I
trust that you all had a great conference. I need to bring to your attention
something which I have received from CARE. The e-mail below is
self-explanatory. There is an urgency about this because the response needs to
be very quick indeed. I am assuming that we do not want newer churches to
branded as “sects”. Well, if not, then please respond to this e-mail request.
To make it easier for you I have attached a list of the UK members of
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, from which you can make
your choice of members to lobby. There are photographs of them, their titles,
the address to which you can send correspondence and their e-mail addresses.
I
suggest that an e-mail would be most effective way because of the short notice.
Could you respond please and
also circulate this to your churches and whoever else you feel could help with
a response? Apologies for the urgency.
Blessings,
Terry
Terry Walters
Parliamentary Liaison
Officer
t: 01159653236
m: 07538451498
m: 07538451498
Dear
All,
I
hope you’re having a good week.Sorry
to bombard you with yet another issue but it’s very relevant to the “New
Churches” in the UK!
The
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (which represents all 47 member states
of the Council of Europe) will vote to adopt a report entitled The Protection
of Minors Against Excesses of Sects on the afternoon of
Thursday 10th April.
The
report has been introduced by French MP Rudy Salles and is based on the French
legal model which brands newer churches as “sects.” (For example Mr Salles
refers to a Pentecostal church in Sweden as an example of sectarian activity,
putting it on the same footing as movements such as the Jehova Witnesses and
Hare Krishna.)
The
report expresses concern about the influence sects can have on wider society
and, in particular, on children.
The
report argues that many sect-like movements have the effect of “creating,
maintaining or exploiting a state of psychological or physical submission”
causing harm to children. The report then adds “Such excesses may cause
human rights violations, particularly in terms of the health, physical and
psychological integrity, schooling and social and emotional development of
minors, who are often removed from their family environment and/or cut off from
any outside contact.”
The
report can be accessed here: http://website-pace.net/documents/10643/110596/ajdoc0720022014press.pdf/42ae8104-ad82-4097-b3a2-5ceb19a14769)
The
names and contact details of the British Parliamentarians who are members of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe can be found here: http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/AssemblyList/AL-XML2HTML-EN.asp?lang=en&XmlID=NationalDelegation-uk
If
you have time could you please write to any number of these delegates asking
them to reject the report. The
following points may be useful:
·
The
report lacks evidence from other member states on this issue. None of the member
states that Mr Salles has visited maintain official lists of “sects” or have
special legislation against abuses by sects.
·
Such
member states consider that general criminal law is quite sufficient in dealing
with any abuse of children without resorting to such a discriminatory approach
as
advocated in the report and
have not identified specific risks related to so-called sects.
·
This
report threatens human rights and fundamental freedoms that are protected by the
European Convention on Human Rights, notably Freedom of conscience (Article 9),
Freedom of association (Article 11) and non-discrimination (Article 14).
·
The
report will pose a real threat for children and parents belonging to religious
minorities. The use of the term “sect” will restrict, marginalise and stigmatise
smaller faith and new faith groups and denominations.
·
The
close State monitoring of “home schooling and private schools which may be
under the sway of these movements” will make home schools and private
religious schools subject to intrusive and disruptive state investigations.
If you have any questions or concerns please do get in
touch.
Thank you for your time.
Yours,
Ben
(07772592029)
UK Members of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe
They can all be
contacted through either the House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA, or the House of Lords, London, SW1A
0PW.
I have put their e-mail
addresses after their details.
WALTER
RobertChairperson (Representative)Conservative
United
Kingdom robert.walter.mp@parliament.uk
Lord ANDERSON,
DonaldMember (Representative)Labour United
Kingdom trotmang@parliament.uk
BENTON
JoeMember (Substitute)Labour 
United
Kingdom joe.benton.mp@parliament.uk
BINLEY
BrianMember (Representative)Conservative 
United
Kingdom brian.binley.mp@parliament.uk
Baroness BUSCOMBE,
PetaMember (Substitute)ConservativeUnited
Kingdom buscombep@parliament.uk
CHOPE
ChristopherMember (Representative)ConservativeUnited
Kingdom christopher.chope.mp@parliament.uk
CLAPPISON
JamesMember (Representative)ConservativeUnited
Kingdom james.clappison.mp@parliament.uk
CONNARTY
MichaelMember (Substitute)Labour United
Kingdom michael.connarty.mp@parliament.uk
CRAUSBY
DavidMember (Substitute)LabourUnited
Kingdom david.crausby.mp@parliament.uk
DAVIES
DavidMember (Substitute)Conservative
United
Kingdom david.davies.mp@parliament.uk
DAVIES
GeraintMember (Substitute)Labour United
Kingdom geraint.davies.mp@parliament.uk
DOBBIN
JimMember (Representative)Labour United
Kingdom jim.dobbin.mp@parliament.uk
DONALDSON
JeffreyMember (Substitute)Democratic UnionistUnited
Kingdom jeffrey.donaldson.mp@parliament.uk
The Earl of DUNDEE,
AlexanderMember (Representative)ConservativeUnited
Kingdom dundeea@parliament.uk
Baroness EATON,
MargaretMember
(Substitute)ConservativeUnited Kingdom eatonm@parliament.uk
Lady ECCLES,
DianaMember (Representative)Conservative United
Kingdom ecclesd@parliament.uk
EVANS
JonathanMember (Substitute)ConservativeUnited
Kingdom jonathan.evans.mp@parliament.uk
FLYNN
PaulMember (Substitute)LabourUnited
Kingdom paul.flynn.mp@parliament.uk
GALE
RogerMember (Representative)Conservative United
Kingdom galerj@parliament.uk
GILLAN
CherylMember (Substitute)ConservativeUnited
Kingdom cheryl.gillan.mp@parliament.uk
HANCOCK
MikeMember (Representative)Independent
United
Kingdom jimmy.hood.mp@parliament.uk
HOOD
JimMember (Representative)Labour United
Kingdom jimmy.hood.mp@parliament.uk
KENNEDY
CharlesMember (Substitute)Liberal DemocratUnited
Kingdom charles.kennedy.mp@parliament.uk
LEIGH
EdwardMember (Substitute)Conservative United
Kingdom edward.leigh.mp@parliament.uk
LIDDELL-GRAINGER
IanMember (Substitute)Conservative United
ian.liddellgrainger.mp@parliament.ukKingdom
MEALE
AlanMember (Representative)LabourUnited
Kingdom alan.meale.mp@parliament.uk
NEILL
RobertMember (Substitute)ConservativeUnited
Kingdom neillb@parliament.uk
BARONESS NICHOLSON
EmmaMember (Representative)Liberal DemocratUnited
Kingdom nicholsone@parliament.uk
OSBORNE
SandraMember (Representative)Labour United
Kingdom sandra.osborne.mp@parliament.uk
Lord PRESCOTT
JohnMember (Representative)LabourUnited
Kingdom prescottj@parliament.uk
RIORDAN
LindaMember (Substitute)LabourUnited
Kingdom. riordanl@parliament.uk
SHARMA
VirendraMember (Substitute)Labour United
Kingdom virendra.sharma.mp@parliament.uk
SHERIDAN
JimMember (Representative)Labour United
Kingdom jim.sheridan.mp@parliament.uk
Lord TOMLINSON,
John E.Member (Representative)Labour
United
Kingdom tomlinsonj@parliament.uk
Dame Angela WATKINSON
Member (Representative)ConservativeUnited
Kingdom watkinsona@parliament.uk
Baroness WILCOX,
JudithMember (Substitute)ConservativeUnited
Kingdom wilcoxj@parliament.uk
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