign a contract as an alternative.
The double standards applied to the refugees from the Middle East are not sufficiently addressed in German public discourse. German politicians either avoid speaking on the issue or tacitly support taking in the Ukrainians who are seen as coming from a closer cultural and religious background.
“There are people who are like us and people unlike us. Everybody now understands that Arab or Muslim immigrants are too unlike us and that it is harder and harder to integrate them,” he said.
Alex Vargas is not a newcomer in industry. He already released two albums and has been acclaimed in all northern Europe since 2016. His latest single “Mama I’ve Been Dying” deserves some consideration.
Alex has a very distinctive and powerful voice, that carries soulful emotion to the listener. His track, whilst Vargas asserts to be in love with the 60’s and the 70’s, has also something of the 80’s. And it’s a good thing, as it makes it ringing a bell with great hit songs of this period.
Dying for what? “Mama I’ve been dying TO KNOW”, Alex sings. To know? Yes, to know what’s important in life, and to realize that “Love is a big big machine”. A kind of “ode à la vie et à l’amour » (Ode to life and love) of a kid who is not one anymore, and has to face life and start making it his own path.
The video that accompanies the release is definitely minimalist. A dune without personality, three teammates sitting or standing without moving, and Alex Vargas dancing with a self-mockery style but also a lot of funny energy. That’s all, but it works, and weirdly enough, it does not ruin the message at all. That is what life can be: we’re dancing, we’re expressing ourselves, with a feeling of freedom and not taking ourselves too seriously, even, and maybe even more, when the environment is rough. There is some extravagance and wildness to it…
Group photo after the event at the Churches of Scientology for Europe
BRUSSELS, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, July 27, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Several international delegations coming from Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, France and many other countries gathered in Brussels to attend this first conference organized by the Centre du Conseil Euro-Arabe pour le multiculturalism.
This Forum for Dialogue between Civilizations was held in the presence of intellectuals, scholars, artists, activists, and poets from Arab countries, including Kurds and Yazidis. They presented activities in their historical attire and in their beautiful culture, gaining public approval.
The event was organized in the Churches of Scientology for Europe. The forum started with an exhibition of Fine Arts and heritage of Arabic Calligraphy featuring three artists: Professor Maher Aziz from Sint-Truiden, French artist, Mrs Manal Thebian and Professor Arif Mahmoud from Verviers. They delighted the participants with their works and they made a guided tour with the explanation of the elements represented in each work.
The cultural forum opened with the speech of the president of the C.C.E.A.M., Mr Muhammad Al-Shammari who made a historical overview through the cultural contributions brought by the civilizations that followed, starting from the Mesopotamian one.
A documentary lead the attendees through the history of ancient civilizations and their richnesses and carried a message that said: “harmony and understanding for mankind no matter, the colour, religion or race. Now peace is needed more than ever and unconditional love for every living thing on this planet”.
This above mentioned quote comes from the film, produced by the researcher in Civilization, Professor Ahmed Omar, a specialist in holistic health, resident in Norway, and a member of the European-Arab Center for Multiculturalism, where the film was documented on behalf of the European Council.
Ms Myriam Zonnekeyn, a Belgian spokesperson for the Churches of Scientology for Europe, was tasked with welcoming the guests on behalf of the Church, and the conference was continued with a series of speeches by distinguished guests: a group and an elite of international civil society figures, international organisations and global media, as well as a group of global scientific expertise.
The interventions of the members of the group named “Interaction” (Interazione) from Sardinia (composed of members of many different religions), emphasized how much they work on the subject of cooperation in Sardinia. The first speaker was Nicola Oi, who stressed how, through the application of the precepts of The Way to Happiness, the non-religious moral code written by L. Ron Hubbard, as well as the dissemination and implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the “Interaction” group strives to cultivate respect, brotherhood and peace.
Dr Mohamad Doreid, who is also one of the founding members of the European-Arab Centre for Multiculturalism, deepened on the necessity to create paths of cultural mediation through the narration of the activities that it carries out with the University of Cagliari creating connections with European Universities and of various countries of the Mediterranean. Dr Doreid made it easier to understand the need for mediation through comparison with codes of the Laws from the times of the Governors and Legislators who changed the path of ancient and current history.
The speeches of Dr Maroun Karam, representative of the Maronite Central Council in Europe and of Dr Eya Essif, Secretary General of the United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation (NGO with Special Consultative Status to the UN ECOSOC), always in support of the need to create channels of peace and cooperation in multiculturalism.
The Forum concluded with thanks for the participation to each speaker and member of the European-Arab Centre for Multiculturalism with the awareness that each participant will take care further disseminate the messages given, with new relationships that have been born and through which the message will be more redundant. Participants concluded the event with the commitment to be a source of messages of peace, cooperation and willingness to unite people regardless of the country of origin, cultural origins or religion.
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The Council today adopted a decision extending for one year, until 31 July 2023, the framework for targeted restrictive measures to address the situation in Lebanon.
This framework, originally adopted on 30 July 2021, provides for the possibility of imposing targeted sanctions against persons and entities who are responsible for undermining democracy or the rule of law in Lebanon, and this through any of the following actions:
obstructing or undermining the democratic political process by persistently hampering the formation of a government or by obstructing or seriously undermining the holding of elections;
obstructing or undermining the implementation of plans approved by Lebanese authorities and supported by relevant international actors, including the EU, to improve accountability and good governance in the public sector or the implementation of critical economic reforms, including in the banking and financial sectors and including the adoption of transparent and non-discriminatory legislation on the export of capital;
serious financial misconduct, concerning public funds, insofar as the acts concerned are covered by the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, and the unauthorised export of capital. Sanctions consist of a travel ban to the EU and an asset freeze for persons, and an asset freeze for entities. In addition, EU persons and entities are forbidden from making funds available to those listed.
Background
On 7 December 2020, the Council adopted conclusions in which it noted with increasing concern that the grave financial, economic, social and political crisis that has taken root in Lebanon had continued to worsen over the previous months and that the Lebanese population was the first to suffer from the increasing difficulties in the country. It underlined the urgent need for the Lebanese authorities to implement reforms in order to rebuild the confidence of the international community and called on all Lebanese stakeholders and political forces to support the urgent formation of a credible and accountable government in Lebanon, able to implement the necessary reforms.
Since then, the Council has repeatedly expressed grave concern about the deteriorating situation in Lebanon and has repeatedly called on Lebanese political forces and stakeholders to act in the national interest.
On 30 July 2021 the Council adopted a framework for targeted restrictive measures to address the situation.
The timely holding of recent general election on 15 May 2022 has yet to translate into the formation of a fully-fledged government and the welcome signature of a Staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on April 7th 2022 remains to be converted into a disbursing agreement with the IMF.
Meanwhile, the economic, social and humanitarian situation in Lebanon continues to deteriorate and the people continue to suffer.
The Union remains ready to use all its policy instruments to contribute to a sustainable way out of the current crisis and to react to a further deterioration of democracy and the rule of law, and of the economic, social and humanitarian situation in Lebanon.
The stability and prosperity of Lebanon are of crucial importance for the whole region and for Europe. The EU stands by the people of Lebanon in this hour of need. However, it is of the utmost importance that the Lebanese leadership put aside their differences and work together to form a government and enact the measures required to steer the country towards a sustainable recovery. Visit the meeting page
Globally, the number of new infections dropped by only 3.6 per cent between 2020 and 2021, the smallest annual decline in new HIV infections since 2016, said UNAIDS.
The agency warned that progress in prevention and treatment has faltered worldwide, putting millions of lives at risk.
“In 2021, there were 1.5 million new HIV infections and 650,000 AIDS-related deaths. This translates to 4,000 new HIV infections every day,” said Mary Mahy, UNAIDS Director a.i. Data for Impact.
“That’s 4,000 people who will need to be tested, started on treatment, avoid infecting their partners, and stay on treatment for the rest of their lives. It also translates to 1,800 deaths every day due to AIDS, or one death every minute.”
Source: UNAIDS
Distribution of new HIV infections by population group.
“In Danger”, the name of the latest report by the Joint UN Programme on HIV and AIDS, coincides with the International AIDS Conference beginning this Wednesday in Montreal.
It shows how new HIV infections are now rising where they had been falling, in places such as Asia and the Pacific, the world’s most populous region. In East and Southern Africa, rapid progress from previous years significantly slowed in 2021.
Despite effective HIV treatment and tools to prevent and detect infection, the pandemic has thrived during COVID-19, in mass displacement settings, and other global crises that have put a strain on resources and reshaped development financing decisions, to the detriment of HIV programmes.
“If current trends continue, we expect that, in 2025, we’ll have 1.2 million people newly infected with HIV in that year. Again, that’s three times more than the 2025 target of 370.000,” said Ms. Mahy.
Virus-dodging tip
According to the UNAIDS report, voluntary male circumcisions that can reduce infection in men by 60 per cent, have slowed in the past two years.
The UN agency also noticed a slowing in treatment roll-out over the same period. One of the most promising preventive interventions is pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as it eliminates the risk of contracting the virus after exposure.
The number of people accessing PrEP doubled between 2020 and 2021, from about 820,000 to 1.6 million, primarily in Southern Africa, according to the report. But it is still far from the target set by UNAIDS of 10 million people receiving PrEPby 2025, with cost pushing it out of reach of many, globally.
A mother and her nine-year-old son, both HIV-positive, visit a health clinic in in Mubende, Uganda.
Unfair play
Marked inequalities within and between countries have also stalled progress in the HIV response, and the disease itself has further widened vulnerabilities.
With a new infection occurring every two minutes in 2021 among young women and teenage girls, it is a demographic that remains particularly exposed.
The gendered HIV impact, particularly in Africa, has become clearer than ever during COVID, with millions of girls out of school, spikes in teenage pregnancies and gender-based violence, disruption to key HIV treatment and prevention services.
In sub-Saharan Africa, teenage girls and young women are three times as likely to acquire HIV as boys and young men.
School’s elementary to beating HIV
Studies show that when girls go to and finish school, their risk of acquiring HIV is significantly reduced. “Millions of girls have been denied the opportunity to go to school as a result of the COVID crisis, millions of them might never return and that has a damaging impact, as does the economic distress that has been caused” by the pandemic, explained Ben Philips, Director of Communications at UNAIDS.
Racial diagnostic disparities have also exacerbated HIV risks. Declines in new HIV diagnoses have been greater among white populations than among black and indigenous people in countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia.
“Similarly, in 2021 key populations such as sex workers and their clients, gay, people who inject drugs, and transgender people, accounted for 70 per cent of new HIV infections,” said Ms. Mahy.
A nine-year-old girl, who is HIV-positive, paints at a UNICEF-supported day care centre which provides psychosocial care in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Legal reforms in slow lane
The UN agency recognizes six countries that have removed laws criminalizing same sex-sex relations.
At least nine have introduced legal avenues for changing gender markers and names, without the requirement of undergoing gender reassignment surgery.
Nevertheless, progress on removing punitive laws that increase the risk of HIV infection and death for marginalised people is still insufficient, including LGBTI people, people injecting drugs, and sex workers.
“We have seen countries altering their laws to permit harsher sentences in cases of HIV exposure,” said Liana Moro, Technical Officer Programme Monitoring and Reporting at UNAIDS.
$8 billion question
Overseas development assistance for HIV from country donors, except the US, has plummeted by 57 per cent over the last decade according to the report, while contributions from those governments for all other sectors increased by 28 per cent in the same period.
Ms. Moro said that UNAIDS needs $29.3 billion by 2025. “In 2021, there was $21.4 billion available for HIV programs in low and middle-income countries. We are $8 billion short from our 2025 target.”
Source: UNAIDS
Adults and children living HIV.
Safe bet
“It is still possible for leaders to get the response back on track to end AIDS by 2030,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima in a statement. “Ending AIDS will cost much less money than not ending AIDS. Importantly, actions needed to end AIDS will also better prepare the world to protect itself against the threats of future pandemics.”
UNAIDS estimates that 38.4 million people were living with HIV in 2021. A full 70 per cent of them were receiving treatment and 68 per cent were successfully keeping the virus at bay.
The AIDS pandemic took a life every minute in 2021…
650,000 people died, making it a leading cause of death in many countries;
2021 saw over 1.5 million new infections, marking the smallest annual decline in new HIV infections since 2016;
New infections in women and girls occurred every two minutes in 2021;
In sub-Saharan Africa, girls and young women are three times more likely to acquire HIV as adolescent boys and young men;
Development assistance to treat HIV from bilateral donors other than the United States has fallen by 57 per cent over the last decade;
Debt repayments for the world’s poorest countries have reached 171 per cent of all spending on healthcare, education and social protection combined in 2021 – choking countries’ capacity to respond to AIDS.
Gerry Armstrong, Alexander Dvorkin (FECRIS Vice-President), Thomas Gandow and Luigi Corvaglia (member of the Board) during a FECRIS conference in Salekhard, Sibéria, 29 September 2017. In the Center, Mgr Nikolai Chashin.
On June 2, 15 NGOs plus 33 scholars and well-known activists have written to the US Secretary of State, to ask him to start a procedure to have the UN ECOSOC’s consultative status of the organization FECRIS withdrawn. It’s a very rare request based on the fact that affiliate associations of the FECRIS, a French “anti-sectarian” umbrella organization, has engaged in the Russian anti-western propaganda for years, and continued to support the Kremlin in ominous ways at the beginning of the war against Ukraine. We reproduce here the content of the letter followed by the list of signatories, which includes 15 prominent Ukrainian scholars.
Dear Secretary Blinken, We write as an informal group of organizations and individuals who are religious and secular leaders, human rights advocates, practitioners, and scholars to respectfully urge you, as a member of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) at the United Nations (UN), to request the withdrawal of consultative status that is currently held by FECRIS (the European Federation of Centres for Research and Information on Sects and Cults) with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
This letter is a multi-faith initiative of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Roundtable, a multi-faith, inclusive (of all faiths and beliefs), equal citizenship forum that has proven it is possible to engage cooperatively and constructively across deep differences and increase mutual understanding, respect, trust, and reliance through joint advocacy actions.
While we hold an extremely broad diversity of theological views and political positions, we all agree on the importance of international religious freedom. It strengthens cultures and provides the foundation for stable democracies and their components, including civil society, economic growth, and social harmony. As such, it is also an effective counter-terrorism weapon as it pre-emptively undermines religious extremism. History and modern scholarship make it clear that where people are allowed to practice their faith freely, they are less likely to be alienated from the government, and more likely to be good citizens. In signing this letter, we have opted into a multi-faith coalition to urge you to strip FECRIS of its consultative status with ECOSOC.
Indeed, per ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, the consultative status of NGOs with ECOSOC shall be suspended up to three years or withdrawn in the following case:
If an organization, either directly or through its affiliates or representatives acting on its behalf, clearly abuses its status by engaging in a pattern of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations including unsubstantiated or politically motivated acts against Member States of the United Nations incompatible with those purposes and principles.
FECRIS is a French-based umbrella organization that coordinates with member associations in more than 40 EU countries, and beyond. It was created in 1994 by a French anti-cult association named UNADFI and receives all of its funding from the French government (while its member associations may receive funding from their own governments). In 2009, FECRIS was granted “ECOSOC Special Consultative Status” by the UN.
During its history, FECRIS and its members have accumulated a great number of civil and criminal convictions for their actions that defame minority religions and spread hate-speech against them.
From 2009 to 2021, Alexander Dvorkin, head of the Saint Irenaeus of Lyons Center for Religious Studies in Russia, served as Vice-President of FECRIS. Since 2021, he has continued to serve as a member of its board of directors. Dvorkin, on behalf of FECRIS, has been a key architect of the crackdown on religious minorities in Russia and beyond, as he spread his anti-religious propaganda and misinformation to other countries, including as far as China.
Moreover, Alexander Dvorkin has been a driver of the Anti-West propaganda of the Kremlin for years, and directly and publicly attacked the democratic institutions of Ukraine after the Euromaidan protests, accusing them of being members of cults (Baptists, Evangelicals, Greek Catholics, pagans and Scientologists) being used by Western secret services to harm Russia.
Further, Dvorkin and other members and correspondents of the Russian FECRIS have been involved in the constant propaganda, which prepared the ground and justified the current war in Ukraine, as a war against Western decadence and a war to protect Russian spiritual values.
During the first four weeks of the war in Ukraine, Russian FECRIS associations have been actively supporting the war and openly working with Russian law enforcement agencies to gather information on anyone who would oppose it or even just share information on the casualties in Ukraine.
At the same time, Russia has enacted a law that established a jail sentence of up to 15 years for any person “discrediting the armed forces,” which includes speaking of “war” instead of the official Russian term, “special military operation.”
Until now, no discipline has ever been taken against Dvorkin and/or Russian FECRIS associations for their actions that spread propaganda and catalyze discrimination and persecution of religious communities.
It is known and understood that FECRIS has known about the ideology and actions of its Russian members for years, and has continued to support them, nonetheless. FECRIS as an entity must be held accountable for the activities of its Russian member associations for the following reasons:
While FECRIS has been alerted about the outrageous ideology and actions of Alexander Dvorkin and Russian member associations for years, it has kept Dvorkin on its board of directors, which elected him twice as Vice President, and has supported the associations all along, having never taken any disciplinary actions against any of them.
In fact, FECRIS has been actively coordinating as an entity with Russian authorities to trigger the crackdown on religious minorities since as far back as 2009—the same year it was granted “ECOSOC Special Consultative Status” by the UN.
The mere ideology and methodology of FECRIS, as a constant, is to use authoritative governments to trigger crackdowns on religious communities it stigmatizes as sects or cults, with no regard to their human dignity, liberty of conscience, and other fundamentals human rights.
In conclusion, FECRIS should be stripped of its ECOSOC consultative status at the UN. Its aims and activities are in complete opposition to the aims and purposes of the UN. Further, Russian FECRIS associates are actively supporting the war in Ukraine.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Respectfully
ORGANIZATIONS Bitter Winter, a daily magazine on religious liberty and human rights Boat People SOS (BPSOS) Campaign to Abolish Modern-day Slavery in Asia (CAMSA) CESNUR, Center for Studies on New Religions Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB) European Interreligious Forum for Religious Freedom (EIFRF) Gerard Noodt Foundation Human Rights Without Frontiers Jubilee Campaign USA The All Faiths Network UK The Center for Studies on Freedom of Religion Belief and Conscience (LIREC) The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee (OPAC) Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies (UARR) Union of Councils for Jews in the former Soviet Union (UCSJ) INDIVIDUALS Greg Mitchell , Chair, IRF Roundtable, Chair, IRF Secretariat Prof. Alla Aristova, Ukrainian Encyclopedia Eileen Barker OBE FBA, Professor Emeritus, London School of Economics Prof. Alla Boyko , Institute of Journalism, Shevchenko University of Kyiv – Ukraine Keegan Burke, DC branch director Alliance of Religions Prof. Yurii Chornomorets, Drahomanov University – Ukraine Anuttama Dasa, Global Director of Communications, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Soraya M Deen, Founder, Muslim Women Speakers Nguyen Dinh Thang, PhD, Laureate of the 2011 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award Prof. Vitalii Dokash, Vice-President, Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies (UARR) Prof. Liudmyla Fylypovych, Vice-President Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies (UARR) George Gigicos, Co-Founder and Chairman, The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee (OPAC) Nathan Haddad, Coordinator, OIAC (Organization of Iranian American Communities) Lauren Homer, President, Law and Liberty Trust PhD Oksana Horkusha, Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Massimo Introvigne, Editor in Chief, Bitter Winter, a daily magazine on religious liberty and human rights Ruslan Khalikov, PhD, Member of the Board, Ukrainian Association of Researchers of Religion Prof. Anatolii Kolodnyi, President, Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies (UARR) PhD. Hanna Kulagina-Stadnichenko, Secretary, Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies (UARR) Larry Lerner, President of Union of Councils for Jews in the former Soviet Union (UCSJ) PhD Svitlana Loznytsia, Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Prof. Raffaella Di Marzio, Managing Director, Center for Freedom of Religion Belief and Conscience (LIREC) Hans Noot, President, Gerard Noodt Foundation Prof. Oleksandr Sagan, Vice-President, Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies (UARR) Bachittar Singh Ughrha, Founder and President, Center for defence of human rights Prof. Roman Sitarchuk, Vice-President, Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies (UARR) Rev. Dr. Scott Stearman, UN Representative, Baptist World Alliance Prof. Vita Tytarenko, Grinchenko University – Ukraine Andrew Veniopoulos, Co-Founder and Vice-Chairman, The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee (OPAC) PhD Volodymyr Volkovsky, Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Martin Weightman, Director, The All Faith Network Prof. Leonid Vyhovsky, Khmelnytsky University of Law – Ukraine Prof. Victor Yelenski, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Former member of the Ukrainian Parliament Honorary Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
