Director of IIRF lectures on religious freedom at Vietnams Academy of Politics

PRESS RELEASE BY THE NATIONAL POLITICAL ACADEMY OF VIETNAM

Scientific Seminar: “Limits of Religious Freedom Rights”

The Institute of Human Rights along with the Institute of Religion and Beliefs co-organized a scientific seminar titled “Limits of Religious Freedom Rights” on March 6th, 2018 with the participation of lecturers and researchers from these two institutes, a large number of master’s students majored in Laws of Human Rights and Religious studies. (See the original press release.)

Overview of the seminar

Photo of the website © IIRF/Martin Warnecke

Co-chairmen of the seminar were Assoc. Prof, Dr. Tuong Duy Kien, General Director of the Institute of Human Rights, Assoc. Prof, Dr. Do Lan Hien, General Director of the Institute of Religion and Beliefs and Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher, President of the International Society for Human Rights (Frankfurt), Associate Secretary General of the Theological Concerns Department, The World Evangelical Alliance (New York, Bonn), President of the International Institute for Religious Freedom (Bonn, Cape Town, Colombo, Brasilia), Chair of the Board of Advisors of the Central Council of Oriental Christians in Germany (Munich), extraordinary professor of the sociology of religion at the State University of the West (Timisoara, Romania).

In his opening speech, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tuong Duy Kien briefly presented some outstanding international cooperation activities in research and teaching of the Institute of Human Rights recently. He also welcomed the visit of Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher to Vietnam, considering this as a good opportunity for the two sides to exchange and share issues relating to human rights and religious freedom in the current global context.

The content of the seminar

Part of the lecture hall during the seminar © IIRF/Martin Warnecke

At the seminar, Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher overviewed issues about religious freedom in the world in general and in Germany in particular. He specifically emphasized Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Accordingly, he shared the views on the existing limits of religious freedom rights and the conflicts between religious freedom and other social issues. He also pointed out the necessary limits for religious freedom rights, and condemned extreme nationalism and its negative consequences for the safety and development of countries in the world.

At the end of the seminar, scientists and students asked questions and talked with Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher on the main contents of his presentation. Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher enthusiastically responded to the questions. Meanwhile, he provided more new information, clarified the theoretical and practical issues related to religious freedom and the limits of religious freedom rights.

Prof. Dr. Tuong Duy Kein introduces Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher © IIRF/Martin Warnecke

In his closing speech, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tuong Duy Kien would like to thank Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher, and highly appreciated the lecture and the useful knowledge that the professor provided to the lecturers and students, helping to improve their level as well as supplementing and updating new knowledge for teaching, researching and studying at the Academy.

News, photo: Le Dat (the Institute of Human Rights), Translator: Le Huyen, Proofreader: Nguyen Thi Viet Nga

About the National Political Academy of Vietnam

The main building of the university ‘National Academy of Politics’ with the Ho Chi Min statue © IIRF/Martin Warnecke

“The Academy of Politics Region I was established in 1953 from Party schools in the region. Set up in the resistance war against French colonialists, the academy was initially tasked with training district-level officials for the Party and the State, serving the resistance war and the national construction. Today, it has become a centre for training leaders and management officials of the Party, the State and socio-political organizations in northern localities, as well as central agencies and sectors under the arrangement of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics.” It has 2,200 staff, 1,200 researchers and 92 professors. (Here you can find more information on the organisational structure of the Academy.)

Tags: IIRF, International Institute for Religious Freedom, International Institute for Religious Freedom, Human Rights, Politics, Politikwissenschaft, Religious Freedom, Vietnam, Vietnamesisches Institut für Menschenrechte (VIMR)