Freedom of religion is a fundamental right and one of the foundations of a democratic and pluralist society. Intolerance and discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief affect minority religious groups in Europe as well as people belonging to majority religious groups. However, acts of hostility, violence and vandalism targeting Christians and their places of worship are insufficiently taken into consideration and condemned.
Link to article: http://evangelicalfocus.com/europe/239/...Christians
The Council of Europe approved in its Parliamentary Assembly this Thursday the 29th of January the resolution “Tackling intolerance in Europe with a special focus on Christians”, which was promoted by Moldovan MP Valeriu Ghiletchi. 67 voted in favour of the resolution, only 2 against and there were 15 abstentions (see complete results here).
Summary
Freedom of religion is a fundamental right and one of the foundations of a democratic and pluralist society. Intolerance and discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief affect minority religious groups in Europe as well as people belonging to majority religious groups. However, acts of hostility, violence and vandalism targeting Christians and their places of worship are insufficiently taken into consideration and condemned.
Council of Europe member States should be invited to promote a culture of living together. Freedom of expression should be protected, as well as the peaceful exercise of freedom of assembly. The principle of reasonable accommodation should be resorted to in order to respect people’s religious beliefs, in particular in the workplace and in the field of education. By doing so, States should ensure that the rights of others are equally protected.
It is crucial that States condemn and punish hate speech and any act of violence, including against Christians.
The full document of the resolution can be accessed here: http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/X2H-Xref-ViewPDF.asp?FileID=21340&Lang=EN