Religious freedom advocates have welcomed the launch of a new international coalition of parliamentarians committed to combatting religious persecution and protecting the right to freedom of religion.
Launched at the Nobel Peace Centre in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Saturday, the International Coalition of Parliamentarians Committed to Religious Freedom was created on the initiative of Baroness Elizabeth Berridge, who leads the UK’s All Parties Parliamentary Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and the US Commission of International Religious Freedom.
Parliamentarians from countries including Brazil, Burma, Canada, Germany, Nepal, Norway, South Africa, Tanzania, Turkey, the UK and Uruguay attended the launch in a private capacity and signed the group’s core charter – expected to be known as the Oslo Charter on Religious Freedom or Belief – which calls for the full application of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guaranteeing the right to freedom of religion or belief.
The group also sent three letters – one to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, and another to the President of Myanmar, U Thein Sein, appealing for greater government efforts to protect freedom of belief and a third to Pope Francis, commending him for his work on the issue and calling upon him to spearhead a new global effort to protect religious freedom involving religious leaders.
Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide and chairman of the Religious Liberty Partnership, welcomed the initiative.
“It is especially encouraging to see so many parliamentarians from developing nations joining the coalition and we exhort them to vigorously defend this right both at home, where many nations have extensive protections for religious freedom in their constitutions which are not being applied consistently, and abroad, as their nations become increasingly influential in regional and international forums.”
