U.S.
Department of State Human Rights Report 1998
The Government does not hinder the practice of any faith. The law
accords "recognized" status to Roman Catholicism, Protestantism,
Judaism, Anglicanism, Islam, and Greek and Russian Orthodoxy, and
these religions receive subsidies from general government revenues.
Taxpayers who object to contributing to religious subsidies have no
recourse. By law, each recognized religion has the right to provide
teachers at government expense for religious instruction in schools,
but not all avail themselves of this right. For recognized religions,
the Government pays the salaries, retirement, and lodging costs of
ministers and also subsidizes the renovation of church buildings.
Although Islam was declared a recognized religion in 1974, Muslims
have not had an elected body to act as their representative in dealings
with the federal government. In December Muslims held nationwide elections
for an assembly consisting of 51 persons representing numerous communities
of the Muslim faith. Of those elected, four were women. The Muslim
representative body to be recognized by the Government is to be composed
of 17 members appointed by the elected assembly and the current Muslim
executive council.
The Evangelical Association (a group of Evangelical Christian organizations)
continued to claim discrimination due to the Government's refusal
to grant it recognized status separate from the Protestant religion.
Despite the Government's refusal, it is negotiating with the group
in an effort to ensure that the Evangelical Association enjoys the
same benefits as recognized religions. The lack of independent recognized
status does not prevent religious groups from practicing freely.
In 1997 a parliamentary commission, established by the Government
to recommend a policy to deal with the potential dangers that "sects"
may represent to society--especially children--issued its report.
It divided sects into two broadly defined categories: the report characterized
a "sect" as any religious-based organization, and a "harmful
sect" as a group that may pose a threat to society or individuals.
Parliament adopted the report's recommendations. To implement one
of the recommendations, in May Parliament passed legislation to create
a "Center for Information and Advice on Harmful Sectarian Organizations."
The Center is to collect open source information on a wide range of
religious and philosophical groups and to provide information and
advice to the public regarding the legal rights of freedom of association,
freedom of privacy, and freedom of religion. The Government established
a budget for the Center, which is scheduled to open early in 1999,
but has not yet published regulations to govern its operations. The
Center is authorized to propose policy or legislation on the problem
of sects but is not authorized to provide opinions or assessments
of individual sectarian organizations. The Government created an interagency
body designed to work in conjunction with the Center to coordinate
government policy on sects. Neither the Government nor Parliament
has yet taken any action to establish a special police unit on sects
or to designate special magistrates to monitor cases involving sects,
which were two other recommendations of the 1997 commission.
Source:
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1998, U.S. Department
of State.
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Religious
Freedom in the Belgium Constitution
