Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 11717 | 25 September 2008
Blasphemy, religious insults and hate speech against persons on grounds of their religion
Appendix 1 – Comments of the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) on Parliamentary Assembly Recommendations 1804 (2007) and 1805 (2007)
(open)Appendix 2 – Comments of the Steering Committee for Culture (CDCULT) on Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1804 (2007)
(open)The CDCULT:
- endorses the Parliamentary Assembly’s acknowledgement of religion as an important feature of European society and especially, civil society;
- congratulates the Parliamentary Assembly on reaffirming in Recommendation 1804 (2007) the generally accepted principle and European shared value of separation of church and state and on reiterating its previous view that “each individual’s religion or option of having no religion is a strictly personal matter”;
- acknowledges, as the Assembly does, the religious aspect to many of the problems contemporary society is faced with as well as the sometimes highly beneficial social role played by religions, while agreeing with the Assembly on the fact that interreligious and interdenominational dialogue is not a matter for states or for the Council of Europe and that governance and religion should not mix;
- underlines the CDCULT’s previously made contributions and its future readiness to help the Council of Europe devise a comprehensive strategy on intercultural and interreligious dialogue and welcomes the prospect of annual exchanges on the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue as proposed by the Committee of Ministers and which began on an experimental basis in 2008;
- underlines the importance of collecting empirical evidence in the form of case studies and good practices to allow for knowledge transfer and informed policy making on issues of intercultural and interreligious dialogue, as well as the importance of the role of civil society actors in this work, and of co‑operation with them;
- underlines the key role of culture and cultural heritage as an essential space for cultivating intercultural dialogue by promoting tolerance and understanding of the “other” and informs the Parliamentary Assembly that several activities are being carried out by the Directorate of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage on specific aspects related to the protection of the religious heritage of member states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kosovo ).
Comments of the Steering Committee for Culture (CDCULT) on Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1805 (2007)
The CDCULT:
- congratulates the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for reaffirming its commitment to the freedom of expression and the freedom of thought, conscience and religion, fundamental cornerstones of democracy;
- underlines, when facing cultural and religious diversity in Europe, the key role of ongoing structured and ad hoc societal dialogue based on respect and understanding;
- acknowledges the challenges implied in steady and best possible reconciliation between the freedom of expression and freedom of thought in multicultural societies and the challenges implied in striking a fair balance between the interests of individuals as members of a religious community in ensuring respect for their right to manifest their religion or their right to education, and the general public interest or the rights and interests of others;
- underlines the pertinence of existing Council of Europe and international instruments in support of such reconciliation and compromise;
- welcomes various recent international initiatives in support of contacts between Muslim and so‑called Western societies and endorses the Assembly’s proposal to extend these also to other religious and non-religious groups;
- underlines the unique potential for contact offered by cultural co-operation mechanisms and initiatives and would like to see overall acknowledgment of the potential of cultural spaces as spaces for dialogue;
- commits to making the most of intergovernmental cultural co-operation for open and respectful dialogue and as a means of addressing the challenges of diversity, whilst at the same time underlining the political importance of perceiving and communicating diversity as a resource rather than a threat.
Appendix 3 – Comments of the Bureau of the Steering Committee for Education (CDED) on Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1804 (2007)
(open)The Bureau of Steering Committee for Education (CDED):
Welcomes this new recommendation of the Parliamentary Assembly, which shows the importance of dialogue between religions and the state in a secular framework;
Reaffirms the importance of measures designed to promote better understanding between cultural and/or religious communities through school education, on the basis of the shared principles of ethics and democratic citizenship;
Also believes that schools play a major role in establishing a tolerant dialogue;
Informs the Committee of Ministers that the problems addressed in the recommendation were also dealt with in its project “The New Challenge of Intercultural Education: Religious Diversity and Dialogue in Europe” (2002-2006), which provided the opportunity, inter alia, to:
- make substantial progress in framing the concept, content and relevant learning methods of the religious dimension of intercultural education;
- highlight the fact that taking account of the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue is of fundamental importance in fostering mutual understanding, tolerance and a culture of “living together”;
- propose new teaching methods and learning strategies that take account of religious diversity in intercultural dialogue;
- present, in a book entitled “Religious diversity and intercultural education: a reference book for schools”, a set of concepts and teaching approaches to make teachers aware of the religious dimension of intercultural education;
Underlines the importance to promote initial and further training of teachers mentioned in paragraph 24.1 and points out that the dissemination of the results of the project to member states with a view to promoting the use of the reference book by teachers and teacher trainers has already started with the organisation of regional debates on this theme, the first of which took place in Athens from 8 to 9 October 2007. The handbook has also been the basic reference text in two teacher training events co-organised with the Anna Lindh Foundation and has led to the elaboration of teaching material for religious diversity for use in countries on both sides of the Mediterranean. The handbook will be used in further training activities in the framework of the Council of Europe Pestalozzi programme for the training of education professionals;
Points out that a draft recommendation on “the religious dimension of intercultural education: principles, objectives and teaching approaches” which aims to raise awareness among those responsible for education policy in the member states has been approved by the Steering Committee for Education and submitted to the Committee of Ministers for adoption.
Appendix 4 – Comments of the Bureau of the Steering Committee for Higher Education and Research (CDESR) on Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1804 (2007)
(open)The CDESR Bureau takes note of the Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1804 (2007) concerning “State, religion, secularity and human rights”. The Bureau is of the opinion that the recommendation takes a disappointingly one-dimensional view of religion in not recognising that while many Europeans take a primarily sociological and historical view of religion, for many others religion represents an important reality of life that deeply influences their value system. A proper understanding of the role of religion in European societies must take account of both views and the complexity they represent. The Bureau also finds other points of the recommendation disappointing, and much of the wording lends itself to different interpretations.
While the CDESR Bureau thus wishes to put on records its reservations about the recommendation, it will, however, confine its comments to aspects of the recommendation that are directly relevant to higher education.
The CDESR fully acknowledges the role of education in overcoming ignorance, stereotypes and misunderstanding of religion and their leaders and is working towards more prominent role of higher education in this respect.
In order to develop a more prominent role of higher education in intercultural dialogue and democratic culture, the CDESR is involved in the following important activities:
- the CDESR has launched a project targeted towards promoting intercultural dialogue in higher education, recognising the primary role of universities as platforms for mobility of international students, on the one hand, and underlining their responsibility for developing intercultural competencies on the other hand. Intercultural competencies should include tolerance, respect for different cultures and religious beliefs. One of the expected results of this project will be a compendium of good practices of intercultural dialogue published and disseminated to all Council of Europe member states;
- the CDESR works towards introducing the fundamental values of the Council of Europe, in particular, democratic culture, into higher education policies. While the issue of democratic culture is different from intercultural dialogue, there is a clear link between the two: the conditions of a democratic society actively contribute to promoting intercultural dialogue, tolerance and respect for diversity, including religious diversity.
The CDESR is in favour of developing syllabuses, teaching methods and educational material for the study of the religious heritage of the Council of Europe member states, as stated in paragraph 23.7 of the recommendation. In addition to the involvement of religious leaders, this work should also draw on academic expertise. Much work is being done in this area in member states, and the CDESR Bureau is not of the opinion that a new institute is necessarily needed to strengthen these activities.
The CDESR wishes to underline that in line with the principle of university autonomy the responsibility for curricula development lies with higher education institutions. The academic mission can best be performed “when universities are morally and intellectually independent of all political or religious authority and economic power” (paragraph 7 of Recommendation 1762 (2006)).
This principle has a bearing on paragraph 24.1 of the recommendation, which in fact covers two different proposals without distinguishing clearly between them. The first proposal – that balanced teaching of religions and their present and past roles as a part of teacher training – meets with the approval of the CDESR, as does the proposal that human rights teaching be offered to religious leaders. However, the CDESR Bureau wishes to underline that, in keeping with the principles of university autonomy defended so well by the Parliamentary Assembly in Recommendation 1762 (2006), public authorities may promote such offers but cannot require that they be included in higher education curricula. While it fully identifies with the importance of human rights training, the CDESR Bureau also wishes to point out that the proposal that human rights training be required – rather than promoted or encouraged – for all religious leaders is problematic from a point of view of principles as well as from a practical point of view, since the appointment of religious leaders is entirely within the competence of religious communities and since their education ranges – depending on the religious community or denomination concerned – from academic training in institutions enjoying institutional autonomy in line with Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1762 (2006) to training that is entirely non-formal.
Appendix 5 – Comments of the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) on Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1805 (2007)
(open)Appendix 6 – Comments of the Steering Committee on the Media and New Communication Services (CDMC) on Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1805 (2007)
(open)The Steering Committee on the Media and New Communication Services (CDMC) shares the view that, in multicultural societies, it is often necessary to reconcile freedom of expression and freedom of thought, conscience and religion as indicated in Recommendation 1805 (2007) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on “Blasphemy, religious insults and hate speech against persons on the ground of their religion”.
The CDMC also agrees that in some instances, it may be necessary to place restrictions on these freedoms but that, under the European Convention of Human Rights, any such restrictions must be prescribed by law, necessary in a democratic society and proportionate to the legitimate aims pursued. In this context, states enjoy a margin of appreciation given that national authorities may need to adopt different solutions taking account of the specific features of each society; this margin is subject to the supervision of the European Court of Human Rights.
The CDMC welcomes the work of different Council of Europe bodies on intercultural dialogue and human rights in a multicultural society, dealing inter alia with questions of blasphemy, religious insults and hate speech against persons on the ground of their religion. The CDMC is following this work with great interest and looks forward to the adoption of the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue, which will, no doubt, make a significant contribution to discussions on the subject.
The CDMC would nonetheless recall that, according to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, subject to paragraph 2 of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to freedom of expression consecrated therein is applicable not only to information or ideas that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb.
As regards the question of hate speech, the CDMC considers that Recommendation No. R (97) 20 of the Committee of Ministers on “hate speech” sufficiently covers questions regarding hate speech disseminated through the media, and does not see a need to rewrite it at this stage. It does acknowledge, however, the desirability of enhancing the visibility and impact of the standards set out therein.