E/CN.4/1995/91/Add.1
page 28
from the State Attorney-General, the Public Prosecutor in Barcelona
attached to the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court has filed an appeal
against the acquittal decision handed down in this case."
12.
On 15 March 1994, the Government of the Kingdom of Spain submitted
further observations on the above-mentioned communication:
"Pursuant to my letters Nos. 153/3 of 9 November 1993 and 3/94 of
7 January 1994 and in order to supplement the information furnished by
the Government of Spain concerning allegations of religious intolerance
with respect to Spain as regards the case involving the religious
movement called ’The Family’, I have the honour to transmit herewith a
report on the matter addressed to the Special Rapporteur on the question
of religious intolerance from the Spanish Ministry of Social Affairs."
"Report concerning the religious movement ’The Family’
prepared for the Special Rapporteur on the question
of religious intolerance
Article 16 of the Spanish Constitution guarantees, among other
fundamental rights, the right to freedom of ideology, religion and
worship. All individuals enjoying full legal capacity, i.e. persons of
full age, may exercise these rights.
Religious entities belonging to churches, faiths and communities
with activities in Spain are regarded as religious and are therefore
placed under the protection of the Organization Act relating to freedom
of religion, but a large number of them, whose purpose is to study and
experiment with psychic and parapsychic phenomena or to propagate
humanist or spiritualist values and which do not have a truly religious
function, fall outside the scope of that Act.
The Constitution and the Organization Act relating to freedom of
religion guarantee religious entities, and hence sects, which are
characterized as such, the right to exercise freedom of religion or
worship without any restrictions other than those required in order that
activities resulting from the expression of this freedom may be conducted
with due regard for public order as protected by law, so as to preserve
the right of others to exercise public freedoms and fundamental rights
and to safeguard security and public health, without it being necessary
to enter those organizations in any official register. In this
connection, the authorities may not interfere in matters concerning the
basic religious beliefs of Spaniards and may not exercise any coercion
against believers who, availing themselves of their legitimate right,
have made a specific choice in the matter of religion or belief.
Not only may religious entities freely exercise their activities,
but they may also request to be entered in the register of religious
entities kept at the Ministry of Justice. Registration is free and
public and, since the procedure is tantamount to deposit of an instrument
of incorporation, upon being registered, religious entities acquire legal
personality.