Pavel Parfentiev

Europe: Violations of Home Educating Families’ Human Rights [1]

Introduction: Home Education and Human Rights

According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights «Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children» (Article 26(3)). This fundamental right of the parents is recognized in the same Article of UDHR that proclaims the universal right to education itself. Therefore it is obvious that the universal right to education and the fundamental right of the parents to choose the kind of education for their children are intrinsically interconnected.

The reason why the drafters of the UDHR included this right of parents into this fundamental document was to avoid any future possibility of repeating the forced ideological indoctrination of children by the state through state-run schools like that done by the Nazis. Therefore the UDHR intended to preserve the freedom and diversity of education by linking it to the sphere of family freedom and fundamental rights of parents.

This prior right of parents is holistically interconnected with the whole set of internationally recognized fundamental rights of parents, such as their liberty to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions (Art. 18(4) of ICCPR, Art. 13(3) of ICESCR), their right to choose for their children schools, other than those established by the public authorities, which conform to such minimum educational standards as may be laid down or approved by the State (Art. 13(3) of ICESCR), their right to provide appropriate direction and guidance in the exercise of their children’s rights, including the right to education (Art. 5 of CRC taken together with its Art. 28) etc. All these rights should be viewed in the light of the fact, recognized in the Preamble to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, that “the family, as the fundamental group of society” is “the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children”.

Taking into consideration all these facts it is obvious that the fundamental right of the parents to choose the kind of education for their children, which is the necessary protection of the society from any form of governmental totalitarianism, necessarily include both the right of the parents to establish and direct their own independent schools and their right to choose parents-run home education for their children.

This obvious truth was recently restated in the Berlin Declaration, the civil society document presented at the first Global Home Education Conference held in 2012 in Berlin, Germany [2]. Citing numerous international human rights instruments the Berlin Declaration reminds “that numerous international treaties and declarations recognize the essential, irreplaceable and fundamental role of parents and the family in the education and upbringing of children as a natural right that must be respected and protected by all governments”, affirms home education as a practice where parents and children undertake the activity of education themselves to pursue learning that meets the needs of the family and children, and condemns “the policies of those nations that prohibit the practice of home education and permit the persecution of home educating families through excessive or coercive fines, threats to parental custody and application of criminal sanctions”.

The aforementioned rights of parents and family are foundational and indispensable for preserving the genuine freedom of the society and are, therefore, closely interrelated with the whole scope of civil and political human rights.

The educational function and educational task naturally belongs to the family and parents. This educational dimension of the family precedes that of the state. It should not and cannot then be destroyed by the involvement of the State into the area of education. All the activities of the state in the area of education should always be performed with due respect to the abovementioned fundamental rights of parents – and children’s rights corresponding to them. That means that the government’s involvement into education should always follow the principle of subsidiarity. In the area of education the state is the secondary actor, while the family remains and would always be the primary and leading actor, whose role should prevail over governmental interests.

Unfortunately these basic human rights of parents and children’s rights in the area of education corresponding to them are seriously threatened in many countries of the world, including European countries. One of the main causes of this problem is the unbalanced and biased interpretation given to the international human rights treaties that groundlessly places the authority of the government in the educational sphere over the fundamental rights of parents [3].

As a matter of fact, the governments under different pretexts often seek to prohibit home education or to restrict the freedom of parents to choose it for their children without any real and due reasons. Very often it seems like an attempt to revive and to preserve the educational monopoly of the state as an instrument of restricting human freedom through indoctrination.

In some European countries, especially Germany and Sweden, these illegitimate restrictions imposed on the fundamental rights of parents are leading to brutal violations of basic human rights of both parents and children, including groundless removal of children from their parents as well as threatening the responsible and good parents whose only “failures” are their independent educational decisions with administrative and criminal sanctions. It’s necessary to note that those violations of the prior right of parents to choose the kind of education for their children are often accompanied by violations of the right to freedom of conscience and religion.

We consider these actions of the governments to constitute clear and serious human rights violations. Below is a list of some of the recent cases of this kind, based on the information gathered from open sources or provided to us by different NGOs including the Home School Legal Defense Association, an international human rights advocacy organization based in USA.

Violations of Human Rights of Home Educators in Sweden

The Case of Domenic Johansson

The Case of Domenic Johansson is illustrative for the human rights violations home educators and their children are facing in Sweden. The application before the European Court of Human Rights gives the following overview of the case:

On June 26th, 2009, Domenic Johansson, a seven year-old boy (born on September 9, 2001) who is a dual citizen of Sweden and India, was seated in a commercial airliner awaiting departure of a flight to India. Without a court order or any kind of preliminary notification, Swedish authorities boarded the plane and removed Domenic from the custody of his parents, Christer Johansson (a Swedish citizen) and Annie Johansson (an Indian citizen). The sole purpose of the removal of Domenic was to prevent his parents from moving with him to India.

At the time of the removal, the sole issue that motivated the actions of the Swedish government was the fact that Domenic was being homeschooled. No other information concerning minor medical issues (which have arisen since the boy was unlawfully removed from his parents) was known to any Swedish authority at the time he was peremptorily removed from his parents.

Swedish officials removed this boy from an international flight solely to prevent his parents from moving to another nation and from educating him in a manner that is lawful in India, in Sweden, and in a majority of nations. 

Since this extraordinary separation on June 26th, 2009, Mr. and Mrs. Johansson have been allowed extremely limited contact with their son and only under overbearing state supervision. All attempts by the parents to offer alternatives for Domenic’s education, as well as their offers of sincere cooperation on the other minor matters that have since been addressed, have been rebuffed by the Swedish authorities. It now appears obvious that the Swedish government intends to keep permanent custody of this boy simply because his parents wished to move to India and to homeschool him [4].

Since then the child is still separated from his parents on the sole ground of being home educated at the time of the removal [5].

Families Forced into Exile: Himmelstrands and Other Cases

Many other home educating families that faced the danger of administrative persecution or were forced to pay large fines for merely home educating their children had to leave Sweden in order to live and educate their children in countries that are more tolerant and are respecting their human rights.

Among those who had to leave their native country because of this governmental persecution of home educators is Jonas Himmelstrand, the president of the national home education organizations of Sweden ROHUS, who left Sweden in 2012 [6].

Mr. Himmelstrand’s decision was also based on his substantiated fear that social workers might seize their children in response to their decision to educate them at home.

According to the news website New American, local school officials reported the Himmelstrand family to the social services in November of last year when their 7-year-old son did not show up at the local school. Mr Himmelstrand — like many other homeschoolers in Sweden — was forced to meet with local officials to explain himself.

Himmelstrand went to the social services and asked the social services if they would guarantee that his family could remain in Sweden safely. They said no, matter-of-factly stating that to homeschool safely, the family would probably have to leave country.

The following month, the family received a letter explaining that the authorities had decided to impose a fine of about $26,000 – $13,000 per parent. “At that point we kind of felt like, are these people crazy?” Himmelstrand told The New American in a telephone interview. “Don’t they realise that would ruin our family?”

The Himmelstrands responded with a letter asking officials to clarify whether they intended to split up their family based on this political principle. The family also told authorities that they would leave as exiles before allowing themselves to be destroyed by the punitive fines.

The local government responded with a letter imposing yet another fine. Mr. Himmelstrand said this was the last straw. 

The family moved promptly thereafter, not making the news public until everyone was safely beyond the reach of Swedish officials. Mr. Himmelstrand said he did not want to wait around to find out what the local government’s next move might be.

They moved to Aland, a Swedish-speaking island off the coast of Finland [7].

Himmelstrands family is just one of the families that had to leave Sweden and Germany because of state persecution for their legitimate educational choices [8].

Violations of Human Rights of Home Educators in Germany

The right of educational freedom is severely violated in Germany. Home educators are persecuted and could be deprived of their custody rights, fined or threatened with jail sentences. This is done under the unbelievable pretext that the uniform school education is necessary in order to preserve the pluralistic society and to prevent “the emergence of parallel societies based on separate philosophical convictions” [9]. This logic of prohibiting pluralism and diversity in order to preserve pluralism and diversity is, in our mind, totally opposed to the genuine logic of universally recognized human rights norms.

The Wunderlich family

In October 2012, state youth officials were granted formal legal custody of the Wunderlich children by a German court based solely on the fact that the family was homeschooling.

The children of the Wunderlich family were seized by the state authorities in a violent way just because their parents were home educating.

Dirk Wunderlich, father, described the frightening turn of events:

“I looked through a window and saw many people, police, and special agents, all armed. They told me they wanted to come in to speak with me. I tried to ask questions, but within seconds, three police officers brought a battering ram and were about to break the door in, so I opened it.

The police shoved me into a chair and wouldn’t let me even make a phone call at first. It was chaotic as they told me they had an order to take the children. At my slightest movement the agents would grab me, as if I were a terrorist. You would never expect anything like this to happen in our calm, peaceful village. It was like a scene out of a science fiction movie. Our neighbors and children have been traumatized by this invasion.” [10]

Andreas Vogt, the attorney representing the Wunderlich family whose children were seized in an early morning raid on August 29, says that the actions of social workers remind him of the harsh policies of the former communist East Germany. The Wunderlichs had not seen or heard from their children since they were taken and only knew that they were residing in some kind of group home.

The children were later returned to the family by the court on the condition that they would attend an ordinary school. The family was also denied the possibility to leave the country with the children in order to home educate them in a country where it is permitted.

Given that no charges were ever brought against the parents other than their home educating their children, the only reason for this violent interference into their family life was the educational choice of the parents. It’s also necessary to note that no claims were made that the education provided by the family was in any way inappropriate or of unfitting quality [11].

The Schaum family

Thomas and Marit Schaum, parents of nine children educated at home living in the German state of Hesse have also faced state persecution for their legitimate educational choice. In 2013 in order to stop them home educating a sentence of six months’ imprisonment for each of the parents has been issued by penalty order – without a formal trial. Thomas Schaum (51) and his wife Marit (48) from the German state of Hessia have been accused of  “permanently and obstinately obstructing compulsary school attendance” by the authorities and the state attorney. As a result of the trial the parents were criminally convicted and fined over 1,200 euros (about $2,000) for not sending their children to school [12].

The Dudek family

In 2008 the parents of a homeschooling Dudek family in the German state of Hesse have each been sentenced to three months in prison for the “crime” of educating their seven children at home [13]. In 2009 the jail sentence was overturned by the higher court and substituted with criminal fines. Many times this family was criminally fined for home educating their children. In 2011 regional school officials have threatened to “take custody of the children from the parents” or to “transport the children to school by force.” [14]

In 2013 Daniel Dudek applied to spend a second semester at the “Südringgauschule” in order to obtain his secondary school certificate at the school. He was rejected by the authorities and was ordered to start in 9th form. The state’s supervisory school authority in Bebra, Germany stipulated a fine against the 16-year-old student because he had declined to attend the ninth grade of the Südringgauschule in Herleshausen [15].

Speakers participating in the Conference were representing the pro-family groups from different world countries: Jack Hennick (USA), Fabrice Sorlan (France), Alexey Komov ( Russia ), Levan Vasadze (Georgia).

There was discussed a wide range of issues related to the protection of the natural family, marriage, and traditional family values. Particular attention was paid to the analysis of the legislative prohibition of discrimination on the ground of “sexual orientation”, recently approved by the Georgian Parliament.

The conference adopted the Tbilisi Declaration, which, along with the participants of the event, was endorsed by many leading pro-family organizations from different countries of the world. The support for the Declsaration was also expressed by Lorenzo Fontana, MEP from Italy.

 Declaration of the regional conference of the World Congress of Families
[The Tbilisi Declaration]

Tbilisi, Georgia, May 17^th, 2014

Regarding Georgia’s adoption of Law on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination

We, the participants of the regional conference of the World Congress of Families gathered in Tbilisi, Georgia, as well as the representatives of the pro-family civil society organizations and groups from different countries of the world are declaring the following:

The natural family, based on the life-long marital union of a man and a woman, “is the bedrock of society, the strength of our nations, and the hope of humanity” [1]. The “family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State” (Art. 16(3) of UDHR).

Therefore the state, the society and the law should protect and not threaten the family, marriage and the traditional moral values related to them.

It has come to our attention that Georgia, following the demands of the European Union officials related to the Association Agreement between Georgia and the EU, and to the EU Visa Liberalization Action plan, has recently initiated and adopted the Law on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination.

Having familiarized ourselves with the law, it is our understanding that your traditional country with ancient and authentic culture, one of the oldest Christian societies in the world, has effectively agreed to join the list of states who choose to ban expression of freedom of its citizens opposing the immoral developments and propaganda of sexual behaviors, regarded as sinful and unacceptable in Christian tradition, and harmful for the family, for children and for the society as a whole. Such legal approaches are being destructive for the family and for the public morals instead of protecting them. Under pretext of the protection from discrimination they lead to serious discrimination of people respecting traditional moral and family values, especially Christians, and to the massive human rights violations. Those proven guilty under the law become subjected to Georgia’s criminal code under which the physical persons can be subjected to correctional labor for up to 1 year, or imprisonment of up to 2 years and legal organizations can be liquidated.

Even EU law itself, provided in the EU Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 which in itself is highly questionable from the point of views of the rule of law and of the adequacy of its legal foundations, is much more narrow that the new Georgian law. The actual EU law prohibits “discrimination” on the ground of “sexual orientation” only in employment and occupation, and not in all the areas as the new law of Georgia. It’s strange for us that Georgian lawmakers decided to go further by the way of this doubtful development, than the EU itself.

We know Georgia as one of the oldest and most tolerant nations in the world, where in its capital Tbilisi for centuries various congregations of Christian churches, a mosque and a synagogue have stood side-by-side on the same street and allowed their respective flocks to practice their religion in peace and security.  Historically your kings have reduced taxes for religious and ethnic minorities, while taxing to a greater extent own Christian majority.  Even during the Soviet period Georgia was regarded as one of the most ethnically diverse soviet republics with up to 40% of its population consisting of non-Georgians and non-Christians, living together in peace and prosperity till the breakup of Soviet Union.  It is known worldwide that the 26 century old Jewish settlements in Georgia are perhaps the only ones in the world without a single documented case of anti-Semitism.  We know that unlike painful European Reformation and religious wars, which have cost millions of lives in Europe, faith and knowledge have also co-existed peacefully in Georgia during centuries.

We believe that pseudo-values connected with promotion of “sexual diversity” and favoring different kinds of immoral and perverse sexual behaviors, are harmful for the society and have nothing to do with the real foundational values of humanity and with the genuine and universally recognized human rights.  They are contradicting the values and teachings of major great religions of our planet.  These pseudo-values are designed to destroy the institution of the family, moral and spiritual foundations of the society and to drive human beings into solitude and enslavement to vulgar materialism and lust.  Family statistics in Western Europe as well as unprecedented levels of debt for western population, alarming rise of consumption of anti-depressants, addictive medicaments as well as narcotics, rampant child violence and rising suicide rates are a vivid proof of that.  To our despair, Western Europe in particular and western culture in general, seem now to be on the path to self-destruction through family demise and moral degradation.

The law in question reflects these sad trends.  Instead of protecting minorities, which are already protected in Georgia by proven, centuries’ old traditions of your diverse society, it invites and promotes not only immoral, but also counterproductive, litigationist behavior and mentality.  Many western nations suffer dearly from such behavior and mentality and so will suffer Georgia.  Therefore the law presents an unnatural and an artificial imposition of pseudo-morality upon Georgian traditional society.  It will not be accepted by Georgians and will pose a tangible problem to the law enforcement.  We are informed, that despite a unanimous voting for it in the Parliament, the vast majority of Georgians are against it. The law is thus in essence undemocratic, despite the formal signs of democratic procedures around it. Dozens of the most respected intellectual, cultural and religious leaders of Georgia as well as many common people have already expressed their concern over those alarming trends by endorsing the famous open letter to the special advisor of the European Union on legal and constitutional issues in Georgia Mr. Thomas Hammarberg [2].

Based on the above we hereby strongly urge the Government and politicians of Georgia to repeal this law and to either cancel it altogether or to alter it in order to reflect the wishes and values of Georgian people in the truly democratic way.

We ask the organizers of the Tbilisi Regional Conference of the World Congress of Families to transmit this call to the Government, politicians and civil society of Georgia.

According to the rules of ECtHR, non-governmental organisations can, with the Court’s permission, make formal submissions presenting their position on the legal, ethical, and social aspects of a case as a third party.

The case in question deals with three complaints against the Russian government filed with the Court (Bayev v. Russia, App. No. 67667/09, Kiselev v. Russia, App. No. 44092/12, and Alekseyev v. Russia, App. No. 56717/12). The complainants are three gay activists fined for breaking the relevant regional Russian laws prohibiting propaganda of homosexuality among children. For example, in 2009 one of them, Nikolay Bayev (by whose name the case is now referred to in the Court’s documents database) held a protest in front of a Ryazan school displaying banners reading ‘Homosexuality is normal’ and ‘I’m proud of my homosexuality’, for which he was fined 1500 roubles (around $50). However, online articles describing the actions imply they were aimed at attracting a civil penalty specifically to enable them to challenge the relevant laws in Russian courts and the European Court of Human Rights.

The case was officially communicated by ECtHR in October last year. The Russian laws protecting children from propaganda of homosexuality, the complainants argued, had had them discriminated against, and infringed on their right to freedom of expression guaranteed under Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. According to the Court’s statement of facts, the complainants also claimed the laws in question prohibited ‘mere mention of homosexuality’, irrespective of the content of the message.

These claims are contested by the Family and Demography Foundation:

‘We are of the opinion that the statutory ban on propaganda of homosexuality among children is fully compliant with all the fundamental norms of international law, including European Convention of Human RIghts,’ argues the Foundation’s Legal Affairs Director and World Congress of Families Advisor for International Human Rights Law Pavel Parfentiev. ‘It is well documented in medical research that homosexual lifestyle is associated with increased risks to one’s physical and mental health. Moreover, most Russian citizens regard homosexualism and its propaganda as immoral. Given all that, the Convention and the European Court’s own case-law recognise the protection of health and morals of the children, as well as the protection of the family in its traditional sense, as legitimate grounds for restricting an individual’s right to freedom of expression. As for claims that the law supposedly prohibits mere mentioning of homosexuality, they are altogether incorrect.’

The Foundation applied to the Court for permission to present, in accordance with ECtHR rules, its position on the case’s legal and ethical aspects.

‘Having had applied for the permission to state our position on the case, which the Court granted in mid-January, we have duly submitted our written observations,’ comments Mr Parfentiev. ‘We are confident that the disputed Russian law is not infringing anyone’s rights and is not discriminating against anyone. Unfortunately, given that, as we think, in the last years many of ECtHR’s rulings on these matters were sadly very ideological in nature and clearly served the interests of ‘sexual minorities’ rather than the rule of law itself, we cannot be sure the Court will agree with our arguments. But it would have been wrong to remain silent.’

The Family and Demography Foundation is a Russian non-profit organization primarily engaged in family and parental rights advocacy and the protection of human rights and human dignity relevant to it. Along with the For Family Rights NGO, the Foundation is a co-founder of the FamilyPolicy.RU Advocacy group providing lawmakers, the public, and the media with expert advice informing family- and parents-friendly policies. The Foundation also serves as World Congress of Families’ representative in Russia, actively engaged in preparations for WCF VIII, due to take place in Moscow, September 2014.

The full English text of the observations submitted by the Foundation to the European Court of Human Rights will later be available online at FamilyPolicy.RU

Source

The Memorandum is a strong and powerful civil society proclamation of the fundamental principles of any human society and of the foundations of the genuine human rights. We urge the governments, civil society representatives and all people of good will to act according to those immutable principles.

Here’s the complete text of Yalta Memorandum:

Memorandum on the Protection
of Family, Fatherhood, Motherhood and Morals
[Yalta Memorandum]

Adopted at the International Parents Forum
12 June 2013, Yalta, Ukraine

We, the participants of the International Parents Forum gathered in Yalta (Ukraine), representing the civil society of Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Moldova, as well as family and parents organizations of our countries, declare that the Natural Family based on the marriage of a man and a woman and aimed at childbirth and child rearing is a unique and indispensable foundation of any human society. It is in the family where spouses find love and joy, children gain wisdom and experience they need for their adult life, and the society gets a secure basis for steadiness and prosperity. It is the family that joins generations and thus teaches people to serve each other, and in difficult times it lends protection and support for each of its members. All the countries agreed that “the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State” (Art. 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

Unfortunately, in these days family is facing serious threats and outright attacks. The family is endangered due to the active destruction of traditional family values and culture of child-rearing, matrimonial and parental roles, propaganda of lowering childbirth rates, contraception and abortion, divorce and sexual promiscuity, premarital and extramarital sexual relationships, prostitution and homosexuality,  systematic deprivation of children of their innocence and good morals by the so-called “sexual education” programs, artificial promotion of erroneous “gender theories” that imply groundless rejection of the natural differences between the sexes and of their complementarity.

The governments of some countries calling themselves “democracies” have even adopted legislation that, desecrating justice and human nature, ignoring the will and genuine interests of their peoples, families and children, provide legal grounds for perversion and destruction of the very notion of family, by recognizing homosexual cohabitations as “families” and “marriages” and granting such couples the right to adopt children. In addition to these unprecedented acts of tyranny of the law, detrimental for childhood and directed against human nature, family and society, many of these governments persecute and oppress those who courageously raise their voices to protect family and marriage. Recently, we have all witnessed such persecution in France against those who stand for justice and genuine human rights, as well as the rights of children and families.

We are also concerned to see that freedom of believers is infringed in some countries of Europe. It is the Christians of various denominations whose rights are being infringed, and who are increasingly finding themselves forced to act contrary to their conscience, by unjust laws in particular. Some of the aggressively antireligious governments are already calling for destruction or restriction of the natural right of parents to freely give their children religious upbringing and education.

We feel anger and indignation at the fact that the most fundamental and genuine human rights, the rights of family and parents, are being destroyed under the pretext of the protection of “human rights”, and the tool that has always been intended for the society’s welfare and edification is thus used to curse and destroy it. More and more often the international norms aimed at the protection of life, natural family and the rights of parents and their children, are construed in ominously wrong way, and their sense and purpose are distorted beyond recognition.

Under the pretext of protection of the so-called “sexual minorities” from discrimination, the supporters of healthy and traditional moral values are persecuted and discriminated against. On the grounds of women’s rights protection women are being deprived of their right to choose family and motherhood as their main mission. Under the veil of the rights of children, which are for no good reason interpreted too loosely, children everywhere in the world are deprived of the reliable parental moral guidance and upbringing, and sometimes they are simply taken away from their families. In many countries of the world, including the countries of the participants of the Forum, representatives of the state increasingly infringe upon fundamental human rights by interfering freely with the internal affairs of a family, and cruelly take children away from their parents under various arbitrary and far-fetched pretexts. We are convinced that this is one of the most serious mass crimes of our time.

In this context, public initiatives spring up in many countries to protect the Natural family, the marriage between a man and a woman, major rights of parents, traditional family and moral values. We are convinced that the international cooperation and people’s diplomacy in this sphere must develop and grow stronger, and the healthy public forces all over the world must support each other in the protection of family, society and morality.

Thereupon, on the basis of the principles that have served as a basis for all truly universal human right norms, we solemnly reaffirm the following provisions recognized by all the countries of the world in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948:

• that only “men and women of full age <…> have the right to marry and to found a family” (Art. 16.1);
• that “the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State” (Art. 16.2);
• that “parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children» (Art. 26.3).

We declare that these provisions originate from the very nature of human beings, family and society, and do not depend on the agreement of governments and legislators but have to be always recognized and observed by everyone.

We also declare:

• that, in spite of many false “gender theories”, a man and a woman are different from each other and complementary to each other, this difference in their nature and mission having a fundamental character, is related to the difference of the sexes and is not artificially constructed;
• that only a marriage between a man and a woman, which is aimed at childbirth and child rearing, really constitutes a marriage;
• that the Natural Family based on the marriage of a man and a woman and aimed at childbirth and child rearing is the only genuine model of a family, which has to be recognized and protected by the society and state, including legal protection;
• that homosexual cohabitation can never be regarded as a “marriage” or as a “family”;
• that to develop normally, children need a father and a mother, as well as a genuine model of family life, therefore, their “adoption” by homosexual live-in companions is inadmissible as a cruel infringement on the genuine rights of children, and contradicts their interests;
• that children have a right, wherever possible, to live with their biological father and mother who bring them up, give advice and provide with a role model;
• that parents have a natural right to bring their children up according to their moral, pedagogical and religious believes, without any interference from state;
• that parents have an indisputable right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children, including the right to opt for home education (family education);
• that the state cannot regulate the internal life of the family and children’s rearing by their parents, apart from those rare cases when this is absolutely necessary for the protection of health and life of citizens from obvious and serious threats;
• that the most effective way to protect children’s rights is the recognition, expanding and legal protection of their parents’ rights;
• that the main demographic problem of our peoples and peoples of the world today is not the mythical “overpopulation” but birthrate decline, and, therefore, it is necessary for more rather than fewer children to be born into a family, for a big  family once again to become a respectable social norm;
• that human life is sacred and any human life has to be legally protected from the moment of conception to the natural death, while abortion and euthanasia contradict this;
• that such kinds of reproductive technology as the so-called “surrogate motherhood” contradict human rights and genuine human dignity, including dignity of the “surrogate mother” and the child, and, therefore, shouldn’t be allowed;
• that legislative, administrative, political and economic decisions taken by the governments shall not be destructive for the natural family or diminish the rights of family and parents;
• that the main aim of family policy at any level must be the preservation and consolidation of a complete extended Natural Family, family lifestyle, fatherhood, motherhood, respect to parents and solidarity between generations, traditional family values and culture of family life.

We proclaim that the marriage between a man and a woman, Natural Family, right to life from the moment of conception to the natural death, rights of parents, freedom of religion and worship, necessity to protect public morals, originate from the nature of human being and family, and constitute an indispensable foundation of any society.

All the good governments and healthy social forces must protect these values. Propaganda in favour of their derogation or destruction is similar to the propaganda of war or racial hatred and must not be tolerated. The governments that reject these values and persecute people defending them cannot be considered democratic and must be declared illegitimate, as they act against genuine interest of both their nations and humanity as a whole.

All the international human rights treaties and other international instruments must be interpreted in favor of these values and the aforesaid principles. Any norms and interpretations contradicting them must be rejected and declared void, as they are inhuman.

We declare that the attempts of some governments and NGOs, accompanied by severe pressure, to impose upon other countries and international community approaches, norms and solutions that contradict the aforesaid values and principles, as well as the traditional family and cultural values of our nations, constitute a form of cultural imperialism, and we regard such attempts as aggressive intervention in the affairs of sovereign nations.

We declare, in particular, that universally recognized norms of international law have to protect people against truly unfair discrimination on the basis of inherited qualities like ethnic background, or their devotion to great values, e.g. religious beliefs,  and not to lead to unreasonable expansion of the privileges for some groups of people. As the so-called “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” are not innate qualities, neither are they related to any sublime value, there is no reason to list these characteristics among the prohibited grounds for discrimination. Instead of protecting anyone against unfair discrimination, such inclusion results in the unfair discrimination of Christians and other supporters of traditional family and moral values, rejecting the behavior that is morally unacceptable for them. Such artificial expansion of the notion of discrimination is inadmissible and destructive.

Our countries, with their centuries-old traditions and cultures, including family values and culture of family life and child rearing, are worthy heirs of the high moral principles and standards of our glorious ancestors. Nobody has a right to force us to reject our traditions and moral values or modify them in accordance with false standards that someone has invented. The legal and diplomatic framework of the global community, including that of the modern Europe, shall take into consideration the rights of our nations and provide secure protection for our cultural and moral legacy and our families.

We own genuine family values based on Christian traditions and are convinced that the global community, including the European community, needs the cultural and moral legacy that we keep and pass on. Therefore, if any intergovernmental structure, even the one that believes itself entitled to speak on behalf of the international structures, for instance, on behalf of the whole Europe, rejects our family, moral and cultural values, imposing instead sinister things that are against nature, we will reject such structure. We do not need structures that bring destruction instead of creation.

We also recognize that our countries are connected with strong historical and cultural links, and our people share common destiny. We will not allow anyone to disseminate alienation, hostility and misunderstanding between us, to separate us and bring us far apart.

We unite our efforts to protect our common values, first of all, family and morality, and demand that our governments do the same.

Based on the above, we:

• declare our intention to develop international cooperation and people’s diplomacy in the interests of Natural Family and parents with children, for protection of traditional family and moral values;
• express our support to the social forces of France and other countries aimed at the protection of the Natural Family, marriage between a man and a woman, rights of parents, traditional family and moral values;
• support the activity of those healthy international forces that consistently defend the Natural Family, rights of parents, traditional family and moral values, in particular, the efforts of the World Congress of Families;
• condemn those governments that act tyrannically in imposing upon their nations the laws that recognize the so-called “same-sex families” or “same-sex marriages”, and especially those that allow such couples to adopt children;
• consider infamous and incompatible with the principles of democracy the actions of the government of France that persecutes those protesting against such decisions or protecting traditional family and moral values, and restricts their liberty of speech;
• consider as unacceptable, contradicting the principles of democracy and infringing human rights, legal or de facto prohibition of choosing home education (family education) by the parents for their children, which is effective in Germany, Sweden and some other countries;
• express our support for the legislative decisions aimed at the protection of family and moral values, in particular, for laws and bills prohibiting the propaganda of homosexuality among children in Russia, Ukraine and other countries;
• call upon and demand to reject any regulations or legislative initiatives that imply including such characteristics as “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” into the lists of the prohibited grounds for discrimination;
• urge the governments of our countries and other countries of the world to provide active support at the international level for the Natural Family, right to life, traditional family and moral values, and to use international and national instruments as countermeasures to the imposition of immoral approaches and norms, destructive for family both in our countries and elsewhere;
• urge the governments of our countries to use international mechanisms at different levels for stopping the illegal persecution of the supporters of the Natural Family and traditional family and moral values in France and other countries;
• urge the governments of our countries to use international mechanisms at different levels for stopping the persecution of parents choosing home education (family education) for their children in Germany, Sweden and other countries;
• urge the governments of our countries to reject the so-called “juvenile technologies” (“child protection technologies”), implying extensive intervention of the representatives of the state or non-governmental structures into the family affairs and into the relations between children and their parents under the pretext of protecting children’s rights, and to base the legislation on the presumption that the parents are acting in the interests of their children in good faith and on good grounds;
• urge the governments of our countries to consistently build the national legislation and state politics at all levels on the aforesaid principles, and to reject those national and international legal regulations and approaches that contradict these principles;
• urge the governments of our countries to develop friendship and comprehensive cooperation in all the spheres, first of all, in the sphere of protection of family and moral values;
• urge the governments and civil society of our countries to protect national sovereignty and to take decisions corresponding to the will of our peoples and their genuine interests, resisting sinister influence or pressure from elsewhere;
• urge all the civil society forces of our countries and other countries of the world to unite their efforts for protecting Natural Family, rights of parents, life and morals, contributing to the strengthening of the family, the growth of respect to fatherhood, motherhood, rights of parents, their unique role and authority in bringing up their children, as well as to consistently counteract anything that is detrimental for the family, rights of parents and public morals.

We appeal to other organizations from different countries, including those of the former USSR countries, as well as from other Slavic states, calling them to join the present Memorandum and invite them to promote cooperation and common efforts to protect family, fatherhood, motherhood and morals.

Presented and adopted in Yalta (Ukraine) at the International Parents Forum 12.06.2013.

Signed by more than 50 NGOs.

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This Memorandum deals primarily with the issue of the compatibility of laws on prohibiting propaganda of homosexuality to minors adopted in different regions of the Russian Federation and bills currently considered by Russian and Ukrainian parliaments with the norms of international human rights law. It demonstrates that the laws/bills under consideration are fully compatible with international human rights law provisions.

The Memorandum shows that these laws/bills are pursuing legitimate aims (protecting the physical and psychological well-being of children, protecting the family “in the traditional sense”, as part of maintaining the public order (ordre public) and protecting the public morals), free from legal uncertainty, and proportionate to said aims. This analysis takes into account interpretations given to the laws in question by superior courts of the Russian Federation (the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court) in their judgements.

The Memorandum also expresses concern as regards judgements made by ECtHR in a number of cases. Its authors argue that in some of its judgements ECtHR has disregarded the need to protect the social morals, as well as the rights and interests of children. Moreover, the Court unreasonably regarded recent European trends and its own case-law as constituting a binding “European consensus”, thus undermining the sovereignty of ECHR signatories, with some of its judgements being explicitly ideological in their nature. This may lead ECtHR to passing untenable and ultra vires decisions, which poses a grave threat to the authority, effectiveness, and sustainability or the European human rights framework.

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The support for the Forum was expressed by the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science, as well as by the Blessed Metropolitan Vladimir of All Ukraine (Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate) who send his greeting and blessing to the participants through his representative. The Representative of the President of Ukraine in the The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Mr. Yuri Miroshnychenko and the representative of Mr. Mykola Zhuk, the  Chairman of the subcommittee on youth policy, family and childhood of the Committee on Family Matters, Youth Policy, Sports and Tourism also took part in the Forum.

Pavel Parfentiev, FamilyPolicy.ru CEO and the World Congress of Families Ambassador to the European Institutions took part in the work of the Forum, speaking on “The Protection of the Family on International Level: the Return to the Genuine Foundations of the International Law”. Mr. Parfentiev is also the WCF Advisor on the Internationational Human Rights Law. During the secon day of the Forum’s work Mr. Parfentiev also presented the information about the right to home education (homescholling) both in International and Ukrainian Law.

The Resolution of the Forum says: “The family based on the marital union of a man and a woman and aimed at the birth and upbringing of children is the natural foundation of every human society and every civilization in history. The value of marriage, family, motherhood and fatherhood is universal and immutable. Harmoniously linking the spouses and different generations, the family is a community of true love, without which the upbringing and moral formation of children, the handing down of the most important values and the meaning of human life, the preservation and development of any state are impossible. It is vitally important for today’s Ukraine to the preserve and revive the family, its spiritual and moral foundations, the traditional culture of family life and upbringing of children.

The participants of the Forum are convinced that the strengthening of and support for the family, marriage, motherhood and fatherhood, the fundamental rights of parents, the family lifestyle – should be among the main objectives and priorities of the state policy in Ukraine. Concern for the protection, revival and preservation of family and moral values traditional for the people of Ukraine should unite all healthy social forces of our country”.

It’s also noted in the Resolution: “The participants of the Forum express their concern with the rise throughout the world and in Ukraine of tendencies and phenomena harmful to the family, leading to its destruction and, as a consequence, to the destruction of society. The undermining of the traditional family and moral values, the proliferation and public promotion of divorce and abortion, immoral behavior, promiscuity, prostitution, homosexuality, alcoholism, drug abuse, pedophilia; public endorsement in the media of violence, the anti-family lifestyle, a lack of respect to the family, marriage and parents; the impairing of the natural rights of the parents and the wide application of juvenile technologies, leading under the pretext of protecting the childhood to a breach of the inviolability of family life and relations between parents and children – all of these phenomena are dangerous for the family and the society, are undermining their foundations and threatening their very existence. Ukraine should reject them as a social pathology, for the sake of its own future and the future of its children.

Both Ukrainian laws, and the norms of international law exist for the sake of creating a healthy and morally sound society, the protection and strengthening of the family, and not for their destruction. It is inadmissible to distort the true principles of international law, abusing the international legal and other mechanisms, and especially to use any kind of pressure on sovereign nations trying to approve and promote the abovementioned anti-family phenomena. All sovereign peoples, including the people of Ukraine, have the right to independently determine their own destiny, following their genuine cultural and moral values, caring for their families and their children”.

In addition participants of the Forum supported “the actions of healthy social forces abroad and on the international level, in particular, the efforts of the World Congress of Families, aimed at the protection of the family, family and moral values, the marriage between a man and a woman, the rights of parents, and the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception to natural death”.

Summary

This Communication deals primarily with the issue of the compatibility of laws on prohibiting propaganda of homosexuality to minors adopted in different regions of the Russian Federation with the ECtHR judgement on Alekseyev v. Russia (application no. 4916/07), as raised by the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe supervising the execution of the Court’s judgements. It demonstrates that the laws under consideration are fully compatible with both the judgement and the norms of international human rights law.

The Communication shows that these laws pursue legitimate aims (protecting the physical and psychological well-being of children, protecting the family “in the traditional sense”, as part of maintaining the public order (ordre public) and protecting the public morals), are free from legal uncertainty, and are proportionate to said aims. This analysis takes into account interpretations given to the laws in question by superior courts of the Russian Federation (the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court) in their judgements.

The Communication also expresses concern as regards judgements made by ECtHR in a number of cases, including Alekseyev v. Russia. Its authors argue that in some of its judgements ECtHR has disregarded the need to protect the social morals, as well as the rights and interests of children. Moreover, the Court unreasonably regarded recent European trends and its own case-law as constituting a binding “European consensus”, thus undermining the sovereignty of ECHR signatories, with some of its judgements being explicitly ideological in their nature. This may lead ECtHR to passing untenable and ultra vires decisions, which poses a grave threat to the authority, effectiveness, and sustainability or the European human rights framework.

Download the Complete Communication (pdf)

Due to technical error the document text published previously was not the final revision. Please use the text published on this site.

The World Congress of Families is the most representative international network of the supporters of the natural family, traditional moral values and right to life, uniting NGOs from over 80 countries. WCF sponsors international Congresses and regional events.

There have been six World Congresses to date: WCR I (Prague, 1997), WCF II (Geneva, 1999), WCF III (Mexico City, 2004), WCF IV (Warsaw, 2007), WCF V (Amsterdam, 2009) and WCF VI (Madrid, 2012.). World Congress of families VII will be help in Sydney, Australia, May 15-18, 2013. World Congress of families VIII is tentatively scheduled for Moscow, September 10-12, 2014. These international gatherings generally draw over 3,000 delegates from six continents, including policy makers, leaders, authors, researchers, social scientists and activists.

“Since its beginnings,” Parfentiev comments, “World Congress of Families has promoted at the international level the timeless values of the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman (which are directed to the birth and upbringing of children), the fundamental rights of the parents, and the right of each human being to life from conception to natural death. All these values, which are recognized as international human rights norms, are often being diminished and threatened today. The protection and strengthening of the family is a task that should unite all the healthy social forces and international institutions.”

The principles set forth in every WCF Declaration from Prague to Madrid make the case for the centrality of family, marriage, procreation and parental rights — including the fundamental right of the parents to direct the education of their children and to impart parental values, without undue interference from the state.

“Those are values and principles that have been always defended in Russia by our For Family Rights NGO, and they are shared by the most Russians. The World Congress of Families has been protecting them at the international level for many years. We share their views and values. Without particular steps directed to defend the family at the UN and Council of Europe-level, and in the other intergovernmental structures, it’s impossible to defend the interests of the family in Russia today,” Parfentiev says.

Three WCF Regional Events have taken place in Russia recently. In 2011, The Moscow Demographic Summit “Family and the Future of Humankind” took place at the RussianStateSocialUniversity. In 2012, the International Ulyanovsk Demographic Summit “Enhancing the Regional Dimension of Family Policy” was held with the support of the government of Ulyanovsk Region. The IV Safe Internet Forum, which took place in Moscow on February 7^th, was also a WCF Regional Event.

“We’re convinced that Russia does and should play a very significant role in defense of the family and moral values worldwide,” says WCF Managing Director Larry Jacobs. “Russia has become a leader of promoting these values in the international arena. We’re proud to announce Pavel’s appointment as a WCF Ambassador working with European Institutions such as the Council of Europe, European Union, OSCE and CIS.”

Pavel Parfentiev is the independent expert in the family law and family policy. He also acts as the WCF Advisor on the International Human Rights Law and the WCF Advisor on the Russian Constitutional, Civil and Family Law. The President of the FamilyPolicy.ru Group, Alexey Komov, acts as the WCF Representative in Russia/CIS and the WCF Ambassador to the UN.

Managing Director of FamilyPolicy.Ru Pavel Parfentiev was invited to speak at the Symposium alongside with other prominent speakers from USA, France, Spain, Canada and Vatican. Mr. Parfentiev shared with the audience some historical facts on the abortion legislation in Russia and on the successes and problems of the Russian pro-life movement. More than 600 participants from all parts of France and from other countries were present.

According to the international human rights treaties all human beings have a right to life. The pro-life civil society leaders insist that this right should be duly protected during all the stages of human life from the moment of conception until the natural death. This conviction, while obviously rooted in recognition of the inalienable dignity of every human being meets strong opposition in the world of today. The human rights rhetoric is often misused to promote the violations of right to life such as abortions or euthanasia, although no binding human rights instrument provides the real foundation for it.

“I hope this event could be a real inspiration for the pro-life civil society forces of France and other countries in Europe,” Mr. Parfentiev commented. “It’s a real problem and a real danger for peace and sustainability when the human rights language is wrongly used to promote the death instead of life. As I stressed in my presentation during the Symposium there are genuine foundations of the universal human rights. They are including right to life, protection of marriage between a man and a woman, right of children to be with their natural parents, natural rights of the parents, and the freedom of religion – all those are closely interrelated roots of the genuine human rights framework. It is necessary to rediscover and to reaffirm them if we wish to preserve peace and real freedom for all people”.

Although the Symposium was a civilized sharing of opinion of the pro-life leaders, being a genuine example of the freedom of expression appropriate for any democratic society, it was labeled by some journalist as “the violent protest against abortions”. At the same time a group of 80-100 people expressing their protest against Symposium gathered outside of the facility during the event (the press later inaccurately reported of 800 or even 900+ protesters). Some of those people were holding banners with insulting or very rude inscriptions.

“This is a grievous example of the double standards of some media,” Mr. Parfentiev commented. “It’s completely inappropriate to label the calm and polite public exchange of views as ‘violent’ while at the same time presenting the insulting yells and inscriptions as the legitimate protest. It’s very sorrowful that some journalists are forgetting of their moral obligation to be honest because of ideological bias against life”.