Human Dignity: Building Understanding

Donlu DeWitt Thayer is a Senior Fellow of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies and Co-Editor of this blog.

In December 2018 in Punta del Este, Uruguay, at the easternmost edge of the South American contintent, a conference was convened under the auspices of the European Academy of Religion, with the leadership of Slovak statesman Ján Figel’, Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief Outside the European Union, and with the support of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University Law School in the United States. The event brought together three dozen scholars, jurists, and religious and civic leaders to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by developing “an invitation to a global conversation about preserving and protecting human dignity for everyone everywhere.” Following upon discussions, preparatory events,  and draft manuscripts made during 2018, the culminating work of the Punta del Este gathering was a document with universal implications:  The Punta del Este Declaration on Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere. (more…)

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Religious Freedom and Security as Mutually Reinforcing Objectives: Reflections on the New OSCE/ODIHR Policy Guidance

A Conversation, organized by Dmytro Vovk,
Director of the Centre for the Rule of Law and Religion Studies, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and co-editor of Talk About: Law and Religion.

On September 19, 2019 the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) released its Freedom of Religion or Belief Policy Guidance. Based on the OSCE comprehensive concept of security, the policy guidance provides guiding principles and a number of recommendations to address a number of notable issues at the intersection of freedom of religion or belief and security in the OSCE region. Its primary audience is policymakers concerned with security and with religion, but religious communities, civil society organizations, and media will also find the analysis and practical guidance useful. (more…)

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Freedom of Religion or Belief and Security – Some Reflections

Jeroen Temperman is Professor of International Law and Religion at Erasmus University Rotterdam

Together, recent domestic “laws on extremism,” counter-terrorism efforts, seemingly perpetual “states of emergency,” and miscellaneous “national security” measures send an unequivocally powerful message: Rights and freedoms are all well and good, but if unchecked, such liberties may undermine another important public good—security. As a result, freedom is increasingly and categorically pitched against security; security is also pitched against freedom. Such is the securitization zeitgeist. Security demands sacrifices—sacrifices in the area of what used to be fundamental freedoms we took for granted. (more…)

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