Some limited controversy occurred in France concerning alleged religious discrimination regarding the security measures that the French government has deployed for official visits of George W. Bush, another foreign head of state controversial in France.[9]
Reports by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
In its 2000 annual report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the U.S. Department of State, it was reported that "The ensuing publicity [by the release of a parliamentary report against "sectes"] contributed to an atmosphere of intolerance and bias against minority religions. Some religious groups reported that their members suffered increased intolerance after having been identified on the list."
In its 2004 annual report by the same commission it reports that "[...] official government initiatives and activities that targets "sects" or "cults" have fueled an atmosphere of intolerance toward members of minority religions in France. [...] These initiatives [the publication of reports characterizing specific groups as dangerous and the creating of agencies to monitor and fight these groups] and are particularly troubling because they are serving as models for countries in Eastern Europe where the rule of law and other human rights are much weaker than in France".
They conclude with an assessment that since the restructuring of the main agency concerned with this issue (referring to the new MIVILUDES replacing its predecessor, MILS), have reportedly improved religious freedoms in France. Download PDF
In its February 2004 statement, the commission recommended that the U.S. government urge the government of France to ensure that any state regulations on public expression of religious belief or affiliation adhere strictly to international human rights norms and that the French government and legislature should be urged to reassess their initiatives in light of its international obligations to ensure that every person in France is guaranteed the freedom to manifest his or her religion or belief in public, or not to do so.
The Commission went on by giving advice to the French government that it should start to tackle immigration issues, which have been a topic of hot political debate for the past 25 years:
-
The Commission also stated that though increased immigration in France in recent years has created new challenges for the French government, including integration of these immigrants into French society as well as problems of public order, these challenges should be addressed directly[...]
The commission did not include France in their 2005 report.
Official position about religious signs and symbols
In 2004, France passed a law banning the use of "conspicuous" religious symbols in public schools, including the [5]
Many Muslims complained that the law infringed on their freedom of religion.[6] Similarly the Muslim Public Affairs Council called the ban "a major affront to freedom of religion", noting that many Muslims believe it is mandated by religious texts.[7]
Human Rights Watch stated that the law is "an unwarranted infringement on the right to religious practice".[8]
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, appointed by the US government, expressed concern for the law in its 2004 report. It stated that "The French government’s promotion of its understanding of the principle of secularism should not result in violations of the internationally recognized individual right to freedom of religion or belief."[9]
On 14 September 2010, an act of parliament was passed resulting in the ban on the wearing of face-covering headgear, including masks, helmets, balaclava, niqābs and other veils covering the face in public places, except under specified circumstances.[10] The ban also applies to the burqa, a full-body covering, if it covers the face.[11]
It was reported that a set of rules including a ban on religious signs or symbols at civil marriages was introduced in the 9th and 10th arrondissements of Marseille. The mayor-council of Marseille did not support the ban.[12][13]
Government activities against cults
See also About-Picard_law#Reactions
Actions of the national government
In 1982 premier minister Pierre Mauroy requested a report on sectes which was delivered by Alain Vivien in 1983. The "Rapport Vivien"[14] outlines problems of families, possible reasons for this sudden increase in such groups, sects as described by themselves and by others, the legal situation in France and abroad, and recommends some actions like education of children in the sense of laïcité, better information of the general public, mediation between families and adherents by a family court, help to French adherents abroad, attention on the rights of children. It concludes with the Voltaire quotation: "Que chacun dans sa loi cherche en paix la lumière." ("So that everyone within its law can search in peace for the light")
The National Assembly instituted the first Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France in 1995, headed by parliament members Alain Gest and Jacques Guyard, following the mass suicide of adepts of the Order of the Solar Temple.
On March 21, 2000, the Justice Court of Paris found Jacques Guyard guilty of defamation for having called Anthroposophy a secte ("cult") practicing "mental manipulation". He was fined FF 20,000 and ordered to pay FF 90,000 to the anthroposophical Federation of Steiner schools. The Court stated that "the investigation [of that parliamentary report] was not serious. It is proved that it only considered affidavits by alleged 'victims' of Anthroposophy but that neither the authors of these affidavits nor the alleged perpetrators were heard by the [parliamentary] commission". The Paris judges also decided to strip Guyard of his parliamentary immunity in connection with this case. (Le Monde March 23, 2000)
The most controversial part of the report was the appendix, where a list of purported cults compiled by the general information division of the French National Police (Renseignements généraux) was reprinted. It contained 173 groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses, the Theological Institute of Nîmes (a fundamentalist Christian Bible college), and the Church of Scientology. Although this list has no statutory or regulatory importance, it is at the background of the criticism directed at France with respect to freedom of religion.
Major concerns listed in these official reports and other discussions include:
-
the well-being of children raised in religious communities that isolate themselves from the rest of society, or, at least, ask their members to avoid social interaction with the rest of society;
-
child abuse, especially abusive corporal punishment or sexual abuse;
-
the defrauding of vulnerable members by the religious management;
-
suicides and killings in destructive cults;
-
the advocacy of medical practices that are generally considered unsafe, and the prohibition of some "mainstream" medical practices;
-
the aggressive proselytizing of minors and vulnerable persons;
-
the hidden influence peddling of certain groups in the administration and political circles.
The government of About-Picard law#Reactions). In 1999, Vivien was put under police protection following threats and the burglary of his home (L'Humanité, January 14, 1999; [10]).
Vivien resigned in June 2002 under criticism from groups targeted by the Report on Cult activities [11]. An interministerial working group was formed to determine the future parameters of the Government's monitoring of sects, called the "Interministerial Mission for Monitoring and Combatting Cultic Deviances" (MIVILUDES; official site).
Headed by Jean-Louis Langlais, senior civil servant at the Ministry of the Interior, MIVILUDES was charged with observing and analyzing movements that constitute a threat to public order or that violate French law, coordinating the appropriate response, informing the public about potential risks, and helping victims to receive aid. In its announcement of the formation of MIVILUDES, the Government acknowledged that its predecessor, MILS, had been criticized for certain actions abroad that could have been perceived as contrary to religious freedom. In an interview given in March 2003, Langlais emphasized that the issue at stake is not to fight "sects" as such but merely "deviances" these might have. However, he also admitted that it is difficult to define the concept of "deviances".
In May 2005 the former prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin issued a circular indicating that the list of cults published on the parliamentary report should no longer be used to identify cults.[15]
Litigation
In a number of cases, minority religious groups have litigated against the national or local governments, or against private organizations, which they deemed to have infringed on their rights because of religious prejudice.
-
The association of European Court of Human Rights found the French government in violation of article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The ruling marked the first time France was found in violation of article 9.[16][17]
-
In 2001 the psychiatrist Jean-Marie Abgrall and called for by French justice as an expert concerning cult affairs won a court suit deposed against him by the Rael Movement (Belgian branch). The latter movement had seen two of its members convicted for child abuse [18]
-
On December 18, 2002, the Court of Appeal of Court of Cassation, which is the highest court in the country for such matters. [12]
-
On November 6, 2002, the
-
On October 17, 2002, the administrative court of Orléans annulled a municipal decision issued by the mayor of Sorel-Moussel, which granted him the preemptive right to purchase a plot of land that the local Jehovah’s Witness community had intended to buy and use for the construction of a house of worship. The court considered that the mayor had abused his right of preemption, since he exerted it without having an urbanization project prior to preemption. [14]
-
On June 13, 2002, the administrative court of Poitiers annulled a municipal decision issued by the mayor of La Rochelle, which refused the use of a municipal room to the Jehovah's Witnesses on grounds that the Witnesses were listed in the 1995 parliamentary report; the court ruled that, while a mayor may refuse the use of a room for a motive of public order, the motive that he used in this case was not a motive of public order. [15]
-
On March 21, 2000, the Justice Court of Paris found Jacques Guyard, one of the main author of the controversial parliamentary report against sects guilty of defamation for having called Anthroposophy a cult practicing "mental manipulation". He was fined, and his parliamentary immunity removed in connection with this case. (Le Monde March 23, 2000)
See also
References
-
^ Tincq, Henri (10 January 2007). "Les Français sont de moins en moins catholiques".
-
^ (Romanian) Franţa nu mai e o ţară catolică (France is no longer a Catholic country), Cotidianul, 2007-01-11; "France 'no longer a Catholic country'", Daily Telegraph, 10 January 2007
-
^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2007". Retrieved 2011-02-08.
-
^ "Commission d’enquête sur les sectes".
-
^ "France". See drop-down essay on "Religious Freedom in France"
-
^ "Obama tackles the French on the hijab".
-
^ "The MWL and MPAC Strongly Oppose French Ban on Religious Expression". 2003-12-18.
-
^ Kenneth Roth Executive Director (2004-02-26). "Human Rights Watch". Hrw.org. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
-
^ 2004 report, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
-
^ Allen, Peter (14 September 2010). "France's Senate backs National Assembly and bans women from wearing the burka in public". Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers Ltd). Retrieved 14 September 2010.
-
^ Erlanger, Steven (13 July 2010). "Parliament Moves France Closer to a Ban on Facial Veils". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
-
^ "Une mairie de Marseille interdit le port de signe religieux lors des mariages".
-
^ Tanguy, Delphine (7 March 2012). "Marseille : les signes religieux interdits lors des mariages à la mairie ?".
-
^ Vivien, Alain. "Les sectes en France expression de la liberté morale ou facteurs de manipulations ?". Rapport au Premier ministre 1983. Prevensectes.com. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
-
^ Circulaire du 27 mai 2005 relative à la lutte contre les dérives sectaires
-
^ http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=887473&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649
-
^ http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/59824908?access_key=key-2i5yslptrjpqjno3ss8l
-
^ Procès Raël contre Jean-Marie Abgrall, Prevensectes (French)
External links
Official French government sites and documents
-
MIVILUDES
-
Legifrance – texts of laws and executive decisions
-
Vivien Report 1983 (French)
-
Gent-Guyard Report 1995 (French) unofficial translation
-
Guyard Report 1999, Cults and money (French)
-
The 2003 report of the French Mission on Cultic Deviances MIVILUDES (French) unofficial translation
Council of Europe
-
Council of Europe: Resolution 1309 (2002) Freedom of religion and religious minorities in France]
-
Doc. 9612 Freedom of religion and religious minorities in France
-
Council of Europe: Recommendation 1412 (1999) Illegal activities of sects
Private groups
-
France and Religious Intolerance Index of documents at the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
-
Discussion of MIVILUDES (bulletin of the French Protestant Federation)
-
Report On Discrimination Against Spiritual And Therapeutical Minorities In France, by the Coordination des Associations & Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience
-
Church Of Scientology Humans Rights office in France
-
Administrative Barriers Obstruct Evangelical Growth in France Christian Today, Feb 9, 2005
-
"Under Suspicion: Faith in France" by George Thomas "CBN News," July 25, 2003 (contains criticism of nonexistent sections of the law)
-
The "Viviengate" – a criticism of Alain Vivien's action (in French)
-
(Monde diplomatique, June 2001)Secular society at stake. Europe resists American cultsBruno Fouchereau:
-
Marci Hamilton: Why the U.S.'s International Religious Freedom Commission Is Harming Its Status In the World Community
-
French Views of Religious Freedom
-
Stephen A. Kent: The French and German versus American Debate Over New Religions, Scientology, and Human Rights
-
Robert Jacques: Religious liberty and French secularism
-
Introvigne, Massimo & Richardson, James T., Western Europe, Postmodernity, and the Shadow of the French Revolution: A Response to Soper and Robbins, Symposium on Government Policy Toward Unconventional Religions in Europe, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 40 I.2 p. 181, June 2001
-
Introvigne, Massimo. & Richardson, James T., "Brainwashing" Theories in European Parliamentary and Administrative Reports on "Cults" and "Sects, Symposium on Government Policy Toward Unconventional Religions in Europe, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 40 I.2 p. 43, June 2001
-
Palmer, Susan J. The secte Response to Religious Discrimination: Subversives, Martyrs, or Freedom Fighters in the French Sect Wars?, article published in the book edited by Phillip Charles Lucas & Thomas Robbins New Religious Movements in the 21st Century published by Routledge (2004) ISBN 0-415-96577-2
-
Wybraniec, John & Finke Roger, Religious Regulation and the Courts: The Judiciary's Changing Role in Protecting Minority Religions from Majoritarian Rule, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol.40 I.3 p. 427, September 2001
-
Open letter to president Chirac by Scientology
-
Public reply by the French government to the open letter