“At the Forefront of the Promotion of Religious Freedom”

News December 15, 2018

On December 8, 2018, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Centre for Religious Freedom and Public Affairs (CILRAP) organized its second Human Rights Day at the Adventist Campus of Salève in Collonges-Sous- Salève, France. 

Special guests included Jean Arnold de Clermont, president of the Pharos Observatory and former president of the Protestant Federation of France and the European Conference of Churches; Ambassador Ibrahim Salama, head of the Treaty Service and the Council to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); and Gabriel Goléa, secretary of the Union of Adventist Federations of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

One day later, in partnership with OHCHR, CILRAP launched the first meeting of the Faith for Rights program between Geneva and Collonges-sous-Salève. Representing various religious groups, freedom-of-religion supporters visited a calligraphy exhibition by Abdelrazzak Fadloun on the 18 commitments of UN’s Faith for Rights declaration.

Faith for Rights is an OHCHR program that “provides space for a long-overdue cross-disciplinary reflection on the deep, and mutually enriching, connections between religions and human rights.”

CILRAP director John Graz, a former Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) director for the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, spoke about the importance of freedom of worship and religion. After his speech, the group attended meetings with Eric Ackermann of the Jewish community in Geneva and Hafid Ouardiri, from la Fondation de l’Entre-connaissance. They were also present at a special concert on the 18 commitments of Faith for Rights.

Confirming this historic partnership between OHCHR and the Adventist Campus of Salève, officers agreed to a meeting of experts, to be selected by OHCHR, that will take place on December 14-15, 2018, on the campus.

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