Annual Report 2020

2020 has been a difficult year, but also one of strengthened cooperation on freedom of religion or belief in different parts of the world.

– In 2020, we took positive steps towards strengthening our global work by joining the ‘Freedom of Religion or Belief Leadership Network’ where we provide targeted support to parliamentarians. This is a unique UK-funded project that aims to build a knowledgeable and responsive network of parliamentarians and faith leaders across eight countries in Africa and South Asia, says Liv Kvanvig, Director of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB) and Head of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) Centre for Freedom of Religion or Belief.

During the year, IPPFoRB parliamentarians repeatedly raised their voice against FoRB violations worldwide. The IPPFoRB Steering Group joined international calls for overturning the death penalty faced by six Yemeni Baha’i prisoners. In a big win for the minority community, the prisoners were released a few months later.

Together with our Southeast Asian partner, we organized a campaign calling for the release of Nguyen Bac Truyen, a well-known religious prisoner of conscience. The open letter addressed to the Vietnamese Prime Minister received signatures from 65 parliamentarians across 28 countries. IPPFoRB and our regional partner, Southeast Asian Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (SEAPFoRB), continue to follow the case.

– Discrimination, intolerance, and violence faced by religious and belief groups require collective efforts, especially during unprecedented periods such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Parliamentarians’ efforts in tackling issues through legislation and changing social norms is more important than ever, adds Kvanvig. – This is reflected in our new Strategy for the next four years (2021-2024), which was published in early 2021 for the IPPFoRB network.

Our new Strategy lays out our vision, mission, and core values together with a detailed roadmap to achieving IPPFoRB’s goal of religious and belief communities and individuals enjoying inclusive and non-discriminatory environments.

The Centre also hosts the Freedom of Belief Initiative, a human rights-based project advancing FoRB for all in Turkey. Headed by Mine Yıldırım, the project continues to engage with international human rights mechanisms, particularly the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, by way of submissions and reports on FoRB issues in Turkey.

– Building on previous work on monitoring hate crimes motivated by bias towards religion or belief groups, we collaborated with diverse communities to build capacity for such reporting. The first joint documentation of hate crimes was submitted to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (the OSCE) 2020 hate crime report, remarks Yıldırım.

Pluralism and respect for FoRB in education is a priority area for the project. To this end, the NHC participated in a project on strengthening pluralism and FoRB in Turkey’s education system. As a result, we were able to draw attention to the right of the child to participation and freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.