EXAMINING INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN EU HUMAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001416 SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR EUR/ERA, EUR/PGI, and DRL/IRF E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIRF PGOV PHUM EUN SUBJECT: EXAMINING INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN EU HUMAN RIGHTS DIALOGUES BRUSSELS 00001416 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: A delegation from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF),an independent US government commission established by Congress to monitor religious freedom worldwide and make policy recommendations to the executive and legislative branches, met with EU experts and NGOs on October 13 and 14 to discuss the promotion of freedom of religion or belief (FORB). Without EU guidelines on FORB, the topic receives what many in the NGO community perceive as less attention than they would like because it is folded into the EU's broader human rights dialogues. The European Parliament, therefore, serves as an important platform to pressure the European Commission and Council to include FORB in these consultations. Several Members of Parliament appear open to broader cooperation with the USG in this regard. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Freedom of religion or belief (FORB),according to many of our human rights interlocutors, is less of a priority for the EU than other human rights issues. In her meeting with the Commission group, Member of European Parliament's Sub-Committee on Human Rights, Ana Gomes, explained the reasoning for this. "Culturally in Europe," she said, "religion is not public or a priority, which is reflected in how EU institutions address it with their third country dialogues." EU Liaison Office Sofia Lemmetyinen from Christian Solidarity Worldwide echoed this sentiment. She said that the lack of attention was due to "how much church and state is separated in the member states." ¶3. (SBU) Riina Kionka, Personal Representative of the SG/HR Solana for Human Rights, said that although there are no formal mechanisms for discussion, FORB is discussed "early and often" as part of the EU's wider dialogues with third countries. She said that she is personally often responsible for FORB points during these meetings. She illustrated how this worked during the October 13 EU-Kyrgyzstan human rights dialogue. Kionka said that she pushed the Kyrgyz delegation to explain how a recent restrictive law on religion was adopted and how it would be applied. The EU's press release following the consultations also reflected the importance of this point in the discussion, stating, "As a follow-up to last year's Human Rights Dialogue, the Kyrgyz delegation informed about developments on... freedom of thought and religion." ¶4. (SBU) Kionka conceded that since the EU does not have FORB guidelines the subject is not automatically included in the EU's forty-odd human rights consultations. Guidelines are implemented at the request of member states and, she said, "No member state has pushed for guidelines because no one sees a reason to. Guidelines are a method of promoting a policy, and are maybe not necessary." Several NGOs working on religious freedom issues, however, disagreed with Kionka, and recommended that the US press the EU to include FORB more in their dialogues. Willy Fautre, Director, Human Rights Without Frontiers, said that although NGOs are invited to brief the Council Secretariat prior to the human rights dialogues, FORB is often shunted aside for other issues. Meanwhile, states such as Russia, he explained, are hiding religious oppression in strict anti-extremism and counter-terrorism laws. Without an automatic mechanism, such as a guideline, he argued, these issues are not properly being discussed in the EU's human rights consultations. ¶5. (SBU) Of the three EU institutions, the European Parliament appears particularly interested in promoting FORB issues in the EU's human rights policy. According to Rolf Timans, Head of Human Rights and Democratization Unit at the European Commission, the European Parliament is "particularly keen on FORB" and his unit often answers inquiries from Members of Parliament (MEPs). Sofia Lemmetyinen from Christian Solidarity Worldwide told us that by raising these questions, MEPs are able to focus the European Commission and Council on FORB. For this reason, members of the European Platform on Religious Discrimination and Intolerance, a loose coalition of NGOs established to cooperate in promoting concern within European Union institutions for religious freedom violations, are working to establish a working group within the European Parliament to discuss FORB. ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: The European Parliament may become a more important player in the FORB sphere as the parliament gains greater standing under Lisbon. Many of the EU officials we spoke with expressed uncertainty over if and/or how the EU's human rights policies will be affected when its foreign policy is restructured under the Lisbon Treaty's new High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security, making more relevant the need for EU-wide guidelines. Kionka frankly admitted that she was unsure if her position would still exist. This is a bit unsettling, because without guidelines in place it takes an expert, such as Kionka, for the EU to actively engage third countries on FORB issues. Several MEPs, however, have expressed their desire for greater US cooperation. Following her meeting with the US Commission, MEP and Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, Laima Andrikiene, BRUSSELS 00001416 002.2 OF 002 told us that she would call for a hearing on FORB and welcomed USCIRF's participation. The following day she addressed questions, which went unanswered, about the promotion of FORB to the European Commission during the Subcommittee's meeting. END COMMENT. MURRAY