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Marijuana: the other “pandemic” in Europe
At a time the main focus of all the sectors of the society is on the COVID pandemic, there is another insidious problem developing covertly: the drug. If the pandemic has undoubtedly an impact on the health, the economy, and the society at large, it has also affected the availability and through the confinement of…
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Regions request support from the EU and demand to have a voice in Brussels, with “Sign it Europe”
“The initiative was started by the Seklers of Transylvania, though it concerns not only them but many other national regions of the EU”, says their website. The minority regions of the European Union feel forgotten by the executive authorities. Aid from European funds overlooks these territories, whose linguistic, cultural, ethnic, and religious differences contribute to…
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From Afghanistan to France: Islamism attacks schools and kills teachers
On 17 October, a teacher at a middle school in a town northwest of Paris was beheaded on the street outside of his school. He was assassinated for facilitating a discussion with his students about caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad during his civic education class, which is in conformity with the National Education curriculum. Police…
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Trafficking in persons and other contemporary forms of enslavement is a worldwide problem, COMECE
Statement of the Secretary General of COMECE on the eve of the EU Anti-Trafficking Day Trafficking in persons and other contemporary forms of enslavement are a worldwide problem that needs to be taken seriously by the international community. It represents one of the most dramatic manifestations of the commercialization of the other, a crime that disfigures…
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France: The “Law Against Separatism” Targets “Cults” as well as Islam
Anti-cultism is back in France. Media around the world have covered President Macron’s announcement of a new law against “separatism,” explaining it as a measure against radical Islam. It is surely true that Islam is targeted but, not for the first time, a law introduced to fight Islamic radical groups is then used against other…
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Council of Europe report assesses compliance with data protection principles
Strasbourg – A report published today by the Council of Europe identifies a number of shortcomings in the protection of privacy and personal data in some of the legal and technical measures adopted by governments to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic among the 55 African, Latin-American and European countries which have joined the…
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Venice Commission concerned by risk of paralysis of Ombudsman in Poland
Strasbourg, 12.10.2020 – The Venice Commission made the following statement: “The term of office of the current Polish Human Rights Commissioner expired on 9 September 2020. While the successor has not yet been elected, on 17 September some MPs requested the Constitutional Court to declare unconstitutional the provision of the Human Rights Commissioner Law stating…
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MEP Lidia Pereira leads call to Charles Michel on Belarus
Brussels. Young parliamentarians and youth-political organizations from across Europe have today published an open letter to European Council President Charles Michel urging him to invite the leader of the Belarusian opposition, Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, to address this week’s meeting of the European Council. The initiative is being spearheaded by the President of the Youth of the…
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World Community must take steps to ensure repealing of laws mandating death penalty for apostasy or blasphemy
This World Day Against Death Penalty The International Community must take immediate steps to ensure states repeal laws which mandate the death penalty for apostasy or blasphemy
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Event in Brussels on LGBTQI rights highlights elevated risk during pandemic times
LGBTQI activists raise alarm over an increase in hate speech and violence and propose strategies to strengthen protections by improving funding mechanisms. LGBTQI people around the world, an already marginalized group, have been subjected to an increase in risk and violence largely due to responses towards and misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, said panelists of…