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The right to freedom of association for religious foundations and organizations. Turkey ratified the European Convention on Human Rights in 1954. Nonetheless, it has shown a poor record in meeting its obligations: it is denying certain religious groups the freedom to worship together in their own building. Christian groups, in particular, have struggled to gain the necessary legal status to...
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The right of parents to freely educate their children at home The right to live out one’s faith in all aspects of life Early on the morning of 29 August 2013 a group of 33 police officers and 7 youth welfare officers stormed the home of the Wunderlich family near Darmstadt, Germany. The police squad threatened to use a...
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ADF International filed a submission with the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) while it was preparing guidance on Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, arguing that the right to life should be applied to the unborn and that no “right to abortion” exists in international human rights law. On 30 October 2018, the UN Human...
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Promoting the right to life from conception to natural death Protecting the weak and vulnerable in society Nothing could have prepared Tom Mortier for the devastating news he was to receive one day in April 2012. The local hospital called him, asking him to retrieve his mother’s body from the morgue. They informed him that she had been killed by...
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Promotion of the Natural Family and Marriage In 2010, Romanian citizen Adrian Coman and his partner, US citizen Robert Claibourn Hamilton, obtained a marriage certificate in Belgium. When Romania, in line with its national law, refused to consider them a married couple in Romania, they sued the government. The couple argued that their right to freedom of movement within the EU...
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Promotion of free speech and marketplace of ideas On 31 May 2016, the European Commission, in conjunction with Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube, unveiled the Code of Conduct on illegal ‘hate speech’ online. The tech companies committed to combating illegal ‘hate speech’ online, but there is uncertainty regarding what ‘hate speech’ is. Further, there are no guarantees or effective remedies for...
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The freedom of churches to regulate their own affairs without state interference The principle of church autonomy has been a cornerstone of Western democracies since the Magna Carta first laid down the principle over 800 years ago. The freedom of churches to conduct their own affairs without interference from the government or other state bodies is at the centre of...
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Freedom of conscience Ellinor Grimmark is a Christian midwife with a life-long passion to bring life into the world. However, she has been refused employment by a number of medical clinics in Sweden because she refuses to participate in abortions. Ellinor applied for a position as a midwife at Höglandssjukhuset women’s clinic in 2013. After initially offering her the job, the...
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The UN’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) system is used to assess the human rights situations in all 193 Member States by other Member States. It gives Member States the opportunity to state what they are doing to improve human rights in their countries. Reports on Member States under review are also accepted from NGOs, and ADF International submits reports...
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