The Norwegian Helsinki Committee’s Freedom of Belief Initiative made a submission to the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers (CM) on March 2, 2021. The submission aims to contribute to the monitoring process of the execution of the Zengin Group of Cases judgments regarding the compulsory Religious Culture and Knowledge of Ethics (RCKE) courses in Turkey.
“Mechanisms to combat antisemitism in the world and in Turkey” webinar, organized by the Freedom of Belief Initiative was held on 13th January 2021.
Every year on 27 January, the date marks the liberation of the prisoners held in in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland, victims of the Holocaust are commemorated all around the world.
Freedom of Belief Initiative invites you for a discussion on “Freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression" with Assoc. Prof. of Constitutional Law Tolga Şirin and OSCE/ODIHR Advisor Đermana Šeta on Thursday 11th February 2021, at 19.00 (GMT+3). Registration is required.
Freedom of Belief Initiative invites you for a discussion on “Mechanisms to combat antisemitism in the world and in Turkey" with UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief Dr. Ahmed Shaheed and Lawyer and Avlaremoz Author Betsy Penso on Wednesday 13th January 2021, at 19.00 (GMT+3). Registration is required.
The İstanbul 4th Administrative Court has given its final judgment on an appeal by a parent, who requested her child to be exempted from compulsory religion class. The court has ruled that the class is against the principle of equality.
Turkey's Constitutional Court says university student's right of education, freedom of religion was violated with ban
While the judgment is positive, there is urgent need for putting inlace necessary legal measures.
The Court’s ruling in Lachiri is to be welcome for its main finding, namely that prohibiting a private person from wearing a religious dress in a courtroom cannot be justified by the protection of public order and violates the right to religious freedom. However, this judgment remains focused on the specificities of the case and does little to clarify to what extent and in what circumstances religious dress prohibition may be deemed compatible with the Convention in other situations.
The Strasbourg Court concluded that the Austrian court had acted within its margin of appreciation by finding that "the impugned statements as going beyond the permissible limits of an objective debate and classifying them as an abusive attack on the Prophet of Islam".
In the report, which stands out as the first UN human rights report focused on antisemitism, it is noted with serious concern that the frequency of antisemitic incidents appears to be increasing in magnitude in several countries.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has published the "2019 Hate Crime Report".
The Court found that the difference in treatment suffered by the applicant, as a beneficiary of a will drawn up in accordance with the Civil Code by a testator of Muslim faith, as compared to a beneficiary of a will drawn up in accordance with the Civil Code by a non-Muslim testator, had had no objective and reasonable justification. There had therefore been a violation of Article 14 of the Convention read in conjunction with Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fined Turkey 57,650 euros for prosecuting and convicting four Jehovah’s Witnesses who refused compulsory military service, according to a statement from the Court on June 3.
The Otto Preminger Institut v. Austria case remains an important case concerning the intersection of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief.