When it comes to human rights, Scientologists in Spain are translating their beliefs into action.
 | | Mr.
Joaquin Antuja, President and Founder of the Foundation for Peace and
Cooperation thanked the Scientologists present and the Church in Madrid
for the work they do to promote understanding and peace. |
The Scientology Creed
begins with the statement, "We of the Church believe that all men or
whatever race, color or creed were created with equal rights." And it
was in that spirit that the Church of Scientology of Spain
hosted a human rights forum at its Madrid headquarters last month — to
accomplish these ideals by providing some of most prominent figures in
the field the opportunity to share their ideas and coordinate their
activities.
Mr. Joaquin Antuja, President and Founder
of the Foundation for Peace and Cooperation, thanked the Scientologists
present and the Church in Madrid for the work they do to promote
understanding and peace. Mr. Antuja, who was also a guest speaker at
the inauguration of the new Church in September 2004, was referring to the Church's support of Youth for Human Rights
(YHRI), a program of the International Foundation for Human Rights and
Tolerance, established to educate people in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights so they become valuable advocates for tolerance and
peace. Last year the Church of Scientology International
produced a series of human rights public service announcements (PSAs)
for YHRI and the Foundation for Peace and Cooperation has adopted this
campaign.
The rector of the Society of
International Studies, a personal advisor to the King of Spain on human
rights matters, took up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in
his presentation, stating that governments, organizations and
individuals must insist that these rights are upheld for all men and
women. He emphasized the first five articles of the Universal
Declaration: the recognition that all human beings are born free and
equal in dignity and rights, the right to life, and the right to
freedom from discrimination, slavery and torture. Mr. Raul Vaquero of the Foundation for
Sciences of Documentation praised the quality of the YHRI PSAs. Since
he published the 30 PSAs on his foundation's web site there has been a
surge in new visitors — 2,000,000 from all over the world.
 | |
Mr. Raul Vaquero of the Foundation for Sciences of Documentation
praised the quality of these PSAs, which his foundation has published
on their web site. |
Speakers also included the president of ARI
Peru (Association for Refugees and Immigrants of Peru in Spain), and a
professor from San Pablo Ceu University.
"This forum was a great success," said
the President of the Church of Scientology of Spain. "There are many
people in our country committed to these goals. By working together we
can accomplish what L. Ron Hubbard meant when he said, 'human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream.'" |