Written by Emeric T Rüster

60 years of human rights. The global public celebrates, praises, admonishes and criticizes. We discuss and ennoble, complement and censure. But we ignore the gap which appears in the international law. Between the inviolable human dignity and the Freedom of Religion and Believe grows a vacuum in this area of law that effects million of people worldwide: namely the spirituality.
In Copenhagen 2007 a society was founded, that fights for implementing spiritual human rights in the international law: Soteria International. The big world religions are supported by law partially even privileged in national law. Also the believe of the individual is taken into consideration.

But where does believes start and where does freedom end? The spiritual practice in itself is nowhere protected. Therefore it appears that a man in Bucharest is arrested because he meditated in a public place. In France the singer Nayah is bullied out of her branch because she avowed herself to a spiritual movement. In the last 3 years in Rumania 600 people lost their jobs, just because of the fact that they practice yoga.
In an area of Paris appeared flyers that called people to observe their fellow citizens carefully in order to detect sect members and to report. An unbelievable instruction to act was attached: every person that lately changed their appearance and/or their behavior, persons who have many social contacts or write many emails are as suspicions as people with many appointments or which do many phone calls and even people that are vegetarians. The flyer was financed by the city of Paris. In the light of this absurd demand appeared the motto of this campaign: “protect your children against sects”.

Such methods of total monitoring awaken dark memories of eastern German Stasi or the Nazi regime, which we thought we got over.

The implementation of the human rights 60 years ago was a good first step to protect the individual against the disposal of the state. But since then the global society changed. The time has come to think more courageous. In humanity a paradigm shift takes place. With the further development of the entire society also science achieved progress in all areas. The quantum physicists David Bohm for example creates in his book: “the implicit order” a holistic vision upon the world which is in accordance with physics without any fragmentation. Studies of Masaru Emoto prove that words have a strong energetic influence with a visible effect, depending on whether they are positive or negative. All ancient traditions teach us techniques and knowledge how to have a fulfilled life, science achieves more and more new realizations that correspond with the spiritual teachings, and more and more people or humans have some kind of spiritual practice. But still the human rights limp behind this evolution. We have techniques that allow us to have a functioning family life, a dignified lifestyle, a fulfilled couple relationship. The spiritual practice is the key in any kind of spirituality, the key to a life worth living. This practice is worth to be protected. Instead of giving an explicit protection of the spiritual human rights that would smooth the path to a fulfilled life, more and more cases of discrimination and prosecution of spiritual practitioners become known (emerge).

Falun-Gong practitioners have to be afraid of harassment in France as much as in China. In Malaysia yoga is forbidden.

Is it enough for a human being to have a protected dignity that is not even defined, and to proclaim enough food and a place to sleep? Or is it about time to expand our consciousness and our perspectives? Paradigms that were valid up to now should be reassessed; we should brake through retracted perspectives!

The described cases you can find in the Forum of human rights 2008.org besides many other cases of discrimination due to spiritual practice. Soteria International, which has its headquarters in Copenhagen stands up for the rights of all these people as well as for everyone that is in this vacuum of law concerning their spiritual practice.

The human rights are blind on one eye. We can all help to open this eye.

Soteria has already achieved their first successes on a long way:
In 2008 an ambassador spoke in the OSCE conference in Warsaw the second year in a row. The approach finds Europe wide favor by now. In Berlin was founded a research team that research on the subject.
If you have more questions contact Emeric R….
emeric.ruster@googlemail.com