Religion and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Abstract

Abstract The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and its Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) have played an important role in reinforcing, distilling, and implementing the fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in the OSCE region. The CSCE (later OSCE) has engaged in major norm-setting initiatives regarding FoRB. The ODIHR’s Advisory Panel/Council on Freedom of Religion or Belief emerged in 1997, and in ensuing years, produced legislative reviews, ‘Guidelines for Review of Legislation’ (2004); and the Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religions or Beliefs in Public Schools (2007). The FoRB Programme at ODIHR followed through with ‘Guidelines on the Legal Personality’ (2014) and ‘Freedom of Religion or Belief and Security’ (2019). These documents are at the core of more extensive institutional promotion of FoRB.