Religious freedom: a declaration at the EU Parliament The European Parliament and the EU must take action against religious discrimination. This is the main demand of a Written Declaration initiated by MEPs Mario Mauro and Konrad Szymanski that will be submitted to the European Parliament for approval in the coming weeks. It will require the signatures of 380 MEPs within 3 months to be adopted. The document recalls that “the promotion of democracy and the respect of human rights and civil liberties are the fundamental principles of the Union”; that the EU reiterated its commitment for the right and freedom of thought, conscience and religion across the world; that “this right includes the freedom to change one’s religion” and publicly profess one’s creed. The Parliament – continues the document – conveys “its concern over increasing attacks against religious freedoms in the world, and condemns violence and discriminations based on religion”. The Declaration invites the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton to include such theme in the European political agenda at international level, with the addition – in the agreements with third countries – of “a binding clause for respect of religious freedom”.Sakineh’s sons’ plea to the European Parliament “The international community remains our only hope and this is why we call on the European Parliament to intervene with resolve, and with all possible means, to help our mother”: Sajjad and Sahide, the sons of Sakineh (the woman sentenced to death in Iran), sent a message to the European Parliament which was read out to the Assembly on October 6 in the framework of a debate on capital punishment and on the World Day against Death Penalty (October 10). The sons of Sakineh added: “”We implore you not to abandon us and to answer our cry for help”, “in the hope that such primitive punishments such as stoning and hanging will be banned forever in the whole world”. The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek said: “we reiterate” the UN’s “request that all countries implement the moratorium on capital punishment”. The Polish politician stressed, “this punishment is still present in too many States”. “Death can never be viewed as an act of justice”, he concluded. Nine nominees for Sakharov Prize 2010 Nine were nominated for the Sakharov Prize 2010. The Prize is awarded every year by the European Parliament to an individual or an organization in recognition of engagement in the defence of human rights. The names – presented by a political group or by at least 40 MEPs) were made known on October 5 at a joint meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Development committees and the Subcommittee on Human Rights at the European Parliament. On October 18 the three finalists will be chosen. The overall winner will be decided by the EP Conference of Presidents on 21 October in Strasbourg, and invited to attend the ceremony for the award (50 thousand euro) on 15 December, also in Strasbourg. Candidates are: Access, a movement that helps human rights defenders; Haytham Al-Maleh, Syrian human rights lawyer and activist; Breaking the Silence, an Israeli NGO established by Israeli soldiers and veterans; Guillermo Fariñas, Cuban journalist and political dissident; Aminetu Haidar, human rights defender, sometimes called the “Sahrawi Gandhi”; Dawit Isaak, Swedish-Eritrean journalist who is a political prisoner since 2001; Birtukan Mideksa, Ethiopian politician and former judge, and the leader of the opposition party; father Thadeus Nguyên Van Ly, a Vietnamese priest and human rights activist; Open doors, an organization working for the defence of persecuted Christians in Countries where they are a minority group.Cultural diversity: “cross-border” books Promoting the international publication of books and celebrating European cultural diversity. These are the two objectives of the EU Prize for Literature presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The EU Culture Programme, the European Booksellers Federation, the European Writers’ Council and the Federation of European Publishers jointly support the publication in different Countries of new talents. The 11 2010 winning authors (who will receive a 5thousand euro award during a ceremony in Brussels next November 18) were selected by national juries in Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Androulla Vassiliou, the Commissioner for Education, Culture and Multilingualism said: “I hope that the prize will open up the possibility of their works being translated and reaching a wider readership beyond their home country”. Since 2007 the Culture Programme has provided 8.5 million to facilitate the translation of 1 500 books.
