Recommendations for the OSCE Warsaw Conference

On October 1, 2012, an employee of the Information and Analytical Center "SOVA" took part in the working session of the annual conference of the OSCE in Warsaw - "Freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief". We publish recommendations of the SOVA center presented at the conference along with a speech our representative.

We recommend:

OSCE:

1. Summarize the practice of law enforcement affecting correlation between freedom of expression and freedom of conscience, in the OSCE countries and analyze it in the light of OSCE commitments.

OSCE participating countries:

1. Establish the principle of exclusion in legislation religious discussions as such from the scope of legislation to initiate hate. As the Supreme Court of Russia rightly noted, criticism of religious opinions, religious organizations and religious practices should not be treated as a crime.

2. Do not use such an instrument of tolerance protection, including including religious ones, as well as lists of prohibited literature. This tool has already demonstrated its complete inefficiency, but it generates many human rights violations.

3. Apply more transparent decision-making procedures, concerning religious organizations. Precede these decisions with a public discussion in cases where a serious conflict can be expected around one or another question.

Sources

• Inc. inf.