Intimidated into Silence

The annual Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is currently underway in Vienna. Session 1 was held today, and the topic was “Freedom of Association: obstacles to the full realization of this right and ways to overcome them”.

Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff spoke at the session as a representative of Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa (BPE). As I understand it, video will eventually be available.

BPE filed the following statement about the suppression of Die Freiheit in Germany by leftists and Muslims. One technique used by the mob is to intimidate venue owners so that Die Freiheit is effectively silenced by being denied a place to hold their events.

Statement by Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa

OSCE supplementary Human Dimension Meeting
Working Session 1
Freedom of Assembly and Association

Vienna, November 8, 2012

Intervention

BPE refers to an event in Munich organized by the German political party DIE FREIHEIT in September 2012. The topic was “Is Euro-Islam possible?”. The owner of the local restaurant, the chosen venue, was intimidated by massive telephone threats. The owner of the restaurant was forced to cancel the discussion, citing pressure from political authorities in Munich.

The organizers were the forced to find a new venue within hours; however, this new location was again surrounded by so-called antifascists who disturbed the peace by shouting slogans like “There is no right to Nazi propaganda.”

Ladies and gentlemen, these are the methods of a totalitarian society. Police did show up, but did not interfere or remove the crowd intent on disturbing the meeting.

Recommendation to OSCE participating States

That public events properly registered with the authorities are always granted sufficient and neutral police protection to ensure that the events can proceed according to plan, without the organizers or participants having to fear violence prior, during or after the event.

Recommendations

Recalling and reinforcing BPE’s statement made at HDIM in 2009 in this regard and remind participating States that [they] “… are accountable to their citizens and responsible to each other for their implementation of their OSCE commitments”, BPE thus

• Calls on the OSCE participating States to ensure that OSCE guidelines to freedom of assembly as well as its human dimension commitments are followed and implemented by governments in all instances of legal assemblies, thereby ensuring the continued legal right to the very freedoms that should be inherent in liberal democracies.
  
• Recommends that ODIHR reaffirm the right to peaceful assembly for everyone regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with the views of the demonstrators.

Previous posts about the OSCE and the Counterjihad:

2009		Jul		25		A Report on the OSCE Roundtable
		Sep		30		ICLA Tackles Fundamental Freedoms at the OSCE Meeting in Warsaw
		Oct		1		The ICLA Meets the OSCE, Round 2
		Nov		5		The OSCE: Islam and Violence Against Women
				7		Proposed Charter of Muslim Understanding Under Fire At OSCE Meeting in Vienna
				7		“Hate Speech” Accusations at the OSCE Meeting
				8		What is Medica Zenica?
				10		Report on the OSCE Supplementary Human Rights Dimension Meeting
2011		Oct		28		ESW: Liveblogging In Vienna
				28		Steering Public Discourse
				28		Fallacies That Deserve Correction
				29		Towards a “Responsible” Freedom of Speech in Europe
				29		Islamophobia, Islamic Slander, and the OSCE
		Nov		10		The OSCE Fights Racism and Xenophobia in Vienna
				10		When Good Intentions Go Bad
				12		ESW: The ACT! For America Interview at OSCE
				12		OSCE: The murky waters of political correctness
				29		ACT! For America: A Report on the OSCE Meeting in Vienna
2012		Oct		2		OSCE Warsaw: Which Human Rights?
				2		OSCE Warsaw: Apostasy and Its Consequences
				2		OSCE Warsaw: ICLA Demands the Abrogation of the Cairo Declaration
				2		OSCE Warsaw: Join the Brussels Process!
				2		OSCE Warsaw: Islamophobia, Occupation and Slander
				2		OSCE Warsaw: Islam as a Political Ideology
				2		OSCE Warsaw: A Thinly Veiled Threat of Violence
				2		OSCE Warsaw: Define Your Terms!
				2		OSCE Warsaw: Bashing Islamophobia
				3		OSCE Warsaw: The Battle Has Begun
				3		OSCE Warsaw: Tolerance and Non-Discrimination II
				3		OSCE Warsaw: “Hate Crimes”
				3		OSCE Warsaw: Kamal Fahmi on Freedom of Speech
				3		OSCE Warsaw: The ICLA Side Event
				3		OSCE Warsaw: An Advocate for Hamas Representing the U.S. Government
				4		OSCE Warsaw: “Threats Have No Place Here”
				8		OSCE Warsaw: The MPAC Connection
				12		OSCE Warsaw: A Response to Salam al-Marayati
				13		OSCE Warsaw: ICLA Side Event on the Cairo Declaration
				14		OSCE Warsaw: A Major Victory for Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa
				19		OSCE Warsaw: HDIM 2012 Wrap-Up