Foreign ministers from around the world gathered at a high level meeting in Britain this week to discuss religious intolerance.
The meeting, held in London, was hosted by Minister of Faith and Communities Baroness Warsi and attended by senior representatives from the Vatican, the United States and Canada.
They discussed religious freedom in light of the UN Human Rights Council resolution 16/18 which recognises freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and aims to tackle promotion of discrimination on the grounds of religion and belief.
Important
Baroness Warsi told The Times: “[The meeting] is an important step in opening up the discussion around religious intolerance and freedom of religion and belief worldwide.
“This is a personal priority for me which is why I’m bringing together a group of key ministers, ambassadors and senior advisers from around the world to explore this topic.
“I firmly believe that through building a deeper understanding of the shared issues we face together, and understanding more about each other’s viewpoints, we will be able to build on a stronger consensus on the issues of how best to deal with religious intolerance and guarantee the right to freedom of religion or belief for all”.
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said: “Baroness Warsi will be hosting a high level ministerial meeting to discuss religious intolerance and freedom of religion and belief worldwide.
“This international issue is a plank at the heart of our human rights agenda and this meeting will enable us to discuss and how we can move international discussions forward on these issues within the framework of the UN Human Rights Council resolution 16/18.
Deeper understanding
“We also want to build a deeper understanding of the shared issues we face together, and to understand more about each others’ viewpoints. Through this we hope to be able to build a stronger international consensus on the issues of how best to deal with religious intolerance and guarantee the right to freedom of religion or belief for all.”
The talks come just one week after judgments were announced in relation to four Christians who took their cases to the European Court of Human Rights. Two of these, Gary McFarlane and Shirley Chaplin, were represented by the Christian Legal Centre.
Andrea Minichiello Williams, Director of the Christian Legal Centre, commented: “Such a high level meeting indicates the urgent importance of addressing the issue of freedom of religion.
“The four recent cases in the European Court of Human Rights highlight the need for more robust protections. There is a real danger that genuine freedom of thought, conscience and religion will become a thing of the past due to ill-conceived notions of equality”.
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