German law seen as threat to religious freedom

BERLIN — The Institute on Religion and Public Policy (IRPP) in Washington, D.C., reports that Otto Schily, the Federal Minister of Interior of Germany, proposed changes in German law to ban and dissolve religious organizations. Schily said the proposed laws are designed to ban extremist Islamic factions and religious groups that include anti-government elements, but IRPP says “the amendments he proposed to the law would extend far beyond these targets.”

An “anti-terrorism package” that includes Schily’s proposal has already been approved by two federal councils and is currently being debated by the Federal Parliament of Germany. If passed, the law would give government officials the power to determine whether the purposes or activities of a group “are in violation of penal laws or directed against the constitutional order” of Germany and the world.

If such a determination is made, officials would have the power to dissolve the group in question without any further proceedings.