August 2004
Dear IRLA Board Members:
Let me begin with some good news. Imam Ilgar Ibragimoglu has been released after several months in jail in Baku. We met Ilgar in Kiev, Ukraine, where he was one of the guest speakers at the IRLA Congress on Religious Freedom. Ilgar is the Secretary General of the IRLA chapter in Azerbaijan and a well-known defender of religious freedom.
The bad news is the new French law on laicity in public schools, which will create discrimination against young Muslims, conservative Jews, and Seventh-day Adventists. Worse still, the European Court of Human Rights concurred with the French position in stating that prohibiting the wearing of a headscarf does not violate religious freedom. That is not good!
Let me share with you a report about the main IRLA events from the past six months.
- Imam Ilgar Ibragimoglu
freed-The IRLA Secretary General for the Azerbaijan chapter was released
April 5, 2004 and the court gave him a five-year "suspended sentence."
Ilgar Ibragimoglu is the Imam of the Juma Mosque which was closed by the
police on June 30, 2004.
- Religious Freedom
Summit in Pretoria-March 9 to 11, 2004, Attorney Moses Nieku Msimanga
organized a Summit of Religious Freedom, the first to be held in South
Africa. Participants were former ministers, members of Parliament, religious
leaders, lawyers, etc. They came from all the southern parts of the African
continent.
- IRLA Vice President,
Dr Eugene Hsu, and I were invited to give several lectures. On March 12
we flew to Abidjan for the Religious Freedom Advisory for West Africa.
We found very motivated delegates from Ghana who are eager to have the
Pan-Africa Congress for Religious Freedom in 2006. My colleague Japheth
L Agboka initiated that project and organized the meeting. The evening
of March 18, Dr Hsu and I flew to Cape Town where we spent four days.
- Visit to the Venue
of the 2007 IRLA World Congress-The venue for the 2007 IRLA World Congress
will be Cape Town, South Africa, and the date will probably be in March.
Our visit followed the visit of IRLA Treasurer, Donald E Robinson. Don
was very positive about Cape Town, and we got strong support from IRLA
leaders in Africa. We were hosted by the Office of Tourism, which made
sure that we saw everything we needed. It is just fabulous! Please plan
to be in Cape Town in March 2007, and don't forget the Pan-African Congress
in 2006 in Accra, Ghana! It will be a great preparation for the World
Congress.
- Netherlands Antilles
has a new Religious Liberty Association-The Netherlands Antilles Religious
Liberty Association was founded during meetings in Willenstad, Curacao,
on January 31, 2004. The new President is Pastor Errol Maduro. Participating
in the meeting were Dr Jonathan Gallagher and IRLA regional Secretary
Mario Nino.
- Professor Jean
Bauberot Awarded on Capitol Hill in Washington DC-The Second Liberty Awards
Banquet was held on April 6, 2004 in the United States Senate Building.
The event was organized by Attorney James Standish and sponsored by Liberty
magazine, the International Religious Liberty Association, and the North
American Religious Liberty Association. I had the honor of introducing
Jean Bauberot, Anatoly Krasikov, and Viorel Dima, who all received the
IRLA International Award. During the meeting United States Senator Sam
Brownback gave a report on religious freedom in the world and Jean Bauberot
explained why, as a member of the Presidential Commission on Laicity,
Dr Barry Black, United States Senate Chaplain, gave the evening's keynote
address. The same week a special luncheon was held at the world headquarters for our three guests.
- Briefing at the
UN Committee on Freedom of Religion and Belief in New York-I had the privilege
of addressing the current situation in France concerning religious symbols
in public schools, and Viola Hughes gave a report about religious freedom
in Asia. Dr Jonathan Gallagher chaired the meeting which was held at the
United Nations Church Center in New York on March 25. A few days later
Jonathan was elected Secretary of the UN Committee on Freedom of Religion
and Belief in New York.
- Myanmar Ambassador
to the United States, His Excellency Linn Myaing, visited our headquarters
on March 30 and talked about religions in Myanmar.
- Ambassador of Papua
New Guinea to the United States, His Excellency Evan Jeremy Paki, visited
our headquarters on April 5.
- Ambassador of Spain
to the United States, His Excellency Javier Ruperez, said during his visit
to our world headquarters on April 19 that there was no change in the
religious freedom commitment of the new government.
- The fifth meeting
of the Washington Coalition on International Religious Freedom was held
in the Washington DC Methodist Building on April 22. I worked closely with
Ambassador Robert Seiple, who chaired the meeting. Lincoln Steed, editor
of Liberty magazine, and I gave a report about our trip to Ambon, Indonesia,
and Jeremy Gunn gave a presentation about the new legislation in France.
It was a good meeting with representatives from several NGO's. James Standish
and his Washington team were very helpful in organizing that event as
well.
- Second invitation
to the Texas Tech University For the second time Professor Vaughn James
invited me to give a lecture to his students in the Law school at Texas
Tech University, April 27. Vaughn is very much appreciated as a professor
of law and a member of the IRLA Board of Experts.
- Vietnam official
visited our headquarters-Senior Expert and Member of the Conservative
Commission of the Vietnam Fatherland Front for Religious Affairs, Mr Nguyen
Chinh, visited us May 6, 2004. He was accompanied by Ambassador Robert
Seiple, Mrs Seiple, and their son Chris Seiple, who is president of the
Institute for Global Engagement. Mr Chinh brought good news about religions
in Vietnam.
- Luncheon with
French Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, Hotel Sofitel in Washington DC. I was
invited by the American Jewish Committee for a luncheon in honor of the
most popular of the French government ministers, Nicolas Sarkozy. I asked
him a question about the new law in France and its effect on Jews and
Adventists. He explained the law, but did not give too many details. I
have to say that he received a warm welcome from the 100 invitees.
- American Jewish
Committee Annual Dinner James Standish and I were invited to the May 6
annual dinner of the American Jewish Committee in Washington DC. I had
the opportunity to say a few words to the President of the Republic of
Argentina, Mr Kirchner. Our former intern, Christopher Banks, was with
us.
- Visit to Rome
and Geneva As Secretary of the Conference of the Christian World Communions,
I met Mgrs Farrell and Radano in Rome to prepare for our next conference
in Argentina. Then I attended the CS/CWC working in Geneva on May 20 to
24.
- Congress on Religious
Freedom in Kiev, Ukraine It was a great congress organized by the IRLA,
the International Academy, and the State Committee. I worked with Cole
Durham and his team. We had many experts and government representatives.
The congress was held in Rus Hotel, May 25 to 28. Professor David Little,
from Harvard University, was the keynote speaker. Attendees included Jeremy
Gunn, Rik Torfs, James Standish, Mitchell Tyner, and Cathy Coseman from
the US Commission, and Iman Ilgar. Our IRLA Euro-Asia Chapter delegation
was led by Victor Vitko.
- Fortieth Anniversary
of the Church State Council Attorney Alan Reinach was invited to be the
keynote speaker for the 40th Anniversary of the CSC on June 8. It was
a good meeting. Alan produces a radio program on religious freedom every
week. He has done an excellent work in California and neighboring states.
- The Sixth IRLA
Meeting of Experts in Klingenthal was held June 17 to 20, with Professor
de la Hera, Archbishop Roland Minnerath, Blandine Chelini, Rik Torfs,
Jeremy Gunn, Rosa Maria de Codes, Alain Garay, Cole Durham, Mitchell Tyner,
Bert B Beach, Jonathan Gallagher, Jean-Paul Barquon, and Maurice Verfaillie. Professor Minnerath proposed holding the meeting at the Castle of Klingenthal
and made the first contact. Then he was nominated Archbishop of Dijon
and moved to his new town. I worked with Philippe Geneste, Minnerath's
student, and Dr Stintzi to organize the meeting. Jeremy Gunn and Rosa
Maria de Codes worked with me on the program. It was a great meeting on
the theme: Religious Symbols in the Public Sphere in Europe. I will work
with the Monastery of Kikkos to prepare the Seventh Meeting of Experts
in Cyprus in 2005. The Bishop of Kikkos has not given his answer yet.
My goal would be to have similar meetings of experts or think tanks on every continent. Next year we will have one in Euro-Asia (Moscow).
Congratulations To:
- Professor Roland Minnerath, a member of our Board of Experts for years and a speaker in our congresses, was nominated Archbishop of Dijon.
- Reverend Jean Arnold de Clermont, member of our Board of Experts and President of the French Protestant Federation, has been nominated President of the European Churches Conference (KEK).
- James Standish has launched the IRLA's new TV show on religious freedom, Faith and Freedom
- The new Prime Minister of India, the biggest democracy in the world, is the Honorable Manmohan Singh, who was the keynote speaker of our World Conference in New Delhi in November 1999.
Events to Come:
- August UN Human Rights Subcommittee - Geneva
- August IRLA Congress in Taiwan
- September UN New York NGO's Meeting
- October Meeting in Buenos Aires
- November Sixth Washington Coalition - Silver Spring
Sincerely yours,
John Graz
Secretary-General
International Religious Liberty Association