Muslim Denomination marked the International Human Rights Day with participation in an inter-faith discussion

An inter-faith discussion on the topic “Religious human rights in the context of the democratic changes” was held on December 10 (Tuesday) this year on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day. The event was jointly organized by the Muslim Denomination and the National Council of the Religious Communities in Bulgaria (NCRCB) and took place in the Center for Media and Culture at Grand Mufti’s Office in the capital.

Among the participants in the event were representatives of different religious communities – Prof. Garabed Minasyan from the Armenian community, lawyer Greta Ganeva from the protestant, Robert Jerassi from the Jewish community and Hayri Emin from the Muslim Denomination. From the Directorate on Religious Denominations at the Council of Ministers participated Dr. Zhasmina Donkova and Prof. Vladimir Gradev. Moderator of the discussion was Yuliana Metodieva, prominent human rights defender and editor-in-chief of the online platform for human rights “Marginalia”.

During the discussion the participants in it addressed a number of important issues, related to human rights and religious freedom. The history of December 10, celebrated today as the International Human Rights Day, was followed. The representatives of the different religious groups gave a number of examples for how the Bulgarian state violate their religious rights and freedom, which raised the topic about the need of non-interference of the state in the religious affairs of the religious denominations. However, the topic provoked controversial positions in the people discussing on the topic whether and to what extent the religious communities, in their turn, have to take a position on the state affairs, and there were given the examples of the positions of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Protestant community in terms of the disapproval of adopting the Istanbul Convention, the Law on Social Services and the amendments in the social legislation in our country.

The participants in the discussion expressed their concerns related to the growing trend towards secularization of the society and the lack of desire and wish for the development of the religious life of the communities.

The participants in the discussion united on the opinion about the importance of the existence of the NCRCB, which stands for the religious rights and freedoms of all officially represented religious communities in Bulgaria.

December 10 is celebrated as the International Human Rights Day since 1950, after in 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. The Declaration has been translated in nearly 375 languages and dialects, which makes it the most translated document in the world. This is the first document with international character, focused on human rights and it is equal for all human beings in this world. Later on other international documents on human rights have been issued, with which a new page in law of the humanity. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights consists of 30 articles, which are further developed in subsequent international agreements, regional instruments on human rights defense, national constitutions and laws.

Author: L. Chausheva