The 2023 issue of the annual magazine "Conscience and Liberty" has been published. Its theme: "Religion and Freedom of Expression". It is published by the International Association for the Defence and Promotion of Religious Freedom (AIDLR). The magazine is published in English, French and German.
An AIDLR conference on religion and freedom of expression took place in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, from 7 to 8 February 2023. The 302-page new edition of the journal "Conscience and Liberty" documents the presentations given in Lisbon. Nazila Ghanea, UN Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief, gave a speech based on the topic, entitled: "Freedom of Religion or Belief and Freedom of Expression from the Perspective of the United Nations". Other topics included "Freedom of religious expression and human dignity", "Religion, freedom of expression and organisations" and "Religion and freedom of expression in today's society".
Three case reports follow. Susana Sousa Machado, professor of labour law, dealt with "Reflections on religious freedom in the workplace". Dr Harri Kuhalampi, from Finland, posed the question, "Are fundamental human rights in danger in Finland?" His case report centred on Päivi Räsänen, a member of the Finnish parliament, who was on trial for expressing her Christian beliefs. Lawyer Harald Mueller spoke about "The freedom of religious speech in Germany. Where are its limits?"
The journal volume concludes with interviews on the topic, including with Adama Dieng, former Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, and Ibrahim Salama, Head of the Human Rights Treaties Division in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The "Documents" section deals with reports and resolutions from the UN Human Rights Council and European institutions from 2022.
“With a focus on discussing and reflecting on the themes connecting religious freedom and freedom of expression, AIDLR organized this year’s international conference, ‘Religion and Freedom of Expression’, the interventions and results of which were published in the special edition of the magazine "Conscience and Liberty 2023", launched in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights”, declared Paulo Macedo, Secretary-General of AIDLR.
International Association for the Defence and Promotion of Religious Freedom (AIDLR)
AIDLR was founded in 1946 by the physician Dr. Jean Nussbaum, in Paris, and is now based in Bern. As the president of the AIDLR, Mário Brito (Bern), reports in the lead article of the new issue of the journal "Conscience and Liberty", the young Doctor Nussbaum went to Serbia as a volunteer in 1914, shortly after the start of the First World War, to help fight a rapidly spreading typhus epidemic. During his stay in this country, he observed that people who belonged to minority groups or professed different religious beliefs and practices were thrown into prison and harassed in various ways. The fact that they held different views was perceived as a threat and not as an enrichment. When the Second World War came to an end and the terrible reports of massive human rights violations came to light in all their detail, Dr Nussbaum decided to found AIDLR with like-minded people.
AIDLR is recognised with consultative status by the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and UNESCO. Presidents of the Honorary Committee have included Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, and Mary Robinson, former High Commissioner for Human Rights. Adama Dieng, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, is the current president of the Committee of Honour.
The aim of the Association is to promote and uphold the principles of religious freedom, the scientific study of the fundamental rights of freedom of faith and conscience, and the promotion of universal tolerance by safeguarding the rights of individuals to express their beliefs and convictions in public or private.
To learn more about AIDLR, please go here.
The original version of the article can be read here.
