{"id":11977,"date":"2015-06-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-21T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/"},"modified":"2015-06-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-06-21T22:00:00","slug":"european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"European Parliament Conference: \u201cFreedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"intro\">\n\n<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/poster-unpo-website.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6226\" src=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/poster-unpo-website.jpg\" alt=\"poster unpo-website\" width=\"265\" height=\"353\"><\/a><\/strong>\n\n<strong>The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), in cooperation with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Minority Rights Group, will be convening an international conference entitled \u2018Freedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u2019, hosted by Csaba S\u00f3gor MEP (EPP),&nbsp;Gy\u00f6rgy H\u00f6lv\u00e9nyi MEP (EPP)&nbsp;and Ilhan Kyuchyuk MEP (ALDE)&nbsp;at the European Parliament on 30 June 2015 from 15:30 to 17:30.&nbsp;<\/strong>\n\n<\/div>\nBringing together victims, activists, academic experts and engaged politicians, the high-level conference will offer a platform to discuss the significance of freedom of religion as a human right and the wide-ranging consequences of systematic denial of this freedom by authoritarian or repressive regimes, as well as concrete case studies giving first-hand accounts of religious persecution from the perspective of the religious minority groups around the world.\n\nThe conference aims to address the issues that arise when people\u2019s freedom to practice their religion comes into contention with social and geopolitical forces, and the question of how to promote better relations between religious communities and cultures.\n\nThe EU, as a peace promoting community encompassing democratic ideals of freedom and equality, serves as the epicentre for the promotion of freedom of religion, and will therefore provide a symbolic background to the discussions. The freedom of religion and belief is one of the oldest and most deeply rooted human rights in Europe. The freedoms of thought, conscience, religion or belief have emerged as core European values over the past three centuries with the development of national and regional legislative safeguards for the respect of diversity.\n\nHowever, around the world, repressive Governments oftentimes fail to protect vulnerable minority communities and thus, many religious groups are disproportionately affected. When Governments choose not to combat discrimination on the basis of religion, it breeds an environment of tension and intolerance. Violations of freedom of religion or belief may exacerbate intolerance and often constitute early indicators of potential violence and conflicts.\n\nOver the past few years, the world has witnessed a growing number of religiously motivated conflicts and displacement of persons. Across Africa the Middle East and Asia, millions of people have been forced from their homes due to direct religious persecution or the inability to practice their religion freely. Members of vulnerable religious minority groups fall victim to repressive and discriminatory policies, such as criminalization of religious activities and expression, allowing for broader human rights abuses.\n\nThe first panel of this conference will address the freedom of religion as a human right and the consequences of its systematic denial. The panellists will discuss how to challenge the discrimination against religious minorities and the widespread impunity with regards to human rights violations. The debate will focus on concrete strategies about how to empower communities in their struggle to realize their human rights on the local, national and regional levels. The second panel will then focus on a number of case studies, including insights from Tibet, a testimony from a Christian Degar-Montagnard refugee, and an account of the recent havoc and bloodshed unravelling in Iraq against religious minorities, such as the Yezidis.\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Conference Programme<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Opening Remarks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Csaba S\u00f3gor MEP (EPP Group)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Gy\u00f6rgy H\u00f6lv\u00e9nyi MEP (EPP Group), Co-Chair of the EPP WG on Intercultural and Religious Dialogue<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Ilhan Kyuchyuk MEP (ALDE Group)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Marino Busdachin, UNPO General Secretary<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Panel I: Religious Freedom: A Human Right for All?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Discrimination and Persecution of Religious Minorities: Who, Where, Why, How? &#8211;&nbsp;<em>Mr Mark Lattimer, Minority Rights Group International<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">International Advocacy on Religious Freedom \u2013 Challenges and Opportunities &#8211;&nbsp;<em>Dr Susan Kerr, Christian Solidarity Worldwide<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">EU Strategies to Promote Freedom of Religion and Belief Worldwide &#8211;&nbsp;<em>Mr Jean-Bernard Bolvin, EEAS Desk Officer on Freedom of Religion<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Panel II: The Perspectives of Religious Minority Groups<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The Case of Yezidis in Iraq: \u201cConvert to Islam or Die \u2013 ISIS Persecution of the Yezidis\u201d &#8211;&nbsp;<em>Mr Ameen Farhan, Yezidi MP<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The Case of Tibet: Clampdown on Buddhism in China &#8211;&nbsp;<em>Mr Vincent Metten, International Campaign for Tibet<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The Case of the Degar-Montagnards in Cambodia and Vietnam: A Testimony &#8211;&nbsp;<em>Mr<\/em>&nbsp;<em>Vu Quoc Dung, Executive Director of VETO! Human Rights Defenders&#8217; Network &amp; Ms Penelope Faukner, Que Me: Action for Democracy in Vietnam<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Q &amp; A<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Closing remarks<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The International Campaign for Tibet will speak about the repression on Tibetan Buddhism at a conference entitled \u2018Freedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u2019, organised by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) and hosted by MEPs Csaba S\u00f3gor (EPP), Gy\u00f6rgy H\u00f6lv\u00e9nyi (EPP) and Ilhan Kyuchyuk (ALDE) at the European Parliament on 30 June 2015 from 15:30 to 17:30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[694,664],"news_tag":[665],"class_list":["post-11977","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","hentry","categorie-events","categorie-newstibet-europe-news","news_tag-europe-and-tibet"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>European Parliament Conference: \u201cFreedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u201d - Campaign for Tibet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"European Parliament Conference: \u201cFreedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u201d - Campaign for Tibet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The International Campaign for Tibet will speak about the repression on Tibetan Buddhism at a conference entitled \u2018Freedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u2019, organised by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) and hosted by MEPs Csaba S\u00f3gor (EPP), Gy\u00f6rgy H\u00f6lv\u00e9nyi (EPP) and Ilhan Kyuchyuk (ALDE) at the European Parliament on 30 June 2015 from 15:30 to 17:30.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Campaign for Tibet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/internationalcampaignfortibetnederland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Wenskaarten-Mandala-3x.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"785\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"583\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@savetibetorg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\\\/\",\"name\":\"European Parliament Conference: \u201cFreedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u201d - Campaign for Tibet\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/poster-unpo-website.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-21T22:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/poster-unpo-website.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/poster-unpo-website.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"European Parliament Conference: \u201cFreedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Campaign for Tibet\",\"description\":\"LET OP: Plaats je bestelling v\u00f3\u00f3r 16 december om zeker te zijn dat je cadeau op tijd voor Kerst aankomt.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Campaign for Tibet\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/logo-round.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/logo-round.png\",\"width\":150,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Campaign for Tibet\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/internationalcampaignfortibetnederland\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/savetibetorg\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/savetibeteurope\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/ICTEurope\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"European Parliament Conference: \u201cFreedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u201d - Campaign for Tibet","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"European Parliament Conference: \u201cFreedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u201d - Campaign for Tibet","og_description":"The International Campaign for Tibet will speak about the repression on Tibetan Buddhism at a conference entitled \u2018Freedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u2019, organised by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) and hosted by MEPs Csaba S\u00f3gor (EPP), Gy\u00f6rgy H\u00f6lv\u00e9nyi (EPP) and Ilhan Kyuchyuk (ALDE) at the European Parliament on 30 June 2015 from 15:30 to 17:30.","og_url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/","og_site_name":"Campaign for Tibet","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/internationalcampaignfortibetnederland\/","og_image":[{"width":785,"height":583,"url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Wenskaarten-Mandala-3x.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@savetibetorg","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/","url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/","name":"European Parliament Conference: \u201cFreedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u201d - Campaign for Tibet","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/poster-unpo-website.jpg","datePublished":"2015-06-21T22:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/poster-unpo-website.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/poster-unpo-website.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/european-parliament-conference-freedom-of-religion-the-price-of-faith\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"European Parliament Conference: \u201cFreedom of Religion? The Price of Faith\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/","name":"Campaign for Tibet","description":"LET OP: Plaats je bestelling v\u00f3\u00f3r 16 december om zeker te zijn dat je cadeau op tijd voor Kerst aankomt.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/#organization","name":"Campaign for Tibet","url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/logo-round.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/logo-round.png","width":150,"height":150,"caption":"Campaign for Tibet"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/internationalcampaignfortibetnederland\/","https:\/\/x.com\/savetibetorg","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/savetibeteurope\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/ICTEurope"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nieuws\/11977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nieuws"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/nieuws"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"categorie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categorie?post=11977"},{"taxonomy":"news_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_tag?post=11977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}