Execution of our religious freedom

IN A REMOTE forest clearing on a mountain plateau in the French Alps, the charred bodies of 16 people lay in the shape of a star. Their feet pointed towards the centre, where a fire had been lit. They were followers of the Order of the Solar Temple cult and they had perished in a mass suicide.

This tragedy, in December 1995, followed similar incidents the previous year in Switzerland and Canada in which 53 members of the cult died, many of them murdered. The deaths heightened public concern about the activities of cults in France and increased pressure on the authorities there to act.

In January 1996, a parliamentary report listed 172 groups it regarded as sects, and two years later a commission was set up to combat cults. The campaign reached a climax on Wednesday, when the French parliament passed highly controversial laws against 'groups of a sect-like character'. And the Hong Kong Government was watching.

Under pressure to outlaw the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is banned on the mainland, SAR officials have been studying anti-sect laws in other countries, particularly developments in France. Last month, Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang Yam-kuen told the Legislative Council: 'A responsible government has to consider cautiously all the options available.

If the Government did introduce anti-sect laws it would be likely to face a tough court battle and would need to find a way of persuading the judges the legislation is consistent with the Basic Law, which protects religious freedom. It is already being suggested that officials may claim anti-sect laws would be a permissible limitation on freedoms - because the aim would be to protect the public.

But the French anti-sect laws, although supported by the majority of the population, have provoked a storm of protest inside the country and abroad. The legislation has been criticised for going far beyond seeking to prevent activities such as mass cult suicides. It has come under fire for being too vague and too broad, enabling action to be taken against harmless religious groups with minority views.