Discriminatory law to be reviewed and debated by the Senate
IRPP (05.07.2011) – Proposed legislation in Belgium which violates fundamental religious rights has been “evoked” by the Belgian Senate. The discriminatory draft law will now be reviewed and debated in the Senate once it is assigned to a Senate Committee.
This dangerous draft law contains provisions designed to discriminate against targeted religions derogatorily designated as “sectarian movements”. In essence, the draft bill attempts to dissuade people from making particular religious choices and to penalize religious organizations that manifest their religion through proselytism and religious practices based on the State’s view on the propriety of those choices.
“The ‘evoking’ of the draft law in the Belgian Senate is an important step forward in the ultimate effort to prevent the enactment of the proposed legislation,” commented THE INSTITUTE’s Founder and Chairman, Joseph K. Grieboski. “In the coming days, we hope that a number of Senators will request a referral of the draft to the Council of State seeking an opinion on whether the draft law would violate the Belgian Constitution or European Human Rights Convention. The previous two draft laws regarding ‘mental manipulation’ and/or ‘abuse of weakness’ were found by the Council to violate the Constitution and the Convention, and therefore were never enacted.”
See an analysis of the draft law at
http://religionandpolicy.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6920&Itemid=249
