Religious leaders should promote recognition for all religious and belief communities, participants at OSCE meeting say

Religious leaders can do more to promote the right of all religious and belief communities to full, equal and non-discriminatory access to legal personality, said participants at a joint meeting of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the European Council of Religious Leaders - Religions for Peace (ECRL) in Warsaw on 22 November 2012.

Participants agreed that recognition of freedom of religion and belief should be secured as a matter of human dignity, and should not require mandatory registration. They said religious leaders should urge governments to respect and promote the freedom of religion or belief without prejudice and discrimination. 

“We call on all religious leaders to transcend the boundaries of their own faith to point to the importance of freedom of religion and belief,” said Thomas Wipf, of the ECRL Executive Committee. “They should speak out on behalf of and defend the needs and rights of religious communities other than their own.”

“We believe that co-operation between religious communities, as well as other civil society actors, is vital in ensuring that OSCE commitments on freedom of religion or belief are fully implemented,” said Floriane Hohenberg, the Head of ODIHR’s Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department.

During the meeting, representatives from ODIHR and the Executive Committee of the ECRL noted common concerns in the area of freedom of religion and belief, and highlighted strategies for combating discrimination and hate crimes.

ODIHR is currently preparing the publication Guidelines on Recognition of Religious or Belief Communities in conjunction with its Advisory Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.